Halloween is the Perfect Time to....

set your clocks back one hour.

Daylight Savings Time expires at 2 a.m. Sunday, 1 November. So, after you've sorted all the kids' candy (and snagged your favorite pieces), set those clocks back.

The good thing: you get back that hour of sleep you lost last spring, when DST kicked in.

Governor Hands Out Hoosier Candy on Halloween

On Halloween, Governor Mitch Daniels and First Lady Cheri Daniels will be passing out candy from five Indiana companies, reports Inside INdiana Business.

The Danielses will host trick-or-treaters at the Governor’s Residence, 4750 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis, from 6 to 8 p.m. on Halloween night (31 October), dressed as characters from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.

Abbott's Candy Shop of Hagerstown, DeBrand Fine Chocolates of Fort Wayne, Mundt's Candies of Madison, Schimpff's Confectionery of Jeffersonville and Zachary Confections of Frankfort have donated an assortment of candy.

Be Ballard's "Guest"...for Only $250, $500 or $1000

"Surfaces Within" Closes on Saturday

"Surfaces Within", an exhibition featuring a variety of 2D and 3D artwork. closes Saturday (31 October) in the Indianapolis Artsgarden, above the intersection of Illinois and Washington Streets in downtown Indianapolis. The display was created by Herron School of Art’s student council and Active Student Artists (ASA), in partnership with the Arts Council of Indianapolis.

Current Herron undergraduates and graduates were given the opportunity to submit up to three entries for consideration by a panel of jurors. The show received over 150 entries from departments including ceramics, photography, sculpture, furniture, visual communications, painting, drawing, and printmaking. Active Student Artists strives to provide its members with both academic and social opportunities focused around art, resulting in this show organized by students for students.

The image, titled "Brewers Bucket" is oil on canvas by Chad Waples -- and it can be yours for $1,200. For information, contact Jazmyn Wieder, show coordinator and ASA President.

Vote on Smoking Ban Set for Tonight's C-C meeting

And, it just might pass this time. according to the Indianapolis Business Journal, the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce has endorsed the smoking ban.

UPDATE:
Nope. Didn't pass. Maybe next time!

This Week's Question for Mayor Ballard

Courtesy of The Indianapolis Times:

"Even though the law calls for redistricting to occur after new census data is released (something that won't happen until 2011), the mayor wants to spend $500,000 to redraw the council boundaries a little early by relying on census data that's nearly a decade old."

This Indianapolis Observer joins the chorus: Why? Surely not for purely partisan gain!

Women of Influence

Allison Melangton (pictured), President and CEO of the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee, will be the guest speaker at the Women of Influence breakfast at 8 a.m. 3 November in the Indiana Roof Ballroom, downtown Indianapolis. Tickets are $35.

The annual event is sponsored by The Indianapolis Business Journal. For more information, contact Patty Johns, 317:472-5319.

Genealogy and Local History Fair

The Indiana State Library, 315 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis, is hosting a "Genealogy and Local History Fair" from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday (24 October). Admission is free and the fair is open to the general public.

Presentations include:
"A Grave Matter in Indiana" by Jeannie R. Regan-Dinius
9:30 to 10:30 a.m. in the History Reference Room

"Women in Nineteenth-Century Indiana" by Nicole Etcheson
11 a.m. to noon in the History Reference Room

"Pioneer Migration into Indiana" by James H. Madison
1:30 to 2:30 p.m. in the History Reference Room

Visit the tables in the “midway” to collect information from genealogical and local history organizations and Indiana libraries and shop the commercial vendors. The speakers will be on hand for book signings after each program.

Additional Indiana authors will also be present at the special group signing from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the IHB book shop (fair attendees will receive a 20% discount on purchases).

They are:
Theresa Baer, Finding Indiana Ancestors: a Guide to Historical Research
Brian Hasler, Author, and Angela Gouge, Illustrator, Casper and Catherine Move to America: an Immigrant Family’s Adventure, 1849-1850
Lucy Jane King, Madame President: 1901-1905 Nellie Fairbanks, Path Finder to Politics for American Women
Connie Rendfeld, Peopling Indiana: the Ethnic Experience
Ashley Ransburg, Evie Finds Her Family Tree

So...Let's Privatize Lucas Oil Stadium

"The city of Indianapolis is considering ways to get out of the professional sports stadium and convention center management business", reports Peter Schnitzler in the Indianapolis Business Journal.

"Yesterday afternoon [Tuesday, 20 October], the city’s Office of Enterprise Development released a Request for Information and Qualifications in conjunction with the Capital Improvement Board, soliciting proposals for private-sector operation of Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center."

"King Lear" and More at Butler This Week

Actors From The London Stage are in residence at Butler University this week. In addition to leading acting workshops for Butler theatre majors, the group will also lead classes for a wide variety of courses across campus.

And, as a bonus, five actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre will play all the roles in an inventively-staged full version of King Lear at 7:30 p.m. in the Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall tomorrow (21 October) and Thursday (22 October). Running time is approximately 2 hours 45 minutes with 1 intermission. Tickets, available at the door, are $20.

Anyone for Peterson for Mayor?

"If you're like me, you supported Greg Ballard's election in 2007, in part, because he opposed higher taxes. He opposed the 65% increase in the local option income tax, and he promised to fight for the repeal of property taxes. After he got elected, he made the income tax increase permanent, even after the State picked up Indianapolis' huge public safety pension liability as part of a 1% increase in the state sales tax, he supported the $27 million a year tax increase and borrowing plan to bail out the Capital Improvement Board, he has pushed double-digit rate increases for water and sewer, he wants to raise parking fees, and he's raised a host of other fees. To add insult to injury, Ballard is pushing adoption of the Wishard referendum but is chiming in with the proponents in falsely claiming that it proposes no property tax increase. He also promised to end the big public give-aways that personified the Peterson administration. That didn't stop him from pledging more than $20 million of your tax dollars to help political contributor Tadd Miller develop his retail/housing project downtown. Had enough Indy?"

From Gary Welsh's Advance Indiana blog. This Indianapolis Observer thinks he's on a roll!

Why Should We Give Sports Teams Any More Money?

Gary Welsh hits the nail on the head in his blog:

"I'll be damned if we give more subsidies to these billionaire sports team owners when we can't even fund our city parks and repair our crumbling infrastructure. Enough is enough."

This Indianapolis Observer agrees. Why are we subsidizing sports team owners in the first place? If there aren't enough fans to fork over the dough "needed" by the Pacers or the Colts, let 'em go to a city where there are enough fans. Good riddance.

Big Changes at Indiana State Museum

According to the Indianapolis Business Journal, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is planning to merge the Indiana State Museum, 12 historic sites and state library under one new agency, according to sources close to the museum. The new agency would be run by an appointee of the governor."

Contract with IBM Kaput

Governor Mitch Daniels said today the state has terminated its contract with IBM for the delivery of welfare services. The contract was canceled because the company did not make satisfactory progress to improve services to welfare applicants and recipients under a plan to correct deficiencies.

There's more here.

Heartland Film Festival Opens Thursday

Among the 87 films that will screen at the 18th annual Heartland Film Festival are nine films with ties to Indiana, including a few native Hoosier filmmakers as well as some transplants. These Official Selection films will screen Saturday (17 October) through 24 October at AMC Castleton Square 14 (6020 East 82nd Street) and AMC Greenwood Park 14 (461 South Greenwood Park Drive).

For more information, check the website.

The nine films with ties to Indiana that will screen during the Heartland Film Festival are feature-lengths: D Tour, Spooner and My Name is Jerry, and shorts: The Best Part of My Day, Chicken Cowboy, Free Wall, Grande Drip, Ragman and Weathered.

Sure: It's All About Politics, Again

You'd think that the City-County Council would want to CONSERVE money in this recession-influence budget cycle, but, no. They want to spend close to $300K on absolute political maneuvering.

As Advance Indiana notes:

"I, along with many of my friends in the Republican Party, strongly object to what the council Republicans are trying to do here. The law clearly mandates that redistricting must occur the second year after the decennial census data becomes available. The Republicans are convinced they will lose control of the council in 2011 under the current map. This must be largely based on their belief they cannot win the four at-large council races, which tend to follow the outcome of the mayor's race. In other words, they don't believe Greg Ballard has a snowball's chance in hell of being re-elected. Assuming a redistricting occurs next year, an argument could be made that Indiana law would require a second redistricting to occur in 2012."
This Indianapolis Observer says: Contact your C-C councillor and tell 'em you object to this stupid waste of money!

Oops? Ballard Goof: Illegal or Merely Unethical?

According to Advance Indiana, it seems that Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard has crossed an ethical line in a recent email:

"Should Mayor Greg Ballard be using a taxpayer asset to lean on city-county workers to support the November 3 Wishard referendum? An e-mail a commenter passed on to me that Mayor Ballard sent to all government workers on Thursday sure makes it look that way. The e-mail purports to solicit city-county workers to volunteer as poll workers on election day, but it throws in what looks an awful lot like a pitch to support the passage of the referendum with an extremely misleading statement."

The statement in Ballard's email? This: "In less than 30 days, Marion County voters will go to the polls to participate in a countywide referendum election to vote on whether the Health and Hospital Corporation should improve Wishard at no cost to tax payers."

This Indianapolis Observer wonders who's advising Ballard these days. Obviously not someone versed in the law or that "improve Wishard at no cost to tax payers" statement wouldn't have passed muster on an email sent to all city employees!

As Gary Welsh says, "I have no problem with Mayor Ballard asking city workers to help out as election workers, but I have a serious problem with him using the city-county e-mail system to promote passage of the referendum."

Indy Hosts Bicycle Summit

The first-ever bicycle summit for Indiana will be held 17 October by Bicycle Indiana, an organization of Indiana cyclists formerly known as the Indiana Bicycle Coalition. The objective is to address ways to make the state more bicycle-friendly.

A fully-supported morning bicycle ride (9 a.m. to noon) is open to all free of charge. Cost for the luncheon and afternoon sessions is $30 for non-members. It all happens at the Indiana Government Center in downtown Indianapolis. For more information, check the website, send an email or call 317:466-9701.

Complaint for Disciplinary Action Against Brizzi

Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi is facing state disciplinary charges over comments he made about two high-profile murder cases, including the infamous Hamilton Street slayings, according to the Indianapolis Times blog.

IMA Receives Award

The Indianapolis Museum of Art has been named one of 10 recipients of the 2009 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor for museums and libraries.

The annual award, made by the Institute of Museum and Library Services since 1994, recognizes institutions for outstanding social, educational, environmental, or economic contributions to their communities. The Indianapolis Museum of Art will receive the National Medal at a ceremony held later in Washington, D.C., and a $10,000 award.

Couldn't say it better myself

"After barely ten months on the job, Mayor Greg Ballard has fired Indianapolis Animal Care & Control Director Doug Rae. Essentially, the administration is miffed that Rae moved two dog catchers to work at the animal shelter and accuses him of making it too easy for people to adopt pets from the shelter. It's disappointing that the administration is not as exacting in its expectations of the people who run the Capital Improvement Board and the Indianapolis Water Company. Mismanagement of those public bodies have resulted in higher taxes and higher water rates. The IACC runs on a shoe-string budget."

From Advance Indiana.

Irsay on Forbes 400 List

"Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay has joined the ranks of the richest Americans, earning a spot on this year’s Forbes 400 list of the nation’s wealthiest people," reports Indianapolis Business Journal.

"Irsay, 50, ranked 347th with an estimated net worth of about $1.1 billion, according to the list released Wednesday.

"Other Hoosiers on the list include Cook Group patriarch Bill Cook, at No. 85 with $3.5 billion; White Lodging chief Dean White, No. 202 with $1.75 billion; and Simon Property Group co-founder Herb Simon, No. 317 with $1.25 billion."

Of those four, this Indianapolis Observer notes that three have received taxpayer-paid subsidies. Guess we all have a stake in their prosperity!

Founder of C-SPAN Speaks in Indy

Brian Lamb, Founder and CEO of C-SPAN Networks, will speak at the Columbia Club in Indianapolis on Thursday (1 October) as part of the Mary Tucker Jasper Speaker Series sponsored by the President Benjamin Harrison Memorial Home, 1230 North Delaware Street, Indianapolis. This year is the 30th anniversary of C-SPAN.

A reception will be held at the Harrison Home at 5 p.m., followed at 6 p.m. at the Columbia Club by his presentation, which will include a preview of his new feature series, "Supreme Court Week".

Reservations are required; call 317:631-1888.