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NOTIONS: Can you look at the world through others’ eyes?

For the past few months, I’ve served on a search committee for a large not-forprofit organization. We’re hoping to select and hire a senior public relations executive. During interviews for this position, many finalists have said the same thing: The organization needs to do a better job of “getting its message out.” This doesn’t surprise me. As head of a marketing communications consultancy, my phone rings frequently with prospective clients wanting help “getting our message out” because “we’re the best-kept…

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Generator-maker finding new ways to get energy

I Power Energy Systems, which makes natural-gas-powered electric generators that are the primary power source of corporate
and college campuses, is a novelty in Indiana. After all, coal is still a cheaper source of electricity than is natural gas.
But I Power is developing applications for electric generators that burn biogas from sources ranging from garbage to ground-up
corn.

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EYE ON THE PIE: Time for progressive Indiana income tax?

There is growing agreement that the rich are getting richer faster than the poor are improving their lives. If you believe the trickle-down theorists, the poor will get the runoff as wealth is showered upon the few. If you look about, however, you will question this charming opinion held by the comfortable. At the same time, policies at the national and state levels continue to emphasize cutting the most important means we have of correcting this growing imbalance in America….

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Plant to be a real gas for price stability?: Utilities betting gasification will ease volatility

Two gas utilities serving central Indiana say they want to buy synthetic gas from a proposed coal gasification plant downstate to provide a hedge against price volatility. Citizens Gas & Coke Utility, which serves 266,000 Marion County customers, plans to buy up to 3 billion cubic feet of gas a year from Indiana Gasification LLC. The amount is equivalent to about 10 percent of Citizens’ annual demand for natural gas. Meanwhile, Evansville-based Vectren Energy Delivery of Indiana, which has 550,000…

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INVESTING: Investing opportunities remain, but pick your spots

Only about a month and a half is left in the year. It feels as though under-invested managers are pushing to make things happen so they can catch up to the market. Today, we are going to get into where the strength should be the rest of the year, and some of it is coming from unsuspecting places. We’ll also look at what should be avoided. It won’t come as any surprise where the weakness lies. The markets have been…

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IPL seeks to expand green plans

Electric customers would gain new payment options and more access to “green power,” and Indianapolis Power & Light would have more opportunities to profit, under a plan the utility filed Aug. 23 with state regulators.

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BRIAN WILLIAMS Commentary: The heat will hurt more next winter

Geopolitical instability and increasing worldwide demand for fossil fuels have caused high energy prices. Indiana tax policies in support of the creation of ethanol and biodiesel production facilities are part of an effort to help wean our transportation infrastructure from fossil fuels. While ethanol may be a poor alternative to fossil fuels, Hoosier entrepreneurs’ and policymakers’ efforts in this area reflect a broad awareness that we need a sensible, comprehensive energy policy. A corollary to $3-per-gallon gas is increasing home-heating…

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Butler juniors to stay on campus next year: University wants to boost campus, fill apartments

Butler University underclassmen got what some saw as very bad news last week: Starting in the fall of 2007, juniors-like freshmen and sophomores-will be required to live on campus. The university claims the new rule will make for a stronger on-campus community, but the change coincides with Butler’s struggle to fill a new 500-bed apartment facility, where rents are higher than offcampus rental houses. Butler President Bobby Fong said a change has been underway for years to try to align…

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New fiscal year, no cuts for IU School of Medicine: But concern remains about funds for future growth

No layoffs. No seven-figure budget cut to sweat through. IU School of Medicine Dean Dr. Craig Brater had many reasons to raise a toast this month, when a new fiscal year began and the school left behind an old one marked by the worst budget cuts in decades. Indeed, Brater said he is breathing a little easier as the school starts fiscal 2006-2007 with a budget of more than $815 million. An increase in clinical revenue and grant money helped…

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Hilbert estate drawing some offers: Letterman, Babyface, Judd not interested

Colts quarterback Peyton Manning passed on a chance to buy the Carmel estate built for Conseco Inc. founder Stephen Hilbert that’s on the market for a cool $20 million. Pacers forward Jermaine O’Neal also rejected the opportunity a couple of times, real estate broker Dick Richwine said. Nearly a year after it went up for sale, the Carmel property labeled the most expensive home in Indiana is still searching for the right buyer. But a recent flurry of interest and…

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DANIELS’ DEAL CLOSERS: IEDC generating jobs, but economy shares part of credit

It would have been big. Just last month, a team of officials from the Indiana Economic Development Corp. and The Indy Partnership, its local equivalent, were furiously negotiating with South Carolinabased fire-engine maker American LaFrance. Intrigued by a mix of economic incentives and Indiana’s central location, American LaFrance considered moving its operations to Marion County. In formal negotiations, the company dangled promises of 653 jobs and a capital investment of $18.5 million. State records don’t reveal what incentives Indiana offered…

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Suit puts One Call on hold: Firm placed in receivership as lender seeks $21 million

One Call Communications has been placed in receivership, a day after a lender for its 2002 management buyout filed a lawsuit alleging the Carmel long-distance and operator-services company owes it more than $21 million. The May 11 lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis by Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank appears to be the knockout blow for a telecommunications firm accused by several states of violating consumer protection laws in billing and collection practices. Also looming is a proposed $1.1 million fine…

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INVESTING: Having an exit strategy can be a good idea

It’s been a while. When it goes this long, I like to pick up my head and look around. My “Spidey” senses are telling me there might be some danger lurking nearby. But when it stretches out like this, there could also be opportunity. The stock market has now gone almost six months without suffering a correction of more than 3.5 percent. Some people would say that is not unusual considering we are nearing the end of the traditionally strong…

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States demand One Call answers: Carmel telephone firm ‘out of control’

A Carmel long-distance and operator service company has a lot to answer for these days. After crossing wires with Indiana regulators and with the Federal Communications Commission last year, One Call Communications now is being accused by Iowa and Missouri regulators of putting bogus charges on phone bills and then harassing people to pay. Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon this month filed a lawsuit alleging the privately held company violated state and federal consumer protection laws. Nixon said the company…

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VIEWPOINT: State’s STIF-necked response shortsighted

Chances are, most of you have never heard of the acronym “STIF.” The four letters stand for sales tax increment financing. Indiana has created so-called STIF districts around the state to stimulate economic development, or so we thought. STIF districts work simply: They allow a portion of sales taxes generated at new retail projects to be redirected to pay the cost of public improvements related to the projects, things like curbs and sidewalks, streets, sewers, other utilities, drainage and landscaping….

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Bills clash over video regulation: Phone giants, cable firms fight about franchising rules

In fact, some say the franchising clash has overshadowed the real implications of deregulation: Cable operators will get their first real competition since satellite TV mushroomed in the mid-1990s. Municipalities, which grant franchise agreements to cable TV companies and collect millions in fees in return, hyperventilated when Sen. Brandt Hershman, R-Wheatfield, introduced Senate Bill 245 last month. It would give the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission the job of doling out statewide video franchises. Cities would lose that authority, but would…

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State’s plans for Larue Carter remain uncertain: New hosptal ideas are still under consideration

A year after the administration of then-Gov. Joe Kernan proposed building a new Larue D. Carter Memorial Hospital, the future of Indianapolis’ lone state-owned psychiatric hospital remains murky. The Indiana State Office Building Commission bought an 18-acre site near the IUPUI campus in December 2004, during the waning days of the Kernan administration. State officials talked then about spending as much as $55 million to build a Larue Carter that would replace the existing hospital, which is part of an…

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Water treaty on tap: Mediated agreement calls for Carmel to pay Indy $36.2M

Carmel and its big-city neighbor to the south have a truce in hand to end a 3-1/2-year war over what Carmel will pay to buy Indianapolis-owned water distribution lines serving 6,000 customers in the Hamilton County community. The proposed purchase price: $36.2 million, according to documents recently filed with state regulators. Carmel officials say the deal eventually should improve water pressure and lower fire insurance rates, and make it easier to plan for growth. It also would give affected residents…

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Plan to let affiliate use gas field sparks opposition: Citizens Gas industrial customers say recent hurricanes show potential for supply disruption, price spikes

Big manufacturers have asked regulators to reconsider allowing an unregulated affiliate of Citizens Gas & Coke Utility to use the Indianapolis utility’s Greene County gas storage facility. General Motors Corp., Reilly Industries and Rolls-Royce Corp. warn that Citizens Gas & Coke Utility’s supply of gas it buys during warm-weather months could be at risk if gas marketing firm Pro-Liance Energy LLC is allowed to control the underground gas storage field. ProLiance sells natural gas to utilities and large-volume gas customers…

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