News

There are about 175 children in Tippecanoe and surrounding counties currently in foster care. Statewide, the figure is 5,600 abused and neglected children.

The Department of Child Services is calling attention to those in need, and those who open their homes, during National Foster Care Month.

Angela Archibald and her husband are foster parents in Clinton County. She says many people ask her about the experience.

Some new animals are coming to Lafayette’s Columbian Park thanks to the Mayor’s Youth Council. The ten animals are concrete statues that line the tracks of the train ride.

City Clerk Cindy Murray says the teens were responding to a challenge to liven up the area.

“We had them painted. We tried to keep to the same color scheme the park already has with the rides. We have a pink zebra with black stripes and green giraffe with yellow dots,” she says. “We also have three benches. One is a caterpillar and butterfly on one end. We have a giraffe bench.”

Most Purdue students studying on the West Lafayette campus won’t pay more for their education next year. In fact, administrators say thousands will pay less.

The Board of Trustees Executive Committee approved freezing tuition and most fees. The plan also includes a reduction in the campus meal plan and fees for summer internships and co-ops.

President Mitch Daniels says those two things add up to $3.5 million dollars and are just as important as tuition costs.

Tippecanoe County officials are considering the possibility of employee raises in the next budget.

Auditor Jennifer Weston provided the commissioners with cost estimates in increments of 1% with each percent representing $577,529. That includes wages, Social Security and the Public Employees Retirement Fund (PERF).

Weston says PERF is increasing more than usual.

“It’s been increasing anywhere from a quarter to a half percent lately, and it’s going up 1.2% (next year),” she says. “Yeah, that’s going to be a big hit for us.”

Lafayette leaders are increasing efforts to recycle more.

Last year, the city saved more than $180,000 by recycling and not hauling trash to the landfill. Mayor Tony Roswarski says while that’s good, more can be done.

“We’re going to try a pilot program here, hopefully towards the end of the year if the money all works out,” he says, “where we start taking back people’s blue bins and we give them a large toter for their recycling and then a small toter for their garbage.”

Purdue President Mitch Daniels talks about the FY14 proposed general fund budget, which includes a freeze on tuition.

He credits the increase in funding from the General Assembly on Purdue doing well on the performance-based metrics the state uses to partly fund higher education. The state also is giving Purdue $50 million to build the Active Learning Center, which is designed to make classes more collaborative, instead of strictly lectures.

Daniels also talks about the academic profile of the incoming class for fall of 2013.

The Executive Committee of the Purdue Board of Trustees is accepting public comment on the proposed general fund budget. The hearing Wednesday includes comments on the proposed tuition freeze and student fees.

President Mitch Daniels says by holding tuition steady and decreasing the cost of a meal plan, some Boilermakers will pay less.

"I'm very excited about this. I don't know how many universities in the country will be able to say that students are attending in fall of '13 for less money than they attended in the spring '13, but we're one."

It will likely be several months before the West Lafayette City Council takes a final vote on a proposed annexation.

Several residents spoke out against the plan at a special meeting of the City Council Monday night. Still, councilors voted in favor of the annexation on first vote.

Mayor John Dennis says city officials will hold several meetings with residents and business owners before a final vote takes place.

Memorial Day kicks off the summer season for most of us, although that doesn't mean the same thing to all people.

Scott Hutcheson thinks no matter your circumstances when it comes to the warm-weather months, cooking is pretty much the same to everyone.

Chili Mango Salsa

A bicyclist who was the victim of a hit and run has died.

The Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Department reports 62 year old Rodney Smith of Lafayette suffered serious injuries Tuesday, May 14 at 7:21 p.m. He died Sunday as a result of those injuries.

Detectives say a utility van struck him on the Davis Ferry Bridge on North 9th Street. The driver stopped briefly, exited his vehicle, and then returned to it and drove south on North 9th Street Road.