Hoosiers are sensitive to other States laying claim to famous people born in Indiana. That always seemed to rook Indiana. Benjamin Harrison was born in Ohio, but made his political fame from Indiana. He was elected to the United States Senate, then served one term as President, sandwiched between the two terms of Grover Cleveland. His grandfather William Henry Harrison's month in office as President still holds the record for brevity and stands as a lesson to all those who would bore the…

   At last Thursday's Broad Ripple Village Association (BRVA) meeting, at which the proposed development on North College Avenue was the scheduled topic, several people on behalf of BRVA gave presentations. Elizabeth Marshall, a BRVA member apparently involved in plans related to TIF monies, advised that TIF would not be a topic for discussion, but would be a subject of future discussions and there would be opportunities to weigh in on the TIF then. (At least that is what the minutes of the…

   In an episode of "M*A*S*H," Hawkeye is court-martialed for assault of a superior officer (Frank Burns, of course) while they were in the operating theatre. After Major Burns delivers, to the general officer, his version of what occurred, Hawkeye says something to the effect of: "I agree with Major Burns. We were in Korea. And we are in the Army. However, the rest of it..." Needless to say, the rest of what Major Burns had said was no accurate.

   Broad Ripple Village Association…

   The ONLY item on the agenda for tonight's meeting of the BRVA Land Use Development Committee, at 6 p.m. at the former Broad Ripple Library, at the entrance to Broad Ripple Park, is a vote on whether to recommend the development. This is kind of a surprise and probably something worth attending, particularly for those who oppose Whole Foods's invasion of the Village.  

   A few weeks ago I spotted "The Broad Ripple Gazette" at Kroger's in Broad Ripple. A photo of the Rainbow Bridge, then under repairs, was on the front page. I grabbed a copy to see the projected date of completion. I understand construction projects take time to complete, but I was anxious to know as this project caused me to detour on my ways to and from work. Unfortunately, there was no such information. There was a statement that announcements of current events was on the back page, so…

   Belle Gunness was born in 1859 in Norway. She moved to the United States in 1881, following a sister who had moved here. Belle learned a lot about specific aspects of American law: insurance, probate, inheritance, and murder. She was able to poison her first husband and collect proceeds from two life insurance policies. The fellow died on the one day coverage of the two policies overlapped. She moved from Chicago, after she experienced difficulties in collection of the proceeds of the…

   Today, May 25, at 11 a.m., we shall stream "live" from Good Earth, located on Guilford just north of the Rainbow Bridge in what is, for now, beautiful Broad Ripple Village. The focus of our conversation with guest panelists Matt Stone ("Indy Student" blog), Len Farber ("Indy Vanguard"), Rudy the manage of Good Earth, and a couple of the folks who attended Thursday evening's Broad Ripple Village Association ("BRVA") meeting will be the proposed construction of an architectural monstrosity…

  Perhaps the most telling moment---there were a lot of moments from which to choose---at last night's "open" meeting of the Broad Ripple Village Association's Land Use Development Committee (LUD) occurred at the end of a short segment presented by Joe Scimia, a lawyer from Feagre Baker & Daniels. He announced to a standing-room-only house at the Broad Ripple United Methodist Church that part of "Envision Broad Ripple," the guiding plan for the development of Broad Ripple, was the…

   The Broad Ripple Village Association will hold an informational meeting tonight at the Broad Ripple United Methodist Church, at 6185 Guilford Avenue. That is across the street and a few steps south of the Kroger grocery store in Broad Ripple. The Land Use and Development Committee will hold this meeting, one of its regularly scheduled meetings.

   LUD is descrbed on the BRVA website:

     "The BRVA's Land Use and Development Committee (LUD) implements the development…

   A few days ago I blogged about Greg Ballard's "legal corruption." The point was that so many actions of his administration that reek of "corruption," as defined in The American College Dictionary, are not illegal. For example, out in the open and in front of everybody, he awarded a sweet deal to a big campaign contributor on the Broad Ripple parking garage. If there was no money under the table, only money out there contributed consistently with applicable campaign laws, and Mayor Ballard…

   In the 1960s, scientists debated whether the Earth---our home, in orbit around a run-of-the mill star we call the Sun---would cool down or heat up as a result of pollution.

   Each side had facts in common upon which they relied. "Greenhouse gases"---primarily gases that resulted from human-made pollution---act to reflect light and heat. The scientists on the "cool" side theorized pollution would prevent penetration of sunlight and heat through the atmosphere and we would end up…

   There probably are four business establishments that one could  say epitomize Broad Ripple: Good Earth, the organic food store on Guilford; Conner's Pub, immediately behind Good Earth; the Vogue; and the Alley Cat. When I moved to Broad Ripple in 1987, there were more businesses of this Broad Ripple "type."  Fox Deli, The Patio, Provincial Kitchen, The Stone Mug, El Matador. Readers probably can add businesses I have overlooked. One could argue Bazbeaux Pizza should be on the list. I am…

   Saturday, May 18, we will shoot at the Isaacs Center for Peace, 8001 Westfield Boulevard. We stream live at 11 a.m. Dick Cady, who was awarded a Pulitzer with his work as a reporter for The Indianapolis Star, has written "Scavengers," an account of the Marjorie Jackson's life, a narrative of some Indianapolis history, her murder, and the apprehension of the gang-that-couldn't-shoot-straight types who robbed the millionaire widow, one of whom killed her.

   I was asked a few days…

   Our focal topic for Saturday's Show will be the Marjorie Jackson murder. Dick Cady will be a guest panelist. Mr. Cady won the Pulitzer for reporting for The Indianapolis Star and, most recently, has published "Scavengers," a book about the murder of Marjorie Jackson, the widow of a wealthy Indianapolis businessman. The story relates the history of the Jackson wealth, how Marjorie came to be part of Chester Jackson's life, her drift into paranoia, and the people who stole from her and…

   If I write a blog about a Federal agency responsible for collection of revenues levied by the government, will I be subject to audit? If you noticed, I avoided use of a three-letter acronym for a Federal agency charged with performing the task for our national government. That agency has come under fire since reports Friday disclosed the agency targeted any 501(c)(4) groups with the words "patriot" or "tea party" in their names, or advocated education about the Constitution or the Bill of…

   Before Marjorie Jackson was murdered in May, 1977, she had withdrawn millions of dollars---in cash---from what then was Indiana National Bank.  Those millions were not the only items of currency on her property. She was the widow of the son of the founder of a grocery store chain. Her husband had grown up in a family business largely cash-driven. Marjorie was accustomed to her husband bringing home cash and hiding it in various places around the home they eventually purchased on Indy's…

   In 1787, the Framers met in Philadelphia to draft what became the Constitution of the United States. We should get a couple of things straight about the Constitution.

   Only 36 delegates signed the final product. Three other delegates present on that day abstained. A total of 55 men attended the Convention, at one time or another, during that summer. There were some men, chosen as delegates, who refused to attend. Perhaps most famously, Patrick Henry said he would not attend…

   There has been a "push" recently for United States military involvement in Syria’s civil war. I call the chaos in Syria a "civil" war because, generally, protracted conflicts in which people of a country seek to overthrow the government that claims rule over them are called "civil wars."

   There seem to be no valid reasons for a U.S. military incursion in Syria. There are corporations that would profit from such a commitment. But profits are not worth lives.

   The Syrian…

   This Saturday, May 11, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Jeff Cox (Indianapolis attorney, blogger and author) and John Strinka (Socialist Party candidate for the Indiana House of Representatives in 2012)  will join us on "Civil Discourse Now"for discussion of our focal topic: the chaos in Syria and possible United States involvement there.

   As happened last week, we probably also will discuss cricket.

   Cricket is a dart game. It also is a game some would argue was a British…

   Yesterday afternoon, Pat Andrews, who has been a guest on The Show several times and is amongst the best bloggers of local politics in Indianapolis at "Had Enough Indy?" printed, on her blog, an exchange of e-mails between Indianapolis City-County Councilor-at-Large Zach Adamson and Dennis L. Rosebrough, a mayoral-appointee to the Board of Public Works. Adamson had e-mailed members of the Public Works Board to voice his opposition to the proposed cricket complex Mayor Ballard has proposed…