James Ellars Official

There’s a storm in Indiana we should all be paying closer attention to.

This week brought a mix of news that hits close to home, even for those of us who aren’t in the middle of it. In northwest Indiana, tens of thousands of families are heading into their second week without electricity after storms with winds near 100 miles an hour tore through Gary and the surrounding towns. Crews are working around the clock, and utility officials say full power should be back by August 25th — but nine days without lights, refrigeration, or a way to charge a phone is a long time to lean on neighbors, church halls, and whoever has a generator to spare. If you know anyone in the region, this is the week to check in.

Meanwhile, our wallets got a nudge this week too. A breakdown in trade talks between the U.S. and Canada means new 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods — everything from lumber to hockey gear to household electrical equipment. Canada says it’ll respond in kind. What that means practically is that some everyday purchases, especially anything involving wood or appliances, may cost a little more in the months ahead. It’s the kind of thing that plays out in Washington but shows up quietly on a receipt at the hardware store.

Amid all that, there was a genuinely hopeful bit of science news worth sitting with. Researchers in Zurich discovered that the adult brain has a repair ability nobody knew about — special cells that can travel long distances inside the brain to rebuild tissue after injury. It’s early research, but it’s a good reminder that the body is often quietly working things out in ways we don’t fully understand yet, whether that’s healing from a storm, a hard year, or something harder to name.

None of us can fix a power grid or a trade dispute from our kitchen table. But we can check on a neighbor, plan ahead for a few dollars more at the store, and hold onto the reminder that resilience — in bodies and in communities — tends to run deeper than we give it credit for.