Feature

Drum roll please … within approximately one month, cannabis will … or should  … take center stage at the Ohio Statehouse. That is when the General Assembly is mandated by the Ohio Supreme Court to follow the rules regarding citizen initiated statutes. Legislators must consider Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (RMLA) Act. Will they, is a matter of debate.

Semantics

But first terminology. Should the non-medical cannabis market be called “recreational” or “adult use”? The problem with “recreational” is that it sounds like a sport, say, a hemp football. The term “adult use” is a better fit because it frames use as belonging to those over age 21, nullifying opponents’ arguments about kids.

The Process

I am a journeyman with IATSE Local 12, the local stagehands’ union. We’re freelance artisans and laborers who build the majority of theatrical productions in Central Ohio.

We’re also the primary builders (and uninstallers) of the dozens of trade shows that go through the Greater Columbus Convention Center near the Short North. Whereas the theaters tend to work longer and more irregular hours for us, the Convention Center gigs are predicable, 9-to-5 jobs that often last longer.

Being a dyed-in-the-wool theatre kid, I strongly prefer the magic of a theater to the cold concrete and fluorescent lights of the Convention Center. On the other hand, the regular crews at the Convention Center tend to be a little more blue-collar and have a more ribald (vulgar) sense of humor than most of the regular theater crews.

A local non-profit movement continues to make a positive impact on the lives of Ohio’s prison inmate population each year by sending them personalized, handwritten Christmas cards that encourage them to "Continue the Story." 

Over the past several years, Central Ohio’s “Continue the Story" movement has personally reached more than 64,700 inmates incarcerated in Ohio’s prison system at Christmastime, one inmate at a time, in hopes of brightening their lives by spreading the Christmas spirit, which is one of joy and hope. 

Although it is rapidly growing with hundreds of volunteers throughout Greater Columbus, “Continue the Story” was created six years ago after members of the organization became painfully aware of some of the horrors of the modern criminal justice system. Organizers believe a lot of the people who are incarcerated today are essentially good people who’ve made mistakes. 

Homebound Entrepreneurs Against DeWines laments Election Day victories by Mike and Pat DeWine, plans to stay active during their second terms

As the general election season finally wraps up, the anti-DeWine PAC Homebound Entrepreneurs Against DeWines has announced that while they lament the recent victories of Governor Mike DeWine and his son –– Ohio Supreme Court Justice Pat DeWine –– the group has vowed to keep holding the DeWines accountable.

With just around $3,000, the PAC’s quirky content reached hundreds of thousands of voters during the course of Ohio’s primary and general elections this year. Its ads were seen by over 4,000 Fox News viewers, 30,000 YouTube users and heard by over 40,000 talk radio listeners, all while its online content reached over 34,000 people on Facebook and over 312,000 on Twitter.

Homebound Entrepreneurs Against DeWines’ final TV ad buy aims to tell conservative voters the juicy truth about Justice Pat DeWine’s two messy divorces

As the general election season wraps up, Homebound Entrepreneurs Against DeWines is putting one final political ad “Hot for RINOs” on Fox News outlets around Ohio today, including in Cleveland and Dayton. The ad mocks the style of 1990s late night ads and features the vocal talents of comedian/podcaster Amber Nelson.

Art museums and galleries across the US are unionizing. From Philadelphia to Columbus, Ohio, workers are going up against museums’ board of trustees to battle for union recognition. On these boards sit America’s local elites, some of whom are financing right-wing, Trump-backed political candidates, connecting the art world to reactionary finance capital.

Columbus Museums Unionizing

October 24, 2022

Presidential Election in 2020

Unadjusted Exit Poll (UEP) analysis of the 2020 US Presidential and Senate elections shows the same “red-shift” pattern of Republican favoring discrepancies from Unadjusted Exit Polls (UEPs) particularly in battleground states that has prevailed in every general US Presidential election since 2004.[1]

UEPs are samples of voter responses taken after they vote in-person or by absentee ballot. These are obtained from screen shots of exit polls reported by US media right before, or soon after, polls close, and include UEP candidate vote shares and sample sizes. These differ from the exit polls that are adjusted to match official election results, or Adjusted Exit Poll (AEP) candidate vote shares and sample sizes, that are widely reported in US media.

As spooky season rolls around again, that means Ohio’s even-spookier midterm elections will be right behind it. Naturally, a fun way to celebrate Halloween every year is to go visit a scary haunted house, but did you know that you can combine both the spooky season and election season into one visit to our state’s scariest haunted house? Yes, if you want to see some of the spookiest sights that autumn has to offer, just load up the family van and head down to what is arguably the most frightening haunted house in Ohio –– our Statehouse, right here in Columbus. After all, who needs ghosts, ghouls and creatures that go bump in the night when you have legislators, lobbyists and lawyers gathering in gaggles to make our state a truly darker place?

Homebound Entrepreneurs Against DeWines releases their new ad featuring “The Liberal Redneck” to bring attention to all the nicknames Ohioans have given “The DeSwines”

As the general election season rambles on, the anti-DeWine PAC Homebound Entrepreneurs Against DeWines has released yet another quirky political ad called “Rednecks Against DeSwines,” which calls out Governor Mike DeWine –– as well as his son, Supreme Court Justice Pat DeWine –– for their numerous nefarious nicknames.

Matthew Davis of Upper Arlington is a die-hard mountain biker and dirt biker. He also considers himself a Scioto River preservationist. Especially for the areas near his home which are cratered by several expansive and deep limestone quarries, and considered by some to be awe-inspiring when standing on their precipices.

Long before Quarry Trails Metro Park opened in 2021, Davis raced through here on bike trails he helped build with a shovel and hard work. Little did he know back then that Quarry Trails Metro Park would be paired (so to speak) with a mixed-use development.

Quarry Trails is just west of the Scioto River in Grandview becoming Columbus’s 20th metro park. But also emerging from the sandy rubble off Trabue Road is “Project QT.” A $650-million dollar mix of condos, office space and retail.

When the Project QT’s foundations and basic structures first appeared, some fans of Columbus Metro Parks took pause, some mockingly laughed in disgust. The newest metro park would be different from the others. Dominated by $1,800-a-month single bedrooms and a possibly a Marshalls.