Happy Friday, Lafayette!

Thank you so much to everyone who came out for the Dinner Club this Wednesday! I hope you met some new friends and had some fun👍 The next one is happening on Wednesday, March 18th at 6:30 pm. You can find more information here

Be sure to check out the "one thing to leave the house for" section below!

If you’re wondering about the history trivia and home trivia from Tuesday, the answers are Lake Stansbury and $599,900

Here’s what’s in Friday’s edition:

A Pinch of Pepper is celebrating one year at 101 N 6th Street this Saturday! Sunni Morning, Laura’s Corner Bakery, and Every's ice cream will all be there. Oh, and free caviar tasting👀

Get there while supplies last!

Also, check out their cool website

Lafayette's newspaper tradition is just about as old as the city itself. Just four years after William Digby founded the town in 1825 John B. Semans started printing the Free Press, making it the city's very first newspaper. The Free Press owner also launched the Tippecanoe Journal, and the two eventually merged. Fun fact, John Purdue owned the Journal.

The Weekly Courier hit the streets in 1845, the Daily Courier followed in 1849, and in 1920 the Journal and Courier merged into the paper we all know today.

But these publications were far from the only game in town. The Library of Congress has recorded at least 67 different newspaper titles published in Lafayette during the 1800s alone. Some lasted decades. Others not so much. The Morning Post survived about six weeks in 1894, and someone actually launched a paper called the Weekly Tickler in 1864 that made it about a year. Helen Gougar ran Our Herald from 1881 to 1885, using it to fight for temperance and women's suffrage. The New York Times actually wrote about her.

I didn’t really have an aim in writing this, just read about the early days of Lafayette and saw something about the Free Press. Finding out that we had a publication called the Weekly Tickler was worth the time researching for this😂

The City of Lafayette has offered to fund an upgraded crossing surface as part of the South Street Railroad Crossing project, but the railroad company has so far declined, the mayor revealed at the February 26 Lafayette Redevelopment Commission meeting.

The $3.4 million project will reconstruct South Street from west of the railroad crossing to the Century Place intersection, adding trails, raised medians, and landscaped features. Construction is targeted to begin in May with substantial completion by August.

While the city prefers a crossing with black composite panels like those on 9th Street, the railroad has only approved a standard asphalt surface. The railroad also rejected concrete panels, which the mayor noted have held up well on Green Bush Street. The city has offered to cover the full cost of the upgrade but has not yet received approval.

"We've even agreed to pay for it," the mayor said. "We're hoping that they will approve that so it can be an upgraded intersection that will remain smooth for a longer period of time."

Bids will be received at the April commission meeting.

8 Purdue at Ohio State

3/11 | 1:30 pm tip-off (Game is on CBS)

Purdue at Northwestern

3/1 | 3 pm tip-off (Game is on B1G+)

Friday

62🌡️33 | ☀️ | 0% | 💨8 mph

Saturday

51🌡️33 | 🌧️ | 10% | 💨4 mph

Sunday

38🌡️25 | 🌧️ | 10% | 💨8 mph

Monday

38🌡️24 | 🌨️ | 60% | 💨7 mph

Tuesday

44🌡️28 | 🌧️ | 60% | 💨6 mph

Purdue Concert Orchestra & Philharmonic Orchestra

Long Center for the Performing Arts | 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm 

Galinthias 

Nancy T. Hansen Theatre | 7:30 pm

Friday Night Live: Ebony & the Ruckus

The Art Museum of Greater Lafayette | 7 pm to 8 pm

Watercolor Vines and Wines (Get Tickets)

Wildcat Creek Winery | 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

The Ballistics

The Spot Tavern | 8 pm

Rob Amrhein Live

648 Bourbon Lounge | 8 pm to 11 pm

Purdue Bands & Orchestras: University and Symphony Orchestras

Long Center for the Performing Arts | 7:30 pm to 9 pm

Science Saturday

Imagination Station | 10:30 am to 1:30 pm

Two Step Night (Get Tickets)

People’s Brewing Company & Taproom | 7 pm to 11:30 pm

Family Friendly Improv Comedy

Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette | 7 pm

Mrs. Doubtfire (Get Tickets)

Elliott Hall of Music | 7 pm

Libby DeCamp w/ Noelle Voglewed (Get Tickets)

People’s Brewing Company & Taproom | 5 pm to 8 pm 

Appreciate you reading! 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