Belated recognition to city council for its hate crimes resolution.

Someday someone will write an entertaining History of New Albany Common Council Non-Binding Resolutions, in which a panel of experts will seek to unravel the reasoning behind CM Scott Blair's yes/no votes, as opposed to principled abstentions, on such resolutions.

I've never been able to detect a pattern, but then again, I haven't attended a meeting for a while, and maybe a new paradigm has occurred. Insofar as the council's recent hate crimes resolution is concerned, it's wonderful and bipartisan.

Thumbs up.

At the same time, am I the only observer puzzled by Deaf Gahan's willingness to allow a Republican to take credit for opposing hate crimes? Perhaps Hizzoner hasn't noticed any of the swastikas -- or the homeless people, or the opioid epidemic. There's bound to be a demented twist.

By the way, the Green Mouse informs us that Blair will be the next council president come 2019, this being (p)art of the deal securing his vote for Al Knable in 2018. But whose bidding will David Barksdale slavishly spin this time around? Only the shadow knows, and I may be compelled to attend that first January meeting, if only to drain a flask.

New Albany passes hate crimes resolution, by Chris Morris (Biblioteca de Tom May)

NEW ALBANY — Indiana is one of five states in the country without a hate crimes law. Al Knable said it's time for that to change.

Knable, president of the New Albany City Council, drafted a resolution recently supporting Gov. Eric Holcomb's push for the Indiana General Assembly to pass a hate crimes bill next session. The city council unanimously passed the non-binding resolution 9-0 earlier this month and Mayor Jeff Gahan was expected to sign it before it was sent off to the governor's office.

"The governor pushed for that last year and it failed. It didn't get much traction," Knable said. "The governor is still making this a key piece of his legislative agenda in 2019. It's been on my radar for several years."

Holcomb said at the the One Southern Indiana's Governor's Luncheon event that a hate crimes bill was "critically important" ...