Happy Thanksgiving!

There are many reasons to be thankful this holiday season. One is the lower price at the pump. What a change from earlier this year when we were paying $4.19 a gallon! Be safe on the road. This is one of the busiest travel times of the year. In addition, Mike Prangley says we may see about an inch of snow on Saturday night - Sunday.



Food Finders Food Bank is thankful to everyone who donated to Community Harvest. The organization met its goal of collecting 120,000 pounds of food going into the holiday season. Stay tuned for more food drives this season. In addition, drop some change in the red kettles for the Salvation Army.
We received lots of positive responses to our story about the backpack program at Miami Elementary School. People were calling the school offering to donate food when they saw the preview stories airing. Thank you to Wilma Scott at Logan's Roadhouse. The restaurant is stepping up to sponsor another Lafayette school. In addition, a Lafayette church is interested in getting involved.

Although many of us have to work, make time to spend quality time with your family this holiday season. You never know what the new year holds. And, children grow up so fast. Enjoy your holiday traditions. If you don't' have one, start one.

My 'Lafayette family' has a gingerbread making contest after the Thanksgiving meal. Some of the edibles are very creative. Below is the 'fisherman on the lake' scene Emilee, Tom and I made. Maybe I should brush up on all those cool Good Housekeeping creations for next year!

Tiller Tribute

Joe Tiller will long be remembered as the winningest coach in Purdue's history. He led the Boilermakers to the Rose Bowl and several other bowl games during his career at Purdue. In his final game, Purdue beat IU 62-10 for the Old Oaken Bucket. I remember talking to the coach on several occasions. He was very down to earth, and quite honestly funny. He had a wonderful sense of humor.


We will miss Joe, along with his wife Arnette. I enjoyed getting to know her, as she spearheaded an annual food drive at Ross Ade stadium. During one noon interview I told her how much my son Brett enjoyed going to the games, but didn't watch much football. At the age of 6 he was more entertained by Purdue Pete. Days later, Arnette sent an email mysteriously asking where Brett and I would be sitting during the game. Then, during the game, Purdue Pete came up into the stands to meet Brett. Thanks for the wonderful memories!

National Family Week

Congratulations to Gil and Janet Smith and their two children, for being named Family Services Incorporated Family of the Year. The Smiths were honored at a ceremony last night at the Purdue University Ballrooms. The family was chosen as an example of a strong, healthy family. They are foster parents through the Villages, active in mission work through their church, and volunteer with local service projects.
Other National Family Week award winners include: Chella Foster-Flynn for her poster; Alicia Casilles for her essay; Tempest Homes Scholarship winner -Kailee Jensen; Volunteer of the Year- Dave Williams; Business Partner of the Year-Hippensteel Funeral Home; Lillian Kaplan Human Service Award - Indiana District 4 Pro Bono Corporation; and the Family Advocacy Award-State Representative Sheila Klinker.

Faces of Hunger

November 16th-22nd is National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. While many people think hunger is a problem only in foreign countries, but there are hundreds of families here in Lafayette who have trouble putting food on the table every night. Food prices are going up and the economy is in a slump. Food Finders Food Bank Director Katy Bunder said more than 5,000 children live in poverty in Tippecanoe County.

On Tuesday, November 18th, I will have a special report called 'The Faces of Hunger.' You will get to meet the Weikel family in Lafayette. They have five children at Miami Elementary School and rely on the backpack program to make ends meet. The Noon Rotary Club fills backpacks each week with about 10 pounds of food. That helps ensure the children have enough to eat through the weekend. All the children and Rotary volunteers I met at Miami were wonderful. I hope this story will create more awareness of hunger in our community, as well as inspire people and organizations to sponsor additional needed backpack programs in our area.

Cumblerland Crusaders

Michelin Newton's third grade class at Cumberland Elementary School is learning about news. They invited me to come speak to them Monday. I enjoyed meeting the children. They asked lots of good questions, including 'what if one of our cameras didn't work' or 'what if the power went out?'
These four students are among several who volunteered to be my news anchors for a pseudo newscast. Our top story was a visit from President-elect Barack Obama and $50,000 from the Governor to build a swimming pool at the school. The forecast called for snow. And, that's what they are hoping to see soon!

Provisional ballots

It appears the race for Statehouse District 26 is far from over. Democrat John Polles filed an injunction in Tippecanoe Circuit Court. He said the move was to force the election board to start reviewing 414 provisional ballots. The county said it can identify which ballots were cast by voters who claimed they registered at an agency, like the BMV, but their names were not on the county's voter registration list. Only one ballot fit that category after today's review.

The ballots will be counted on Friday, November 14th. Republican Randy Truitt leads the race by 21 votes. No one knows if there will be enough provisional ballots ruled 'valid' that will impact the Dist 26 race.

And, it is interesting to know, Nicole Martin, the Purdue student whose name is on the court papers, told us she didn't even vote in the Dist 26 race. She told us she only voted for President. Martin voted a provisional ballot because records show she is registered to vote in Porter County. But, she later registered in Tippecanoe County.

The results are in

We have a new president! Barack Obama won and will become our nation's 44th president and our first African American President.
It first appeared support for Obama was spilling over on all the local democratic races. Democrats were leading in races for Judge of Superior 1, County Commissioner and Council At-Large. But as the night progressed, the tide turned toward the republicans. Although the final votes have not yet been counted, it appears republicans won all the county races.
The closest local race is for State Representative District 26. Republican Randy Truitt beat democrat John Polles by 20 votes. Those results could change, as there are 414 provisional ballots yet to be counted. Provisional ballots are cast when a voter cannot verify he or she is properly registered or show proper ID. Voters have until the 14th to provide that information. If it is not, the ballots are thrown out. The election board will review the ballots on the 14th. The election is expected to be certified on the 17th. Stay tuned for more possible changes.

Election Day

Election day is finally here! More than 38,000 people voted early. Thousands more will vote today. I was among them. I went to LFD station #5 at Creasy and Union around 9:00a.m. The process went very smoothly. I was in and out in less than 10 minutes. I was very impressed. Others here at WLFI had the same Election Day experience. A heavier turnout is reported at the Purdue Union, where about 250 students were in line to vote.

After I voted this morning, I took part in the exit poll that is being conducted by students in Dave Walker's class at Jeff High School (other locations at Lafayette City Hall, the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds, and Jenks Rest). The questionnaire asked voters who they chose for Presidential race, Congress-Dist 4, and Governor. The poll also included a question about what motivated us to vote: economy, war, immigration, taxes, and other.

I will be checking some of the vote centers this afternoon and will be giving live reports at 5 and 6 tonight from the Tippecanoe County Office Building. That's where some of our reporters will be most of the night watching the results come in. Stay tuned at WLFI or on the web for results throughout the night.