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Purdue professor developing weapon for AIDS battle: Lower-cost testing device could save money for more treatment in disease-ravaged Africa, other countries

The professor of cytomics-the study of cell systems-is leading an effort to develop a low-cost device that would help more Africans get tested for the deadly disease. His goal, bolstered by his Cytometry for Life not-for-profit, is to build thousands of units that can be delivered to third-world countries around the globe. Robinson has completed the prototype and returned in March from a weeklong trip to Nigeria, where he and fellow university researchers met with government and health care officials…

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INVESTING: Keep eye on inflation but don’t batten down hatches

For the first time in a while, I am going to use both hands when I write the column. If you visit this space even occasionally, you know I call my spots and I don’t hedge my opinion. I was practically all alone in late February when I wrote as forcefully as I could to buy in the sell-off, which was almost the exact bottom, and readers have been amply rewarded. But today I am going to talk about interest…

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Task force to tackle big job: tallying infrastructure needs: Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce leads one-year study

Indianapolis hasn’t attempted to systematically catalog all its infrastructure needs since 1991. Back then, the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce collected a list of the most pressing local projects and presented it to Mayor Stephen Goldsmith. The price tag at that time: $1.1 billion. A lot has changed in the 16 years since the Chamber released its Getting Indianapolis Fit for Tomorrow report. Some problems it identified, such as the health risk of combined sewer overflows, have been partly addressed….

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STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Finally, property tax reform takes center stage

April 2 will start a busy-and important-week in the life of the Indiana General Assembly. House and Senate c o m m i t t e e s w i l l effectively wrap up their respective work, hearing the bills they choose to after the legislation moved across the Rotunda from their opposite chambers. The following week, you can look forward to a few days of floor votes on amendments and final passage in each chamber, and then legislators…

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Reform push casts cloud over booming Sallie Mae:

Shares of Sallie Mae, one of Hamilton County’s biggest employers, have fallen more than 25 percent over the past year as investors fret that Congress will overhaul the student-loan industry, halving interest rates and bringing the company’s boom times to an end. Momentum for an industry overhaul has been building since Democrats gained control of Congress in November. Concerns peaked in February when President Bush submitted a budget proposal that included cuts in industry subsidies. Changes under consideration could whack…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Why economists don’t get invited to parties

To borrow a phrase from religion, there are among us a number of people who can be called “supermarket economists.” These are individuals who pick and choose the portions of economic doctrine they like, and ignore the conclusions of economics that do not suit their purposes. In public discourse, supermarket economists so greatly outnumber genuine economists that when one first encounters the real animal-usually in a college classroom-the reaction can be a mixture of shock and disappointment. Maybe that’s why…

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Commentary: It’s time to split Indiana in two

A couple of years ago, during the daylight-saving time debate, a caller into my radio show suggested Indiana be divided into two time zones, one Eastern, one Central, with U.S. 31 as the dividing line. The caller suggested that, this way, people who wanted to be in the Eastern time zone could live in the eastern half of the state and those who wanted to be on Central time could live in the western half. I told the caller he…

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Struggling office buildings face further losses: Existing tenants shopping for deals in troubled market

A big question is looming for property managers at National City Center and First Indiana Plaza: Will tenants stay or will they go? Each of the downtown office buildings already is struggling, with occupancy rates in the 60-percent range at the end of 2006. But a grim situation could worsen if some of their largest tenants with expiring leases find a better deal elsewhere. Law firm Bose McKinney & Evans is considering a move from 80,000 square feet at First…

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INVESTING: Interference from government is bad for business

On my way into work the other day, I heard an analyst on Bloomberg Radio say he was surprised at the poor performance of the parent company of Airbus, EADS. He said he was ready for a slight earnings miss, but to fall on its face as much as it did, well, that shocked him. What shocked me was how anyone put faith in a giant conglomerate pretty much run by the French government and a few other half-baked socialist…

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Concrete price-fixing case might not be wrapped up: Undisclosed state investigation delaying civil lawsuit

The U.S. Department of Justice’s highprofile, three-year investigation into price fixing in Indiana’s concrete industry resulted in one of the largest antitrust fines in history: $29.2 million against Greenfield-based Irving Materials Inc. The investigation might not be over yet. The DOJ seemed to conclude its Indianapolis inquiry last month, finally closing the criminal case. But a recent filing in a pending civil suit against IMI and its four former top executives hints the probe is continuing elsewhere. This time, IMI…

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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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Mass-transit movement focuses on education: Passenger projections, search for director delay effort

Efforts to secure a mass-transit system for central Indiana are moving ahead. But not rapidly. Several mass-transit bills are pending in the General Assembly-including one requiring the Indiana Department of Transportation to study building a rail system from Indianapolis to Muncie, and another encouraging development of mass-transit systems across the state. But neither is likely to result in immediate funding for a system serving Indianapolis commuters. Local mass-transit advocates still are a long way from winning over lawmakers and others…

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Sarbanes reprieve possible: Lawmakers consider extension for small biz

Small public companies yet to comply with the stringent accounting provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could receive a reprieve from federal regulators weighing a one-year extension. Section 404 of the act requires public corporations to assess their internal accounting controls to ensure their financial reporting is accurate-and requires accounting firms to vouch for those controls. To comply with the act, which was enacted in the wake of financial scandals at Enron Corp. and MCI WorldCom, public companies have devoted thousands…

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VIEWPOINT: The changing face of our homeless

The face of the homeless is changing in our community. Two decades ago, the image conjured up by Indianapolis residents would be that of a panhandler near the Circle or the occasional man with the “Will work for food” sign standing just off an exit ramp; homeless families were virtually nonexistent. The fact is, this image is about half right-literally. Single homeless men make up around 60 percent of the homeless in our city. Remarkably, the other 40 percent are…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Here’s another tax break you may have overlooked

Financial advisors counsel clients on income, estate and gift taxes among other things. But they often neglect residential property taxes. That could well be a mistake. Property taxes are a significant cost of owning real estate – typically 1 percent to 1.5 percent of market value. So, they must be considered in making financial decisions. They can also be a significant cash-flow consideration for someone in retirement who has a lot of illiquid wealth-not just for your primary residence, but…

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INVESTING: Subprime lenders slammed as housing bubble bursts

Subprime is a funny term. The word prime connotes best of class, front row, all that stuff. Stick the word sub in front of it and it seems as if you are getting something a few rows back, but still better than average. Pertaining to the residential mortgage market, however, the word means something entirely different. Asset bubbles are created from something genuine (the Internet is indeed changing everything) and they are extended through the use of leverage. Now that…

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Banks quick to embrace remote checking: Customers get on board as more institutions allow checks to be scanned, transmitted, deposited electronically

ATMs are still convenient, but not much of a novelty anymore. That distinction now belongs to remote-deposit capture-a high-tech advancement that guarantees a big payoff for banks and their customers alike. “From a technological standpoint, it’s the biggest thing happening in banking in 2007,” said Lee Wetherington, senior vice president at Brentwood, Tenn.-based software maker Goldleaf Financial Inc. Remote-deposit capture eliminates the need for businesses to physically deposit checks at their bank branch. Using the new technology, checks are scanned…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Ideas needed for fixing health care financing

It’s been 15 years since third-party presidential candidate Ross Perot briefly captured the nation’s attention with his crisp, witty promises to “look under the hood” to fix the problems in Washington. Since that time, some problems have gotten worse, some have gotten better. But in this era of political polarization and legislative gridlock, the idea of a new face coming to town to actually fix some of the problems we face today is as appealing as ever. What would such…

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State’s financial institutions leader quietly blazes trail: Appointment of Rice puts a credit union leader in top spot for first time; bankers group withholds judgment

Rick Rice’s ascension to chairman of the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions typically would be the type of lowkey government appointment that invokes nary a murmur of opposition. Why would it when current affairs facing the sevenmember panel are as harmless as allowing state-chartered financial institutions to charge patrons who wish to skip a loan payment? Yet, Rice’s selection in late January as head of the DFI board has the credit union community gushing with pride, and the banking industry…

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NOTIONS: How to save lives, money, and still win re-election

As a hearing-impaired, diabetic, migraine-suffering cancer survivor, father of a cancer survivor and widower of a cancer victim, I’ve followed my share of doctor’s orders. So I’ve taken two of Monroe’s tenaciousness pills, and I’m calling (well, writing) you in the morning. Since my late wife the non-smoker was diagnosed with a smoker’s cancer, I’ve shared our sad story to educate government officials and citizens about the dangers of secondhand smoke. But let’s skip the emotions this time, abandon impatience…

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