But despite an increase in the attention to global warming, the scientific debate is apparently far from over. The Heartland Institute reports that more than 30,000 scientists signed a petition "rejecting the assertion that global warming has reached a crisis stage and is caused by human activity."

The Heartland article tells one side of the story; numerous resources provide the flip side of the coin. What do you think? How serious is global warming? How big of an impact do human activities have on our environment? 

I’ll be back in the stands at Conseco Fieldhouse, one of the greatest athletic facilities in the country. I hope you will do the same.

A good weekend in Chicago (where I got about as much sleep as can be expected from a young man enjoying a good weekend in Chicago) came to an end Sunday night as my car crawled into the driveway at around 2 a.m. I figured it was fine, because a few solid nights of sleep throughout the week would catch me up.

Let’s just say there’s a reason my roommate and I decided against cable during the school year. So, a few more nights of bad television/sleep deprivation brings me to today, where I am cursing bad decisions and longing for my blankie. I mean …

Anyway, as luck would have it, one of the projects I was assigned to this week involves running lines of information through the Chamber’s database. It’s just a few simple clicks for each line, but there are lots of them — LOTS of them. It’s not awful but it’s the type of repetitive work you’d hate to do without a full night’s rest.

Taking a break from the monotony to research what was on my mind, I came across a web site for the Better Sleep Council, which said that half of American employees just don’t get enough sleep. According to the site, the problem has led to some substantial on-the-job consequences, including the following:

• 31 % of survey respondents said that sleep deprivation impaired their quality and accuracy of work.
• Sleep deprivation currently costs U.S. businesses nearly $150 billion annually in absenteeism and lost productivity.
• The National Transportation Safety Board identified fatigue as a prominent factor in the infamous Exxon Valdez oil spill.

While I don’t foresee my weariness causing any catastrophic environmental disasters, I do want to steer clear of workplace fatigue. From my extensive research, it looks like this can be achieved by – you guessed it – getting more sleep.  I plan on turning things around by starting to hit the sack early, and I plan on starting tonight.

Just right after I check out what’s happening on Letterman.

Here’s an excerpt from a January New York Times article on the matter:

Under the law, businesses with more than 20 employees are required to pay a minimum health care contribution of $1.17 to $1.76 an hour for each employee. The fees can go toward a variety of health-care options, including employer-provided insurance, health savings accounts, direct payment of medical bills, or payment in a new city program called Healthy San Francisco.

Some employers, however, say the plan places an undue burden on smaller businesses, many of which are already paying for employee benefits. “It’s expensive, it’s unsustainable and there’s better ways to do it,” said Daniel Scherotter, the incoming president of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, which filed the suit challenging the law.

Mr. Scherotter, who owns an Italian restaurant in the city, estimates that he already spends $60,000 a year on health insurance, but that the new plan could cost him twice that.

"Everybody seems to know that restaurants are really risky business, but somehow, they’re saying, ‘Oh, they’re rolling in it, they can pay for it,’ ” he said.

The Lilly Endowment is donating $50 million, $45 of which will go to the United Way of Central Indiana.

The Indy Star article explains the magnitude of the donation as follows:

The gift is the Lilly Endowment’s largest to a disaster-related cause to date. It also ranks among the top five private donations for disaster relief since 2000, according to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

Kudos to Lilly, a Chamber member, for their efforts in re-Building a Better Indiana.

There is good news though. The Indiana Chamber of Commerce has a program that is here to help out Indiana employers. Ready Indiana is a free service that provides information to employers making it easier for businesses to identify their workforce training needs, choose quality training providers and investigate employer training grants to cut their training costs. Ready Indiana is also well versed in advising employers about potential state grants for workplace training.

Would you expect a service that offers training assistance to be free? Many employers don’t expect a service like this to have no charge. So visit the Ready Indiana website and look around. I promise you’ll like what you see.

Did I mention it’s free?

John Krauss, director of the Indiana University Center for Urban Policy and the Environment and a former deputy mayor of Indianapolis, led the staff support for the commission. He was recently quoted in a Governing magazine article: "There should be one person that’s accountable. You don’t have three CEOs that run McDonald’s or Microsoft."

Tampa, which has seen its attempts at unification with Hillsborough County fall short three times, is aiming for the elected "mayor" to run the county option. Voters will have their say in November.

Former Indiana Gov. Joe Kernan gives his take on redundancy at the county level and other local government reform topics in Indiana. 

"We support the BP Whiting modernization project," says Vince Griffin, Indiana Chamber VP of energy & environmental affairs. "With a $4 billion price tag, the project is not only the largest investment in the state’s history but it preserves a critical piece of Indiana’s economy, promotes a more stable oil source from Canada and does all of this while providing a high level of protection for our environment."

Digest these digits: mid-market firms (those with annual sales between $5 million and $100 million) account for 3% of all the state’s for-profit organizations, yet provide 30% of the jobs and more than 40% of the sales for that same group. Additional data, an online survey and one-on-one interviews with mid-market company leaders indicate there may be a tremendous opportunity to enhance the state’s economy.

The further purpose of the project is to find ways to help these already successful Indiana companies grow even more. The details are outlined in a press release, 12-page study summary and audio commentary from foundation leader Mark Lawrance.

Take a look, review the numbers and let us know what you think.

Also, you may be surprised at what Bill Clinton’s former labor secretary Robert Reich says on the matter.