Get it in writing. That contractual advice and other tips for those wanting to profit from wind energy were offered Wednesday in Warsaw. Nearly 150 people gathered in the Shrine Building at the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds to learn about how commercial wind power can work for them. Turnout matched interest in the topic. Organizers had hoped for 80 to 90 attendees. People came from 16 counties, including Wayne County, Mich.

Following the lead of Benton and White counties to the west, government officials and the local utility company in Cass County are probing the possibility of wind energy here. Commissioner Gene Powlen confirmed the commission's desire to explore how the county fits into the wind energy scheme in Indiana.

Members of the Elkhart County Board of Zoning Appeals got a taste of the wind power debate during their meeting Thursday morning. One petitioner's bid for a wind-powered generator was granted and another denied. ...Anita Miller, a nearby neighbor of Ntende's, voiced her concerns over possible dangers, such as electrical surges or falling debris due to the proposed windmill's proximity to surrounding homes and electrical lines.

About 150 people from 13 Indiana counties and one Michigan county gathered Wednesday in the Shrine Building at the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds to talk about wind power. Most in attendance were farmers or other land owners interested in hearing how wind power development in the area could affect them.

A Lafayette-area union claimed a company working on the Fowler Ridge Wind Farm in Benton County is using an out-of-state workforce instead of local workers. Members of the Operating Engineers Local 103 were picketing jobsites near Remington and in Benton County.

The wind has died down at Randolph Southern, and that means less money for schools. Plans for a 330-foot wind turbine on the west side of campus are on hold after the manufacturer said it didn't want to place it too close to the school. Now, school officials and consultants from Performance Services of Indianapolis, an engineering and construction company, are hoping to find a site nearby to get the project back on track.

E.ON Climate and Renewables hopes to establish a test tower southeast of Swayzee within the next two months. If results are satisfactory, the company could establish a 60,000-acre wind farm that stretches across four counties, including Grant, within the next three years. Andy Melka, the assistant development manager for E.ON, said the project is still in the planning stages, and it will be two to three years before Grant County residents see any significant construction.

When state and local officials met on Oct. 8 to announce that Illinois-based Brevini would relocate its national headquarters here and create 450 jobs building components for wind turbines, manufacturing was expected to begin in mid-2010. But a Brevini official told The Star Press recently that the nation's economy is among the reasons the plant's construction and start of operations are more likely to be longer in coming.

It all depends on 11 miles per hour. A few variances in the wind speed near Elwood could determine whether a windmill farm comes to Madison County. E.ON, a wind energy company that recently put up 600 wind turbines in Texas, has approached Madison County officials about the northwestern section of Madison County north of Elwood, showing interest in building a windmill farm at the location.

The Hammond Port Authority's wind turbine project makes its way to the City Council on Monday. The council will be asked to consider a variance to allow the installation of wind turbines at two separate locations within Wolf Lake Memorial Park and Forsythe Park. ...Talks with U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials have resulted in the city being asked to conduct a study after construction of the wind turbines and the findings being reported back, he said.

After three years of disappointments, renewable-energy advocates are trying again to convince state lawmakers to commit Indiana to drawing an ever-larger amount of its electricity from the wind, sun and other renewable sources. ...Indiana is the only state in the Upper Midwest without a renewable-energy standard.

Winds of alternative energy change for White County picked up force Monday morning, as the White County Commissioners and White County Council approved an economic development agreement with Horizon Wind Energy during their joint session. ...Planning on the installation of 126 wind turbines on 26,000 acres of White County land, Horizon representatives were on hand to discuss the plan with county officials.

Rich Porter of rural Paxton said he believes that Ford County, like other counties, has relied too much on information supplied by wind energy representatives. Porter is convinced that wind farms could have a negative impact on the county land values, taxes and zoning issues. "Wind farms are not what they look like on the surface; they have many twists and turns," he warned during the public comment period at the board's Monday meeting.

A meeting to gauge public opposition to wind farms in Boone County is scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 19 at the Boone County Farm Bureau Community Building at the 4-H Fairgrounds, 1300 East County Road 100 South, Lebanon.

At a public hearing prior to the Township Board's adoption of the amendment, Vines said the ordinance allows for one turbine for every 1.5 acres of residential property. But the device won't be allowed to emit a noise greater than 50 decibels, when measured at the nearest adjoining property line, and it can't be more than 80 feet high.

Two agricultural organizations will share information on wind farms and what to consider when leasing land to one during a meeting Tuesday. ...Jimmy Bricker, Purdue University Cooperative Extension educator and director from Benton County, is scheduled to discuss what lessons landowners have learned from the wind farms there, Schneider said.

Landowners and community members gathered at Frontier High School Tuesday night to hear about the up and coming Horizon Wind Energy project. Project Manager Martin Culik was joined by several members of Horizon staff, Commissioner Steve Burton and Economic Development Director Connie Neininger to present the Meadow Lake Wind Farm to the community and answer questions.

The city-county planning commission is developing regulations governing the installation of small wind turbines, which can be controversial. ...Permit requests for wind turbines can be controversial because of impacts on surrounding property owners as a result of noise, structural safety, potential for children to climb, bird collisions and appearance, according to APA.

A lawsuit between two Lebanon neighbors is being watched carefully by people in the wind turbine industry. The outcome could effect future commercial and residential development of wind turbines in Boone County and central Indiana.

Gipe, who now lives in California, was in Fort Wayne last month to speak to two groups involved with the local stirrings of wind energy. And he knocked the wind out of the sails of those who think Hoosiers might be able to escape spiraling energy prices if homeowners would only plop a wind turbine on their roof or in their backyard. "It's just not economical for homeowners," he says of wind energy. But that isn't to say locally generated wind energy is out of the question, Gipe says. ...