The Tribune from Seymour, Indiana • Page 1

DAILY TRIE I Wu 1 MTJ ONE PRICE TWENTY CENTS 522-4871 SEYMOUR, INDIANA FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 22. 1978 11 if: "i 11-. JU i lllKCSw more 1 1 03 vy 4 V. x.

"The world it divided into people who do thingt and people who gel the kredit. Try, if you can, to belong to the firtt clou. There' far leu competition." Vwight Morrow 99TH YEAIU-NO. 223 INDIANAPOLIS AP) For tomers of Indiana's two largest electric companies, the bitter pill of a 14 percent rate Increase has a mild sugar coating it wasn't as much as the utilities wanted. That may be the only consolation the 889,000 homes, business and industries' served by Public Service Indiana and Indiana Michigan Electric Co.

can find in Thursday's, rate decisions by the Pub- lie' Service Commission. In addition to the two-electric rate increases, the commission also gave Southern Indiana Gas Electric Co. per-: mission to raise its natural gas rates, "generating an $2.1 million annually. That's an 8.4 percent increase in revenue, but it will be spread unevenly residential customers heating with gas paying about 6.3 percent more and those who don't use gas heating paying 9.9 per-- more. All three cases were decided on 2-1 votes, with commissioner William B.

Powers opposing each increase as more than the utility needed to remain "a healthy and viable company." -The higher rates, which culminate a summer's, worth of public hearings, will go into effect as soon as the utilities sub- mit required paperwork to the commis-. sion. While the new rates will produce $58.5 million for PSI and $43 million for in both cases they fall millions of dollars short of what the two utilities said they needed to get a fair return on their investment. I4M, whose 377,000 cus- tomers rank it as the second -largest Indiana utility, especially felt the sting of -the commission's fiscal carving knife. It requested a $93 million increase but the PSC trimmed it by $50 million, giving only 46 percent of what it asked.

"They asked for a very high valuation of their plant, which we didn't think was justified; and a very high rate of return, which we also didn't think was justified," said commission Chairman Larry Wallace, explaining the cuts. The commission also refused to allow to claim expenses for its nuclear -Information center as part of its base. And 300,000 in advertising expenses was thrown out because the ads didn't conform with commission It was second general rate 1 increase in 20 months and boosted, the' monthy bill for its average residential customer slightly above PSI $43.95 to $43.86, plus fuel adjustment charges. Public Service Indiana, the largest electric company with 512,000 customers PSI ahd 1 A rrf get 10 wan tea r--. Prince and princes candidates a.

layed and widened to a maximum of 46 jggf Tipton Street will be channelized with the installation rf wide.moun able median, and an integral concrete curbing along the improvement. Also, a combined concrete curb and gutter will be installed along the drive, The proposed project is approximately .109 miles in length, and as now planned, no additional right of-way will "be required. Traffic services will be maintained during construction. Acquisition of any right-of-way necessary to implement the improvement will be the city's, responsibility. Approx imately .70 percent ofjhe total construe "tion costs estimated at about $146,120 will be defrayed by the Federal Highway Administration (FHA).

Improvements of 14 local intersections consist of: increased curb radii, removal of surface of Ewing Street because of Only two will be crowned dur- prince and princess candidates Heidi Hackman and Todd Cap third grade; back row, Cody Wiling Fort Vallonia Days celebra- are all winners. From left are, ney, first grade; Susan Lehman Hams and Rhonda Robinson; tion Oct. 21-22, but to their par- front row, Brian Shoemaker and and Tracy Stidam, second fifth grade; and Abby Pesta and ents, these Vallonia grade school Heather Huffman, kindergarten; grade Jill Grider and Eli Sell, Brian Freeman, fourth grade. (Tribune photo by Mike Brown) Tipton-Jackson Park intersection among 15 slated for improvement 4i if' I ft--' si 4 high crown situation, modernization or relocation of traffic signal at Broadway Second street, installation of over- UP'? at Broadway and Second Street and Second and Ewing streets, installation, of pavement markings, reconstruction of commercial drive entrances, installation of combined curb and gutter, sidewalk, and standard concrete curbs, and reconstruction of drainage inlets as necessary. Approximately 70 percent of the estimated $164,775 construction costs will be defrayed by FHA.

Any interested parties may obtain sketches and other pertinent information he city building or-4n th highway office at the State Office Building: Persons may petition for a "corridor-design" public hearing by submitting a written request to the highway commission's planning information manager, at the State Office Building. on way out adding open ditches create a serious health hazard. Apparently there are no state or federal projects for eliminating open ditch drainage. However, mayors generally agreed to develop plans for eliminating ditches so when funds become avail- able, cities will be ready to receive them. The Weather r.nni Clear and quite cool tonight with lows in the- low 50s; Mostly sunny and pleasant Saturday with highs in the upper 70s.

Here ire the weather record for Seymour. The downtown Seymour noon temperature If unofficial. Other readmit! are from the records of Mrs. Ruth Ever hart, (overnment weather observer at Rockford, and are official. Dowatowa Seymour 11 a.m.

today 87 Maximum Thursday :r.r 89 -Minimum Thursday 54 River at 7 a.m. today 2.5 feet and falling Sunset today 6:43 EST Sunrise Saturday 5:33 EST Two street improvement projects are nearing construction stage and city, state and federal officials have set 'Monday, Oct. 23rw deadline to request a public hearing. At issue is, widening of the Tipton Street-Jackson Park Drive intersection, and improvement of 14 city intersections. Seymour Board of Public Works and Safety, Indiana State Highway Commis-.

sion-and Federal Highway Administration are developing plans for those improvements'. The Jackson Park Drive-Tipton Street project consists of overlaying and widening approximately 300 feet of the south drive approach to the intersection, and about 650 feet oi the east and west Tipton Street (U.S. 50) approaches. The east, west approaches of Tipton Street will be overlayed and widened to a maximum width of 62 feet, and the south approach of Jackson Park Drive over in 69 counties, sought to raise its rates by 18 percent enougMoearn $75.3 million -more a year. The commission trimmed the increase to 14 percent, with $58.5 million in additional annual revenue.

That still was more than three-quarters of what the utility requested in total addi- -tional revenue for its first increase in three years. A financial investment ser- vice, Value Line, predicted earlier this year that the PSI decision would come before Labor Day and would give the utility 80 percent what it asked. The exact figure was 77.7 percent. The commission refused to allow PSI to abolish lower, preferential heating rates for all-electric schools, residential apartment buildings and other commercial and industrial buildings. The biggest adjustment in PSI's case was1 in revenue from short-term power-sales.

Like many electric companies, PSI often sells power to other utilities whose resources are insufficient to meet its customers' demands. But PSI argued that the sales are speculative and cannot be planned from year to year, so the commission shouldn't consider those revenues in its rate base. The commission disagreed, citing PSI's stable record of sales during recent years. During the -test year, PSI earned $4,419,000 from sales to the Kentucky- Indiana power pool and $5,456,000 from other shortterm sales. The commission said the $9.8 million should be counted as revenue for rate-making purposes.

PSI sought to abolish a romotional rate, for all-electric heating customers, saying it wasn't cost-justified. But evidence pre- sented by the Indiana' School Superintendents Association, an intervenor in the case, showed that the special rate class produced bigger returns on investment than the residential class and the ublic street lighting Class. "The evidence is certainly not clear that those rates are promotional," said Chairman Wallace. -Among -the- expenses which the commission refused to approve were $42,000 for operation of nuclear information center at Madison; $210,882 in advertis- ing; $20,000 in contributions to scholarship funds; $137,000 for a warranty inspection at PSI's Gibson 3 generating station; and $394,000 for a mapping program, SIGECO, which serves about 59,500 gas. customers in Evansville and surrounding counties of.

southwestern Indiana, asked for a $2.9 million increase- 4 1 mwm This is a larger-than-life view of a common summertime pest the mosquito. The 500-time enlargement with an electron microscope shows the front end of the pest; the tiny balls are the insect's eyes, the antennae come out of the head and extend to the youngsters who play outside the home, to clean up any possible breeding sources around the home such as old tires, cans, clogged rain gutters or bird baths and to make sure homes are well screened. The county health department is continuing its battle with the bugs. A new mist blower and chemicals purchased with $4,000 appropriated by the County Council is going into action this week. pnaliu possibles Wd confirmed ence The solid waste problem Ernest free collection COUNTDOWN DAYS TO GO cases checked KA it 'Sty "tfr 3, right and left, while the "stinger" extends down out of the picture.

Researchers have found put only the female mosquitos bite. One variety is accused of spreading the encephalitis virus. i (AP Laserphoto) The blower is mounted on a trailer to be pulled by a pickup truck and will be used to spray recreational areas where there is expected to be a concentration of people. First on the agenda, Gatte said, is the Gaiser Park area in Seymour. have 525 square miles In the county," he said, and it is difficult to be everywhere." He urged local residents to help by working at eliminating mosquito-breeding areas on their own grotads: "The days of free garbage collection are almost at a close," Mayor Donald H.

Ernest told the Tribune this morning in talking about the growing problem of solid waste disposal with which most Hoosier cities are "faced. The mayor was one of 1,300 Indiana delegates attending a workshop in Evansville this week sponsored by Indiana Association of Cities and Towns (IACT1 which focused on solutions to solid waste handling problems. Alternatives to inadequate open landfills and their feasibility were discussed at length. The problem is looming for -most cities in Indiana which are hand- cuffed by levy frezes preventing them from raising more money to pay for garbage disposal, the mayor explained. One solution receiving favorable consideration is burning, a practice being used by the city of Franklin.

According to Mayor Ernest, Franklin shreds its olid waste, burns all of it and converts it to steam to power new industry -v here in '78; by CAROL WAIT Staff Writer There, are no confirmed Cases of encephalitis in Jackson County thus far this year, Jackson County Department of Health told the Tribune Wednesday. Four possible cases have been reported by two local doctors and information and blood samples were sent to Indiana State Board of Health: One of these was recent I and a report may yet be forthcoming. It is believed the other three cases, if encephalitis, were such "light" attacks that confirmation might not be possible through laboratory tests. In 1975, Jackson County had three confirmed cases of encephalitis. This is a viral disease of the lining of the brain, with results ranging from bad headaches to death.

There were some suspected, but no confirmed, cases in 1976 and 1977. Although the disease may be caused by herpes, measles and polio viruses, another cause is the Culex pipiens pipiens mosquito, the nasty little bug that passes that virus from infected birds to humans. Local residents have noted the presence of a large mosquito population this year, owing to the frequent rains which have produced pools of standing water favorable for mosquito-breeding sites. Robert Gatte, county sanitarian, agrees the mosquitoes are many but points out that not all mosquitoes are the type that carries the encephalitis virus. "There are lots of mosquitoes hatching," be said, "but most of them are the very aggressive biting; nuisance type." They make us uncomfortable, he said, but not ill.

With all these mosquitoes around, however, he feels there must be some of the Culex pipiens pipiens. A favorite breed--ing place for this variety is sewage- polluted stagnant water, improperly managed animal or vegetable waste lagoons and septic effluent. Usually July and August are the peak months for mosquitoes, Gatte said, but with the hot weather that has extended into September, the ideal mosquito climate continues. If urged parents to use repeUant on It's a practice which could work in Seymour, and will be given some consideration, Mayor Ernest said. Currently the sludge from the new wastewater treatment plant is being hauled to nearby farmland and distributed as fertilizer.

The mayor said there is some question as to how long the Board oL Health will let that practice continue. Being studied by the mayor is a plan to burn the city's solid waste and use the steam to dry the sludge and sell it for blending of commercial fertilizers. If it's successful, the plan will not onlyolve the solid waste disposal problem, but also eliminate the need -for an expensive sludge truck. The growing problem of open ditch drainage was addressed by Mayor Ernest and he asked what cities could do to solve it. Ditches such as VonFange and Gaiser are inadequate and difficult to maintain, Mayor Ernest told the IACT gathering; ing of four 15-minute segments, is scheduled to be shown in this area on Channel 6 from 11 a.

m. until noon next Wednesday. The Wiethoffs will take Robbie to Louisville Monday for taping the oroeram. The ring finger on Robbie left hand was completely cut off at the base when he caught it in the chain of an exercise bicycle when he was 17 months old last February. He was taken to Louisville where the finger was replanted successfully at the Jewish Hospital under direction of the replant specialist, Dr.

Kleinert. Seymour child with replant to be on television Wednesday A Seymour boy, who is the youngest person in the world to have undergone a successful replant when his severed finger was replanted last February, is scheduled to appear on a television program on replants next week. The boy, Robert ''Robbie 2 years old and son of Dr. and Mrs. Richard A.

Wiethoff, 405 N. Walnut will appear on a 15-minute segment of the TV program "America Alive" featuring a Dr. Kleinert of Louisville and work in replants done under his direction. The "America Alive" program, consist-.