9 posts tagged “indianapolis”

The Governor of Indiana was on Face the Nation last Sunday touting Indiana's balanced budget.  He commented that "[Indiana has] come to a position of all debts paid and budget’s balanced and pretty strong reserve."

Yet, here in Indianapolis (the capital city) our mayor is complaining about our crumbling infrastructure and lack of money to fix it.  In fact, he's going to spend money to find money by creating an advisory committee.  (Oy!)

And today's Indianapolis Star is lamenting the conditions at our city parks. 

So, the streets of Indianapolis are cratered and crumbling, our city parks are falling apart and we don't have the money to fix them, but HOORAY ... our state has a balanced budget! 

Watch where you step!

Indianapolis got dumped with about a foot or so of snow Tuesday night/Wednesday morning.  The streets are still a mess.  And I saw a total of zero snow plows during my morning commute, so I find this rather amusing.

This is what our Director of Public Works, Dan Sherman, said when asked how Indianapolis would deal with it, if a snow storm were to hit Indianapolis during the 2012 Super Bowl weekend:

We can handle it," he said, noting that snow on the ground could even add to the party atmosphere, "like at a ski resort.

Yes, just like a ski resort, except without the ski slopes and the chair lifts and the ski lodges ... 

So, either Mr. Sherman is a complete idiot or he drinks on the job, because no one in their right mind would consider our current conditions to be conducive to a "party atmosphere," unless the party was for people who want to stomp on our Mayor's head because the roads are still a complete mess!

Partay!

John McCain is coming to Indy later today, which is hilarious.  The day before election day?  The Republican candidate for president is coming to Indianapolis?  I still have my doubts about Indiana going blue, but yesterday I saw the lines of people wrapped around the block to vote early at our City-County building.  And the line was just as long in the morning as it was in the evening.  And now McCain is spending precious campaign hours in Indianapolis today?  Wow.  It's hard not to be a little bit optimistic. 

Jonathan Martin dissects the significance of McCain's final day itinerary pretty well here.

Later in the day, McCain will hold his first campaign rally in Indiana. No political observer thought this summer the Hoosier State would be contested, but two polls there last week show a dead heat.   McCain may still pull it out on the strength of a huge margins in the southern, heavily rural swath of the state, but that he is being forced to stop the day before the election in a state that Bush won by 20 points four years ago offers the best evidence for how the degree to which the GOP has been forced on defense. And, incidentally, note where McCain is visiting — Indianapolis. Not only is it the largest city in the state, but Obama has pulled into a tie in the state on the strength of his effort in the capital's Marion County and its surrounding suburbs, especially fast-growing Hamilton County.

 

McCain Indiana Campaign Headquarters

1 comment

Is this thing loaded?

An estimated 25,000 people are expected to pack Verizon Wireless Music Center in Noblesville today to hear and cheer Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

The governor of Alaska is making her first trip to Indiana to try to help Sen. John McCain win this typically red state on Nov. 4.

I think it's great that the McCain campaign is being forced to devote funds and resources to Indiana ... a state that hasn't gone blue since 1964. 

To help pump up the crowd, Palin will be joined by country music singer Aaron Tippin, who has sung his "Drill Here, Drill Now" anthem to oil exploration at other Palin rallies.

"Drill Here, Drill Now"?  If only that song were about a lobotomy! 

Here she comes! Everybody run!

If you see any suspicious-looking, giant bulldogs dressed in athletic attire, you might be interested in this.

Dawg-gone! Butler mascot costumes vanish

Bulldogs

Associated Press

Butler University is offering a $100 reward for whoever sniffs out two stolen bulldog costumes representing the school's mascot.

Butler recently sent out an e-mail to students on its Indianapolis campus asking for help in recovering the costumes, which cost about $13,000.

University spokeswoman Courtney Tuell says the costumes last were seen in August when a student dropped them off at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Indianapolis' Northside. Tuell says school officials think the canine costumes were stolen, not just misplaced.

She says the school has ordered new costumes, but they won't be available until November. In the meantime, the school's other mascot -- a real, live bulldog -- will fill in at games.

I guess I shouldn't be surpised

Junkfood

Every week Americans head to the grocery store knowing what should fill their carts--fruits, vegetables and unprocessed foods packed with whole grains.

Yet many end up walking out with bags full of sugary cookies, a couple of frozen meat lovers' pizzas and liters of soda.

This happens most in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington metro area, where shoppers spend 11.47% of their yearly grocery bill on unhealthy items (the national average is 8.5%). In second-place Richmond, Va., that number drops slightly, to 11.45%, and in Indianapolis and Carmel, Ind., No. 3 on our list, unhealthy items eat up 11.33% of a typical grocery shopper's bill.

And that's probably not even counting the people who do their grocery shopping at the gas station!

Dear Barack Obama:

Will you please promise me that you will have a rally in Indianapolis, so that I don't have to kick myself for not going down to Bloomington tonight for the rest of my life? 

I just don't think my wee one will handle the one-hour drive and the waiting in line very well.  And, we are already scheduled to help out at your Washington Township Volunteer office tonight. 

So, please ... pretty please with organic cherries on top ... will you come to Indy??!!  (Except not this Sunday - we have to go to a birthday party ... with ponies!).  There are many accommodating spaces downtown (e.g., nobody is using Conseco Fieldhouse these days), and the high school down the street from me has a nice gym!

Signed,

Maria's Mama for Obama

Our Mayor, the one who wants to make a Chinatown on the south side of the city, continues to ignore our cratered streets while he aims to get homeless people off the sidewalks.  Because, as he puts it, "panhandlers are a sham."  Yeah, right, it's like some Ponzi scheme and they are all secretly living in the suburbs.   How much longer will this guy be Mayor? 

Our football team may be Number 1 but, according to this article in Business Week, Indianapolis is #6 on its list of Top 10 Toxic Cities. Yikes!  Baltimore is #1 which is kind of ironic since the Indianapolis Colts originated in Baltimore.  (Hmmmmmm.  Is there a connection?)  Maybe instead of pouring money into a new football stadium we should be funding some green initiatives.  Or maybe the Colts should keep their new stadium but combine their enormous salaries to buy every Indianapolis resident a Smart Car.  I would totally support that!  And P.S., please remember:  Super Bowl = Good!  Super Fund = Bad

Oh my Indianapolis, it's time to start cleaning up after yourself!