Local
Ohio House Bill 430, pushed by the entrenched Ohio Republicans and passed in September, had a simple enough title: “Regards property development.” It made a slew of changes to the Ohio Revised Code, such as revising laws for orphaned oil wells and designating April as “Ohio Work Zone Safety Awareness Month.”
But as HB 430 wound its way through the legislative process this past summer, the Ohio GOP, with help from the Columbus Apartment Association (lobbyists), slipped in an additional amendment: That no municipality, such as Columbus, may pass or enact any law that “impos[es] or require[es] rent control or rent stabilization.”
Wednesday, November 30, 6:30am-9pm, using your telephone
Will you help protect Ohio families from radioactive oil and gas waste by making one phone call on Wednesday? Ohio has 226 Class II injection wells that accept 20-30 million barrels of radioactive oil and gas liquid waste every year.
Last month, Buckeye Environmental Network, Sierra Club, EarthJustice, and 30 grassroots organizations petitioned the United States Environmental Protection Agency, (US EPA) to revoke Ohio’s authority to manage Ohio’s Class II oil and gas waste injection program. The program, currently run by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), consistently fails to act against violations, allowing serious problems to continue unaddressed, posing threats to our drinking water and public health.
Ohio communities have lived with leaking class II injection wells, accidents, blowouts, and spills for years. And, Ohio does not have a way for impacted residents to file a formal complaint.
Please help protect Ohio families by taking five minutes to call US EPA Administrator Debra Shore on Wednesday.
“Inhale/Exhale: Restorative Healing Space for Progressive and Left Organizers,” hosted by Ohio Voice
Tuesday, November 29, 7pm, this on-line event requires advance registration
“Inhale/Exhale” is a space for restorative healing for organizers and activists in our lovely ecosystem. We welcome all organizers in the progressive and left movements to honor their bodies by resting and entering this space to learn various ways to heal.
In this installment, we will explore healing and what it means to truly heal after repairing harm in healthy processes of accountability. Although healthy, it still requires work and healing of all parties involved. Come ready to learn, share, engage, rest, and heal. Please sign up to attend and spread the word about this lovely event with Sharonda Crome and Arnesia McMillan! We want you whole and rested for this work, so please show up if you can.
Biography for Sharonda Crome
Hundreds of Indigenous sacred sites across the country -- places of Indigenous foods, medicines, ceremony, burial sites, and creation stories -- have been threatened and desecrated by the climate crisis and by harmful development projects like pipelines, mining activities, and resource extraction.
All without the consent of Tribal communities who have traditional and spiritual connections to the land -- and in violation of federal treaties.
This past June 5 marked fifty-four years since the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He was forty-two years old when he was struck down by an assassin’s bullet after claiming victory in the California presidential primary. (Sirhan Sirhan, the convicted assassin, was granted parole last year, the sixteenth time he tried. While he was approved by the parole board and two of RFK’s children supported his release, six of their siblings and his widow did not. California Governor Gavin Newsom declined to free Sirhan.) Although race relations in America have, in many ways, greatly improved over the years, they are in just as many ways not much different than when John and Robert Kennedy were in power.
Sullivan, a history professor at the University of South Carolina, is an accomplished civil rights historian who has written three books on African American history and edited two others. While many historians have written about Robert F. Kennedy and his role in the freedom movement of the 1960s, she is the first who has done so in such detail.
In a continuing series of explorations, I probe US universities and especially the example of The Ohio State University’s sloganeering, marketing, and self-promotion, most recently in “The OSU Way: Slogans Over Truth and Honesty in Graduation Rates and Student Well-Being” (Oct. 27, 2022) Let me repeat, I am not on a singular campaign to tarnish the mixed images of the local mega-university. Rather I explore the largest case at hand.
This chapter’s update progresses chronologically over the past month or two. I begin with new (one of countless cohorts) Vice Provost James Earl Orr, Jr.’s undated “Enrollment Report 2022.” Orr is Vice Provost for Strategic Enrollment Management which must be different from nonstrategic Enrollment Management.
Sunday, November 27, 12noon-4pm, Revolutionary Botanicals, 5212 N. High St.
The Bizarket Market will feature 10+ handmade, local vendors. This market will specifically focus on food/drink vendors, bakers, etc. Expect foods that are vegan, Soul Food, Puerto Rican, and Caribbean, plus Drinks, Wine Cellars, Herbal Teas, Mushroom Chocolates, Sweets, Treats, and many more eats! Come have Friendsgiving with us!
There will be gourmet vegan food vendors, drinks, amazing music, live painting, raffles, and more. This is a market by vendors and 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:
Option 1: Wing Snob parking lot, 5179 N. High St.
Option 2: Graceland Shopping Center parking lot, 182 Graceland Blvd.
Ohio House Bill 434 has passed the House. Proponent testimony will be heard in the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee on Nov. 29, 2022. It is likely that opposition testimony will be held the following Tuesday, Dec. 6, with a vote possible that day. HB 434 could open the State of Ohio to a lot of mischief.
Find your senator’s name and contact information using your address. Write one letter and use it SIX WAYS! Here’s how: write or phone to stop Ohio House Bill 434.
The Ohio Nuclear Free Network has created a 4-page flier with 28 concise points on why this bill is dangerous and precedent-setting. This article has highlights from the flier. A link to the flier is at the end of this article. You can write a letter in your own words, copy and paste talking points from the flier, OR send the entire flier.
Friends. Freedom. Food. Music. Parents. Children. Pets. Laughter. Emotions. And dozens of other things. Despite the virus, racial injustice, and many other challenges, we all have so much to be thankful for.
So join me (Bill Cohen) from 7pm to 8:30pm on Friday, November 25 as I sing a unique concert of songs that express gratitude for all that we have. It’s our ninth year for this Thanksgiving-themed concert.
Playing piano and guitar, I’ll sing songs written by, made famous by, or inspired by, a wide variety of folks: John Denver, the Weavers, Phil Ochs, Louis Armstrong, and Don McLean. Even Johnny Appleseed, Jiminy Cricket, and the TV show, “Golden Girls.”
On several songs, Ann Fisher will add beautiful flute accompaniment, David Maywhoor will add percussion, and Joe Lambert and Joanne Blum will add soothing vocal harmonies.
Besides the music in the gratitude concert, we’ll hear some thoughtful quotes, reminding us of our many blessings. No sermons here but words of inspiration and emotion from sources as varied as Albert Schweitzer, Rod Serling, Gandhi, Einstein, and Buddha.