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New utility consumer counselor is no stranger: Former Ameritech lawyer may have to reach out and touch consumer watchdogs

Consumer groups didn’t get a ponytailed zealot to head the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor. No surprise there. Gov. Mitch Daniels has been fond of appointing ex-industry insiders to lead agencies charged with monitoring those same industries. What the OUCC gets in former Ameritech attorney David Stippler is, at the very least, a man who already knows the utility industry in Indiana. The Evansville native has argued before its regulatory agencies for many years. “They don’t have to forge a…

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Death ponds

It hardly seems like a week goes by anymore without another story about someone sliding into a suburban
retention pond and losing their life or at least coming uncomfortably close.

Some ponds have become dumping grounds for cars, and now Plainfield…

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Chelsea Clinton’s response

Chelsea Clinton has been widely praised for her response to a question at Butler University yesterday about
how Monica Lewinsky might have affected her motherâ??s candidacy for president.

â??I donâ??t think that is any of your business,â?? Chelsea Clinton shot back.

The…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Final version of tax reform deserving of accolades

The practice of economics certainly can compel a man to cynicism. Take, for example, tax reform. I’ve testified on tax reform before legislatures in three states and one foreign country. Each had much bigger tax problems than does Indiana. Today, in each of those places, several solid proposals languish under the assault of special interests, much to the chagrin of taxpayers. Here in Indiana, the story is different. The past few months have seen reasoned and informed debate on property…

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STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Full impact of tax reform won’t be known for years

The 2008 legislative session is history, and makes history with a property tax reform package that goes a long way toward Gov. Mitch Daniels’ goal of enacting one that is fair, final and farreaching. Give him the lion’s share of the credit for establishing the philosophical and practical framework. Majority House Democrats didn’t propose their own property tax plan, but they largely embraced the governor’s plan and successfully played a few new strategic riffs that Republicans found didn’t disrupt the…

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Mortgage blues haven’t hit all: Some firms are holding their own despite housing, credit slump

The local office of Cleveland-based KeyBank has hired a banking veteran to lead a revamped mortgage department that will boast a larger sales force. And locally based mortgage firm Signature Group recently completed construction of its new headquarters and added three brokers. In this climate of ballooning foreclosures and rising interest rates, one might wonder whether executives of the aforementioned institutions are reading the wrong spreadsheets. To the contrary, despite the gloomy picture monthly housing statistics paint, they are among…

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Tax reform fallout worries biz interests

Property tax reform is now Indiana law. Hoosier homeowners are thrilled. But many corporate leaders grumble the historic deal was brokered on the backs of business. Topping their concerns is the new 3-percent property tax cap for commercial and industrial properties, which they fear will slow business expansions and discourage companies from moving headquarters to the state.

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Foreclosures keep ’em busy: Bankruptcy attorneys, credit counselors seeing surge in clients

Many consumer bankruptcies typically can be traced to a divorce, job loss or medical issue. Now another perpetrator-subprime mortgages-is entering the fray. The fallout from the housing crisis, coupled with a weakening economy, is contributing to a rise in bankruptcy filings nationwide. They spiked more than 30 percent in January compared with the same time last year, according to the Virginia-based American Bankruptcy Institute. With more than 1 million subprime mortgages due to reset this year, ABI Executive Director Samuel…

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Tax legislation to become law

Gov. Mitch Daniels is set to sign the property tax legislation tomorrow.

Daniels got most of what he proposed last fall. Homeowners get a tax cut, future bills will be capped and
the sales tax rises to compensate.

Are you happy with…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: New tax break makes Indiana more attractive than ever

Rapid growth in the high-tech fields of biotechnology and life science has made Indiana a shining example of how promoting emerging industries can transform an agricultural and manufacturingbased economy into a national leader in innovation. It has done so by creating an environment in which knowledge-based businesses can thrive. Building on this success, Indiana continues to position itself as a leader in emerging technologies. A new tax law that took effect this year will present another major step toward this…

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ICVA calls in headhunter to help fill top post: Experts say job should draw wide interest

A nationally renowned headhunter is tracking down candidates to fill the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association’s top job in hopes of having a new president in place by June 1. Industry observers expect plenty of applicants given an upcoming hospitality building spree. “This is potentially the chance of a lifetime for someone to come in and make a huge difference,” said Amanda Cecil, an assistant professor in IUPUI’s Convention and Event Management Department. She called the Indianapolis market a “gold…

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STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Lawmakers left lots of touchy issues for waning days

As we prepared this column at midweek, there still was no certainty about a property tax relief and reform package resulting from the regular session, set to adjourn sine die March 14. While some lawmakers were proclaiming no hope of enacting a package before time expired in the regular session, others were seeing movement toward a plan that was structured largely along the lines of the original package offered by Gov. Mitch Daniels. Democrats altered strategy as the scheduled adjournment…

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Hoosier Heartland Highway pumps up hope on prairie: Expressway construction starting two years early

LAFAYETTE-For years, they’ve driven on little more than paved-over wagon trails pioneers carved into the hills nestling the Wabash River. Motorists on State Road 25 between Logansport and Lafayette have grown desperate for a replacement: the final, 33-mile western leg of the “Hoosier Heartland Highway.” Today, the Hoosier Heartland expressway ends in Logansport-the western terminus of a newly improved, four-lane U.S. 24 that runs east, to Fort Wayne. But last month Gov. Mitch Daniels surprised highway proponents with word that…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Just when you thought airport lines couldn’t get any longer

This isn’t a column about business technology per se, but I couldn’t resist the temptation to write about a half-dozen states thumbing their noses at the federal government and potentially backing up travel this spring at airports all over the country, including some of the world’s busiest, all over a piece of plastic. After the tragedy of 9/11, one of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations was to create a hard-to-fake identity card for Americans. In 2005, Congress passed a huge defense…

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Sales tax to rise next month

The state sales tax rises to 7 percent from 6 percent on April 1 if the property tax legislation in the
General Assembly becomes law.

Youâ??re right. Thatâ??s not even three weeks away.

What do you think?…

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Obama coming to town

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is dropping in on Indianapolis this Saturday for a campaign stop.

Will Obama or Hillary do better in Indiana?

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NOTIONS: Variations on the theme of March Madness

March Madness is upon us-that glorious season born in a Springfield, Mass., peach basket and now headquartered, literally and spiritually, in the Hoosier state. That means, of course, high-pressure conference tournaments; Big Dance brackets and pairings; controversial selections and exclusions; friendly wagers; blowouts; upsets; scoring runs; dry spells; lead changes; come-frombehind victories; heartbreaking defeats; and last-second, game-winning three-pointers. But in only the first week of the third month of the Gregorian calendar, it’s clear-from personal life, to the recession (er…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: How the property tax reform plans stacked up

As this year’s short legislative session comes to a close, I want to recap the property tax proposals that were bandied about. I probably should begin with the problem. Though Hoosiers pay less in state and local taxes than most Americans, the growth in state and local tax bills has been way out of sorts with income growth. Also, in some places, property taxes are astoundingly high-and in the most expensive places, taxpayers are not getting anything like the value…

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STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Thorny tax issues remain as scheduled adjournment nears

The closer we get to March 14, the date the 2008 legislative session is scheduled to end, the less optimistic people seem to be about reaching agreement on a property tax relief and reform package that will attract sufficient bipartisan support and be structured in a way that meets the requirements of Gov. Mitch Daniels for his signature. The biggest problems in private legislative negotiations appear to revolve around how to fund local government and school shortfalls, as well as…

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Commentary: When is the right time to sell?

Like the song says, “You gotta know when to fold ’em.” But how do you know when it is the proper time to sell a business? Age and health issues aside, I suggest the “trigger” moment is when there is a looming fundamental adverse change in the industry. One should not sell needlessly. The government imposes a harsh penalty for those transactions. It’s called a longterm capital gains tax. I would not fault anyone, however, for a premature exit that…

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