Local
Feminism has a crucial role to play in modern life, but I sometimes wish it would leave our fairy tales alone. The results of its revisionist meddling are too often unconvincing and unsatisfying.
Remember last year’s Maleficent? It turned an age-old story on its head by revealing that the fairy (Angelina Jolie) who turned a princess into a “Sleeping Beauty” was not evil at all. No, she was merely wronged and misunderstood. Worst of all, we learned that the somnambulant princess could not be awakened by a kiss from the handsome prince, but only by a motherly peck from that same fairy.
How heartwarming. And how utterly unromantic.
Thank goodness Disney’s new live-action version of Cinderella doesn’t wear its feminism on its sleeve. It has nods to modern sensibilities, to be sure, but they’re handled with a lighter touch.
Saturday, August 15, 2026 - 12:00pm
777 Wedgewood Drive
Join us for a community cleanup Saturday Aug 15th, at 777 Wedgewood Dr, Columbus, OH 43228.
We’ll provide the necessary equipment to get the job done. Plus, we’re launching a community survey where we’ll gather insights on local housing issues.
Samuel Saxon is the poster child of what a bad ICE agent is and looks like, because he seems so “normal.” That’s how bad guys blend in.
We’ve been talking about him for months now, because we find it beyond belief that Saxon’s bosses at ICE didn’t know he was beating, strangling, and breaking the bones of his domestic partner, the mother of his children, every other week. In fact, we know it’s not true, because one of his superiors asked the police to perform a welfare check. Police found him naked, behind the toilet with a knife, threatening to kill himself. That’s the guy ICE promoted to assistant field office director of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and sent to Cincinnati.
Our Haitian neighbors in Springfield are devastated to be forced to wear ankle monitors, a form of digital detention. We reject the dehumanization and criminalization of our neighbors.
Organizers in Springfield have let us know that community members must fill out forms within 7 days of getting their ankle monitors to appeal that decision and get a chance to be free from constant surveillance and fear.
We urgently need volunteers to support these community members in filling out these forms for freedom in Springfield. We are looking forward to people who, over the next 3 weeks, can commit to:
Getting (in person) to Springfield with your own laptop for filling out forms, and:
Signing up for at least one 3-hour shift per week for the next 3 weeks, during the 10am to 5pm time period
Testimony for Columbus City Council Public Safety & Criminal Justice Committee Hearing on Flock Cameras
Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director, Ohio Immigrant Alliance
August 10, 2026
If we want to achieve public safety for all, we need to first agree on what this means and what is missing. I’m going to speak bluntly, because we cannot misunderstand each other. The systems built by white and wealthy people when this nation was created — mainly by men — prioritize their safety while denying the humanity of indigenous people, Black people, poor people, immigrants, women, and children.
This isn’t ancient history. Today we have a nationwide crisis of public shootings and gender-based violence, and the people in charge have mostly ignored, denied, or deflected the issues, allowing them to metastasize. We’ve even built a whole genre of entertainment around gender-based violence, although for women, and gay and trans people, I think crime shows are about self-preservation.
Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin apparently did not take the pledge of silence. Or he did take the pledge but broke it after being quoted in WOSU’s story regarding Our City Our Say’s “compromise” with City Council.
Monday, August 10
PROTEST: 3:00 PM
PRESS CONFERENCE: 3:30 PM
CITY COUNCIL HEARING: 4:00 PM
Columbus City Council, 90 West Broad Street
The Safety Not Surveillance Coalition, a group of community-based organizations who formed to coordinate anti-Flock organizing in Central Ohio and build a strategy to decrease surveillance in our communities, today issued urgent demands ahead of a City Council hearing: the immediate cancellation of all contracts with Flock Safety and the rapid dismantling of its Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) camera network throughout Central Ohio.
Flock Safety is a private surveillance company whose cameras collect data on every vehicle that passes. It records license plate numbers, timestamps, locations, and distinguishing features such as bumper stickers and dents regardless of whether the driver is suspected of any wrongdoing. Most municipalities in Central Ohio currently operate Flock cameras and OSU hosts more than 60 Flock license plate readers on or near its campus.
Sunday, August 9, 2026, 1:00 – 5:00 PM
NW Village Green OH-161 & High St.
Worthington, OH
Celebrate the rich diversity of our community at the Festival of Faiths & Nations on Sunday, August 9, from 1:00–5:00 p.m. on the Worthington Village Green.
Hosted by WIN Worthington Interfaith Neighbors, this free, family-friendly event will feature representatives from more than 20 faiths and countries, with cultural displays, music, dance, hands-on activities, games, prizes, and more.
The festival will take place alongside Sunday Funday, offering even more food, entertainment, and activities throughout downtown Worthington.
For more information, email WIN at windiversity@gmail.com
Saturday August 8, 3-5pm
Old First Presbyterian Church, 1101 Bryden Rd.
Join progressive friends to socialize, network, and hear from Jerrad Christian, candidate for Ohio's 12th Congressional district.
Jerrad Christian is a Navy veteran and software engineer running a grassroots campaign to unseat Rep. Troy Balderson, a Republican who consistently votes in support of lobbying groups, super PACs, and his billionaire donors.
Free and open to the public.
Potluck welcome.
Thursday, August 7, 7pm
Olld First Presbyterian Church, 1101 Bryden Rd.
81st Anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A peace concert featuring local composers and performers.
614-252-9255