It's About Time!

The Indianapolis City-County Council voted Monday to investigate its president, Monroe Gray. His conduct has come under fire from many sources, and a C-C investigation also reveals he holds two overlapping city jobs. And, with the election next week, not a moment too soon, says this Indianapolis Observer.

Uh, oh!

While this Indianapolis Observer was off gallavanting, it appears we've had our 100th homicide in the Circle City! Not a very good prelude to the mayoral election, methinks.

Bye Bye RCA Dome!

The Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority has announced that demolition of the RCA Dome is scheduled to begin in January 2008.

Butler Schedules Another Literary Conference

Butler University has announced plans for its 18th Annual Children's Literature Conference, to be held 26 January 2008 in various locations on the Indianapolis Campus. There's more information online. This year's conference includes three-time Caldecott winner David Wiesner (author of "Tuesday," "The Three Pigs" (pictured) and "Flotsam"); Arthur Levine, the American editor for J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books; Gary Schmidt, whose "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" won a Newbery Honor and a Printz Honor; Diane Stanley, recipient of the Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award and the 2008 Mazza Medallion Award for the body of her work (including "Saladin: Noble Prince of Islam" and "Good Queen Bess: The Story of Elizabeth I of England"); Christopher Award winner Louise Borden (whose books include "Good Luck, Mrs. K!" and "Sleds on Boston Common"), and Valiska Gregory, author of "Shirley's Wonderful Baby" and "The Mystery of the Grindlecat" (and a Parents' Choice Award winner).

On 25 January, a free meet-the-authors gala will be held from 7-9 p.m. at the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Central Library. A panel of featured authors and illustrators will speak and sign books.

"Blue Jackets" Arrive Next Week

The 80th National FFA Convention begins Wednesday (24 October) in downtown Indianapolis. FFA members in their signature blue jackets totalling some 55,000 remain through Saturday (27 October). Most events take place in the Conseco Fieldhouse, Indiana Convention Center, RCA Dome and Indiana State Fairgrounds. Georgia Street will become "FFA Way" during the national FFA convention. The northern most and southern most lanes of the street will be blocked off to create a pedestrian walkway. While the FFA is headquartered in Indy, there are 500,823 FFA members, aged 12-21 in 7,358 chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Heartland Film Festival Today Through 26 October

Indy's premiere film event runs through Friday of next week. The Heartland Film Festival began 15 years ago when a group of visionaries created a festival to honor beautifully made films that celebrate the positive aspects of life. In 1991, that festival was a small event in Indianapolis. Today, it's nine days of student and professional films, a variety of Special Events and definitely a one-of-a-kind experience in Indianapolis. For a schedule, click here.

Business of Art / Art of Business

Halima Taha (left) will speak on "The Business of Art and the Art of Business" at 5:30 p.m. 9 November during the fourth annual Jordan H. and Joan R. Leibman Forum at Indiana University - Purdue University in Indianapolis. The presentation is in the Frank and Katrina Basile Auditorium, Eskenazi Hall, Herron School of Art and Design of IUPUI, 735 West New York Street, Indianapolis. Ms. Talha, an appraiser, art advisor, educator and lecturer, is president of halima ink. John Thompson, art collector and owner of the Thompson Collection, also will speak. A reception in the Grand Hall follows at 7 p.m.

The Leibman Forum was established at IUPUI in 2004 to examine issues on the legal and business environment of the arts, and is a joint project of the IU Kelley School of Business Indianapolis, the IU School of Law-Indianapolis and the IU Herron School of Art and Design. For more information, contact Prof. Jennifer Lee, 317:278-9451.

Can U.S. Museums Keep Antiquities?

Dr. Maxwell L. Anderson (right) will talk about that very subject in a presentation at 7 p.m. 12 November in the Allison Mansion on the campus of Marian College, 3200 Cold Spring Road, Indianapolis. "Towards a Bright Line in Uncertain Terrain: What’s Next for Antiquities in U.S. Museums" is open to the public at no charge, although advance registration is required. Anderson is CEO of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. A 1977 graduate of Dartmouth University, he has a Master of Arts and a Ph.D. in art history from Harvard.

Wakefield to Speak at Butler

Indianapolis native Dan Wakefield, author of the best-selling novels "Going All the Way" and "Starting Over," will speak at 7:30 p.m. 25 October in the Krannert Room of Clowes Memorial Hall on the campus of Butler University as part of the 2007-08 Vivian S. Delbrook Visiting Writers Series. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 317:940-9861.

New Central Library Opens 9 December

The public is invited to celebrate the opening of the newly-transformed Central Library at 1 p.m. on Sunday (9 December). Special Grand Opening activities will include a symbolic unlocking of the gates at the south entrance of the 1917 Cret building followed by a short dedication ceremony. For details, click here. The new steel and glass framed six-story addition, which houses the Learning Curve and most of the Library's collection, wraps around the Cret building to the north. The limestone exterior Cret building, which houses the Library's fiction and popular materials collection, has been fully restored. A four-story Atrium, which connects the new addition with the Cret building, serves as the Library's business center where the circulation desk, self-check units and café are located. The structure is characterized by indoor, curved steel arches and glass walls anchored by a unique cable net system.

Judge Issues Order to Monroe Gray's Firm

A Marion County Superior Court judge has ordered a company owned by City-County Council President Monroe Gray to pay $43,514 in unpaid bills, reports The Indianapolis Business Journal. The judgment resulted from a suit filed against Mid Regional Concrete Inc. by Charlotte, N.C.-based Sunbelt Rentals, formerly NationsRent Inc. Gray could not be reached for comment. The decision is the latest in a long string of business troubles for Gray, a Democrat. Yesterday, the Republican who is vying for Gray’s council seat, Kurt Webber, charged that Gray is in a conflict of interest by holding the seat and working for the Indianapolis Fire Department. Webber’s challenge followed an Indianapolis Star story showing that few records exist to document Gray’s work within the fire department.

"Gray Matter" Still Front and Center

From today's Indianapolis Star....

Two-in-One Deal or Ethics Violation?

From today's lead editorial in The Indianapolis Star:

"When is Monroe Gray the community relations officer for the Indianapolis Fire Department and when is he president of the City-County Council?

"The answer, he says, is always. And that's a good thing, he and his boss, Fire Chief James Greeson, insist. It's a two-in-one deal for residents who want interaction with, and action from, city government.

"That's one way to look at it. A more discerning way is to consider the casualness with which a powerful elected official mixes his jobs.

"Having public employees in public office, serving in effect as their own paymasters, is a perilous practice...."

These ethics questions aren't going away anytime soon. Deal with it, Indy!