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BEHIND THE NEWS: Murky motive adds intrigue to Old National loan saga

In the buttoneddown world of banking, it doesn’t get much stranger than this: An Indianapolis loan officer with a strong reputation is suddenly dismissed after his employer charges he falsified lending documents. The bank says the fraud exposes it to potential losses approaching $20 million. And here’s the kicker: The employer hasn’t accused the banker of committing the wrongdoing for personal gain. There are no allegations, for instance, of setting up fictitious borrowers to scoop up bank cash on his…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Why Indiana’s AAA bond rating should please all of us

Sometimes, obscure economic issues matter a great deal to our economic well-being. One example is the news that Indiana’s bond rankings have risen to the highest level, the highly coveted AAA ranking from Standard and Poor’s. Why that happened, what it means and why it is important should matter to Hoosiers. To begin with, all states, like virtually all households, borrow money to ease cash flow issues. States also borrow money to make infrastructure investments. The government essentially takes out…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Genetic info act will do more than stop discrimination

The promise of personalized medicine-genetic tests that allow more informed and individualized health care decisions-has been blocked in recent times as patients struggle with the fear that those same genetic test results could bring genetic discrimination in the form of cancelled health insurance coverage or even the catastrophe of job loss. In 1997, Indiana enacted a state law protecting genetic screening or testing and prohibiting health insurers from considering any information obtained from such testing in a manner adverse to…

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Commentary: Please copy this column

(In deference to ’60s radical Abbie Hoffman and his 1971 cult paperback “Steal This Book,” I hereby relinquish our copyright to this column and give you permission to copy it. I’ll tell you what to do with it later.) Silly me, I thought Mitch Daniels had really shaken things up and done a great job in his first four years as governor. To hear his Democratic opponents in the upcoming election tell it, you’d think he had provided uninspired leadership…

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Pearson Partners recovers from HHGregg loss: Agency gains new clients, projects 20-percent growth

Ron Pearson said business at his Indianapolis-based advertising agency over the last year has been “stellar.” Exaggeration or not, any growth at Pearson Partners is a 180-degree reversal from the dire situation the firm faced just a year ago. In April 2007, Pearson’s firm-then called Pearson McMahon Fletcher England-lost its biggest client, HHGregg. Last summer, Pearson cut nearly half its work force, paring the agency down to about 20 employees in the wake of losing the $20-million-plus account. Pearson’s capitalized…

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WellPoint expected to look for growth overseas

WellPoint Inc., the most dominant health insurer in the United States, registers as barely a pipsqueak in the rest of the
world. But it’s only a matter of time, say industry experts, before WellPoint plunges into foreign markets to grow sales of
its health benefits and services.

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Bank-run scenes create concerns: IndyMac situation unlikely in Indiana, but customers should check out stability of their banks, experts warn

It was a scary scene, reminiscent of the Great Depression: Customers lined up outside California’s IndyMac Bank branches to withdraw deposits after a bank run led to the bank’s failure. The images have driven some central Indiana customers-businesses and individuals-to take a more critical look at the strength of their banks and the safety of their deposits. Even as financial stocks rallied in mid-July, the risk remains for more bank failures. Dismal earnings reports and massive write-downs continued in recent…

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INVESTING: Woes of Fannie, Freddie overshadow bank calamity

Wall Street often is nothing more than a game of three-card monte, with the majority of players losing because they were looking at the wrong card. It is challenging enough to make money during bull markets. But during bear markets, the distractions and traps are everywhere, and they are lethal. There is a big distraction right now that is masking what could be the falling domino that sends everything else toppling over. The disaster of the month is the near-collapse…

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PRICKING up interest: Acupuncture businesses could be on the rise after state drops doctor-referral requirement

A new law that went into effect July 1 says patients no longer need a physician referral before receiving acupuncture treatments. The upshot for a profession that only became legal in the state within the past 10 years is that acupuncturists should benefit from a boost in business. Competition is expected to increase as well, as the favorable conditions could prompt more of them to seek licenses in Indiana. The referral requirement has been a thorn in the side of…

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FUNNY BUSINESS: You’ll know really bad drivers when you see them

A reader recently forwarded an e-mail ranking the worst American drivers by city, along with the suggestion “Make fun of this.” While I usually don’t respond to such directives, this case was different, seeing as how it came from my mother. You know how it is. Anyway, here we go-a column about the worst drivers in America, as ranked by a well-known insurance company and recommended by Mom. The Top 10 “Where-Did-These-People-Get-Their-Licenses?” cities are: Columbia, S.C.; St. Louis, Mo.; Greensboro,…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: The sagest of investors takes drubbing on WellPoint bet

Here’s some news that might be comforting as you fret over your depleted stock portfolio: Even Warren Buffett, the oracle of Omaha, gets it wrong sometimes. At least he’s wrong so far on Well-Point Inc., the giant Indianapolis-based health insurer. His Berkshire Hathaway Inc. began scooping up shares in the company in the first quarter of 2007. By June of last year, it had acquired 4.2 million shares. And by the end of the first quarter of this year-the latest…

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Local law firm fills entertaining niche: Lawyer’s music background helps land creative clients

In the late 1980s, Lafayette native Robert Meitus set off for Los Angeles with his band East of Eden in an attempt to make it in the music business. The group that shared management with Guns N’ Roses [singer Axl Rose grew up in Lafayette] never reached a sliver of its fame, however fleeting. But the experience did give Meitus an introduction to what ultimately would lead to a burgeoning career as an intellectual property lawyer. Capital Records came calling,…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS Mike Hicks: What it takes to make our health care system healthy

The U.S. health care policy debate has been strangely quiet the past few months. But the underlying problems grow ever more serious. Here’s some background. First, health care costs are rising rapidly. A huge amount of the increase stems from greater demand for the most costly services. These services include advanced end-of-life care, much more extensive neonatal care, and high-end elective surgery. Higher use of these services represents perhaps the largest single contributor to overall health care costs. Second, we…

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Networks help practices extend their reach:

Outside of Indiana, the local law firm of Bose McKinney & Evans LLP has a nominal presence in Washington, D.C., and Raleigh, N.C. Yet, the midsize practice with roughly 130 lawyers in Indianapolis is handling an immigration issue for a fellow firm in India and is encouraged about prospects in Argentina, Colombia and Puerto Rico. Global gigs typically are reserved for larger rivals with an international scope. But scores of firms that want to expand their reach, without the risk…

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Columbus Regional Hospital taps savings to survive flood: Center hopes to open emergency room within weeks

If you’re a hospital and a flood has just shut down your facility for months, how do you survive? Pretty much like a person who’s just lost a job. Put big projects on hold and raid the savings account. Columbus Regional Hospital, evacuated and closed on June 7 because of historic levels of flooding, has tapped $30 million it set aside for building projects. It is now using the money to pay employees while it’s closed. Wages and benefits for…

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Butler’s pharmacy addition just what the doctor ordered: New $14M building will help college meet increasing demand for graduates

Mary Andritz, dean of Butler University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, bursts into laughter when asked how long her department’s been short on space. “I’ve only been here for two years, but I think it’s been for some considerable amount of time,” she guessed. “Probably for 10 years.” Lilly Endowment Inc., however, is filling the prescription in the form of a grant to fund a 40,000-square-foot addition under construction and scheduled to open by the fall 2009 semester. The…

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Local tree-care firms respond to rash of storms: Forestry specialists and arborists work 14-hour days to keep up with sky-high demand in central Indiana

If there’s a silver lining to high winds and torrential rain, it can be found in the bank accounts of companies called upon to clean up the mess. For the dozens of tree cutting, trimming and hauling firms that fill up seven pages in the local Yellow Pages, the storms of late spring came at just the right time. “We didn’t get one call for three weeks prior to the storms hitting,” said Russell Goodman, owner of locally based All…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: $18M nightmare continues for law firm on east side

When a Marion County jury two years ago issued an $18 million malpractice judgment against an east-side Indianapolis law firm, the figure was almost too large to believe. Surely this was the kind of zany jury verdict that an appeals court would swiftly overturn. No such luck. The Indiana Court of Appeals last month upheld the verdict against Fillenwarth Dennerline Groth & Towe. And now attorneys for the plaintiff, the Indiana Department of Insurance, are tightening the screws. They’re asking…

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