Guyett Sues Gannett

A former columnist for The Indianapolis Star who was dismissed from her job is suing the newspaper for age discrimination, reports IBJ.com.

Susan J. Guyett filed her lawsuit in a federal court in Indianapolis 26 April after the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission gave its support for her to sue.

Brizzi Screws Up, Again

"The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department likely will have to return more than $273,000 in cash seized as part of a racketeering investigation after the Marion County Prosecutor's Office missed a civil forfeiture deadline," reports Cory Schouten on IBJ.com.

"Law enforcement officers turned the case over to the Prosecutor's Office Grand Jury division, which continues to investigate. And the locally based Garrison Law Firm, which Prosecutor Carl Brizzi hired several years ago to handle select forfeiture cases in exchange for 30 percent of the take, began working on a case under federal racketeering statutes.

"But no one—not Garrison nor anyone at the Marion County Prosecutor's Office—filed the paperwork necessary to keep the seized cash within 180 days, as required under state law. Each party blames the other for the oversight."

This Indianapolis Observer wonders why Brizzi is still in office!

Emmert to Head NCAA

The NCAA executive committee selected University of Washington President Mark A. Emmert to lead the national association that oversees college sports, reports the Indianapolis Business Journal. Emmert, who is expected to start work by 1 November 2010, replaces the late Myles Brand, who died of pancreatic cancer in September 2009.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is headquartered in Indianapolis' White River State Park.

And, the Beat Goes On....

It cost about $184 million to build Conseco Fieldhouse 11 years ago. Today, the CIB owes $214 million in principal and interest on the building. Sound familiar? The same thing was true of the RCA Dome. We owed more on it when we imploded it to build LOS than what it cost to build more than two decades earlier. That's because the CIB has never been forced to live within its means."

More at Advance Indiana.

Cultural Competency for Behavioral Healthcare

The 9th Annual Indiana Conference on Cultural Competency for Behavioral Healthcare takes place 29 April at Holiday Inn North at the Pyramids, 3850 North DePauw Boulevard, Indianapolis

Keynote speaker is David Satcher, M.D., PhD., director of Satcher Health Leadership Center at Morehouse School of Medicine and Poussaint–Satcher–Cosby Chair in Mental Health who served as the 16th Surgeon General of the United States.

It's sponsored by the Indiana Minority Health Coalition. For more information, contact Kenneth B. Durgans.

The conference targets healthcare professionals who interact with clients at a primary or secondary level, including, mental health providers, substance abuse providers, nurses, physicians, public health officials, researchers, behavioral health specialists, social workers, health educators, healthcare administrators and other healthcare staff and professionals. In addition, students, legislators, policy-makers, policy advocates and lay persons involved in cross-cultural interactions within institutions and communities are also targeted.

Tonight's IPS Board Meeting Should Be Interesting

Kyle Olson, vice president of the Education Action Group Foundation, will address the Indianapolis school board tonight (20 April) regarding the legally-questionable eviction of an EAGF film crew from a school board budget meeting on 24 March.

Tonight’s school board meeting is at 7 p.m. at the school district administration building.

EAGF, a Michigan-based 501(c)(3) non-profit, is currently producing a feature-length documentary film on American public education, focusing on Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. Our film crew, comprised of Olson and videographer Don VanderKooi, was attending the 24 March IPS public budget meeting as part of that project.

Unfortunately our crew was only able to attend about 40 minutes of the meeting, because School and Community Relations Director Mary Louise Bewley suddenly ordered them to leave, with police escort, claiming they were there for "disingenuous reasons." Other members of the audience, including at least one working reporter, were allowed to stay.

The entire episode was captured on film and is available on YouTube here.

After the incident, Olson filed a formal complaint with the Office of Public Access Counselor, citing the denial of our right to attend a publicly advertised meeting.

Olson plans to call for more transparency and will seek to obtain the opinions of the school board members on the situation.

He will be available for comment after the meeting.

Fire Department Instructors Conference

Included in the Fire Department Instructors Conference, today through Saturday (24 April) are more than 24 hands-on training H.O.T.® evolutions, 34 preconference workshops, and more than 160 classroom presentations. It's said to be "the largest, most comprehensive, and most beneficial training opportunity nationally and internationally for all levels of fire service practitioners". Sessions are in the Indiana Convention Center and in Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis.