Articles

Fred Glass brings city’s ‘to do’ list to life

Fred Glass, president of the city's Capital Improvement Board, headed historic transitions in both the mayor’s and governor’s
offices and has become the go-to guy for some of the city’s biggest initiatives, most of them sports-related.

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Rising crime worries city businesses

Indianapolis fought long and hard to earn a reputation as a safe place to live and conduct business. But police statistics
show that local security is eroding. Crime has risen to the highest levels seen during Mayor Bart Peterson’s administration.

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High-tech 21st Century funding in doubt

The first version of the $25.6 billion state budget, passed by the Democratic majority in the Indiana House of Representatives
Feb. 22, didn’t include any money for the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, which provides financial assistance
to promising high-tech startups.

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Developer moving on after failed Crown Hill project

In the eyes of many at a rezoning hearing late last month, the developers from locally based Mann Properties were bad guys.
They wanted to build homes and a retail center
on 71 mostly wooded acres north of Crown Hill Cemetery. So when the Metropolitan Development Commission denied Mann’s request,
the crowd erupted in applause.

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SBDC network gets new chief

After about seven months without a leader, the Indiana Small Business Development Center network has found one in Jeff Heinzmann. An attorney by training, the 39-year-old is charged with getting the statewide system of 11 regional centers on track in their efforts to help entrepreneurs get started and grow. Despite their connection, the Indiana centers for the most part have operated independently, and some-like the central Indiana office serving Marion and the surrounding counties-have struggled for stability. Heinzmann aims to…

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Year after smoking ban, only 9 businesses have been fined

County health inspectors have hardly blown the door down on huffers and puffers a year into the city’s smoking ordinance.
The Marion County Health Department took 209 complaints and issued citations against only nine businesses for fines totaling
$1,000 during the first year of the law.

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Car dealers to offer license plates

Hoosiers wanting to avoid the hassle of waiting in line at the BMV will soon have an option, but will have to pay about $20
to use it. The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles is launching a project to allow automobile dealers across the state to provide
title and license-plate registrations.

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National Guard proposing new monument

The Indiana National Guard wants to build a downtown monument to commemorate its centuries of history. But concerns over design
threaten to derail the $2.5 million proposal before it gets off the drawing board.

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‘Policy wonk’ named president of Sagamore think tank

A former U.S. attorney and self-proclaimed “policy wonk” has been charged with growing the Sagamore Institute for Policy Research’s
Midwestern roots. Krieg DeVault LLP lawyer Deborah Daniels became Sagamore’s second president last month.

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Firearm advocates take aim at employers’ restrictions

Legislators in the upcoming session of the Indiana General Assembly are gearing up for a gunfight with high-caliber business
implications. On one side are employees who prefer to pack heat during their commute. On the other are executives who see
guns as a liability nightmare–even if they’re locked in cars parked outside.

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State’s venture capital incentive seldom used

Since the inception of the state’s Venture Capital Investment Tax Credit in late 2003, investors have claimed only about one-third of the $37.5 million in credits available, according to an IBJ analysis of the program.

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Sheriff contemplating jail privatization

In the overcrowded Marion County Jail, early release of dangerous inmates has become an unpleasant fact of life. To slow the tide, Sheriff Frank Anderson is considering a radical new solution: full privatization.

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Mass transit’s catch? Paying for it

The idea of rapid transit is popular locally, but there’s no consensus on how to finance it. For construction alone, it would cost at least $546 million for suburban express bus service up to $1.4 billion for an "automated guideway" system similar to a monorail. And that's for only one corridor.

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Property tax-cap concern growing

Local officials say a new state law that caps property tax bills for homeowners and businesses will send the city into a financial tailspin if legislators don’t modify it in an upcoming session.

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