Indianapolis, IN

Blaney 'ticked off' at how restarts played out at Indianapolis

Published

2 years ago

July 21, 2024

Blaney 'ticked off' at how restarts played out at Indianapolis

Ryan Blaney was frustrated after finishing third Sunday in the Brickyard 400 but didn’t know who to project those emotions toward.

It took double overtime to determine the winner and Blaney felt he was in position to have been that driver. On the first overtime attempt, Blaney chose the outside lane alongside leader Brad Keselowski, who was going to run out of fuel at some point, and Blaney wanted to be ready when it happened.

Keselowski did run out of fuel coming off Turn 4, but it was before the race restarted and he was able to dive to pit road. Kyle Larson, who was running third, moved to the front row for the restart, and even though Blaney was the control car, had the advantageous lane going into Turn 1 and took the lead. Larson maintained the position through the second overtime attempt and won the race.

“I’m ,” Blaney said. “I told my guys I’m ticked off, but I don’t know who to be ticked off at there’s no one to be ticked off at. It’s just racing luck. The break that he got and the hardship that we got right there with that happening at that time killed our race.

“We put ourselves in the perfect spot to win, and just a weird circumstance benefited him and killed our race and any chance to win. That’s what I’m upset about. I’m not mad at anybody. It’s just Lady Luck that I’m off at. It sucks.”

The first overtime attempt resulted in a multi-car crash in Turn 1. Larson had already overtaken Blaney when the caution came out and led to a subsequent red flag. During the delay, Blaney was furious on his No. 12 team radio about what he felt was NASCAR giving Larson the race by moving him onto the front row.

It was an extensive back-and-forth conversation as Blaney continued to express his frustration. The reigning series champion felt NASCAR should have waved off the restart and allowed the field to re-choose what lane they wanted because Blaney, as the control car now that Keselowski pitted, would have chosen the inside lane. Instead, Blaney felt Larson, from third, was given the advantage.

“Obviously, I can easily say if the leader runs out coming to the restart zone, you have so long to wave off the green re-choose because you’re promoting the third-place guy now to where I get screwed,” he said. “I’m the one getting screwed. The third-place guy is benefiting. The guy behind me is benefiting. It’s one of those weird … you don’t see that very often a place like this.

“If it was any other place, it’s not going to be as bad because the second lane you can maintain. Here, it’s a death sentence. You’re not maintaining the lead from the top of the front row, so obviously I’m going to say they should re-rack in that situation just to make it fair. That’s the only way it can be fair. … I think they can do it a little bit different.”

On the second overtime restart, Larson again beat Blaney through Turn 1. The No. 12, with a bit of a wiggle coming off the corner, fell into the clutches of Reddick, who took second place.

“We should have won the race,” Blaney said. “ was going to run out if we went green there, so we’d inherit the lead, and I’m going to pull away from . I chose the top on the restart because I couldn’t believe stayed out; he pitted like six laps before us, and I knew we were tight. There was no way he was making it.

“He stays out, and I chose the top because I was like, ‘He’s going to run out in the restart zone, and I’m going to inherit the lead.,’ and he runs out before pit road, pulls in, and Larson gets promoted to the bottom and the race is over now…

“That just stinks. That’s just dumb luck. We did everything right to win, but he got a break pretty good.”

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Indianapolis, IN

1 critical after shooting on near east side of Indianapolis

Published

5 hours ago

June 19, 2026

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1 critical after shooting on near east side of Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS — One person is in critical condition following a shooting on Indy’s near east side.

According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, around 8:10 p.m., officers were called to the 2000 block of East Washington Street on reports of a person shot.

Officers are investigating the scene of a shooting on East Washington Street, captured by a FOX59/CBS4 crew.

Upon arrival, police located a 50-year-old man with injuries consistent with a gunshot wound.

He is currently reported to be in extremely critical condition.

No additional information has been made available at the time of this article’s publication.

This is a developing story; check back for updates.

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Indianapolis, IN

Indiana regulators approve $71 million rate increase for AES

Published

15 hours ago

June 18, 2026

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Indiana regulators approve million rate increase for AES

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission on June 17 gave AES the nod to raise electricity rates enough to earn an additional $71 million each year, a decision that drew reproof from Indiana lawmakers who called it another blow to cost-burdened consumers.

The approved rate represents less than half of the $192 million increase that AES initially requested. It’s also less than the $91 million increase proposed in an October settlement agreement between AES, the city of Indianapolis and major electricity consumers like Kroger and Walmart.

But the new rate is still significantly more than what the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, the state agency representing ratepayers in the case, recommended in September. The OUCC’s proposal would have capped AES’s annual operating revenue at $21 million less than the current level.

The rate increase authorizes AES to earn a total of nearly $2 billion each year, or an estimated $384 million in profit.

The higher base rate comes as a double whammy for Indianapolis-area households, who are already paying more for electricity this summer after AES temporarily raised rates to account for higher-than-anticipated fuel costs during last winter’s storms. The increase also arrives against the backdrop of inflation, which rose to a three-year high last month, and surging gas prices due to the war in Iran.

Gov. Mike Braun wrote in a Wednesday post to X that he was “deeply disappointed” by the IURC’s approval of the rate increase.

“Hoosiers have spent years tightening their belts and making tough financial decisions,” Braun wrote. “It’s time for utility companies to do the same.”

The IURC’s decision also drew fire from the other side of the aisle. In a June 17 news release, five Democrats representing Indianapolis in the state Senate – J.D. Ford, Andrea Hunley, La Keisha Jackson, Fady Qaddoura, and Greg Taylor – chastised Indiana’s Republican supermajority for failing to rein in rising utility costs.

“Hoosiers pay more. Monopoly utilities collect more. And the leaders in the super-majority who promise affordability over and over again show those are just empty words,” the news release said. “Instead, they continue to defend a system that takes more and more out of our paychecks.”

The consumer advocacy group Citizens Action Coalition also slammed the rate increase. Ben Inskeep, CAC’s program director, said the decision left him “less optimistic that this commission is willing to do things differently and to actually hold utilities accountable.”

He said the IURC should have penalized AES for issues that plagued customers after the utility updated its billing system in 2023, including duplicated withdrawals for the same monthly bill.

The rate increase will take effect in two phases, with rates going up in July 2026 and January 2027. AES officials anticipate the hikes “will be less than $5 per month per phase” for a household that uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month, according to a Wednesday news release from the utility.

“The IURC’s decision reflects a thorough, transparent process and balances the need for continued investment in the electric system with a focus on customer affordability,” the news release stated.

Under a state law that Braun signed in February, AES cannot ask for another increase to its base rate until January 2030 — though electricity bills could still go up for other reasons, like the fuel adjustment charge hitting consumers this month.

Three members of the five-member IURC signed off on the rate increase: Andy Zay, David Veleta, and David Ziegner. Commissioner Bob Deig dissented. Commissioner Anthony Swinger recused himself from the decision because he worked on the AES rate case for the OUCC before he was appointed to the IURC by Braun in January.

“None of this was taken lightly,” Zay, the IURC’s chair, said at the Wednesday hearing, adding that the commission and its staff had carefully weighed concerns about affordability. The commissioners did not go into further detail at the hearing.

But the commission’s order shows some of the debates that played out during the rate case. One point of contention was AES’s authorized return on equity — that is, how much the utility can earn each year in profits. Other disputes hinged on how AES forecasts its operating expenses.

The OUCC accused AES of including more than 100 “phantom hires,” vacant positions it did not necessarily intend to fill in its calculations. Last year, AES said that the rising costs of vegetation management, or trimming trees around power lines, also drove the need to raise rates. The OUCC recommended keeping vegetation management costs flat.

One factor that’s not driving higher prices? Data centers.

AES does not currently provide service to any data centers and did not include them in its calculations, AES president Brandi Davis-Handy said in testimony before the IURC.

Tilly Robinson is a Pulliam fellow for the Indianapolis Star. She can be reached at tilly.robinson@indystar.com.

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Indianapolis, IN

Tornado watch, issued for 47 counties, includes Indianapolis area

Published

1 day ago

June 18, 2026

Press Room

Tornado watch, issued for 47 counties, includes Indianapolis area

Interactive radar | Weather alerts by county

WATCH LIVE COVERAGE

(WRTV) — A tornado watch has been issued through 1 a.m. EDT Thursday for much of Indiana, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said.

The watch area covers 47 of Indiana’s 92 counties, and includes Indianapolis and its surrounding counties.

Counties in the watch area are Bartholomew, Blackford, Boone, Brown, Carroll, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Daviess, Decatur, Delaware, Fountain, Grant, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Henry, Howard, Huntington, Jackson, Jay, Jennings, Johnson, Knox, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Martin, Miami, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Owen, Parke, Putnam, Randolph, Rush, Shelby, Sullivan, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Vermillion, Vigo, Wabash, Warren, and White.

WRTV Meteorologist Ryan Morse says Wednesday afternoon’s rain was the first of two rounds coming to the Hoosier state. A line of supercells were expected to form in Illinois and travel into central Indiana.

In neighboring Illinois, dozens of counties are under a tornado watch until 10 p.m. CDT/11 p.m. EST.

All threats of severe weather were on the table: damaging wind, strong tornadoes, large hail, and flooding.

Severe storms should exit Indiana in the early morning hours.

WISH-TV Meteorologist Keith Gibson says people should have multiple ways of getting alerts and have electronic devices fully charged in case they lose power.

The next chance for rain after these storms could be on Saturday.

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