News

This isn’t your Crazy Mama’s off-campus anymore. Nor is it your Papa Joe’s or Mean Mr. Mustard’s.

Above on left is a picture sent to us by an Ohio State student of a marker board from an off-campus “House Ministry” of roommates letting everyone know how long they’ve self-restrained from watching porn (i.e., “Flogging your dolphin”).

The image on the right is a show poster from last year promoting a concert to raise awareness of “cult activity on campus.” Kool-Aid Man wrapped with a snake is a nice touch.

There are still pockets of cool campus, but those halcyon days (sorta) of the late 1980s and early 1990s are long gone. Replaced of course by the corporate-lame South Campus Gateway mixed-use complex.

Yet what also is a headscratcher is how Christian youth ministries have gained a startling foothold around OSU over the previous two decades. First was Xenos, which began in Columbus in the 1970s, and rebranded recently as “Dwell.” Xenos, as many are aware, is known for its off-campus group homes or “House Ministries.”

The Energy Information Agency (EIA) has released data that shows that in 2022 for the first time renewable energy surpassed the generating capacity of coal on the U.S grid. This follows data in 2020 showing renewable energy surpassed nuclear energy as a generating source. 

Currently wind and solar account for about 14 percent of the power that's on the grid. Hydro is at about six percent and the other forms such as geothermal and biofuels account for another three percent. The renewable share of the U.S grid is around 23 percent in generating capacity. Coal is currently down to about 20 percent and nuclear is down to about 18 percent. The number one generating source is natural gas at about 40 percent of the generating capacity on the grid. https://www.eia.gov/

A recent report demonstrates that renewable energy has grown 9.6 percent worldwide. This record rate of growth saw 295 gigawatts of renewables added to the various grids, resulting in a total of 3372 gigawatts of renewables worldwide. China accounted for almost half of new generating capacity with 141 gigawatts added. Europe followed a distance second at 57 gigawatts of generating capacity. North America added 29 gigawatts with the continent of Africa falling far behind with only 2.7 gigawatts of installed new renewable capacity in 2022. 

Worldwide installed renewable generating capacity is split pretty much evenly between hydroelectric, solar and wind. China is far ahead with 392 gigawatts of installed systems. In second place with a quarter of that amount or about 111 GW is the United States, followed by Japan, Germany and India.  

The THC. Testing. Taxes. Testimony. Timeline.

There was a time, back in days of yore, when Ohio patients felt lucky to have just one medical marijuana bill introduced every other year, one in each of the General Assembly’s two-year sessions. Five bills in 10 years. All went nowhere.

What a difference a decade makes. The last two-year session of the Ohio legislature ‒ 2021-2022 ‒ produced eight bills: four adult use, two to revise marijuana penalties, and two to improve the current program. And, the 2023-2024 session started off with the almost immediate introduction of Senate Bill 9, essentially a reintroduction of S.B. 261 from last year that was a revision of H.B.523, the medical marijuana law passed in 2016.

This Mary Jane’s Guide takes a deep dive into S.B. 9 and its testimony thus far.

WHAT is S.B. 9?

Ohio archaeology has a problem. All around the globe, a movement has been underway to change the imperialist names once given to archaeological sites to names indigenous to the cultures that created those works. This is called “the decolonization of archaeology” in Canada, which includes such names as the Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung Mounds in Ontario. It’s a sign of basic respect to the peoples of authorship.

Meanwhile, Ohio remains a bastion of unrepentant Anglocentrism, with the important exception of the Adena name, which Thomas Worthington likely borrowed from the Shawnee. But the Adena Mound “type site” – or the model of a particular archaeological culture – was completely destroyed and now lies below Orange Street in Chillicothe.

For a second time, Ohio Attorney General David Yost’s office has rejected the Ohio Coalition to End Qualified Immunity (OCEQI) summary of petition. Undeterred, the OCEQI plans on submitting for a third time, but their patience with AG Yost is wearing thin.

“This is normal for the AG,” said OCEQI’s Cynthia Brown, who lost a nephew to Columbus police. “Most ballot initiative petitions are turned down multiple times.”

However, added Brown, “Yost doesn’t want government officials held accountable, or jobs terminated when they violate clearly violate Ohioans’ civil liberties or individual rights.”

The OCEQI is seeking to end qualified immunity by placing a citizen-led initiative on a future ballot hoping voters will amend the state Constitution. Their proposed amendment this time around was titled, “Protecting Ohioans Constitutional Rights”.

The reasons why a loved one takes their own life is an agonizing question a bereaved family has to deal with for the rest of their lifetime. But if a person decides to take their life at their place of employment, it’s a distinct possibility the stresses of the job played a role.

On the Westside of Columbus, sandwiched between Upper Arlington and Hilliard, is a mostly industrial area where one of the region’s largest employers – the United Parcel Service or UPS – has a massive hub. A 90-acre packaging distribution center to be exact, which employs roughly 800 full-time and part-time workers, and processes over 60,000 packages an hour. The hub’s address is 5101 Trabue Road and can be seen driving west on I-70.

Late last December, a full-time UPS employee, believed to be an assistant manager, took their own life at the hub while on the job. A large Columbus police presence showed, and according to several UPS workers there that night, the incident was severely traumatizing.

The wrongful death case of a Cincinnati-area Kroger employee Evan Seyfried, who took his own life, will go forward, ruled a judge. The future trial could reveal the level and intensity of politically motivated bullying Evan faced before he passed in March of 2021. 

Evan’s family says two managers at Kroger targeted the 40-year-old assistant manager because he wore a mask. They also nicknamed him “Antifa” and encouraged Evan’s co-workers to do the same. Evan had no prior history of mental illness, and, by all accounts, was popular and well-liked by his co-workers.

Kroger, which now rivals Walmart in size and profit, tried to have the case dismissed arguing there’s a “Suicide Rule” in Ohio. It prevents legal blame being placed on a company, institution or even a person, for death caused by suicide. It’s a pro-Robber Barons law if there ever was one, and the Seyfried family is seeking to challenge the rule.

Nothing stinks worse than a cover-up that’s been exposed, but then again, Norfolk Southern is donating to each resident of East Palestine a $5 bill for their troubles.

“They’ve offered the town $25,000, or $5/person. The railroad is worth $55 BILLION,” Tweeted Nina Turner former national co-chair of the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign.

That’s just for their immediate challenges, like being forced to run for their lives. But what about any long-term issues for residents? Or anyone else, for that matter, who may become exposed to the vinyl chloride spilling into the Ohio River.

Free Press Board member Mark Stansbery facilitated the February salon on Zoom. The theme was “Listen to voices of peace in the world of conflict.”

Watch salon video here.

First, he introduced Yurii Sheliazhenko of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement who was tuning in to speak with us live from Kyiv, Ukraine at 2am in the morning. It is close to a year from the anniversary of the Ukraine war. His group provides legal aid for war resisters. He spoke about the universal unjust system of militarism – blaming or conquering the enemy just foments more violence. He opposes the war and has been threatened. The hope is for a ceasefire

He noted that officially they say over 7000 civilians have been killed, which is a conservative estimate, and could be 40,000. Counting soldiers, the number could be 100,000 on each side. He pointed out how there have been war crimes on both sides, using people as human shields and setting landmines.