Articles

Tiptoe through the toxins becomes walk in the park: $600,000 in federal, state grants fund initiative to turn former industrial sites into recreation areas

Take a deep breath of that air, wafting with the fragrance of methylnaphthalene. And those violets-must be the lead and arsenic in the soil that give them such a lovely glow. Nothing quite refreshes like a stroll through a hazardous waste site. Or, in the eyes of state planners, make that a former hazardous waste site. The Indiana Brownfields Program will create the Indiana Brownfields Trails & Park Initiative. It will assess abandoned industrial and commercial properties with real or…

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Media trainer becomes driving force at Speedway: Firm teaches athletes how to behave on camera

While most eyes were on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2-1/2-mile oval this month, Kevin Long was more interested in what happened in the media room. Long is not a news reporter, but he’s been focused on every word spoken to the media this month by drivers, team managers and owners. It’s Long’s job to make sure those speaking into the mike maximize the benefit for themselves, their teams and sponsors. He owns and operates MVP Sports Media Training LLC, a…

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BULLS & BEARS: Market history suggests election lead-up will rock

Two weeks ago, I mentioned that there could be a way to profit from now until the big election late next year. The election is still more than 500 days away, and I already am tired of the sound bites. But if there is a way to make a nickel from the candidates’ hot air, the race might be tolerable. On a recent television appearance, Rich Karlgaard of Forbes said he thought the Dow Jones industrial average could hit 18,000…

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INVESTING: Outlook bright long term, but look out for potholes

Bull markets can take many forms, depending on the investor’s perspective. Terms like secular and cyclical get thrown around, along with more obscure references to Kondratief Waves and Fibonacci sequences. I know day traders who think a bull market lasts only two hours. Then there’s Warren Buffett, who still has a few positions he bought in 1974. I remember cruising around Indianapolis eight years ago looking for a home so my family could move from Florida and seeing gas at…

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Is title sponsor in 500’s future?: Indy Racing League throttles up sales efforts, considers aggressive new marketing deals

The Indy Racing League is overhauling its sales effort, an initiative industry observers said could lead to an eight-figure annual title sponsorship and exponential growth for the league and its teams. Officials for the company tabbed to lead the revolution said there isn’t any sponsorship deal that won’t be considered by Speedway brass, including a title sponsorship for the Indianapolis 500, a sacred property once thought untouchable. Race fans have been focused on the Brickyard’s 2-1/2-mile oval this month. But…

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Few hearing talk on FM: Station’s ratings plunge after format change

Indianapolis radio listeners are turning a deaf ear to the market’s newest talk-radio offering. According to recently released Arbitron Inc. radio station ratings, the newly formatted WWFT-FM 93.9 is fighting for its life as central Indiana’s fourth news-talk frequency. The station that dropped its contemporary Christian format and old WISG call letters the day after Christmas registered a paltry 0.8 rating in the first quarter, according to New York-based Arbitron’s most recent tally. Meanwhile, its commercial newstalk competitors, WIBC-AM 1070…

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MICKEY MAURER Commentary: We need teachers to fight intolerance

MICKEY MAURER Commentary We need teachers to fight intolerance MEMORANDUM TO: Eugene White, superintendent, Indianapolis Public Schools FROM: Michael S. Maurer DATE: May 19, 2007 RE: Amy Sorrell-an opportunity Gene, have you been following the travails of Amy Sorrell? Please consider recruiting her to teach and mentor our children. Amy Sorrell was an English and journalism teacher at Woodlan Junior-Senior High School in Allen County near Fort Wayne. One of the courses she taught was “Student Publications” and in that…

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Contamination reconsidered: Developers show more acceptance toward environmental trouble spots When property is scarce, mitigation becomes viable

When property is scarce, mitigation becomes viable The plan to close Citizens Gas & Coke Utility’s coke manufacturing plant this year has already brought a few inquires about its reuse potential. But perhaps the biggest impact of the foundry fuel-maker’s demise will be stoking discussions over whether other environmentally scarred properties are ripe for redevelopment. Until recent years, many developers regarded any property with even a tinge of environmental contamination as if a parcel in Chernobyl. The coke plant “illustrates…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Indiana: the land of convenience

What advantage does Indiana have over other places? Living here gives you more time for living. Put differently, Hoosiers drive fewer minutes each way each day to and from work compared to many people living in other parts of the nation. The May 7 issue of U.S. News and World Report lamented the stress placed on Americans by gridlock. It discussed the “war on traffic” and suffocating congestion. With hope, the authors pointed to new transit systems and trafficmanagement techniques…

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What’s ailing Indiana’s banks?: State-based bank stocks are trailing national peers as industry deals with tough period

Indiana bank stocks have taken a beating on Wall Street over the past year, lagging behind larger peers as the entire industry rides out an unfavorable environment. Shares of Indiana’s 16 publicly traded banks dropped an average of 3 percent from May 4, 2006, to May 4, 2007, according to research by Carmel-based banking consulting firm Renninger & Associates LLC. Meanwhile, the nationwide SNL Financial bank index was up 4.4 percent. During the same period, the Dow Jones industrial average…

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Indianapolis’ offer on the table:

INDIANAPOLIS HAS: Seating for up to 73,000 and a retractable roof at Lucas Oil Stadium, set to open in 2008. The press box seats 200, but event space could be converted for additional media use. PRACTICE FACILITIES NFL WANTS: Comparable practice facilities for both Super Bowl teams, including a covered field with the same turf as the stadium, locker rooms for players and coaches, meeting rooms, and laundry service. INDIANAPOLIS HAS: The Colts’ 56th Street football complex. Bid organizers have…

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NOTIONS: Hoosier college presidents teach a liberal arts lesson

Last Monday morning, my work took me to West Lafayette. When I learned that Purdue University would name a new president that afternoon, I decided to stick around for the festivities. Hundreds of people gathered in the Loeb Playhouse for the one-agenda-item trustees’ meeting. The vote was unanimous. The introductory speech outlined an “out-of-this-world” resume. And out from behind the curtain emerged 59-year-old France Córdova: astrophysicist, university administrator, creative writer-someone Purdue board chair J. Timothy McGinley called “truly a Renaissance…

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Banking industry slowly embracing biometric security: Local tech firm rolls out keystroke authentication systems to financial institutions

The banking industry is turning to the next generation of online security to thwart cyberthieves, and an Indianapolis information technology consulting firm is trying to stay at the forefront of the movement. Locally based Catalyst Technology Group has received a contract from BioPassword Inc., a security-software company based in Issaquah, Wash., to install keystroke authentication systems at financial institutions throughout the United States. Keystroke authentication is among the latest offerings from the field of biometrics-the measurement and analysis of unique…

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Breaking bread, breaking down barriers: International Center pairs local hosts, visiting delegates to promote cultural understanding

International Center pairs local hosts, visiting delegates to promote cultural understanding When a group of Iraqi editors and writers visited Indianapolis last summer as part of the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program, they learned about American journalism and Hoosier hospitality. Florence May, a member of the International Center of Indianapolis’ board and president of Simply Hospitality-an Indianapolis-based special-event planning company-hosted the group for dinner in her home. May grew up in a military family and has lived throughout…

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Web rates get banks’ attention: Some try to compete by boosting savings yields

In an effort to lure new customers, more traditional banks are beginning to emulate their Internet adversaries and offer online savings accounts boasting much higher annual yields. Customers are increasingly turning to Internet banks because they offer highyield savings accounts that don’t require massive balances. First Internet Bank of Indiana, founded in 1998 by local tech entrepreneur David Becker as the first state-chartered Internetonly bank, has seen its assets grow to more than $530 million in less than a decade…

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BULLS & BEARS: Why ETFs are gaining on mutual fund industry

The big election is 18 months away. Is there an investment you can use to play it? I think so if you look to a rising star that is attracting the attention of the wealthy as well as the common man. This star’s popularity has gone from relative obscurity a decade ago to a media frenzy now. If this were 1958, you would think I was talking about JFK, and today Obama comes to mind. But I’m not thinking of…

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INVESTING: Google’s been outbidding Microsoft; is it overpaying?

Google hasn’t been around for even 10 years, yet it has the world’s wealthiest man and his company playing defense practically on their home court. In many cases, great defenses wins titles (our own Colts defense proved invaluable during this past season’s Super Bowl run) but the jury is out on whether Microsoft can successfully keep Google in check during this battle of technology heavyweights. The real action began in late 2005 when Google paid $1 billion for a 5-percent…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: IT departments are often overworked and underfunded

Why do trucking companies overload their trucks, when they know they’ll damage the very highways they need for their livelihoods? Why do people keep defiantly watering their lawns in d r o u g h t – s t r i c ke n areas? Why do we buy cheap goods from discount retailers when we know they were made in sweatshops? And why do employees download streaming audio and video, when they’re repeatedly warned that these things turn high-speed…

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Former sales rep alleges Ohio roofing firm overcharged: Tremco denies civil charges of unfair business practices in its work for Indiana school corporations

A longtime sales representative for one of the roofing industry’s largest manufacturers alleges his former employer defrauded Indiana public schools out of more than $1.5 million. Brennen Baker charges that the company, Beachwood, Ohio-based Tremco Inc., circumvented Indiana’s public bidding laws for school projects; overcharged for its services; and billed for materials, services and equipment it never delivered. Baker was a Tremco sales rep for southwest and central Indiana from 1991 until January 2004. Baker, who later founded the Fishers-based…

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State’s big colleges don’t lead way in presidential pay: Chiefs at IU, Purdue, Ball State haven’t crossed half-million-dollar mark, but there are perks aplenty

Competition for top college presidents is intense these days. But neither Indiana University nor Purdue University trustees appear willing to break the bank to make sure they’re landing the right leader. About one in six of the public universities surveyed by the Chronicle of Higher Education now pays its president more than $500,000. That’s well above the $400,000 IU’s new leader, Michael McRobbie, will collect-though his wife, Laurie Burns McRobbie, will receive another $90,000 for her efforts to support and…

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