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Super Bowl XLVI Bill Beck in Indianapolis
It’s quite the Experience Football fans flock to Indy’s Super Bowl Village. Bill Beck Side Lines
INDIANAPOLIS — The NFL Experience is sick. Good sick, that is. If you’re not sure what I mean, ask your kids. It’s a blast — at least it was for me Wednesday. You get the whole nine yards and then some. All you need is time and enough funds in your checking account or on your debit card and you can have one heck of a (legal) good time at the Super Bowl. Patience? You might wanna back that as well because by Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the downtown Indianapolis scene will become completely unhinged. I spent three hours in the Circle City’s heart and here’s what I found. Parking, but not a lot. Look for $20-$40 prior to game day and approaching $100 on Sunday. Like any big sporting event, the closer you get to the venue, the deeper you dig into your wallet. I found little kids playing in the middle of what normally would be Capital Avenue, just outside the Indiana Convention Center, on a turf mini-field. Nicholas Hamilton of Louisville, Ky., a 5-year-old playing catch with his mother, Meridith, was briefly interrupted by Cris Carter, the ESPN analyst and former standout receiver. With a cell phone glued to his ear, Carter walked through the field, stopped about 10 feet from Nicholas, who had a ball, and asked the youngster to throw him the ball. Nicholas wasn’t paying attention at first, but then, as mom encouraged him, he flipped to ball to Carter, who playfully tossed it back before turning away and hurrying off. Meridith and Nicholas went on playing catch. Whoa! I had a Carter “C’mon, man?’’ moment and approached mom and asked her if she knew who the man was. She didn’t, but I told her it was Carter and that they could catch him on Sunday’s early pre-game show. “It’ll make sense to him then,” Meridith said. My good deed for the day. You’re welcome. Ran into Randy Robertson, the former Goshen High School coach and Goshen school board president. Randy was on the GHS sidelines in 1978, ’81 and ’88 when the Redskins played for state championships. Watched the much-talked about “zip line’’ attraction. I’m surprised Cedar Point doesn’t have this. Then again, maybe they already do. It’s 10 bucks, a long, long line and a march up about 200 feet of steps. At the top, they strap you on to a cable and you “zip’’ about two city blocks to the other end. For the easily freaked out, a change of
Indiana is officially a right-towork state Gov. Mitch Daniels signed the bill into law Wednesday, but union supporters still show their discontent in Indy. TOM LoBIANCO
Associated Press
Associated Press
A fan rides the zip line above Capitol Avenue in downtown Indianapolis on Sunday. Zip line riders pass in front of the entrance to the NFL Experience attraction.
eSuper ads TV advertising’s biggest day is so big there are preview ads for the commercials. etruth.com
underwear may come in handy here. I found an outdoor beer vendor and a food tent which, at 2 p.m., was surprisingly empty. For Truth Photo By Bill Beck those wondering, yes, I Kids at the NFL Experience Super Bowl display play passed on the beer. football outside on Capitol Avenue in Indianapolis. But it’s inside the “NFL ball challenges — throwing passes on a Experience’’ where you’ll mini-field, kicking field goals from up to find the most interaction and engagement with the Super Bowl and the game 40 yards and running through tackling of football. That’s inside the Convention dummies. Saw Zachary Langlais of Monrovia Center. drill a 40-yard field goal. No sweat for a Temps will be in the mid-40s outside 17-year-old soccer player. and everything is properly heated inI found food. side, so I would suggest not layering too I don’t know the quality of food — much. that’s Marshall King’s expertise — but It’s $25 for adults, $20 for children 12 and younger. There’s food, a huge gift shop/clothing area, games and footPlease see SUPER, A2
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana is the first Rust Belt state to enact the contentious right-towork labor law prohibiting labor contracts that require workers to pay union representation fees, after Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels signed the bill Wednesday afternoon. The Senate approved the measure a few hours earlier Wednesday, following weeks of discord that saw House Democrats boycott the Legislature and thousands of protesters gather at the Statehouse. “Seven years of evidence and experience ultimately demonstrated that Indiana did need a right-to-work law to capture jobs for which, despite our highly rated business climate, we are not currently being considered,” Daniels said in a statement. A spokeswoman said he would not take questions on the measure Wednesday. Lawmakers voted Wednesday to make Indiana the Rust Belt’s first right-to-work state, passing legislation that prohibits labor contracts requiring workers to pay union representation fees. Thousands of union members gathered inside the Statehouse chanted “Shame on you!” and “See you at the Super Bowl!” as the vote was announced. Thousands more amassed outside for a rally that spilled into the Indianapolis streets, already bustling with Super Bowl festivities, hoping to point a national spotlight on the state. Indiana will be the first state in a decade to enact a right-to-work law, although few states with legislation in place boast Indiana’s union clout, borne of a long manufacturing legacy. The move is likely to embolden national rightto-work advocates who have unsuccessfully pushed the measure in other states following a Republican sweep of statehouses in 2010. Passage of the law will close one chapter in a contentious debate that sparked a five-week walkout by outnumbered House Democrats last year and saw them stage numerous boycotts this session, delaying action on other bills and threatening to spill over into Sunday’s Super Bowl. The Republican-controlled Senate approved the bill in a 28-22 vote Wednesday morning. Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels’s signature made Indiana the 23rd right-to-work state. “We’re giving freedom to workers who don’t want to be a part of something they don’t believe in,” said Republican Sen. Carlin Yoder, shortly before the vote. Over the past year, Republicans have pushed for other anti-union laws in battleground Rust Belt states where many of the country’s manufacturing jobs reside, includ
Please see WORK, A2
Goshen
Elkhart city council
Mayor submits capital request Service cuts looming sgattman@etruth.com
ELKHART — “... Catching up is always more expensive than keeping up,” Mayor Dick Moore told the Elkhart City Council Wednesday as he released an additional $1.73 million in capital fund requests for 2012. Elkhart is finally getting out of “catching up” mode. “In 2008, we found our city to be less than tidy and not very well maintained,” Moore said. “We found that we had personnel shortages in some departments and the lack of reliable equipment in many. To add to the problem, we soon lost millions of dollars that normally found their way into our general fund and difficult
for Housing Authority
“Catching up is always more expensive than keeping up.”
Stephanie Gattman
If budgets don’t rebound, housing assistance could be in downward spiral.
Elkhart Mayor Dick Moore
Justin Leighty
jleighty@etruth.com Truth File Photo By J. Tyler Klassen
The city plans to replace eight squad cars for the police department in 2012.
decisions had to be made.” Moore said the city has spent millions bringing streets up to condition and replacing “antiquated and unreliable equipment” to do a better job with tree trimming and replacement,
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brush and limb pickup and paving and snow removal. “All of this has required a substantial financial investment,” Moore said. “... Like any program where you’re playing catch-up, you hope to do exactly that and then reduce the amount needed to continue on. I feel to some extent we have arrived.” Moore said the request, which Please see REQUEST, A2
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GOSHEN — A history of local mismanagement and federal budget tightening will combine to cut housing assistance to 100 local individuals and families. “It’s self-inflicted. The Goshen Housing Authority acted improperly and this has been the end result,” said Wayne Kramer, a recent addition to the housing authority’s board. “Those of us who came on the board to try to straighten this
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out are not too happy about it,” he said. And if things don’t improve in the next couple of years, this could be the start of a spiral that will kill federal housing assistance in Goshen. “I’m trying to figure out what I may have to ask the (Goshen City) council to do, and if the council says no to whatever I’m proposing, I think we just watch the program unfold or fold up over the next several years,” said Mayor Allan Kauffman. The current board knew they’d have to pay back about a half-
Please see CUTS, A2
Coming tomorrow Hall of Fame: Former Memorial girls basketball standout will be inducted this spring. Sports, B1