Of LEAP pipelines, Airbnb bans and a ‘Jeopardy’ champ

And way more than that.

A lot going for a Tuesday, right?

A new website gathers details about LEAP pipeline and the pushback. A proposed Airbnb ban advances. West Lafayette Police Department revises policy to appease Attorney General Todd Rokita’s legal threat. West Lafayette acknowledges and apologizes for past housing practices decades ago. School board candidate deadline approaches with some big fields, some empty slots on the ballot. Adriana Harmeyer at 15 … ‘Jeopardy’ wins.

Here goes …

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GREATER LAFAYETTE LEADERS UNVEIL LEAP PIPELINE/WATER SITE

The Greater Lafayette Water Stewardship Committee – a group led by mayors in Lafayette and West Lafayette, Tippecanoe County commissioners and Greater Lafayette Commerce – launched a website Tuesday devoted to information about a potential LEAP pipeline, taking “a protective stance regarding the potential for large-scale water withdrawals.”

The group – formed in 2023 in response to state plans to tap and take tens of millions of gallons of water a day from western Tippecanoe County and send it to Boone County – has positioned itself to protect against “all proposed projects and policies until the long-term impacts on our community’s environment and economy are known and research-informed decisions can be made."

The group also states that it is “embracing economic advancements that pave the way to a thriving and resilient future … by advocating for pragmatic approaches to sustainable development.”

West Lafayette Mayor Erin Easter, who is part of group, said the site was an effort to compile information about various water studies, the LEAP district and the community’s in-the-works, third-party review of data presented already by the Indiana Economic Development Corp., which has pushed for the 45-mile pipeline.

An IEDC-paid study, done by Texas-based consultant Intera, already offered preliminary conclusions that there is enough water in aquifers along the Wabash River, about seven miles downstream from Lafayette, to sustain LEAP. That conclusion has faced harsh backlash in and around Greater Lafayette and in some corners of the Statehouse.

“I think it’s easy in the absence of information to make assumptions,” Easter said Tuesday. “Good, clear information is very important. If people have questions or hear about something, they have a resource that they can go to and get information that they’re looking for.”