By Niki Kelly | Editor-in-Chief
Indiana’s corn crops are already knee-high (at least by me) so I wanted to focus on agriculture for today’s fun fact. Indiana has 53,599 farming operations, with an average farm size of 272 acres.
Indiana’s pension system is helping retirees claim lost or forgotten benefits.
President Trump’s administration for the third time demands two Indiana power companies keep expensive coal plants running.
A shake-up on the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission after panel approves rate increase.
Indiana is among states trying to lessen regulation to increase the supply of affordable homes. But is it safe?
Plus, today’s commentary: saving money at the pump has been great for Hoosiers drivers — as long as it doesn’t mean lost money for roads.
INPRS’ logo on display. (Screenshot courtesy of the Indiana Public Retirement System)
'No benefit to waiting': State initiative yields millions in claimed retirement resources
By Leslie Bonilla Muñiz
First came the emails. Then, the phone call.
More than two decades each in public education had qualified Indianapolis residents Susan and David Hunnicutt to tap their state retirement benefits — years before they reached the full federal retirement age of 67.
But they didn’t think they could claim them when they retired early.
F. B. Culley Generating Station is coal-powered and located in Warrick County, Ind., along the Ohio River. (Photo by Macabe Brown/Courier & Press)
Trump administration renews order keeping Indiana coal plants open for the third time
By Mackenzi Klemann
The Trump administration has renewed an emergency order to keep two aging Indiana coal plants operational through mid-September.
Administration officials argue the orders, renewed last Thursday, are necessary to minimize energy costs and prevent blackouts at peak summer demand — despite two of the units being taken offline for maintenance and objections from an energy executive who called the plant “inefficient” and “unreliable.”
COMMENTARY
Indiana’s gas taxes have been paused for several months — saving Hoosiers hundreds of millions. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Protecting Hoosiers at the pump and on the road
By Matt Greller
Pain at the pump is a phrase commonly used in speeches, news stories, and commercials. But let’s be honest; this idiom has never been more real. The efforts to help Hoosier families and businesses amid this extreme hike in fuel prices by pausing the gasoline use tax and gasoline excise tax have been welcome and important.
While it was the right thing to do, supporting this relief comes with a conundrum. Indiana’s transportation network depends on revenue generated by the sale of gas. The challenge is making sure temporary relief does not unintentionally cause a pendulum swing that brings higher long-term costs for the same Hoosier taxpayers.
NATIONAL NEWS
A construction worker balances atop a roof. States and cities are loosening building code requirements in an effort to lower construction costs and boost affordable housing. (Photo by Robbie Sequeira/Stateline)
States are changing fire codes to make housing cheaper. Some safety experts are worried.
By Robbie Sequeira
States and cities are loosening building code requirements in an effort to lower construction costs and boost affordable housing.
Some of these changes include allowing low-rise apartment buildings to have just one stairway, reducing how often building codes are updated and rolling back specific electrical or fire safety standards.
But critics have raised safety concerns, noting that existing rules were shaped by past tragedies and aim to prevent future harm.
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