Friday, August 31, 2012

Guerilla Art in Indy


Your Indianapolis Observer was tipped to this ephemera by a friend in Santa Monica, California.

How come these images aren't all over the Indianapolis media?

You can see more here.

Kudos to Tasha Lewis!

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Trash Pickup Delayed by Labor Day Holiday


There will be NO residential trash, heavy trash, or curbside recycling service on Monday (3 September) in observance of Labor Day.

All routes will run one day behind as a result.

Monday’s routes will run on Tuesday, Tuesday’s routes will run on Wednesday, and so on, with Friday routes being run on Saturday (8 September).

All routes will return to normal schedules on 11 September.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Rabbit Breeders Convention


The 62nd annual convention of the Indiana State Rabbit Breeders Association will be held September 8 and 9 in the Northwest Pavilion of the Indiana State Fairgrounds, 1202 East 38th Street, Indianapolis (map).

Judging will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. September 8 and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. September 9. Admission is free.

(Photo by Christa Schumacher-Schwarz)

Friday, August 24, 2012

All American Horse Classic


The All American Horse Classic is set for September 4 through 89 in the Pepsi Coliseum, West Pavilion, South Pavilion and Outdoor Arena of the Indiana State Fairgrounds, 1202 East 38th Street, Indianapolis (map).

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

IndyFringe


It's not too late to participate in the IndyFringe Festival, continuing through August 26.

"Do Re Mi Fa So Latino", an Hispanic re-imagination of American pop culture, performs on the Phoenix Theatre mainstage.

"After Paul McCartney" (comedy with a question mark by Rob Johansen -- pictured above) takes place at Comedy Sportz Arena.

"Singular Sensations!" is on stage 2 at Theatre on the Square.

"The Blue Monkey Sideshow presents NEW BLUE" in the Cook Theater at Indiana Landmarks.

And, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Catch a performance this week (before they're all gone for another year).

(Photo courtesy of IndyFringe)

Monday, August 20, 2012

Big final weekend caps great State Fair


The report is in from this year's running of the Indiana State Fair:

INDIANAPOLIS – A beautiful final weekend of weather and a diverse line-up of free concerts throughout its 17-day run helped the Indiana State Fair finish as a tremendous success. For just the second time since the fair went to the 17-day format, the fair attracted more than 70,000 visitors on three different days. Overall, 853,941 people attended the event.

“We went all out to celebrate the ‘Hoosier Spirit’ this year, and people really loved it,” State Fair Executive Director Cindy Hoye said. “Our partnership with the American Dairy Association of Indiana was fantastic – I’ve never seen the Dairy Bar so crowded for so many days! This was a very special fair.”

An extended line-up of nationally known performers like REO Speedwagon, Allstar Weekend, Easton Corbin, MC Hammer and David Crowder made the Free Stage a very popular attraction. The nearby SuperDogs show also played to capacity crowds throughout the fair.

A wide variety of events at the Hoosier Lottery Grandstand kept fairgoers entertained. From the Timberworks Lumberjacks to the Great American Wild West Show, visitors were treated to fun, interactive shows day after day. Motor sports fans also had a lot to see in the grandstand with four different events, including the Lucas Oil Indy Mile AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National motorcycle race on Saturday.

Four days of 90 degree weather and six days of rain and thundershowers kept attendance down on certain days, but special discounts and promotions continue to draw families to the fair. The new $18 three-day advance admission pass was an instant success and the fair’s $2 Tuesday specials continue to be a big hit with people.

The fair expects to announce next year’s featured agricultural commodity in the coming weeks. Next year’s State Fair runs Aug. 2 – 18.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Mourdock: Repeal the 17th Amendment


Here's the report from Salon.com:

"Richard Mourdock, who recently ousted longtime Republican Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar in a GOP primary, [said], 'You know the issue of the 17th Amendment is so troubling to me … The Senate was there to represent the states. In other words, the government of the states', Mourdock said in May."

Yep. The Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate doesn't think the voters of Indiana should elect their senators.

You can read the whole article here.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Cotton-Ropkey House Needs an Angel


IBJ.com reports, "Indiana Landmarks is making another push to save an 1850 house on the city’s northwest side that is threatened by development.

"The Cotton-Ropkey House, at 79th Street and Marsh Road just west of Interstate 465, sits on 95 acres that Kite Realty Group bought in 2004. Five years later, facing a tepid development climate, Kite agreed to let Landmarks search for a buyer. Kite would sell the house for $1 if the buyer would agree to move it to another site."

One of the oldest houses in Marion County, it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The original owner, Isaac Cotton, was a Pike Township clerk and assessor who served as the township's Civil War draft enrollment commissioner and was a beekeeper, swine breeder and wool grower. The home was sold to the Ropkey family in 1937. The Ropkeys sold the house and land in 2004 when zoning issues forced a move of their hobby, the Ropkey Armor Museum out of town.

This Indianapolis Observer would hope that St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church, located across 79th Street, would purchase the home for a parsonage. Another option is moving it to a site further west on 79th Street in the Normandy Farms development. Any architecture angels out there?

The Cotton-Ropkey house at 6360 West 79th Street dates from 1850 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The original owner, Isaac Cotton, was a Pike Township clerk and assessor who served as the township's Civil War draft enrollment commissioner and was an accomplished beekeeper, swine breeder and wool grower. Most recently the antique farmhouse was home to the Ropkey family which maintained a collection of military equipment relics, including tanks and airplanes. The Ropkey Armor Museum has since moved to Crawfordsville.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Stage Coach Mishap at State Fair


Here's the news release from the Indiana State Fair:

Prior to tonight’s eight-horse hitch competition at the Indiana State Fair, a stage coach performing the pre-event entertainment tipped on its side while taking a turn. Six people, including the driver, were aboard the coach. The five passengers, including the State Fair queen, were transported to Methodist Hospital with minor injuries. All are reported to be in stable condition.

The driver of the coach has more than 20 years of stage coach driving experience and kept his team of six horses under control after the coach tipped. He was examined by the medical team on site and had no injuries. The crowd on hand was asked to leave the Coliseum until the hitch competition began at 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Michael Beschloss on Washington DC

Here's your chance to see someone in person who's usually just a talking head on a television screen.

Michael Beschloss, touted by Newsweek as "the nation's leading presidential historian", will talk about Washington, D.C., during the seventh annual Mary Tucker Jasper Speaker Series event to be held at 6 p.m. 13 September in the Columbia Club, Indianapolis.

Tickets are available (starting at $125) from the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, which benefits from the event.

If you're really a big fan, for $175 you'll get admission not only to the dinner and presentation, but a private reception with Mr. Beschloss in the Harrison Home.

As part of the program, the Presidential Site will present the 2012 Advancing American Democracy Award to The Honorable Sarah Evans Barker. This award recognizes an individual who advances the values of American democracy by encouraging and enabling ethical citizen participation in government.

The Mary Tucker Jasper Speaker Series is made possible through a restricted fund provided by the family of the late Mary Tucker Jasper to support an annual series of lectures. Mary Tucker Jasper was a 75-year member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Caroline Scott Harrison Chapter.

Here's Beschloss in action:

Friday, August 10, 2012

Sunday's India Day in Indy



Thursday, August 9, 2012

Indianapolis: A City of Immigrants


The Indiana Historical Society Press has released "Indianapolis: A City of Immigrants", a booklet by M. Teresa Baer, managing editor of family history publications for the IHS.

Baer will talk about the history of immigration in central Indiana and the story behind publication of the booklet at noon 21 August in the Multipurpose Room at the Indiana History Center, 450 West Ohio Street.

The 70-page paperback is available online. Cost is $11.99.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Hoe Down for Children's TherAplay


Got your Western wear handy? That's the suggested attire for a Hoe Down and Wild West Casino set for 29 September at Lucky Farms, 9919 Towne Road, Carmel.

Parking and shuttle service is provided at College Park Church, 2906 West 96th Street, Indianapolis, from 6:15 to 11:15 p.m.

Tickets are $100 per person. Reservations are due by 14 September.

The Hoe Down benefits the Children's TherAplay Foundation, a non-profit outpatient pediatric rehabilitation clinic providing physical and occupational therapy for children with special needs.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Handcuffed Man Shoots Himself


"The Curious Case of Chavis Carter".

This Indianapolis Observer is conjuring up images of a similar incident in Indianapolis not too many years ago.

What is it about law enforcement that causes such explanations?

Friday, August 3, 2012

“Chew On This — Crossroads 1987″


Join Indiana Humanities and Indiana Sports Corp. for "Chew on This", a series of dinner conversations at 10 special venues around Indianapolis to discuss the success, failures and lasting impact of the Pan American Games in Indy on its 25th anniversary.

In addition to conversing and consuming with 19 other smart and engaged folks, your discussion may be facilitated by one of the city’s leaders who helped make the Pan Am Games the success they were.

After the conversation, participants are invited to an exhibit of Pan Am Games memorabilia in the Indianapolis Artsgarden for appetizers and cocktails. This event is part of Indiana Humanities’ two-year theme, "Spirit of Competition".

Tickets are available online.

"Chew on This" is a program designed by Indiana Humanities to use the power of food and drink as a convener of people and catalyst for conversation to inspire thoughtful discussion on engaging topics.

(And, a tip of the hat to Provocate.org for this info.)

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Ernesto May Form in Atlantic


State College, Pa. -- 2 August 2012 -- AccuWeather.com reports Tropical Depression five formed over the Atlantic Ocean at approximately 5 p.m. EDT on Wednesday.

The depression could strengthen into Tropical Storm Ernesto by early Friday near the Windward Islands, according to AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Andrew Mussoline.

If formed, Ernesto will produce winds in excess of 40 mph, a storm surge of 1 to 3 feet and heavy, flooding rains.

"Strong wind shear, an inhibitor of tropical development, will limit the potential for rapid strengthening over the next couple of days," Mussoline said. "However, the wind shear is expected to weaken during the weekend, where the opportunity for further strengthening is possible."

Satellite imagery Thursday indicated Ernesto was fairly disorganized, indicating little strengthening will occur through the next 12 to 24 hours.

According to Meteorologist Mark Mancuso, "Tropical systems that fail to organize into a tropical storm or hurricane prior to entering the Caribbean, often fail organize until reaching the western end of the sea."

This may be due to the impact of the large land mass of South America to the south and towering mountains over the Greater Antilles to the north.

The first part of next week the system could be anywhere in the vicinity from Belize to the western tip of Cuba.

Looking at impacts to the United States, the system, potentially a tropical storm or greater by then, could move into southern parts of the Gulf of Mexico during the latter part of next week.

Here's hoping that tropical storm forms in the gulf and continues north to give the Hoosier state some rain!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

The Worst is Yet to Come: Atlantic Hurricane Season


State College, Pa. -- 1 August 2012 -- Despite a quiet July in the Atlantic, the AccuWeather.com Long-Range Forecasting team still expects the 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season to be near normal in terms of the number of named storms. The forecast calls for a total of 12 tropical storms, five named hurricanes and two major hurricanes.

With the number of named tropical storms and hurricanes so far this season factored in, there should be eight additional tropical storms, four of which will become hurricanes, through the rest of the hurricane season. Of those four hurricanes, two could strengthen into major hurricanes, Category 3 or higher.

The tropics will become more active from the middle of August through the middle of September with an uptick in the number of named storms. This is the normal peak time of the Atlantic hurricane season.

The U.S. may be impacted by two more named tropical systems, according to AccuWeather Expert Senior Meteorologist Dan Kottlowski. The central Gulf Coast to the southern Virginia coast is most likely to get hit. Once again, Florida could be susceptible.

The chances are lower for the western Gulf coast and northern Atlantic coast to endure a direct landfall of a named tropical system, but they are not immune. Even if a storm does not make landfall in these areas, there can still be impact of flooding rainfall far from where storms move inland.

A gradual fading of the season will occur during October, depending on how fast and strong El Niño comes on. El Niño is a phenomenon characterized by above-normal water temperatures across the central and equatorial Pacific. Water temperatures are warming in the Pacific with the pattern trending toward a weak El Niño.

When an El Niño pattern develops, it forces strong westerly winds high in the atmosphere to shift farther south across the Atlantic. More frequent episodes of high wind shear inhibit tropical development by preventing vertical building of clouds and a well-defined center.

This Indianapolis Observer hopes that some of that "flooding rainfall" makes it to the Hoosier State!