Discover more from Based in Lafayette, Indiana

Retired, they said, after 30-plus years of reporting and writing in Lafayette. There's more news, more features to tell, via reporter and columnist Dave Bangert.

Over 5,000 subscribers

Reopening soon: North River Road (no, really)

Plus, more on the growing protest of the IEDC’s LEAP pipeline concept

Dave Bangert

Oct 31, 2023

Thanks for support today from Purdue Convocations. The pageantry, emotion and captivating music of the Mexican celebration of Día de los Muertos will fill the Loeb Playhouse stage when the Los Angeles based ensemble Las Cafeteras brings Hasta La Muerte to Purdue. Presenting its most theatrical show yet, with choreography, elaborate costumes and the familiar stylized skull face paint — this two-act performance examines the stages of grief and loss through the celebration of life and death. Friday, Nov. 3 at Loeb Playhouse. BUY TICKETS

Thanks, also, to Purdue Musical Organizations and the Purdue Christmas Show. This December, gather the whole family and celebrate 90 years of the Purdue Christmas Show. For nearly a century, this beloved holiday tradition has captivated audiences with its dazzling performances and heartwarming messages of love, hope and unity. Watch the stage come alive in the historic Elliott Hall of Music as PMO’s incredible student talent perform beautiful secular and sacred music alongside a live orchestra. Dec. 1-3. BUY TICKETS HERE.

A few notes to pass along …

NORTH RIVER ROAD SET TO REOPEN AFTER 18 MONTHS

West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis, during a tour of the combined sewer overflow storage tunnel earlier this year. (Photo: Dave Henderson)

West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis is scheduled to cut a ribbon at 1 p.m. Wednesday and reopen North River Road to through traffic for the first time in 18 months.

Sections of River Road, between Dehart Street and Happy Hollow Road, have been closed since May 2022 for the $13.9 million River Road Combined Sewer Overflow Project. The work included a 15-by-15-foot tunnel under River Road that was designed to collect and store 1.7 million gallons of stormwater during heavy rains to give the city’s wastewater treatment plant time to process sewage instead of having it overflow directly into the Wabash River.

If you’re into ribbon cuttings, the ceremony will be near the corner of North River Road and Happy Hollow Road. Parking will be available at the Happy Hollow Dog Park. Otherwise, the road will be clear sailing mid-afternoon Wednesday.

MORE ON A GROWING LEAP PROTEST

A new group aiming to rally opposition against the Indiana Economic Development Corp.’s Tippecanoe-to-Boone County water pipeline plan will hold its first official meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1., at the West Lafayette Public Library’s Elm Room, 208 W. Columbia St. The group is going by the name Stop the Water Steal. David Sanders, a West Lafayette City Council member, said the group is planning to be a 501(c)4 organization, a nonprofit status that would allow it to lobby leaders at the Statehouse and be a rallying point for local voices. (Here’s a look at how things went when about 75 residents gathered in the same library meeting room to start pulling the project together in mid-October: “Signs start to show in opposition of LEAP pipeline.”) Local officials, who have been monitoring the IEDC plans to tap a Wabash River aquifer about six miles downstream from Lafayette, also have been positioning their pushback on trying to limit how much water leaves Tippecanoe County if the quasi-public state development agency goes ahead with a plan to build a 35-mile pipeline to Boone County. Some estimates have put the state’s needs for the LEAP District project, as well as development in other communities along the route, at 100 million gallons a day, running through a $2 billion pipeline. The first pieces of development on the 9,000-acre LEAP site – including a $3 billion Eli Lilly facility – are in the works, along with a raft of road and utility projects speeding along, just north of the I-65/U.S. 52 split. IEDC-sponsored crews recently started working on wells at a second test site near County Road 700 West, just west of Granville Bridge.
CHECK OUT THE INITIAL REACTION WHEN THIS REPORT CAME OUT
A group in Attica, downstream on the Wabash River from those test sites, will hold a town hall meeting and letter writing session at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9, at the Historic Devon Theater, 107 E. Mill St. in downtown Attica. The Attica City Council recently passed a resolution in opposition to the pipeline plan to feed the LEAP project.
And cartoonist Dave Sattler has a nomination for scariest costume this trick-or-treat season, as seen his Substack, “My View from Here.” (If you haven’t subscribed to Dave Sattler’s newsletter, what are you waiting for?)

For more, here’s a look at what candidates in Lafayette and West Lafayette municipal elections are saying: “Lafayette, WL candidates: Where they stand on LEAP pipeline plan.”

OTHER READS …

Indiana Capital Chronicle reporters Whitney Downard and Casey Smith showed records that brought this lede: “Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales has given a spot bonus to nearly every employee in his office this year — including a family member and his former campaign manager — for a total of more than $308,000.” Morales’ office said it was to offset low pay in the Secretary of State’s office. Others were, well, shocked. Here’s the full story: “Secretary of State Morales doles out $308K+ in spot bonuses. Spending outpaces peer offices, who spent less than $75k combined.”
Indianapolis Business Journal reporter John Russell had this Monday, as IU makes plans for its share of the IUPUI breakup with Purdue: “Indiana University announced Monday afternoon that it plans to invest more than $250 million to create two science and health research institutes in Indianapolis, recruit life-sciences researchers to Bloomington, and expand or renovate laboratory space at both campuses.” Here’s his full story.

Thanks for support today from Purdue Convocations, presenting Las Cafeteras and Hasta La Muerte, Friday, Nov. 3 at Loeb Playhouse. Tickets available here

Thanks, also, to Purdue Musical Organizations and the Purdue Christmas Show, with four show times to choose from Dec. 1-3. Get tickets here.

And a reminder: Food Finders Food Bank is preparing for the 13th annual Drive Away Hunger Fall Food Drive, Nov. 1-Dec. 1. The goal is an ambitious 700,000 meals. To find out how you, your school, church and business can help, go to: www.food-finders.org/dah.

**SO MANY WAYS TO HELP … CLICK HERE NOW**

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING BASED IN LAFAYETTE, AN INDEPENDENT, LOCAL REPORTING PROJECT. FREE AND FULL-RIDE SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS ARE READY FOR YOU HERE.

Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.