The people of Carmel know their firefighters “will never hesitate, will never falter and will never fail.”  That’s part of an inspirational message shared over the weekend at a special banquet for the Carmel Fire Department.  Special because it was the first time the department officially paid tribute to firefighters for their achievements.

It was also special for the appearance of Bobby Halton.  He’s a nationally-respected retired fire chief who is now the Editor-in-Chief of Fire Engineering Magazine.  “What we are doing here tonight matters dearly,” Halton said.  “Why we are here tonight matters dearly.”

Halton appreciates the dedication and principles of firefighters.  He praised them for their willingness to put the safety of others ahead of their own – all while being too humble to acknowledge any personal heroism in their deeds.

Since the department had never held an awards ceremony, proper tributes were long overdue.

For example, the department never fully recognized the loss of firefighter Skip Clark.  He died from injuries in a firefighting accident more than 50 years ago.  His children attended the banquet to accept the department’s Medal of Honor.

The program acknowledged case after case, year after year, of Carmel firefighters performing their duties “above and beyond normal expectations” and doing so “at a great personal risk.”

Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard said he’s never more proud of any organization than he is of the city’s fire department.  He praised the firefighters for making the community safer.  But, Brainard also said he hears compliments for the department’s acts of kindness.

The awards ceremony, Saturday night, acknowledged one of those acts.   The department will never forget a young cancer patient named Jake McConahay.  His fascination with firefighting made him special to the department’s men and women.  They repaid that admiration, in part, by painting the family’s home and landscaping their yard, to make life easier during Jake’s treatments.  The little boy died holding a firefighter’s badge in one hand.

That story is another sign of  dedication to the community they protect.  But it’s not a feature of firefighting that gets much acclaim.

Chief Bobby Halton decried the public’s – and the media’s — devotion to stories that overshadow such achievements – instead making celebrities out of people whose only claim to fame comes from their lack of character and lack of discipline.

Halton said firefighters earn praise for the right reasons.  “Carmel firefighters are brave,” he said.  “Carmel firefighters have morals.  Carmel firefighters are heroes.”

Now, they’ve been publicly recognized to prove it.

No photo fully reveals the tornado trauma of Henryville.  Major John Turner can assure you of that.  As a member of the Salvation Army, he has seen the power of a flooded Mississippi River.  He’s seen what Hurricane Katrina did.  

Now, as the Divisional Commander for the Salvation Army of Indiana, he describes Henryville as “unfortunately similar.  Things are just wiped out.”

After a natural disaster, the natural human impulse is to help the victims.   And, “rightfully so,” Major Turner says.  But that desire “can create somewhat of a shortage right here in our own local communities.”

The Salvation Army saw it after the earthquake hit Haiti and after the tornado hit Joplin, Missouri.  Donations dry up — at least for matters most of us might consider routine. 

The Salvation Army says, right now, it’s seeing an increase in demand for service at its shelters.  More children are using the Army’s after school programs.  And, there’s “a steady increase” in requests for emergency rent or food assistance in central Indiana. 

Major Turner told me the money going south, created “a vacuum where we are, right in this state, where there are disasters happening in individuals’ lives right here in Indianapolis … and those disasters, those individual disasters, are just as real to them as a larger disaster to all those” victims of a tornado or an earthquake or a flood.

The Salvation Army says without continued funding it’s day-to-day services “could suffer.”

The American Red Cross says the shift of resources could influence its readiness for another disaster.  John Lyter, the CEO of the Indianapolis chapter of the Red Cross, says “you’re exactly right.  You have to have some money in the bank to get started. To make financial commitments, to get food, to have the equipment that you need, have gas in the tank.”

Remember that, if these agencies ask you for a little extra help, this spring or this summer. 

As someone in Henryville told us: money “will always be good as gold.”

Family albums take us back in time.  For Baby Boomers that’s back to the days of black-and-white photographs.  Back to the days when the future seemed limitless.

Well, Boomers are beginning to see the limits.  They’re approaching retirement age.  And, maybe they have traded places with their parents.  More and more of the “children” — now grown — are taking care of Mom and Dad.

In a 1999 book, Gray Dawn, Peter G. Peterson described aging “as a massive iceberg.”  He said it threatens “to bankrupt even the greatest powers, the United States included, unless they take action in time.”  It’s a demographic transition that can’t be avoided.

This past January, a presentation by the Congressional Budget Office called aging “the fundamental fiscal challenge for this decade and beyond … The number of people in this country age 65 or older will increase by one-third in the coming decade — substantially raising the cost of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.”

But, as important as that is as a national — even international — issue, the planning needs to be addressed on a personal level, too.  That’s why I’m writing this today.  My family is watching my dad fade.  Now, we’re thinking of all the things we should have done to prepare for this inevitability.

We’ve started doing research about retirement communities.  But my Mom says she’s not old enough for one of those yet.  So we’re studying alternatives.

We’re being forced to consider some legal and financial matters we probably should have anticipated.

I’ve been told we’re not doing badly.   Dad’s condition isn’t desperate.   But my sisters and I know we need to do something.  If not for him, then for our Mom.  Being the caregiver is draining, physically and emotionally.

What we’re learning provided the inspiration for a new radio show I will do, periodically, for My107.9, for WZPL, and WNTS.  In the first episode, I talked to people who live and work in this world every day — Dr. Ellen Miller of the Center for Aging and Community at the University of Indianapolis, Tina McIntosh, the founder and CEO of Joy’s House, and Tammy Stevens, an attorney with a special interest in Elder Law.

The program airs on Sunday morning at 7am on WZPL and My1079.  Later in the morning on WNTS.  I hope it offers some help to the many of us facing some very important decisions.

For a lot of us — too many of us — the “Help Wanted” sign still represents a dream.  They want jobs.  They just haven’t been able to find anything. 

The state gave us good news this week when it reported Indiana’s unemployment rate dropped a bit from December to January. 

Indianapolis City-County Councillor Marilyn Pfisterer wants that trend to continue.  That’s why she wants to make sure everyone is aware of another job fair — the 8th – she’s arranged. 

Councillor Pfisterer told me, over the years, she’s heard so many humbling stories at these fairs.  One of them probably dates back to the first fair.   She said a man rode his bike from Boone County.  He reached the job fair two hours before it opened.  Pfisterer said that’s how determined he was to get a job.  And, that helps inspire her to continue this service in her west side district.

This year’s session will be at Lakeview Church on Tuesday, April 3rd, from 10 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon.

Job hunters will find openings in business, in city government and at state agencies.

Click here for more information.  (Look for the calendar on the right side of the screen.  Then, click the arrow to April to find the details.)

What are you paying for gas, these days?  For a lot of us, the simple answer is: “Too much!” 

The latest fluctuations made me wonder how gas prices might influence our summer vacations.  So I contacted Rachel Sorvig at the Lieutenant Governor’s Office.  That’s where you find the Indiana Tourism experts.

“With gas at $4,” Rachel said, “it is a good time for people to explore Indiana.”  She said the tourism strategy already focuses on people who live here or could easily drive to Indiana.  So, Rachel doesn’t expect to see much change in the state’s marketing strategy.  But , travelers may pay more attention to those tourism messages because – with high gas prices –  “more people start to think about what’s in their own backyards.” 

Promoters of Indiana will rely on their imaginations — and yours — to help you find a Hoosier getaway.  Rachel said, if you want a Florida beach vacation, consider the Dunes in northern Indiana.   If you’re thinking of something along the lines of New York City, visit downtown Indianapolis.  Watch for the Tourism team to present such comparisons as we get closer to the summer travel season.

If gas prices keep rising, though, the marketing may not matter.  Rachel says their experts say: “if gas reaches toward the $5 mark, that’s when people may cut back on travel anywhere.”

Indianapolis is copying Chicago.

Chicago’s mayor, Rahm Emanuel, wanted his city to review its use of Tax Increment Financing — more simply known as TIF.  The concept is an economic development tool with a variant of  Vegas:  What’s taxed in the TIF, stays in the TIF.  Emanuel felt the funds collected by the system had been misused by his predecessor.  Therefore, Chicago established a Tax Increment Financing review panel.

The Chicago Tribune reported, in September, the panel found ”there’s no meaningful way of measuring how many jobs were created by the TIFs or how much private investment was leveraged … and this data is not presented in an easy to access or understand format.”

Similar reasoning inspired a push for a TIF review in Indianapolis.  City-County Councillor Brian Mahern told me recently we need to know “what’s worked well and what hasn’t worked so well.”  It’s a subject that drew no objections in the council chamber.  It passed 27-0, tonight.   Mahern was joined by each of his fellow Democrats — and all of the council’s Republicans — to approve the creation of a study commission to examine the use of tax increment financing in Indianapolis. 

Mahern told me he wants the study since a TIF district affects “the ability of libraries and our public transportation and our city to fund itself because it does divert revenue away from those other community priorities.”  He also said he wants the districts’ information to be more accessible than it is now.  He suggested “we can collaborate together to find a better way to do things.”

Eight people will be appointed to the new review commission.  Their first recommendations will be due by the end of next month.  A final reported is expected by June 30th.

Business people in Carmel should watch for a special letter this week.  Since my name is on the letter, I’m interested in making the message successful. 

Carmel’s Fire Department hopes to find people willing to make contributions to their new Recognition Banquet.  (My name is included in the letter since I’ll be the Master of Ceremonies.)

This will be a special event for Carmel — for several reasons.  It will be the first such banquet for the city’s firefighters.  Chief Keith Smith says the department has grown enough that it’s time for a formal awards program.

Smith also told me, this week, there is “some history that needed to be recognized.”

The Chief wants the department to honor one person in particular, a Carmel firefighter who died in the line of duty back in 1960.  Skip Clark was never recognized for his sacrifice.  And, Smith wants to correct that oversight.  The department will present a Medal of Honor to Clark’s family.

The April 14th banquet will also recognize current firefighters for their years of dedication to the service and to the city.

Contributions will help make sure the firefighters and their spouses enjoy a proper tribute.

Chief Smith assured me: no public money will be spent on this event.

Anyone who visited the Super Bowl Village will have great memories of downtown Indianapolis.  Great pictures, too.  But, are they better than this? http://vimeo.com/36426933

Downtown today it was obvious Mayor Greg Ballard made an accurate prediction.

We had a lengthy interview in his office back in early January.  As we talked about the Super Bowl, he encouraged us to be alert for something.  ”The thing to watch is really the energy in the ten days before the game.  I think that will be the story.” 

Evidence of that energy is everywhere downtown.  From the top of the Zipline down to the far end the Super Bowl Village. 

People crowded downtown today to be present for the ribbon cutting. 

We heard one Hoosier after another expressing pride about Indianapolis being the host city.  Now they’re eager to see the events go as smoothly as designed.  

Granted, traffic drew some complaints this afternoon.  One viewer e-mailed this blunt assessment: “Traffic is horrid!” 

Some of that may represent a surge of people who wanted to be first to visit the Village. 

It may also be the reason the Host Committee stressed “Know Before You Go”, to help people avoid the most congested areas. 

And, some of that congestion just comes with the game.  It will be over sooner than we realize.

Mayor Ballard told me we all need to “put on our best face because so much of the world will be watching [Indianapolis] for the first time.”   

And that means, for Indianapolis, the Super Bowl is more than a football game, even if it is the biggest game in the world.  “This puts Indianapolis on another stage, on a national and an international stage,” he said.  “Indianapolis will now be forever branded as a Super Bowl City.”

Indygo is making adjustments to its routes — and its rates — because of the Super Bowl.

On February 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th: almost every Indygo ride will be free!

The only exception will be for people riding the Green Line Airport Express on those days.  Those riders will still have to pay.

Also, in the days before the game, Ohio Street will become the center for transfers — because bus shelters at Capitol and Market and Marylandand Penn will be closed.

The Host Committee wants you to “know before you go”, in case you’re a regular rider — or you’re a commuter who wants to avoid the congestion.     

The committee’s Mel Raines told me the goal “is certainly to make sure that the folks who live and work here every day can go about their lives as seamlessly as possible with also making it a welcoming environment” for Super Bowl visitors. 

Planners expect as many as 150,000 guests downtown — in addition to the 100,000 who work there every day.

The odd looking sign here is part of the “Know Before You Go” campaign.  Indygo will post these signs — in the form of big stickers — on its bus shelters to make sure everyone understands the schedules and routes.