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Law targeting controversial landfill only fuels fight: Would-be operator, citizens group are back in court

Even for those with a vested interest in the battle over a proposed landfill near Anderson, it’s hard to get too worked up over the latest twist before the courts or government agencies. After all, the Mallard Lake Landfill battle is in its 29th year. The latest development, one that opponents of the project had hoped was the silver bullet to fell their garbage Dracula, is starting to look just as inconclusive as countless other chapters, at least for now….

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Great mileage, bad wrecks

Small, fuel-efficient cars are in and big, thirsty vehicles are out. But as consumers try to save money
on gas, their odds of getting hurt increase, the Insurance Research Council warned today.

The Pennsylvania organization, which researches the property and casualty…

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VIEWPOINT: How to win Uncle Sam’s gas-tax shell game

Between 1956 and 1991, Indiana motorists willingly paid “temporary” hikes in the federal gasoline tax, knowing the money was being used to build the 42,000-mile interstate highway system. In 1991, Congress declared the highway system completed-but the tax lived on and on, growing bigger and bigger. No longer needed to build the interstate, the current 18.4-cents-per-gallon federal gas tax-double what it was in 1990-now funds a “highway trust fund” shell game that shifts $866 million a year, and control over…

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Developers fear stricter IDEM cleanup rules

State environmental regulators are catching an earful for what some businesses complain is a rush to aggressive new rules
for remediating land contamination. Developers worry the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s proposals, which
could require comprehensive site cleanup, will discourage brownfield redevelopment, especially the reuse of tainted-but-valuable
land in urban areas.

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Citizens’ new name is a gas-in a way: Parent company of local utility adds ‘energy’ to its moniker to reflect diversity of operations

Citizens Gas & Coke Utility on Aug. 25 will announce a new name and logo that reflect the diversification of its energy businesses and the closure last year of its 98-year-old foundry coke plant. Citizens Energy Group will be the name of the parent, a utility founded 120 years ago. Two units-Citizens Gas and Citizens Thermal-will retain their names. But a third, Citizens By-Products, will be renamed Citizens Resources. “We’re entering a new era,” said Citizens President and CEO Carey…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Why the 10-year alternative-energy goal is absurd

B e f o r e w r i t i n g about energy matters, I am going to have to make a confession. I am a closet environmentalist. I support a wide range of environmental policies and think it often makes good business sense to go green. But sadly, far too many supporters of environmental policy look at the world through green-colored glasses. One result is that it is increasingly difficult to take many environmentalists seriously. One verdant…

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Commentary: Indiana State Fair is on a roll

Riding a stretch of near-perfect weather, this year’s Indiana State Fair seems destined to break attendance records. I was there for a few hours one day, and I can see why it still is a big draw: The fair is alive with what’s great about Indiana tradition. And, relatively speaking, it’s a cheap form of entertainment. Eight bucks for admission seems more than reasonable in these days when a movie costs you nearly $10, especially when you realize your $8…

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Developer pegs Plainfield for spec office building: Local real estate brokers question potential demand

Now a developer is banking on a new roadway and airport terminal to attract office tenants, although some brokers familiar with the area aren’t sold on the idea. The local office of Chicago-based Verus Partners LLC finished purchasing 200 acres along the east side of the Reagan Parkway and plans to build a 60,000-square-foot, two-story speculative office building. Verus’ mixed-use office and industrial park is called GreenParke at Airwest and could be ready for occupancy by next summer. Infrastructure work…

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Slump leaves empty feeling for subdivision residents: Developers struggling to finish what they started

The marketing material for the Sedona Woods community in Fishers boasts that once word gets out, home lots are sure to sell out quickly. In hindsight, the statement couldn’t have been further off the mark. Roughly four years later, the subdivision that ultimately was to contain hundreds of homes built by Davis Homes LLC remains unfinished. And now, after the local builder ceased operations in late July, completion could take even longer. Sedona Woods at Promise Road and 136th Street…

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Small towns with a heart: Spurning sprawl, more towns upbeat on downtown

From Andy Griffith’s Mayberry, the small town evolved into the likes of Avon, Ind. The tree-shaded bungalow on Oak Street within walking distance of the town center became the vinyl-clad, single-family home planted in a former cornfield with a contrived name ending in “creek” or “woods” or “farms.” Residents have to jump in the car if they want to buy a cup of coffee or to patronize the predictable chain restaurants and bigbox retailers. The Best Buy on Avon’s main…

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Strip centers feeling sting of housing market slump: Developers cutting back on new retail projects

Those ubiquitous retail strip centers are beginning to wither under a housing slump that has cast a dark cloud over much of the U.S economy. Heavily dependent on new-home construction, strip-center developments have been hurt by tough residential real estate conditions that have spread into the commercial arena and dampened retail activity. Nationally, the volume of strip-center investment transactions is down 77 percent from a year ago, according to a June commercial report from the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors….

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Slump leaves empty feeling for subdivision residents: Developers struggling to finish what they started

The marketing material for the Sedona Woods community in Fishers boasts that once word gets out, home lots are sure to sell out quickly. In hindsight, the statement couldn’t have been further off the mark. Roughly four years later, the subdivision that ultimately was to contain hundreds of homes built by Davis Homes LLC remains unfinished. And now, after the local builder ceased operations in late July, completion could take even longer. Sedona Woods at Promise Road and 136th Street…

Read More

Small towns with a heart: Spurning sprawl, more towns upbeat on downtown

From Andy Griffith’s Mayberry, the small town evolved into the likes of Avon, Ind. The tree-shaded bungalow on Oak Street within walking distance of the town center became the vinyl-clad, single-family home planted in a former cornfield with a contrived name ending in “creek” or “woods” or “farms.” Residents have to jump in the car if they want to buy a cup of coffee or to patronize the predictable chain restaurants and bigbox retailers. The Best Buy on Avon’s main…

Read More

Strip centers feeling sting of housing market slump: Developers cutting back on new retail projects

Those ubiquitous retail strip centers are beginning to wither under a housing slump that has cast a dark cloud over much of the U.S economy. Heavily dependent on new-home construction, strip-center developments have been hurt by tough residential real estate conditions that have spread into the commercial arena and dampened retail activity. Nationally, the volume of strip-center investment transactions is down 77 percent from a year ago, according to a June commercial report from the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors….

Read More

Commentary: Indiana State Fair is on a roll

Riding a stretch of near-perfect weather, this year’s Indiana State Fair seems destined to break attendance records. I was there for a few hours one day, and I can see why it still is a big draw: The fair is alive with what’s great about Indiana tradition. And, relatively speaking, it’s a cheap form of entertainment. Eight bucks for admission seems more than reasonable in these days when a movie costs you nearly $10, especially when you realize your $8…

Read More

Developer pegs Plainfield for spec office building: Local real estate brokers question potential demand

Now a developer is banking on a new roadway and airport terminal to attract office tenants, although some brokers familiar with the area aren’t sold on the idea. The local office of Chicago-based Verus Partners LLC finished purchasing 200 acres along the east side of the Reagan Parkway and plans to build a 60,000-square-foot, two-story speculative office building. Verus’ mixed-use office and industrial park is called GreenParke at Airwest and could be ready for occupancy by next summer. Infrastructure work…

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Study costs, public support mount for commuter rail: Key vote on northeast corridor could come next month

Worsening gas prices and congestion have some commuters demanding faster progress on launching a rapid transit line. They can quibble about slowness in getting it done, but lack of study hasn’t been an issue. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Organization spent $4 million since 2002 on a rapid transit study that concluded earlier this year, according to records provided by the agency. Most, or 80 percent, of the funds paid to eight consulting firms came from federal transportation funds, with 20…

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EYE ON THE PIE: This railroad deal is a good deal

Let’s get burritogate out of the way and proceed to more substantive, if less spicy, matters. Yes, a guy who works for the Canadian National Railroad paid for a burrito and a beer that I consumed. He did not know then that I wrote this column and hence commanded a vast, influential audience. I did not know then that he had a project to represent. But CN (as the rail line is called) has a most significant project going. It…

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Commentary: Energy woes need quick, lasting fix

Last month, the front page of The Wall Street Journal featured 25-yearold Saeed Khouri, who paid at auction the equivalent of $14 million of our increasingly worthless American dollars for a license plate bearing “1.” His cousin, Talal Khouri, threw in $9 million in pocket change for tag “5” to tool around Abu Dhabi in his Rolls Royce. Get this, the Khouris declined to be interviewed because they didn’t want to be the center of attention. I am not particularly…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Speculators aren’t to blame for pain at the gas pump

Speculators are blamed for a number of bad things-lately, even high gas prices. It is fun to find villains. In fact, casting blame has replaced baseball this summer as the official sport of Congress. But it might do some good for the soul to ask just who these speculators are, and how they might affect gasoline prices. To begin with, it is worth understanding that the price of gasoline is largely determined by the price of oil today. Refinery capacity,…

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