Who Gets What?

David Bride, President of the Central Indiana Chapter of the AFL-CIO (with 25,000 members) talks about right-to-work, Labor Fest (an annual labor day celebration on Georgia Street), and his six-year-old daughter who convinced Mayor Hogsett to visit her school.   In "Shout Out" at the end, Morton advocates cross training between emergency and police personnel.  

This unstructured, unscripted conversation leads to a lesson in fundamental economics, hedge funds, debt (local,national,corporate) the stock market, Paul Samuelson and a share of meaningless frivolity.

Indianapolis Business Journal editor Greg Andrews talks to Morton and John about his reporting and editing career, the challenges of providing news both in print and on line, and the use and misuse of press releases.   During "Sound Off" Morton describes new GDP statistics organized, for the first time, by county.

Physical trainer Sam Woodworth discusses his profession and the related science.  As author of "Foam Rolling," Sam describes the discipline, which often precedes a work out   He also states that a more important element of life is the quality of posture, day in and day out.     At the end, in a new section called "Sound Off," John comments on a recent comparison between the "Mueller" Justice Department investigation and the hearings of Senator Joe McCarthy.  

Long-time Indiana labor leader Chuck Deppert comments on the decline of labor unions, the status of modern union leadership, a possibility of new organizations emerging, and accomplishments of his life in the labor movement.  

With twenty years experience, retired pollster Jeff Lewis comments on emerging trends both in the techniques of opinion sampling and in political changes, such as the decline in the number of persons self-identifying as Republican, the increase in Independent, and the stable trend for Democrat. Jeff also considers commercial polling which, he feels, is used most of the time by sales executives to document their preexisting assumptions.

Brian Newman, production manager at The Indiana Repertory Theatre, explains the economics of mounting plays.  With an annual budget of $1.5 million, Brian must allocate assets for everything on stage ("except that which breathes.")

Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp, freelance writer, speaker, editor and photographer, speaks about invasive plants.   Among her many efforts, Jo Ellen is vice president of The Association of Garden Communicators, and she maintains an active business of caring for potted plants.   Locally, she appears in The Indianapolis Star on Sundays.

Lee Lewellen. President and CEO of The Indiana Economic Development Association, talks about development issues, such as scarcity of qualified workers, and scarcity of housing for new workers. He also describes the nature of his association, a group of development officers from all over Indiana.  

John and Morton again converse with Bob Kennedy, who, among his many professional activities, served as director of The Department of Metropolitan Development and as a member of the Metropolitan Development Commission. Bob describes the work of the department and the commission, especially after the creation of Unigov in Indianapolis.

Community activist Stacey Clark has led her neighborhood, Driftwood Hills, in opposition to a development which will destroy trees and exacerbate density and traffic problems. Along they way, a new neighborhood association has been created which wishes to represent itself independently from The Nora Community Council.      

Urban transportation expert Bob Kennedy, previously interviewed (June 15, 2018, "The Last Mile, Uber to Red"),  proposes elimination of the interstate through our central city. "Interstate traffic," he says, "can go around."  Beautiful boulevards can change the downtown.  Air and other pollutants (such as rubber), can and should be reduced.  Tolling is a viable option.  Interstate traffic could run below ground level.  These all are stimulating ideas in this conversation.

Organized in 2002, The Formosa Quartet recently "kickstarted" a CD. A member of the quartet is Jasmine Lin, competitor in an early edition of The International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, and a student of its founder, Josef Gingold.   In this conversation with Jasmine, we learn about revenue sources, the crowd funding technique, playing in subways, how classical music affects loiterers, the quartet's foray into the jazz of Stephene Grappelli, and Jasmine's visit to Indiana University.  

Greg Osborne ("Oz"), a wine and spirits vendor since 1980, talks about dynamics of the wine business. He purchases most wines sold by The 21st Amendment, and sells many bottles from a door on 86th Street.  

Urban transportation dominates this discussion between John, Morton, and Bob Kennedy, long-time Indianapolis resident, activist and observer who is architect, urban planner, former director of the Metropolitan Development Commission, former lead architect of our library system, and a founder of "Rethink 65-70," a volunteer citizens group offering ideas on the Indianapolis inner city interstate highway loop.  (https://rethink65-70.org)> Bob believes that future transportation efficiency involves "The Last Mile," services between destination and drop off, such as stations along the new Indianapolis Red Line bus system.  One solution is ride sharing.    

John and Morton talk about the function of The Federal Home Loan Bank system with Michael J. Hannigan, Jr., a director of the FHLB of Indianapolis, who served a term as vice chair. Mike proposes that liberalization of lending criteria led to the crash of 2008, and that related restrictions legislated since that time are too onerous.      

President Trump hinted at the content and direction of jobs data one hour prior to official release.   Morton believes this is an affront to the integrity of data, and a step toward political control of the accuracy and timing of information.

Owner, operator of Myprettybabi.com, Francisnelli Bailoni Santos Tuca, of Broad Ripple, Indianapolis, describes her two businesses.  The first is walking dogs by way of WAG, a program that matches dog owners with dog walkers.   Her second business is handmade embroidery and crochet, plus jewelry and accessories, for both living pets and for memorials.    

Our guest, Bill Briscoe, is a retired Monsanto product manager who, in 1970, helped to create and produce the world's first commercial plastic soft drink container.   Bill describes how the original product would have served well, but was taken off the market by FDA action, reversed five years later, but, by then, too late, because a different product dominated the market.  

Morton Marcus and John Guy interview real estate investor Laura Guy about gentrification, buying and selling properties, and improving our community.