Banner Graphic, Volume 16, Number 159, Greencastle, Putnam County, 13 February 1986 — Page 3

Utility has 'no intention' of complying

NIPSCO ignores rate order by PSC

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The Public Service Commission says Northern Indiana Public Service Co. has ignored orders to submit a new rate schedule showing that the company no longer is charging customers for its abandoned Badly nuclear power project. The state utility regulators issued an order Feb. 5 requiring NIPSCO to file the new rate schedule by Wednesday. But the PSC said Wednesday NIPSCO attorneys notified the commission this week the utility had “no intention” of complying. “I’ve been here three years and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Commissioner Willis N. Zagrovich told the Indianapolis Star. “We will ask the attorney general to do whatever is necessary under the law to make them comply with the order.” A spokesman for the utility, which provides electric service to about 362,000 northern Indiana customers, said the new rate schedule was not filed on time because the Feb. 5 order is illegal.

Philippine aid cut gets Lugar nod SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., says he would support aid cuts to the Philippines if the nation’s presidential election proves fraudulent. And Congress might even eliminate military and financial aid if President Ferdinand Marcos steals the election, said Lugar, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “If the elections are fatally flawed, my guess is Congress will not appropriate money for military or financial aid,” he said at a press conference Wednesday. “I would probably support curtailment of assistance,” he added. The U.S. sent $154 million in direct aid last year, but the figure does not include money injected into the Philippine economy by Clark Air Base and the naval station at Subic Bay, Lugar aide Mark Helmke said. The government Commission on Elections earlier Wednesday showed Marcos leading opponent Corazon Aquino, the 53-year-old widow of former Marcos’ rival Benigno Aquino, by 500,000 votes, he said. The independent National Movement for Free Elections showed Mrs. Aquino leading by 600,000 votes, he said. A final tally is not expected for 15 days, he said.

State officials scramble to prevent closing of Chrysler Electrical Plant

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Although the state is trying to keep the 1,000-employee Chrysler Corp. Indianapolis Electrical Plant operating, its future is uncertain, a company vice president says. “We’re going with the trend in the industry,” Chrysler Vice President Lee Runk said Wednesday, adding that the plant has “an unclear future.” Lt. Gov. John M. Mutz plans a trip to Detroit soon to meet with Chrysler Chairman Lee lacocca to convince him to keep the electrical plant open. But Chrysler officials emphasize the plant’s existence is threatened by its ties to the production of older, rear-wheel-drive cars. The plant on the city’s northeast side had more than 3,200 workers at its peak in the 19705. Its future became more uncertain recently when Chrysler decided to begin producing its popular front-wheel-drive Minivan at its St. Louis assembly plant. The Minivan will replace the rear-wheel-drive luxury cars, which are assembled with starters, alternators and

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The spokesman said the commission cannot order rate reductions without holding hearings. The utility asked the commission Jan. 7 to conduct hearings on possible rate reductions. The NIPSCO spokesman said company lawyers already have initiated proceedings to have the order revoked by the Indiana Court of Appeals. According to Commissioner Leslie Duvall, the PSC order was issued to start bringing NIPSCO electric rates in com-

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Four Cloverdale High School seniors recently served as pages for Rep. John Thomas in the Indiana House of Representatives. Shown at the Speaker's rostrum in the House are (from left) Loren Bowman, Lee Ann Ruten-

Bill boosts prison guards' protection

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Department of Correction officers would get the same protection policemen already have under a bill approved by the Indiana House. The House approved a measure Wednesday that would make it a Class D felony for an inmate to commit battery on a corrections employee conducting official duties. Under Senate Bill 250, passed on a 96-0 vote, the offense would carry penalties of up to four years in prison and a SIO,OOO fine.

other components made in Indianapolis. “The parts they manufacture are for old Chrysler cars rather than the new Chrysler cars,” Mutz said Tuesday in discussing the problem. “We’ve got to get some new parts into that plant if it is to survive.” Mutz said he hoped to meet with lacocca in the next few weeks to lobby for the plant and get an update on Chrysler’s proposed Liberty project. The new subcompact car line is the company’s answer to the upcoming Saturn small car line from General Motors. “We’re going to see if they’ve moved forward in their analysis of existing plants and their cost study of a new plant,” Mutz said. Mutz wants the automaker to consider a site near Lafayette and several other Indiana locations for the Liberty project, estimated to be a SSOO million auto assembly plant that would employ 2,500 workers. “If lacocca doesn’t think there’s a reason to sit down, he won’t sit down,” said Charles D. Preston, director of the

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pliance with a November 1985 Indiana Supreme Court ruling. In the November ruling, the Supreme Court overturned an August 1982 commission decision allowing NIPSCO to have customers pay over 15 years about $l9O million spent on the abandoned Bailly project. NIPSCO canceled Bailly, which was being built on the shores of Lake Michigan near Indiana Dunes National

berg, Rep. Thomas, Donna Bird and Mark McLean. The students delivered messages and performed other clerical duties as they observed legislative action on the House floor.

Rep. John W. Donaldson, R-Lebanon, a House sponsor of the measure, said the bill would make battery on a correction officer as serious a crime as battery on a policeman is under current law. The measure, which now goes to Gov. Robert D. Orr, was approved on the 22nd session day of the 1986 General Assembly. Both the House and the Senate are in recess today while legislative committees meet. The two houses will reconvene Friday, the 23rd of the 30 alloted session days.

Business and Financial Services Eivision for the state Department of Commerce. Chrysler has conducted a study on converting the electrical plant into a sheet metal plant, stamping out body parts for nearby assembly plants. “It’s a high priority location for other alternatives,” said Runk, who is in charge of Chrysler’s 18 component plants around the country. Richard Dauch, Chrysler’s executive vice president of manufacturing, said the electrical plant is in a prime location geographically. “They really haven’t given us any firm indication of what they intend to do with the plant,” Preston said.

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Lakeshore, in 1981. Company officials said they scrapped the project because legal maneuvering by environmental groups, federal regulatory delays and engineering problems had driven construction costs far beyond estimates. The court ruled that state law prohibits electric companies from billing customers for utility plants which are not “used and useful.” The commission’s Feb. 5 order instructed NIPSCO to file new rate schedules reflecting a reduction in annual revenues of about $12.8 million the amount being collected to pay for Bailly. The order also established a timetable for hearings on refunding Bailly money collected by NIPSCO before the Supreme Court’s order. When the court decision was released, NIPSCO had collected about $38.7 million in Bailly payments, the Star said. The PSC is scheduled to meet Friday to discuss the Feb. 5 order and NIPSCO’s failure to file the new rate schedule.

The House also passed a bill that would create a stiff penalty for prisoners who escape from confinment. S.B. 249 would make it a Class C felony, punishable by up to eight years in prison and a SIO,OOO fine, for someone to flee intentionally from custody. If the escapee pulled a weapon or injured someone while fleeing, the offense would be a Class B felony, which carries maximum penalties of 20 years in prison and a SIO,OOO fine. The bill was approved on a 97-0 vote.

Banner Graphic (USPS 142-020) Consolidation ol The Daily Banner Established 1850 The Herald The Daily Graphic Established 1883 Telephone 653-5151 Published daily except Sunday and Holidays by Banner Graphic, Inc. at 100 North Jackson St.. Greencastle. IN 46135. Second-class postage paid at Greencastle. IN. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Banner Graphic. P.O. Box 509, Greencastle, IN 46135 Subscription Rates iPer Week, by carrier ‘1.20 iPer Week, by motor route *1.25 Mail Subscription Rates R.R. in Rest of Rest ot Putnam County Indiana U.S.A. 3 Months *17.40 ‘17.70 *19.00 6 Months ‘32.25 *32.80 *36.70 1 Tear >63.00 *84.00 *72.70 Mail subscriptions payable in advance ... not accepted in town and where motor route service is available. Member ol the Associated Press The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for republication of ail the local news printed in this newspaper.

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February 13,1986, The Putnam County Banner Graphic

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