A few days ago a person was attacked in the parking area of the Coil Building, 6301 N College, north of the canal. The Store Director of Fresh Thyme, the building’s 1st floor tenant, replied to a local resident’s concerns about safety. The reply was damn decent. Major points: 1/5

1) Fresh Thyme is working w/local police to reduce potential criminal activity 2) A video of the incident was given to the police who also had video from a traffic camera 3) The assailant is not a regular at…

   There have been several signs, posted on lamp posts, the past couple of weeks, about missing pets in the Warfleigh neighborhood where I live.  This is an area in Broad Ripple west of College, north of the canal, south of the river, and east of Meridian.

   Last week, on my morning walk, I saw a coyote.  Two days ago, again on my morning walk, I saw a coyote.  Perhaps I saw the same coyote.  Perhaps I saw different coyotes.  Coyotes are carnivores.  Jokes about Acme Corporation and…

   Broad Ripple—“maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of our lives”—will become a “brand.” In the presentation a couple of years ago about the Whole Foods complex planned for the Village—because, as one presenter noted (to a chorus of boos from the audience that consisted of many customers and fans of longtime locally-owned and operated organic food store Good Earth) Broad Ripple lacks an organic food store—one of the “suits” on the stage of the Broad Ripple Methodist Church said…

   On “Property Lines” at the IBJ, a blog by Scott Olson announced: “A local developer plans to build a five-story office building on the site of a closed American Legion post in Broad Ripple.  At 85 feet, the ambitious project would be the tallest in the village, even topping by 10 feet Browning Investment, Inc.’s proposed retail-and-apartment development on College Avenue near the Central Canal.”  

   Olson continues: “The Broad Ripple Village Association’s [BRVA] land-use and…

   Matthew Tully’s column in the Sunday edition of the shell of the former Indianapolis Star depressed me.

   I was not depressed about his recitation of aspects of crime in Broad Ripple. I have been depressed about crime here for a while.  His reference to a person’s smartphone app showing red over the Broad Ripple area—“indicating [Broad Ripple’]s depressing crime statistics.  That, he said, is what potential home buyers will see”—did not surprise me.  Crime has been on the uprise…

   One’s cynicism increases with age, and as one lives each day in a City whose Mayor is Greg Ballard.

   When the town hall-type meetings were held last year to discuss the proposed Whole Foods development on College Avenue, the “Envision” plan for Broad Ripple was discussed. The people who “Envision” change in Broad Ripple wanted to convert more areas to be pedestrian-friendly. There was talk of conversion of parts of Broad Ripple Avenue to a pedestrians-only mall. Pedestrians would…

   The first I heard of Black Sabbath was as the punch line for a couple of jokes by Cheech and Chong in 1973. A short time later I had 8-track tapes of "Master of Reality" and something else. Ozzy and the boys played definitive heavy-metal. The tape-deck in the 1962 (or was it a 1961?) Ford Econoline van I drove was hooked up to big speakers in the back, the walls of which were painted flat-black. The speakers were loud, albeit not as loud as the sound systems most teenagers or early-20s…

   When I worked on the calendar for The Show, I was a week ahead of myself. The Indianapolis International Film Festival is next week. This weekend we will shoot at the Broad Ripple Farmer's Market and discuss, amongst other topics, the farm bill presently before Congress, and lawsuits in Federal courts that affect the rights of small farmers, primarily women and Latino farmers. Special guest co-host will be Terri Jett, professor of political science at Butler. We will stream from 11 am to…

   That is not a partial recollection of my attendance of a concert in the 1970s.

   Yesterday we had an excellent Show. Guest panelists were Miah Akston, Andrew Kirch, and Jeff Cox at Claude & Annie's, 9351 East 141st Street, Fishers. If you did not catch The Show when it streamed "live," it will be re-aired this week on Indiana Talks dot com.

   We got home and I went out onto the deck to read, go on-line to check some things for The Show, and to smoke a cigar. The…

   Every Thursday, we do a 20-minute or so bit with Gary Snyder on his "The Gary Snyder Show."

   Gary Snyder started the "Indiana Talks" internet network of Indiana-based talk "radio"---although few are terrestrial radio---shows at the start of the year. The network is carried on Live365 under "talk," and also at several places on the internet. Since sources for local news coverage have expired with great frequency in recent years, thanks in large part to the internet, it only seems…

   Join us from 11 am to 1 pm on Saturday, June 15, as guest panelists Clarke Kahlo and Dan Sockrider discuss plans for development in Broad Ripple---and other matters of local, state, national, and international importance.

   When I lived in Chicago, just off Fullerton and Clark on Arlington Place, no one I knew who lived in the neighborhood owned a car. If one owned a car, there was the problem of where to park. To park on the street was a crap shoot as (1) spaces were rare and (2) if one left anything of value in plain view---a paperback book on a front seat, for example, there was the risk a wino would smash in a window to sell the paperback for a quarter. (Such is the price one pays for existence within a…

   On June 13 an important decision will be made in regard to the edifice proposed to be erected on North College in Broad Ripple where now reposes the old Minton Shell station.

   First, I would like to address media coverage of the May 23 meeting the Broad Ripple Village Association held to let the public know about the plans afoot for development. I previously commented about coverage that seemed to avoid the absolutely worst comment of the evening. A lawyer for Feagre Bakers and…

   A few weeks ago I responded to an ad in the Broad Ripple Gazette in which volunteers were sought to help determine the direction that should be taken in regard to a system of residential parking permits in Broad Ripple. That such a program was under consideration was news to me. I e-mailed the Broad Ripple Village Association and signed up. I was sent an invitation to the committee meeting and a confirmation e-mail.

   Last Thursday, May 30, about a half dozen folks showed up for…

   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…

   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…

  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…

   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…

   Construction contractors do not perform work for sheer fun. One may refer to the free market, incentives, or a similar term, but the notion that work is performed for pay is a constant.

   The past few Saturdays I have noticed construction workers active on the parking garage at the confluence of College and Broad Ripple Avenues and Westfield Boulevard. Several points need to be made, based on what I learned from my old man, who was a union sheet metal contractor:

   1) In…

   Yesterday—Friday—at about 5:30 we walked down to Broad Ripple. A few months ago, and especially before June 1, that was a time of day on a specific day of the week when the bars would be bustling. The week was over, the workday had ended, and people would be out to blow off steam. The sidewalks would be a bit crowded as people went from place-to-place.

   Yesterday’s weather was beautiful. The high reached 76 or 78 degrees. One would expect people to be out in droves.

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