This and that on a cold Thursday morning
Tippecanoe County’s Lisa Hershman named as Gov.-elect Mike Braun’s budget director. Judge Gull blocks cameras, again, for Richard Allen’s sentencing in Delphi. And the BiL Holiday Playlist grows
Sponsorship for today’s edition comes from Faith Church. The Lafayette Living Nativity will be presented as a gift to the community on six evenings: Dec. 6, 7, 8, and 13, 14, 15, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Faith East Campus on Indiana 26 East. New this year, Faith is pleased to announce a complete second Living Nativity, exclusively for walk-through visitors.
Sponsorship help for this edition also comes from Purdue Musical Organizations. The 91st Annual Purdue Christmas Show is the must-see event of the year! Gather your family and friends Saturday and Sunday and create lasting memories as you sing along to your favorite songs and marvel at the extraordinary Purdue student talent on display. Get tickets here.
LISA HERSHMAN NAMED TO BRAUN’S ADMINISTRATION: Tippecanoe County resident Lisa Hershman was among the first appointments to Gov.-elect Mike Braun’s administration, on Wednesday named as the next Indiana secretary of management and budget. In the role, Hershman will be the administration’s chief financial officer, overseeing Indiana's budget, financial management and administrative operations. She also will be director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Hershman, who lives near Buck Creek, has experience in private and government finance roles, including serving as chief management officer of the U.S. Department of Defense from 2017-20. She also served on the Indiana Commission for Higher Education from 2014 to 2020 and currently serves on the board of directors for EchoStar/Dish.
Braun announced the appointment Wednesday.
"Lisa Hershman's track record of driving efficiency and innovation in both government and business makes her the ideal choice to oversee Indiana's financial management," Braun said in a news release. “Her experience transforming large organizations and delivering taxpayer savings will be invaluable to our state.”
In a release from the governor-elect’s transition team, Hershman said, “Through collaboration with his team and the General Assembly, we will work to drive efficiency, accountability and innovation in state government. Together, we will work to ensure that every taxpayer dollar is spent wisely and that Indiana remains a national model for fiscal responsibility and effective governance.”
Hershman’s husband, Brandt, is a former state senator representing parts of Lafayette, Tippecanoe County and nearby counties.
On Wednesday, Braun also named Matthew Ubelhor, a former state rep from Bloomfield, as secretary of transportation and infrastructure. The role covers the state's transportation, infrastructure and broadband systems, as well as head of the Indiana Department of Transportation.
NO SURPRISE, NO CAMERAS IN RICHARD ALLEN’S SENTENCING: Without explanation, Judge Fran Gull on Wednesday rejected a media request, filed by Indianapolis television stations WTHR and WISH, to allow recording of Richard Allen’s Dec. 20 sentencing for the 2017 murders of Delphi eighth-graders Abby Williams and Libby German. The ruling fell in line with Gull’s reluctance to allow cameras or other ways to broadcast proceedings from Carroll Circuit Court in the Delphi murder case. Gull rejected all similar requests, except one in her home courtroom in Allen County, since she was appointed as special judge to oversee the case in 2022.
A jury selected from Allen County found Allen guilty Nov. 11 after 18 days of testimony and four days of deliberations in a trial that had crowds camping on courthouse sidewalks to get a seat for the daily hearings. Allen, 52, a former employee at the CVS in Delphi, faces up to 65 years in prison for each of four counts of murder when he’s sentenced Dec. 20.
Allen was arrested and charged for the murders in October 2022. Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14, were found dead in the woods near the Monon High Bridge Trail on Feb. 14, 2017, a day after they’d been dropped off to spend an afternoon hiking to the Monon High Bridge. The murders led to a 5½-year investigation that drew national and international attention to the town of 2,900 people, 20 miles northeast of Lafayette.
For more from the trial:
OTHER READS …
Good profile, here, from Indianapolis Star reporter Nathan Baird of Purdue assistant basketball coach Brandon Brantley and how he’s become coach Matt Painter’s go-to guy to develop the Boilers’ string of centers, including two-time National Player of the Year Zach Edey. Read it here: “Brandon Brantley hated playing in the post. Now, he's Purdue's big man whisperer.”
J&C reporter Ron Wilkins had details about a lawsuit filed this week against the Lafayette Police Department over arrests made during a search in May 2024 that turned out to be the wrong home in the city’s north end. Here’s more: “Lafayette family sues police in May 21 home raid.”
I’LL BE HOME FOR THE BiL HOLIDAY/SEASONAL PLAYLIST
Let’s keep this playlist rolling. For the full Based in Lafayette Holiday/Seasonal Playlist, growing every day thanks to BiL readers, check the link at the bottom of today’s contribution. Today’s tracks come from …
Rick Thomas
Rick Thomas is a retired professor of Design, Art and Performance at Purdue where he has created over a dozen new original works, including “Entropics,” which premiered at Theatre Wit in Chicago last May, composed scores for over 100 productions, and led the creation of dozens of radio dramas in the long running WBAA series, “A Theatre in Your Head.”
“I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” Bing Crosby – One of the most emotionally moving songs in the history of music, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” touched the hearts and souls of a whole generation of families separated from their children across an ocean in 1945 during World War II. It still touches our hearts in this modern world where families have increasingly become separated geographically.
“Santa Baby,” Me First and the Gimme Gimmes – Dedicated to Tim Brouk, a backbone of the local punk community for as long as anyone can remember. There’s no dearth of punk band covers of Christmas tunes, but if you’ve never heard Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, you’re in for a treat. They exclusively do punk covers of classis tunes such as “Over the Rainbow” and “Country Roads.” Made up of members of other legendary bands, from the Ramones to Foo Fighters, they’re even a better treat live.
“The Twelve Days of Christmas” – The overture from my score to “Twelfth Night” for the 1994 Colorado Shakespeare Festival. I composed and performed this variation on the “Twelve Days of Christmas” in the style of Gilbert and Sullivan in MOTU’s Digital Performer sequencer using Kurzweil 1200 Pro and Roland MT32 synth modules. Silly, bombastic and a very short one minute and thirty-three seconds of holiday fun.
Your turn: What’s on your list?
What three songs are going into your holiday/seasonal playlist this year? If you’re game to share, here’s all we need:
Three songs and the artists.
One or two sentences about why you chose each one – could be a memory or a short history or review about why that track belongs in your mix and why you’d recommend it to others.
A little bit about you to let readers know who’s making the picks.
Send to: davebangert1@gmail.com
BASED IN LAFAYETTE HOLIDAY/SEASONAL PLAYLIST: IN PROGRESS
Listen and bookmark it here.
Thanks for support from Purdue Musical Organizations, presenting the 91st Annual Purdue Christmas Show, this Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 7-8. Get tickets here.
Thanks also to Faith Church, presenting the Lafayette Living Nativity at Faith East 6:30-8:30 p.m. Dec. 6-8 and Dec. 13-15. For more details, check here.
Thank you for supporting Based in Lafayette, an independent, local reporting project. Free and full-ride subscription options are ready for you here.
Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.
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