YORK: Indy doesn’t shrink from ‘ambitious’
We have seen what this city can do when it pulls together, focuses on a big goal, and works hard to make it happen.
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PERRAS: A lump of coal from the state’s high court
If you’re a natural-gas customer in Indiana, the Indiana Supreme Court last week delivered a costly blow to your pocketbook.
HENDERSON: Love can trump constitutional missteps
The fatwa on gay marriage must end. The state Constitution is no toy for the disengaged to manipulate real love. I’m hoping the Legislature does the right thing: reverse the hatred and disinformation that makes us appear like Iran on an evil day.
MCCORMICK: Indiana should refocus on Europe
Most Hoosiers probably didn’t know too much about the European Union until the crisis that broke in the euro zone in 2009. The worries sparked by that crisis were a double-edged sword: They made more of us aware of the EU, but the news we heard was mainly bad.
BOSSO: Want to run for office? Think twice
When I was growing up, like most kids, I worked a summer job. During that time, I used to think if everyone had to work in the restaurant industry, the world would be a better place. I was wrong.
HEALY: Envision Broad Ripple promotes change
Apparently, it’s no longer possible to undertake a project in Broad Ripple Village without its being labeled “controversial.”
STEURY: Clobber two birds with a single stone
Last month’s government shutdown wasted a lot of time. Now that it’s over, it’s time for our elected officials to get down to the business of the people, and the people want manufacturing jobs.
LIBMAN: Great Recession isn’t over for the arts
As we all know, the Great Recession that began in 2008 was the worst economic disaster to hit America and the global economy since the Great Depression. While the Great Recession is technically over as measured by economists, millions of Americans are still out of work or have stopped searching for work, and some sectors of the economy have not recovered.
MADDOX: Five years later, little progress made
For many, the bankruptcy filing of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 was the formal commencement of the Great Recession. Within days, we learned that American International Group and Merrill Lynch would be next in line.
KANNING: Myopic priorities stifle growth
I recently overheard two business leaders saying the slow pace of economic recovery would impede their quarterly results. I concur with their assessment, but focusing on the rate of economic recovery is similar to looking at an iceberg; only 10 percent is visible. The other 90 percent is hidden below the surface.
HENDERSON: Why businesses should make Makers
Over beers and dinners, I hear complaints that innovation is dead in the United States, and that most of the “real” innovation comes from southeast Asia, and the university skunk works of Western and Northern Europe.
Adults critical to closing skills gap
While the meaning of the term “the skills gap” might always be debated, a new report finds that middle-skill attainment makes up the real gap for Indiana’s economy.
ADAMSON: Close the obsolete Harding Street plant
In recent years, our city’s civic and business leaders have put much effort into attracting and retaining young professionals, those young singles who prefer city life, dining out and environmental causes.
BANKS: Hop the red tape for craft beer
As a legislator, I know from experience that some policy topics are more fun to discuss than others. I’ve served a variety of roles in the Senate, and all of them have had their own share of debate and consideration.
GOODRICH: Don’t delay sewer, water upgrades
Indianapolis has largely reinvented itself over the last four decades. Most of our modern skyline—the major office towers and hotels that define downtown—came about in the last 20 years. The IUPUI campus took shape in the early 1970s and has continued to grow. The sports venues that helped put us on the map, the vast convention center, our impressive new airport terminal—all built within a generation.
EVERETT, HALSTEAD: Nurses need more training—quickly
Indiana’s health care work force is ill-equipped to meet the daunting challenges and requirements of health care reform without strategic work force development efforts.
LEONARD: Hospitals embrace price transparency
Following the federal government’s release of data on hospital charges for Medicare patients, much has been written nationally about how health care providers determine prices, the variation in charges for the same procedure, and the willingness of hospitals to “come clean” on the issue of price transparency.
CHAPMAN: Don’t unwittingly spawn invaders
You probably don’t notice it when you walk into your office building or drive by the bank. The landscaping looks nice, so you don’t pay attention to it. Throughout central Indiana, though, developers and landscapers are using plants that are inexpensive and look good, but plants like burning bush and Japanese barberry are destroying our native habitats and hurting land and water quality.
FERIBACH: Disabled-friendly city advances again
The City-County Council recently approved a proposal to create more entrepreneurship opportunities for people with disabilities. Led by President Maggie Lewis and Vice President John Barth, the council unanimously agreed to include the disability enterprise category to the city’s contracting program. Within days, Mayor Greg Ballard signed it into law.
MARRON: ‘Better’ isn’t the same as ‘good’
That phrase comes to mind when I talk about transit in central Indiana. As I’ve urged people to support the IndyConnect plan, more than a few have said, “But didn’t IndyGo get funds to add a new route and improve others? Didn’t that fix the problem?”