I usually use the Links of the Week space to highlight some of my favorite reads from around the web that doesn’t involve the LIFE sites. This week, though, there were a bunch of stories that I really enjoyed on our sites that I really enjoyed and thought could use from cross-fertilization. I see and/or read almost everything that gets up, so if you only follow one or two of our four networks, this may make a great opportunity to see what you’re missing.
For example, my favorite story to follow is that of Hannah’s Hope, which broke ground this week on their all-inclusive playground in what is developing as Portage’s first-ever downtown. It’s awesome to see their mission finally realized, and it’s really cool to see, especially as they were one of the first nonprofits to see the value in using PortageLife dating back to 2010.
Then in La Porte County, the EDCMC and GLEDC teamed up to bring about 50 businesses under one roof to showcase opportunities for jobs after graduation with “Made in La Porte County.” The event happens only once every two years so when we can get a bunch of cool photos and quotes together about a great event like that, I gotta love that.
In Valpo, we crushed Popcorn Festival with an “all-rookie” class. So, shout-out to Andrew on his Popcorn Panic and Lil’ Kernel Race photos, Kaitlyn and Maria for their Popcorn Parade photos, Jen for her runner-turned-organizer story to pair with the Flanagin Fairies, and Peter for his Life in the Spotlight story on Orville Redenbacher’s grandson. Just a lot to like there.
Then, over in Crown Point, the Southlake YMCA broke ground on a $35M (!) expansion, which essentially will triple the size of their facility. I especially like that since I start playing in a basketball league there in about a week, so huzzah’s all around.
Anyway, that’s just the tip of the iceberg for what has been a crazy good month on the LIFE sites. If you don’t follow all of the pages and networks, get on with it already. There’s tons like this coming out every day, week, month, year. There’s a lot to stay on top of, but as they say, it’s all good.
Here are your Links of the Week
Someone created an online version of Super Mario 64, which will excite anyone older than 25 who grew up playing that game on Nintendo 64 (including me!). [Mashable]
Tony Romo apparently got prepared for his NFL announcing job by playing Madden. The power of video games, folks! [The Big Lead]
Protect yourself and turn off your device’s Bluetooth setting when you are not using it. [WIRED]
The best part of the NBA season coming back? More Zach Lowe articles! [ESPN]
Here’s how you write a headline to get people to click: “Letting teens sleep in would save the country $9 billion a year, report says.” [Washington Post]
If you’ve read the Links of the Week before, you’ll notice I’m slightly obsessed with the Hyperloop. A Chicago-to-Columbus-to-Pittsburgh route has been identified as one of the strongest candidates to be built! [TechCrunch]
Sounds like SB Nation is about to get into some trouble over paying writers… [Deadspin]
Here’s an interesting take on what Amazon plans to do using their new Whole Foods stores. [Harvard Business Review]
The popularity of the NFL had to fall eventually. How fast, though, is surprising. [The Big Lead]
The only video game I play is NBA2K (which comes out today!) and this year’s game has a new “open world” feature that I would bet a lot of people get sucked into. I won’t (who has time?), but it is a cool feature that 14-year-old Brett would have spent wwwaaayyyyy too much time on. [AdWeek]
A movie about the worst movie ever? I’m in. Have a good weekend.