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Amazing. Seven hundred thousand dollars raised from corporate supporters. Heartfelt appeals by famous people and politicians. Adorable animals. Arguably the best zoo in America. All the necessary elements for a solid campaign. Supremely confidence of a win…

But the vast majority of voters just said no, a loser by 70 percent.

Mayor Michael Coleman and Columbus’ power brokers suffered their second major defeat at the polls May 6 when central Ohio voters rejected the zoo levy – echoing the 69 percent drubbing delivered last November by the voters on the Columbus City Schools levy.

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The zoo levy’s PR folks trotted out legendary Director Emeritus Jack Hanna and held charming family-friendly events with cuddly zoo animals. Commercials beseeched voters with the needs of the zoo animals – a new hospital and improved habitat. Not to mention another zoo conveniently located downtown.

Intermittent light rain followed about 40 counter-protestors throughout the morning of June 2 at the Statehouse as they waited for a planned neo-Nazi rally that never materialized. The activists, some black clad members and supporters of Anti-Racist Action and some supporters of the International Socialist Organization, were on hand to stop an attempt by various racist groups to disrupt the dedication of the new Holocaust memorial at the Ohio Statehouse.

The neo-Nazi groups had planned to bring supporters and protest the event, claiming the Holocaust never actually happened. A group headquartered in Illinois called the Creativity Movement planned on uniting several groups for the effort. It was confirmed that they did in fact make the journey, and some of their more local members were seen together with their members from out-of-state at several nearby parking lots.

The National Socialist Movement, which bills itself as “America's Nazi Party” also was on hand in their best 1920s stormtrooper chic. They remained cowering in a parking lot blocks away as well.

A Neo-Nazi group called the Creativity Movement has made clandestine plans for a rally at the Ohio Statehouse on June 2 2014. The group is planning on drawing its supporters from around the midwest and bring allies to the event which is slated to begin at 9 am. According to posts on neo-nazi websites, the group will be offering rideshares after a secret meet up outside of Columbus.

The Creativity Movement is a surviving offshoot of the World Church of the Creator, whoose leader, Matt Hale is currently incarcerated for plotting the murder of a federal judge. During the 1990s the group held dozens of events around country and its supporters were known for violence.

Church Member Ben Smith went on a three day shooting rampage in 1999 across multiple states before killing himself in a standoff with police. The group later lost a trademark lawsuit and was forced to change its name to the Creativity Movement.

The Free Press previously reported on a standoff in Yellow Springs on July 31 of 2013 that lead to the death of a resident, Paul E. Schenck, at the hands of a police sniper. Attorney General Mike DeWine personally delivered a summary of the final report by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) that lead to no findings of wrongdoing on the part of the officers involved. Laborious comparison of the police records from the 17 responding agencies to the BCI report and raw investigative materials paints a picture of belligerence, sloth, criminality and incompetence. Since the release of the report, one of the officers involved has been indicted on firearms charges in federal court for partially unrelated conduct.

Dublin, OH – Wednesday, May 28th, at 9:00am, Columbus and Dublin-area clergy, students, and residents with Ohio Fair Food will join the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) — an award-winning organization of Florida farmworkers — for a demonstration outside the 2014 Wendy’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders at the company’s corporate headquarters located at 1 Dave Thomas Blvd, Dublin, OH 43017.

Together, they will call on the Dublin-based burger giant to join its fast food competitors in supporting the Fair Food Program; a groundbreaking collaboration that has won praise from the White House to the United Nations for its unique success in addressing decades-old farm labor abuses at the heart of the nation’s trillion-dollar food industry.