Local

Wednesday, August 5, 12pm
200 N. High Street, downtown Columbus

Got extra canned goods? Consider donating them to a couple of organizations that are tending to the skyrocketing rates of local food insecurity for our immigrant neighbors.

Our Helpers is a women-led nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of immigrant and refugee families in Central Ohio. From food and wellness to language, mentorship, and career development, Our Helpers connects people to the tools that strengthen lives and communities. Together, we’re creating a network of care where everyone has the chance to flourish.

Once every five years, ODNR is required to update its Oil and Gas rules. The agency has begun its latest review and is holding a two-week public comment period that ends tomorrow!

I only learned of this comment period because our team is subscribed to receive email updates on rules and regulations from RuleWatch Ohio. We received only one email regarding this comment period on the day that it opened. When I read the email and learned of this important public comment opportunity, I immediately reached out to others in our network to find out if anyone knew about it. No one did.

It is unacceptable for this state regulatory agency to hold such a short comment period on something of such great consequence and to do so little to publicize it. 

Alarmingly, ODNR has proposed NO CHANGE to nine rules, and if they don't change during this update, we will be stuck with them for the next five years.

From Thursday, July 30 to Monday, August 3, 2026, downtown Cincinnati belongs to the Omegas. In more than 100 years there are few major cities in the United States that have not hosted the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity’s Grand Conclave. More than 10,000 members registered for this year’s biennial international gathering making it reportedly the largest in the fraternity’s history. “Building Our Legacy and Building our Future” is this year’s theme. The above number does not include the many friends, loved ones, family members, and others that are drawn to the city for this very occasion. Jampacked has been the First Financial Center in downtown Cincinnati over the past few days. 

In an 18-minute livestream broadcast on X (formerly Twitter) earlier this morning, U.S. Representative Max Miller (R-OH) officially announced that he will not drop out of his re-election race, directly defying mounting pressure to step down ahead of this Wednesday’s ballot replacement deadline. ​The defiant broadcast followed weeks of escalating scrutiny surrounding detailed police reports and court filings from a bitter custody and divorce dispute with his ex-wife, Emily Moreno (daughter of U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno). 

Those filings include disturbing allegations of domestic violence—such as claims that Miller threw hot water and held a gun to his ex-wife's head—alongside child welfare investigations regarding a fractured collarbone on their 2-year-old daughter. ​During his address, Miller vehemently denied all accusations of abuse against both his former wife and his daughter, blaming the reporting on political attacks and media bias. ​However, the political fallout intensified dramatically immediately following his broadcast.

We could use some more volunteers for our Sunday Community Serve at the corner of Lechner and Sullivant at 3pm today.

Just show up and we can get ya where ya need to be! 

Heer to Serve advocates for those who are unsheltered & facing housing insecurity with a person-centered approach. We work together to meet their basic needs through tangible items, social support, & programming. The residents of Heer Park guide our mission because we believe showing up for those in need is just as important as empowering others, uplifting them through their struggles, & acknowledging the expertise of those with lived experience.

In response to the many Haitians living in Springfield, Ohio who received letters on Wednesday, July 29  to appear at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Blue Ash on Sunday morning, Ignite Peace and the Miami Valley Immigration Coalition will hold vigils outside the ICE office on Sunday, Aug. 2 and Sunday, Aug. 9 at 7:00 AM. 

Ohio’s governor and U.S. Senate and races are dominating TV and social media right now, but I’m about to say something controversial:

The most important elections are further down your ballot.

This November, Ohio Democrats have a chance to break the Republican Statehouse supermajority that has been devastating our state for 15+ years.

The evidence that Columbus powerbrokers, developers and sold-out office holders such as Mayor Ginther are determined to force Columbus young adults into tiny, overpriced apartments so to maximize profits has been supported and corroborated once again.

According to RentCafe, Columbus is the “only Midwestern metro where Millennial renters are still the majority. Every other large Midwest city including Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Milwaukee has already crossed over to a homeowner majority.” 

RentCafe is an online platform that streamlines the entire rental process. 

“Across the U.S., Millennials have gone from renters to owners at a remarkable pace – only 5 metros had a Millennial homeowner majority in 2018; by 2023, that number had climbed to 82. Columbus isn’t one of them,” stated a RentCafe press release. 

The Free Press believes Columbus’s ultra-rich and the local developer class and their bought-off politicians are deliberately and callously pigeonholing young people into renting their housing far too long than what is normal or expected.

A recent experience at a medical facility in downtown Columbus, Ohio, raised troubling questions about patient privacy, religious accommodation, and professional communication. In fairness to the facility-and in the interest of allowing it an opportunity to respond-I am withholding its name pending a response to the concerns outlined below.

On July 15, 2026, at approximately 1:15 p.m., I accompanied my wife to the facility for a routine blood draw. My wife is a Muslim woman who wears a hijab and values privacy during medical care in accordance with her religious beliefs.

After we entered the blood draw room, I closed the door to provide her with additional privacy. The phlebotomist immediately objected, stating that she did not want the door closed. I explained that I had closed it to protect my wife's privacy.

Rather than explaining that the facility had a policy requiring the door to remain open, the phlebotomist responded by saying that she would be "scared." When I asked what she meant, she did not provide a clear explanation.