By Tom Davies | Deputy Editor
“Northwest Indiana needs more than restored electricity.” — Gary Common Council member Darren Washington
Thousands of homes remain without electricity almost two weeks after a severe storm hit the Gary area — and the heat is being turned up on the utility company.
In another story, the Indiana Supreme Court says it will take up the fight over a Republican state Senate race with a three-vote margin that is still unsettled almost four months after the primary.
And check out a commentary about how data center projects have stirred up so much opposition in communities across the state.
Storm damage in Lake County, Indiana, on Aug. 12, 2026. (Photo courtesy Indiana Governor Flickr)
Braun demands investigation into NIPSCO after prolonged northwest Indiana outages
By Casey Smith
Gov. Mike Braun on Monday directed Indiana’s utility consumer advocate to seek a regulatory investigation into Northern Indiana Public Service Co. after widespread outages left thousands of northwest Indiana homes and businesses without power for nearly two weeks.
The requested investigation would examine NIPSCO's vegetation management and right-of-way maintenance, along with whether money approved by state regulators for infrastructure and reliability improvements was spent as promised.
Sen. Spencer Deery, R-West Lafayette, and challenger Paula Copenhaver are candidates for the Republican nomination in Indiana Senate District 23. (Photos by Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle, courtesy of Copenhaver campaign)
Latest in fight over 3-vote Indiana Senate race: can state Supreme Court still act?
By Tom Davies
The Indiana Supreme Court is weighing whether courts can still intervene in a Republican primary recount that gave President Donald Trump-endorsed challenger Paula Copenhaver a three-vote lead over state Sen. Spencer Deery, who opposed congressional redistricting.
Attorneys for Deery on Monday disputed arguments from Copenhaver that the courts can no longer overturn the Indiana Recount Commission’s decision because the Aug. 21 certification deadline for this fall’s election has passed.
The Supreme Court followed that filing later Monday with an order saying it would take up Deery's request that the justices review whether six ballots that were cast for him were wrongly rejected by the Recount Commission over omissions by election workers.
COMMENTARY
A sign opposing data centers is posted in Indianapolis on July 22, 2026. (Photo by Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Data centers unifying Hoosiers in opposition
By Ben Inskeep
While it often feels that there’s not much on which we can all agree, data centers are increasingly challenging that narrative. Seven in ten Americans now oppose the construction of AI data centers in their community, making it a rare topic of widespread consensus across age, political affiliation, and geography.
At Citizens Action Coalition, we’ve worked on many issues over more than five decades as Indiana’s leading consumer and environmental advocacy organization, yet none in recent memory have galvanized as much public attention — and opposition — as data centers.
NATIONAL NEWS
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents search the passenger of a truck as they arrest both him and the driver during a February traffic stop in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
Sanctuary policies are keeping prisoners in local jails away from ICE
By Tim Henderson
As more states seek ways to limit immigration enforcement, a Stateline analysis shows one tactic has had an effect: making it more difficult for local law enforcement to hand over people they are holding in city or county jails to federal immigration authorities.
The analysis found that states with strict non-cooperation policies — Oregon, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Washington state — have the lowest rates of immigration arrests in jails.
The highest rates were generally in states that limit or bar so-called sanctuary policies. Those states include Wyoming, West Virginia, Mississippi and Alabama.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
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