Kendall & Casey Hour 1, 9-4-2025

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Case, I have a question.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
Okay, lay it on me.

Speaker 3 (00:05):
If you, against the objection of millions, decided to I
don't know, side with the utility monopoly. And I'm not
saying this actually happened. I'm just saying, let's just play
this out together. If you, not all that long ago,

(00:29):
against the objection of millions, decided to side with the
utility monopoly, and you knew it would be at the
expense of everyone else, and then, on top of that,
your little merry band of uber connected rich misfits decided

(00:53):
to improve I don't know, over one hundred million dollars
in incentives for a data center. Data center's plural. That
will make the issue of power infinitely worse than this state.
If you were to have done those two things just
in the past couple of months. Does it make me

(01:15):
a bad person that I think you're full of crap
when you say you want to help me with my
utility bill?

Speaker 2 (01:21):
Now, no, I think that makes you very discerning, Okay,
very it makes you question I'm not the bad guy
in this equation.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
I don't believe. So okay, very good, Okay, So Braun
the governor correct. I think most people know that.

Speaker 3 (01:34):
But Mike Braun, Governor Dementia as we call him, because well,
we would never say that the Governor is a habitual
pathological liar. Yet he seems to have very short memories
when it comes to things he says versus action he takes.
So the only logical reason if he's not a habitual
pathological liar is that he's suffering from some sort of

(01:56):
serious neurological damage that is causing him to forget said things.
All right, So, earlier this year in the legislative session,
the governor signed a bill that will result in, in
all likelihood, massive rate increases for utility payers because it

(02:18):
now allows the utilities, which are monopolies. You can't shop
your utility. It allows the utilities to essentially become doctor
Frankenstein and play around with these SMRs small modular reactors,
an unproven technology, and no matter what happens with it,

(02:39):
whether it works or not, you the rate payer, are
going to be on the hook for eighty percent of it. Okay,
So he signed into law bill that everybody acknowledges will
in all likelihood result in massive rate increases to you,
the consumer. And then on top of that, his brand
new wild and wacky IEDC boy. Now, of course he

(03:01):
threw all the IDC board members out and had a
forensic audit that's gonna cost all going eight hundred thousand
dollars because the IDC is so shifty and so shady
and so untransparent. But the first thing that that little
group did was approved economic incentives for four data centers,
which I don't know if you've heard case.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
They use a.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
Lot of power, they do, and a lot of water.

Speaker 3 (03:27):
So he did those two things in his first whatever
six months in office. Both of those things are going
to an all likelihood lead to, especially when you put
them together, massive utility rate increases for most of us.
And yet yesterday he came out like mister Johnny do
Gooder and said.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
I'm not visited up. The people have suffered it up.
We're gonna put it in.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
We can't take it anymore. He did. He put out
a statement saying that he was directing the Utility Consumer Counselor,
who is Indiana's ratepayer advocate, to evaluate utilities profits along
with other cost saving measures.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
She's going to evaluate it.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
Yes, ease the burden on ratepayers. Yes, please please do that,
Abby Gray, Please do that.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
Here's the problem.

Speaker 3 (04:17):
Though, Nikki Kelly is going to join us from the
Capitol Chronicle at ten fifteen on her usual time slot.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
The it's not just up to her.

Speaker 3 (04:26):
Well, right, this person can make a suggestion, But there
is this board, the IURC, Indiana Utility Regulatory Committee, Commission Committee, whatever,
the commission, thank you, that makes the final choice. And
over and over and over again, they ignore this taxpayer

(04:46):
advocacy group in the order in which they are received
in your bills keep going up. However, how can the
governor Now this is where we come back to either
one of two things, habitual liar or de menship patient,
because how can you possibly have taken the actions that
he took in his first six months in office and

(05:08):
then claim, who, I'm very concerned about your utility business?

Speaker 2 (05:13):
Is there a third door? Could he have been? Oops?

Speaker 1 (05:16):
What did I do?

Speaker 2 (05:17):
I better take corrective action.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
But you can't undo it. That's the problem. You've already
signed the bill, You've already told the utility companies, sure,
step right up. Do whatever you want to do with
your technology, play with whatever you want to play with.

Speaker 1 (05:31):
We're on the hook for it, whether it works or not.

Speaker 3 (05:33):
So how is how can you possibly say, because it
wasn't like this wasn't a hot button issue. It wasn't
like people like us weren't begging him, Hey, please don't
sign this bill.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
It's gonna be horrible for the taxpayers.

Speaker 3 (05:45):
He had to know exactly what he was doing, and
he signed it anyway. And he's only doing this now
because it is reaching a fever pitch in terms of
the up for which with people cannot stand and how
pissed off they are. Doing the same thing he did
with the property taxes, where he wants you to believe
that he cares, he wants you to believe he's going

(06:06):
to fight for you, but there's nothing in terms of
actual what's actually being done that leads you to believe
or can can happen that's gonna result in anything other
than your bills going up.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
So the iu r C is going to see some
major leadership changes as some people are resigning and they'll
be out in October, which means some new people need
to be put on that commission and the iu r
C that's the group that decides the utility rate increases. Now,
Braun has instructed these new appointees to scrutinize utility rate

(06:40):
hikes more aggressively, also focus on affordability and reliability.

Speaker 3 (06:46):
Okay, so let's work down the food chain. Okay, this
and this is why we are numero uno. This is
why we are are beloved by so many because we
will tell you exactly how this works. So Braun has
already said the problem is in the property tax thing
are our new favorite line for Governor Brown is this

(07:06):
man has no stick.

Speaker 1 (07:08):
And that is, of course a reference to.

Speaker 3 (07:10):
The famous scene in Ghostbusters where Bill Murray describes Walter
Peck from the from the Environmental Protection Agency, except he
doesn't use the word stick. But I think we can
safely say we can use the word stick on public airways.

Speaker 1 (07:25):
Braun has no stick.

Speaker 3 (07:27):
He admitted during the property tax issue that he's petrified
of the General Assembly, that he won't fight them, he
won't stand up to them. He's telling you that again
with this special session where he can't make up his
mind on whether he'll only call it if they tell.

Speaker 1 (07:41):
Him to call it.

Speaker 3 (07:42):
And so the problem is when you have the guy
who's the head of utilities in the House of Representatives
that dirt bag ed Soliday right, essentially, strong arming and
text messages. The mayor was it Laporte? The mayor Portage?
Was it Portage or Laporte porter County? Well, he's a
mayor out of county. It was a Portage mayor. It

(08:03):
was Oh yes, I think it was the mayor Portage
who spoke up against the I U R seeing these
rate increases and everything else and basically told that guy
Austin Bonta is the guy's name. We had him on
the show and Ed Saldi basically told him, Hey, you
better get in line, junior, or I'll do everything in
my power to make sure no more extra money comes
your comes to your city. Well, Bron's already said I'm

(08:25):
totally petrified of the General Assembly, and we know what
side the General Assembly is clearly on, So why would
we believe anything different is gonna happen Portage? Thank you, Steven.

Speaker 2 (08:34):
So you're not saying that this isn't going to be
a reboot of our utility world or I think it's
going to be a reset breaker.

Speaker 3 (08:40):
It's going to be a reboot of the property tax debacle.
Because Braun is a gutless Oh, I can't say that
the show.

Speaker 1 (08:48):
He's a gutless wissy. How about that? How about that
twenty five.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
Years in this business and nobody's ever had to hit
the dump button on me?

Speaker 1 (08:55):
How about that for some talent.

Speaker 3 (08:57):
As crazy as I am, and nobody's ever had hit
the dump button?

Speaker 2 (09:01):
He said, Hoosiers have been burdened with utility rate increase
after increase. We can't take it anymore.

Speaker 3 (09:08):
What's this wi mister, I'm worth between thirty it was
his net worth thirty six and ninety six million or
whatever the number was. Mister, I have a heliport helipad
at my home in southern Indiana. I live in the
Governor's mansion. When do you think is the last time
Braun actually paid a utility bill, like logged into his

(09:28):
account or wrote a check. What do you think the
last time that was? If I asked Braun right now,
what's your electric bill at your little compound down there
in southern Indiana, you think he could tell you what
the electric bill is?

Speaker 4 (09:40):
No?

Speaker 1 (09:41):
Heck no, no, what's this we stuff?

Speaker 2 (09:44):
So he appointed Abbi Gray as the head of the
Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, and she's been there for
sixteen years. She was twenty three years at the iu RC,
but he told her to evaluate utility company profits, find
cost saving me and then pushed for investors to shoulder
more of the costs, not the rate payers. So the

(10:06):
message is on point. He's saying the right things. But
at the end of the day, it's all about the execution.

Speaker 3 (10:15):
I want to hear that Grease Bucket Ed Soliday say it.
When Ed Soliday says it, then I'll believe there might
be some teeth to this. But until then, when the
governor and what other logical conclusion do we come to.
When the governor admits he's petrified to take on the
General Assembly, that he will not stand up to these people,
and he said it twice on two big issues, property

(10:36):
taxes in the redistricting, and you've got the leadership in
the General Assembly saying they're there, Governor dementia.

Speaker 1 (10:42):
That's nice.

Speaker 3 (10:42):
You just sit in your seat, grandpa, and we're going
to tell you how it's gonna go. And they've already said, ow,
it's gonna go. Why would we think anything different is
going to happen. And by the way, if the governor's people,
if Josh Kelly and the people in the Governor's office
would like to come out and say the governor is
not suffering from some sort of some neurology issue.

Speaker 1 (11:00):
He just lies that much. We'll accept that too.

Speaker 2 (11:03):
We just past that's honest.

Speaker 3 (11:05):
We just don't want to think that the governor is
willfully lying to people. And this is the only logical
conclusion we can come to. If there is a third door,
and they'd like to tell us about it, were all ears, Okay.

Speaker 2 (11:15):
So we know there's a lot of data centers coming
in and there have been some moves in regards to
the Franklin Township data Center. And also it's not just electricity,
a lot of water being used in these data centers.
So we're going to talk about them coming up from
ninety three wibc Oh what.

Speaker 3 (11:39):
Oh, that's the new big phrase in our house.

Speaker 2 (11:43):
I was going to say, you sound like liviy uh oh, casey.

Speaker 1 (11:49):
I hate to do this.

Speaker 3 (11:50):
It is nine to twenty three in the morning on
September the fourth, twenty twenty five, and we have to
do the least favorite part of every show for me.

Speaker 2 (11:58):
Yeah, is that where you tell of your when you
were right?

Speaker 3 (12:00):
Yeah, And I'm loath to do this this early in
the program, but uh oh, it's kind of a Casey show.

Speaker 1 (12:07):
By the way, my name is Rob, that's Casey.

Speaker 3 (12:09):
So this comes from Garrett Birquist on Twitter.

Speaker 1 (12:13):
And just to.

Speaker 3 (12:14):
Reset, remember when we told you after the property tax
bill passed, and we said you are about to get
so hose. You don't you can't even fathom what's gonna happen.
And we told you at the time, we said it
will take several years for this to play out, and
the lawmakers know it because there will likely be for
you some savings in year one and you'll go, oh,

(12:36):
look I got a few hundred dollars back, and we said, well,
get petty ready, pal, because you're gonna end for a problem.
But what they're banking on is you going back to
sleep and not being able to figure it out. And
you ever seen the movie The Sandlot.

Speaker 1 (12:50):
Yeah, the baseball movie. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (12:52):
The premise of The Sandlot is these kids in the
sixties play baseball in a sandlot. They run out of
baseball one day. The main character goes home, who knows
actually nothing about baseball, and steals his dad's Babe Ruth
autograph baseball which they go play with and they hit
it into the yard where the beast dog is and

(13:13):
so they have to come up with a way to
get the ball back. But in the meantime they got
to make sure his dad doesn't know the ball's gone.
So they buy a baseball and one of the kids
signs Babe Ruth's name on the baseball, and at one point,
as he's signing the ball, one of the kids goes,
I don't know, Benny, that signature looks pretty crappy, and
he goes.

Speaker 1 (13:33):
Look, this is just a bias some time.

Speaker 3 (13:35):
That's what the General Assembly was doing with the property
tax bill.

Speaker 1 (13:38):
They are Bennie in the sand.

Speaker 2 (13:40):
Lahuh, this is just a bias some time forging Babe
Ruth's autograph before you don't figure out how you're gonna
get screwed.

Speaker 3 (13:46):
And one things we told you is gonna happen. Not
only will the property tax cut quote totally go away
in a couple of years, because there's nothing in this
bill that addresses assessments, which is why the bills keep
going up. Correct, but there's something that stops the bill
from going up.

Speaker 1 (14:01):
So within a.

Speaker 3 (14:01):
Best case scenario, current current increases, et cetera, your cut
will go away within the next three to four years. Now,
we also told you what was going to happen, and
it is that these school districts are going to be
sprinting to the referendums turnstiles because they're not just going
to take getting less money because the General Assembly always

(14:22):
rolls over and plays dead for the public education system.
That's happening see Avon C Fort Wayne schools. Next year,
you're going to see a whole bunch more. But the
big one mirror, mirror on the wall, how are we going.

Speaker 1 (14:34):
To get screwed? The most of all, it is these local.

Speaker 3 (14:37):
Income tax increases that cities which previously were not allowed
to do them, are going to do. So let's review
what did we tell you was going to happen. Within
the next three to five years, your tax coun'll go
away because of the property tax increases that continue. You're
going to see a whole bunch of schools do referendums,
which means you'll have tax increases on top of that,
and you will pay this local income tax in a

(14:59):
whole bunch of places you didn't pay before, Which brings
me to Casey at nine to twenty six in the morning,
my least favorite part of every show. Another example of
us proving how right we were. From Garrett Birquist from
WISH TV on Twitter. Anderson Mayor Thomas Brodricks says his
city will use budget reserves to make up the shortfall
from the fiscal years twenty six and twenty seven. Okay,

(15:22):
he will ask the city council to raise the city's
local income tax rate for twenty twenty eight.

Speaker 1 (15:27):
There it is.

Speaker 3 (15:29):
Damn, I'm good and I do this well. I can't
believe we give this show away for free.

Speaker 2 (15:36):
So in two and a half years in Anderson.

Speaker 1 (15:37):
Which what did we tell you?

Speaker 2 (15:39):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (15:39):
What did we tell you was going to happen? And
it's all things that Braun and Micah and that med.

Speaker 1 (15:45):
Go, oh no, that's not gonna happen. Oh oh. They
also told me. But if it does, you got to
go fight it.

Speaker 3 (15:51):
You got to fight the school board, the city council,
the county council, you get the fire territory. You got
to fight them all because we gutlass.

Speaker 1 (16:01):
So there you go.

Speaker 2 (16:02):
I don't know. Braun said he was going to knock
on doors with you to fight school referendums.

Speaker 3 (16:07):
The Avon people told me they have still not heard
back from Michael or Broun on their pledge to knock
on doors to defeat school reference.

Speaker 2 (16:12):
They're going to be so busy in this next session
because Braun is saying utility price is going to be
a top priority for him. But he also said they
were going to come back and readdress property taxes.

Speaker 3 (16:24):
Oh yeah, he's coming back for more. He's got a card.
He's got to what do you tell those well meaning
but naive people that went to the mansion. He's got
to ace up his sleeve. Versus of course he won't tell.
It's like Nixon and Vietnam. Right, he got a plan.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
I can't tell you what it is.

Speaker 3 (16:37):
Tell you what it is, all right, So we got
to take a break when we come back.

Speaker 2 (16:40):
Alex Alex Willis, Alex Willis from Protect Morgan County dot org.

Speaker 1 (16:45):
Yes is going to join us.

Speaker 3 (16:46):
There is a proposal for a big, mysterious data center
to go out in the Monrovia area. And these people
on the backs of the Franklin Township people seeming seeming
to have a lot of success fighting the Google data center.
They are trying to fight the data center out there
in Morgan County, and everybody needs to wake up to
this stuff because it's coming to a community near you.

(17:07):
You may not live near Monrovia, but you need to
know what these people are going through. Because these data
center people, as long as our old pals of the
IEDC are handing out the goodies and your local governments
are given out of Bateman's they are like Jason Vorhees
and Friday the thirteenth. You can bury him underground, you
can put him at the bottom of the ocean. You
can light him on fire, you can saw him in half.

Speaker 2 (17:30):
Just keeps coming back.

Speaker 1 (17:30):
They are coming back, baby, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (17:32):
Alec Willis joins us next on ninety three WIBC.

Speaker 1 (17:46):
Casey.

Speaker 3 (17:46):
I don't know if you're aware of, but everybody's pretty
pissed off about these data centers.

Speaker 2 (17:50):
They seem to be popping up all over the state.

Speaker 3 (17:52):
Now, of course we've highlighted here recently, there's been a
huge pushback in Indianapolis Franklin Township over this proposed Google data.

Speaker 1 (18:00):
It looks like, at.

Speaker 3 (18:01):
Least right now, the citizens there may be defeating that
measure to put that monstrosity there in Franklin Township. But
these things are coming up all over the place, Yes
they are, And you know we opened our show today
talking about the hypocrisy of the governor who on one
end comes out and claims to be so concerned about
utility costs, and yet one of the first actions of

(18:22):
his new IDC board was to prove incentives for these
data centers, right which are going to suck all this
power s, will cause people's power bills to go up.

Speaker 2 (18:30):
It's big shell game.

Speaker 3 (18:31):
But people everywhere are starting to catch onto these data
centers the potential harm they bring. In one of the
areas where people are really organized, where they're really fighting back,
is in Monrovia, where there's a proposed data center out there,
and joining us on the WABC Hotline to talk about
their experience, because look, this is coming to a community
in near you. You need to know how to organize,
You need to know how to fight back against these things.

(18:52):
Like the people in Franklin Township is Alec Willis. He's
a part of a group called Protect Morgan County. He
joins us on the WAV hotline now, Alex, Hello.

Speaker 5 (19:03):
Hey, Rob, thanks for having me on today.

Speaker 3 (19:05):
Yeah so, tell us about your group Protect Morgan County
and your fight against this data center out there in Monrovia.

Speaker 5 (19:12):
Yeah so, Honestly, it's been a great effort recently. I
didn't become aware of this actually until May, and that's
when the Morgan County corresponded introduced me to Chris Lamberson,
who had been leading this grassroots movement, and that was
when I met him and we established a renewed effort
to somehow just compel the cancelation of this data center

(19:34):
going up in Morgan County, and not only that, just
continue to protect Morgen County from these officials who are
just completely disengaged with the voters at a local level.

Speaker 3 (19:46):
Okay, let me ask you about this. So do you
know what the data center is? Like, do you know
who's behind it? How big it's going to be, those
sorts of things.

Speaker 5 (19:55):
Yeah, so it's going to be three hundred and ninety acres,
which is pretty substantial. And they haven't come out and
said specifically, but I've gotten word from a resource, you know, resource.

Speaker 4 (20:08):
That knows what they're talking about. I'm not going to
say who it is, but they've confirmed that it's Google.

Speaker 5 (20:13):
And of course the officials have signed non disclosure agreements
to not have to disclose that, but we've confirmed that
it's Google.

Speaker 3 (20:20):
Wait, wait, wait, so there would there would you got
the one in Franklin Township And you're seriously this would
be a second, allegedly a second Google data center.

Speaker 2 (20:28):
Yes, does that have a nickname? Is it like project
you know, Sunshine Project, Tahoe, Project Cornfield.

Speaker 5 (20:38):
Well, we should probably give it a nickname, but as
far as I'm aware, it doesn't necessarily have a nickname yet.

Speaker 3 (20:44):
Alec Willis is our guest. He's with the group Protect
Morgan County. They're fighting a proposed data center out in
the Monrovia area. Uh okay, so tell us about sort
of did you mentioned the elected officials? Is this a
county project?

Speaker 2 (20:59):
Is it?

Speaker 3 (20:59):
Is it at of your town projects somewhere? Who are
the dirty, rotten, no good people that are giving you
guys pushback in terms of trying to defeat this monstrosity.

Speaker 5 (21:11):
Yeah, I'm glad, yes, actually because you know, at the
beginning of this, it's always been a bipartisan movement. But
we actually reached out Senator Bank's office and they were
able to confirm that this has nothing to do with
the data centers that Senator Banks and President Trump has
brought to Indiana and that you know, in their opinion.

(21:31):
It was specifically a local project that the local officials.

Speaker 2 (21:35):
Have been working on.

Speaker 5 (21:36):
So this is the Morgan County Plan Commission and the
Morgan County Council and commissioners that have brought this in,
you know, against massive opposition.

Speaker 1 (21:47):
Do you do you know why?

Speaker 3 (21:48):
Because Morgan County has always been pretty good, at least
in the past about protecting the taxpayers or the one
county that didn't opt into the food and beverage tax.
They've always been pretty good about the idea of Hey
Warren and at largely ad community property rights, all those
sorts of things. Do you have an idea of why
that they appear to be so wed to this, to
this data center.

Speaker 5 (22:09):
Yeah, So from our understanding, you know, there's Morgan County
Economic Development Corporation and it's led by an executive director,
Mike Ellinger. And obviously, you know, we paid the county
paid seventy five thousand dollars a year.

Speaker 4 (22:25):
I think it is to them to advise on the economy.

Speaker 5 (22:28):
And he is, from my understanding, he's the one that
kind of introduced this to the county and he's not
even from here. In fact, a few years ago he
said that Monrovia was going to be a part of
Indy and so that's that's kind of who had led
the charge with this and told it, you know, from
my understanding, told everybody that it'd be a great idea

(22:50):
and championed it from the start.

Speaker 2 (22:54):
So you've been partnering with Citizens' Action Coalition. How have
they been able to help you in the cause.

Speaker 5 (23:01):
Yeah, so Citizens Action is a great resource. We've been
working hand in hand with Bryce Gustafson, who, first of all,
they have so many resources and they've done, you know
a lot of research and they've been able to provide
the information you know, from the start, whereas you know,
we would have had to go back and you know
do that all of all by ourselves. And they're also

(23:23):
helping down in Franklin Township also, and they kind of
lead from the front of like, you know, this is
not only are their negative effects you know for water,
for noise and all that stuff, but utility rates are
just going to go crazy, uh, you know when they
get this in the ground. And so they've provided resources.
For example, they've set up the booth at the Monrovia

(23:43):
Festival this weekend and plan on helping us throughout this process,
and Bryce has been a great resource that we're grateful for.

Speaker 3 (23:51):
Colevan is up with Alec Willis. He's with the group
called Protect Morgan County. They're fighting a data center out
there in the Monrovia area. So tell us about kind
of what you guys have been doing, tell us about
where the project is. Are you succeeding in your pushback?
Where are you guys at in terms of defeating these things? So, look,
I think all these data centers right now, especially when

(24:12):
they're if they're in any way LinkedIn to the IDC,
need to absolutely be pushed back and defeated.

Speaker 4 (24:18):
Yeah, of course.

Speaker 5 (24:19):
So there's there's two Monrooby residents that filed a very
fied positioner of review law too, you know, arguing that
the rezoning was arbitrary, disregarding the county's comprehensive plane, et cetera.

Speaker 4 (24:31):
It's an ongoing matter. They have a discovery.

Speaker 5 (24:34):
Motion set for September twenty fifth. We're excited to see
what happens. We've also submitted a very targeted and detailed
public records request because from our point.

Speaker 4 (24:44):
Of view, it's hard to fight something that you have.

Speaker 5 (24:47):
No you know, you don't have any information on and
I think, in my opinion, that's what the goal of
the non.

Speaker 4 (24:51):
Disclosure agreement was. And so we filed for all these documents.
We made sure we're very particular about it so that
they couldn't use that as an excuse and word.

Speaker 5 (25:01):
From the county, we're supposed to get those documents back,
and that kind of doesn't necessarily set and stone our
path forward, but you know, it decides where we go
from here in terms of the information we get back
or don't get back. But we've see and we've seen
the progress. The movement is growing in membership every single day.
We have people inquired that didn't know about it the

(25:23):
day before. We're raising funds every single day, and just
just great progress in my opinion, because a lot of
people still even on the roads that this data center
is going, like setting up by yesterday at our weekly meeting,
we had a couple of people show up that hadn't

(25:44):
even heard about it and they live on that road.
So it's growing every day. Who's seen a lot of progress?

Speaker 3 (25:49):
This is what I can't figure out who is for
this other than the company that wants to go there, Like,
is there anybody coming out in the community saying, oh,
this will be so great, and what the reason are
your elected officials who are ignoring the public giving you
for doing so?

Speaker 4 (26:07):
Yeah? So not really, to be honest, I mean, there's.

Speaker 5 (26:10):
The members of the county have said a few positive
things about it.

Speaker 4 (26:15):
I had talked to a commissioner and his his reasoning was.

Speaker 5 (26:18):
Well, you know, I talked to Chamber of Commerce and
one of the communities that one of these were being.

Speaker 4 (26:23):
Built, and they had positive things to say about it.
And I'm like, well, what positive things?

Speaker 5 (26:28):
And he had, well, they helped us buy you know,
helped us buy a few things for the municipality.

Speaker 4 (26:34):
I'm like, okay, so is that it.

Speaker 5 (26:36):
That's pretty much it. Like the problem is is what
thinking what in the world, Because if there's not much
positive effect, then why trouble ourselves with this data center?
And there's way more negative And I would say at
the meetings that we've had, the opposition to support is
probably thirty to forty to one.

Speaker 4 (26:58):
I mean it's not even.

Speaker 1 (27:00):
Yeah, okay, Alec.

Speaker 3 (27:02):
If people want to know more about what you guys
are doing out there, everybody needs to pay attention to
all of these communities. Even if you don't live in them,
because these people, if they don't succeed in one place,
they'll come to a community near you. These are coming
to a community near you. How can people learn about
what you guys are doing out in Morgan County.

Speaker 5 (27:17):
Yeah, so go to our website, protect Morgan County dot org.

Speaker 4 (27:22):
Visit it. We have information.

Speaker 5 (27:25):
We're updating it every day. We just went live with
it this week, so there will be updates to it.
There's going to be pds of information on it, and
there's going to be once we get these records from
the county, we're going to be uploading those. We have
an opportunity for you to donate to the cause because
there will be you know, a movement without money is

(27:45):
just going to die.

Speaker 4 (27:46):
So we do need support there from people who care
about this to keep it going and go visit that.

Speaker 5 (27:53):
We also have a Facebook page and most importantly, we'll
be at the Monroviat Festival. I do want to say
that's a great fest. Well, first of all, you know,
not a lot of people were talking about it in
the Indian area, but you should come out. It's this weekend,
starts on Friday, goes through Sunday. We're going to be
in the parade. You can also come out and support us.

Speaker 3 (28:12):
That way, maybe that parade may be brought to you
by or that festival may bee brought to you by
Google before too long, Alec.

Speaker 5 (28:20):
Yeah, well, I would rather donate my own money than
have Google donate to something like that.

Speaker 3 (28:25):
All right, yeah, Protect, it's Protect Morgan County dot org. Correct, Yes, sir,
all right, Protect Morgan County dot org. Alex, thank you
for your time, good luck. Let us know how we
can help.

Speaker 4 (28:35):
Yeah, thank you, Rob.

Speaker 2 (28:37):
It's Kennily Casey on ninety three WIBCJC.

Speaker 1 (28:43):
I am spent much of my week putting puzzles together.
Oh yeah, well, I mean you're aware of some of
the things I've been.

Speaker 3 (28:50):
Yeah, but one of the things that just find a
big piece, Well, there's I got, you know, like I'm
putting together like five puzzles at the same time. And
you know, sometimes, like you know, a law enforcement agency
might do, if they're working on five or six cases,
they'll work on something for a few days and.

Speaker 2 (29:09):
Then put that one aside and then move on to
something else.

Speaker 3 (29:12):
Right, Yeah, And it doesn't mean they're not working on
it just because there's no developments.

Speaker 1 (29:16):
It just means you got to you got all the
irons in the fire.

Speaker 2 (29:19):
Right.

Speaker 3 (29:20):
So last night I was contacted by a very high
ranking Indiana Republican. Okay, this is a person in all
the circles. It has very prestigious titles and positions.

Speaker 2 (29:38):
And yes, when they contacted you, did you know who
they were? Because I know you don't put name in
your phone.

Speaker 1 (29:44):
Yeah, I've got Look, this is the thing, and we
say this all the time.

Speaker 3 (29:47):
We get this stuff right and first a lot of
times in the state House because we got sources everywhere,
and there's a whole bunch of people who can't stand
the people that they work with or work for in
that state House, and they are more than willing, as
long as they shall remain anonymous, to give information. And

(30:08):
so we started talking last night about the behavior related
to redistricting. And this person said, because obviously we have
asked the question, what is in it for these lawmakers?
Clearly the constituents are not clamoring for this.

Speaker 1 (30:27):
No, there's been no.

Speaker 3 (30:28):
Lawmaker come forward and go oh, overwhelmingly they're beating down
my doors. We do know there's a large chance of
potential political fallout.

Speaker 2 (30:36):
Thinking more people want legalized marijuana in the state than
redistrict edition.

Speaker 3 (30:41):
Sure right, they're not calling special session for your utility
bills or property types or any of that stuff. Right,
So we said, what is the what is the logical
what possible reason? They can't be that afraid of Charlie Kirk.
It can't be that Craig Howard is that big of
a gutlass coward Haggard, Who'd I say, Howard, Craig Haggard. Yes,
Craig Haggard. If your name is Craig Howard, I'm sure
you're a wonderful person. Craig Haggard, State Rep. From Morgan County,

(31:06):
that he's that big of a gutless coward, that he's
afraid of Charlie Kirk. And this person said, no, you
don't understand what's going on. And I said, well, we'll
tell me more please, And and this is unbelievable. First
of all, it's unbelievably one, it's ridiculous it's going on.
But to it's laughable that these lawmakers are are they

(31:28):
don't see through things. This person said, the Trump administration.
The reason this thing won't go away despite nobody wanting it,
is the Trump They as they describe them, the Trump people. Yeah,
it's like the guys on the X Files. You know,
he didn't know what they were, just a member of
a group. You didn't know their real identities. The Trump
people are leading these lawmakers to believe that if they

(31:53):
don't follow through on their bidding with this redistricting stuff,
that they will withhold federal money to the state of Indiana.

Speaker 2 (32:01):
What. I'm shocked and surprised. Somebody told you that last
night on the phone.

Speaker 1 (32:05):
Who was it.

Speaker 2 (32:06):
I believe somebody in the studio said that exact same
thing yesterday. It was you, d right, It was at right.

Speaker 1 (32:18):
Yes, you have said this for a while now.

Speaker 2 (32:20):
So I said that yesterday and it was confirmed via
a high ranking Republican last night to you.

Speaker 3 (32:25):
Yes, and they and they said at the local level,
there's no they're not seeing support for this.

Speaker 1 (32:32):
State.

Speaker 3 (32:33):
The leadership is not supportive of this. But these lawmakers
are now think about what this says about Trump. If
you don't engage in a holy political act, there's no
reason to re district Indiana. There's no population sor there's nothing.
If you don't engage. It really tells you a lot
about Donald Trump and the people around him. If indeed
this is true, if you don't engage in a holy

(32:54):
political act, we will punish you by withholding money to
a red state.

Speaker 2 (33:00):
Maybe that's where Ed Soliday learned the trick.

Speaker 3 (33:02):
A state that has always supported Trump, has always stood
behind him. Hell, he picked his vice president last time
from here, and yet these people are so ridiculous. This
is where the lawmaker's got to grow a pair and
say do it.

Speaker 1 (33:19):
Then do it.

Speaker 3 (33:19):
We're not gonna rig our election system because you can't
win an election, mister president, why don't you govern better?
But that's what's going on out there. That is exactly
what's going on these lawmakers.

Speaker 1 (33:30):
Nobody wants it.

Speaker 3 (33:31):
They're not hearing from you. You're not beating down their door.
There's not a you know, just an onslaught of support
for this. It's that they are petrified that the president
and his administration are going to withhold federal money from
them if they don't do his bidding.

Speaker 2 (33:48):
Last year, Indiana received approximately twenty three point four billion
dollars in federal funds. Some of the major recipients included
fourteen billion to Medicaid, one point nine billion to the
Division of Family Resources, one point eight billion to education
and coming up in twenty six we're looking at billions

(34:11):
upon billions with the Chip Act. And there's even transportation
funding here in Indianapolis to the tune of thirty point
five million federal transit funding for street projects. So when
you've got someone saying, hey, do it my way or else,
you are not going to get thirty percent of your budget. Yeah,

(34:35):
they're kind of looking at those options saying, well, I
guess we're going to do it.

Speaker 3 (34:38):
And the reason these people like this is a very
connected person who would be tard and feathered if it
came out that they were associating with me in any
sort of friendly manner. But the reason they reach out
to us is they know we'll tell you the truth.
We'll tell you what's going on, we'll tell you what
we hear, and they want this information to get out
that this is this is why we're considering spending a

(35:01):
half million dollars or more of your money. It'll be
a lot more by the time the lawsuits are factory.

Speaker 2 (35:05):
Yeah, and I'm glad you said that, because, by the way,
when you say federal money, it's not Trump's money, right,
It's not the government's money.

Speaker 1 (35:10):
It's your money, Yeah, to just.

Speaker 3 (35:12):
Do the bidding of one guy because he's already can't
win elections in the midterm.

Speaker 1 (35:17):
So do with that what you want. We just give
you the information.

Speaker 2 (35:19):
It's kind of lu Casey on ninety three WIBC