VANE: Pining for more pols like congressman Andy Jacobs
My mother was a diehard Democrat. She’s been gone for more than five years now, but I can still hear her telling me to be quiet when Ann DeLaney started to speak on “Indiana Week in Review.”
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MARCUS: It would have been different had Noah been a Hoosier
The new movie about Noah and his ark, combined with the antics of the General Assembly, led me to setting the fabled story here in the Hoosier state.
SIDDIQUI: Indianapolis needs faster Internet, and quickly
My congregation recently purchased a former day care in the middle of a business district to house our congregation and private school. Before purchasing this facility, we did our due diligence. We checked with zoning, had an appraisal and inspection, brought in the plumber and electrician. Satisfied with all the reports, we went ahead and purchased the building.
MAHERN: Ozdemir’s Indy Eleven projections don’t add up
The North American Soccer League will have 10 members when Indy Eleven joins this year. Teams in the NASL play 12 games in the early season and after a four-week break in July play another 14 games. Fourteen are played at home.
STYRING: Utopian transit dreamers could railroad taxpayers
After years of trying, mass transit advocates have finally steered a central Indiana transit bill through the General Assembly. It authorizes county councils and, in some cases, township boards to approve ballot referenda imposing up to a 0.25-percent transit income tax.
DANIELS: The children won big in this year’s General Assembly
Something extraordinary happened in this year’s legislative session. But it might not be what you think.
MACALLISTER: Better ways for higher education to measure itself
Mitch Daniels made an almost iconoclastic observation about evaluating the value of a college (or university) education. He implied that the arbiter of its value is not reflected necessarily in grade point average or the number of Ph.D’s matriculating but in the degree of success students achieve as they find a career and then how quickly they advance in their chosen vocation.
KRULL: Teachers are only part of ‘education reform’ equation
Some things are just hard to measure.That’s the real message of the teacher evaluations the Indiana Department of Education released this month. Twenty-five percent of Hoosier teachers were rated highly effective and another 61 percent as effective. Less than half a percent were deemed “ineffective.”
FROEHLE: A bright silver lining from the teacher evaluations
After the educational community waited months for results to be released, the Department of Education made public its grades on teacher effectiveness in the 2012-2013 school year. Only 2 percent were rated “needs improvement” and even fewer—less than half of 1 percent—were “ineffective.”
BECK: Committee might dent the sexual assault epidemic
I hope you will join me in observing Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which is marked each April across our country.
VAUGHN: Turner stink should be cleansed from Statehouse
Now that April has arrived, it’s time for spring cleaning. Let’s hope the growing stink surrounding state Rep. Eric Turner prompts the General Assembly to begin a cleanup of its own.
BARLOW: Does Donnelly listen to Hoosiers or to Pelosi?
I get it. I understand why Democrats voted for the Affordable Care Act. I understand party loyalty and I understand that going against your party on such a key piece of legislation would be extremely difficult.
SHEPARD: Protect working class with better panhandling ordinance
A recent settlement between the city of Indianapolis and the Indiana ACLU over enforcement of the present ordinance about panhandling has put the question of writing a new ordinance back on the table.
LOU’s VIEWS: Print Newcomer pens poems, essays
Since her first album in 1991, I’ve been listening to Carrie Newcomer sharing her musical reflections on the ordinary, lending her rich alto to songs less interested in stories than in moments.
TRY THIS: Feel the wind beneath your feet at Sky Zone
My quest for a fun fitness activity led me to indoor trampoline park Sky Zone for its Skyrobics exercise class, conducted on trampolines, and learned a valuable lesson while catching air.
DINING: Indian restaurant offers twist on traditional buffet concept
The former Sushi on the Rocks location downtown now houses Haveli, a worthwhile Indian buffet with unique menu options and warm Naan delivered to your table.
Lawyer stirs up trouble
After reading the lunacy involved in the [April 14] article concerning Richard Bell, I’m reminded of one of my favorite jokes:
Bike legacy? Really?
Is [bike-share] worthy of an editorial [April 14]? A substantive accomplishment would be getting a large number of commuters to use bicycles rather than cars.
Plenty of credit for bike progress
I would like to thank the IBJ’s [April 14] editorial writers for acknowledging the explosion of Indy’s bicycling culture and amenities in the seven years since I took office, but I cannot in good conscience accept the credit single-handedly.
Skarbeck: Debt levels have shot higher in wake of financial crisis
According to the Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements, aggregate global debt has ballooned more than 40 percent since the financial crisis and is estimated to have reached $100 trillion.