If only we had a watchdog media in Indy!
Buried in today's Indianapolis Star is the reason Music for All is in trouble. This non-profit organization that stages the annual Bands of America competition was lured to Indy a couple of years ago, and then blindsided by the Capital Improvements Board.
How so? Check the jump. Way toward the end of the article is the information: "37% increase in rent and other services at Lucas Oil Stadium from what the organization had been paying at the RCA Dome".
The Colts are subsidized, but high school bands are overcharged.
This Indianapolis Observer is horrified, once again.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
And I Repeat:
If the Hulman family can run the Indianapolis Motor Speedway without capital payments from Indy, why can't the Simons run the Pacers and the Irsays run the Colts without our tax dollars?
If the Indy "500" -- the Greatest Spectacle in Racing -- doesn't need subsidies from Indianapolis, why do the owners of the basketball and football teams demand them?
(Yes, this Indianapolis Observer knows that the IMS gets substantial law enforcement services, but that's a pittance compared to the enormous subsidies the Pacers and Colts get -- think, for starters, about Conseco Fieldhouse and Lucas Oil Stadium.)
If the Indy "500" -- the Greatest Spectacle in Racing -- doesn't need subsidies from Indianapolis, why do the owners of the basketball and football teams demand them?
(Yes, this Indianapolis Observer knows that the IMS gets substantial law enforcement services, but that's a pittance compared to the enormous subsidies the Pacers and Colts get -- think, for starters, about Conseco Fieldhouse and Lucas Oil Stadium.)
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Throw The Bums Out
So, the Indianapolis Star justifies the million-dollar-jaunt of some five dozen Indy movers and shakers to Cancun as the guests of the Pacers with a whitewash in today's "Behind Closed Doors" column?
They paid sponsorship money to the Pacers, so they get to party?
What about the shortfall between what the team owes the city? Don't the sponsors have a responsibility to uphold the contractual obligations of the Pacers?
Or is it like Nero fiddling while Rome burns....
This Indianapolis Observer is appalled. If the fans don't buy enough tickets to support the Pacers (or the Colts, for that matter), perhaps their time in the spotlight is over.
As Ruth Holladay says in her blog, "Wasteful spending is exactly that: wasteful. If these corporate fat cats have the dough to throw a luxury six-day vacation into their deals with the team, in these hard-luck times, maybe THEY should bail the Pacers out -- after all, they get the benefit of luxury suites and other perks. They may well be the only people in town enjoying the Pacers these days."
They paid sponsorship money to the Pacers, so they get to party?
What about the shortfall between what the team owes the city? Don't the sponsors have a responsibility to uphold the contractual obligations of the Pacers?
Or is it like Nero fiddling while Rome burns....
This Indianapolis Observer is appalled. If the fans don't buy enough tickets to support the Pacers (or the Colts, for that matter), perhaps their time in the spotlight is over.
As Ruth Holladay says in her blog, "Wasteful spending is exactly that: wasteful. If these corporate fat cats have the dough to throw a luxury six-day vacation into their deals with the team, in these hard-luck times, maybe THEY should bail the Pacers out -- after all, they get the benefit of luxury suites and other perks. They may well be the only people in town enjoying the Pacers these days."
Saturday, March 28, 2009
The Good Old Boys' Club Unravels
This Indianapolis Observer is watching with keen interest the devolution of the Capital Improvements Board (CIB). Once a powerful out-of-sight operator, it's become a caricature of good governance.
If the Hulman family can run the Indianapolis Motor Speedway without influxes of capital from Indy, what's wrong with the Simons (and the Pacers) and the Irsays (and the Colts). If the Indy 500 doesn't need subsidies from Indianapolis, why do basketball and football?
If the "fans" don't support the Pacers and the Colts, why should the city? Enough with the corporate welfare already. Fund culture and the arts, not professional sports!
If the Hulman family can run the Indianapolis Motor Speedway without influxes of capital from Indy, what's wrong with the Simons (and the Pacers) and the Irsays (and the Colts). If the Indy 500 doesn't need subsidies from Indianapolis, why do basketball and football?
If the "fans" don't support the Pacers and the Colts, why should the city? Enough with the corporate welfare already. Fund culture and the arts, not professional sports!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Concert to Celebrate 90 Years of Butler Bands
The Butler University Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band, under the direction of Dr. Robert Grechesky, will present the final concert of their 2008-2009 season at 3 p.m. 5 April 5 Clowes Memorial Hall on the Butler campus in Indianapolis.
The event is free and open to the public. No tickets are required. For more information, call 317:940-9246.
A special reception in honor of the 90th anniversary of the Butler Bands will be held in the Clowes Lobby following the concert.
The concert will feature a wide range of repertoire, including the Symphony in Three Movements by John Stevens. This work was commissioned by the Butler Wind Ensemble as part of a consortium of universities from around the country.
Also on the program is Blessings by Samuel Hazo. This beautiful work features guest faculty artists Andrea Gullickson, oboe; William Grubb, cello; and Nancy Davis Booth and Michael Schelle, reciters. The work includes four poems about relationships between parents and young children, and the combination of music and poetry makes for an intensely emotional experience.
The Symphonic Band will perform Malcolm Arnold’s Prelude, Siciliano and Rondo as well as Daniel Bukvich’s Symphony No. 1. The grand finale will combine both bands for a rousing rendition of the Polka and Fugue from Schwanda the Bagpiper, by Jaromir Weinberger.
The event is free and open to the public. No tickets are required. For more information, call 317:940-9246.
A special reception in honor of the 90th anniversary of the Butler Bands will be held in the Clowes Lobby following the concert.
The concert will feature a wide range of repertoire, including the Symphony in Three Movements by John Stevens. This work was commissioned by the Butler Wind Ensemble as part of a consortium of universities from around the country.
Also on the program is Blessings by Samuel Hazo. This beautiful work features guest faculty artists Andrea Gullickson, oboe; William Grubb, cello; and Nancy Davis Booth and Michael Schelle, reciters. The work includes four poems about relationships between parents and young children, and the combination of music and poetry makes for an intensely emotional experience.
The Symphonic Band will perform Malcolm Arnold’s Prelude, Siciliano and Rondo as well as Daniel Bukvich’s Symphony No. 1. The grand finale will combine both bands for a rousing rendition of the Polka and Fugue from Schwanda the Bagpiper, by Jaromir Weinberger.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
IMA Receives 125 Gifts For 125th Anniversary
Inside INdiana Business reports that the Indianapolis Museum of Art has secured 125 works in honor of its 125th anniversary. The donated pieces range from Old Master paintings to 21st-century African textiles.
Monday, March 23, 2009
The Past, Present, and Future of Abraham Lincoln in Indiana
This year’s 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth reminds Hoosiers that he spent his formative years in Indiana.
"The Past, Present, and Future of Abraham Lincoln in Indiana" will be discussed by William Bartelt during an "Ideas in Indiana" presentation co-sponsored by the Sagamore Institute for Policy Research, the Indiana Historical Society and the Indiana State Museum.
The discussion is planned for 3-4:30 p.m. 3 April in the Indiana History Center, 450 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis. If you plan to attend, please contact Susan Stinn, 317:472-2053 by 31 March.
Bartelt is the author of There I Grew Up: Remembering Abraham Lincoln’s Indiana Youth. A retired educator who spent fifteen summers working as ranger and historian at the Lincoln Boyhood Memorial, Bartelt is a member of the Federal Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and serves as Vice-Chair of the Indiana Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. He will be joined by Dale Ogden, chief curator of cultural history for the Indiana State Museum, who will share the Museum’s plans for Lincoln’s future.
Following the discussion, a tour of the Indiana Historical Society’s conservation lab to see how the Society’s own collection of Lincoln documents and images have been preserved.
"The Past, Present, and Future of Abraham Lincoln in Indiana" will be discussed by William Bartelt during an "Ideas in Indiana" presentation co-sponsored by the Sagamore Institute for Policy Research, the Indiana Historical Society and the Indiana State Museum.
The discussion is planned for 3-4:30 p.m. 3 April in the Indiana History Center, 450 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis. If you plan to attend, please contact Susan Stinn, 317:472-2053 by 31 March.
Bartelt is the author of There I Grew Up: Remembering Abraham Lincoln’s Indiana Youth. A retired educator who spent fifteen summers working as ranger and historian at the Lincoln Boyhood Memorial, Bartelt is a member of the Federal Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and serves as Vice-Chair of the Indiana Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. He will be joined by Dale Ogden, chief curator of cultural history for the Indiana State Museum, who will share the Museum’s plans for Lincoln’s future.
Following the discussion, a tour of the Indiana Historical Society’s conservation lab to see how the Society’s own collection of Lincoln documents and images have been preserved.
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