‘Finally!’ Purdue heads to the Final Four
Scenes from Purdue’s win over Tennessee, good for a trip to the Final Four. Plus, lights over Main Street. And more
This edition is sponsored by the Center for C-SPAN Scholarship & Engagement (CCSE), which will host its spring Conversation with Brian Lamb Tuesday, April 2. Brian Lamb, C-SPAN founder, will interview Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and essayist. Schiff will share from her New York Times bestselling book, “The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams,” exploring thought-provoking insights on early American history, the Revolutionary War and this forgotten revolutionary hero. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/BLConversations
‘FINALLY!’ PURDUE HEADS TO THE FINAL FOUR
When Steph Lindell finally spotted her dad, Todd Connelly, Sunday evening near the Airport Road tracks separating U.S. 231 from the Purdue Airport terminal, she ran full force into his arms and let out a small scream.
Other obligations had conspired to keep the Purdue grads – Lindell in ’08, Connelly in ’79 – from getting to Detroit this weekend to see Purdue take down Gonzaga on Friday and then Tennessee on Sunday in the NCAA Tournament to earn a berth in the Final Four for the first time since 1980.
But they were on the phone during the final minutes of Sunday’s 72-66 Boiler victory, Lindell in Merrillville and Connelly in Fishers. Lindell said they wanted a piece of the day. And they agreed to meet on the western edge of campus, about an hour drive for each of them, to meet the plane carrying the team home.
There, they connected, daughter jumping into the arms of her father, each wearing shirts paying tribute to center Zach Edey.
“Whew!” Lindell said to her dad. “Finally. I feel like I can breathe, again, somehow.”
The sentiment ran deep for a crowd that waiting for a charter that landed at 9:13 p.m. at Purdue Airport to greet players who, seated in the back of the Boilermaker Special, were escorted parade style to their cars.
“I don’t think we ever thought we’d see this day,” Sarah Thomas, a Lafayette resident, said. “Two more. Two more games, baby. … But a Final Four? For now, that’s like heaven.”
There were so many ways to drink in the moment. Here were a few of the great reads:
J&C reporter Sam King came away with this game recap: “Zach Edey has 'all-time performance from an all-time player,' leads Purdue to Final Four.”
King, all the place on this beat and on this day, had this about a redemption tour for the Boilers and coach Matt Painter: “Matt Painter's Purdue is old school — and it works.”
Mike Carmin, writing for Gold and Black, had this: “How Purdue celebrated its first Final Four since 1980 and moments from Elite Eight win over Tennessee.”
Indianapolis Star reporter Gregg Doyel captured it this way: “Purdue’s finally going to the Final Four, and everyone’s crying.”
The Athlete’s Brendan Quinn put this one up, which also caught Robbie Hummel, among others, crying: “Purdue’s cathartic Elite Eight win over Tennessee was 44 years in the making.”
Next up: No. 11 seed North Carolina State on Saturday in Phoenix.
THIS AND THAT …
LIGHTS OVER MAIN STREET: What was one concern about a plan to string lights above Main Street in downtown Lafayette, the way they’ve been between 10th and 11th streets? Would they be positioned high enough that that Santa Claus float – about 16 feet tall – could make it down the street during the Lafayette Christmas Parade each December. “That was the big thing,” Dennis Carson, Lafayette’s economic development director, said.
LED string lights will go between existing street lamps on Main Street, starting between Sixth and Eighth streets, according to recent approval by the Lafayette Historic Preservation Commission.
Carson said the lights are expected to be up in some blocks before the first Mosey Down Main Street festival of 2024, which happens May 18 between Sixth and 11th streets. The test run on Upper Main Street, Carson said, came when the Ouibache Music Festival was still downtown several years ago. (That festival has been at Columbian Park for the past few years.) Carson said the lights simply never came down.
“It isn't a big project, but it will make a big difference for the ambience and welcoming feel of our historic downtown for locals and visitors alike,” Sean Lutes, a member of the Lafayette Historic Preservation Commission, said.
CANDIDATE FORUM TUESDAY NIGHT: Five Democrats looking for three nominations for Tippecanoe County Council at-large seats will participate in a question-and-answer session Tuesday in Lafayette. Democratic challengers Katy Bunder, Ben Carson, Amanda Eldridge, Joe Mackey and Wendy Starr will be on the May 7 primary ballot, with three advancing to represent the party in the November general election.
The one-hour forum will be 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, at the VFW Post, 2660 Duncan Road in Lafayette, and is open to the public. The forum also will be broadcast via Facebook Live.
Republicans also have five candidates – John Basham, Paige Britton, Dan Dunten, Barry Richard and Kevin Underwood – running for those seats. Basham, Richard and Underwood are the incumbents for those seats on the seven-member council, which oversees the county’s budget and other fiscal matters.
For more: Here’s a look at who will be on Republican and Democratic ballots in the May 7 primary in Tippecanoe County, check here.
Registration and ballots: To register to vote – the deadline is April 8 – check your voter registration and to see candidates who will be on your R or D ballot, go to the Secretary of State’s portal at www.indianavoters.com.
ICYMI … WEST LAFAYETTE V. THE AIRBNBS: On the agenda Monday for the West Lafayette City Council are a series of measures meant to address a housing crunch in the city. Among them: A look at new zoning regulations to allow for “accessory dwelling units,” or smaller, independent residential units on the same lot as a standalone single-family home; an opportunity to reopen the city’s downtown land-use plan to address what Mayor Erin Easter says are increasing calls to develop areas south of State Streets, between South River Road and Grant street; and – the big one – a resolution that considers a ban on short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods. Here are the initial details, published last week in Based in Lafayette: “Ban Airbnbs? West Lafayette says it’s time in residential neighborhoods.”
And if you’re going, expect a second month of community activist calls for the council to take up a resolution dealing with the situation in Gaza – the council hasn’t been keen on jumping on that one, despite the pressure during its March meeting; a revision to what e-vehicle companies are required to pay in permit fees and how it has to manage its scooters and bikes so they aren’t left blocking sidewalks, driveways and doorways; and finalizing bonding on redesigned streets in the Levee area in connection with the $250 million Landmark project, just northeast of State Street and North River Road.
The city council will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday at West Lafayette City Hall, 222 N. Chauncey Ave.
WABASH/TIPPECANOE TOWNSHIP LAND USE PLANS: A reworking of Wabash Township and Tippecanoe Township’s land use plan, the first since 1981, will go to Tippecanoe County commissioners Monday morning for approval. The document advanced with a positive recommendation with little comment at a March Area Plan Commission hearing. The plans have been in the works since 2022 for the fast-growing areas west and north of West Lafayette. Among the ideas in a plan meant to guide development and conceptual road projects is a potential northern, more direct extension of U.S. 231 between Sagamore Parkway and Interstate 65 in the northern part of Tippecanoe County. The commissioners meet at 10 a.m. Monday at the County Office Building, 20 N. Third St. in Lafayette. For more details, here’s a link to the proposed plan. Also, here’s a breakdown of goals outlined in the land use plan, via a previous story in Based in Lafayette:
Thanks, again, to this edition’s sponsor, the Center for C-SPAN Scholarship & Engagement, presenting its spring Conversation with Brian Lamb April 2.
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Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.
Boiler up!!💛🖤