News

LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department officials say a fire that destroyed a large bird loft and killed the 2,000 racing pigeons inside could have been electrical in nature, though the cause is still officially undetermined.  

Detective Mike Raymer, who walked the site this week with a colleague from the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office, says a circuit breaker box in the structure showed signs of damage. The box powered industrial fans and a heated floor designed to help keep the birds warm.  

Some of the candidates for Lafayette City Council squared off in their final debate before next month’s election Thursday night.

PUBLIC SAFETY

A recently-passed public safety tax figured prominently in the back-and-forth between candidates for Lafayette’s Second District, which forms a large portion of Lafayette’s western boundary.

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill will appeal a recent ruling ordering the release of the man who was convicted of killing Bloomington resident Jill Behrman.

In 2006, a Morgan County grand jury found John Myers guilty in the May 2000 disappearance and murder of Behrman, who was an Indiana University student at the time.

Two thousand racing pigeons burned to death in a bird loft in LaPorte County early Sunday. The fire, which destroyed the facility, housed birds from around the world.

On their website, Hoosier Loft owners Jim and Kelly Ward say they are “heartbroken” about the fire, which effectively ended this year’s final weekend of the Hoosier Classic Million Dollar Race. They also combat claims from some breeders that the fire had been purposefully set.

“It is the 9/11 of pigeon racing in the world,” says Jim Gabler, an Illinois pigeon breeder.

It's common on a crisp afternoon in early fall for the gusts blowing across Ross-Ade Stadium to travel as fast as 30 mph.

But it had been a foul wind blowing against the Purdue football team in the weeks leading up to its breezy homecoming game against the Maryland Terrapins Saturday.

The Purdue team that took the field -- still with many freshmen seeing significant minutes -- looked more experienced than the group that was overmatched in last week's loss to Penn State. When the final horn blew on this day, Purdue emerged victorious 40-14.

The former superintendent of the Delphi Community Schools has begun to talk about his firing now that a deal is done with the school corporation.

Greg Briles was let go in September after the Delphi School Board raised concerns about how the need for an emergency loan had seemingly snuck up on the district.

He says he’d intended to retire from his most recent job and now he’s not sure what’s next for his career – or for those who might succeed him.