~by Dr. Larry DeBoer, Purdue University Forecasts? Don’t talk about forecasts. You kidding me?  I just want to know what’s happening now! With apologies to Jim Mora, that’s our problem. What’s happening in our economy, right now? In the first week of March, we’d have answered that gross domestic product above inflation grew 2.4 percent …

~by Dr. Larry DeBoer, Purdue University Rents are falling in San Francisco. Keep that in mind as this column wanders along. The wizards in Harry Potter’s Britain use many forms of transportation. Brooms, but also floo powder, portkeys, flying vehicles, the Night Bus. Perhaps the most frequently used form of transportation, and certainly the most …

~by Daniel Walker, Community Planning Extension Specialist, Purdue Extension/Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant  Online course certifies planning officials and interested residents as Master Citizen Planners Purdue Extension and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant have opened enrollment in American Citizen Planner – Indiana, an online training course for local planning officials and interested residents. Participants learn about core planning issues, …

~by Dr. Larry DeBoer, Purdue University We got trouble, my friends, with a capital T. The Indiana state budget closeout for fiscal 2020 was held in mid-July, so we have a good idea of how bad things are. Revenues fell 8 percent below forecast for the year, 23 percent from March through June. We used …

Purdue Extension provided a free workshop for local leaders to learn about Indiana’s property tax system and explore trends in local and regional property tax data on Friday, March 13, at the Purdue Extension Lake County Office.  Local government officials, community leaders, and residents from Lake and Porter counties participated in the workshop. Workshop participants …

Lake County Extension collaborated with the Lake County Clerk’s office and the Board of Elections & Registration to present the “Local Government Leadership: Running for Office” workshop on January 7, 2020. 24 community members attended the session, held in the Purdue Extension building.  Participants learned about the election process and the required forms for candidacy …

The American Citizen Planner program, which provides training in core competencies for public planning officials, is now being offered in Indiana twice per year. The online training program is designed to help those serving on plan commissions and other volunteers interested in community planning understand the roles and responsibilities of public officials, community residents and …

Purdue Extension has offices in all ninety-two counties in Indiana. Through these offices, our educators are able to spend their workdays (and live their lives) in close proximity to their stakeholders. This constant contact offers insights that go beyond the data and builds networks that other institutions often struggle to replicate. Recently, one of our …

On September 24, 2019, Purdue Extension Community Development educator, Amanda Galloway, and Tippecanoe County Clerk, Julie Roush, presented to approximately 30 attendees of the pilot program, Elected Leadership: Running for Local Office. Participants learned more about the process for running for local office, and requirements and positions up for election in 2020. This program was conducted …

Confined Feeding Operations (CFOs) offer an efficient system to feed and house animals through specialization, increased facility size and close confinement of animals. There are roughly 19,496 CFOs in the United States. Indiana has close to 2,000 CFOs that are regulated by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) at the state level. Although the …