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Mayor: police merger certain: Key leaders line up to negotiate cop consolidation

The stars have finally aligned for a police merger. The key stakeholders are aboard and Mayor Bart Peterson, who has always qualified his cop consolidation plan as hypothetical, now openly predicts its success. S p e a k i n g directly on the subject for the first time, Peterson, a Democrat, told IBJ the General Assembly wrote a “blank check” allowing a merger between the Indianapolis Police Department and the Marion County Sheriff’s Department. He intends to see it…

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Growth in big supply at 3-year-old Milor: Entrepreneur taps experience to land big clients

Michelle Taylor’s first customer was a north-side hotel that ordered 3,000 janitorial gloves a month. She got up at 3 a.m., processed the order out of her garage, and delivered the gloves in her car. Less than three years later, Indianapolisbased Milor Supply Inc. delivers 36,000 gloves a month, plus janitorial equipment and supplies and safety equipment, to universities, city and state governments, hospitals and a host of other industries across the country. The 35-year-old black female entrepreneur has moved…

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TOM HARTON Commentary: Patriotism that douses the fireworks

Friends, then foes, then friends once again as their lives drew to a close, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the same day: July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. That these two Founding Fathers died on Independence Day and on the golden anniversary of such an important day in the country’s history was widely accepted at the time as proof of the “Divine favor” shown the young United States of America. One-hundred seventy-nine years…

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State plays wait, see: Indiana likely to follow federal lead regarding oversight of charities

As the national conversation about improving not-for-profit oversight gains volume, Indiana’s top charity watchdog is tuning in-while he considers whether to join the cacophony. Attorney General Steve Carter convened an informal group of advisers to weigh in on the topic last year, ultimately pushing for changes in state law that give him more ways to deal with abuses in the sector. Now he’s content to let federal efforts play out before determining what more can be done to keep the…

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ITT paid for feds’ aggression: Sweeping probe didn’t lead to charges against firm, top execs

On a chilly winter morning 16 months ago, federal investigators converged on ITT Educational Services Inc.’s Carmel headquarters and 10 of its 77 campuses, gathering documents in a high-profile raid that rattled investors and sent the company’s shares into a free fall. Now, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston, which obtained the search warrants authorizing the raid, acknowledges its sweeping criminal probe failed to turn up evidence that would justify charges against the company or its top brass. The turnabout,…

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Marian College launches motorsports curriculum: Classes to focus on business side of racing

This fall, Marian College will begin offering a unique curriculum focused on the business of motorsports. Initially, motorsports-related classes will be offered within Marian’s sports management program, but school officials said they’d like to expand the program to offer a minor and major in motorsports management. Unlike programs at Purdue University, IUPUI and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Marian’s courses will not focus on computers and engineering. Instead, the program will instruct students in marketing, communications, sales and business management in…

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Mayor announces $30 million in budget cuts:

Mayor Bart Peterson June 29 announced $30 million in emergency cuts from the city’s 2005-2006 budget. Public safety took the brunt of the cuts. The Indianapolis Police Department will lose 78 officers through retirements and attrition. The Indianapolis Fire Department will lose 44 firefighters, also through attrition. In anticipation of the need for cuts, the city began leaving some of those jobs open in January. When finished, IPD’s force will drop from 1,232 to 1,154. Unless the General Assembly approves…

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INVESTING: Embracing China thorny issue for government, markets

International trade issues abound. There are both long- and short-term stock market implications to these deals, along with political and social effects. China is the overwhelming player in most of the stories, but some closer neighbors are also in the game. A major Chinese oil firm called CNOOC made an offer for Unocal, which was in the process of being bought out by Chevron. The CNOOC offer is higher by a few billion dollars, and it is cash, but there…

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Universities reach out to improve diversity: Purdue, IU use local offices to lure minority suppliers

Purdue University’s most recent step includes opening an office in Indianapolis that will serve as a contact point for minority-owned companies that are interested in doing business with the school. Purdue also is becoming one of the major sponsors of the annual Indiana Black Expo. These two projects are being headed by Jesse Moore, who became Purdue’s manager for supplier diversity development in February. Moore previously led the Indianapolis Black Chamber of Commerce for nine years. Officials say it’s important…

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EYE ON THE PIE: BMV closings raise bigger issue

The closing of several offices of the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles involves serious issues that are worth attention. Just after the end of the legislative session, the BMV commissioner announced that a few smaller offices would be closed. The number of patrons these offices serve was deemed insufficient to maintain and staff the facilities. In an age of increasing use of electronic transactions, this makes sense. One of these facilities was in Hope, a small Bartholomew County town in…

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Director leaves small-biz agency: Disagreement over host sponsor helped sway decision

The head of the Central Indiana Small Business Development Center resigned this month following a rift over who might host the agency. Mary Jane Gonzalez, who came on board as executive director of the Central Indiana SBDC in July 2003, left to become director of business development at Mezzetta Construction Inc. Gonzalez’s departure leaves the Central Indiana SBDC, where budding entrepreneurs can seek advice without paying high consulting fees, without a leader for the third time in roughly three years….

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NOTIONS: Does principal or principle matter more?

A few weeks ago, my friend John and I treated our three 17-year-olds to a boys’ night out. We started off at Bazbeaux downtown, inhaling guy pizza (read: pepperoni and sausage) and dissecting the big news of the day-Michael Jackson’s acquittal on charges that he shared alcohol, porn and a little night groping with a teen-age boy. Our teen-age boys, news junkies all, then rattled on about kids getting paid to play online video games and the proliferation of “cheats”…

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Taking the pulse of life sciences: Experts weigh in on whether Indiana is keeping up in the economic development race

IBJ: Is Indiana gaining ground against other states in the race to grow as a life sciences hub? What are some specific benchmarks that underscore your opinion? JOHNSON: Indiana is gaining ground, but Indiana already starts on really very substantial ground. There are a lot of outside validations of that and I think it’s important for this audience to hear a couple of them because there is nothing like having people on the outside pay attention to what we’re doing…

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VC tax credit rarely used by startups: Less than 17 percent of incentives tapped

Last year, Indiana approved tax credits worth nearly $16.3 million to encourage speculation on local high-tech startups. Investors left most of the credits-$13.5 million worth-on the table. The highly touted Indiana Venture Capital Investment tax credit program debuted in January 2004. It allows investors in approved startups to write 20 percent of their outlay off their state taxes. Indiana certified 42 young companies last year as eligible for its venture capital credit. According to the Indiana Economic Development Corp., investors…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS Patrick Barkey: Intelligence isn’t only factor that sets earnings potential

Do we have a passion for economics? Judging from the numbers of economics majors at colleges and universities across the country, the answer is probably no. The world of graphs and statistics we inhabit is not everyone’s cup of tea. But if few of us like to study the economy, we all have to live and work within its borders. And the most important interaction most of us will ever have with the economy occurs when we venture into the…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Our state has twisted priorities

No recent column has aroused so much outrage as my remarks concerning our state government’s investment in tourism. I argued that it was a waste of money and that, if such expenditures are to be made, they should come from the private sector exclusively, not from tax dollars. Kaboom! An entire industry wants to educate me, if they cannot eradicate me. At the same time, a worthy landmark is about to disappear. The Randolph County Courthouse, in Winchester, is scheduled…

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Med school takes hit: IU trims $5.2 million from budget, cuts 36 positions

The school tabled some construction plans and may have to curtail recruiting of “star” faculty in areas such as diabetes research, said Dr. Craig Brater, the school’s dean. On top of that, the school cut 36 positions and halted spending for several programs after it was hit by decreases in state funding and grants, and a rise in expenses. Brater said the medical school has been lucky “in large part” to receive the funding it needed over the years. He…

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Debate over health care development takes legal twist: Three county-imposed construction moratoriums face federal lawsuits

Hospitals and developers recently filed lawsuits in U.S. District Court against three counties that enacted moratoriums to slow health care construction in their territory. The Sisters of St. Francis Health Services Inc. sued Morgan County in April, and some Kentucky-based companies filed complaints against Clark and Floyd counties June 13. County officials say they need to make sure their county-owned hospitals remain viable in the face of more development. They also argue that providers want to enter their turf and…

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Franchise program gives veterans a break: Marine Reserve colonel taps VetFran initiative to open lighting business

After resorting to a home-equity loan to finance the roughly $100,000 he needed to open an Outdoor Lighting Perspectives franchise, Karl Lundberg still fell short of cash. But, fortunately for Lundberg, a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, the North Carolina-based company honors the Veterans Transition Franchise Initiative, known as VetFran. The program, reintroduced almost three years ago by the International Franchise Association and supported by the Office of Veterans Affairs, gives financial breaks to veterans wanting to purchase…

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TAWN PARENT Commentary: This is no time for Hoosier hysteria

Some big decisions this spring have not made me particularly proud to be a Hoosier or a resident of Indianapolis. Sure, we got funding for a new stadium and a convention center expansion. That will bring more visitors to our community, and it says we care about sports and tourism. And glory hallelujah! We finally got daylight-saving time, the economic benefits of which are unproven. That says we care about being like everyone else, whether it makes any sense or…

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