Grace Schneider: "I live in a cool place."

The C-J's Indiana Bureau reporter, Grace Schneider, offers food for thought during a reflection of her time living and working in Southern Indiana. County government really fumbled the LG & E farce, didn't it?

Reporter in Indiana land: "I live in a cool place."

... The murder stories may boost visits to the paper's website and make my editors happy, but my fellow reporters and I are still pleading that we don't forget public-service journalism — keeping watch on elected leaders and shining light on developments that affect people every day.

In my case, recently it's been asking about an issue Knobs residents care deeply about – why wasn't there more oversight by New Albany and Floyd County leaders over where and how LG&E mowed down a wide corridor of mature hardwood trees on a hillside. The utility is spending $22 million to build a substation and connect with Duke's lines to strengthen a weak spot in the grid. Huge poles are now going up in visible spots, reminding one of John Prine's line from the song "Paradise" — "they wrote it all down as the progress of man."

When I asked about how the route for lines was chosen and what alternatives were considered, an LG&E spokeswoman said there are already lots of power lines in that area. In essence, what's the problem? In some states, picturesque views are carefully guarded, so power lines and lighted billboards undergo far more scrutiny over where they're allowed.

Not here. Floyd County's chief planner told me that utilities have a lot of pull. End of story.

Fish swim, birds fly, and utility monopolies run amok. It's what they DO.

Witness Vectren's ongoing carnage downtown. Jingle Walk is set to become Jingle Weave. Ever notice the uncanny ability of utility monopolies to schedule invasive city infrastructure destruction mere months (sometimes weeks) after a new sidewalk is laid or fresh pavement applied? Nationalize them all, I say.

Floyds Knobs residents see red over clear-cut hillside; LG&E razing trees, creating path for power lines in Indiana knobs, by Grace Schneider (C-J)

... (New Albany's building commissioner David) Brewer said he and city attorney Stan Robison drove to the site recently after receiving a complaint from a resident. He said they were surprised by the amount of work that had been completed.

He added that he hopes that notifying Hoosier regulators brings more oversight for the project.

“At least now they’ll know someone is watching them,” Brewer said.