Columbus seniors can't access food benefits they've qualified for, Powell's getting a new donut shop, and the city's testing concrete barriers for bike lanes.

Good morning, Columbus. It's a cool 34° right now, climbing to 47° under light rain with 100% chance of precipitation today. Swap the sneakers for something waterproof.

You'll want layers. It's chilly now but milder by afternoon.

📍 Food pantries push Congress to fund home delivery for seniors

Columbus seniors are leaving food benefits on the table because they can't physically get there. If Congress doesn't act, the problem only gets worse.

Right now, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program gets monthly boxes to low-income older adults, but most counties require in-person pickup.

Mike Hochron with Mid-Ohio Food Collective says seniors without reliable transportation or with disabilities can't access benefits they've already qualified for. In rural areas, the nearest pickup spot could be 45 minutes away. Even in Columbus, seniors relying on Cota face the challenge of lugging heavy food boxes onto buses.

Plenty of seniors have given up their licenses or can't lug a 30-pound box of groceries. The Delivering for Rural Seniors Act would pilot a three-year home delivery program in the farm bill Congress is debating now. If it passes, seniors who've already qualified for assistance could finally get the food without the logistical nightmare.

Mid-Ohio Food Collective already delivers to some seniors through other programs and has the infrastructure to scale up quickly if federal funding comes through. The organization runs a Meals on Wheels program and operates mobile pantries across Franklin County, so the delivery logistics are familiar territory. What's missing is dedicated federal funding to expand that model specifically for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program.

The program serves about 4.7 million low-income seniors nationwide, but participation rates suggest many eligible seniors aren't enrolled — partly because the pickup requirement creates an insurmountable barrier. Home delivery could change that equation and get nutritious food to seniors who need it most.

📍 Columbus tests concrete barriers for South Side bike lanes

The city's upgrading from painted lines to actual physical protection on Frebis Avenue.

Columbus is redesigning Frebis Avenue on the South Side with concrete barriers separating cyclists from traffic — a big upgrade from the painted bike lanes Columbus mostly relies on.

The project kicks off later this year and will add protected lanes on both sides of Frebis between Lockbourne Road and Alum Creek Drive. Instead of relying on a stripe of paint to keep cars out of the bike lane, the city's installing physical concrete barriers that actually prevent vehicles from drifting into cyclist space.

With painted lines, a distracted driver crosses the line and a cyclist gets hit. Concrete barriers create a genuine buffer.

Seattle's protected lanes cut collisions 60%. Columbus should've done this years ago.

Columbus is way behind on this. We've got 200 miles of bike lanes, but they're almost all paint that cyclists don't trust. Many cyclists choose to ride on sidewalks or take longer routes through residential streets rather than risk painted lanes on busy arterials.

The Frebis Avenue project is part of the city's broader effort to improve bike infrastructure along major corridors. The street connects residential neighborhoods to commercial areas and serves as a potential route to downtown for cyclists willing to navigate it. Right now, most people don't feel comfortable making that ride.

Protected bike lanes cost more upfront than paint, but the safety benefits are clear. Studies from cities that have made the switch show dramatic reductions in cyclist injuries and deaths. The barriers also encourage more people to bike because they feel safer — which means fewer cars on the road during rush hour.

If this works, the city says more routes are coming — mostly South Side and Near East Side. The focus on these neighborhoods makes sense because they've historically received less infrastructure investment while facing some of the city's highest traffic injury rates.

⚡ Quick Hits

• Tech companies building AI data centers say they'll pay for the electricity they guzzle. Data centers consume massive amounts of power, and the region's electrical grid is already facing capacity questions.

• Glazed Over is opening in Powell this Thursday. The new donut shop kicks off February 26th. Central Ohio's got another spot to satisfy the mid-morning carb craving.

Out & About

One event worth knowing about tonight.

"Magic Mike" Night | Tonight | Forty Deuce Burlesque & Speakeasy — An evening of entertainment if that's your Wednesday vibe. More info

📜 On This Day

In 1870, Hiram Revels became the first African American U.S. Senator, representing Mississippi during Reconstruction. His eligibility was challenged because Black Americans supposedly hadn't been citizens long enough to meet the Senate's nine-year requirement.

Ohio's own Senator John Sherman testified that Revels had been a citizen and participated in civic life long before the 14th Amendment. That testimony helped confirm his eligibility.

Revels served just over a year, filling the seat Jefferson Davis had vacated when Mississippi seceded. He spent his time advocating for integrated schools and opposing segregation: positions that put him at odds with both Democrats who wanted total Black disenfranchisement and Radical Republicans who wanted harsher punishment for former Confederates.

His Senate term was brief but significant. He successfully pushed for the reinstatement of Black legislators who had been removed from the Georgia legislature, and he fought against a bill that would have segregated Washington D.C.'s schools.

After leaving the Senate, he became president of what's now Alcorn State University, where he pushed for practical education and equal opportunity. He believed education was the path to genuine equality and spent years training teachers and promoting agricultural and mechanical skills alongside classical education.

Rain's not letting up today, Columbus. Keep the umbrella close and drive carefully. Wet roads, distracted drivers, and February don't mix well.

See you Thursday.

Your calm Columbus briefing.