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BEHIND THE NEWS: News from the front lines: More tough times ahead

The past 12 months have been hard to take, with all the gloom-anddoom headlines about the weak housing market, subprime credit crisis and softening economy. We’re all ready for some good news. Unfortunately, I can’t provide it here. That’s because executives on the front lines of Indiana business-those most tuned in to the twists and turns of the state’s economy-aren’t ready to call a turnaround yet. In second-quarter conference calls with analysts, the executives are trumpeting their firms’ ability to…

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Pearson Partners recovers from HHGregg loss: Agency gains new clients, projects 20-percent growth

Ron Pearson said business at his Indianapolis-based advertising agency over the last year has been “stellar.” Exaggeration or not, any growth at Pearson Partners is a 180-degree reversal from the dire situation the firm faced just a year ago. In April 2007, Pearson’s firm-then called Pearson McMahon Fletcher England-lost its biggest client, HHGregg. Last summer, Pearson cut nearly half its work force, paring the agency down to about 20 employees in the wake of losing the $20-million-plus account. Pearson’s capitalized…

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A&E: Booker blitzes downtown

It is likely that “Chakaia Booker: Mass Transit,” the 10-piece exhibition running through April 1, will invite a greater negative reaction than the two previous public art shows that dotted downtown. Unlike Tom Otterness-with his rounded smileys masking money-is-evil messages-and Julian Opie-many of whose “Signs” could have served as, well, signs-Booker creates work that is abstract, defiant and unpolished. The pieces-constructed from tires-aren’t pretty, they aren’t funny, they aren’t slick and they don’t seem aimed to please. As such, they…

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VIEWPOINT: Indianapolis needs to talk trash

Indiana has generous natural resources. I pumped some of those resources out of my sub-basement twice last month, and pulled some of its finer greenery from my roof and yard as well. The abundance is everywhere, from the farmlands and prairie in the north, to the farmlands, mines and even oilfields in the south. Drop a seed in most parts of Indiana and, if the neighborhood’s not flooded out, that seed will grow nicely. Ask me about my tomatoes. Don’t…

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Fair trade frenzy drives retailer’s sales: New store also helps not-for-profit Global Gifts’ revenue triple in five years

Times are good for Global Gifts Inc., a local not-for-profit that runs two boutiques where shoppers think globally and buy locally. The retailer is experiencing a growth spurt as it approaches its 20th anniversary-sales have more than tripled in the last five years and leaders are planning a third location to capitalize on the increasing number of central Indiana residents who embrace fair-trade shopping. Fair-trade retailers agree to a set of rules guaranteeing that their products-mostly crafts and agricultural goods…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Are applicants snickering over your want ads?

One of the biggest complaints techies have about employers is how their want ads are written. Some techies avoid certain jobs on the basis of their ads alone. It may come as a surprise to HR professionals, but in many cases their ads are received with mingled mirth and sarcasm. There are many sins the want ads commit. One of the most common is just general cluelessness. I’ve seen want ads that request 10 years of experience with a product…

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INVESTING: Conditions are brutal, but opportunity awaits

The depths of the problems plaguing financial firms were on full display July 7, the date Fannie Mae’s shares dropped 16 percent and Freddie Mac’s tumbled 18 percent. Last December in this column, I marveled at how well the stock market had absorbed a 25-percent nose dive in the stocks of these two mortgage titans during trading Nov. 20. Since their highs last fall, these two institutions that underpin the mortgage and housing market have lost 75 percent of their…

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NOTIONS: Piddling and diddling en route to doomsday

On July 4, my college-aged sons came to visit. We grabbed a late lunch, talked for a while, and sat down in the family room to await the big party in the neighborhood courtyard. Austin and Zach got out their laptops and started browsing. I turned on the TV and started surfing. I landed on HBO’s production of “John Adams.” As we watched, the Continental Congress was in session in 1775 and 1776. The delegates-during and between meetings-were arguing various…

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SPORTS: Pacers are walking a tightrope-and doing it well

The Indiana Pacers, abandoned by so many, are re-establishing their relevance. Given up for dead, the Pacers have a pulse. Leading them out of the wilderness is the hands-on owner, Herb Simon; the thoughtful, prudent and brilliant community leader, Jim Morris; and our Indiana basketball icon, Larry Bird. The draft-night wheeling and dealing created an instant buzz about the Pacers, the most positive since the brawl in 2004. It showed that, if I may lean on the cliché, there is…

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Fueling a new trend: Interest in telecommuting on the rise due to higher gasoline costs

When she accepted a job three months ago at Greenwood-based Tilson HR Inc., Kristen Shingleton received not only the usual array of employee benefits but also the assurance that she could work from home two days a week. While the concept of telecommuting still may seem a bit radical to many companies, it could become as common as vacation time and 401(k) plans if gas prices continue to climb. “It’s saving me about $200 a month,” said Shingleton, a senior…

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Commentary: Indianapolis deserves safer water

A recent Associated Press study of 62 major waterproviders across the country, including Indianapolis, found that nearly all their water had pharmaceutical product or indicators of pharmaceutical product in their water supply. P h a r m a c e u t i c a l products included antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones. The same AP study investigated watersheds and aquifers, large numbers of which were found to contain pharmaceuticals and other contaminants. Another national study of 139…

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Port-a-potty cleaning not such a foul job after all

Danny Hutson jumps down from the cab of his truck, grabs a giant yellow and black hose, and gets ready to deal with a familiar
smell: human waste and disinfectant. It’s all part of the job for Hutson, who cleans as many as 45 portable toilets a day
for Aardvark Tidy Toilets, a division of Indianapolis-based Gridlock Traffic Systems Inc.

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Paddlefish caviar goes toxic

Commercial fishing outfits are taking tons of caviar from paddlefish in the Ohio River because severe restrictions
on fishing for Russian sturgeon in the Caspian Sea have depleted the supply of the eggs.

But thereâ??s a problem: Indiana along with…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Social-responsibility movement has a dark side

Identifying corporate villainy is a delightful pastime that virtually all of us have reveled in at some point or another. There are only two problems with this form of entertainment. A description of the first comes simply stated to us from the Gospel of John as “he who is without sin cast the first stone.” The second problem is a general lack of intellectual rigor in the debate. The heavily funded attacks on corporate America come primarily from organizations with…

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A&E: Reel relic Tibbs keeps the drive-in dream alive

In this column, I usually write about content, not containers; arts software, not the hardware; the creative stuff, not the bricks and mortar. But in the case of the drive-in movie, context is everything. The specifics of what’s on screen aren’t nearly as important as where you are. The magic is in the air, not the flickering images. And it’s been that way for 75 years this month. On June 6, 1933, the first drivein theater opened in Camden, N.J….

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EYE ON THE PIE: It’s not just the economy, stupid

No doubt, the Daniels administration will trumpet the fact that Indiana was the ninth-fastestgrowing state in the first quarter of this year. That’s right; personal income in the Hoosier state grew at an annual rate of 5.1 percent, while the nation advanced 4.6 percent. But, as noted by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, which generates these data, Indiana was among the fastergrowing states because of dramatic increases in the prices of corn and soybeans. North Dakota came in first,…

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INVESTING: Why Anheuser-Busch bid resonates in Indianapolis

One of our sister Midwestern cities is locked in a fight for its corporate identity. A n h e u s e r- B u s c h , maker and distributor of Budweiser brand beers-and the corporate icon of St. Louis-is engaged in a $46.3 billion takeover battle for its survival as a U.S.-based company. The would-be acquirer is Belgium-based InBev, the second-largest brewer by volume in the world. London-based SABMiller, who in 2002 bought Miller Brewing in Milwaukee,…

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VIEWPOINT: Going ‘green’ construction one better

In the zeal to “go green,” new construction that uses sexy, high-tech ways to reduce energy consumption gets the most attention, but historic preservation has been green all along. The most e nv i r o n m e n t a l l y responsible approach is to conserve, not to waste what’s already built. I applaud the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design process, and I hope to see preservation receive more favorable treatment…

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Butler’s pharmacy addition just what the doctor ordered: New $14M building will help college meet increasing demand for graduates

Mary Andritz, dean of Butler University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, bursts into laughter when asked how long her department’s been short on space. “I’ve only been here for two years, but I think it’s been for some considerable amount of time,” she guessed. “Probably for 10 years.” Lilly Endowment Inc., however, is filling the prescription in the form of a grant to fund a 40,000-square-foot addition under construction and scheduled to open by the fall 2009 semester. The…

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