Local News
Related Photos
Duke Energy reports 4,200 Kokomo customers lose power
Employees of Casey’s General Store on Webster Street stood in the building with no lights on and the doors locked early Wednesday afternoon.
Outside, the wind howled as gusts up to 50 mph blew snow horizontally through the canopy-covered gas pumps.
Aaron Roseberry, a manager for the franchise, said the employees had no choice but to close the store. Without electricity, the gas pumps would not work.
A few minutes later, the lights came on and they were back in business.
The gas station/convenience store was one of several thousand businesses and homes scattered around Howard County that lost power Wednesday because of high-speed wind gusts that ripped down power lines.
Duke Energy reported 4,200 outages in its Kokomo district. There are about 41,000 customers in the area.
There were 266 customers left without power as of 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Angeline Protogere, a spokeswoman for Duke Energy, said Kokomo was the hardest hit by power outages among the company’s 780,000 customers in the state.
A power outage forced Indiana University Kokomo to cancel classes for most of Wednesday.
Paul Nowak, IU Kokomo’s vice chancellor for external relations, said the university lost power about 11 a.m., forcing it to close its doors for afternoon and evening classes. Nowak expected classes to resume today.
The campus has back-up generators that provide power for essential functions, such as security lights, Nowak said, but they do not provide enough energy for the campus to operate as normal.
“I don’t recall ever losing power for an extended period when we had to close down campus” before Wednesday, he said.
The last time IU Kokomo canceled classes was after a heavy snowfall in January. But administrators closed the university because of safety reasons, not a power outage, Nowak said.
Maple Crest Elementary School, Maple Crest Middle School and the Kokomo-Center Schools administration building also lost power, but classes continued by flashlight, KCS spokesman Dave Barnes said.
Because the outage happened during lunch for many of the students — on a day when pizza is usually served — the schools ordered more pizza to make sure all of the kids had a hot lunch, Barnes said.
“The kids were having a great time,” Barnes said. “That’s what education’s all about. It’s a whole new experience.”
• Scott Smith, Tribune staff writer, contributed to this report.
- Local News
-
-
Kokomo church struggles to pay cleanup debt
Pastor Dwight Hobson says he can’t understand why the state of Indiana is insisting on taking the money out of his collection plate.
After all, Hobson says, he is saving the state money by counseling teenagers on Kokomo’s near east side, keeping them away from gangs, drugs and teen pregnancy.
-
County council OKs funds for event center repairs
The Howard County Council on Tuesday night approved funding for repairs to the Kokomo Event Center’s roof, which should cost about a third as much as previously estimated.
-
‘Delphi isn’t closing anything’
Delphi Automotive Systems LLC says it will not close any of its operations in Kokomo.
Company spokeswoman Linda Ferries has responded to reports posted this afternoon on Inside INdiana Business’ website. She said the reported information is incorrect. The Indianapolis-based news agency quoted United Auto Workers Region 3 Director Maurice Davison as saying Delphi will phase out its Kokomo operations in 2012.
-
Nude drawings prompt arrest
Two drawings that police say depict a naked underage girl have allegedy landed a Sharpsville man behind bars on two counts of felony possession of child pornography.
-
Korean War veterans honored in Armistice Day event
A handful of Korean veterans stood at attention Tuesday to honor the brave soldiers who didn’t make it home after the three-year war in Southeast Asia.
-
Center Road closed for U.S. 31 work
Center Road is now closed between 150 East and 350 East, due to construction work on the U.S. 31 Kokomo Corridor bypass.
-
Councilman brings up business prospect at meeting
Kokomo Common Councilman Bob Cameron took more than a few people by surprise Monday when he asked area economic development director Jeb Conrad to come to the microphone.
-
Standoff ends in suicide
A Tipton County man allegedly fired a shotgun at a neighboring house late Monday before committing suicide, Howard County Sheriff Marty Talbert reported.
-
Duke Energy cuts power to apartments
Duke Energy Corp. says it had to cut power Tuesday to a Kokomo apartment building that dates back to the Great Depression because of “serious safety hazards.”
-
Goodnight supports combined dispatch plan
Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight threw his support behind a cost-saving plan to combine city and county dispatch services Monday evening, and urged the Kokomo Common Council to do the same.
- More Local News Headlines
-
