The Press-Dispatch

Front Wednesday, November 2, 2022 The Press-Dispatch A-2 AES Continued from page 1 FREE SKIN CANCER SCREENING EVENT Tuesday, November 8, 2022 | 5 to 7 p.m. Vincennes Orthopedics Clinic at Good Samaritan (Located in the Health Pavilion - Use Same Day Surgery entrance) 520 S. Seventh Street, Vincennes, IN Skin cancer is the most common cancer, and the most curable when detected early. To make an appointment, please scan the QR code or visit gshvin.org/skinscreening. You may also call 812-885-8753. Please register by November 4. Paid for by candidate CHELSEA POTTS WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP TRUSTEE Vote for Three Washington teens escape serious injury By James Capozella Press-Dispatch News news@pressdispatch.net A n attempted traffic stop around 1:30 a.m. Sunday by Petersburg Po- lice Officer Chad McClellan turned in- to a vehicle chase and then foot pursuit by officers after the vehicle plowed through a yard and crashed sideways into a fence corner on K nox Road. Tristan Warren Johnston, 19, 17 Coronado Dr., Washington, received a summons for resisting law enforce- ment with a vehicle, reckless driving and failure to stop after an accident with injury. Johnston was driving a Chrysler four-door on Ninth Street, and was stopped before accelerating north bound through the red light at a high rate of speed according to the report. Officer McClellan attempted to stop the vehicle which was running about 70 miles per hour. Johnston turned right onto Spruce Street and accelerated through the stop sign at 12th and Spruce. He then lost control while turning left onto K nox Road where he spun sideways off the left side and then slid back across the road and knocked down a large wood and metal fence corner. Johnston ran from the scene into a field and would not stop, but his two passengers remained in the vehicle ac- cording to the report. Officer McClel- lan decided to check on the welfare of the passengers, one of which was com- plaining of head pain. A n ambulance was dispatched for a sixteen year old front seat passenger but eighteen year old Derrick Kolusch had no complaints. Pike County Depu- ties Jared Simmons and Kane Osgath- arp arrived and took up the search for Johnston. McClellan noticed slurred speech, watery and bloodshot eyes and the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on the passengers' breath according to the probable cause affi- davit. Both passengers were cited for ille- gal consumption of alcohol based on a .056 BAC for the 16 year old and .146 BAC for Derrick Kolusch. They were released to a relative. ELECTION Continued from page 1 The other local race on the ballot is for Washington Town- ship Trustee. Democrat Chel- sea Potts is challenging in- cumbent Republican Marie Boyd. Other races on the ballot will be the Eighth District US House of Representatives where Republican incum- bent Larry Bucshon is chal- lenged by Democrat Ray Mc- Cormick and Libertarian An- drew Horning. The race for US Senator has Republican Todd Young be- ing challenged by Democrat Thomas McDermott, Jr., and libertarian James Sceniak. At the state level, State Sen- ator Mark Messmer(R) is be- ing challenged by Democrat Jeff Hill. In the State Representative races Democrat Teresa Kend- all is challenging Republican incumbent Shane Lindauer for the District 63 seat and Dis- trict 75 Republican incumbent Cindy Ledbetter is being chal- lenged by Democrat Zack Da- vis. Republican Matt Hostettler in District 64 is unopposed. State wide races on the bal- lot are: State Auditor: Tera K. Klutz (R), Zenai Brooks (D) and John Andrew Schick (L); Secretary of State: Diego Mo- rales (R), Destiny Wells (D) and Jeffrey Maurer (L); State Treasurer: Daniel Elliott (R) and Jessica McClellan (D). Several races locally are on the ballot, but are unopposed. Those positions are: Prose- cutor Darrin McDonald, Au- ditor Judith Kinman Wood Gumbel, Recorder Misty Coleman, Commissioner Dis- trict 2 Mark Flint, Sheriff Ja- son McKinney, County Coun- cil District 4 Travis C. Trout- man, County Council District 3 Jon Craig, County Council District 2 Max Elliott, County Council District 1 Randy Har- ris, County Assessor Mike Goodpaster. Fall installment of property taxes due Nov. 10 Treasurer offers extended hours Pike County Treasurer's Of- fice will be open 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, November 5 and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 9 and 10. This will give taxpayers a chance to be able to come in at their convenience. VFW Post 3587 Veterans Day ceremonies are Nov. 11 Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3587 will perform their Honor Guard ritual at Peters- burg and Winslow Elemen- tary Schools and the Jeffer- son Township Community Center on Friday, November 11. The Petersburg Elemen- tary School program begins at 9:30 a.m. and is followed by a 10 :30 a.m. program at Winslow Elementary School. Otwell Miller Academy stu- dents will participate in a pro- gram to honor our veterans beginning at 11:15 a.m. in the Jefferson Township Commu- nity Center Gym. That will be followed by a veterans lunch provided by the Otwell Unit- ed Methodist Church. the Petersburg facilit y with natural gas, A ES Indiana uti- lizes the many strengths and capabilities of existing infra- structure to drive customer value, continue communit y commitments and maximize usage of current land, inter- connection, pipelines and la- bor force." Kelly said how many jobs will be af fected by the con- version to natural hasn't been determined yet. " We do not have a specif- ic number at this time, given several factors. We are work- ing through a transition, and we have many open jobs and need skilled people across several functions within the Company." She added, " We know that we are in the midst of an en- ergy transformation. Cus - tomer demands and new technologies, from renew- ables to grid automation to data analytics, are chang- ing ever ything about our business. As the technology changes, the way we work will change as well. We are also seeing changing demo - graphics in our workforce. We have a ver y experienced team and we expect to see in- creasing retirements in the coming years." She continued, "We are proactively managing em- ployee impact and committed to working with our people through all of these changes." "By converting the Pe - tersburg facilit y with natu- ral gas, A ES Indiana utiliz- es the many strengths and capabilities of existing in- frastructure to drive cus - tomer value, continue com- munit y commitments and maximize usage of current land, interconnection, pipe - lines and labor force. W hile the on-site jobs may change when the facilit y converts to natural gas and new renew- ables are built on the proper- t y, A ES Indiana will continue to contribute economically to the Petersburg communi- t y as a hub for gas resources and future renewables. A ES Indiana has been proactive and transparent with team members in Petersburg and local business and communi- t y leaders to relay timely in- formation about changes in the region and maintain posi- tive relationships in the com- munit y." Ashley Willis, Executive Director of the Pike Coun- t y Economic Development Corp. sees the move as a positive for Pike Count y, es- pecially in light of previous plans that had the Peters- burg plant being phased out. " T he A ES Petersburg Gen- erating Station has been Pike Count y's largest employer and economic engine to the communit y since the 1960's. T he recent announcement is great news, converting two units to natural gas is the best- case scenario for Pike Count y. T his means A ES Pe - tersburg Generating Station will remain in our communi- t y for decades to come and be a reliable employer and main- tain a stabilized tax base to the communit y's taxing units, including the school corporation to support our young people." Willis added, "Rural com- munities are faced with many challenges, but Pike Count y has been faced with an un- precedented challenge, larg- er than what most communi- ties face; to diversif y our lo - cal economy while the life - blood of our communit y of coal-related business is fac- ing a downturn due to market forces, which has brought much uncertaint y to the communit y. " "Coal may be a political is - sue, but I'd like to take a mo - ment to recognize and thank our workforce that goes in- to work ever y single day to maintain and operate A ES Petersburg Generating Sta- tion regardless if it 's raw materials are coal or natu- ral gas. Pike Count y's work- force has an incredible work ethic, to roll-up -your-sleeves and get-to -work attitude. I greatly appreciate the work ethic of our workforce and their families that lift up our communit y. I'm most cer- tainly thrilled to continue to have A ES Indiana as a part- ner to Pike Count y and that they have chosen to remain a staple in our communit y," said Willis. T he Reliable Energy Inc. has a dif ferent viewpoint on the move by A ES. R EI is the trade association for Indi- ana's coal industr y. R EI's CEO Matt Bell is- sued this statement about A ES's move to natural gas "In 2021, Indiana was the nation's eighth largest coal production state, producing 19.4 million short tons of coal and generating an economic impact of $1.5 billion annual- ly. In addition to the approx- imately 1,800 men and wom- en who go to work every day in coal mines and production facilities in Indiana, the in- dustry supports an additional 3,400 indirect jobs in the Hoo- sier state. "We are disappointed in AES Indiana's decision to convert its Petersburg power plants to natural gas and aban- don their coal assets. We have heard warning after warning throughout 2022 from MI- SO (our Regional Transmis- sion Operator), FERC, and NERC that reliable capacity is approaching a crisis state. By choosing to abandon coal- fired generators that are fed by coal that is mined in Indi- ana, AES will have to rely on natural gas imported from an out-of-state source. Rath- er than assuring the reliabil- ity of Indiana's energy grid by leaning into Indiana's coal industry, AES is choosing to depend on buying natural gas capacity on the open mar- ket, even while that capacity grows scarcer and scarcer by the day. "Hoosier rate payers should also be disappointed. They will be forced to pay all of the costs of AES Indiana's tran- sition to natural gas. Those costs will layer on top of some of the highest energy rates our state has ever seen. Rath- er than maintaining the coal plants they have until the end of their useful life, and feed- ing those plants with Indi- ana-generated resources, AES is sticking its customers with another expensive and unnec- essary cost. "The bottom line is that this decision threatens the reliabil- ity of Indiana's electrical grid and makes energy more ex- pensive for Hoosiers who are already reeling from record inflation and the disastrous federal energy policies that have been enacted over the past two years," said Bell. Tristan Warren Johnston, 19, Washington, crashed on Knox Road and ran from the scene after fleeing po- lice on Ninth and Spruce Streets early Sunday morning. Johnston was charged with resisting law enforce- ment with a vehicle, reckless driving and failure to stop after an injury accident. Eighteen year old Derrick Kolusch was uninjured but a 16 year old passenger complained of head pain. Both were cited for underage consumption and released to a relative. 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