Indianapolis Business Journal. February 2, 2024.
Editorial: Planners behind All-Star events created an all-state celebration
The NBA All-Star Weekend isn’t happening just in Indianapolis.
The local host committee has taken steps to spread the pro basketball love across the state, a place long known for its “Hoosier hysteria” for basketball at all levels of competition.
And the NBA, Pacers Sports & Entertainment and their civic partners all are to be commended for helping to give many Hoosiers a chance to be part of the action.
They’ve accomplished this by emphasizing that you don’t need a hard-to-find ticket to the All-Star Game itself to enjoy other activities during All-Star Weekend Feb. 16-18 or to feel the impact of related projects and competitions across the state.
The Hoosier outreach began way back in February 2020, when Indy was set to host the 2021 All-Star Game. The host committee identified 21 not-for-profits to receive $50,000 grants for legacy projects focused on improving health and wellness.
Because Indianapolis’ hosting duties were moved to 2024 due to the pandemic, the host committee added another three grants this year to bring the total to a fitting 24.
The results can be seen across the state, from a renovated gym at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana to adjustable hoops and a retractable curtain added to the Dream Center gym in Evansville.
Several central Indiana groups also benefited from the grants, including Hawthorne Community Center and Jameson Camp, which each used part of their grant money to create spaces for science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, activities.
The Christamore House, a community organization at West Michigan and Tremont streets that serves near-west-side residents, received a $250,000 combined grant from the NBA, the local host committee and Indiana Pacers co-owner Herb Simon. That allowed the not-for-profit to refurbish Christamore House’s basketball gym and add a fitness center and a STEM center.
Other statewide outreach included a knockout basketball competition held pregame or at halftime of high school basketball games in each of the state’s 92 counties. Players competed for prizes and a chance to take part in the Ultimate Knockout Challenge at Bicentennial Plaza in downtown Indianapolis.
In addition, 24 basketball sculptures celebrating key Indiana moments in the sport will be scattered across downtown, noting everything from the Muncie Central squads that once dominated the state tournament to tiny Milan’s 1954 state championship that inspired the movie “Hoosiers,” to the 1955 Crispus Attucks squad led by Oscar Robertson that became the nation’s first all-Black squad to win an open state tournament.
The host committee also managed to reserve spots for Hoosier ticket buyers at All-Star Saturday Night.
And even more affordable access will be available at NBA Crossover, a fan experience at the Indiana Convention Center that will host a stream of player meet-and-greets, lots of digital and real basketball games, and plenty of NBA gear and prizes throughout the weekend.
Of course, all the Hoosier outreach shows great marketing prowess on the part of local planners.
But it still gives us the warm fuzzies for the roar of a high school basketball crowd on a chilly winter night.
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Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. February 2, 2024.
Editorial: It’s time to work on our civic health lest we become debilitated
Our political leaders must take the Indiana Bar Foundation and Indiana Civic Coalition’s 2023 Civic Health Index seriously.
Delivered on Jan. 24, the sixth annual index shows that while Indiana has a strong foundation in civic education and social and community connectivity, low voter turnout poses a significant problem in reversing voter apathy.
During the 2020 presidential election, Indiana had a voter turnout of 61.9%, five percentage points lower than the national average. Although it is not a significant difference, the level of enthusiasm did not translate to the 2022 midterms, with just 41.9% of Hoosier voters participating, while the national average was 52.2%.
Compared to other states and the District of Columbia, Indiana ranked last for turnout during the 2022 midterms, even though the cycle saw the highest voter registration rate nationally recorded by the Census Bureau. Indiana ranks 40th for voter registration — with 66.5% of the state’s eligible voters registered.
It’s a troubling disparity that, at least in 2022, two-thirds of eligible Hoosiers had the right to vote, yet more than half opted out. The co-founder of the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation finds that ominous.
“If I were to want to sound a little bit apocalyptic, democracy is dying right before our very eyes,” Bill Moreau told Fox 59. “When you see the data about 18-, 19-, 20- and 21-year-olds checking out, they’re being raised by 40-year-olds who’ve checked out, so where do we connect this emphasis on civics education to civic responsibility?”
The report calls for a statewide focus on improving youth voter registration, particularly among 18- to 21-year-olds with the lowest voter registration rates.
The report recommends investing in nonpartisan educational programs targeting young Hoosiers to address this issue. These programs will encourage eligible students to register to vote and, in turn, create a more engaged and active citizenry.
Although the report does not recommend pre-registering 16- and 17-year-olds for voting, 16 states, including most recently Michigan, have approved the process. It’s nonpartisan and has the potential to raise participation in elections. Voting is synonymous with adulthood in a literal sense — casting a ballot is having a personal stake in the republic.
In Michigan, the secretary of state’s office will contact every resident between 16 and 18 years old who has applied for a driver’s license or state identification card and has not pre-registered or registered to vote.
The cost of the annual postcard notice is $64,000.
The Michigan education department will work with the secretary of state in an annual outreach campaign.
Michigan may have found an inexpensive way to improve voter registration rates. It’s time to ask Indiana lawmakers what they are doing to attack this problem.
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Anderson Herald Bulletin. February 2, 2024.
Editorial: Indiana should consider assisted suicide bill
A bill that would legalize medically assisted suicide in Indiana is, unfortunately, apt to die in committee.
In Saturday’s newspaper, reporter Caleb Amick relayed the story of Carrol Krause, an Indiana woman with an incurable tumor who starved to death as no medically assisted option was legally available to her.
Our modern medical advancements are a marvel in the realm of extending life, but what considerations should be made for quality of life?
Ending one’s own life is an emotionally charged topic and often raises moral and ethical concerns.
The bill gives a list of requirements for one to be considered for medical assistance in death.
The person must be 18 or older; terminally ill with a life expectancy of six months or less; capable of making their own choices; and must be doing so voluntarily.
The bill as written raises many questions. Estimating how much time someone has to live is exactly that — an estimate. No one, even doctors, can predict that with certainty.
What becomes of individuals who lose their ability to communicate or even comprehend their situation?
The current bill may not be ideal, and there are many reasons why someone might object to medically assisted suicide. And that is exactly why this bill ought to make it out of committee for a vote in the General Assembly.
Eleven states currently have laws that allow for medically assisted suicide in specific circumstances, and 16 other states are considering it. Indiana should be joining that conversation.
The Public Health Committee should consider the bill and allow it, or some version of it, to advance to the Indiana House floor for a robust discussion of this difficult issue.
END