By Emily Schilling Looking back, I’ve done some pretty interesting things so far in my life. I’ve judged a cooking competition and a scholarship pageant. Not only have I flown the friendly transcontinental skies in a 747, I’ve been sky high in a hot air balloon. I’ve buzzed around the Charlotte Motor Speedway in a… Continue reading.

It’s designated “U.S.” Route 31. But perhaps more than any other single state or federal highway, Route 31 truly traces the heart of Indiana. It’s really “Us 31.” Literally, U.S. 31 wraps itself around Monument Circle in the very center of our state capital, and splits Indiana down the middle. North of Indianapolis, it’s a… Continue reading.

By Emily Schilling Summertime and the songs heard endlessly on the radio then go together like burgers on a barbecue grill. The right catchy melody can put you in a summer vacation mood even in the dead of winter. For me, the early 1970s oldie “I Saw the Light” conjures up a lazy summer vibe… Continue reading.

(Note from editor: David Paul was born four months premature in October 1995. Within just days of being considered even a viable infant outside the womb, he and his doctors fought for his tiny fragile life. He came home in February 1996, just about the time of his original birth date. With his family, therapists,… Continue reading.

You can hardly call yourself a “Hoosier” if you’ve not heard of the “Milan Miracle” — the David and Goliath tale of the tiny Indiana high school that won the 1954 state basketball championship and inspired the movie “Hoosiers.” But there’s another Milan miracle. It’s about another David. And it’s just as amazing. It’s the… Continue reading.

Some 240 Indiana students kicked off their summer breaks with two impactful programs that combine educational experiences with memory-making fun activities.  Touchstone Energy Camp, held June 6-8 at Camp Tecumseh in Brookston, Indiana, offered over 140 incoming seventh graders a traditional summer camp experience while also injecting information about electric safety and electric co-ops. Activities… Continue reading.

By Emily Schilling It’s fitting that in this issue — which celebrates the Best of Indiana — I acknowledge the 40th birthday of a true Hoosier icon: Garfield the Cat. The original “grumpy cat,” who loves lasagna and lounging around as much as he loves terrorizing Odie the dog, was created by Indiana’s own Jim… Continue reading.

In Indiana, a land where annual obsessions called March Madness and Hoosier Hysteria thankfully bring us nothing but net, it comes as no surprise that Electric Consumer readers’ pick for favorite Famous Hoosier would be a king of the basketball court. Larry Bird, the “Hick from French Lick,” who rose from humble beginnings to college… Continue reading.

When Chris Muegge went off to college in 2007, he thought his days working with his dad on the family farm were done. Leveraging his education in animal/feedlot nutrition from Oklahoma State University and then Purdue to come back to his parents’ 1,200-acre grain and livestock farm in southeast Hancock County seemed economically improbable. “I… Continue reading.

With summer just a few weeks away, now’s the perfect time to add new places to your Hoosier bucket lists. Electric Consumer readers have been providing their picks of places to check out since we announced in March that our “Readers’ Choice Awards” would be back. After sharing their favorites in four categories — Best… Continue reading.

By Emily Schilling In less than 30 days, 33 drivers in 33 cars will be attempting 200 laps on a 2.5 mile track in the hopes of winning the 102nd Indianapolis 500.  Those familiar with this uniquely Hoosier tradition know that the Indy 500 is so much more than a one-day sporting event. The drivers… Continue reading.

The Indiana state flag features a torch with stars beaming out from its flame against a dark blue field. Every summer night, that flag comes alive in the fields and forests of rural and suburban Indiana in the form of fireflies lighting up the dark blue night with their illuminating flickers. How appropriate, then, that… Continue reading.