Saturday, July 30, 2011

The Playboy and the Ponzi Scheme

Yes, our very own playboy: Timothy S. Durham is profiled in the 1-7 August 2011 issue of Bloomberg Business Week as "The Madoff of the Midwest". Reporter Annie Lowrey outlines Durham's "epic midlife crisis".

A couple of snippets:

"In many respects, Durham embodied the bounties -- and hubris -- of the pre-recession age. The money seemed limitless, the parties got bigger, and Durham's profile rose."

"Durham could play the rich guy, but he wasn't very good at making money."

It's definitely worth a read, if only to see how many well-known Indy names are named.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Indiana Deaf School Dispute in the New York Times

"The appointments of new board members for the Indiana School for the Deaf has reignited a debate over how deaf people should be educated," reports The New York Times.

Read their coverage here: "Tensions Over Teaching the Deaf"http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

No Toilet Paper for Cops?

According to Advance Indiana, Indianapolis "police officers are told there is no money left in the budget for toilet paper, hand sanitizer, notebooks, pens and other basic supplies for the district offices."

Yikes! Maybe we need to take up a collection for cops before we worry about school supplies for disadvantaged school kids!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Whew!

The 2012 Super Bowl will go on as planned in Indianapolis.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Bella Latina

Experience Latin American music, history and culture at the Cabaret at 8 p.m. 29 July. It's part of the Women in Music series at the Cabaret in the Columbia Club, 121 Monument Circle, Indianapolis.

Celebrate the many styles of Latin-American music, history, and culture with an all-star cast of female musicians and dancers. In partnership with ISIS and under the direction of Monika Herzig and Heather Ramsey, the show features vocalists Stacie Sandoval and Elizabeth Souza plus Latin dancer Ana Lucia Cavalcante.

Tickets range from $15 to $35, with a $12 food/beverage minimum. (Drink specials will include $6 Skinny Girl Margaritas and $4 Coronas.)

Friday, July 22, 2011

IPS Still on Downward Spiral

Six of seven Indianapolis Public Schools that were on academic probation could be taken over by the state of Indiana next month:

Emma Donnan Middle School
Arlington Community High School
Broad Ripple Magnet High School
Emmerich Manual High School
Thomas Carr Howe Community High School
George Washington Community High School

(Moving off the list was Northwest High School.)

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Butterflies Return to Garfield Park Conservatory

Wander on over to the gazebo room at the Garfield Park Conservatory Saturday (23 July) through 7 August for "Backyard Butterflies".

This Indy Parks summer exhibit features native butterflies in free flight among butterfly-friendly flowers and plants.

Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission for this event is $3 per person or $8 per family.

If you want to participate in these special programs (below), register first by calling 317:327-PARK.

Metamorphosis Monday – Learn about butterflies and their interesting lifecycle and characteristics. Participants will create a fun craft and search the garden for colorful bugs. 10-11 a.m. Monday (25 July). Ages 3+; cost is 5 per child and $3 per adult (includes admission to exhibit).

Butterfly Gardening
– Find out more about putting a backyard butterfly garden at your home. Learn what plants work best and what other features to consider when planning your space. 2-3 p.m. 31 July. Ages 18+; $3 per person.

Garfield Park Conservatory and Sunken Garden is located on the near southeast side of Indianapolis at 2505 Conservatory Drive in the 2400 block of South Shelby Street. The Conservatory is open daily and is alive with tropical plants, waterfalls and fish. Hours are Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sundays 1-5 p.m. Daily admission is $1 per person. For information on these or other Conservatory events, go online.

(Photo courtesy of Trish Splonko)

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Free Concert by Eurobrass


The German-American brass ensemble "Eurobrass" presents a concert at 7:30 p.m. 28 July in Bethesda Baptist Church, 7950 East County Road 650N, Brownsburg.

Well-known classical pieces are presented side-by-side with folk songs, hymns and worship choruses. The 12 members of the ensemble, all teachers or professional performers, come from the United States and from Germany.

Founded in 1978, the group tours annually in Germany, but has performed only once before -- in 1998 --in the United States.

The concert is free and open to the public. For more Information, call 317:892-4046.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Japan Beats USA in World Cup

OK, so the United States Women's Soccer Team lost to Japan in a shoot-out in the final match yesterday.

But, even if we're second, Indy comes out a winner with Lauren Cheney -- a Ben Davis grad -- on the USA team.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

OmniSource Scores a Big Win

"If you're a multi-million dollar company represented by a politically-connected law firm, you can buy your way out of any serious criminal charge in Marion County," notes Paul K. Ogden on his blog today.

Yep, it's back to "business as usual" at OmniSource, where hiring off-duty cops gets them a free pass to deal in stolen scrap metal.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Middle Eastern Festival

Yum! It's almost time for the annual Middle Eastern Festival at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church, 4020 North Sherman Drive, Indianapolis.

Hours are 4-11 p.m. Friday (15 July), noon-11 p.m. Saturday (16 July) and noon to 5 p.m. next Sunday (17 July).

Your Indianapolis Observer goes for the food(especially the pastries!), but there's also entertainment, a marketplace, icons, books and beer and wine.

Admission at the door is $5 (then you buy St. George Bucks for your food etc.)

Friday, July 8, 2011

‘No sex, please, we’re Hoosiers’

Indianapolis alt-weekly NUVO is getting some complaints for this week’s “Sex Indiana-style” issue that includes a photo of Mr. Nude America. (Local TV news is all over the story, of course.) “I looked at the photo,” says NUVO web editor Laura McPhee, “and my thought was we’ve never censored the female body when we reproduce artwork and I didn’t see a need to censor it because it was a male.” She adds that the paper never received complaints when images of nude females were published.

From the Poynter Institute's Jim Romenesko. It's here.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Changes at the Library

This Indianapolis Observer was surprised to find out this week that library cards now have expiration dates.

At the Indianapolis Marion County Public Library, one must turn up at a branch -- in person and carrying photo identification with correct local address -- once every three years, in order to have a library card.

What's up with that? Not only is this whole expiration thing new (it's the first time that library cards have had expiration dates), but library cards expire faster than driver's licenses, which are valid for six years.

Why?

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Indiana's Agritourism

Supporters of a new Indiana law aimed at protecting farmers and farm businesses from personal injury lawsuits say it could boost the state's agritourism industry, according to a report on IBJ.com

The law that took effect Friday (1 July) seeks to better inform people visiting fruit orchards, self-pick farms, animal exhibitions and other agritourism ventures of the dangers they might encounter at such sites.

The law calls for new signs to be placed at agritourism locations, warning participants of the risks involved, and thereby offering the proprietors of such businesses an additional measure of protection against possible litigation.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Super Bowl's "Clean Zone" Expanded?

Clean zone means a geographically defined area within a special event zone during a civic sponsored special event that no temporary advertising, signage, or structures shall be erected or transient merchant, vendor, or otherwise licensed activity may take place without the person or entity performing such activity first having received approval from the event sponsor and a limited duration license from the bureau of license and permit services.

As Paul K. Ogden notes: "So, a bar that has the fortune to be near Lucas Oil Stadium may not post a 'Welcome Football Fans' banner without having the specific okay of the NFL - for instance."

"Indy's bureaucrats...want unlimited power to make as big of a 'clean zone' as they choose. They could conceivably make the entire county a clean zone," he reports.

Say what?