Indianapolis, IN
Scecina’s David Mendez named baseball City Player of Year to lead 2024 All-City team
Scecina senior David Mendez was named baseball City Player of the Year by a vote of the coaches.
Mendez hit .468 this season for Scecina with two home runs, eight doubles and 20 RBIs. He was also 6-5 as a pitcher with a 2.85 earned run average and 72 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings.
‘We’re leaving a legacy.’ Heritage Christian wins third straight sectional title.
The 2024 All-City baseball team as voted by the coaches:
First team
Pitcher – Ethan Dorsey, Cathedral, Jr.
Pitcher – Eli Bennett, Cathedral, Jr.
Catcher – J.T. Stiner, Cathedral, Sr.
1B – Declan Hostettler, Bishop Chatard, Jr.
2B – Alex Jackson, Heritage Christian, Soph.
SS – Chris Klug, Bishop Chatard, Sr.
3B – David Mendez, Scecina, Sr.
OF – Patrick Mazur, Cathedral, Sr.
OF – Ryan Williams, Heritage Christian, Sr.
OF – Nolan Moore, Covenant Christian, Sr.
DH – Bo Cooper, Cathedral, Jr.
Utility – Jack Naab, Bishop Chatard, Jr.
Second team
Pitcher – Henry Borg, Bishop Chatard, Sr.
Pitcher – Aidan Lane, Cardinal Ritter, Fr.
Catcher – Nolan Jones, Covenant Christian, Sr.
1B – Will Ambrose, Heritage Christian, Jr.
2B – Ryan Keating, Bishop Chatard, Sr.
SS – Tyler Allemeier, Heritage Christian, Sr.
3B – Chase Nickols, Cathedral, Soph.
OF – Greg Mates, Bishop Chatard, Jr.
OF – Zack Plunkitt, Scecina, Sr.
OF – Jaden McCoy, Cathedral, Jr.
DH – Blake Cope, Covenant Christian, Soph.
Utility – Gabe Unger, Covenant Christian, Soph.
Honorable mention
Bishop Chatard: Tony Cuniffe, Michael Jones, Grant Tragesser
Cardinal Ritter: Regan Ring, Ty Gonzales
Cathedral: Eli Sinsabaugh, Neal Parrish, Jackson Reeves, Zander Carnahan, Ty Carroll, Max Finn, Landon Hughes, Max Linder, Connor Christiansen
Covenant Christian: Jameson Laughlin, Ty Gillespie
Heritage Christian: Carson Wilhite, Blake McDonald, JP Olesen, Tripp Vaughan
Herron: Richard Morris, Colvin Meek, Colin McHugh, Keane Ricchiuto
Purdue Poly: Nevan Jeffers
Scecina: Wil Battles, Jackson Daves, Dom McKiernan, Brady Ray
Tech: Jorge Mendoza, Dariel Caceres, Carlos Rodriguez, Isaiah Wilson
Washington: Eli Helmecy
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.
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.
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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