General News

Indiana-based global life sciences and research university executives are unveiling the first industry-led collaborative life sciences research institute in the country.

The Indiana Biosciences Research Institute is a collaborative effort designed to discover, develop and deliver biosciences innovations.

The state legislature has allocated $25-million for the venture.

Another $25-million in private donations is being sought to pay a still-to-be-named CEO and other officials.

That leaves the project as much as $300-million short of its goal.

Beginning tomorrow CityBus will replace its monthly pass with a new 31 day pass.

Instead of being valid from the first day of the month until the last day, the new pass is activated upon first use and remains valid for 31 days.

The price for the passes remains the same—$28 for a regular 31 day pass and $14 for the elderly and individuals with disabilities.

Officials with the transit service say it is a more flexible option that was developed based on customer feedback.

A local non-profit is setting up 28 sites throughout the region that will provide free lunches to children ages two through 18.

The initiative by Food Finders Food Bank is to help combat hunger among kids.

Sumer Food Service Program Coordinator Kristine Jensen says the goal is to make sure area children get enough to eat when school is not in session.

This is the fourth straight year for the effort, which is run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Education.

Starting July 1st, Indiana will begin the painstaking process of purging voter rolls.

The effort requires mass mailings to voters to verify their status and address.

The last time the state cleaned up the list was in 2005, when more than 300,000 names were found to be invalid.

County clerks used to have the responsibility of maintaining voter rolls, but many did not have the money or staff to keep up with the task.

The secretary of state’s office is taking over the job, and the General Assembly has appropriated $2.1-million for the effort.

Revenue shortfalls are making it more difficult for Indiana municipalities to provide the services and amenities residents expect.

Indiana Association of Cities and Towns Executive Director Matthew Greller says the problems are due to the slow economic recovery, state imposed property tax caps, and less revenue from the cigarette and gas taxes.

He says despite these issues, officials remain under pressure to keep providing services and even expand them.

Greller says local governments need to be able to decide for themselves the best way to address budget shortfalls.

Almost Home Humane Society will be receiving more money from Lafayette this year and next.

The city’s Board of Works has approved a contract which provides $150,000 for animal sheltering services in 2013 and 2014.

That represents an increase of six-point-four-percent from the current agreement.

In 2012, Almost Home took in 2,081 animals.

Of those, 1,515 were either placed with adoptive owners, returned to original owners or transferred to other shelters.

Five-hundred-fifty-six animals were euthanized.

Many of the nation’s best spellers are in the Washington, D.C. area this week. They are the 281 students taking part in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, including Ted Tobias who won the Lafayette regional competition.

The 8th grader from Kankakee Valley Middle School in Wheatfield says some of his favorite words to spell are Japanese.

“Because they’re usually short and follow rules,” he says. “The English language – we don’t follow any rules. We always have exceptions.”