The mayor’s autograph deep in that massive River Road sewer tunnel

And it’s about what you’d expect/hope for WL Mayor John Dennis to say. Plus, first takes on the last day of the General Assembly’s 2023 session. And what they’re saying the Colts’ first round pick

• Thanks for sponsorship help today from The Lafayette Master Chorale, presenting Joseph Haydn's "The Creation," 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at St. Mary Cathedral, 1207 Columbia St., Lafayette. Join us for the 225th anniversary of Haydn’s epic choral masterpiece depicting the creation of the world. Performed here last in 2000, this work is distinctly programmatic, with chorus and symphony reflecting one of the most enduring stories ever written. Tickets at lafayettemasterchorale.org.

ORDER TICKETS HERE

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MAYOR DENNIS LEAVES A MESSAGE IN A NEW STORMWATER TUNNEL

West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis took a tour of the first sections of the massive tunnels being dug under North River Road for a $13.9 million combined-sewer overflow project.

The proof was there in photos Dave Henderson, the city’s utility director, took of Dennis doing his best “so big” pose in his West Side High School letter jacket.

West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis gives a sense of the scale of the new storm sewer tunnel going in under North River Road during a tour Wednesday. (Photo: Dave Henderson)

The proof’s there, too, that Dennis left his mark on a tunnel that by this fall will be covered by the road, again, with the 15-by-15-foot tunnel doing its work to collect and store 1.7 million gallons of stormwater during heavy rains, giving the city’s wastewater treatment plant time to process sewage instead of having it overflow directly into the Wabash River.

West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis put his signature, and inscription, on the walls of the sewer tunnel under North River Road. (Photo: Dave Henderson)

His autograph on the concrete walls, dated April 26, came with something extra:

“This is great shit.”

Admit it, you’re going to miss him when he finishes his term, after 16 years in office, at the end of 2023.

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(Photo: Dave Bangert)

SPEAKING OF WEST SIDE ELECTIONS …

Early voting continues today and Saturday ahead of Tuesday’s municipal election. The only game in town: Four Democrats – incumbents James Blanco, David Sanders and Gerald Thomas, along with Iris O’Donnell Bellisario – on the primary ballot for three at-large seats on the West Lafayette City Council. Here’s an introduction to each of the candidates.

Early voting:

• Friday, April 28: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Tippecanoe County Office Building, 20 N. Third St., Lafayette; and noon-6 p.m., West Lafayette City Hall, 222 N. Chauncey Ave.

• Saturday, April 29: noon-4 p.m., West Lafayette City Hall and Tippecanoe County Office Building.

• Monday, May 1: 8 a.m.-noon, Tippecanoe County Office Building.

For more about the primary, polling places Tuesday and more, here’s a primer.

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OTHER READS …

THE SESSION ENDS: The Indiana General Assembly ended its 2023 session after 2 a.m. Friday. Here’s some of what went on in a long, final day:

• The next two-year budget, the only thing legislators are required to do, went to the wire, past midnight and into Friday morning. A big reason was in Indiana Capital Chronicle reporters Whitney Downard and Casey Smith’s lede: “Outrage from public school officials over dismal funding in the next two-year state budget prompted lawmakers to add a twelfth-hour K-12 spending boost in Indiana’s spending plan in a chaotic final day that yielded several so-called ‘final’ draft budgets.” Here’s a first read on where things landed: “Chaotic, twelfth-hour push nets $312M increase for traditional K-12.”

• Indianapolis Star reporter Cate Charron had this look at the last-minute resurrection of a measure that would ban books lawmakers have deemed offensive in school libraries. House Bill 1447  would classify literature "harmful to minors" and remove legal defense for librarians and teachers who contend a book was available for "educational" purposes. Here’s a look: “Indiana House, Senate agree on measure to ban books from school libraries.” Indianapolis Capital Chronicle reporter Casey Smith had this take on the same bill: “In ‘sneaky move,’ Indiana lawmakers revive contentious library materials language. The provisions would make it easier for parents and community members to challenge school library materials.” And Lee V. Gaines of WFYI had this: “Behind closed doors, Indiana lawmakers finalize bill to ban books from school libraries.”

• Indiana Capital Chronicle reporter Whitney Downard looked at another late addition to the proposed state budget that would give some of the state’s top officials big pay raises. (It was a measure that Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch took to social media to blast, saying it was the wrong move, particularly coming without warning.) Here’s the story: “Governor, other top elected officials see pay raise in budget.”

AND WITH THE FOURTH PICK, THE COLTS SELECT …: There's something magical about the hope in the initial minutes of a First Round Pick. And Thursday night, that came at No. 4 for the Indianapolis Colts with Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson. Here’s some of the first takes:

• Indianapolis Star reporter Joel A. Erickson had this on the Colts’ first first-round QB since Andrew Luck a decade ago: “Colts select Anthony Richardson, most athletic QB in NFL Draft history, with fourth pick.”

• “He was undeniably raw. He was also impossible to ignore.” The Athletic reporter Zak Keefer tells some of the backstory that brought the Colts to make the pick: “Anthony Richardson era will be a balance of patience and pressure for Colts, QB.”

• Indianapolis Star columnist Gregg Doyel: “Anthony Richardson is the perfect lump of QB clay; can the Colts develop him?”

• Jim Irsay, Colts owner, patched in with his assurances that Richardson – the third quarterback taken in the first four picks – was the QB Indianapolis was aiming to get:

  

RAILROAD CROSSINGS: Raise your hand if this ProPublica story – about kids in Hammond having to climb through rail cars stopped at crossings for extended time so they could get to school – brings up bad, pre-Railroad Relocation memories in Lafayette. The situation here was rarely, if ever, as bad as the  simply terrifying story and video picked up by ProPublica reporters Topher Sanders and Dan Schwartz and Gray Television reporter Joce Sterman: “As Rail Profits Soar, Blocked Crossings Force Kids to Crawl Under Trains to Get to School.”

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ICYMI, TIM’S PICKS: Looking for something to do this weekend? Here are five choice ideas from our man Tim Brouk. (As seen Thursdays in Based in Lafayette.)

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

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Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com. Like and follow Based in Lafayette on Facebook: Based in Lafayette