News

Nearly 25 million Black and Latino people are missing or incorrectly listed in the voter databases sold by the political industry and used by campaigns to conduct voter outreach, according to a report from the Democracy & Power Innovation Fund. While 40 percent of Black and Latino people were effectively invisible in the vendor databases, only 18 percent of white people were missing or mislisted. 

Franklin County Treasurer Cheryl Brooks Sullivan has purchased $10.5 million in Israel Bonds since Israel began bombing Gaza in the aftermath of October 7, bringing the total 2023 investment to $14.5 million and pushing the county’s total holdings to $33 million.

Re/Descheduling – What It Is and Why It’s Important

It felt like a marathon, right? The two-year trek spanning 2021 to 2023, which led to passage of Ohio Issue 2 (the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol initiated statute), moved through many twists, turns, ups, and downs before arriving at a new age. No longer must we look over shoulders, hide our stuff, or whisper our canna-conversations. We’re free to be who we are … almost.

Federal law, the root of prohibition, remains a different matter. Despite Issue 2, if you find yourself in possession of cannabis on federal land (parks, courthouses, etc.), you are subject to federal penalties. They. Have. Not. Changed. And they are harsh. The War on Drugs, including cannabis, is not yet over. That two-year trek was a walk in the park compared to the last 50 years of prohibition.

Save Ohio Parks statement on court’s decision to dismiss appeal

Save Ohio Parks is disappointed that our appeal of the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission’s (OGLMC) decision to approve fracking lease nominations in our state parks and wildlife areas was dismissed. But we will continue to advocate for the protection and future of our public lands and public trust.

Ohio statute says it is state policy to use our natural resources responsibly. There is nothing responsible about how water, one of our most precious natural resources, is used in the fracking process. Fracking permanently pulls millions of gallons of water out of our water supply, laces it with toxic, cancer-causing chemicals, injects this mix at high pressure deep into the earth, pulls it back up, and then injects the radioactive waste that results from it into another series of wells—wells that can leak and endanger our water supply.  

Save Ohio Parks statement on court’s decision to dismiss appeal

Save Ohio Parks is disappointed that our appeal of the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission’s (OGLMC) decision to approve fracking lease nominations in our state parks and wildlife areas was dismissed. But we will continue to advocate for the protection and future of our public lands and public trust.

Ohio statute says it is state policy to use our natural resources responsibly. There is nothing responsible about how water, one of our most precious natural resources, is used in the fracking process. Fracking permanently pulls millions of gallons of water out of our water supply, laces it with toxic, cancer-causing chemicals, injects this mix at high pressure deep into the earth, pulls it back up, and then injects the radioactive waste that results from it into another series of wells—wells that can leak and endanger our water supply.  

The Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) will meet Monday, Feb. 26 at 10:30 a.m.-but a Franklin County judge may stay its decisions to award oil and gas bids to frack Salt Fork State Park and Valley Run and Zepernick wildlife areas.

EarthJustice and Ohio Environmental Council announced yesterday they filed an emergency stay to suspend and delay OGLMC orders to frack, pending a decision on the appeal by Save Ohio Parks, Buckeye Environmental Network, and Backcountry Hunters and Anglers of OGLMC's Nov. 15 decision to approve nominations of these areas for fracking.

A decision by Court of Common Pleas Judge Jaiza Page on the emergency stay was requested by Friday, Feb. 25.

When Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Meade used deadly force against Casey Goodson, Jr., as he entered his home shortly after noon on December 4, 2020, Meade felt justified.

He told the first officer on the scene, Clinton Township Officer Terry Phillips, "He [Goodson] came out of his car, gun in his hand as he was going to the side door as I was pulling up.."

This week, during his murder trial, Meade amended his statement including new insight into his threat assesment. He testified, "I thought he was going to shoot me." He added, "An armed suspect like that, he could go into a home and take hostages, and barricade himself to ambush police officers.”

Ohio has no legislated laws, signed by a governor, that define the justifications that allow a law enforcement officer to use deadly force. Instead, we rely on one Ohio Supreme Court case, Ohio v. White, that relied on two US Supreme Court cases, Tennessee v. Garner, and Graham v. Connor, that relied on the 4th Amendment of the Constitution, which set the boundaries for legal search and seizure. 

This past October at the Columbus Italian Festival, those who drove to the festival had to find parking amidst the new Italian Village condo and apartment buildings which seemingly sprouted up overnight.

As revelers walked to the grounds of St. John the Baptist Italian Catholic Church, it was evident the transformation of the old neighborhood is full steam ahead in the Midwest’s last great boomtown. But some weren’t too thrilled with the new digs or the new parking ramps, which are going to be there for a long, long time, after all.

“Everything looks the same,” some told the Free Press.

“I find it hard to believe this is how long-time residents envisioned Italian Village,” said another.

Welcome to the new Italian Village and the new Weinland Park, its neighbor to the north. Both are on the comeback, and some are calling it a success story. Many long-time residents agree with this, but because the changes came so quickly and so unequivocally, some are left wondering what could have been.

Two more Columbus of Division of Police officers were arrested for stealing and dealing illicit drugs, the second such arrest over the previous three years.

John Castillo, 31, of Grove City, and Joel Mefford, 34, of London, Ohio, were taken into custody on Thursday by the FBI. Both are alleged to have stolen cocaine from houses suspected of drug trafficking, and Mefford was also accused of stealing a large amount of cocaine from the Columbus police property room. Whether the two were working in tandem was not revealed in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Ohio, press release.

In 2021, two Columbus police narcotics officers assigned to the Division’s cartel unit were arrested by the FBI for dealing cocaine and fentanyl. Both Marco Merino, 44, and John Kotchkoski, 33, pled guilty and are now serving lengthy sentences.

Starbucks workers continue to win union organizing victories in stores across the country, as workers at the Worthington store overwhelmingly voted to join Starbucks Workers United. With a unanimous vote of 22-0, partners at Worthington became the 12th Starbucks location in Ohio to join Starbucks Workers United in one of the most rapidly growing organizing campaigns in modern history. 

"Starbucks is making it increasingly clear that they will sacrifice the health and safety of their retail workers for its bottomline,” said Raquel Spiezio (she/her), a shift supervisor who has worked at Starbucks for more than ten years. “It is time for Starbucks to be held accountable for the decisions that impact thousands. The deep-seated problems created by this company’s unsustainable standards can be solved. I am so proud of the unified front we have presented in this exciting venture. Our partners are the very best, and we would be nowhere without our shared strength and determination.”