Support for this edition comes from Oasis Community, an inclusive, safe, person-centered housing community for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities being planned in Tippecanoe County. Oasis will hold an annual celebration to mark its progress and share plans for the coming months Oct. 15 at the Lafayette Country Club. RSVP here by Oct. 9.
Some this and that on Thursday afternoon …
DEMOCRATS ADD A LATE NAME IN TOWNSHIP TRUSTEE RACE: More than 50 voters in Tippecanoe Township who received absentee ballots in September can expect a letter in the coming days about an updated ballot, after the Tippecanoe County Democratic Party slated a candidate Thursday to run for township trustee.
Holden Mugford, a small business owner, will replace Eric Ehrman on the Nov. 3 ballot, after Ehrman moved from the township. Mugford will face Bill Jones, the Republican incumbent in a township that includes the Battle Ground area and north of West Lafayette.
Ken Jones, Tippecanoe County Democratic Party chair, submitted Mugford’s candidacy Thursday morning, ahead of early voting scheduled to start Tuesday, Oct. 6.
Ballots for the Nov. 3 general election needed to be certified by Sept. 19. But according to the county election staff, parties are allowed to slate candidates in the township races up until five days before Election Day if it’s to fill a vacancy caused by a death or disqualification. Ehrman’s move constituted a disqualification.
For voters who already received ballots in Tippecanoe Township, they will be sent a form that will allow them to request a new, replacement ballot, according to election staff. If they prefer, those voters will be allowed to use the ballots they have that don’t include Mugford’s name.
Township trustees’ duties include overseeing fire protection and handling emergency assistance for residents.
In other news leading up to the election:
The voter registration deadline in time to vote in the November general election is Monday, Oct. 5. The deadline is 4:30 p.m. Oct. 5 to do that in person at the Tippecanoe County Election Office, 20 N. Third St. in Lafayette. For online submissions, the deadline is 11:59 p.m. Oct. 5. To register, check your status or get more information, go to the Secretary of State’s voter portal at indianavoters.in.gov or to the county’s voter registration page.
The Tippecanoe County Election Board is scheduled to run a public test of voting equipment at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 2, at the County Office Building, 20 N. Third St. in Lafayette.
The first day of early voting will be Tuesday, Oct. 6. For the first two weeks, early voting in Tippecanoe County will be 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Oct. 6-Oct. 9 and Oct. 13-Oct. 16 at the County Office Building, 20 N. Third St. in Lafayette. Additional sites will open starting Oct. 17. For a full schedule, through Nov. 2, here’s a list of early voting sites and times.
Four candidates for three at-large seats on the West Lafayette school board will face questions from West Lafayette High School students during a forum at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5, at West Lafayette Intermediate School, 1838 N. Salisbury St. Candidates running for the four-year spots on the school board include Maria Koliantz, Dacia Mumford, John Robinson and Laurence Wang. Mumford and Wang are first-term incumbents on the board. The candidate forum, open to the public, is hosted by West Lafayette High School AP Government class students.
Candidates for Fairfield Township trustee will debate at 6 p.m. Oct. 8 at the Northend Community Center, 2000 Elmwood Ave. in Lafayette. Ray Williams, a Republican, and Ted Hardesty, a Democrat, are running for the position in a township that covers much of Lafayette north of Beck Lane and an area north and east of the city. The Heartland Democracy Project is sponsoring the debate.
Programming note: BiL is collecting Q&As with candidates and will publish those in the coming week.
REPORT: BAIRD’S LODGING, MEAL REIMBURSEMENTS TOP CONGRESSIONAL LIST: U.S. Rep. Jim Baird, a Greencastle Republican who represents Tippecanoe County as part of the 4th District, was reimbursed $39,789 in 2025 from a congressional program that covers lodging and meals while in Washington, D.C., on official business, the Washington Post reported this week. That put Baird at the top of the list of 360 members of the U.S. House who took part in the three-year-old program – and among 26 who reported more than $30,000 in expenses – according to the Washington Post. From the Post lede: “House lawmakers spent $6.7 million of taxpayer money on meals and lodging last year — a 21 percent increase over 2024 — under a reimbursement program that doesn’t require them to provide receipts, a Washington Post analysis found.” Baird did not respond to the Post for the report. His staff did not immediately respond to a BiL request for comment, either. Baird faces Democrat Drew Cox in the Nov. 3 general election. Here’s more from the Washington Post: “The House reimburses lawmakers for D.C. expenses. See who spent the most.”
ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGES FILED AFTER SHOOTING IN IVY TECH LOT: Prosecutors filed charges, including attempted murder, this week against Brandon Person, 19, of Lafayette, accused of shooting a co-worker after meeting with him Sept. 23 at an Ivy Tech Community College parking lot near Creasy Lane. J&C reporter Jillian Ellison had more here: “Man shot at victim 9 times in Ivy Tech parking lot, court records say.”
LAST CALL AT PURDUE’S DEGAS GALLERY, BRONZES WILL BE INSTALLED AROUND CAMPUS, INSTEAD: Two years after opening a dedicated space in the Purdue Memorial Union for a collection of bronze sculptures from French impressionist Edgar Degas, the university announced plans this week to close the Degas Gallery on Oct. 9, with the intention of installing pieces across the West Lafayette and Indianapolis campuses after winter break.
“The Degas Gallery in the Purdue Memorial Union was designed with the understanding that it would have a finite lifespan in that location,” Erika Kvam, director and head curator of Purdue Galleries, said in a release this week.
The new locations will be announced in December, with a map available at Purdue University Galleries’ website.
Until then, the Degas Gallery is open 11 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays in the Purdue Memorial Union.
Purdue’s collection of 74 bronzes was donated in 2022 by Avrum Gray, a 1956 Purdue mechanical engineering alum and art collector from Glencoe, Illinois. The centerpiece is a casting of “La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans (The Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen),” a signature sculpture among impressionist Degas’ work that’s placed prominently near the entrance of the new gallery opened in 2024. Valued at $21 million at the time of the donation, the collection was announced as the single largest gift in the College of Liberal Arts history.
Here’s more on how the Degas collection wound up at Purdue, including an interview with Avrum Gray:
Thanks, again, for support for this edition from Oasis Community, an inclusive, safe, person-centered housing community for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities being planned in Tippecanoe County. Oasis will hold an annual celebration to mark its progress and share plans for the coming months at 5 p.m. Oct. 15 at the Lafayette Country Club. RSVP here by Oct. 9.
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Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.