Winners

Luke Kenley: The influential state senator suggests a five-year break before expanding vouchers to study whether sending kids from public to private schools improves their education.

D’Angelo Samuel: The local rap singer who helped kick off the local “My City” campaign performs with a number of A-list stars at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas.

Indiana University: The school and its men’s basketball team get a boost in attention from the nation’s highest-ranking basketball fan – President Obama.

Julia Gillard: Australia’s prime minister survives an intraparty move to oust her from office. She also issues a formal apology for that nation’s reprehensible policy of forcing unmarried teen mothers to give up their babies for adoption. The practice lasted until the 1970s.

Tossups

Cyprus: The island nation sets off fears and protests by proposing to tax money in savings account. But its Parliament defeats the plan.

Weather: Don’t let the cold beginning to spring fool you. The National Weather Service says that in general, this spring will be hotter – and, more worrisome, drier – than usual.

Ohio motorists: The Ohio legislature votes to raise the speed limit on rural segments of interstates from 65 mph to 70 mph. Allows state policy to match some neighboring states – including Indiana – and may help travelers arrive more quickly, but higher limits raise safety concerns and generally reduce gas mileage.

Losers

Workers: While national employment numbers are improving, Allen County’s jobless rate rises for the third consecutive month, to 9.1 percent.

Nuclear power: Japan’s shaky Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactor, heavily damaged in a 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, was back in the news this week. The plant lost power, shutting down its vital cooling systems.

Racinos: A House committee removes language from a wide-ranging gambling bill that would allow the state’s two horse-track casinos to replace electronic versions of table games such as roulette and blackjack with the real thing, with gamblers interacting with dealers. But the proposal could be revived.

Milestones

Iraqi war: U.S. troops began their assault on Iraq 10 years ago this week.

Mike Coil: After leading the Better Business Bureau of Northeast Indiana for 12 years, Coil announces he will retire July 1.