It’s Saturday Junior, Lafayette. Plan accordingly.

Here’s what’s in Friday’s edition:

Beyond Gallery & Gift Shop isn't your average gift shop. Tucked right here in Lafayette, it's part art gallery, part creative playground. You will find the place stocked with DIY craft kits, original art, prints, jewelry, stickers, cards that'll make you laugh, and gifts you won't find anywhere else.

Their products span local artists, small-batch makers from across the country, recognizable brands, and fair-trade pieces that make sure every creator gets a fair shake. They also host six gallery exhibitions a year (four of them open call, always free to display) so artists at every level get a shot at the wall. As one regular puts it, it's the shop in Lafayette most likely to make you smile.

Check them out here

Last call for Dinner Club next Wednesday (May 20th)! The last official day to sign up is Monday, May 18th by 6:30 pm.

Come out and meet some new friends!

Here’s the rundown.

Six locals, around one table, enjoying a great meal and meaningful conversations.

📍Lafayette

🗓️Wednesday, May 20th at 6:30 pm

🍽️Book your seat

Can’t make this one? Sign up to get updates on future dinner.

The Tippecanoe County Amphitheater starts its Summer Movie Night Series this Friday, May 15. Doors open at 8 pm and the film rolls at 9 pm.

Admission is free, but bring a donation. Your donation is your ticket. Items go to local nonprofits serving Tippecanoe County families.

Accepted items:

Food trucks will be there and the popcorn is free.

More info

In 1849, twenty Jewish families in Lafayette, mostly merchants who'd worked their way west from the Erie Canal, organized a congregation they called Ahavath Achim (Hebrew for "brotherly love”).

Eighteen years later, they built a synagogue at the corner of 7th and Alabama. Jacob Welschbillig did the construction and painted brick on a limestone foundation. It featured round arches with a Star of David carved into limestone above the entrance. The dedication came during the High Holy Days of 1867. Isaac Mayer Wise, the man who built American Reform Judaism from a desk in Cincinnati, came up to lead the ceremony. It was quite the scene. There was a parade in which the mayor walked in and The Lafayette Silver Cornet Band played everyone up the steps.

In 1919, the congregation renamed itself Temple Israel and moved to West Lafayette in 1969. The building has had several occupants since.

This May, it sold again. A local businessman named Ed Bahler bought it. He plans to turn it into a coffee shop and event space, keeping the stained glass and the Star of David out front. It's the oldest synagogue building in Indiana.

Sources: National Register of Historic Places nomination form; Indiana Historical Society, Temple Israel Lafayette Collection M 1448; templeisraelwlaf.org; The Forward; Lafayette Journal & Courier;Indiana Synagogue Mapping Project

Tippecanoe County Council heard the first reading Tuesday on a proposed 0.1% local income tax increase dedicated to correctional facilities. The money would go toward building a juvenile detention center and planning for an eventual jail replacement.

The increase works out to about $50 a year on $50,000 of adjusted gross income, or $4.17 a month. Social Security income is exempt. Tippecanoe currently ranks 14th-lowest in the state for income tax rates and the increase would move it only one spot.

Juvenile Court Judge Faith Graham laid out why the need is urgent. A 2023 state law change requires juveniles charged as adults to be held separately from adult inmates. Tippecanoe has no juvenile facility, so the county sends kids to out-of-county beds at $150 to $350 a day (sometimes double or triple that for adult-charge cases). The Department of Corrections recently stopped offering its "safekeeper" beds for these juveniles, shrinking supply further.

Graham has already spent 58% of her annual budget by early May. A statewide survey found counties couldn't carry out detention decisions 82% of the time because no beds were available. Officials said deputies have transported juveniles as far as Fort Wayne, the Cincinnati area, and Dearborn County, Ohio. Sheriff Bob Goldsmith said a recent Fort Wayne run pulled officers off local roads for nearly a full shift.

Public comment continues through summer. The second reading is expected in September or October.

Purdue at Iowa

5/15 | 7:30 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)

Purdue at Iowa

5/16 | 2 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)

Big Ten Tournament

5/19 | TBD

Friday

71🌡️47 | 🌤️ | 0% | 💨9 mph

Saturday

82🌡️61 | 🌦️ | 50% | 💨11 mph

Sunday

86🌡️64 | ⛈️ | 40% | 💨7 mph

Monday

90🌡️69 | ⛈️ | 10% | 💨13 mph

Tuesday

87🌡️73 | ⛈️ | 40% | 💨15 mph

The Ivory Wren & Company Grand Opening

The Ivory Wren | 11 am to 2 pm

Summer Movie Night Series: The Goonies

Tippecanoe County Parks Amphitheater | 9 pm 

Wine After Work

Wildcat Creek Winery | 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Colorado Springs Philharmonic: Rhapsody In Blue (Get Tickets)

Longer Center for the Performing Arts | 8 pm

Gallery Walk

Main Street | 6 pm to 9 pm

Lafayette Farmer’s Market

5th and Main Streets | 8 am to 12:30 pm

Apple Blossom Market

Wea Creek Orchard | 10 am to 4 pm

Percherons Visit The Farm

The Farm at Prophetstown | 11 am

Beats, Bites, & Bottles

Wildcat Creek Winery | 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Main Stage: The American Sound

The Long Center for the Performing Arts | 7:30 pm

Turkey Buzzards (Folk/Americana)

People’s Brewing Company & Taproom (Get Tickets) | 5 pm to 8 pm

Thank you for taking the time to read this far! If you have any suggestions for stories, restaurants to try, events going on, or cool things people are doing in the community, send them over!

Enjoy the weekend,

Blake | Publisher, Lafayette Lookout