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EYE ON THE PIE: Let’s turn our children into assets

Could we reduce some of the major costs in our society if we had fewer children and more immigration from abroad? Think about it. Children, particularly those 15 to 19 years of age, are a major disruptive and expensive aspect of our nation. They establish behaviors that lead to lifelong misery for themselves and expenses for the rest of us. Teens get into all sorts of costly trouble. They lead police on dangerous chases because they will not obey the…

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Special Report: Buying blind: Lack of oversight leaves state in dark on real estate deals The state of Indiana knows how much it’s spending to lease property statewide -nearly $40 million a year. But it doesn’t know if that’s too much.

The state of Indiana knows how much it’s spending to lease property statewide -nearly $40 million a year. But it doesn’t know if that’s too much. State contracts for third-party real estate services give government officials few safeguards to ensure they’re paying a fair price for office, laboratory and storage space outside of state-owned buildings, those in the industry say. And state administrators have no control over seven-figure commissions paid to two Indianapolis real estate brokers in the past decade,…

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Space crunch prompts Indiana to seek help with real estate leasing duties:

Between the Statehouse, the Indiana Government Center and the State Library building, the state of Indiana owns 1.1 million square feet of real estate in downtown Indianapolis. Still, that’s not enough room to house all state government’s agencies and functions-which is why Indiana spends nearly $17 million each year to lease space elsewhere in Marion County. Some agencies, including the departments of education and health, house nearly all their office workers in privately owned buildings near the Statehouse. Other departments…

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Safety Resources Inc.: Safety pays off for ex-engineer Clients look to local firm for training, advice

Clients look to local firm for training, advice Robert Baldwin repeatedly describes his business as keeping people safe and alive. At Safety Resources Inc., that translates to making sure workplace policies and practices meet or exceed government standards and clients’ employees are trained in the safest ways to work. That can mean anything from the proper operation of heavy construction machinery to the right floor wax to reduce slip-andfall accidents. After several years as a chemical engineer, Baldwin, 50, saw…

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Past retail failures in China don’t scare Simon away: Developer’s partnership with Wal-Mart could be key

Executives of Simon Property Group Inc. are confident the shopping mall owner’s foray into China will prove successful, even though they acknowledge others have failed there. In a conference call with analysts late last month, the locally based real estate investment trust announced its plan to be the first American company to develop retailing projects in the communist country. Its first project will be a 500,000-squarefoot mall at Hangzhou, a city of 6 million people about two hours from Shanghai….

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Quiet approach drawing criticism: President’s lack of visibility hurts IU, some complain

Never mind the Herculean task of leading the state’s largest college system in a difficult economic climate; he knew that would be hard. But after two years of long weeks and late nights, he’s facing a more surprising challenge-defending himself from critics who question his ability to get the job done. IU seems to be adrift, naysayers argue, and so far Herbert doesn’t seem to be doing much to get it back on course. “It is with great regret that…

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Industry making push for creation of state fraud unit: Indiana one of only 10 states without insurance fraud agency, but funding issues could be major obstacle

Members of the insurance industry have begun a campaign to bolster the state’s fight against fraud by targeting the creation of a bureau to help combat the crime. Indiana is one of only 10 states without an agency addressing insurance fraud, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. But the goal of the task force convened by Jim Atterholt, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Insurance, is to have a fraud bureau operating within his department sometime next…

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Dose of OPPORTUNITY: Wellpoint, other health care insurers forge strategies to grab their share of Medicare drug-plan business

Afresh market that could be worth billions of dollars lies just over the horizon for health insurers like Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. Medicare, the U.S. government program for the elderly and disabled, will add a prescription drug benefit starting Jan. 1, and it could spend as much as $60 billion next year on medicines for 30 million people, according to Bloomberg News. But before insurers can start cashing in on this potential, they must develop their drug plans, win over some…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Democrats’ rebirth depends on Lake County

It may not have been a major headline in your local newspaper, but Stephen “Bob” Stiglich died last week at age 70. He was the Lake County auditor and a longtime major figure among Lake County Democrats. His passing may be an important part of the necessary regeneration of the Democratic Party in Indiana. Robert Pasterick has been deposed as mayor of East Chicago. Scott King, mayor of Gary, has separated himself from the Democratic Party and now calls himself…

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Haverstick lands DWD’s controversial IT contract: Original award to India-based Tata was election issue

Last year, it was the contract that helped turn the gubernatorial election. Now, it’s a nice piece of business for Carmel-based Haverstick Government Solutions. When Indiana awarded a multimilliondollar project to an India-based information-technology developer, Gov. Joe Kernan, a Democrat, endured intense criticism. By November, Kernan had canceled the agreement with Bombay-based Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. He also introduced “Opportunity Indiana,” an initiative for government-procurement reform. But the political damage had already been done. Republican Mitch Daniels triumphed at the…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Soon you may be able to chat at 20,000 feet

Ever since I was a kid, I resented other people’s getting by w i t h s o m e t h i n g I didn’t think I could get away with. The element of danger only adds to my Midwestern frustration at having to hold my tongue. Gas station customers smoking while fueling. Drivers cutting me off in traffic and not even noticing, thanks to the cell phones I can clearly see held to their ears. Fellow passengers…

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ABDUL-HAKIM SHABAZZ Commentary: Render unto the county what is the county’s

Well, not really. They should, however, fork over a few bucks to the government in the form of user fees. Like I said, this may be heresy, but I’ve never been mistaken for a true believer. As anyone who’s picked up a newspaper in the past few months knows, the city and county are facing huge budget shortfalls. And depending on whom you believe, it totals between $10 million and $35 million in the upcoming fiscal year alone. Mayor Bart…

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Event targets greener vehicles: Fleet operators to discuss emission-reduction methods at downtown conference

More sparks have been flying from city garbage trucks lately than a City-County Council meeting over police and sheriff’s department consolidation. Mechanics have been cutting out sections of garbage truck exhaust pipes and splicing in tubes filled with precious metals. When the “diesel oxidation catalyst” heats up, combustion gases blowing through it are cleansed before coming out the tailpipe. So simple and quick is this approach to curbing air pollution that John Chavez hopes the humble trash truck project will…

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Baby doctors ready to bolt: Clarian North’s new north-side med center to lure business from St. Vincent, Community

Storm clouds are gathering to the north as St. Vincent Health applies the last coat of polish to its $19 million Women’s Hospital renovation. The Indianapolis hospital will lose an obstetrician-gynecology group that delivers as many as 1,440 babies a year shortly after it completes its expansion in September. The 10 doctors of Women’s Health Alliance plan to move offices and shift 80 percent of their practice to a new competitor, Clarian North Medical Center, a $285 million project scheduled…

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INVESTING: Investment strategies abound, many fraught with risk

One of the advantages of living in the world’s best free-market economy is the incredible number of choices we have. It is astounding how many types of places there are to eat in New York City. Rome has the best Italian food in the world, but that’s all you can get there. In America, you can get nearly the best the entire world has to offer, and people keep coming up with new things all the time. The stock market…

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NOTIONS: Sex makes us more squeamish than violence

Two decades ago, while creating an A I D S – p r eve n t i o n campaign for Connecticut’s state health department, I became a “sexpert.” No, I didn’t become an expert on sex itself (at least no more than your average married fellow). Nor did I conduct formal sex research (I leave that to the Kinsey Institute). Instead, I became an expert on how we Americans, Puritan descendents that many of us are, resist communicating about…

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Manufacturers struggle with China’s risk, opportunity: Currency valuation one of many competitive issues

Eighteen months ago, 110 people worked for Swiss Plywood Co., a Tell City-based cabinet-maker in business since 1945. The average tenure was 17 years. Today, only 65 employees are left at the controls of Swiss Plywood’s machines. Chairman Bill Borders blames China. “We’ve weathered storms over the years,” Borders said. “But nothing approaching this.” Manufacturers in Indiana and across the nation have long complained about what they call Chinese currency manipulation. It’s one of a litany of grumbles about Chinese…

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Cook County jail contract gives local firm big boost: Government Payment Service could double business

Government Payment Service Inc.’s credit-card-based jail bond service has proven to be a successful alternative to traditional cash transactions. Now the Indianapolis-based company, which has experienced tremendous growth since its founding in 1997, could double in size, having secured a contract with the country’s largest jail system in Cook County, Ill., home to Chicago. Cook County, with 5.3 million people, is the second-most populous county in the nation, topped only by Los Angeles County in California. Processing credit card bail…

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Tax credits aid blighted areas: Help open to firms targeting Center Township projects

Federal tax credits supporting roughly $6 million in economic development projects are still available for small-business owners considering expanding or locating in Center Township. The funds are administered through the New Markets Tax Credit Program, which was established by Congress in 2000 to help revitalize blighted areas. In Indiana, the locally based Urban Enterprise Association Inc. helped secure tax credits that can fund $50 million worth of projects, including $12.5 million in Marion County. The tax credits already are supporting…

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Docs asked to put ownership stake in writing: State now requires disclosure for some patient referrals

A new state law aims to shine more light on the touchy financial relationships that can crop up when a doctor refers a patient to another health care business. Since July 1, physicians have had to provide patients with a written disclosure when they make a referral to another business in which they have an ownership interest. That could mean a laboratory, specialty hospital or an imaging center, among other possibilities. State Rep. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, said she wrote the…

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