This and that: A fall Sunday edition

Some notes, some things to do … and the final days of a BiL deal.

• Thanks to sponsor Stuart & Branigin for continued support of the Based in Lafayette reporting project.

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TIME’S TICKING ON THIS BiL DEAL: Before we get going on a little This and a little That on this Sunday morning, a reminder that just a few days remain on Based in Lafayette’s fall deal. Upgrade to a full-access subscription – whether by the month or annually – and get 20% off the regular price for your first year. The offer is good only through Tuesday, Sept. 30. Here’s how …

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PLAYING TODAY: ART ON THE WABASH: Artists will be set up 10 a.m.-4 p.m. today/Sunday in West Lafayette’s Tapawingo Park for Art on the Wabash. As BiL correspondent Tim Brouk put it in this week’s Tim’s Picks: “Organized by the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette, the annual Art on the Wabash is like an outdoor art gallery, except most pieces on display are affordable.” The event also features live music, food trucks and children’s activities. Stop by and stroll the park at 100 Tapawingo Drive.

Bonus cut at Tapawingo Park: Check the perils of public art, after the centerpiece orb in Esteban Garcia Bravo’s “Pearl of the Wabash” sculpture was loosened in some fashion and removed. Reported stolen in West Lafayette police bulletins last week, Garcia Bravo said artists already had recovered the piece after someone had rolled the removed pearl down a Tapawingo Park slope. “It’s in good hands,” Garcia Bravo told BiL. In case you missed it, here’s more on the caper and the repairs in the works: “About the lost (and found) pearl from West Lafayette’s ‘Pearl of the Wabash.’”

‘Pearl of the Wabash.’ (Photo courtesy of Esteban Garcia Bravo)

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FALLOUT AFTER FED’S PULL $34.9M ‘GEAR UP’ GRANT FROM PURDUE: Purdue officials remained quiet last week, not responding to questions about the university’s response to a U.S. Department of Education decision to pull the final six years of a seven-year, $34.9 million grant aimed at increasing the number of students in Indiana school with low-income rate prepared to succeed in post-secondary education. The GEAR Up program, based at Purdue, included programs featuring afterschool tutoring services, summer STEM camps, family dinner nights, financial literacy resources and SAT prep, among other things – including in Lafayette schools. The U.S. Department of Education, in a letter dated Sept. 12, told Purdue that GEAR Up was “inconsistent with, and no longer effectuates, the best interest of the federal government and will not be continued.” The reason given: The initial application included some language about diversity in hiring tutors and others connected with the program. The letter included a chance to appeal. As of now, Purdue hasn’t clarified whether it considered – and filed – an appeal. Letters shared by schools across the state indicate that things will wind down as of Tuesday, Sept. 30, on what Purdue had touted in 2024 as its sixth largest federal grant in university history. For more, here’s an account from a BiL edition last week:

U.S. Dept. of Education ends $34.9M grant to Purdue over diversity language

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INTRODUCING ‘THE HIVE:’ I’ll have more early this week, but the Recovery Café, a peer-based counseling and recovery space at 2300 Ferry St., on Friday unveiled a rebranding and expanded mission. Now called The Hive, the organization will be a hub for peer-to-peer support for those recovering from alcohol and substance abuse. It’s big move for a program that started in 2019 in a rented room at Bauer Community Center and now offers a space for hundreds of people a month. “When we first opened, it was a small space with a really big dream,” Lindsey Willis, executive director, said. “The mission was community and a safe space of belonging. … This takes what we’re doing to another level.” Read more, coming this week in BiL.

(Photo: Dave Bangert)

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CHRISTMAS PARADE ENTRY APPLICATIONS BEING TAKEN NOW: What is it they say about the Lafayette Christmas Parade? You’re either in it or you’re watching it, right. This year’s edition, touted as the biggest holiday parade in Indiana, will be under the lights Saturday, Dec. 6, along Main Street in downtown Lafayette. The theme: Christmases Past, Present, Future. Greater Lafayette Commerce this week opened applications to be in the parade, with an entry deadline of Nov. 7. Entry fees are $50 for commercial, $10 for nonprofits and free for government/public safety. All parade entries must incorporate lights into the design. Entry forms and more details are available at https://bit.ly/2025GLC_ChristmasParade. Completed forms and payment must be received by the deadline and sent to Brittany Matthews at bmatthews@greaterlafayettecommerce.com or submitted in person to the Greater Lafayette Commerce office located at 337 Columbia St. in Lafayette.

(Photo: Vincent Walter / For Based in Lafayette)

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DINING DIVAS AND DUDES: FLAVOR, FLAIR AND FRIENDLY FACES AT ARANDAS

Dining Divas and Dudes is a team that has been reporting and rating new restaurants, hidden gems, international fare and updated menus from old favorites for years now via Visit Lafayette-West Lafayette at homeofpurdue.com. Here at Based in Lafayette, we feature some of Dining Divas and Dudes’ latest finds.

The latest edition: They checked out Arandas, a new Mexican restaurant that opened recently in the former location of South Street Smokehouse, 3305 South St., in Lafayette.

The upshot for a spot that once held Bea One and then Merlin’s Beard: “This is owner Jonathan Fuentes’ first venture at running his own restaurant, and from what we saw today, he’s doing a great job. (Some may remember him from El Meson). Colorful and welcoming, Arandas is a place we’ll happily return to.”

• Here’s a way in to the full Dining Divas and Dudes review.

(Photos: Dining Divas and Dudes)

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OTHER READS …

• What kind of classified files are there on the disappearance of Amelia Earhart on her attempt to circumnavigate the globe in 1937? President Donald Trump announced Friday evening on social media that he’d put it all out to the public. “I have been asked by many people about the life and times of Amelia Earhart, such an interesting story, and would I consider declassifying and releasing everything about her, in particular, her last, fatal flight!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. People who have been trying to unravel the mystery said they didn’t hold out hope that there were would be big revelations about a flight that had direct ties to Purdue, where Earhart was an instructor and counselor. For more, here’s the AP account: “Trump says he’s ordered the declassification and release of all government records on Amelia Earhart.” The move comes as a mission financed by Purdue Research Foundation heads to a remote spot in the Pacific to explore whether images spotted by satellites might reveal the resting spot for the Lockheed Electra 10E university donors paid for ahead of the round-the-world attempt. The expedition is expected to leave in November for spit of sand just off the island Nikumaroro, roughly midway between Hawaii and Australia. Here’s more on that project, announced this summer:

Purdue Research Foundation stakes expedition to find Amelia Earhart’s lost plane

• A team of Indianapolis Star reporters connected some dots last week, looking into Indiana Economic Development Corp. spending over the years and how officials – including Purdue Research Foundation CEO Chad Pittman – wielded control over who did or didn’t get in on the quasi-public agencies business developments. From the report – by Hayleigh Colombo, Marissa Meador and Kayla Dwyer – here’s a taste: “But no matter the name, the influence they held had the power to make or break some startups’ chances to access state economic development contracts and grants, multiple sources told IndyStar. In fact, three companies said they believed they were squeezed out of state initiatives intended to help Indiana startups when their activities were interpreted as being at odds with or in competition with the men. Meanwhile, entities controlled by the Three Kings benefited handsomely from taxpayer-funded grants and no-bid professional services contracts: The IEDC under Holcomb doled out more than $180 million over less than six years in awards to entities controlled, either in whole or in part, by at least one — and sometimes all — of the three men.” Here’s the rest: “‘The Three Kings’: Top IEDC official and his partners received $180M in IEDC contracts.”

• Meanwhile, results of an audit into IEDC spending is expected this week. Here’s more on that via Leslie Bonilla Muñiz, reporting for the Indiana Capital Chronicle: “IEDC board votes to release results of forensic analysis — after legal review.”

• I had this story from IndyStar reporter Marissa Meador in mind Saturday as I was strafed by the dust of a combine harvesting soybeans while cycling along Bethel Chapel Road in Fountain County: “Indiana expects record soybeans, but farmers may lose their biggest buyer thanks to tariffs.”

• IndyStar reporter Dana Hunsinger Benbow had this story featuring the behind-the-scenes work to build a signature guitar the Indianapolis Colts are toting to games this season to honor former owner Jim Irsay, who died earlier this year. The story includes direct ties to Purdue, including Mark French, Purdue engineering technology professor and head of the school’s Guitar Lab, and Noah Scott, a former student member of the Purdue trustees. Here’s a way in: “Two men built Jim Irsay’s final guitar at request of Colts’ Shane Steichen: ‘Awe and an honor.’”

Thanks, again, to sponsor Stuart & Branigin for continued support of the Based in Lafayette reporting project.

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