Indiana assistance program funded for heating season
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Indiana has a record amount of funding for winter heating assistance and should be able to meet the winter fuel needs of low-income Hoosiers, despite recent increases in the costs of energy, according to Gov. Mitch Daniels.

He said the state will have a record $106 million available through Indiana’s share of the Energy Assistance Program (EAP). That’s more than double the amount of funding that the state received for last winter’s heating season.

The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) is accepting applications and appointments for the program through local community action agencies.

The EAP funds help individuals and families with incomes up to 150 percent of the poverty level with winter heating bills. For example, a family of four making less than $31,800 would qualify, as well as an individual with an income of $15,600 or less.

The benefit amount is paid in a lump sum directly to the applicant’s utility company.

To learn more, call 800-872-0371 or visit www.in.gov/ihcda/2523.htm

Farmer dies of injuries from combine accident
VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) — A northwestern Indiana farmer died of his injuries one day after he became trapped under a combine.

When emergency personnel arrived at the farm near Valparaiso on Oct. 19, 25-year-old Kyle Gustafson was not breathing. He was first taken to Porter Hospital, then later by helicopter to Memorial Hospital in South Bend, where he died the afternoon of Oct. 20.

Gustafson’s father said his son was harvesting soybeans when the grain platform on the combine apparently malfunctioned. When the combine stopped for about 10 minutes, Gustafson’s mother went to check on her son and found him pinned under the equipment.

Wind turbine blade crashes down in cornfield

WYANET, Ill. (AP) — An India-based company that made a wind turbine that broke and dropped a 6.5-ton blade into an Illinois cornfield this week says it is fixing blades on more than 400 turbines – most of them in the U.S. – that could have similar problems.

Suzlon Energy Limited says its fiberglass-coated turbine blades can develop cracks because of a design flaw, something the company says it can fix by adding more fiberglass. Suzlon said in March that it expected to spend $25 million on the project, but didn’t say how long it would take.

The turbine that lost a blade in Wyanet, Ill., about 55 miles north of Peoria, was set to be worked on next week, said Richard Schertz; he lives on and farms the property where that turbine and three others also due to be worked on stand.

The blade, which the company stated is about 140 feet long, flew at least 150 feet away from the turbine and landed in the cornfield, Schertz said. No one was hurt and nothing was damaged.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there have been 75 wind-turbine accidents involving injuries since 1972, including one so far this year and eight in 2007. But the agency doesn’t track accidents, like the one this week, that don’t hurt or kill someone.

Company: Six charged with abuse no longer employed

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Minnesota company says it no longer employs any of the workers charged with abusing pigs at an Iowa farm and that it has fired the operation’s manager.

The announcement by Fairmont, Minn.-based MowMar Farms followed a decision by the Greene County sheriff on Oct. 22 to charge six farm employees with animal abuse and neglect in connection with a video obtained by the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) that showed pig abuse.
Greene County Sheriff Tom Heater said on Thursday that all those who were charged had reported to the appropriate authorities. He said two of the six, Richard Ralston, 27, of Bayard, and Alan B. Rettig, 60, of Scranton, were both still in jail awaiting an appearance before a magistrate.

Those charged include, Jordan Anderson, 26, of Audubon, a former manager at the plant. MowMar spokeswoman Julie Becker said Thursday that the most recent farm manager was not among those who have been charged, but was fired.

In a statement the company “expressed surprise and outrage over the images of animal mistreatment depicted in video footage released by PETA.” The release said the company was also conducting an ongoing internal investigation and plans to cooperate fully with the investigation by local authorities.