Latest news with #Soliday
CBS News
29-04-2025
- CBS News
Driver pleads guilty to murder in crash that killed Serra Catholic student Samantha Kalkbrenner
A man who was racing another driver at more than 100 mph before he crashed into a school van, killing 15-year-old Serra Catholic High School student Samantha Kalkbrenner, has pleaded guilty to third-degree murder. In exchange for the guilty plea, William Soliday was sentenced to five and a half to 12 years in prison. Soliday and Andrew Voigt were charged in connection with the deadly, fiery crash on Sept. 20, 2023. Serra Catholic High School student Samantha Kalkbrenner was killed in a school van crash in Dravosburg on Sept. 20, 2023. Serra Catholic High School A school van carrying Kalkbrenner was making a left turn from Third Street onto Richland Avenue in Dravosburg when it was hit by a Volkswagen. A Jeep flew through the intersection right after, police said. Witnesses told police that the drivers of the Volkswagen and Jeep were speeding and appeared to be racing as they crossed the Mansfield Bridge driving toward the intersection of Third Street and Richland Avenue. A 15-year-old Serra Catholic student was killed when a school van and another vehicle crashed in Dravosburg on Sept. 20, 2023. (Photo: KDKA) Police identified the 43-year-old Soliday as the driver of the Volkswagen and Voigt as the driver of the Jeep. Both men, police said, worked at a business about a quarter mile from the crash scene. Data from the Volkswagen showed Soliday was driving more than 100 miles per hour leading up to the crash. A traffic light has since been installed at the intersection where Kalkbrenner was killed.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Number-one obstructionist': Electricity co-ops lambasted for slow broadband rollout
Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, leads an energy committee on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle) More than a billion dollars worth of government incentives to boost rural Hoosier broadband access could get tangled in the utility pole attachment fight between Indiana's electricity providers and telecommunications companies — prompting a major potential amendment and several hostile exchanges at a Tuesday committee hearing. 'For three years of my life, I have been trying to get the utilities and the telecoms to agree,' the committee's frustrated leader, Rep. Ed Soliday, began. '… And so, we now are here.' 'The loser in all of this is the rural person who needs broadband,' he said. '… I'm going to give out phone numbers of who to call when they come to me and say their children are going to McDonald's to do their homework.' Senate Bill 502 is lawmakers' attempt to mediate. Communities struggle to get connected, despite billions in broadband investment For now, it would require telecommunications companies to 'prove to you that there is a problem,' AT&T Indiana President Bill Soards told a corresponding Senate committee in February. His and other companies would submit information on their attachment requests to the Indiana Broadband Office quarterly until July 2030. But a detailed amendment from Soliday, R-Valparaiso, would strike the reporting requirements and instead set deadlines to push both provider types toward collaboration — or face the consequences. If a pole owner's noncompliance causes a telecommunications company to lose government funding for a broadband project, the owner could owe the company $25,000. The committee didn't take a decision on the edits Tuesday. It will consider the legislation again next week. 'Some of you are concerned about the amendment. Let me say this: it can get a lot worse,' Soliday warned. He later threatened to raise it to $250,000. 'We need to solve the problem. All the creative solutions to get around (or) away from this — I will devote my entire life to getting this done.' Over the last four years, Indiana has poured $350 million into rural access to modern high-speed internet, according to bill author Sen. Andy Zay, R-Huntington. The state was also allocated nearly $870 million in 2023, as part of a $43 billion federal 'internet for all' initiative; an estimated 150,000 Hoosier addresses are eligible, per Indiana Chief Broadband Office Steve Cox. The office is still working on a spending proposal. Broadband providers contend that pole owners — like electric utilities — are hindering progress. In February's Senate committee hearing, Spectrum parent Charter Communications reported that its successful pole attachment applications averaged a nearly 400-day wait for approval. But thousands of pending applications have languished for about 500 days, on average. Electric utilities cite incomplete and inaccurate telecommunications applications as primary causes of delay. They maintain that illegal or improperly done attachments risk damaging the state's electric infrastructure — dubbed the 'backbone for the broadband rollout,' by Michael Charbonneau, government relations head for the Indiana Electric Cooperatives. 'We have worked in good faith with other stakeholders,' Charbonneau told the committee, 'to develop a framework for processing pole attachments related to broadband grant funding.' His organization opposed the amendment, citing 'significant' financial penalties, to the chagrin of lawmakers disappointed by slow progress. 'We've got the money to do it. So it just baffles me that, in that whole time frame, industry has not come together and figured out how to do this,' said Rep. Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie. Soliday was more aggressive. 'You know what I think, Mr. Charbonneau? You don't want a solution!' he asserted. 'You're in the business of broadband, aren't you? Aren't you? … You are competing with the broadband companies. Are you, or are you not?' Charbonneau said 27 of his organization's 38 members have some involvement, generally starting a decade ago, 'because someone had to deliver broadband to rural Indiana.' He pushed back on the allegations, saying, 'We want rural Indiana to succeed, and it needs broadband and electricity to do so.' Charbonneau stood before the committee for more than thirty minutes. Questions about the amendment, attachment requests, contracts and delays repeatedly lapsed into heated exchanges — prompting audible gasps from some audience members. As lawmakers neared caucus time, Soliday said they'd continue discussions next week 'because, what I heard you say in your testimony today is that, by Oct. 1, it is impossible for the REMCs (rural electric membership cooperatives) to agree to any type of timeline or performance standards with the telecoms. …' 'No, it is not —' Charbonneau began. 'Then, you can. It's a binary question. Yes or no?' Soliday pressed. After several more exchanges, Charbonneau said he was concerned less about the deadline and more that all parties were working 'in good faith.' He sought a solution without fines. CONTACT US 'What you'd really like is no accountability, and we can continue with this … indefinitely. That's what I'm hearing you say,' Soliday said, as Charbonneau reiterated his aversion to the penalties. 'Three. Years. And we wind up with storytelling every time. We need a solution. So if your answer is (that) it can't be done, you shouldn't even be here,' Soliday added. 'Mr. Chairman, I'm not saying it can't be done. I'm here to say we oppose this amendment,' Charbonneau replied. The back-and-forth continued until Soliday dubbed the REMCs the 'number-one obstructionist.' 'Wow,' Charbonneau said. 'And that is a fact that I can document. And here we go again,' Soliday concluded. 'So, (I'll) be happy to see you all next Tuesday. Do you have a different amendment? How many hours have we met? All I get is mush. Thank you for your testimony. … With that, we are adjourned.' Indiana's broadband problems may go beyond state lines, however. The federal broadband effort is falling behind schedule, Stateline has reported. And, under President Donald Trump's administration, it faces an overhaul that could push lucrative contracts toward Elon Musk — the world's richest man and a top Trump adviser — according to the National Public Radio. One of the furthest-along states, West Virginia, is reworking its proposal to better align with the administration's desires, per Broadband Breakfast. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Utility customer advocates say protections inadequate in large-load users, nuclear development bill
Senate Utilities Committee Chair Sen. Eric Koch listens during a meeting on Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle) Legislation setting standards for new, big electricity users — plus, complicating coal-powered closures and benefiting nuclear reactor efforts — drew criticism from utility customer advocates Thursday. Proponents maintained the changes are critical to continued economic growth. Jonathan Neal, a Lafayette resident, told a Senate committee that the legislation doesn't protect customers enough. He asserted that regulators have repeatedly 'failed' Hoosier customers. 'Like many ratepayers, I don't have a lot of confidence in the (Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission) to protect the ratepayers,' he said. '… Sometimes it feels like they're really in the pocket of the utilities and just cover the costs of utility shareholders — and consumers are too busy to complain.' But Rep. Ed Soliday, the measure's author, said opponents 'want a zero-growth economy.' 'If you don't want a growth economy, then vote against the bill,' Soliday, R-Valparaiso, said. His House Bill 1007 would expedite approval processes for large-load customers like data centers and set out cost recovery mechanisms for projects utilities undertake to serve those big customers. It also would require a big prospective grid addition to make 'significant and meaningful financial assurances' for such projects— reimbursing at least 80% of costs and protecting other existing and future customers from the expenses. 'We think it's fair that they accept 80% of the responsibility. Now, if they build and keep their word, then all they're doing is buying the electricity they said they want,' Soliday. 'But we've given about 20% latitude in here, that we think is fair.' Multiple witnesses feared customers would still take the brunt of costs. 'I'm afraid that there's too many ways to get around that 80-20 split for those large-load customers, that there's no guarantee that those customers would actually be paying that,' said Robyn Skuya-Boss, leader of the Sierra Club's Indiana chapter. '(Maybe) if they could pay those costs upfront, if they could be put into long-term obligation contracts — what if the data center operator or the customer goes bankrupt?' Advocates for residential and existing industrial ratepayers said the expedited processes didn't offer them or regulators enough time to review materials and assemble responses. Citizens Action Coalition Executive Director Kerwin Olson noted that some provisions require regulators to approve a utility plan within 90 or 150 days, and afford it just seven business days or less to deem filings complete. That's although the utility may have spent months constructing the plan, and it may take stakeholders like Olson's organization 60 days to 'to put a case together, to find funding, to find experts.' 'If the commission doesn't hit that 90-day timeline or that 150-day timeline, guess what? It's approved (automatically),' Olson continued. '… Why have regulated monopolies when effectively we'll have unregulated monopolies? Indiana Industrial Energy Consumers representative Joseph Rompala said that's a 'quick turnaround.' Rompala also litigates on behalf of industrial customers before the IURC. He said transmission, distribution and storage improvement charges — seven-year plans utilities can bring for those improvements — have a 210-day 'clock.' 'While I understand the need for speed to market and … to meet customer demand, we are talking about at least comparably sized investments,' Rompala added. '… Certainly, more time is beneficial.' But, he said any IURC order — including approval, cost-recovery and any trackers — could be appealed to a higher court. Koch and Soliday emphasized that they developed the deadlines in collaboration with regulators. 'They said they could do it,' Soliday told the committee. House Bill 1007 also gets tough with utilities planning to close — or convert to natural gas — any coal-fired plants of at least 125 megawatts. Current law — adopted during the 2024 legislative session — mandates utilities that are not generating at least 85% of peak demand to report three-year projections to the IURC. The legislation would instead require all utilities to annually report the amount of resource generating capacity they plan to take offline. If, after an investigation, the IURC doesn't think a utility can provide reliable service, it would have to block the utility's plan or order it to either acquire or build capacity. 'That makes the process very empirical. You … can't just shut them down willy-nilly,' Soliday said. Indiana Energy Association President Danielle McGrath said the requirements would complement utilities' existing integrated resource plans, several other required reports and IURC-hosted reliability forums. 'That's why, in providing this additional information, we stand by our analysis, and we'll demonstrate how that planned retirement is going to be able to meet the requirements set forth in this bill,' she told lawmakers. Other provisions are intended to boost small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) development as electricity demand rises, including a 20% sales tax credit for SMR manufacturers. Soliday said one such company — which he'd seen represented in the audience — has Indiana 'high on the list' for an SMR. 'That factory will be at least 500 jobs, over $100,000 and I'd like to see them here. So, hence the incentive,' he told the committee. Rolls Royce, which has a major manufacturing footprint in Indiana, is exploring construction of an SMR with a capacity of up to 470 megawatts. But numerous witnesses complained SMR technology is 'experimental' and 'unproven.' The United States hosts no operational SMRs. Across the globe, only China and Russia have functional ones. Some want Indiana to lead, but nuclear development is pricey. A large part of the legislation would let public utilities ask regulators for permission to spend money on SMRs — and start recovering costs from customers — before getting certificates of public convenience and necessity. The language is identical to Koch's Senate Enrolled Act 424. Included are expenditures for design; engineering; environmental analyses and permitting; federal approvals, licensing and permitting; equipment purchases and more. A utility could recover 80% of approved costs under the resulting rate schedule within three years at most. It would defer the remaining 20% for recovery as part of its next general rate case. Indiana proposal to boost nuclear development, recover costs from customers clears committee Soliday said the 'pay-as-you-go' approach would let utilities take out the debt more cheaply — or avoid bonding at all. He added, 'It's in our favor as consumers to keep that bond rate low or zero.' Overspending would have to meet additional criteria to get passed onto customers. So would expenditures on canceled or abandoned projects — and a utility wouldn't earn returns for such failed undertakings unless regulators also find the decision was 'prudently made for good cause,' that profit is 'appropriate … to avoid harm' to the utility and its customers; and that costs will be offset or reimbursed through other, listed means. 'To have reliability, you can't have utilities going bankrupt,' Soliday said. House Bill 1007 advanced on an 8-3 vote. It's heading to the Senate's Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee. 'I'm glad that it's going to be recommitted … because what we really need to be focused on is the fiscal impact,' said Sen. Andrea Hunley, D-Indianapolis. Debate, she added, isn't about nuclear's merits because Indiana legalized SMRs years ago. 'What this bill is talking about is the funding structure for how we're going to fund small modular reactors. And that's what I have an issue with — is that we're doing it on the backs of ratepayers, that we're doing it in a way that is not fiscally responsible,' Hunley said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
City leaders, state legislators react to House budget bill shifting appointments for Gary Airport Board
City officials are shocked by language in the state budget bill that would shift appointment authority for the Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority while state legislators avoid questions on who put the language in the bill. House Bill 1001, the state budget bill, includes language that would shift two appointments from the Gary mayor to the mayors of Crown Point and Hammond to appoint a person each to the Gary Airport Board. Currently, four Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority members are appointed by the Gary mayor and the governor; Lake County and Porter County officials appoint one person each. Under the budget bill, two appointees from the Gary mayor will shift to mayors in Crown Point and Hammond. State Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, said in a statement the House-passed budget shifts 'the make up of the airport board for a more regional approach, bringing in other key partners, including the cities of Hammond and Crown Point, alongside Gary.' 'The Gary Airport has the potential to be a significant economic driver for our region and state. For the last several years, community leaders have been working together to regionalize the airport to expand its scope and benefit all of Northwest Indiana,' Soliday said. The budget also includes an appropriation of $9.7 million for a new cargo ramp to help expand the airport, Soliday said. State Rep. Earl Harris Jr., D-East Chicago, said he wasn't part of the conversation when the Gary Airport Board language was added to the bill. Harris, a member of the House Ways and Means committee, which reviews the budget, said he found out about it as the public did. Harris said he couldn't remember if the language was included in the initial budget bill or if it was added to the bill after the committee approved the budget. 'As someone that represents part of Gary, my preference would be for the city of Gary to keep their representation on the board, especially since it is an airport that's located in Gary,' Harris said. During a town hall meeting earlier this month, Gary Mayor Eddie Melton criticized the addition to the House budget. 'That was a cowardly move,' Melton said of the anonymous budget insertion. 'Not to author a bill and to own it …this is our airport. We're paying the bills. I've talked to the mayor of Chicago and made him aware. I believe it's because of the progress we've made,' Melton said. Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott said he was told by a lobbyist that Hammond was added to the bill because it is a member of the Indiana Regional Development Authority. 'It wasn't initiated by anyone by the city of Hammond,' McDermott said. 'I was surprised. I had nothing to do with it.' Crown Point Mayor Peter Land said in a statement he's been made aware of the proposed language in the state budget bill. 'I have not had any direct communications with either the Mayor of Gary or Hammond on this legislation change; however, should a final version of the bill be adopted that includes this appointment, I will take the necessary steps to select an appropriate individual for this board,' Land said. The budget is being discussed by the Senate. akukulka@
Chicago Tribune
15-03-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
City leaders, state legislators react to House budget bill shifting appointments for Gary Airport Board
City officials are shocked by language in the state budget bill that would shift appointment authority for the Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority while state legislators avoid questions on who put the language in the bill. House Bill 1001, the state budget bill, includes language that would shift two appointments from the Gary mayor to the mayors of Crown Point and Hammond to appoint a person each to the Gary Airport Board. Currently, four Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority members are appointed by the Gary mayor and the governor; Lake County and Porter County officials appoint one person each. Under the budget bill, two appointees from the Gary mayor will shift to mayors in Crown Point and Hammond. State Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, said in a statement the House-passed budget shifts 'the make up of the airport board for a more regional approach, bringing in other key partners, including the cities of Hammond and Crown Point, alongside Gary.' 'The Gary Airport has the potential to be a significant economic driver for our region and state. For the last several years, community leaders have been working together to regionalize the airport to expand its scope and benefit all of Northwest Indiana,' Soliday said. The budget also includes an appropriation of $9.7 million for a new cargo ramp to help expand the airport, Soliday said. State Rep. Earl Harris Jr., D-East Chicago, said he wasn't part of the conversation when the Gary Airport Board language was added to the bill. Harris, a member of the House Ways and Means committee, which reviews the budget, said he found out about it as the public did. Harris said he couldn't remember if the language was included in the initial budget bill or if it was added to the bill after the committee approved the budget. 'As someone that represents part of Gary, my preference would be for the city of Gary to keep their representation on the board, especially since it is an airport that's located in Gary,' Harris said. During a town hall meeting earlier this month, Gary Mayor Eddie Melton criticized the addition to the House budget. 'That was a cowardly move,' Melton said of the anonymous budget insertion. 'Not to author a bill and to own it …this is our airport. We're paying the bills. I've talked to the mayor of Chicago and made him aware. I believe it's because of the progress we've made,' Melton said. Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott said he was told by a lobbyist that Hammond was added to the bill because it is a member of the Indiana Regional Development Authority. 'It wasn't initiated by anyone by the city of Hammond,' McDermott said. 'I was surprised. I had nothing to do with it.' Crown Point Mayor Peter Land said in a statement he's been made aware of the proposed language in the state budget bill. 'I have not had any direct communications with either the Mayor of Gary or Hammond on this legislation change; however, should a final version of the bill be adopted that includes this appointment, I will take the necessary steps to select an appropriate individual for this board,' Land said. The budget is being discussed by the Senate.
