Monday, September 28, 2009

INDIEana Handicraft Exchange fall show

The INDIEana Handicraft Exchange fall show will be held on Friday (2 October) from 6 to 9 p.m. and on Saturday (3 October) from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Harrison Center for the Arts, 1505 North Delaware Street, Indianapolis.

The IHE will feature 70+ vendors, live roller girls, live music by A Squared DJs, Shirtless Biddles, Mandy Marie Luke & Mo Foster, The Jack Davies, Julia Schafer & D. Mark Conway, and Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun. Admission is free.

The INDIEana Handicraft Exchange is a contemporary craft fair that consciously celebrates modern handmade goods, the relationship between creator and consumer, and local, alternative economies.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Next Audiences Summit 2009 in Indy

The Arts Council of Indianapolis will host a national forum on sharing best practices and innovations that develop and engage next generation (20-40 year old) art patrons 15 and 16 October at various venues in Indy. The complete schedule is here.

This year's presentations include:

"Selling Pixie Dust to New Generations" by Faron Kelley, Director of Marketing for Disney Parks; "Uncharitable: How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential" by Dan Pallotta, "Best Practice sessions: Hands-on Web 2.0 and Social Media breakout sessions" with Sarah "Intellagirl" Robbins, Joshua Ligenfelter, Director of Marketing at Clowes Memorial Hall of Butler University; Marti, Lead Arts Consultant and 2EO of Next Generation Consulting; Mark Newman, Vice President of Marketing & Communications, The Indianapolis Symphony, and Katie Fox, Program Director, Arts Education, S.C. Artists' Ventures Initiative, South Carolina Arts Commission; "Building Next-Gen Audiences Through Intentional Design" by Rebecca Ryan.

Registration information is here. The cost is $229 per person.

Friday, September 25, 2009

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Centennial Era Concours d'Elegance, featuring some of the world's finest classic and antique automobiles and motorcycles, is moving to 17-19 June 2011, reports the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The event, originally scheduled for 18-20 June 2010, is shifting to the new date due to the challenging state of the world economy. IMS officials anticipate strong participation from concours and industry enthusiasts based on the tremendous initial response since the Centennial Era Concours d'Elegance was announced in March 2009.

The Concours d'Elegance will be a featured event during the Speedway's Centennial Era, honoring the 100th anniversaries of the opening of the fabled facility in 1909 and the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911. The event will celebrate the significance of vehicular transportation and competition to Indianapolis.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Scientech Club's 90th Anniversary

Interesting piece today in The Indianapolis Star's "North Indy" on the Scientech Club, which has been meeting every Monday for lunch for 90 years now.

Founded by 164 charter members* with science backgrounds, it celebrates its anniversary at 5:30 p.m. 3 October in Northside Knights of Columbus Hall, 2100 East 71st Street, Indianapolis (tickets are $25). Speaker will be John Herbst, CEO of the Indiana Historical Society, whose topic is "Time Travel in Popular Culture".

Their next regular gathering is 28 September, when Dr. Christopher Leamon will talk about "Folate Targeted Therapies for Cancer".

You can read more abut the club on its website, which notes the following about membership:

"Scientech club membership represents a broad array of knowledge and experience, and persons from all disciplines are welcome to join the Club. In accordance with the Club Charter, 'members are good-natured all of the time, serious in purpose most of the time, given to fun part of the time, and free from bitterness at any time.'

"You can obtain a membership application by coming to a meeting, introducing yourself, and joining in the conversation over lunch. You will have a name badge identifying you as a visitor."

Ten members have received Sagamore of the Wabash honors from the governor of Indiana:
Elton T. Ridley (1986), Bob Annis (1987), Dr. William H. Dick (1990), Dr. Larry L. Heck (1990), J. Darrell Bakken (1994), Robert S. Sorensen (1997), Dr. John N. Pittman (2000), Leland Tanner (2000), Malcolm Mallette (2004), and Dr. Charles R. Thomas (2006).

*Charter members included D.J .Angus, Hugh J. Baker, Elwood Haynes, W. H. Insley, Eli Lilly, Willbur Shook, and Dr. Frank Wade.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Indy Launches "Bank On" Program

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard and his wife, Winnie, will unveil a new financial education program Thursday, reports Inside INdiana Business. "Bank on Indy" will offer financial services to low-to-moderate income residents who don't have a checking or savings account.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Politics As Usual?

Two current examples:

1. The Marion County Health & Hospital campaign for a new campus.

2. The transfer of ownership of Pan Am Plaza (pictured) without compensation.

This Indianapolis Observer is grateful to bloggers Paul K. Ogden and Gary R. Welsh for keeping us all up to date on these shenanigans.

And, where is Doris Minton-McNeil?

Monday, September 21, 2009

Comcast Offers Discovery Education "On Demand"

Comcast Corp. is making videos seen on the Discovery Education channel available on demand to its Indianapolis-area digital subscribers, reports the Indianapolis Business Journal.

Central and Northeast Indiana are the first regions in the country where Pennsylvania-based Comcast will offer the service, called Discovery Education On Demand.

Discovery Education, a unit of Maryland-based Discovery Communications LLC, provides educational videos to half of all U.S. schools, as well as to home subscribers. The new service, however, will allow parents and their kids to pause, fast forward and rewind more than 200 educational videos—and watch them at any time.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Kroger to Replace Altum's on Michigan Road

Cory Schouten of Indianapolis Business Journal writes, "Kroger has signed on to anchor a new shopping center along Michigan Road near 106th Street on the site of Altum's Garden Center. The plans call for a full-size Kroger store, Kroger-branded gas station, small shops and a couple of outlots, possibly for restaurants, north of an existing Marsh store between 106th and 116th streets, said Angie Conn, Carmel's planning administrator.

According to Schouten, "The planning department expects a developer will file formal plans by 16 October, in time for a 15 December public hearing. Kroger does not yet have a store in the Zionsville/West Carmel area. Its closest locations are along West 86th Street just west of Township Line Road and at 71st Street and Georgetown Road. The owners of Altum's plan to remain open until the deal closes and then hope to build a new nursery within a mile of the current location."

Friday, September 18, 2009

Indianapolis Civic Theatre

The 95th season of the Indianapolis Civic Theatre is well underway ("Evita" started on 11 September).

Other plays scheduled are "The Elephant Man", "The Wizard of Oz", "Bus Stop", "Carousel" and "A Flea in Her Ear". New this year are two concerts: "Camelot" and "My Fair Lady". All productions for the 2009-20 season will take place on the campus of Marian University, 3200 Cold Springs Road, Indianapolis.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Indiana Court Strikes Down Voter ID Law

From the New York Times:

"An Indiana appellate court on Thursday (17 September) struck down a state law requiring voters to show identification — a law that the United States Supreme Court declared constitutional just last year. The court said the law violated the Indiana constitution by not treating all voters impartially."

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

R.I.P.

Reports say both Myles Brand (of the NCAA) and Mel Simon, who started what is now the country's largest shopping mall company, died today of pancreatic cancer.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

$1.5 Million Grant to Biology Prof at IUPUI

Assistant professor of biology at the School of Science at IUPUI, Guoli Dai, has been awarded a five-year, $1.5 million grant from the The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the role of a transcription factor in liver regeneration.

Dai is new to the School of Science from the University of Kansas Medical Center. He plans to use the grant to blend his research to better understand the molecular mechanisms governing hepatocyte proliferation in response to liver injury. Dai earned his Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology from the College of Agricultural and Animal Sciences at Jilin University and his masters in molecular and cellular biology from Changchun Veterinary University in China.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Riley Heart Center Symposium Underway

Global experts on pediatric cardiology are gathering at the Indiana University School of Medicine and Riley Hospital for Children for the second Riley Heart Center Symposium on Cardiac Development, reports Inside INdiana Business. The two-day event, which began today (14 September), focuses on issues related to cardiovascular development. Researchers from Indiana University, Germany and the United Kingdom will make presentations.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Author of "Eat, Pray, Love" Comes to IUPUI

Elizabeth Gilbert (pictured), author of Eat, Pray, Love, will discuss "Traveling the Road of Life during a 7 p.m. presentation 28 September in Room 450 of the Campus Center of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 420 University Boulevard, Indianapolis.

Gilbert’s appearance is hosted by the Department of Tourism, Conventions and Event Management at IUPUI. It is part of the annual Efroymson Lectures on International Art, Culture and Heritage. The event is free and open to the public.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Water Company Running Tests

Indianapolis Water is putting the finishing touches on a new, $12 million ultraviolet disinfection system at its largest water treatment plant, White River, reports Inside INdiana Business.

The new disinfection system protects against viruses and pathogens which can cause gastro-intestinal illness.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires all surface water treatment plants to comply by 2012 with the Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Indiana Authors to Gather For Inaugural Fair

Hoosiers interested in writing a book or getting one published can learn from experts at the Inaugural Indy Author Fair, reports Inside INdiana Business. Participants can talk one-on-one with dozens of regional and national authors with Indiana ties at the 26 September event at the Indianapolis-Marion County Central Library. It will also feature a panel discussion, programs, book sales and signings. Indiana Authors Award finalists will be honored that evening at an awards dinner.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Library Receives Early Literacy Grant

The Herbert Simon Family Foundation has given the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Foundation a $1 million gift to expand its early childhood literacy initiative, reports Inside INdiana Business.

"Ready to Read" helps preschoolers develop the basic skills for learning to read. The funding will allow the library to quadruple the number of children in licensed, home-based daycare centers who receive book deliveries and listen to story time programs monthly. It will also provide more programming, child-friendly computers and increase staff training.