Staying connected
In recent years, the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce has put on free public forums for constituents wanting to connect with their state lawmakers while the Indiana General Assembly is in session.
The monthly meetings, called “Third House Sessions,” have helped local residents keep up to date with what is going on in the legislature while also learning more about their representatives.
While COVID-19 has changed much in recent months, there’s no plan on doing away with the sessions. Third House will now be held online via the video conferencing platform Zoom.
Lawmakers with standing invitations to participate are: Rep. Ryan Lauer, R-Columbus; Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour; Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus; Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford; and Rep. Sean Eberhardt, R-Shelbyville.
The first session will take place on Jan. 25, and those interested in attending can sign up at columbusareachamber.com.
Third House is an excellent program, and we’re glad it will still take place despite the challenges presented by the pandemic.
Helping those at risk
Ivy Tech Community College — Columbus is looking out for more than just the educational needs of its students.
The college is revamping its food pantry, Ivy Food for Thought, which was launched in December of 2019 as an initiative by the Student Government Association.
College officials said they’ve seen an increased need for the food pantry at the campus, which has also provided other items including hygiene products to students.
It isn’t surprising that some college-aged locals are at risk of food insecurity.
In 2020, Feeding America, a nationwide association of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries, projected that one out of every six residents in Bartholomew County — including one of every four children — are at risk of going hungry due to the pandemic.
Kudos to Ivy Tech for making a bigger effort to help tackle a community-wide issue.
Prepare for madness
In 1925, Dr. James Naismith wrote that while basketball was invented in Massachusetts, it “really had its origin in Indiana, which remains the center of the sport.”
While talking heads can argue whether or not Indiana is the best basketball state today, there’s no denying that it will be the center of the basketball world in 2021.
On Monday, the NCAA announced it would stage its entire men’s basketball tournament in Indiana this March and April, with a majority of its 67 games taking place in Indianapolis.
Games will be played on two courts inside Lucas Oil Stadium, as well as Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Mackey Arena in West Lafayette and Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
Teams will stay in hotels downtown, which will be a controlled environment, and practice courts will be constructed in the convention center.
There will be a plethora of challenges to address, but if there is any state that can pull off a successful tournament — it’s Indiana.
It’s exciting that the state will gain worldwide exposure through the tournament, and dollars will go back into the local economy as a result.
