Ten years ago, restoration began on small sections of the long-lost Limberlost, the inspiration to Hoosier writer and naturalist Gene Stratton-Porter a century ago. From the limb of a tall dead tree, a lone and lordly bald eagle perched undisturbed and almost unnoticed. It looked down over a shallow lake lined with reeds and cattails… Continue reading.

How do you get high school students to pay attention to a show and tell on electrical safety — stuff they’ve heard a million times before? For starters, you might unsnap your left hand at the wrist and pass it around. Or hold up one of your spare right legs. Or tell them what it’s… Continue reading.

A black cat crossing the path might be considered bad luck. But for Evelyn Walker, a high school sophomore from Sunman, a black cat proved most fortunate. Her pen and ink illustration not only won the 10th grade division in the recently completed cooperative student calendar art contest, it also was picked “Best of Show.”… Continue reading.

Benjamin Franklin’s old saying “a penny saved is a penny earned” is the sound wisdom behind “negawatts,” the notion that a megawatt saved is a megawatt unburned — a megawatt we don’t need to generate. Coined back in the late 1980s, the term negawatts is once again gaining mainstream attention across the state and nation… Continue reading.

I can’t shake the image. When I think of George Washington, my first impression is of him chopping down a cherry tree. I can’t recall why he allegedly got ax-happy. Maybe he figured if the branches fell to the ground, it would be easier to get to the fruit. Hunger, after all, can lead to… Continue reading.

The big police news here in Indianapolis this month is the Jan. 1 merging of the Indianapolis Police Department and the Marion County Sheriff’s Department into the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. The merger, said Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, should save from $9 to $10 million and will eventually lead to more officers patrolling capital city… Continue reading.

In September, we began asking readers to submit their favorite memories of this special time of year. As they did with last year’s Thanksgiving memories, readers did not disappoint. We received 85 letters and e-mails from all over the state. Some of the memories were funny. Some were sweet. And some were sad. We tried… Continue reading.

If your home has air leaks around walls, doors and windows or if you’ve left the fireplace damper open, it’s the same as having your money blow right out of your house. You’re paying for that heat that’s lost with the wind. So, if you haven’t done so already, now’s the time to prepare your… Continue reading.

Waynetown is a close-knit, mostly rural farming community in western Montgomery County. But until several years ago, few residents knew a nationally historic figure was forever in their midst. William Bratton, buried beneath a white obelisk in the Old Pioneer Cemetery on the east edge of town, was a private in the famed Corps of… Continue reading.

Two decades ago, Ray and Phyllis Yeager moved from Montana where they’d lived most of their lives to the knobs of Southern Indiana. Sometime later, Phyllis came across a historical marker on the banks of the Ohio River in Clarksville that piqued her interest. The marker stood seemingly unnoticed by most passersby and isolated —… Continue reading.

In today’s world of iPods and plasma screen TVs, the idea of a traveling “circus” showcasing electric appliances like irons, refrigerators and vacuum cleaners seems inconceivable. Yet, almost 70 years ago, these educational Farm Shows, nicknamed “circuses” because they were usually held outdoors under large tents, were popular events throughout rural America. As many as… Continue reading.

Indiana’s electric cooperatives talk a lot about “community commitment.” That commitment runs deeper than just providing electricity and services or promoting festivals and economic development. True commitment supports the good; it confronts the bad. This month, Electric Consumer looks at a program dedicated to preventing the sexual abuse of our children that’s available to communities…. Continue reading.