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A recent report demonstrates that renewable energy has grown 9.6 percent worldwide. This record rate of growth saw 295 gigawatts of renewables added to the various grids, resulting in a total of 3372 gigawatts of renewables worldwide. China accounted for almost half of new generating capacity with 141 gigawatts added. Europe followed a distance second at 57 gigawatts of generating capacity. North America added 29 gigawatts with the continent of Africa falling far behind with only 2.7 gigawatts of installed new renewable capacity in 2022. 

Worldwide installed renewable generating capacity is split pretty much evenly between hydroelectric, solar and wind. China is far ahead with 392 gigawatts of installed systems. In second place with a quarter of that amount or about 111 GW is the United States, followed by Japan, Germany and India.  

Wednesday, March 29, 2023, 6:00 PM
Ohio recently enacted the nation's strictest voter ID law, and it will already be in effect for our May primary and Early Vote beginning April 4.

The Ohio Voter Rights Coalition is teaming up with VoteRiders to deliver timely and important voter ID information and assistance directly to voters who may be impacted by the new law.  We need your help to ensure that every voter has the ID they need to cast a ballot that counts. Join us as we write letters to individuals who have voted with alternative ID in the past so they know their options when it comes to obtaining a free ID or voting by mail.  Every letter we send delivers essential information and assistance to the voters most likely to be disenfranchised by voter ID laws.  

Location:  Columbus Metropolitan Library, Northern Lights Branch, 4093 Cleveland Ave., Columbus.  

The first ever City Council district election is in November and roughly half the candidates met last night in a forum, not a debate, at the First Church of God on Refugee Road. The local chapter of the National Council of Negro Women, which is often referred to as an “organization of organizations” of African American women, sponsored the event.

The mayoral and Columbus Board of Education candidates were also invited. Mayoral candidate Joe Motil took the stage to field questions from the audience, but Mayor Ginther did not show.

Council President Shannon Hardin, running in District 9 (Far East), was in attendance but did not take the stage to field questions. Both Councilmembers Shayla Favor, running in District 7 (downtown and Near East), and Lourdes Barroso de Padilla, running in District 8 (Southside and Southeast), were not in attendance or did not take the stage. Melissa Green, running in District 6 (Hilltop and Southwest), was in attendance but due to time constraints and because her district is uncontested, she was not asked to take questions on stage.

Tuesday, March 28, 2023, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
We are only a few weeks away from the start of Earth Day Columbus, and there are over 100 community worksites in need of volunteers. On 3/28, come learn about the projects happening near you, sign up to volunteer, and enjoy $3 beers from Great Lakes Brewing Company. 

Attendees who register to volunteer during April will receive a free drink! All proceeds from this event will go toward the cost of soil, mulch, and tree seedlings for community worksites. Green Columbus.  

Location:  COhatch Upper Arlington, 1733 W. Lane Ave., Columbus.  

More information here. 

Monday, March 27, 2023, 6:00 PM (doors open at 5:30 PM)
Location:  First Church of God, 3480 Refugee Rd, Columbus. Presented by the National Council of Negro Women.

The announcement by Vladimir Putin over the weekend that Russia will deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus marked a further escalation of potentially cataclysmic tensions over the war in neighboring Ukraine. As the Associated Press reported, “Putin said the move was triggered by Britain’s decision this past week to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.”

Sunday March 26, 12noon-4pm, Milo Arts, 617 E. Third Ave.

This Bizarket will highlight collaboration over competition in its many forms. The Evolution symbolizes how many of us have progressed, thanks to the efforts of the community. We welcome the growth within Milo Arts and the warm reception we’ve received in the Milo-Grogan neighborhood. Expect food and desserts with vegan options, libations, entertainment, 30 vendors, a larger space, and a strong art community to indulge yourself in while at Milo Arts.

There will be gourmet vegan food vendors, drinks, amazing music, live painting, giveaways, and more. This is a market by vendors, for vendors, so make sure you shop local! Attend Bizarket and enjoy the community and love free of charge. There will be donation gift bags and discounts on select vendors. So, the love is free, but you have to pay for everything else. We’ll see y’all there!

Parking:

Around the perimeter of Milo Arts. This includes E. Third Ave. and Starr Ave.

"Shazam!: Fury of the Gods" is the sequel to the light-hearted, likable superhero "Shazam!" (the misfit orphan teen that acquired adult superhero powers after visiting a wizard's lair in the original). Asha Angel again plays Billy Batson as the kid and Zachary Levi as the Shazam incarnation. I loved the first "Shazam," but the sequel doesn't add anything new or special to the superhero genre.

The sequel falls short in terms of charm and coherence when compared to the original. The detachment between Billy and Shazam is apparent, and they fail to come across as a unified character, a defining feature of the first film. Despite attempting to go bigger and better, it loses the emotional depth that gave the original its heart. The sequel entirely abandons the childlike wonder that was unique and captivating previously.

In a viral video that has racked up more than half a million views, students from Columbus Alternative High School (CAHS) urged Gov. DeWine and key legislators to deliver on their promise of fairly and fully funding public schools during the 2023 budget cycle. 

The Ohio Organizing Collaborative (OOC) – a grassroots people-centered power organization – helped create the viral video in collaboration with CAHS students. They released it last week on All In For Ohio’s Instagram page, along with an online petition to key legislators urging them to fully fund our schools. 

The video has attracted significant statewide and national recognition for hitting a nerve in the ongoing debate around public schools and charter schools.

There are both very few and many take-aways from Andy Ginther’s non-State of the City fantasy  tale on Tuesday, March 21. Three stand out:

First, Ginther cannot possibly live in the city of Columbus. He knows so little about it. But we do know that he inhabits, at least in his imagination and bank book, a ragged small broken, undistinguished patch that I renamed Colemanville. In fact, Ginther grew up in far north Columbus, not far from the Worthington border. He now lives in The Knolls, west of 315, close to closer to Upper Arlington.

Colemanville is an unenfranchised, undefined area bounded by several highways and the environmentally challenged Scioto River. It is the bought-and-sold preserve of Urban Empeor for Life Michael Coleman, Ginther’s keeper; Coleman’s unelected Downtown Development Corporation; and The Columbus Partnership whose leaders live outside the city they dominate. They all claim, misleadingly, to be “non-profit.” It is undemocratic, authoritarian capitalism, an unelected unrepresentative government for the few by the fewer. This is the historical practice of the Columbus Way.