Local
A Cincinnati area father whose son committed suicide after being bullied by his Kroger managers is suing the grocery giant for wrongful death. The case claims nothing was done to remedy a hostile and toxic work environment even when Kroger corporate and the local Kroger union were aware of his son’s pleas for help.
Evan Seyfried, who was 40, had worked for Kroger in Milford, Ohio for nearly two decades before taking his life in 2021. He had no prior history of mental illness, and, by all accounts, popular and well-liked by his co-workers.
But perhaps Evan’s popularity, and maybe even his politics, put him on the radar of two managers who would soon wage “a campaign of terror” against him. Many are not aware that Kroger moves managers from store to store every four months or so, and many Kroger workers believe this is part of corporate’s strategy to keep them in line.
From Massachusetts Peace Action
Congress is voting on a $857 billion Pentagon budget, the largest in history. That's $80 billion more than last year And that doesn't count spending on nuclear weapons, spending for the war in Ukraine, and veterans' benefits.
2.9 million children in the United States were lifted out of poverty in 2021 by the Child Tax Credit. But that program expired after a year, and now our elected officials want to spend an equivalent amount on war instead. Bring our war dollars home.
Kill this awful bill. Update, Dec. 8: The House voted for the NDAA 350-80, with 45 Democrats and 35 Republicans voting no. The Senate has yet to act.
Rally for Democracy!
Tuesday, December 13, 11am, Trinity Episcopal Church on Capitol Square, 125 E. Broad St.
Join We Are Ohio, Fair Districts Ohio, Equal Districts, the Ohio Voter Rights Coalition, and over 165 organizations that are standing up against the cynical attempt to make it harder for Ohio citizens to amend the state Constitution.
We will gather at Trinity Episcopal Church (125 E. Broad St., across from the Statehouse) on Tuesday, December 13, at 11am. We are planning a press conference and a visit to the Ohio House. Be prepared to stay into the afternoon if possible!
We are asking you to wear T-shirts or other apparel that includes the logo for your organization or represents the kinds of issues that have appeared in past ballot initiative campaigns or might be the impetus for future campaigns.
Note: I refer any one skeptical of what follows, including the subjects of the report, to the public record, OSU Student Legal Services, records of past and current court cases, conversations with current or recent OSU students, and to their own visual inspection of the District and the properties
Columbus, Ohio, and especially its historic, residentially-zoned University District, is a national hotspot for criminal—literally-speaking—landlords. This is widely known in City Hall and The Ohio State University, both of whom aid and abet neighborhood destruction and uncontrolled profit-taking by circumventing their own laws and guidelines. They fail to protect the lives and well-being of homeowners and students alike, allowing a large catalogue of property-owners malpractices and criminality to continue unchecked.
Too much money changes hands. Caring for the lives of its students along with home-owning, older, most often OSU-related neighbors is too much for OSU’s sprawling and disconnected Offices of Student Life or Legal Services (the one overfunded and the other underfunded), and law enforcement by the City of Columbus or the City Attorney’s office.
In a perfect Ohio world, the two months between the November election and the early January would be free of insults to our intelligence by the rogue Ohio Legislature.
We would be free to enjoy the holiday season without having to worry about our public schools being taken over by the governor, our voting privilges made more difficult, and our opportunity to petition our government severely diluted.
But this is the real Ohio where the rapacious Republicans are running roughshod over the rest of us during what is commonly called the lame duck session, the two months between the election and the New Year.
I call it the rogue duck session. It has got to end.
There is a remedy for this political malady.
The Ohio legislature needs to be defanged.
Its elected members need to become part-timers, banned from meeting for all but financial and existential emergencies between election day and the New Year.
In 1835, the Treaty of New Echota forcibly removed the Cherokee Nation from its homelands in Georgia to lands west of the Mississippi, resulting in the deaths of thousands on what became known as the Trail of Tears. The same Treaty also guaranteed the Cherokee Nation a delegate in Congress -- a promise that has never resulted in so much as a hearing, until now. The Senate and President Biden have already indicated their support.
Now it is up to the House of Representatives to act. We need your voice to urge your congressperson to do what is right!
Saturday, December 10, 7-10pm
Old First Presbyterian Church, 1101 Bryden Rd.
Limited parking in side lot, alley, and street parking
Theme: Human Rights Day
Food, drink, and music
Featuring
Lorraine Moore, author of book on the Universal Declaration of Human RIghts
Tekla Lewin on prisoner rights and free speech
Live Jazz music
Saturday, December 10, 7-10pm
Old First Presbyterian Church, 1101 Bryden Rd.
Limited parking in side lot, alley, and street parking
Theme: Human Rights Day
Food, drink, and music
Featuring
Lorraine Moore, author of book on the Universal Declaration of Human RIghts
Tekla Lewin on prisoner rights and free speech
Live Jazz music
Friday, December 9, 6-7:30pm, this on-line event requires advance registration
The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) Legal Observer program is part of a comprehensive system of legal support designed to enable people to express their political views as fully as possible without unconstitutional disruption or interference by the police and with the fewest possible consequences from the criminal justice system.
NLG Legal Observers (LOs) are not part of the demonstration. LOs observe and document interactions between law enforcement and demonstrators in anticipation of future civil or criminal litigation under the direction of NLG attorneys. NLG Legal Observers do not negotiate with law enforcement, provide legal advice, or serve as peace marshals.
For more information about the National Lawyers Guild’s Legal Observer program, visit nlg.org/legalobservers or email <ohio@nlg.org>.
Use this link to register in advance for this meeting.
The Red Oak Community School, located in the Unitarian Universalist Church in Clintonville, was the site for both a huge success and a huge failure for the Columbus police on Saturday morning. The school had attempted to host an annual fundraiser featuring three local drag artists reading holiday stories to students.
The brand new, blue-vested, de-escalation focused, Columbus Police Dialogue Team was out with a stunning presence, standing two by two among the Proud Boys keeping the confrontation with counter-protesters to a mild roar.
Eight specially trained officers and sergeants were on site to protect the protesters’ right to free speech while reducing the use of force, arrests, and injuries that protesters have experienced in the recent past.
Chief Elaine Bryant reported in a YouTube statement on Monday night that they had been successful in that goal. No use of force, arrests, or injuries were reported.