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IPS building consensus before building: So far, seeking input from neighbors has avoided major legal fights during $832 million construction program

A plan to renovate School 57 in the eastside Irvington neighborhood might require the demolition of three nearby homes whose owners welcome the idea. That is in stark contrast to the Meridian-Kessler residents who vehemently opposed a proposal earlier this year that could have taken three houses to accommodate the expansion of School 84. But in both instances, Indianapolis Public Schools is likely to avoid invoking eminent domain powers to forcefully acquire the properties. In doing so, the school corporation…

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Indianapolis responds to Katrina devastation:

Local philanthropic response to the epic disaster was almost immediate. Television and radio stations alike urged central Indiana audiences to make donations at dozens of collection sites, and the Salvation Army’s Indiana Division broke out its red kettles to help. The corporate community also responded. Gifts made by IBJ’s deadline include: Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. said it will contribute $1 million to the American Red Cross and match all contributions made by its U.S. employees. Lilly also will give…

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Ethanol fuel pumps may debut here by ’06: Still no place for the masses to buy E85, despite interest in the alternative to gasoline

Even though Indiana is one of the nation’s biggest growers of corn-the key ingredient in cheaper-than-gasoline ethanol-not a single ethanol pump is available to the average motorist in the Indianapolis area. That twisted irony in a day of record gasoline prices may soon be no more, with a handful of central Indiana gas stations likely to start offering an ethanol alternative-known as E85-by yearend, according to proponents of the fuel. “I hope by Christmas to have a couple in the…

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Student teachers get taste of urban schools: Ball State lets future educators spend semester in IPS

For many students majoring in education at Ball State University, thinking about teaching in an urban elementary school conjures up images of unruly students, apathetic parents and old, rundown buildings. These and other similarly negative perceptions are generally inaccurate, say BSU educators, but they are gathered in surveys conducted each year. So the BSU Urban Semester Program places students in an Indianapolis Public School for 16 weeks in the hope they acquire more positive-and accurate-images. “We find students have horrible…

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SPORTS: Life lessons revealed on a nine-hole golf course

I received the best golf lesson of my life recently, and it didn’t cost a dime. My instructor didn’t work on my grip, my stance or my posture at address. He didn’t tell me to keep my head down, my left arm straight or to turn my hips toward the target. We didn’t talk about fluffy, plugged or tight lies. We didn’t talk about reading putts or reading divots. We didn’t work on driving, long irons, short irons, wedge play…

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IU makes pigskin promotional push: New coach, aggressive advertising are part of multi-prong strategy to escape financial hole

The Indiana University Athletic Department is intent on reaping financial rewards from its football program for the first time in more than a decade with a marketing campaign built around its affable new coach, Terry Hoeppner. IU officials said they will spend nearly as much on marketing the school’s football program this year as on Hoeppner’s $250,000 base salary. Bolstering football attendance is a critical step toward stopping financial hemorrhaging in the school’s Athletic Department, IU officials said. In 2004,…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: New Ritter’s CEO patches up frayed franchisee relations

If Ritter’s Frozen Custard goes on to prosper, the behindthe-scenes retooling the Carmel-based chain received over the past year will make a revealing case study for MBA students. IBJ in September 2004 reported the Ritter family had reacquired control of RFC Franchising LLC and installed Bob Ritter, son of retired founder John Ritter, to replace Saul Lemke as CEO. Franchisees in the chain, which has 62 stores in eight states, were glad to see Lemke go. Their view: During his…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: High energy prices make consumers act rationally

Have you seen the latest opinion polls on the Bush administration? At a time when the U.S. economy is growing faster than that of any other industrialized nation, when unemployment rates are down and consumer spending is up, less than half of us think the president is doing a good job handling the economy. There’s plenty to find fault in our economic performance, of course. We still have a massive trade imbalance with the rest of the world. The federal…

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SPORTS: NCAA not shy about taking on hot-button issues

The Indianapolisbased NCAA can be-and usually is-accused of a lot of things. Sticking its big, bureaucratic head in the sand is not one of them, at least not any longer. Say what you will about the organization under the leadership of Myles Brand since he came on board as president 2-1/2 years ago, but he has seen to it that wishy-washy is a term best left at the Laundromat. Academic reform and accountability, student-athlete welfare, a streamlined legislative process, rules…

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GuyFest: Motorcycles, brewers, home theaters … New event targets CEOs to steelworkers

It’s not a new medical procedure, but a three-day event Compton calls “a magical place-home to both the steelworker and the CEO.” Testostorama Men’s Expo, planned for Nov. 11-13 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, is being hyped to men of all ages and backgrounds “as payback for all those years she dragged you to the Flower and Patio show.” “We cooked up this event and put a little edge to it,” Compton said. Testostorama organizers expect more than 200 exhibitors-from…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Prison reform is off state’s radar

What do the following cities have in common? Auburn, C r aw f o r d s v i l l e , Greenfield, Griffith, Huntington, Logansport, New Castle, Seymour and Shelbyville. Each has a smaller population than the number of people in Indiana prisons. The Indiana Department of Correction reports we have more than 19,600 adults in our prisons at an annual cost in excess of $21,500 per prisoner per year, for a total of $420 million. According to…

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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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TOM HARTON Commentary: Dragging parents back to class

The day he was hired in June, Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent Eugene White broached a topic too often missing in the dialogue about public education. White said that parents are among those who will be held accountable for student achievement in Indianapolis Public Schools. The words “parents” and “accountable” might have shown up together on a school vocabulary test sometime in the last 100 years, but they don’t often go together when those of us who aren’t in the trenches…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Obstacles facing Marsh cast questions over Atlas project

Marsh Supermarkets Inc. ended rampant speculation when it announced last September that it was buying the former Atlas grocery site at 54th Street and College Avenue and would build an Arthur’s Fresh Market there. Or did it? Nearly a year after Marsh officials unveiled their plans, the former Atlas building slated for demolition remains standing, surrounded by a chain-link security fence. “We were pretty sure construction would have started by now,” said James Garrettson, president of the Meridian Kessler Neighborhood…

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Adidas sale could bring changes to former Reebok facility: German sports giant has a history of using overseas manufacturing sites

Adidas’ plan to buy Massachusettsbased Reebok International Inc. for $3.8 billion has put the future of Reebok’s eastside manufacturing plant in doubt again. Though Reebok officials insist the immediate future is secure for the 600,000-square-foot operation off Post Road, industry experts say changes are on the way. Reebok took ownership of the facility in 2001 when it bought Indianapolis-based licensed apparel maker Logo Athletic out of bankruptcy court. Since then, Reebok has invested heavily and expanded local staff from 400…

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State bundles media buying: Firms here question whether small Fort Wayne-based agency can handle $10M contract

In a move that has rankled some central Indiana advertising agencies, Gov. Mitch Daniels’ office this month awarded a $10 million-$12 million media buying contract encompassing all state agencies to Fort Wayne-based Asher Agency. Asher in turn promised to save the state $900,000 in the coming year. The contract, a one-year deal with a oneyear renewal option, calls for Asher to place television, radio, print and outdoor advertising for the Hoosier Lottery, Indiana State Fair, Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, Office…

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SPORTS: Tiller rescued Purdue but isn’t immune to critics

This year the NCAA mandated that Division I-A football media guides be reduced to a uniform 212 pages. Keep in mind that these fonts of information intended for inkstained wretches had morphed into voluminous pitch-tools for recruits and brag books for boosters. The cutback didn’t prevent Purdue’s sports information office from devoting a copious 11 pages of copy in its 2005 guide to Joltin’ Joe Tiller. Perhaps I (or you, dear reader) should read nothing more into that other than…

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Eli Lilly spawns start-up: Maaguzi plans rapid growth selling software to manage clinical research trials

Eli Lilly and Co. has sold clinical-research software it created to a veteran Indianapolis entrepreneur who plans to market it globally, potentially growing his startup company into one of the area’s largest technology firms. Joe Huffine, best known as co-founder of the technology consultancy Onex Inc., said his new firm, Maaguzi LLC, should benefit as the market for research software grows explosively. Maaguzi’s software allows researchers and patients to record data electronically instead of on paper. The software is geared…

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State firms pioneers in boosting electric efficiency:

Indiana already has a number of firms working on technology aimed at boosting energy efficiency and capacity. Early this month, Indianapolis-based Trexco LLC said the U.S. Patent Office awarded it two dozen patents for a cooling system it has developed for large electrical transformers, such as those used at utility substations. The “transformer extender” is designed to stretch the capacity and lifespan of the transformers, which typically cost $2 million to $5 million and are the size of a Mack…

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New names shake up radio market ratings: Hank and Jack see gains; WFMS and WFBQ lose ground

Two radio newcomers known as Hank and Jack are two-stepping and fist-pumping their way up the local radio ratings ladder. Meanwhile, stalwarts WFMS-FM 95.5 and WFBQ-FM 94.7 have found their grips on the top rungs loosening. The first major reshuffling in local radio station ratings in nearly a decade is having wide-ranging effects on advertising demand and rates. The release of New York-based Arbitron Inc.’s spring rating book July 29 touched off a flurry of debate about who won and…

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