Winners

The Harrison: Despite years of delays and uncertainty, the mixed-use retail/residential/office component of Harrison Square opens this week.

Boy Scouts of America: The organization whose mission “is to prepare young people to make ethical choices over their lifetimes” appears headed toward dropping a nationwide ban on gay Scouts, empowering local clubs to make the decision. An ethical choice.

Mitch Daniels: The new president of Purdue University visits IPFW as part of a tour of the university’s regional campuses and, in an interview, discusses the elephant in the room: Balancing IPFW autonomy with the need to conform to Purdue and IU standards.

Allen County Election Board: The board rightly continues its get-tough policy on candidates who are late in filing campaign finance reports, fining 19 people.

Tossups

BlackBerry: Research in Motion changes its corporate handle to that of its signature product. In a world of iPhones and Androids, the new BlackBerry 10 will either be the product that keeps the once-innovative company going or a last gasp.

Chuck Hagel: Republican senators led by John McCain do their best to attack their former GOP Senate colleague, but his nomination for secretary of defense appears likely to be confirmed.

Losers

Jerry Sandusky: The former Penn State assistant football coach and serial child molester loses his bid for a new trial, leaving stand his conviction on 45 counts of child sex abuse.

Law schools: Applications from prospective students are down 30 percent from a year ago, with new enrollment expected to hit a 36-year low this fall.

Milestones

Ed Koch: New York City’s mayor from 1978 through 1989, the colorful and outspoken politician dies at age 88.

Drought: State Climate Office reports January rain and unseasonably warm temperatures have replenished groundwater supplies in all but the far northern reaches of Indiana. The precipitation has finally erased drought conditions that lingered through the end of the year.

Columbia: The nation’s first space shuttle disintegrated on re-entry 10 years ago this week at the end of its 28th mission, killing the seven astronauts aboard.

Chuck Hinton: The last player to hit .300 for the old Washington Senators – in 1962 – and, the Washington Post said, “considered the best player on some atrocious Senators teams of the early 1960s,” died Jan. 27. He was 78.