Local
Celebrating our 55th year, the Columbus Free Press will honor five outstanding community activists and a community organization at our November 2025 Salon and Awards event on Saturday, November 8 from 1:30-4:30pm at the First Unitarian Universalist Church, 93 W. Weisheimer Road. One of our "Libby" Award for Lifetime Achievement in Community Activism honorees is Bob Krasen.
Bob worked in Columbus for non-profits, United Cerebral Palsy, American Red Cross Blood Services, and Vision Center of Central Ohio. He volunteered for 12 years with Suicide Prevention Services.
After retiring in 2006, he became a volunteer in Healthcare for All Ohioans / SPAN Ohio, assuming a leadership position in 2014 as Columbus Regional Coordinator. He continues in active membership, stepping down from leadership positions in 2023.
Celebrating our 55th year, the Columbus Free Press will honor five outstanding community activists and a community organization at our November 2025 Salon and Awards event on Saturday, November 8 from 1:30-4:30pm at the First Unitarian Universalist Church, 93 W. Weisheimer Road. One of our "Libby" Award honorees is Bob Krasen.
Bob worked in Columbus for non-profits, United Cerebral Palsy, American Red Cross Blood Services, and Vision Center of Central Ohio. He volunteered for 12 years with Suicide Prevention Services.
After retiring in 2006, he became a volunteer in Healthcare for All Ohioans / SPAN Ohio, assuming a leadership position in 2014 as Columbus Regional Coordinator. He continues in active membership, stepping down from leadership positions in 2023.
Healthcare for All Ohioans is a state wide volunteer organization started in 2003, to promote passage Healthcare for All legislation in Ohio as the Ohio Health Care Act, (HB 289 & SB 78, 2025-26). The organization also supports the passage of Enhanced and Improved Medicare for All (HR 3069 & SR 1506, 2025-26) in Congress.
Saturday, October 25, 2025, 6:00 PM
The Makoy, 5462 Center St., Hilliard, Ohio 43026
More information and link to tickets here.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)'s keynote speaker is The Hon. Cori Bush, a lifelong advocate for justice and human rights. This will be an inspiring evening of resilience, unity, and vision as we reflect on our shared values and look ahead to the new chapter of civil rights in America.
Friday, October 24, 7:00 PM on Zoom
American Hospitals is the fourth in a series of documentaries produced by the Unfinished Business Foundation, founded by Richard Master, CEO of MCS Industries Inc., who took a deep dive into the economics of the U. S. health-care system after his company was hit year after year with double-digit health insurance rate increases. Master teamed up with filmmakers Vincent Mondillo and Henry Nevison to produce Fix It: Healthcare at the Tipping Point; Big Pharma: Market Failure; Big Money Agenda: Democracy on the Brink, and now, American Hospitals.
American Hospitals takes a deep dive into the out-of-control cost of hospitals and their transformation into a money-driven big business. How can we incentivize hospitals to provide the highest quality care with the lowest affordable cost to the community?
Dr. Bob Fitrakis and Dan-o Dougan talk about how freedom is in peril and play some songs that celebrate freedom, from Free at Last by Sam Cooke to Freedom by Beyonce and many more!
Listen live at 11pm Fridays, October 24 and 31 streaming at wgrn.org or on the radio at 91.9FM
and
Mondays at 2pm streaming October 27 and November 3 at wcrsfm.org or on the radio at 92.7 or 98.3FM
Early this year, legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives and in the U.S. Senate introduced resolutions that call upon the U.S. government to lead a global effort to halt and reverse the nuclear arms race. Co-sponsored by 36 members of the House and 5 members of the Senate, H. Res. 317 and S. Res. 323 urge the U.S. government to pursue nuclear disarmament, renounce the first use of nuclear weapons, end sole presidential authority to launch them, cancel plans for new, enhanced nuclear weapons and delivery systems, maintain the current moratorium on nuclear testing explosions, and provide a just economic transition for impacted communities.
Yes, I admit that on Oct 21 I drove to the downtown Main Library for a debate with five of the six candidates for Columbus City Schools. And, no; I haven’t been this disappointed since seeing Star Wars ATTACK OF THE CLONES at the movies.
Like you, I also love the Columbus Dispatch.
Unfortunately, the questions that they chose for the candidates reminded me more of middle school student government. On behalf of Western Civilization, I beg forgiveness to the candidates who wasted their time.
Normally the phrase used is that there is an “Elephant in the Room,” but since half of the candidates have been “Officially Endorsed” by the Franklin County Democratic Party it has to be a donkey. Their three candidates represent the STATUS QUO of COLUMBUS; swimming in thousands of dollars in donations from big business and a guaranteed spot on the MAGICAL “Sample Ballot” that will be forced into your hands if you choose to vote.
The important questions that were IGNORED?
As much as conservatives have tried to make the rest of America believe they’ve shed their white supremacist bigoted spectacles, a group of Young Republican national leaders hoodwinked us once again.
On a local level, will Ohio State’s new “intellectual diversity center” – the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society – make its students and devoted alumni also one day look like absolute fools for supporting Thee?
Not in leaked texts mind you, but through veiled far right and pro-white tendencies. No doubt – and this is for all left and left-leaning OSU alumni – your beloved alma mater is making a hard pivot to the right. Trump investigations, Ohio Senate Bill 1, the closing of all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) offices, and Anduril (killer robots) have laid the groundwork. But when it comes to actual boots-on-the-Oval, the Chase Center could become the command center as its first academic year began this semester.
Friday, October 24, 2025, 6:00 – 9:00 PM
Columbus Mennonite Church, 35 Oakland Park Ave, Columbus, OH 43214
Help SoulCall Global raise money to feed and house the needy and enjoy an old-fashioned variety show with everything from great music and comedy acts to who knows what. Performers are encouraged to sign up. A keyboard accompanist is available. Doors open at 6:00 PM, performances 7:00-9:00 PM. Donation $15 (or more! 100% of profits go to our charitable programs).
More information and register to attend here.