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Almost Daily Bulletin

April 17, 2025: Electric rate increase, Todd Young in Bloomington, big downzone up for final vote

Today's big event

Rate increase to fund two new gas-fired electric plants. A field hearing for Duke Energy's new proposed rate increase takes place on Thursday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Bloomington Convention Center.

Duke filed a petition in February with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (Commission) requesting several approvals related to the construction of two combined cycle (CC) natural gas-fired units at the existing Cayuga Generating Station, known as the Cayuga CC Project. Duke estimates that the impact on a retail customer bill from the cost recovery of this roughly $3 billion project will be about 5.4% more over a 5-year period.

If you can't make it to the public hearing, you can send comments by mail to: Public Comments, Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, 115 W. Washington St., Suite 1500 South Indianapolis, IN 46204. Or you can send comments by email to uccinfo@oucc.IN.gov

Your written comments should include your name, city and zip code, and a reference to Cause No. 46193.

Weather

Based on the National Weather Service forecast in text and charts here's some advice:

Thursday: You might want to wear a jacket that adds a little warmth, to get through the early morning, which will start from the overnight low of 42°F. Even with a jacket, you probably won't overheat when the temperature hits the daily high of 65°F. Take an umbrella, if you want to have some peace of mind between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. when there will be a chance of showers. During those hours, if you're inside the convention center for the Duke Energy rate case hearing, you won't have any worries about rain. If you wear a hat, hang on to it, because the wind could gust up to 23 mph.

Friday: You can start your day without any extra insulation or an umbrella, because the overnight low of 59°F will put the day on track to hit its high of 78°F. If your hat has a chinstrap, tighten it down, because the gusty winds from Thursday, up to 32 mph, will persist into the final day of the week. If you have outdoor work you need to do in the next few days, get it done by the end of the day Friday, because a rainy period will start Friday night and last through Monday.

Sign up for weather alerts: Monroe County emergency alert system.

Roundup of recent articles

On the calendar

Downzone. On the 10 a.m. Thursday meeting agenda for Monroe County commissioners is a final decision on the downzoning of more than 200 parcels in two of the three so-called "islands" that the city of Bloomington tried to annex and for which litigation on the annexation is still pending. The county plan commission recommended adoption of the proposed downzone. For B Square background, see: Downzone of 200+ parcels surrounded by Bloomington goes to county commissioners with nod from advisory planning group

County board of health. I don't see an agenda posted yet for the 4:30 p.m. Thursday meeting of Monroe County's board of health. But this is a group that is underappreciated for its potential impact on the literal health of our community, and should get some attention every single time that it meets.

Jazz at The Vault. From 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday (April 17) Indiana Jacobs School of Music students will perform original compositions and classics from the Great American Songbook at The Vault Pub in the Indiana Memorial Union. No cover charge.

Reporting in the works

Elimination of one Monroe County circuit court: House Bill 1144 was amended last week to include the elimination of one of Monroe County's nine circuit courts. A subsequent amendment changes exactly how the court is chosen for elimination. But the county commissioners would still have some latitude to choose which court gets eliminated. The proposal could be based on a study of weighted caseloads of courts statewide, which says that Monroe County needs the equivalent of 7.87 courts. The bill is now in conference committee to resolve differences between the versions approved by the House and the Senate.

Meet Ace!

[Note: This is a re-run from Monday, only because the city's webpage for adoptable animals is down this morning as I write this.]

Up for adoption, as of April 13, 2025, at the city of Bloomington's animal shelter is Ace. Here's another link: all animals up for adoption at the shelter. (The photo is from the city's website.)

This very, very good boy is a bully breed mix. Here's what the shelter staff say about Ace:

Ace is such a sweet fella, and once he warms up to you he becomes the most fun loving guy! He's spent his time at the shelter recovering from some serious injuries, but he has been a real trooper the entire time. Ace figured since he's feeling a lot better, it's about time to settle down with a family and move on from this tough time in his life. He LOVES toys and can leap to the highest of heights to catch his bouncing ball!

Photo Finish
7th Street & College Avenue

7th Street & College Avenue

A crow is harassing the red-tailed hawk perched on the antenna on top of the Monroe County jail.

For more items like these, see the B There section of the B Square website.

There's more to Bloomington than the narrow slice of Bloomington that I traverse in my daily travels. To improve the geographic coverage of B There, please consider occasionally contributing to The B Square brief factual observations about the world outside your own head, as you go about your normal business. (Photos are optional for B There.) The mechanics of making a contribution are pretty straightforward—just let me know if you'd like to learn the ins and outs. If you're looking at this bulletin in your email inbox, you should be able to reach me by hitting Reply.

Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend!

Dave Askins
734-645-2633
dave@bsquarebulletin.com

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