Latest news with #Bill502
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Last time we hear of this': Panel strikes utility pole compromise to boost Indiana broadband access
The Indiana Energy Association's Matt Long (right) reviews materials while Rep. Ed Soliday (center) introduces his amendment to a utility pole attachment measure on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle) Suit-clad lobbyists on Tuesday offered careful praise for a compromise intended to resolve a long-running fight over the utility pole attachment required to bring high-speed internet to rural Hoosiers and others. Disagreements between electricity and telecommunications providers could muddle more than a billion dollars of government broadband incentives. 'For years, … the most difficult barrier to rural broadband deployment in Indiana has been the math,' said Joni Hart, of Comcast Indiana. It's often prohibitively expensive to install broadband infrastructure for few customers situated far apart. But Indiana has poured money into access improvements in recent years — and was allocated a whopping $870 million through the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program to make more progress. 'Number-one obstructionist': Electricity co-ops lambasted for slow broadband rollout Now that the money is taken care of, new obstacles have emerged. 'With this funding committed, our industry and policy makers have more at stake in tackling deployment barriers like permitting and pole attachment issues in order to make sure we get this infrastructure deployed,' Hart added. She said those snags have forced Comcast Indiana to request several extensions from the Indiana Broadband Office for various broadband access projects. An amendment accepted by consent Tuesday represents 'a constructive step forward,' said Daniel Miller, president of Indiana's Broadband and Technology Association. The package of changes 'reflects a thoughtful effort to balance competing interests while addressing the practical realities of broadband deployment,' Miller continued. 'It offers a workable framework that promotes continued investment, innovation and expansion, especially in the areas (of Indiana) that need it most.' The Indiana Energy Association, which represents the state's 'big five' electric utilities and several natural gas utilities, also said the amended legislation 'strikes a balance.' The edits recast proposed alterations weighed last week, when Indiana's electric cooperatives were dealt a public tongue-lashing over delays in broadband delivery. 'Good Lord willing, this will be the last time we hear of this issue from now until the Second Coming,' said House Utilities Committee leader Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso. After Soliday's overhaul, Senate Bill 502 would give telecommunications providers — the attaching entities — and electric utilities that own 300-plus utility poles a 60-day deadline to meet after a government broadband grant contract is executed. And they'd have four months to reach a project management agreement after the National Telecommunications Information Administration approves the office's BEAD proposal. The legislation now sets detailed deadlines for cooperation if they can't concur. It would also allow the office to set a 'rapid response mediation process' when disputes arise — pulling back from hefty fines considered last week. The office would additionally have to publish broadband grant contracts online shortly after they're executed. Indiana Chief Broadband Office Stephen Cox said his office is working on the first round of the complex application process and has wrapped up a series of listening sessions. 'Pole attachments are necessary, in most projects, to bring them to completion,' Cox told the committee. 'Our office sees this bill as providing a tool to help expedite pole attachment requests … to facilitate project completion.' Comcast Indiana's Hart thanked the committee for cutting the timeline for preparatory work, but said that remained the company's 'primary concern.' 'We realize this isn't Burger King, and we can't always 'have it our way,'' she quipped, 'but hopefully that is something that we can work on in the future.' Soliday, however, said such changes 'won't be in the room,' under his leadership. 'We have worked really hard on this (amendment); it was painful,' he said. 'And so, I think we're in a good place where everyone is equally unhappy. So, spread the joy.' Senate Bill 502 heads to the House floor after the committee's unanimous, 15-0 vote. So does an edited small modular nuclear reactor 'pilot' program, on a party-line vote. The committee lifted a two-project cap within Senate Bill 423 so that any interested developers could participate and bring nuclear to Indiana. The legislation would now block program participants from charging ratepayers for no-cost contributions by third parties. 'We're sort of de-piloting it, but I can change the U.S. Constitution easier than I can change the title of this bill,' Soliday said at least week's hearing. '… We are taking it out of the pilot realm.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
CBS News
21-03-2025
- CBS News
Florida woman drowns dog in Orlando airport bathroom, police say
A Central Florida woman is accused of drowning her dog at Orlando International Airport after learning she could not take it with her when she tried to board a flight. According to the arrest affidavit from the Orlando Police Department, on Dec. 16, 2024, Alison Lawrence, 57, traveled to the airport with her white dog, Tywinn, for a flight to Colombia. When the Clermont woman was denied boarding due to improper paperwork, she took Tywinn, a 9-year-old miniature schnauzer, to a bathroom and allegedly drowned it in a toilet, according to the arrest affidavit. The dog was later found dead in a trash bag by an airport employee, who reported the incident to her supervisor. The employee told police she saw a woman, later identified as Lawrence, "on her knees cleaning up a lot of water and a lot of dog food from the floor of the bathroom handicapped stall," according to the affidavit. The employee said she had to tend to an emergency elsewhere, and when she returned, she saw Lawrence exit the stall and leave with a purse and suitcase. That's when she removed the trash bag from the canister and found the dog, the affidavit says. Surveillance footage captured Lawrence entering the airport with her dog, and later exiting the bathroom without the dog and then later seen at her gate. Lawrence's name and contact information were on the dog tag, police said. A necropsy later confirmed that the dog died from drowning. Animal services helped identify the dog using its chip and locating Lawrence. Police said the footage, along with witness statements, led to the issuance of an arrest warrant. Lawrence was taken into custody Tuesday in Lake County and charged with aggravated animal cruelty, a third-degree felony, following the death of her dog. She's since posted a $5,000 bond, according to the Orlando Police Department. Lawrence's actions have sparked outrage, emphasizing the importance of ethical alternatives for pet owners facing travel restrictions. A detective investigating the case noted that Lawrence had other options, such as re-homing or surrendering the dog to a shelter. Republican state Sen. Tom Leek filed Senate Bill 502 for this legislative session that would create stricter penalties for animal cruelty cases. Animal cruelty charges in Florida can result in up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Yahoo
SMH...Florida Woman Allegedly Drowns Her Own Dog in Airport Bathroom Because She Didn't Have the Paperwork to Fly With It
A woman was arrested at the Orlando International Airport on March 18. What she's accused of will make your heart sink. According to a report from local station WFTV-9, Alison Agatha Lawrence was told by TSA that she didn't have the proper documentation to bring her dog on a flight back in mid-December 2024. Instead of calling someone to pick up the dog, or rescheduling her flight until proper paperwork was obtained, the 57-year-old allegedly drowned her own dog in the women's bathroom. She allegedly then discarded her dog into a trash bin. Orlando police say she then boarded her flight as if nothing happened. An airport employee later found the dead dog and alerted authorities. The breed of dog or its age at the time of its death are both unclear. After a warrant was issued for her arrest, Lawrence was taken into police custody in Clermont, Florida, and was released later that same day after posting a $5,000 bond in Lake County jail. She was charged with one count of felony animal abuse — a third degree felony. Channel 9 spoke to Lawrence's neighbors on March 19, who recalled seeing Lawrence walking a white poodle in the neighborhood. They revealed how the suspect, whom they described as reserved, and the dog had been absent as of late. One neighbor said, 'Someone that would do such things has got to be disturbed upstairs.' 'This is yet another horrible example of why I filed Senate Bill 502: (Animal Cruelty Offences) related to animal cruelty, which strengthens criminal penalties for those who do harm to innocent animals,' State Senator Tom Leek said in a statement after he was notified of the incident. 'It is my commitment to have this good bill pass the Florida Senate and the Florida House of Representatives and sent to Governor Ron DeSantis for his signature.' For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
