General News

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.”

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.

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. 

Public input is needed to create a strategic plan for a National Historic Landmark in Crawfordsville.

The General Lew Wallace Study and Museum staff and board members will craft and finalize the document this year.

Museum Director Larry Paarlberg says they want to know what they’re doing right and how they can improve.

"What are concerns? What are issues? Those will be then fed into the strategic plan, so we develop something where the museum can really play a vital role in the life of the Crawfordsville community, and really, west central Indiana."