Indianapolis, IN
Thank you, Indianapolis! – Indianapolis Recorder
The recent 2024 NBA All-Star game demonstrated to many Indianapolis residents and a national and global audience the positive attributes of Indianapolis Public Schools. I was honored to serve as a member of the Board of Directors, composed of community and civic leaders determined to have Indianapolis make an indelible mark as the host of the NBA All-Star game.
Throughout the weekend, IPS alumni helped make the event memorable. Our proud alumni — including Mike Epps, George Hill, Trey Lyles, Vivica Fox, and Oscar Robertson — all contributed to a weekend of events that truly placed Indianapolis front and center for the state, the nation, and in fact, globally. Each gave their time and talents to support various events that reflected our community’s diversity.
Thanks to Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds — a supporter of Indianapolis Public Schools — for speaking with our students at Carl Wilde School 79 and surprising them with gifts of musical instruments through the national Music Will program. His words of encouragement did reach our students and will make a positive impact on their futures. Thank you to the NBA Moms (mothers of NBA players) for donating shoes and other items to support our students at Anna Brochhausen School 88. The Christamore House, where IPS School Board member Diane Arnold devoted countless hours to make a difference, was the beneficiary of remodeled facilities and a visit by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Pacers owner Herb Simon and countless community supporters and advocates for IPS.
From the very beginning, IPS was involved. Hundreds of our students participated in the “Love Letters to Basketball” initiative, writing postcards that greeted our guests upon arrival to our city. More than one hundred students, staff, and alumni attended the NBA Opening Ceremony event on Thursday, where our Crispus Attucks High School was highlighted. This event also included a performance by our IPS All-City Band (supported by students from our schools) and the unveiling of the Oscar Robertson statue that’s being created and will be placed outside of Crispus Attucks High School (his alma mater) upon its completion. On Friday, we participated in honoring Oscar Robertson during a tribute to “The Big O” hosted by Radio One.
During NBA All-Star weekend, we held a special showing of “A Touch of Glory,” a play about the 1955 state championship team from Crispus Attucks. Written by Laura Town and produced by GangGang and Deborah Asante & Artists, the play — which had a multiple-week run — was attended by a record number of attendees. That 1955 state championship team from IPS’s Crispus Attucks High School was the first all-Black basketball team to win an Indiana state basketball championship. Those team members, which included Oscar Robertson, overcame considerable societal odds to perform with class and competition on the court. They remain role models in overcoming adversity and are a tribute to diversity.
In addition, our students participated in an e-sports program at Butler University to get first-hand experience with the program and to consider majoring in that area. Students at Arlington and Harshman Middle Schools participated in the NBA G League Sneakerverse PL(AI)GROUND event, where they had the opportunity to create sneakers using artificial intelligence (AI), an awesome STEM opportunity for these future alumni. Our students also participated in basketball clinics and camps while our coaches received additional training on techniques and successful coaching. Finally, throughout NBA All-Star weekend, we received numerous surprise donations from companies and organizations to support our students.
Dr. Martin Luther King once said, “Everyone can be great because everyone can serve.” He is right. We are proud to be a part of creating a special All-Star weekend and grateful that, in turn, our Indianapolis community embraced our students and showed why we are proud each day to say, “I am IPS!” Thank you, Indianapolis for believing in and investing in the 31,000 students enrolled in our Indianapolis Public Schools. That is a true Return on Investment (ROI) for Indianapolis’ and Indiana’s future.
Dr. Aleesia Johnson
Superintendent
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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