Tippecanoe County News

Sophia Voravong of the Lafayette Journal Courier has a lengthy story today examining Indiana's habitual offender law in operation.

Speaking of Community of Choice, Greater Lafayette's campus town self-examination that started this month, here's the first assignment in what shapes up as a classic battle between what we are and what we want to be. Is the edge of the Purdue University campus, right across from Mackey Arena, ready for a new concept, as thick with housing geared for the walk-first student as it is thin on available parking? The argument for it: All that parking people say is needed? Nothing but wasted space, developer Marc Muinzer says. He's spent nearly a year pumping social media not only with a case for his six-story, $50 million project with 250 apartments and 600 bedrooms, but also with what-we-want-to-be visions of a new, car-light student experience at Purdue and in West Lafayette. That all comes to a head Wednesday, when his project and planned development request finally go to the Tippecanoe County Area Plan Commission for a public hearing. There it will be greeted by a cold-water splash of what the county's professional planners say is necessary, what-we-are reality. Until there's enough parking -- The Landmark's plans come with roughly a third of the typical spots-to-bedroom criteria -- county planners say, the recommendation should remain the same: Denial. No matter how the Area Plan Commission, a board that will make only a recommendation in this case, votes Wednesday, the West Lafayette City Council will get a final say, possibly as early as the first Monday in March. Rather than negotiate more with county planners -- to either scale back the number of apartment units or find other ways to bump up the number of parking spaces to meet existing expectations -- Muinzer says he's ready to take his case, negative recommendation in hand if necessary, to the city council. All of which sets up a straight-up Community of Choice debate on parking standards, the self-contained housing/retail model that Muinzer says should be the wave of the future and what West Lafayette intends to do to make it all blend in with existing neighborhoods. loadEmbeds(); Everyone seems to agree on one thing: The block bound by Northwestern Avenue and Evergreen, Dodge and Allen streets could use a developer's touch. So what stands in the way? Muinzer says: 'These kids understand why they live in this sort of place, right across from campus, where they don't need to bring a car. It's simple. It's a totally different ballgame. ... I need to show the city that that's the case for the kind of students who will want to lease what I'm building.' Ryan O'Gara, Area Plan Commission assistant director who has been running point on the planning staff side, says: 'What (Muinzer) is asking people to do is believe he can force people to change their habits -- to get students to not bring cars. From a planning standpoint, that's a big risk. And I'm not sure that's going to happen.' Ann Hunt, president of the West Lafayette City Council and whose district takes in The Landmark property, says: 'Parking is the whole concern, as far as I'm concerned. It's the only concern.' The first one has the project. The second one has the recommendation. The third one has a vote. It's not lining up well for Muinzer. Parking and how it spills out of new developments is an old-school issue near campus. Muinzer says he'll make his case in a community letter -- one that likely will come later today or Monday. There's something lost, though, in all the heat generated by The Landmark -- a project that was once dreamed at 15 stories, was eventually presented at 10 stories with a wacky, off-site parking concept, and now is scaled to six stories that will essentially match the height of Mackey Arena's dome across Northwestern Avenue. Near-campus work is going on all around. The reality is redevelopment projects aimed at the Purdue population have been done -- including more work on the multistory Chauncey Square, which Muinzer owns and calls 'The Noodles Building' for the business at the most visible corner -- and others are in the works. Those include a commercial/residential project in the draft stages for the corner of State Street and Northwestern Avenue, the site of a Smoothie King, the Where Else? bar and a Subway restaurant. Work is expected to begin soon on Purdue Research Foundation's Wang Hall project, a commercial and academic facility that will take a block along Stadium Avenue. There's more coming, too, O'Gara said. 'That's going to be the trend,' O'Gara said. 'I'm all for it, philosophically, as a planner. It concentrates commerce and it concentrates people and it concentrates all of that energy. It makes for an exciting place.' None of those projects comes with the same sort of faith required for Muinzer's Landmark math. Consider that in the blocks roughly between The Landmark's footprint and West Lafayette High School four blocks away, West Lafayette police issued 13,314 parking tickets between May 2007 and the end of 2011, according to figures provided by Hunt. That's an average of 242 tickets a month, not factoring in summer, winter and spring breaks on campus. The Hills & Dales and New Chauncey neighborhood streets have a lot of pressure now, as residents have been saying in the runup to The Landmark public hearing. The Landmark project includes 295 parking spaces. Of those, 50 to 80 will be used for the retail portions. The number set aside for retail, O'Gara said, meets APC standards. The rest doesn't come close to a typical one-spot-per-bedroom standard. O'Gara said Muinzer was offered the chance to bring that ratio down to 0.75 spots per bedroom, if ZipCar-style vehicle-sharing concepts and other alternatives were found. That conversation, O'Gara said, went nowhere. 'It's time for new thinking,' Muinzer said. 'It's just time.' Muinzer is right. The showdown he's gearing up for might not be the best way to get West Lafayette there. But it is time for new thinking. His argument will hinge in part on what he says is happening in other Big Ten markets. His claim: West Lafayette is way behind the curve when it comes to development that beefs up essential amenities -- groceries, drug stores and the like -- close to campus, and encourages students to park their cars and walk. The APC report anticipates that argument, laying out typical zoning codes in other Big Ten communities that planners say are similar to standards in West Lafayette. The comparisons will matter, particularly at a time when Greater Lafayette is setting itself side by side with four of those Big Ten communities -- Iowa City, Ann Arbor, Madison and Bloomington -- in the Greater Lafayette Commerce's Community of Choice survey. Eventually, something will go at the bend in Northwestern Avenue. ('This site will be highly desirable, no matter what happens now,' O'Gara said. 'From our standpoint, sometimes it's better to wait for a better project.') Whether he wins or not, Muinzer is bringing the debate at the right time -- right when West Lafayette needs to be thinking about Community of Choice questions on commercial growth, how the campus and its fringes look, and what's being done to cut down on daily traffic near campus. The Landmark case wraps it into one giant package, ready to open Wednesday. Bangert is a columnist for the J&C. Contact him at dbangert@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter @dave bangert.

Restaurant inspections conducted Jan. 6 through Jan. 20. Critical findings are violations of the food code more likely to contribute to food contamination, illness or environmental health hazards. Noncritical findings are less likely to cause those problems. Refrigerated food must be maintained at 41 degrees or less, and hot foods must be maintained at 135 degrees or higher. Address: 4343 Indiana 26 East Date of inspection: Jan. 18 Critical violations (9): Found the three-compartment sink drain pipe is below the mop sink flood rim. To be corrected today. Observed food handler washing a knife in a hand sink after cutting raw chicken, on the cooks line. Already corrected. The dish machine backsiphonage device is not functioning properly in the banquet area. To be corrected within seven days. Found bleach solution that was registering greater than 200 ppm in the cook and banquet area. Already corrected. Found chicken salad in top section of the refrigerated make table that was registering at 43 degrees, located on the cook line. To be corrected today. No certified food handler provided for retail food establishment. To be corrected within 30 days. Observed employee cutting lemons with bare hands in the service area. Already corrected. Found employee drink without lid on shelf that was next to the microwave in the cook's area. Already corrected. Found bread boards stored next to hand sanitizer, located in the banquet area. To be corrected today. Noncritical violations (4): Found approximately four lights not operating in the dish machine area. To be corrected within seven days. Observed an exposed wall socket in the food-preparation area. To be corrected within 10 days. Found paint chipping on the wall on the cooks line and on the partition between the preparation table and the Baine Marie table. To be corrected within 30 days. The dish machine pressure gauge was not operating between 15 and 25 PSI, located in the banquet area. To be corrected within seven days. Address: 622 Main St. Date of inspection: Jan. 9 Critical violation: Found a paint brush being used to dispense butter in kitchen. Already corrected. Noncritical violations (2): Found two bowls being stored in bulk food items in kitchen, basement. Already corrected. Found the chest freezer downstairs, reach-in unit upstairs had accumulations of ice in them. To be corrected within 30 days. Address: 3109 S. Ninth St., Suite C Date of inspection: Jan. 11 Critical violation: Found cheese sauce in the bread warmer and in the oven registering at 110 degrees 125 degrees, respectively. To be corrected today. Address: 163 Frontage Road Date of inspection: Jan. 19 Critical violation: Found packets of butter registering at 72 degrees and found packets of cream cheese registering at 63 degrees in cold crocks not being discarded within four hours, located on the self-service counter. Already corrected. Noncritical violations (2): Found probe thermometer not calibrated. To be corrected today. Observed a food handler not wearing a hair restraint. To be corrected today. Address: 200 E. County Road 500 South Date of inspection: Jan. 19 Noncritical violation: Found the ice scoop for ice machine was being stored in a solid plastic cup without a weephole. To be corrected today. Address: 2401 Beck Lane Date of inspection: Jan. 9 No violations at time of inspection. Address: 4951 U.S. 231 South Date of inspection: Jan. 9 Noncritical violation: Materials for indoor floor, wall and ceiling surfaces shall be smooth, durable, nonabsorbent and cleanable. To be corrected within seven days. Address: 332 E. State St., West Lafayette Date of inspection: Jan. 11 Critical violations (2): No lid provided for employee drink located on the lower shelf under the preparation table. Already corrected. Observed a food handler change his disposable food gloves but did not wash his hands before putting clean gloves on. Already corrected. Noncritical violations (3): There is a container of lemons not protected against cross-contamination on the self-service counter beside the ice tea urns. To be corrected today. The head of the back siphonage device attached to the mop sink faucet is broken. To be corrected within 10 days. There is an employee not knowledgeable in cooking temperatures. To be corrected today. Address: 7740 Indiana 26 East Date of inspection: Jan. 9 Noncritical violation: Found glasses stored directly on towels in reach-in unit out front. To be corrected within seven days. Address: 611 S. 21st St. Date of inspection: Jan. 20 No violations at time of inspection. Address: 2415 Sagamore Parkway South, Room DO1D Date of inspection: Jan. 20 Critical violations (3): Found two spray bottles filled with a liquid, in the back room located under the hand-washing sink that were not labeled. To be corrected today. Found a bottle of grill cleaner that was being stored by food, located under the steam table across from the panini press. Already corrected. Observed an accumulation of a pink-like substance on the plastic ice shoot in the ice bin, located in the back room across from the dish washer. To be corrected today. Address: 4701 Meijer Court Date of inspection: Jan. 18 Critical violation: Found whipped butter in reach-in refrigerator at bar registered 47 degrees. Already corrected. Noncritical violation: Found apples on display for customer use were not protected from contamination. To be corrected today. Address: 1700 Sagamore Parkway South Date of inspection: Jan. 20 No violations at time of inspection. Address: 2801 Northwestern Ave., West Lafayette Date of inspection: Jan. 17 Critical violation: Found that the quat sanitizer level in three-bay sink, wiping cloth buckets registered 0 ppm. Already corrected. Address: 2500 Cason St. Date of inspection: Jan. 18 No violations at time of inspection. Address: 2101 S. 18th St. Date of inspection: Jan. 10 No violations at time of inspection. Address: 3000 S. Ninth St. Date of inspection: Jan. 11 Critical violation: Found deli meat in the top cooler of the food-preparation table across from the grill that was registering 49 degrees. Already corrected. Warning assessed. Noncritical violation: Found Velveeta cheese sauce being hot held at 112 degrees. Address: 108 Beck Lane Date of inspection: Jan. 9 Critical violation: Found that the rinse aid for the chemical sanitizing dishwasher was empty. Address: 3001 Northwestern Ave., West Lafayette Date of inspection: Jan. 17 Critical violations (4): Found yogurt in a stainless steel container past the expiration date in the middle upright reach-in refrigerator in the back preparation area. Already corrected. Measured butter registering 82.2 degrees in a container on the food preparation counter. Already corrected. Found hard-boiled eggs past the expiration date in the refrigerator make table cabinet. Already corrected. Observed two spray bottles with a chemical solution hanging over and stored beside clean glasses behind the bar. Already corrected. Noncritical violations (7): There is no lid provided for a waste receptacle in the employee ladies restroom. To be corrected within seven days. There is no psi gauge provided for the dish machine. To be corrected within 10 days. Detergent is not being used to wash glassware in the three-compartment sink behind the bar. To be corrected today. No chemical test strips provided for the sanitizing solution in the three-compartment sink behind the bar. To be corrected within 48 hours. Found a wet mop stored in a mop bucket in the back room. Already corrected. The men's employee restroom door is not self-closing. To be corrected within 10 days. The wall behind the ice machine is not in good repair. To be corrected within 10 days. Address: 208 South St., Suite A, West Lafayette Date of inspection: Jan. 6 Critical violations (6): Found employees are not properly sanitizing the espresso wands. To be corrected today. Found a bottle of Lime Away stored beside clean pitchers on the shelf over the three-compartment sink. Already corrected. There are numerous live gnats under the three-compartment sink. To be corrected today. Found the inside surface of a combination upright reach-in refrigerator/freezer soiled with a black substance and debris with glassware. To be corrected today. Found a spray bottle with a clear chemical stored on the shelf above the preparation table in the bakery area. Already corrected. The dishmachine is registering zero during the final rinse cycle. To be corrected today. Noncritical violations (5): There is masking tape covering the espresso knob. To be corrected today. The ceiling tiles in the sandwich prep station, baking prep station, coffee/espresso prep station, and the ware washing station are not smooth and easily cleanable. To be corrected within 60 days. The lights over the three-compartment sink and over the back food-preparation station are not operating. To be corrected within 24 hours. The light intensity does not produce the required foot candles in the dry storage room. To be corrected within 24 hours. Found four boxes of drinking cups stored on the floor in back baking preparation area. To be corrected today.

Patricia Inez Sandifer of Lafayette filed Wednesday to run for president of the United States, but it's not likely that she'll appear on the ballot. She submitted a petition to the Tippecanoe County Election Board with one signature -- hers. A presidential candidate must submit petitions with at least 500 signatures from each of the state's congressional districts to appear on the ballot. Sandifer's filing does not list a telephone number where she could be contacted. The deadline for filing to run in the May primary was noon Friday, and here's how some of the contests are shaping up in Tippecanoe County: • Of particular note is the crowded field for county council at-large seats. Nine people -- all Republicans -- filed for three openings. Two of the council candidates -- John Basham and Kevin Underwood -- are incumbents. Kathy Vernon is not running for re-election. • Sheila Klinker, long-serving Democratic lawmaker in the 27th House District, has a clear path in the primary, but she'll face a GOP rival in the November elections in either Chuck Hockema or Jan Payne. • In the 26th House District representing parts of West Lafayette and Lafayette, GOP incumbent Randy Truitt does not have an opponent in the primary. He'll face either former Lafayette City Councilman Richard Cornstuble or Eric Thiel, who will be facing off in the Democratic primary. • In the 25th House District, Republican incumbent Donald J. Lehe faces a primary challenge from Franklyn Voorhies. No Democrats filed for that race. • Tim Brown, R-Crawfordsville, is running unopposed in the primary for the 41st House District, and unless the Democratic Party nominates a candidate, he'll run unopposed in November. Seasoned candidate Klinker, a 15-term incumbent and former schoolteacher, faces a seasoned candidate in Payne, who is first deputy in the county assessor's office. For eight years, Payne was the Fairfield Township assessor and also served on the Lafayette City Council. She's a past executive director of the Wabash Valley Trust for Historical Preservation. 'I look forward to a good campaign,' Payne said Friday afternoon. 'I want to give voters a choice. 'I'll be an advocate for families and businesses. But number one, it's about jobs.' Tippecanoe County races again are favoring the Republicans. No Democrats filed to run for any county office. The party has until June 30 to slate candidates for the general election if it so chooses. So far, county commissioners David Byers, R-2nd District, and Tom Murtaugh, R-3rd District, are unopposed. Both were in the Tippecanoe County Board of Election office minutes after the filings closed Friday and were asked how it feels to run unopposed in the primary and the general elections. 'It takes a lot of pressure off you,' Byers quipped. 'Still, it's not done,' Murtaugh said. 'Heather (Maddox, county Democratic Party chairwoman) could still slate someone to run against us by June 30.' Maddox, who works in the office and was sitting a few feet away, laughed. Who'll face Obama? President Barack Obama stands alone on the Democratic primary ballot. Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are slated to be on the Republican primary ballot. Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum's backers did not collect the required number of signatures from registered voters in the 7th District, which could keep him off the statewide ballot in the May 8 Republican primary.

Two unrelated Purdue University students suspected of selling marijuana in West Lafayette were arrested within 24 hours last week. West Lafayette Police Lt. Troy Harris said the investigations were separate, and the people arrested did not have ties to each other. Early Friday the West Lafayette Narcotics Unit served a search warrant at the residence of Christopher H. Mar, 18 on the 600 block of Evergreen Street. During a search, marijuana and more than $8,000 in cash was found. Mar was arrested on suspicion of dealing marijuana and possession of marijuana. Mar, of San Francisco, Calif., is a freshman in undergraduate studies at Purdue. He was being held Friday evening in the Tippecanoe County jail on a $5,000 surety bond. On Thursday, officers searched the residence of Andrew T. Haney, 22, in the 1900 block of Indian Trail Drive. Marijuana, prescription pills and more than $4,000 was found. Also recovered was suspected MDMA, or the drug known as ecstasy. Haney was arrested on suspicion of dealing marijuana, possession of marijuana and possession of a controlled substance. Finding ecstasy is not out of the ordinary for West Lafayette police. 'MDMA is a commonly abused drug among college-age students,' Harris said. 'We do see and hear about it often.' Haney, of Thorntown, is a junior in the College of Liberal Arts. He was released Friday on a $5,000 surety bond.

Wednesday 15th: Healthy Rivers INitiative: Building an Indiana Conservation Legacy.

A female body pulled early Friday afternoon from the Wildcat Creek is likely that of Kerry Dunsmore, a Lafayette woman who has been missing since Jan.

TIPPECANOE CO., Ind. - Eric Thiel has announced his candidacy as a Democrat in House District 26, a seat currently held by Republican Randy Truitt.

The Lafayette YMCA near the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds was evacuated this morning after a chemical odor detected after 11 a.m. / By Michael Heinz/Journal & Courier The Lafayette YMCA near the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds was evacuated today due to a chlorine leak reported at approximately 11:10 a.m. People inside the building were evacuated, ... (more)

Last September, the first time that the Lafayette Police Department's Street Crimes Unit went to Discount Tobacco in search of spice and K2, packages were prominently displayed in a glass case. The following month, when an undercover police officer stopped by the business at 2316 Teal Road, the synthetic drug could still be purchased, but it was kept hidden behind the cash register. On Wednesday, various brands of spice were again being sold - only this time, the packages were stored in a filing cabinet in the back office, said Officer Mike Barthelemy, a member of the Street Crimes Unit. 'We've just continued to receive more tips, more information that Discount Tobacco was selling it discretely,' he said. 'We were told that at this point, they were being very discrete about it and only selling it to customers they knew.' Barthelemy was among the officers who served a search warrant at Discount Tobacco shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday. It resulted in the arrests of two sisters and employees: Shayla Brandt, 19, and store manager Brittany Brandt, 22, both of Lafayette. They were arrested on suspicion of dealing synthetic marijuana and booked into the Tippecanoe County Jail, where the Brandts remained Wednesday night on $10,000 surety bonds. If the Tippecanoe County prosecutor's office decides to file criminal charges, the count is a Class C felony because of the store's proximity to Jefferson High School and Tecumseh Middle School, Barthelemy said. Most varieties of spice and K2, which mimic marijuana's high when smoked, are banned under an Indiana law that took effect in July. State Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, currently is sponsoring proposed legislation that would add more ingredients and chemicals to the list. An employee who answered the phone at Discount Tobacco on Wednesday night declined to comment on the afternoon raid. According to Barthelemy, Wednesday's investigation partially stemmed from the seizures - more than 500 packages with a retail value of nearly $19,000 - last fall. Those packages were sent to an Indiana State Police laboratory for examination. Investigators recently learned that one of the recovered brands, Cloud 9 Mad Hatter, indeed contained banned substances, Barthelemy said. Of the 68 packages found in the filing cabinet on Wednesday, 38 of them were Cloud 9 Mad Hatter. Barthelemy said additional arrests 'further up the management chain' are possible. The Street Crimes Unit has been working with the Drug-Free Coalition of Tippecanoe County for several months to find whether any Lafayette-area businesses are still selling spice. It's been found only at Discount Tobacco so far, Barthelemy said. As police conducted their search Wednesday, a large crowd of onlookers gathered outside. Among them was Sarah Parrish, manager of Just Smokes on Earl Avenue. Parrish heard about the previous spice bust made at Discount Tobacco and said she wasn't surprised that police were back with another warrant. 'It's nothing we ever even thought of getting into,' Parrish said. 'It's not healthy for you, and my stand on it is that it doesn't pay to do no good.' Parrish said although Just Smokes has taken a firm stance against selling spice, customers and distributors frequently ask about it. 'We have people come in quite often looking for it, and some people leave really mad,' she said. 'And we get fliers in the mail all the time from companies trying to get us to sell it. 'But I'm not surprised at all. For what they can get it for and for what it's selling for, they're making quite a bit of money off of it. 'But as far as my company goes, it's not worth the headache and the type of people it brings.'

Things are shaping up for property tax bills to be on time this year, not that anyone particularly looks forward to another bill in the mailbox. But timely mailing of property tax bills leads to timely collection and distributions of tax revenue. Timely distributions means taxpayers don't have to pay interest on borrowed money to fund the local government services. It's a deadline that hasn't always been met in recent years. A few glitches had Tippecanoe County officials sweating the tax bill deadline, and it's still not a sure thing. 'We certified our assessments late, but the fact that we have the DLGF (hearing) next week shows that the turnaround time is still good,' Auditor Jennifer Weston said Wednesday. 'We're in remarkably good shape,' Assessor Linda Phillips said. She attributed the delay in getting assessments to the auditor to glitches caused by switching to a new computer system. The Department of Local Government Finance plans a hearing at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 17 in the Wabash Room on the first floor of the Tippecanoe County Office Building at 20 N. Third St. in Lafayette. The panel will take input from the public and review the assessed values of property and all of the budgets. The department will send county officials the property tax rates, which might not be the same as the estimated rate used in August to create the budgets, Weston said. When that rate arrives in the auditor's office, Weston's staff will calculate the rate for each property. They then double-check the work before sending the bills to the treasurer's office, which will mail the bills, Weston said. The deadline to get the bills to the treasurer is April 1. That gives the staff at the treasurer's office enough time to get the bills mailed to taxpayers at least a month before the May 10 payment is due, county Treasurer Bob Plantenga said last week. Tippecanoe County missed its tax bill deadlines in 2007, 2008 and 2009, causing a ripple effect as local governments scrambled to pay bills until the tax draw arrived. That shouldn't be the case this year. And 2013 is shaping up well to hit deadlines, even with a reassessment and trending being done for next year's bills. 'We have examined 100 percent of our parcels,' Phillips said of the reassessment. 'We're supposed to have 100 percent in the computer on March 1.' Trending, the adjustments of property values to reflect market values based on local sales, hasn't started. The process uses sale prices of similar properties in similar areas to figure the increase - or decrease - in trending. 'Trending cannot start until we get sales at the end of February,' Phillips said. 'For next year, I'm hoping to have it out early. I'm hoping they'll be able to budget with real numbers,' she said, referring to the county council. In the past few years, the council has had to budget with estimated assessed values. Phillips' goal is to be able to mail out property owners' assessed value for the taxes payable in 2013 on Oct. 1. This will allow property owners to appeal their property's value - a process that must be done within 45 days of notification - without the chaos and rush of looming tax payments, Phillips said.

Susan Crosley helps her children, Jack and Anna, build a bluebird house Wednesday at Lilly Nature Center in West Lafayette.

Newman Road between Sharon Chapel Road and Division Road will be closed for an unknown amount of time, according to the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Department.

Although it is almost mid-February, overwintering male bluebirds already are singing to attract females “It’s time to clean out existing bluebird boxes or put out new ones,” says Mary Cutler, the Tippecanoe County naturalist. See Thursday’s Local section for more. Ten million dollars. That’s the amount a Purdue University center has accumulated in less than a year to help Gebisa Ejeta, a distinguished professor of agronomy and 2009 World Food Prize winner, work on world food issues. See Page 1. Nellie McKay left a lasting impression on Richard Fudge when he saw her perform in Toronto about six years ago. “She’s an exceptionally talented musician and comedienne,” said Fudge, president of the local music co-op Friends of Bob. Find out what McKay’s bringing to Duncan Hall on Thursday, in Arts. Get all the details, including tonight’s matchup between Western and West Lafayette.

Kelli Stump admitted Tuesday that she wasn't coerced or promised any perks from Brenda K. Hatfield, her former boss at Coldwell Banker Shook in Lafayette, when she forged signatures on documents that would have qualified Hatfield for significant tax breaks on her rental properties.

LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The trial is underway for a former Lafayette real estate broker charged with 13 felonies.

Mitchell A. McCarter v. State of Indiana - "[W]e consider the evidence necessary to prove force or threat of force for a Class D felony sexual battery conviction." In Benjamin Crossing Homeowners' Association, Inc.

TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. - A quick construction note to pass along for your morning commute Monday: The Tippecanoe County Highway Department plans to close Burnetts Road, between State Road 43 and North 9th Street, for tree cutting work.

LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Tippecanoe County's We-Tip program is the most successful in the United States, according to Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Pat Harrington.

LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Two men face more than 10 felony charges in Tippecanoe County, for allegedly attempting to make hundreds of dollars in charges on another man's credit card.