Today: We asked Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor spokesman Anthony Swinger to talk about the appeal that the OUCC filed in response to approval by state utility regulators of the $20 million sale of the city of Lake Station's water system to Indiana-American Water Company. The Court of Appeals has yet to rule on the OUCC request. Anthony also gives us an update on the statewide water utility's proposed rate case. The proposal before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission would raise rates in two phases, increasing its total annual operating revenues by $38.8 million. For most residential customers using 5,000 gallons per month, the monthly bill would rise from $43.70 to $46.81 in July 2019, then to $50.34 in July 2020.
We have two conversations today from the Welcome Project at Valparaiso University. The Project collects first-person stories and pairs these with intentional conversation to help forge stronger ties within and across our communities. We also bring back our conversations with IU Northwest professors Crystal Shannon and Jonathyne Briggs about the Gary campus' new medical humanities minor -- and with Tony Walker, the northwest Indiana member of the Indiana state Board of Education about "graduation pathways."
