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O’Reilly Auto Parts puts growth in high gear: Relationship with local track big part of plan for retail, distribution expansion

Few Hoosiers had heard of O’Reilly Auto Parts before the Missouri-based company built a massive distribution center in Hendricks County and bought the naming rights to Indianapolis Raceway Park last June. Now, the company, which was founded in 1957 and went public in 1993, figures to become a major retail presence here. Already, 14 stores have cropped up here among 35 that opened statewide. That makes 1,700 stores in 25 states for the company that reported revenue of $2.3 billion…

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SPORTS: Remember who led Pacers out of the wilderness

I put my faith and trust in people who have proven themselves over the long haul. Which is why I choose to be one-one of the few, I’m guessing-who believes Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird will pull the Indiana Pacers out of their tailspin. As of this moment, the Pacers executives have no coach, no draft choices and, in the minds of many, no hope, particularly for the immediate future, with an emphasis on “immediate,” for we have little patience…

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Design changes afoot for state Web pages: Online renovation includes search-engine upgrade that features Scott Jones’ ChaCha instead of Google

A redesigned state Web portal unveiled last month should make it easier for Hoosiers to plow through mounds of government minutia. But, more important, the revamping set to be finished in mid-2008 represents a major shift in state policy. By contracting with locally based ChaCha Search Inc.- tech entrepreneur Scott Jones’ new humanassisted Internet search engine-the state no longer relies solely on big, name-brand computer technology such as Microsoft. “We have somebody who is local and excited about taking the…

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Vision 3 moves into new home, plans expansion: Ad agency grows by mixing technology with creativity

Since its founding three years ago, advertising agency Vision 3 has grown from two to 15 employees, and earlier this spring moved from a tiny office into an 8,000-square-foot building the company bought at 330 N. College Ave. V3 founders Jeff Hopler and Eric Davis remodeled the building’s interior themselves, mixing the downtown structure’s historical feel with modern touches reflective of the company’s technological expertise. Local peers see the move as a gamble, but the agency’s founders have become adept…

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CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: The family possessed by a Devil

Devil worship has overtaken my family. No, we don’t have clandestine meetings where we drink animal blood or anything like that. We find ourselves engrossed in the world of the National Hockey League and eagerly following the New Jersey Devils, specifically a rookie defenseman by the name of Andy Greene. This particular Devil was a hockey star at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, the school my daughter Rachel attended. The two became entwined in a romantic relationship that continues today….

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Conner Prairie testing ideas for new exhibits: Officials consider virtual canoe ride, hearthside dinners in effort to keep museum’s attendance on upswing

The possibilities are intriguing: A tethered hot-air balloon ride. Old-time hearthside dinners prepared with farm-fresh ingredients. A wilderness-skill challenge that includes rock climbing and a virtual canoe ride. Leaders at Conner Prairie are weighing which-if any-of those ideas would be a good fit at the Hamilton County living history museum, which is focusing on its future even as it works to preserve the past. “The board is very committed to the idea that Conner Prairie must remain relevant and exciting…

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SPORTS: The Attucks story finally finds a national audience

Inspiration is timeless. In that regard, it doesn’t matter that two years after its initial release and 52 years after the fact, the story of the Crispus Attucks Tigers and their amazing coach, Ray Crowe, is finally being shared with the nation. On April 27, “Something To Cheer About,” the documentary that chronicles the triumphs and travails of the Attucks teams of the 1950s, opened in nine markets: New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Detroit; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta; Minneapolis; Dallas; and,…

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Trio of women drivers drawing new fan attention to IRL:

Though she’s stirred a ripple of interest in several markets, most Indy Racing League fans don’t know Milka Duno-yet. Many sports business experts think the first Hispanic woman to race in the openwheel series will turn heads, as much for her ability to drive and her unusual professional and academic background as anything else. Duno also becomes part of a fascinating story involving established IRL drivers Danica Patrick and Sarah Fisher. “The Indy Racing League is becoming the one place…

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SPORTS: Bad news no surprise in our ‘anything goes’ world

I considered the notion for a moment and conceded, “You may be right.” After all, shock-jock Imus had made a career of offering insensitive, crude and sometimes race-based insults (he once referred to New York Knicks’ star Patrick Ewing as a “knuckle-dragging moron”). But when he offered his unconscionable take on the women of the Rutgers University basketball team, his primary mistake was timing. His comments came at the wrong time in the media cycle. There was a vacuum, and…

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BULLS & BEARS: Embracing unloved stocks great way to make money

Proverbs 30:19 states that there are “four things I’ll never understand, how an eagle flies so high in the sky, how a snake glides over a rock, how a ship navigates the ocean, and why adolescents act the way they do.” Having had three adolescents, I will agree they are beyond understanding. If there had been a stock market in the 10th century B.C., the author might have added one more item to the list. Besides adolescents, he probably wouldn’t…

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Butler fights with small athletic budget to keep coaches

Butler University is running with the big dogs these days in men’s NCAA Division I college basketball–at least on the court.
Financially, though, the Bulldogs face a difficult dilemma in chasing after programs with bigger budgetary bones.

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SPORTS: He took a chance, and now he’s top dog

This isn’t just a feel-good story. It’s a feel-great story. It’s all about a young guy, full of ambition, yearning to grow, thirsting for knowledge, deciding to take a chance. Rolling the dice on a dream. Pursuing his passion. There he was seven years ago, fresh out of DePauw University, working in a promising marketing job for our local pharmaceutical giant, Eli Lilly and Co. He was making some nice change. If he wasn’t was just around the corner. So…

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Fred Glass brings city’s ‘to do’ list to life

Fred Glass, president of the city's Capital Improvement Board, headed historic transitions in both the mayor’s and governor’s
offices and has become the go-to guy for some of the city’s biggest initiatives, most of them sports-related.

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SPORTS: No Indiana teams but plenty of Hoosier flavor

ATLANTA – At the Final Four last week, I was reminded that even without a team, Indiana was well represented. It began at the United States Basketball Writers Association breakfast on the Friday morning before the national semifinals. The occasion was the presentation of the USBWA’s Oscar Robertson Trophy to the player of the year, which happened to be Kevin Durant from Texas. Robertson, the Crispus Attucks great who went on to star at the University of Cincinnati-and who was…

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NFL plan puts hit on Colts

A new National Football League policy could cost the Indianapolis Colts $56 million in league revenue sharing in the decade
following the opening of Lucas Oil Stadium. The policy
puts more pressure on the Colts to compete with revenue-generating giants such as the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys.

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Marketing firm hopes to give 3-D new shape: Scofield Editorial one of first Midwest firms to add bells and whistles to models initially used by architects

Scofield Editorial, known locally as an innovator in video and post-production work, is burnishing that reputation by becoming one of the first firms in the Midwest to combine three-dimensional video modeling with traditional editing touches such as animation, sound effects, and other audio and video. Three-dimensional modeling was introduced by engineering firms about a decade ago, and has also been used by some video game manufacturers. But only recently have advertising agencies combined 3-D with traditional video editing touches. “There…

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ROSE awards ceremonies honor hospitality workers: Eleven employees commended for top-level service

After the passing of the restaurant’s general manager, “Mama” stepped into the grief-filled void, providing leadership while consoling the staff. During a charity silent auction, Camerone auctioned off herself as an inhome chef for an evening. She ended up generating the most proceeds, enough to make a dream come true for a child during the Make-a-Wish Telethon. Pamela Evans, customer service agent, American Airlines Evans is a customer service agent for American Airlines and her territory often can be among…

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SPORTS: Checking in with little brother at the Pacers front office

It is no secret that I share the same last name with David Benner, the director of media relations for the Indiana Pacers. We also share a mother (who still likes me best), a father, a brother, a sister, a “Bob & Tom Show” parody and-long, long ago-a bedroom in our farmhouse down in Center Grove. It’s funny how it all works out. David followed me into the newspaper business at The Indianapolis Star, which he joined as a copy…

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Champ Car spinning its wheels: Open-wheel series facing many questions heading into 2007 season

What was supposed to be a breakthrough year for the Champ Car racing series is looking like a season of more pain than gain even before the first green flag has dropped. A little more than a week before the season opener April 8 in Las Vegas, the openwheel race series had no confirmed car count, fewer sponsors than usual, and a lack of continuity in race schedule and television broadcasts that jeopardizes its fan base. The series bought four…

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SPORTS: A tribute to the sportswriter who took a chance on me

Most of us have those “who-knows” people in our lives. Meaning, “who knows” what might have become of us had these people not come into our lives. P r o f e s s i o n a l l y, right at the top of my list is Cyrus W. “Cy” McBride. Cy died last week in Montgomery, Ala. He was 78. I would be remiss if I let his passing go without sharing the profound impact he had….

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