This and that … starring Mitch Daniels, Daddy shark

Plus, farewell, Carnahan Hall. Farewell, a rushed General Assembly session on vaccine restrictions. And farewell, the sleepy Thanksgiving leftovers …

Thanks to today’s sponsor, the Unitarian Universalist Holiday Art Fair, which is creeping up at the end of this week. For more details, scroll to the bottom of today’s edition.

I don’t know about you, but I feel I’m easing back into the week after the long holiday when I should be crashing headlong into it. Must be the tryptophan from those leftover turkey bowls. (Yeah, I know. It’s a myth. But work with me here.) Coming out of the weekend, too, I’m thinking about a grade-school teacher of mine who died in a car crash last week. He was one-of-a-kind, for sure. I’m thinking we need to get a thread going here soon about teacher – the best, the ones that stick out, the ones that make you pause when you hear they’ve passed. Look for that soon, but I thought I’d give you a moment or two to gather your recollections.

Either way, a quick bit of This and That to get rolling this week. I’ll start emptying my notebook, proper-like, today. Promise.

DADDY MITCH, DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO: The “Where’s Mitch” segment during the second half at Ross-Ade Stadium is always a nice touch during Purdue football games. So was the embroidered “Mitch” on the front of Purdue President Mitch Daniels shark onesie as he camouflaged himself among rows of shark onesies tucked near the bottom of the student section during Purdue’s 44-7 drubbing of IU. (No word whether he took part in any first down chants or kick-off salutes to how, apparently, IU sucks. We all know how much he loves that …) Thanks to on-field host and former WLFI-TV18 anchor for capturing this:

Trevor Peters @TrevorPetersTV

Things I didn’t expect to see today: @purduemitch in a shark onesie

AT THE STATEHOUSE …: Of the takes out there on how the Indiana General Assembly last week looked to finesse (“wedge in” might be better there) state-level restrictions on businesses imposing COVID-era vaccine mandates on their employees, Indianapolis Star columnist James Briggs is worth reading. The upshot: “The proposed legislation is an ill-considered idea — and, yet, somehow, the process behind it was even worse.” The General Assembly pulled the plug on a bill lawmakers initially intended to get through at the start of this week. That legislation contained provisions Gov. Eric Holcomb said he’d need to lift the month-by-month health emergencies he’s imposed since March 2020. Things got sticky when lawmakers considered using the occasion for a ban on businesses requiring their workers get vaccinated or tested. Briggs wrote of seven hours of testimony that included some about supposed government plots surrounding COVID, delivered at the Statehouse last Tuesday: “While you were preparing for Thanksgiving, and maybe for a run in Broad Ripple, the Indiana General Assembly’s gobbledygook plot to set a new speed record for bad policymaking ended in a sloppy, embarrassing fiasco.” The upshot: The legislature called off this week’s vote, Holcomb said Hoosiers can count on at least one more month of a health emergency and columnists got a holiday-week field day. Here’s your link.

“The Last Waltz” tribute show. The last call for Carnahan Hall? (Photo: Dave Bangert)

LAST CALL FOR CARNAHAN HALL: If this weekend really was that last show at Lafayette’s Carnahan Hall – every indication, including the profuse public shout outs from the stage and the Facebook post of a sale of the venue’s goods coming Monday and Tuesday, is that it was – the Frank Muffin cover-to-cover tribute to The Band’s “The Last Waltz” was a fine way to go out: A big project born as a labor of love by a local band; a revolving crew of local musician mainstays who know what they’re doing on stage; and the crowd, you’d recognize the faces, even if you hit just a handful of live performances around town in the course of a year. And if it is, like they say, over, consider thanks to Seema Choudhary for making Carnahan work as long as it did, first in downtown Lafayette and later at Market Square. It was a service to the community.

THE BEST #GIVINGTUESDAY EVER: Your social media feeds are going to be filled in the next two day, leading into Giving Tuesday – the Black Friday, of sorts, for the nation’s nonprofit world. Last year, Americans put $2.5 billion into the effort, according to a USA Today report last week. So, the conversation got around to this over the weekend:  What Greater Lafayette organizations are you targeting for a donation this #GivingTuesday? What’s your best elevator pitch for why others should do the same? Get in the conversation by hitting the button below.

• Thanks, again, to the Unitarian Universalist Holiday Art Fair for sponsoring today’s edition. More information about the two-day art fair is available by clicking below.

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