It was the coldest morning of the season so far across Central Indiana. For Indianapolis, we had our coldest temperatures since January 21, 2024 with a low of 5°. Crawfordsville and Columbus both had balmy lows of -8°. The clear skies, light winds and fresh snowpack allowed more heat to be released into the atmosphere. For tonight, it will still be chilly. But, we’ll have increasing clouds overnight ahead of our next snowmaker.

Tracking our next snow

This behemoth of a weather maker prompts winter headlines across several states across the United States. This includes Winter Storm Warnings from Raleigh, North Carolina through Dallas, Texas. Some spots in the northern Dallas suburbs could approach half an inch of snowfall overnight and into Friday. We’ll get our share of the snow Friday, too and it will come with commute impacts. Winter Weather Advisory kicks in at 4:00 a.m. Friday and sticks with us through 4:00 a.m. Saturday.

Most of the Friday morning commute should be okay. However, the tail-end of the commute could see some snow showers starting SW and west of Indianapolis. Because of this, a few slick spots can’t be ruled out but those will be few and far between. That activity will gradually spread NE throughout the morning and afternoon. It will become a steady snow from that time and stick around through the Friday p.m. commute. We anticipate that the p.m. commute will come with slowdowns and headaches. So plan ahead!

The snow will taper through the evening before exiting into the overnight hours. When all is said and done, most will end up with 2-4″ of snow. This will be the story through much of Central Indiana. Less snow likely further NW but more possible south and southeast. Those spots could approach 5.0″ in spots.

This will continue what has been a busy winter season for Central Indiana. Since October 1st, Indianapolis has 12.0″ of snow under its belt. Compared to last year’s 2.2″ to date, we have 10″ more snow overall. It’s the most snow to date in 11 years. A typical season (October 1st to May 1st) sees 25.5″ for Indianapolis.

Cold (and more snow) follow

The cold temperatures aren’t going anywhere following Friday’s snow. High temperatures in the 20s will be around through the weekend. We’ll “peak” with highs near 30° Sunday ahead of a frontal boundary. This clipper system could bring some snow showers Sunday night into Monday but those chances are low. If any snow were to occur, amounts would be low.

That will pass through late Sunday into Monday which will give us our next cold blast. Temperatures will tumble during the day Monday setting the stage for more cold. Highs in the teens on Tuesday and Wednesday as we remain dry. Lows in the single digits with subzero wind chills are also likely.

One year after Indiana policymakers enacted a law requiring pornography websites to verify users’ ages, a new bill seeks to further restrict Hoosiers under age 16 from creating social media accounts without “verified” parental permission. 

Senate Bill 11, authored by Republican Sen. Mike Bohacek, would require a social media operator like Facebook or TikTok to restrict a minor from accessing the site if they did not receive “verifiable parental consent” from the minor’s parent.

As currently drafted, the bill would additionally allow parents and legal guardians to sue social media providers if their child accesses a site without consent.

Indiana’s attorney general could also issue a civil investigative demand if the office has “reasonable cause to believe” the law was violated. If a social media operator “fails to implement a verifiable parental consent method,” the attorney general would further be allowed to ask a judge to step in and stop a minor from accessing the site, and request a civil penalty of up to $250,000 for each violation, according to the bill.

The bill was heard Wednesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Chairwoman Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, said the bill is expected to be amended and voted on by the committee next week.

“We’re not trying to regulate content, of what’s going on the various social media sites — that’s not what we’re trying to do,” said Bohacek, of Michiana Shores. “We’re looking to see, is just the fact that social media itself — regardless of the content that’s inside of it — is that, in and of itself, creating the mental health issues that we’re having right now with a lot of our kids? And I believe that’s what it is.”

The bill would be effective on July 1, if passed.

During the 2024 session, state lawmakers approved Senate Enrolled Act 17, requiring pornography websites to verify user ages. They hoped to keep children from accessing pornography, but adult content companies sued, arguing the law would be costly to implement and violate First Amendment and privacy rights.

A federal judge blocked enforcement last June before its intended July effectiveness date, but an appeals court later rolled back the preliminary injunction. The law is currently in effect while the litigation continues.

Must get consent

Current bill language specifies that “verifiable parental consent” could be obtained “through a method that is reasonably designed to ensure that the person providing the consent is a parent or legal guardian of the minor user.” The proposal also mandates social media providers to establish a procedure to allow a parent or legal guardian to revoke their consent.

At least 10 states have passed laws requiring children’s access to social media be restricted or parental consent gained, and several states’ laws are currently on hold, according to the Age Verification Providers Association, a trade body representing age verification services providers.

Bohacek said he already has multiple amendments to the bill, including to redefine social media, “because the definition we had originally was very, very broad.” The senator said the updated definition will make clear that sites requiring an account, username and password to access content would qualify. Platforms like YouTube, however — which do not necessarily require a user to sign in before accessing the website — would not be included.

Additionally, a provision in the bill to allow parents and guardians to file lawsuits against the companies if their child was subjected to bullying on the social media platform will be removed.

“We didn’t want to go down that road,” Bohacek said, referring to the bullying provision. “That’s going to be a little bit too much.”

Another anticipated amendment would require the attorney general’s office to give social media companies up to 30 days to remedy violations before any civil action is taken.

“The goal is not to just find and punish and penalize. It’s not what we’re trying to do here,” Bohacek said. “What we’re trying to do is getting our kids supervised on this new space, social media, and whatever content their accessing. But then also, if you feel your child is mature enough, and you feel like you want to supervise them enough, then you simply give them access to do that. And there’s a process in here to do that.”

Will restrictions keep kids off social media?

Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Chesterton, questioned whether the bill would actually keep youth from creating online accounts. A virtual private network, or VPN, for example, could allow minors to bypass technology used by social media companies to detect a user’s age.

“If a child used a VPN application in order to get around the law, well, that’s no different than jaywalking or speeding,” Bohacek argued. “You know the law, you went around the law, you just didn’t get caught.”

Concerns were also raised by committee members about joint custody cases, in which one parent or guardian consents to a child’s social media account, but the other parent or guardian does not.

Attorney general, adult websites clash in age verification lawsuit

Bohacek said he’d be willing to tweak the bill’s language to clarify that only “a” — meaning one — parent or guardian must provide their permission.

The Indiana Catholic Conference spoke in favor of the bill Wednesday evening. Only Chris Daley, representing the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, spoke in opposition.

He said the bill “clearly infringes on the First Amendment rights of Hoosiers 15 and down, to the degree that those rights attach at certain ages.” Daley pointed to similar laws in Arkansas and Ohio that judges have enjoined — put on hold — amid ongoing legal challenges. If Senate Bill 11 is approved, he expects the law “will eventually be blocked and overturned.”

“I think we all know that this bill will be challenged, and there’s no reason to believe that a court in Indiana — a trial court, federal trial court — will come to a different conclusion,” Daley said. “These cases in Arkansas and Ohio will be resolved, and that could be the appropriate time we all take action. Or, alternatively to that, we could try to do something meaningful.”

Daley recommended for lawmakers to instead invest in mental health resources for Hoosier youth and focus on educating parents “on steps they can take already” to curb their kids’ internet access.

Brown and other Republicans on the committee pushed back.

“All we’re trying to do here, in my opinion … is to try to give parents a tool which they don’t currently have,” Brown said.

The Indiana women’s basketball team beat Northwestern 68-64 at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Wednesday night thanks to a go-ahead 3-pointer from Shay Ciezki with 1:05 to go. 

It was the Hoosiers (11-4; 3-1 Big Ten) sixth straight win over their Big Ten rival. 

Ciezki scored 13 of her game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter and scored six straight at one point with the Wildcats looking to make a comeback. She was the only IU player with a made field goal in the first five minutes of the fourth. 

The Penn State transfer went 3 of 4 from the field (2 of 2 from 3-point range) and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line down the stretch. She’s made 32 straight free-throw attempts going back to the team’s Nov. 24 loss to Baylor. 

Indiana struggled pulling away while shooting just 39.3% from the field. The Hoosiers led 20-11 at the start of the second quarter, but couldn’t build on the lead thanks to multiple extended scoring droughts. 

Northwestern kept it a two-possession game throughout the second half while getting a big night from reserve guard Melannie Daley. She led the team in scoring with 17 points and season-high six assists off the bench. 

It was her seventh straight game in double-digits. 

Indiana goes back on the road for a game against No. 23 Iowa on Sunday at 3 p.m. before returning home on for a game against Illinois on Jan. 16.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.