Free Press History
Friday, December 26, 8:30pm
Natalie's, 945 King Ave, Columbus, OH, United States, Ohio 43212
Comedian, filmmaker and Columbus native Travis Irvine comes home for the holidays to present his annual Christmas comedy show featuring an eclectic cast of comedians, characters, carols and more!
Food & Bar: Our full food and drink menu will be available before and during the show.
It seems like forever ago when Americans were inundated by the daily news with the chaos in the Trump administration’s empowering Elon Must and his DOGE, Department of Governmental Efficiency, to slash and burn their way through federal agencies and federal workforce. Almost a year later, it’s becoming possible to get an approximate accounting of the real savings, if any, that resulted from all the sound and fury. Indisputably, despite the failure of the program to actually save taxpayers much money under its stated mission, the pain it caused is real and lingers, especially in situations like the almost complete defunding of the US Agency for International Development (AID).
The Times crunched some numbers, as they have been trying to do throughout this reign of terror. It still seems impossible to come up with a real, bottom line number for what amount DOGE and Musk really saved, partially because so many of their claims were completely false or exaggerated. Many times his young, inexperienced techies had no clue how to understand the contracts, whether they were let or not, and how many dollars they represented.
Here’s a sampling of what the Times team found:
This article first appeared on Substack
I live in Columbus, Ohio, one of several cities that has been terrorized by ICE raids in recent months. It’s been tough to get into the Christmas spirit while our neighbors live in fear of masked goons jumping them in the Kroger parking lot.
Ohio Immigrant Alliance (OIA) just released a report, based on publicly-available data, showing that more than 214 people are currently behind bars due to the ICE raids in Columbus — and 80 percent are Latino.
A Linden-area church offering Spanish-language mass at 7:30 pm on Christmas Eve and 11 am on Christmas Day has asked for a protective presence outside their building. We are recruiting people willing to show up in support of our neighbors.
If you are or may be able to show up and protect our neighbors celebrating Christmas in this environment of fear, please respond to this email and express that you are able to join Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or both.
In Central Ohio, the federal government has unleashed untrained individuals from outside the community, who think they are unaccountable. But greater Columbus has responded in one voice. From the grassroots, which quickly organized itself in sophisticated ways, to civic leaders and faith-based institutions, Columbus is sending a unified message: Immigrants are welcome, ICE is not. Read on for quotes from leaders; more examples of ICE brutality; and resources keeping the community safe.
Columbus Responds With One Voice
From disrupting ICE agents’ sleep, to documenting abuses and holding them to the Constitution, Central Ohio activists, lawyers, and organizers are mobilized around the clock.
Tuesday December 23, 2025, 2:00PM
2210 Morse Road, Global Mall
A community event, highlighting how ICE enforcement affects immigrant businesses, workers, and the local economy is happening Tuesday.