By Kristen Rupp
Special to the Independent Tribune
My journey in fostering started with Curtis Michael Robert. Curtis was a bald baby boy. He had a plastic yellow pacifier that would squeak when you twisted it into his little mouth. He wore a green seersucker suit and I was in love with him before I even took him from the box. He was my very first Cabbage Patch Kid and he changed my life. I remember going to Toys-R-Us or Kay-Bee Toys as a child and pulling all the Cabbage Patch Kids off the shelf to see which ones had the dusty tops. I knew those were the children who had been waiting longest for a home. Those are the ones I wanted.
West Lafayette and Purdue University have chosen to keep a mask mandate in place. Lafayette, however, decided to lift the mandate along with the state.
Some businesses are questioning that decision.
In an interview with WBAA on Thursday, Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski claimed a majority of residents were in favor of lifting the mask mandate.
But Sarah Stantz, the owner of Java Roaster in downtown Lafayette, said she doesn’t understand why the mask mandate was lifted everywhere but in city hall.
“If they are willing to do that for their places of work, then I don’t understand why they aren’t willing to do that for all of us,” she said.
In Lafayette, Mayor Tony Roswarski has said he supports the governor lifting the mask mandate but said people should continue wearing masks if they can’t socially distance.
Many Lafayette businesses say they plan to keep mask rules in place.
Kristen Rupp is the co-owner of Bernadette’s Babeshop. She said they plan to keep wearing masks.
“Just to keep everyone here safe,” she said. “We’re not all vaccinated yet so we’re going to keep it up until we all are and maybe even a little bit longer.”
Sarah Stantz is the owner of Java Roaster in downtown Lafayette. She said the state’s decisions to lift the mandate put pressure on businesses to make hard choices about whether to let people come in who could pose health risks.