Richmond Power & Light’s residential rates will increase slightly less than expected when RP&L implements new rates Oct. 1. General Manager Tony Foster provided the good news when presenting the RP&L board Sept. 8 with the fourth-quarter energy cost adjustment. The residential ECA will drop for the fourth quarter, the second consecutive quarter of decline. […]
Author Archives: Mike Emery
Mike Emery is a reporter and layout editor for the Western Wayne News.
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Small school receives Richmond BZA’s blessing
Janis Chance loves hearing schoolchildren play and sing near her Smyrna Road home. She told the Richmond Board of Zoning Appeals the small school located there benefits the area’s Amish community. Sam and Lydiann Shrock petitioned the BZA for a variance of use permitting the 2-year-old school that educates about 20 children. During its Sept. […]
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Union Co. 911 work requires extra dispatcher
Permanently providing Union County with emergency communications services will require that Wayne County hire an additional dispatcher. Matthew Cain, the director of Wayne County Emergency Communications, told the county commissioners during their Sept. 9 meeting that the increased workload of a permanent consolidation necessitates an extra dispatcher during busy times. He envisions 10-hour shifts Tuesday […]
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3 county measles cases ‘a big deal’
Dr. Jennifer Bales has never personally seen a measles case, but after 21 years practicing emergency medicine, Wayne County’s health officer might get her chance. There had been three confirmed measles cases through Sept. 9 in Wayne County. Bales told the county’s Board of Health on Sept. 8 that there were two cases, then Dan […]
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City settles for $2M from plastics company, owner
Richmond has reached a $2 million settlement with the company that stored plastics across three North West F Street properties. The settlement agreement on crossclaims by the city against Cornerstone Trading Group and its owner Seth Smith was filed Sept. 9 in the U.S. District Court for Southern Indiana as part of a class-action lawsuit […]
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Plastics fire lawsuit’s trial to begin Sept. 14
Eight jurors will begin deciding Sept. 14 if about 3,500 people deserve compensation from the city of Richmond, Cornerstone Trading Group and its owner, Seth Smith, because of an April 2023 plastics fire. Judge Tanya Walton Pratt will preside in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana over a lawsuit’s trial that’s […]
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Boards to consider medical records system contract
Wayne County’s commissioners delayed action on a contract providing the county health department with a new electronic medical records system. During their Sept. 2 meeting, commissioners opted to wait until their Sept. 9 meeting to act. That provides the county’s Board of Health the opportunity to first consider the contract with TrackMy Solutions during its […]
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Brick work to block 900 block of East Main
Construction equipment will close a block of East Main Street for multiple days over three weeks. On Sept. 3, the Richmond Board of Public Works and Safety approved the closure of the 900 block of East Main Street from 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on work days for tuck pointing of the bricks on 930 […]
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Taxpayers to cover library’s loan debt
Over the next six years, Jefferson Township taxpayers will pay off a loan that replaced the Hagerstown Jefferson Township Public Library’s roof. During its Sept. 2 meeting, Wayne County council approved 4-2 the library issuing a six-year bond for up to $230,000 that will repay about $150,000 remaining on the $160,000 loan used for the […]
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Vacant industrial park land divided into 3 parcels
Available Gateway Industrial Park land will split into three parcels of 41, 22 and 13 acres. During its Aug. 20 meeting, the Wayne County Advisory Plan Commission unanimously approved the secondary plat petition from Wayne County government, which owns the industrial park land. The county commissioners authorized filing the petition during the July 22 commissioners […]