Utility regulatory openings generate heavy interest
Twenty-one candidates are in the running to fill two openings on the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.
Environment
Articles
Lawmakers advance bill allowing industrial hemp crops
Hemp plants could start appearing in Indiana fields if a state Senate bill to allow growing the crop gains support from lawmakers.
Senate passes bill to protect agricultural rights
Senate Bill 186 provides that it is the responsibility of the state to conserve, protect, and encourage the development and improvement of agriculture. The goal is to guide the courts to interpret state laws to be sympathetic toward farmers.
Investors seek payoff from Indiana oil wells that big players ignore
Indiana is experiencing a mini oil-boom, thanks to some big producers, but some small, private investors are also in on the game, through Indianapolis-based Midwest Energy Partners, formed four years ago by former CountryMark executive Bill Herrick.
Airport looking to solve runoff problem from de-icing
Indianapolis International Airport officials are looking for a way to cut their sewage-treatment bill, which topped $1 million last year because of the large volume of de-icing chemical that ends up in retention ponds.
Changes to farm-trespassing bill delay vote
The Indiana Senate Criminal Law Committee delayed a vote that had been scheduled for Tuesday amid a flurry of proposed amendments.
Steele removes farming from proposed hunting, fishing amendment
Sen. Brent Steele’s proposed amendment passed its first round in 2011, but needed approval this year to go on the ballot for ratification by voters. Now, with new language, the process will start over.
Indiana considers amendment that could shield industrial farms
The bill’s sponsors say it’s a way to keep non-farmers, including national animal rights groups, from meddling in the state’s rural interests.
Baggott leaves Compendium, goes whole-hog on food industry
The local tech titan and co-founder of ExactTarget has cut ties with his latest software venture to concentrate on his livestock and corn operations, plus a restaurant he just purchased in Greenfield.
Corn pile biggest since 1994 as crop overwhelms use
Stockpiles of corn in the United States, the world’s top grower, are rising at the fastest pace in 19 years as a record crop overwhelms increased demand for the grain used to make livestock feed and ethanol.
New owner to use old plant for clean coal power
Crawfordsville unloads decommissioned plant for fraction of asking price.
Government might deregulate corn, soybean seeds
The federal government on Friday proposed eliminating restrictions on corn and soybean seeds genetically engineered to resist a common weed killer. The new seeds, developed by Indianapolis-based Dow AgroSciences, would allow farmers to use the weed killer throughout the plants' lives.
Car guy falls in love with Tesla after visiting new local dealership—and taking a drive
The new electric-powered Tesla Model S corners a lot like a Lamborghini and has more than twice the range of a Nissan Leaf.
EPA fines Crawfordsville over Sugar Creek pollution
Crawfordsville will pay $96,000 in environmental fines because a city-owned wastewater treatment plant was putting too much copper into a creek, according to a federal court filing in Indianapolis.
Kokomo to debut curbside recycling program
City officials hope the program can reduce the community’s trash-disposal costs by 35 percent.
Flexsteel settles Elkhart contamination suit for $6.25M
The Iowa-based furniture maker was accused of polluting the water wells of nine homes in the northern Indiana community.
Obama names IU law prof to environmental panel
Eric Dannenmaier of the Indiana University Robert McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis will join a federal committee that promotes enforcement of evironmental laws.
U.S. invalidates 33.5M renewable fuel credits after fraud
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it has invalidated renewable fuel credits sold by an Indiana company for biofuel it didn’t produce. The filing Wednesday follows fraud charges filed against the former owners of the Middletown-based E-Biofuels LLC in September.
Residents raise stink over transfer of landfill permit
The state’s environmental office has agreed to transfer a landfill permit to the new owner of a Madison County property at the center of a decades-long dispute.
Business veteran to direct Indiana agriculture agency
Ted McKinney, who grew up on a family farm in Tipton County, will replace Gina Sheets, who’s leaving after a year on the job to do mission work in Liberia.