This and that: Holding off the rain for Stars and Stripes

Stars and Stripes concert, fireworks are a go downtown. A bunch of Other Reads, including Lebanon getting sued over water. Plus, a Fourth of July Adjacent playlist.

Dave Bangert

Jul 04, 2024

Thanks to this edition’s sponsor, Purdue Convocations, presenting their 2024-2025 Season. All tickets for theater, music and national Broadway tours are now on sale to the general public and Friends of Convocations at convocations.org/buy. Purdue Convocations presents its 122nd Season with a lineup of innovative projects and performances from around the world. The 2024-2025 Convos Season includes the 29th West Lafayette Global Fest, award-winning jazz and chamber musicians, a curricular integration theater residency, thought-provoking lectures, family-friendly engagements and award-winning Broadway musicals and major attractions in Elliott Hall of Music, including Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Live in Concert, Dear Evan Hansen, TINA – The Tina Turner Musical, Hadestown, Pretty Woman: The Musical and Chicago. Place your Friends of Convos order by July 12 to get the best seats! Renew or Join & ORDER TODAY!

First up today, a programming note:

UPDATE: STARS AND STRIPES IS A GO

The Stars and Stripes Celebration, the annual July Fourth concerts and fireworks in downtown, is a go after organizers and emergency management officials met Wednesday to assess forecasts for what could be a rainy Independence Day.

City Clerk Cindy Murray, who leads Stars and Stripes, said Wednesday that at that forecast models indicated a window of clear weather from 5 p.m. to midnight, when the event is scheduled.

Murray said that if things change Thursday that she would announce any changes by 5 p.m. at Riehle Plaza.

yellow and red fireworks — (Photo: Unsplash)

“After months of planning and work by dozens of volunteers and vendors, we are pleased that the weather is cooperating,” Murray said.

The National Weather Service forecast for Thursday called for isolated showers and scattered thunderstorms after 11 a.m., with a 40% chance for precipitation. The National Weather Service forecast called for likely showers after 2 a.m. Friday.

Here’s the entertainment schedule for Stars and Stripes at Riehle Plaza, near the corner of Second and Main streets:

5 p.m.: Food truck vendors will be open
6 p.m.: Lafayette Jeff Jazz Combo and Alumni Band
7 p.m. Clave Caribe
8 p.m.: Lafayette Citizens Band and Freedom Singers
9 p.m.: Tippecanoe Ancient Fife and Drum Corps
9:15 p.m.: Lafayette Citizens Band and Freedom Singers
10 p.m.: Fireworks, with music synced on Q106.7 FM

Traffic reminder: During the day, eastbound Harrison Bridge will be closed from 9 a.m. to midnight Thursday, July 4, to allow crews to set up the fireworks display. Harrison Bridge will be closed in both directions from 6 p.m. to midnight Thursday, July 4.

THIS AND THAT/OTHER READS …

Indianapolis Business Journal’s Cate Charron had a look at a South Carolina-based real estate company’s $25 million lawsuit against the city of Lebanon, claiming that the city acted in bad faith by tanking plans for a tech park knowing it would be concentrating efforts and future water supplies to massive developments the Indiana Economic Development Corp. was looking to bring to the LEAP district in Boone County. RealtyLink filed the suit in June in U.S. District Court of Southern Indiana. The IEDC has been looking at a pipeline to feed water from western Tippecanoe County to the LEAP district two counties away, a plan that has been hugely controversial in Greater Lafayette and the rest of the region. And Lebanon Mayor Matt Gentry has said the city’s water supply has been committed and that additional development won’t happen in the city until water solutions are found. The RealtyLink lawsuit adds a new wrinkle. Here’s Charron’s story with details about the lawsuit: “Developer sues Lebanon for tech park fallout, citing LEAP District as city’s priority for water use.”

The next shoe dropped in a family’s complaint against the Lafayette Police Department after officers made arrests in May at the home on Maple Street, where they believed a domestic abuse case was happening but actually dealt with a false claim. An attorney for William Neal, Taair Neal and Tammy Cooper filed a tort claim against Lafayette police that contained a series of demands, including apologies from the city, firing of officers and their trainers, voluntary federal oversight and monitoring of the department’s practices and $300,000. Here’s more on the situation from the Journal & Courier and WLFI.
Leading into this Independence Day, here’s a look at a recent piece from Indianapolis Star reporter Kayla Dwyer, who looked back at the debate that led to Indiana’s current laws on fireworks sales and use. The story is full of loopholes, firefighting fees and police investigations that brought the state to the booms heard through neighborhoods this time of the years. Here’s a way in: “How Indiana led the way in legalizing backyard fireworks despite safety concerns.”

man crouching holding sparkler — (Photo: Unsplash)

Indiana Capital Chronicle reporter Leslie Bonilla Muñiz had this look at a notice from Secretary of State Diego Morales, Indiana’s top elections official, telling agencies to stand down on offering voter registration services outlined in a three-year-old presidential executive order without state approval. Bonilla Muñiz wrote that “Morales’ office didn’t immediately provide specific examples of law-breaking,” but the secretary of state posted that “we don’t need federal government overreach to run safe, secure elections!” Here’s more from the Indiana Capital Chronicle: “Indiana elections chief directs 100+ federal agencies to halt alleged ‘unauthorized involvement.’”

Also in the Indiana Capital Chronicle, reporter Whitney Downard looked at a new report on a growing gap between rent prices and wages. According to the report, the state’s 2024 Housing Wage of $22.07 was required to afford a two-bedroom rental unit, up $3.07 per hour above the 2023 Housing Wage. At the same time, the average Hoosier renter’s wage of $17.92 increased by 6 cents in the past year. For the full account: “Analysis finds that Indiana’s housing affordability gap is growing.”
The Farm at Prophetstown will host its annual Vintage Baseball game at noon Saturday, July 6. This year’s game, featuring local players against the McLean County Prairie Chickens, will feature ruled from 1922. (Past games in the Farm at Prophetstown yard and pasture have played by 19th century, no glove rules.) Spectators are welcome. Entrance to the Farm at Prophetstown is included with admission to Prophetstown State Park, which is $8 per vehicle.

AND FINALLY …

There will be plenty of traditional favorites from the patriotic canon today – do your thing at Stars and Stripes, Lafayette Citizens Band and Freedom Singers! – but I still save some love for those Fourth of July adjacent songs. Here are a few:

“Goodnight, Chicago,” by Lucy Wainwright Roche, opens with this verse: “Isn't it funny, even with toys / And all of the money / People will still come out to see / Lights in the sky, and over the lake / On the Fourth of July / Isn't it funny? / Isn't it funny? Isn't it simple, after all?”

“Fourth of July,” by Dave Alvin. The song was a minor hit for the band X in the mid-‘80s and redone several ways by Alvin during his solo career after his days with The Blasters. Here’s a great live version featuring David Hildago (Los Lobos), Flaco Jimenez and more, from 2017.

Aimee Mann says she really does like fireworks and that she was just cranky when she wrote the opening verse of “4th of July,” including the line: “Today’s the Fourth of July / Another June has gone by / And when they light up our town I just think / What a waste of gunpowder and sky.” I’m a sucker for most Aimee Mann songs and love this track, including this live version from 2019.

Hey, post your additions to the Fourth of July Adjacent Play List in the comments.

Based in Lafayette, Indiana

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