News

Most Wabash Township residents who were facing annexation into West Lafayette are no longer part of the plan. (NEW MAP)

The city scaled back the area to include Purdue and land adjacent to the new U.S. 231 bypass. It also includes the Menard’s on U.S. 52 and what will be the new Meijer store next to it.

The Sugar Hill subdivision along McCormick Road is still part of the proposed annexation. Officials say that’s because all the land surrounding the subdivision is part of the annexation proposal.

U.S. News and World Report is out with a new ranking of the top STEM universities in the country. Purdue makes the list – tied at Number 19 with Rice University.

The magazine determined the proportion of science, technology, engineering and math bachelor’s degrees granted last year. For Purdue, and Rice, that was 44% in 2012.

The top-ranked STEM schools, according to U.S. News, are Caltech and Colorado School of Mines. Both granted 98% of their bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields.

U.S. News did not consider every university. Here's the editor's explanation:

The director of Mid-Land Meals says the federal sequester resulted in a $100,000 cut in funding this year.

Elaine Brovont says that’s despite the fact that the program served an additional $25,000 meals last year.

Mid-Land Meals provides nutritious food for senior citizens at 17 meal sites, and home-delivery for those who are unable to get to one of those locations.

Brovont says in order to save money, more frozen meals are being delivered once-a-week as opposed to daily hot meals.

How much cash reserves are enough? That’s the question Tippecanoe County officials are trying to determine. Members of the county council and commission are working out a five year financial plan before they begin crafting next year’s budget.

While the county has close to $20 million in its general and rainy day funds, a financial consultant wants there to be significant reserves in other funds too.

Commissioner Tom Murtaugh says they’ll have to find the right balance between maintaining steady revenue and increasing costs.

The Indiana Supreme Court ruled Tuesday it should not get involved in a lawsuit challenging the collection of fines handed down to House Democrats during their walkouts in the 2011 and 2012 sessions. 

In a three to two decision, Chief Justice Brent Dickson wrote for the majority, ruling the fines imposed by House Republicans were internal matters of the legislature and not subject to judicial review.

Purdue has confirmed its lead in the field of supercomputing by unveiling Conte (CAHN-tee), the nation's fastest university-owned supercomputer.

The machine is highest-ranking campus supercomputer on the June 2013 Top500.org list of international supercomputers.

It surpasses the nation's previous fastest university-owned machine, Carter, which was built in 2011 and is still in operation at Purdue.

Conte is able to process a problem 15,000 times faster than a typical desktop or laptop computer.

Indiana will have a new high school equivalency test in 2014.

The director of the Lafayette Adult Resource Academy (LARA) says that means people in the midst of completing the GED exam need to act before December 31st. Trish Maxwell says if they don’t, they’ll have to start all over again.

She says LARA offers free preparation help and childcare for those who need it.

Hand-me-downs can cause delight or dread, depending on what the item is.

Scott Hutcheson has had a range of emotions accepting some of his parent's possessions. One in particular was excepted with open arms and caused culinary creativity.

Coffee and Doughnut Ice Cream

Frankfort came up short in its quest to be an Indiana Stellar Community. This year’s designations went to Bedford and Richmond, instead.

The two cities put forth proposals totaling nearly $20 million each. The state will fund part of those initiatives with a variety of federal and state grants. Private partnerships also are part of the financing.

Frankfort Mayor Chris McBarnes said even if the city did not receive the funding package from the state, it would still move forward with its projects. Those include:

For the fourth straight year, Purdue is sending a group of students to the Marine Advanced Technology Education Center International R-O-V Competition.

The event challenges teams to design and build an underwater robot to complete specific tasks.

This year’s mission revolves around deploying and repairing equipment for regional ocean observing systems.

Team captain Michael Hayashi believes the Purdue ROV will complete the tasks in the shortest amount of time.