Pfizer To Cut 660 Jobs in Indiana

MLive.com:

"Six-hundred-sixty jobs will be lost by the middle of this year in Terre Haute, Ind., a result of Pfizer Inc.'s decision to stop production of its inhaled insulin product Exubera.

Saying it did not have another use for the specialized production operation at its central-Indiana facility, Nat Ricciardi, president of Pfizer Global Manufacturing, announced Pfizer's decision to cut staff in Terra Haute in a press release Monday.

Workers were told of the decision Monday morning by site leader Frank Foley. And they were told layoffs would begin in March, according to the press release."

Former Indiana Rep. McIntosh endorses Romney

IndyStar.com:

"Former Indiana Rep. David McIntosh, who had been an advisor to Fred Thompson's presidential campaign, is now backing Mitt Romney for the GOP nomination.

McIntosh said Romney 'has the vision to bring true conservative change to Washington and strengthen our economy.'
McIntosh had been volunteering with Thompson's campaign, helping pull together experts and proposals on various domestic policy issues. Thompson withdrew from the race last week after failing to catch fire with GOP voters."

Indiana Seeks To De-List Contaminated Waters

Alliance For The Great Lakes:

"Indiana seeks to remove hundreds of mercury and PCB-tainted waterways from a statewide list of impaired waters -- including several Lake Michigan tributaries – in a move to free the state of a federal mandate to restore them.

Using new methodology, Indiana's Department of Environmental Management proposes to delete more than 800 stream and river segments from the list, even as state regulators warn the public that contamination makes fish from those waters unsafe to eat.

The proposed methodology would no longer determine a waterway's impairment based on the existence of fish consumption advisories, a measure the U.S. EPA has determined meets the intent of the federal Clean Water Act."

Hamilton County Groups Split $500,000 in Grants

Inside INdiana Business:

"Ten local non-profit organizations will receive a total of $500,000 in grants from the Hamilton County Convention and Visitors Bureau in 2008 as award recipients from the Destination: Hamilton County Community Development Fund, the bureau announced.

Nineteen organizations originally requested funds, and eleven county organizations were invited to apply for Destination: Hamilton County funds. Ten awards have been made in the highly competitive grant process. Grants were chosen by a committee that included tourism professionals, board and community representatives and, county council members, in a lengthy review process.

The Destination Hamilton County program is designed to encourage, support, and assist in the development or creation of projects to further the development of tourism in Hamilton County and to strengthen community."

Congresswoman Julia Carson dies

IndyStar.com:

"Congresswoman Julia Carson died this morning at the age of 69.

Carson’s death comes just weeks after she announced she was dying of lung cancer and would not seek re-election to a seventh term in 2008.
Two days later, she said she would not seek re-election, saying her time away from Congress would be “a time to weep and a time to laugh,” and she added, “a time to heal.”"

Swearing In Ceremony

The Other Side of Beech Grove:

"You are cordially invited to attend the upcoming City of Beech Grove Swearing-in Ceremony of newly elected City officials on Saturday, December 29 from 2-4 p.m. at the Hornet Park Community Center.

Our new clerk-treasurer, first-ever city judge, seven council members and myself will be sworn-in at this public ceremony, which will include a program led by Master of Ceremonies West Point Cadet and Beech Grove native Eddie Mobley."

Child-alert system will start in days

IndyStar.com:

"The system expected to debut in Marion County next week would tell police whether they are heading to an address under scrutiny by the Department of Child Services.

The plan to improve the sharing of information between law enforcement and child welfare agencies came out of a meeting Monday called by Marion County juvenile court Judge Marilyn Moores to discuss communications gaps revealed by the death of TaJanay Bailey. The 3-year-old died Nov. 27 as a result, prosecutors say, of abuse and neglect at the hands of her mother, Charity Bailey, and the woman's boyfriend, Lawrence Green."