Indiana

Solar belongs on rooftops, not Indiana farmland | Opinion

Published

5 months ago

June 18, 2025

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Solar belongs on rooftops, not Indiana farmland | Opinion

Solar farms depend on subsidies. It is hard to justify this corporate welfare while the state and federal governments take away similar benefits from homeowners.

While solar farms might not cross your mind as an issue that can decide elections, their development fills town halls in rural Indiana with angry locals. Tippecanoe and Clark counties passed new restrictions on solar farms this month, while more than 70 other counties have temporary bans, for good reason.

“The locations that solar companies want are in the best agricultural grounds in my district,” state Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, told me over the phone. Leising is the chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture. “[Some people are] worried about the valuation of their property. Then you have people that are saying, plus, I just don’t want to look at it in my backyard.”

Leising successfully pushed the state to study the loss of prime farmland last year. Indiana has lost 345,000 acres of farmland and over 3,050 farms since 2010. However, the farmland still in use has become more efficient and the state is producing more crops than ever before.

A bigger concern is that commercial-scale solar farms depend on government subsidies and tax abatements. It is hard to justify this corporate welfare while the state and federal governments take away similar benefits from individuals looking to make their homes more self-sufficient. If the state and federal governments are going to invest in solar somewhere, it should be on rooftops, not on Indiana farmland.

The state recently created the ultimate tax abatement for solar farms. Businesses won’t pay any personal property taxes if they have less than $2 million worth of equipment in 2026, and the personal property taxes paid for new equipment can lower to zero as the equipment fully depreciates in value. Some estimates show Indiana solar farms averaged about $50,000 in personal property per acre, meaning they will likely save hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In the same bill, Indiana eliminated a property tax deduction for homeowners whose home values increase after installing solar panels. A study from Zillow showed that homes that installed solar panels increased in value by 4.1%, and the deduction was originally put in place to make sure they weren’t unfairly punished for making their homes more energy efficient.

Not to mention, the state recently eliminated net metering on behalf of energy companies. Rather than receiving full retail rates for excess electricity sent back to the grid, homeowners are now paid at a much lower rate. Meanwhile, new limits on tax credits for solar energy in the federal budget reconciliation bill are predicted to favor large companies that can pass on development costs and make it much harder for homeowners to invest in solar.

Not only do large solar corporations receive unfair advantages at the expense of homeowners, but also they’re getting these benefits despite being less efficient at producing energy.

“Some people say sun is free and wind is free, but they’re not … because there’s a huge transmission cost,” Leising said. “When you site a solar field in the middle of nowhere … then how are you going to get that power to where it needs to go? Right now, we don’t have enough battery storage to store the energy produced when the sun is shining.”

Solar panels on homes, on the other hand, are right next to where most of the energy produced is used.

If there is any benefit to solar energy, it is the possibility of seeing more self-sufficient homes and a more decentralized energy grid, where people aren’t dependent on government-granted monopolies to live their daily lives.

The benefit is almost entirely lost when it becomes another tool in the belts of those monopolies, because there are more efficient, reliable and cleaner forms of energy out there.

Any issue that involves personal property rights is going to be complicated, but when a community’s tax dollars are being stewarded poorly, it should surprise no one to see them mobilize like they have in rural Indiana.

Contact Jacob Stewart at 317-444-4683 or jacob.stewart@indystar.com. Follow him on X and Instagram.

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Indiana

No. 2 Indiana tries to complete a 2nd straight perfect home season when Wisconsin visits

Published

1 hour ago

November 13, 2025

Press Room

No. 2 Indiana tries to complete a 2nd straight perfect home season when Wisconsin visits

Quarterback Fernando Mendoza has experienced nothing but success in his one season at No. 2 Indiana. Receiver Omar Cooper Jr. has been through just about everything in his four years with the Hoosiers.

Now the tandem that created one of college football’s biggest plays this season hopes to deliver another memorable moment in what could be their final home game together Saturday against struggling Wisconsin.

This will not be just another senior day at Indiana (10-0, 7-0). For the second straight year, the Hoosiers enter their final two home games with a perfect record, on the cusp of clinching a playoff spot and the possibility of reaching their first Big Ten title game.

But second-year coach Curt Cignetti doesn’t believe the narrative will become a distraction from how the Hoosiers have reached this point.

“I doubt any of them are thinking about the end right now because everybody understands sort of where we’re at and what’s possible,” Cignetti said this week. “I think we’re on a little bit of a mission here, and that’s really been the focus. I think that’s how the kids are thinking, too.”

Mendoza emerged as one of the top players in the transfer portal last year and wound up choosing the Hoosiers in part to reunite with his younger brother, Alberto. The older brother has been even better than advertised by leading the league with 31 total TDs while emerging as a Heisman Trophy favorite and possibly the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft.

Cooper, meanwhile, endured 4-8 and 3-9 seasons and won only three Big Ten games in his first two years at Indiana but has since become a key figure in a remarkable two-year turnaround.

The Hoosiers are trying to extend their school record 14-game winning streak at home and protect the program’s highest ranking against the Badgers (3-6, 1-5). And Cooper’s incredible go-ahead TD catch in the final minute not only gave Indiana its first win at Penn State, it helped them — finally — shed the label of America’s losingest football program. Northwestern now has 716 losses all-time, one more than the Hoosiers.

Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell knows what his team is up against after snapping an 11-game losing streak against Power Four opponents last week.

“I don’t even know if you asked a coach from within (the program) like if they could pinpoint exactly what it is,” Fickell said when asked about the Hoosiers turnaround. “There’s a lot of things that have gone into it. Great coaching is one of them, great quarterback is another. But whatever they’ve done a really, really good job of in the last few years.”

Quarterback questions

The biggest question for Wisconsin is who will play quarterback Saturday.

Billy Edwards Jr. was the opening-day starter but sprained his knee in that first game and has only played, briefly, in one game since. Danny O’Neil and Hunter Simmons started a combined total of seven games, but when O’Neil was carted off the field with a leg injury last week, Fickell went with first-year quarterback Carter Smith who went 3 of 12 with 8 yards and scored on a 2-yard run in a 13-10 win over then No. 23 Washington.

Who will start Saturday?

“You always have a plan,” he said when asked what he’d do if the Badgers lose any more quarterbacks to injuries. “We’ve still got to figure out who’s one and two before we start to think about who’s the fourth going into a game like this.”

CFP talk

Given the schedule, the CFP selection might want to consult with the Badgers before making its final pairings.

Saturday’s game will be Wisconsin’s sixth this season against a team ranked in the CFP’s Top 25. The Badgers already have faced No. 1 Ohio State, No. 4 Alabama, No. 8 Oregon, No. 18 Michigan and No. 21 Iowa.

But Fickell’s players aren’t blaming the brutal schedule for their losses.

“I love every bit of it,” outside linebacker Mason Reiger said. “I’d rather play the best five teams in the country than play none of them. It’s a challenge, sure. It’s not easy to play these good teams, but at some point in college football you want to play the best teams because to be the best, you’ve got to go against the best.”

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AP Sports Writer Steve Megargee in Milwaukee also contributed to this report.

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Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

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Purdue basketball stats, box score today vs. Evansville: How did Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn, Fletcher Loyer play?

Published

19 hours ago

November 12, 2025

Press Room

Purdue basketball stats, box score today vs. Evansville: How did Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn, Fletcher Loyer play?

Purdue basketball started the 2025-26 season with an 82-51 win over Evansville. Fletcher Loyer led the charge with 5 first-half 3-pointers before finishing with a career-high 30 points. Trey Kaufman-Renn (hip) didn’t play.

Braden Smith stats for Purdue basketball vs. Evansville. How many assists did Braden Smith have?

Braden Smith had 6 points, 11 assists, 2 steals and 2 rebounds on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

He entered the game with 1,375 career points, 758 assists, 183 steals and 535 rebounds. He was a first-team All-American in 2024-25 and has a chance to set the Division I career assists record.

Purdue basketball stats vs. Evansville today

Player	Pts	Reb	Ast	FG	3FG	FT	PF
Joshua Hughes	15	11	1	6-12	3-7	0-0	3
A.J. Casey	14	9	2	6-13	0-3	2-2	1
Leif Moeller	0	2	3	0-9	0-5	2-2	1
Keishon Porter	2	3	2	1-11	0-3	0-0	3
Alex Hemenway	3	0	0	1-6	1-4	0-0	0
J. Dyson-Merwe	4	7	2	2-2	0-0	0-0	3
Trent Hundley	9	1	1	3-8	3-8	0-0	2
Bryce Quinet	4	2	1	2-9	0-4	0-2	1
Kaia Berridge	0	0	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	1
—	51	40	13	21-70 (30%)	7-34 (20.6%)	2-4 (50%)	15

Evansville basketball stats vs. Purdue today

Who are Purdue’s best players? Purdue basketball roster

0, C.J. Cox
1, Antione West Jr.
2, Fletcher Loyer
3, Braden Smith
4, Trey Kaufman-Renn
5, Liam Murphy
12, Daniel Jacobsen
14, Jack Benter
17, Omer Mayer
24, Gicarri Harris
34, Raleigh Burgess (redshirt)
45, Oscar Cluff

Nathan Baird and Sam King have the best Purdue sports coverage, and sign up for IndyStar’s Boilermakers newsletter.

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Indiana

Signing day: Confirmed signings for Central Indiana high school athletes

Published

2 days ago

November 12, 2025

Press Room

Signing day: Confirmed signings for Central Indiana high school athletes

The early signing period begins on Wednesday for all sports except football, which has its early signing period in December.

These are the confirmed expected signings for Wednesday for Central Indiana athletes. We will update this throughout the day and through the signing period (Nov. 19). Please email kyle.neddenriep@indystar.com with school, sport and college choice to add to list:

Girls soccer

Aryana Ali, Westfield: DePauw

Taylor Baier, Center Grove: Walsh

Riley Boyd, Hamilton Southeastern: Indiana

Coltie Carson, Westfield: Miami

Sydney Cook, Hamilton Southeastern: Purdue

Emma Ehret, Carmel: Indiana

Lucy Elder, Hamilton Southeastern: Hanover

Lola Horstman, Westfield: Western Kentucky

Olivia Joyce, Carmel: Kansas

Kate Klinginsmith, Carmel: Ball State

Mallory Long, Fishers: Earlham

Sarah Maudlin, Fishers: Taylor

Elise May, Fishers: Butler

Sloan May, Hamilton Southeastern: Michigan

Kate Noel, Hamilton Southeastern: Purdue

Kari Radford, Lawrence North: Ball State

Brooke Reiter, Carmel: Loras College

Blair Satterfield, Hamilton Southeastern: Indiana

Taylor Townley, Center Grove: IU Indy

Boys soccer

Carsten Shidler, Noblesville: UIndy

Ryan Weber, Carmel: Iowa State

Softball

Erica Burris, Center Grove: Purdue Northwest

Sofia Easterhaus, Westfield: Marian

Riley Fuhr, Center Grove: Thomas More

Kiersten Hardin, Center Grove: Purdue Northwest

Tatum Hunt, Brownsburg: Marian

Frankie Jackson, Fishers: Mars Hill

Jayden Kleiner, Carmel: Michigan

Kensly Larkin, Brownsburg: Huntington

Ashyr Lawson, Decatur Central: Purdue

Brynn Meyer, Center Grove: Indiana

AG Pogue, Brownsburg: Southern Indiana

Hailey Prather, Brownsburg: Ohio Northern

Addelynn Reed, Center Grove: IU Columbus

Haley Schatko, Noblesville: Indiana

Grace Swedarskiy, Hamilton Southeastern: Virginia Tech

Megan Todd, Bishop Chatard: Concordia (Wis.)

Makayla Watson, Westfield: North Carolina State

Addison Wolf, Center Grove: Columbia

Girls track and field/cross country

Ansley Applegate, Noblesville: Taylor

Gracie Czubik, Westfield: Saginaw Valley State

Sadie Foley, Carmel: Indiana

Ceci Jackson, Bishop Chatard: Indiana

Ella Jenkins, Westfield: Northern Iowa

Julia Score, Bishop Chatard: Wake Forest

Chloe Senefeld, Hamilton Southeastern: Iowa

Carly VonDielingen, Whiteland: Indiana State

Lucy Wood, Brebeuf Jesuit: Butler

Boys track and field/cross country

Eli Balbach, Bishop Chatard: Marian

Phoenix Boyer, Bishop Chatard: Indiana

Cooper Click, Noblesville: Taylor

Konrad Hayden, Fishers: Marian

John Libs, Noblesville: Butler

Liam Powers, Hamilton Southeastern: Belmont

Conrad Schumacher, Lawrence North: Marian

Nate Thomas, Fishers: Xavier

Evan Williams, Lawrence Central: Indiana

Boys basketball

Justin Curry, Noblesville: Valparaiso

Evan Harrell, Carmel: Bellarmine

Brennan Miller, Lawrence North: Southern Illinois-Edwardsville

Noah Smith, Plainfield: DePauw

Baron Walker, Noblesville: Butler

Luke Weemer, Hamilton Southeastern: Emporia State

Girls basketball

Ke’Adriah Butler, Lawrence Central: Boston College

Antonete Greene, Hamilton Southeastern: Earlham

Kenedy Holman, Hamilton Southeastern: Florida

Alyx Kendall, Bishop Chatard: DePauw

Akya Koenig, Fishers: IU-Kokomo

Elle McCulloch, Brownsburg: Florida Gulf Coast

Aniyah McKenzie, Lawrence Central: Illinois-Chicago

Lola Lampley, Lawrence Central: LSU

C.C. Quigley, Noblesville: Lipscomb

Kayla Stidham, Hamilton Southeastern: Bowling Green

Natalie Thomas, Fishers: Bethel

Berkely Williams, Plainfield: DePauw

Boys golf

Ryan Cesare, Westfield: Marian

Thomas Klinker, Fishers: IU Indy

Tyler Marucci, Noblesville: Indiana Wesleyan

Nathan Springer, Center Grove: IU Indy

Mattingly Upchurch, Hamilton Southeastern: Ball State

Girls golf

Olivia Folwer, Noblesville: Tampa

Janelle Garcia, Hamilton Southeastern: IU Indy

Kelsey Haverluck, Westfield: Western Carolina

Peyton Kauzlick, Noblesville: Saint Mary’s College

Josie Kelley, Noblesville: Eastern Kentucky

Presley White, Noblesville: Taylor

Baseball

Collin Bumps, Fishers: Manchester

Beckett Doane, Noblesville: Mississippi State

Beck Jordan, Westfield: Wabash

Sean Frey, Fishers: Anderson

Aiden Grabowski, Westfield: Indiana Wesleyan

Paul Karnes, Lawrence Central: Franklin

Owen Lukac, Fishers: Evansville

Ryan Murphy, Brownsburg: Creighton

Silas Neal, Carmel: UIndy

Vince Painter, Brownsburg: Bellarmine

Vincent Pecoraro, Fishers: Anderson

Daniel Phillips, Brownsburg: Purdue Northwest

Aiden Reynolds, Noblesville: Indiana

Gavin Russ, Westfield: Ohio Northern

Miles Tebben, Fishers: Grace

Brayden Thompson, Brownsburg: Bethel

Clayton Walther, Westfield: Hope

Hayden Werner, Fishers: Maryville

Corey Wilhelm, Westfield: Rose-Hulman

John Zangrilli, Carmel: Thomas More

Boys lacrosse

Wil Bates, Carmel: Maryville

Charlie Boe, Noblesville: Wabash

Max Brown, Westfield: Point Park

Evan Coulter, Carmel: Anderson

Henry Dvorak, Carmel: LeMoyne

Max McCord, Carmel: Palm Beach Atlantic

Cohen Odle, Carmel: Palm Beach Atlantic

Ike Stitle, Carmel: Siena

E.B. Warren, Carmel: Tampa

Girls lacrosse

Sophia Anthony, Carmel: Lincoln Memorial

Madeleine Biedess, Westfield: Lake Forest

Hannah Cavalcanti, Westfield: UIndy

Sophie Grotjan, Carmel: DePauw

Katie McKeever, Carmel: Belmont

Maggie Piatt, Bishop Chatard: Manhattan

Samantha Worzala, Hamilton Southeastern: Hope

Volleyball

Georgia Bresnahan, Westfield: Southern Illinois-Edwardsville

Ella Coppock, Noblesville: DePauw

Jasmin Daniels, Hamilton Southeastern: Morehead State

Charlotte Dudik, Bishop Chatard: Southern Illinois-Edwardsville

Grace Gwin, Bishop Chatard: Earlham

Skylyr Merriman, Center Grove: Franklin

Madison Miles, Hamilton Southeastern: Illinois

Reagan Miles, Hamilton Southeastern: Taylor

Bre Morgan, Hamilton Southeastern: Florida Gulf Coast

Reese Resmer, Noblesville: Kansas State

Merritt Sliwa, Hamilton Southeastern: Ball State

Ashlynn Turner, Noblesville: Marian

Natalie Vance, Center Grove: Southern Illinois

Jayda Vanoskey, Lawrence North: IU-Columbus

Kate Vrabel, Brownsburg: Oakland

Wrestling

Julian Burgett, Fishers: Mercyhurst

Tommy Gibbs, Brownsburg: Indiana

Parker Reynolds, Brownsburg: Purdue

Xavier Smith, Fishers: Purdue

Michael White, Lawrence North: Oklahoma State

Girls swimming and diving

Zoe Baldauf, Carmel: Anderson

Katie Countryman, Bishop Chatard: Bowling Green

Lucy Enoch, Carmel: Florida Atlantic

Adelyn Flessner, North Central: Iowa

Naomi Haines, Hamilton Southeastern: Ball State

Avery Hannon, Fishers: Xavier

Ella Hare, Fishers: Lynn

Mia Henderson, Hamilton Southeastern: Hope

Sabrina Ledwith, Carmel: Florida International

Eryn McMahon, Noblesville: Ball State

Ryan Murphy, Hamilton Southeastern: Anderson

Francesca Ramey, Fishers: Pepperdine

Polina Sopova, Fishers: Ball State

Boys swimming and diving

Camden Bailey, Hamilton Southeastern: DePauw

Kirby Danglade, Fishers: IU Indy

Drew DuBois, Carmel: Seton Hall

Carter Hadley, Carmel: Southern Methodist

Cory Han, Carmel: Columbia

Will Lathrop, Carmel: Xavier

Mason Lawson, Fishers: North Carolina State

Sebastian Rizik, Carmel: Wabash

Lewis Zhang, Carmel: Penn

Girls tennis

Cathy Beckmann, Bishop Chatard: Valparaiso

Boys tennis

Connor Certain, Brownsburg: Marian

Logan Polen, Brownsburg: Trine

Rowing

Callie Carpenter, Carmel: Duquesne

Paul Kiser, Carmel: Syracuse

Lauren Raines, Brebeuf Jesuit: Wisconsin

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649. Get IndyStar’s high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter. And be sure to subscribe to our new IndyStarTV: Preps YouTube channel.

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