Yesterday’s weather saw the warmest temperatures, around 85 F, at midnight. They fell after a broken line of showers and storms passed through the area, levelled out at 75 F during the day, and resumed their fall as the sun set. Nighttime high temperatures are seen more often in winter than in summer, but the outgoing airmass was hot and the one we enjoyed today is from the northern Great Lakes.

Conditions at 11 pm EDT, June 21

We are under an area of high pressure, on the side which tends to transport air from points north. The cold front has pushed precipitation well to our southeast.

The clouds from this morning partially cleared by sunset as drier air came in from the northwest.

Forecast for June 22-23

Today will be a fairly raw day for mid-June. Temperatures will struggle toward 70 F at best. Clouds will increase as the day goes on, with a possible drop or two of rain. There may be a little clearing as sunset approaches and the frigid air a mile above us begins to moderate.

Tonight will be cool, with mostly cloudy skies. GFS suggests 52 F as the low temperature Wednesday morning, but it’s sort of hard to see how we go from 72 F to 52 F on a short, cloudy June night.

Tomorrow will see the clouds persist, though we will have exchange low-level stratus for mid-level clouds. It will be the kind of day that the Irish call “bright”: little sun but not nearly as gloomy as today. High temperatures will be in the low to mid 70s. Little to no rain is expected here, though metro Chicago will see light showers.

The Journal and Courier dropped its Opinions section on Easter Sunday, and the loss is hard to bear — even for people who disagree with the moderate Republican slant of the editorial board.  Dave Sattler’s comics are missed, and the J and C did not even publish his farewell cartoon.

As a highly literate community of 170,000 people, it is astounding that we only have one daily newspaper year-round and two during the school year with the Exponent.  It’s not quite as astounding as metro Indianapolis’ million-plus making do with the Indianapolis Star as its sole general-readership daily, but it is still not a good showing.  (Indy does have NUVO, an entertainment weekly, and the Indianapolis Recorded, an African-American weekly.)

\The number is more astonishing when surrounding counties, where the J and C is sold, are taken into consideration. Frankfort, whose county boasts 32,776 people has the Frankfort Times, which is part of a small chain based in Marion, Indiana.  Montgomery County, population 38,146, has two:  the Crawfordsville Journal-Review and the Montgomery County Paper.  All are reasonably competent papers.

The J and C is partially sustained by subscribers in the surrounding counties, but as it continues to shed columnists and coverage, readers outside Tippecanoe County will have little reason to pick up a J and C other than to look at mug shots or read Dave Bangert’s column.

The loss of the Opinion section is even more painful in these polarized times.  Social media is all too happy to provide news calibrated precisely to each user’s politics.  Social norms in this part of Indiana militate against talk of politics across party lines.  The Opinions page was a place where competently-written letters and articles across the local political spectrum could be found and there was no avoiding opinions that the reader did not like.

State Senator Brandt Hershman (R-Buck Creek) introduced Senate Bill 309, which would insist that people with solar panels sell excess solar power at wholesale rates (3 cent/kWh) but buy utility power at retail rates (11 cents/kWh).

It was referred to the Committee on Utilities.

Here are the phone numbers and office addresses of our local state Senators and Representatives.  Gerrymandering has split the Cities of Lafayette and West Lafayette, so the list may be longer than it would be in a representative democracy.

To find which Representatives have been hired to represent you, the Indiana General Assembly’s webpage is very helpful.

Sen. Brandt Hershman (R-07): 800-382-9467, 317-232-9400

Sen. Ron Alting (R-22):  317-232-9400, 800-382-9467

Rep. Don Lehe (R-25):   317-232-9674, 800-382-9841

Rep. Sheila Klinker (D-27):  800-382-9842

Rep. Sharon Negele (R-13):  800-382-9841, 317-232-9816

Dr. Tim Brown (R-41): 317-232-9651, 800-382-9841

 

 

Lafayette’s protests took place under the first clear, blue sky in many days.  Organizers estimated that 1,000 people showed up at the Courthouse this afternoon.  One line or people extending several blocks along the sidewalk marched from Democratic Headquarters on Main Street, guided by the sound of fife and drums.  Another group came from points south.  A few songs entertained the crowd as it arranged itself, then the Star-Spangled Banner was sung and the speeches began.

Local government stepped up to the task of our admirably and adroitly.  At the end of the rally, the organizers said that the County Commissioners (largely Republican) cooperated fully. Mayors Roswarski (D-Lafayette) and Dennis (R-West Lafayette) were present in solidarity, though only Dennis gave a speech. The Lafayette Police and protestors tried to maintain a lane of traffic on Columbia Street, but eventually LEOs shut Columbia Street south of the Courthouse down so the crowd had room to stand.  After the rally, participants dispersed peacefully, though many stayed downtown to visit restaurants and bars.

One strange element of this rally was that three of the speakers lavished praise on our community.  Sheila Klinker (D-Lafayette) declared that the rest of the state looks upon our area as a leader and good example.  NAACP President Sadie Harper-Scott claimed that most of us were members of the NAACP because we tend to do the right thing.  (She may not have been so sanguine last spring amid allegations of police misconduct toward an African-American they arrested.)  The head of the YWCA boasted about our new domestic violence shelter for women, children and men, but expressed fear that Trump would cut funding for such programs.

Several times during the rally, speakers urged us to call our representatives;  one suggested that we visit Todd Rokita’s office (MWF, 9 am – 4 pm) and drop off a note.