Local

Thursday, April 6 at 7 PM on ZOOM
I invite you to a Columbus Area meeting of SPAN Ohio. It will be on ZOOM so you don't have to travel and can come as you are. You can actively participate, and I hope you will. Mark the date on your calendar!
Some agenda Items are:

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/

Wednesday, April 5, 12:30pm
Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
180 E Broad St
Columbus, OH 43215
United States
Google map and directions

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has the authority to stop the coal plant subsidies.

The PUCO is required to conduct audits to determine whether or not the costs ratepayers are charged each month to pay off the coal plant shareholders’ debts are “prudent.” And audits at the Public Utilities Commission reveal that OVEC is running the plants at inefficient times and overcharging all of us.

City of Columbus mayoral candidate Joe Motil states, “Today’s [April 3rd] homeowner repair loan forgiveness by Mayor Ginther was just another election year staged media event. Due to the city handing out home repair grants to eligible recipients for some time now, it is only fair to those homeowner repair recipients who have been required with paying back their interest free loans to be given the same treatment. The earlier recipients should have been given grants in the first place.”  

Motil continues, “Assistance with home repairs for seniors and those on fixed incomes is important. I have heard stories for years now how new residents who are purchasing tax abated luxury homes in desirable risk-free development urban neighborhoods are calling code enforcement officers on long-time residents who cannot afford repairs. Along with escalating property taxes, this is just one more adverse impact caused by gentrification.”    

Tuesday, April 4, 2023, 7:00 PM
On April 4, 1967, exactly one year before he was murdered, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave an historic sermon at New York’s Riverside Church on the profound connection between US militarism abroad with violence, racial repression, and widespread deprivation on the home front.  

Over 50 years later, from Ukraine to Uvalde, the crises of militarism, materialism, racism and the prospect of spiritual death that Dr. King warned us about are still very much with us. Not only does this militarism abroad continue to seed violence and poverty at home, it now aggravates the climate crisis and consumes vital resources that could alleviate climate-related suffering.

The New Democracy Coalition (NDC), Massachusetts Peace Action (MAPA), and cosponsors will present a public reading of “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence”, May 2, with 100 readers, on Boston City Hall Plaza, to bring community focus to the issues of war, militarism and racism.  

The Central Ohio Workers Center is currently circulating an on-line petition and providing a suggested letter for those wishing to physically mail a show of support for this program. Implementing this program in Columbus will provide necessary identification for tens of thousands of residents, especially those in vulnerable populations who have trouble obtaining traditional forms of ID such as victims of domestic violence, people experiencing homelessness, immigrants, and those re-entering society from prison/jail​. This would represent a significant step in addressing a critical city‐wide problem since lack of acceptable identification keeps these populations isolated and susceptible to exploitation. This municipal ID card will be helpful for proving identity and could connect residents to services, programs, and benefits.  Click here to sign onto the letter of support. 

In the aftermath of the February 3rd train derailment in East Palestine, questions continue to swirl. While media coverage has largely shifted to spotlight transportation company Norfolk Southern’s ongoing legal woes, little attention has been paid to area citizen sentiment. As local and national debates play out over air and water safety, comparatively little focus has been given to the lifestyle changes made by East Palestine residents.

A recent poll from WaterFilterGuru highlights the drastic changes in behavior and beliefs among Ohio residents. The study, which centers on citizen sentiment amidst the fallout of the hazardous chemical spill, makes clear that the incident’s impact reaches far beyond Columbiana County. In fact, the data suggest that Americans across the country have rethought daily routines ranging from tap water use to acid rain.

Sunday, April 2, 2023 from 11 to 3pm
2891 E Dublin-Granville Road, Columbus, OH, United States, Ohio
 

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The film is inspired by a group of kids living in a suburb of Paris who are cross-bituming and called themselves “Dirty Riderz Crew.” The engines are very strong and what they do quite brutal. They cross each other on lines that are narrow two-way roads. We've to understand the environment, its rules, and its philosophy.

What's this practice? Why do they do it? Who are these young people? That's where we meet the character of Julia (Julie Ledru), who responded to a rather intimate desire to see this dream of joining a community come true. The character of Julia is a perfect example. It surprises us because it escapes the fixity of a single, uniform representation. Her face changes all the time, her outfits, her traits. She performs multiple figures, navigates between genres, codes, social environments.

I take the unprecedented step in the history of the City of Columbus to voice a demand publicly for an apology and reparations for neighborhood destruction by the City in collusion with large corporate property owners and developers, and in the case of the University District (UD) and Weinland Park, The Ohio State University and its purposely misleadingly named Campus Partners for Urban Community Development.

This is one critical chapter in the long and continuing tragedy of the Columbus Way: private over public, for-profit developers and corporation over publics, and disregard and disrespect for residents’ legal rights including homeowners, taxpayers, and voters. It is no wonder that Columbus cannot define or delineate actual “neighborhoods.”

I am concerned specifically with the University District. But I urge residents of Weinland Park, Franklinton, Linden, and The Hilltop, at least, to follow suit (pun intended).