interviews

With the Indiana State Fair opening today, we caught up with the owner of North American Midway, a lifelong Hoosier who has been operating the rides for 20 years.

The Indy native has racked up an impressive resume at a young age, playing with Slide Hampton, the Temptations, and the Four Tops.

“If you want the arts to thrive in your area, you have to support them with funding. Apparently, our community’s priorities are elsewhere.”

“Anderson Cooper was hilarious. I was even shorter then, because I was 11. He bent down and talked to me face-to-face. He told me …”

Best known as one of Indy’s top florists, he helped bring the city’s LGBT festival out of the closet.

IM: What was the first six-string you owned?
RP: A Kay State of the Art. If you know anything about guitars, you know Kays are the cheapest kind there is. It was an electric, but it had no amplifier when I got it, so it was really quiet. But it made my hands strong. Actually, I wish I had that guitar back.

Plus, see the number of countries that broadcast open-wheel racing, by continent. You might be surprised.

“At the end of the day, I have to make some very tough decisions that will not sit well with people. But they’ll understand why I made the decision and what my thinking was.”

IM: How did this book come to be? What were its roots?

AGE: “Mature”  GIG: Butler at the Governor’s Residence, responsible for greeting guests, leading tours, and putting in storm windows.  STATE TREASURE: Powell has now worked for seven first families, including the Pences.

AGE: 25  GIG: Co-host of Kyle & Rachel in the Morning on RadioNOW THE LOVE LINES ARE OPEN: Bogle, a former Miss Indiana contestant, always has advice for her fellow singletons—and her quarterback crush. CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT: In 2011, the radio host won Playboy’s International Girl of Golf contest, an honor that included a trip to the Mansion. She declined a photo shoot.

Editor’s Note: Indiana governor Mitch Daniels rides into the sunset this month, trading his gubernatorial duties for presidential powers (to a degree) as Purdue University’s leader. Here, Evan West’s June 2005 conversation with the biker-in-chief. Here in Indiana, we like things that go fast. I’m no different. The first motorcycle I ever rode belonged to […]

AGE: 55  GIG: Morning meteorologist on WTHR Channel 13  SNOW BUSINESS: Lofton wakes up at 1:40 a.m. to arrive at the office for Eyewitness News Sunrise an hour later.

AGE: 65  GIG: Founding principal of Borshoff, one of Indiana’s largest public relations and advertising firms.  NEW SPIN: Cook is scaling back to crisis projects and a few clients as she enters her “renaissance period.”

On October 22, cycling’s governing body formally stripped Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles due to alleged involvement in a doping scandal, and on November 1, the International Olympic Committee opened an investigation into the cyclist’s bronze-medal-winning performance in 2000.