This and that: A Tuesday edition
Rep. Matt Commons joins push for redistricting in Indiana. Two candidates emerge for WL City Council vacancy. Next set of Wabash River development plans expected this week. And more.
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This and that on a Tuesday morning …
REP. MATT COMMONS ON BOARD FOR REDISTRICTING: State Rep. Matt Commons, a Williamsport Republican representing House District 13, said Monday he was ready to back a push to redistrict in Indiana ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, as touted by President Donald Trump to protect a Republican majority in Congress. Commons became the first member of the General Assembly with a district that includes a part of Tippecanoe County to advocate the idea. (House District 13 includes a large chunk of southern and western Tippecanoe County.)
Commons, a first-term representative who already announced his re-election plans for 2026, said Monday that his decision came “after listening to hardworking Hoosiers across my district.”
“For the past four years, rural Hoosiers endured the disastrous effects of Biden and Congressional Democrats’ failed agenda: skyrocketing energy costs, crushing inflation, and green energy scams that have plagued our communities,” Commons said in written statement. “Now, Democrats in California are threatening to eliminate all Republican representation in their state. We cannot stand idly by as (California Gov.) Gavin Newsom and radical California Democrats threaten to weaken conservative voices in Washington.”
He said he thought Gov. Mike Braun and House leadership “will have a tough decision to make” about whether to call a special session, “but I trust they will make the one that best serves Hoosiers across the state.”
“From the start, I’ve promised to fight for rural Hoosier values,” Commons said. “Redistricting is one way we can ensure our rural conservative Hoosier values are fairly represented in Congress.”
In recent weeks, Braun told reporters at various outlets that he was doing two things before deciding whether to call a special session: Watching what Texas lawmakers did as the first state to consider the White House request to redistrict ahead of the 2026 midterm elections; and listening to General Assembly to determine whether there was an appetite for the idea.
Locally, state Sen. Spencer Deery, a West Lafayette Republican, and state Rep. Mark Genda, a Frankfort Republican, have come out against a special session and redistricting. Indiana has a 7-2 Republican advantage in its nine U.S. House districts, along with supermajorities in both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly.
State Reps. Sheila Klinker, a Lafayette Democrat, and Chris Campbell, a West Lafayette Democrat, joined members of their statewide party in denouncing the idea.
State Sen. Ron Alting, a Lafayette Republican, has not made a statement about redistricting, as of Monday.
TWO CANDIDATES EMERGE FOR VACANCY ON WEST LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCIL: Two Democrats in West Lafayette City Council’s District 2 have stepped up to vie for a seat left vacant when Michelle Dennis stepped down in early August. Katy Bunder, former CEO of Food Finders Food Bank, and Rabita Rajkarnikar, senior internship program manager and lecturer in Purdue’s Lyle School of Civil and Construction Engineering, applied for the vacancy by a Sunday deadline, Ken Jones, Tippecanoe County Democratic Party chair, said. A caucus fill the position through 2027 will be 7 p.m. Wednesday at the West Lafayette Public Library.
Dennis, a Democrat serving a first term in District 2, announced at the Aug. 4 city council meeting that she was stepping down as she starts attending IU McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis, where classes will conflict with city council meeting nights. The District 2 seat, which covers neighborhoods east of Purdue’s campus, will be the second one this year to be filled by a Democratic Party caucus. Earlier this year, Nick Schenkel, former West Lafayette Public Library director, was selected to represent District 1, replacing Laila Veidemanis after she graduated from Purdue in May and moved from the city.
Look for more in BiL on the two candidates ahead of Wednesday’s caucus.
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SEE PLANS FOR THE NEXT STAGE OF WABASH RIVER DEVELOPMENT: The Wabash River Enhancement Corp., which has been leading development plans through Greater Lafayette’s stretch of the river, is expected to show concepts for what’s called the “South Reach” of the work during a public session Thursday, Aug. 28.
The South Reach consists of the river corridor bound by the South Street Bridge at the north, the rail corridor along the east side of the Wabash Avenue Neighborhood on the east, the U.S. 231 Bridge on the south and River Road on the west. The project also extends to Tapawingo Park on the north on the West Lafayette side of the river.
The meeting will be 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday at the Tippecanoe County Public Library, 623 South St. in Lafayette. According to WREC, the session will include a presentation by consultants from MKSK, followed by chances to give input and other ideas.
For a look at some of the work WREC is doing on that segment along the Wabash River, this story is from June, when EPA funding came for cleanup of the former Jefferson Smurfit boxboard site in the Wabash Avenue Neighborhood. That story looked at some of the plans already emerging for that property, along with work being done on trails, parks, river features and potential bike/pedestrian bridges near downtown. Here’s more:
PURDUE’S STAKE IN STATE SALE OF FORMER GM STAMPING PLANT PROPERTY: Via Leslie Bonilla Muñiz at the Indiana Capital Chronicle: “The state of Indiana sold a chunk of a massive, long-vacant Indianapolis industrial site to Elanco Animal Health for nearly $30 million, Gov. Mike Braun announced Monday. … The sale will ‘accelerate the creation of’ a larger One Health Innovation District anchored by the headquarters, according to the news release. The district is meant to connect research institutes, pilot-scale facilities, diagnostic labs and animal clinical care with a vibrant community of offices, housing, retail and green space.” Purdue has a big stake in that future, tying into research at Elanco and other spots between West Lafayette and Indianapolis in its One Health Initiative in the works for the past two years. Purdue President Mung Chiang said in a statement that the deals was a “strategic step” in Purdue’s growth in Indianapolis. For more, this is from the Indiana Capital Chronicle: “State-owned chunk of former GM stamping plant site sold to Elanco for $27M.”
WHAT NOW, BOILERMAKER SPECIAL: Quite a few of you noted this Purdue Exponent story about the Boilermaker Special, the university’s official mascot tricked-out like a locomotive on a pickup chassis. One student was killed and two others were injured when the Boilermaker Special collided with oncoming traffic on U.S. 52 south of Lafayette in April. Police at the time said it was caused by a tire malfunction. The headline in the Exponent gets you started on what’s next for the mascot, including for the home football opener Saturday: “Boilermaker Special to not return fall semester, Xtra Special continues in its place.”
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