The farewell tour starts for Mitch Daniels

Plus, judge issues gag order in Delphi murder case after attorneys go public with concerns about Richard Allen’s charges. And competency questions surround Purdue murder suspect

Thanks to sponsor Stuart & Branigin for support to help make this edition of the Based in Lafayette reporting project possible.

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THE FAREWELL TOUR FOR MITCH DANIELS

The farewell tour for Purdue President Mitch Daniels – a series of events the university was calling MitchFest to mark the final month of his decade at Purdue – played out as a huge pep session Friday afternoon at a gateway to the West Lafayette campus.

At the corner of Grant Street, as the university officially unveiled a name change for a section of State Street – going to Mitch Daniels Boulevard for the part that runs through campus, after a West Lafayette board of works OK earlier that morning – Daniels greets hundreds of students who spilled into the streets.

Purdue President Mitch Daniels address a crowd near Grant and State streets Friday, as Purdue Pete shows the new name for the stretch of State Street that runs through campus: Mitch Daniels Boulevard. (Photo: Dave Bangert)

“It’s probably just as well they didn’t run it all the way down to Harry’s,” Daniels said, name-dropping the iconic campus haunt a few blocks away, as Purdue Pete pumped a “Mitch Daniels Blvd.” street sign in the air. (Harry’s, Von’s, University Bookstore and other downtown West Lafayette addresses east of Grant Street will not change.)