Local

(Begin satire.)

Jed, my third cousin twice removed, has a small rural home 60 miles north of Columbus. He is a typical news consumer in that he does not read a reputable daily newspaper or daily news website but consumes fragments of information from local television and local radio and bits and pieces from social media. Mostly, he listens to right-wing talk shows on AM radio and watches Fox News conspiracy mongers on satellite TV at night. Here is what Jed thinks is going on. Sometimes he gets it wrong.

Are Chippewas Building a Casino Near New Albany?

Jed is thrilled to learn that a Native American tribe is reclaiming some of the land that our forefathers took from them, especially because he heard that his two acres and prefab home that were originally on Indian land will not be reclaimed.

Better for folks over New Albany way in Licking County to fork over 3,000 acres to the Chippewa Tribe.

Friday, January 28, 3:30-5:30pm
Lincoln Cafe, 740 E. Long St. 
Join Team Jamison and put Judge Terri Jamison on the ballot for Ohio Supreme Court! Register to vote if you'll be 18 before November 8th to vote in this election!
RSVP here

Friday, January 28, 3:30-5:30pm
Lincoln Cafe, 740 E. Long St. 
Join Team Jamison and put Judge Terri Jamison on the ballot for Ohio Supreme Court! Register to vote if you'll be 18 before November 8th to vote in this election!
RSVP here

Friday, January 28, 3:30-5:30pm
Lincoln Cafe, 740 E. Long St. 
Join Team Jamison and put Judge Terri Jamison on the ballot for Ohio Supreme Court! Register to vote if you'll be 18 before November 8th to vote in this election!
RSVP here

Am I the only Ohioan who has mixed reactions to the blasting news of the highly secretive and delayed announcement of Intel’s aspirational plans to build the “world’s largest” computer chip manufacturing “fab” in New Albany/Licking County? Am I the only reader disturbed by the no-longer-daily, little-news Columbus Dispatch’s Saturday, Jan. 22, front page and much of the first section’s unchecked press release for Mike DeWine’s and Jon Husted’s re-election campaign? This continued in the Sunday, Jan. 23, edition. I hope I’m not.

I support all responsible job creation and economic development. Let there be no doubt about that.

Thursday, January 27, 2022, 5:30 PM
Our policy experts will present an analysis of the issues and bills we've been advocating for, and a preview of our work ahead.  You can expect to hear updates on bail reform, abolishing Ohio's death penalty, voting rights and redistricting work, attacks on abortion access, LGBTQ equality, protesters' rights, and more. Register here. 

Joe Motil, former Columbus City Council candidate and longtime voice of everyday people states, “Our affordable housing crisis is worsening by the day. So why is the city and county still sitting on millions of taxpayer dollars of our American Recue Plan (ARP) money when it should be being utilized to  address this crisis?

A public hearing was held by the Franklin County Commissioners to hear comments on how the ARP funds should be spent clear back in July of 2021. Motil testified that the county and city of Columbus should allocate $60 million each of their ARP funds and that the Columbus Partnership should match it. He said "...and it was clear from the majority of those who testified at the county public hearing that ARP dollars should be allocated towards affordable housing.”

Motil points out that, “last month elected officials of St. Paul Minnesota and Ramsey county pooled together $74 million of their ARP funding for “deeply affordable housing” needs for those with incomes of 30 percent Average Median Income (AMI). What are our city and county elected officials waiting for?”      

Joe Motil, former Columbus City Council candidate and longtime voice of everyday people states, “Our affordable housing crisis is worsening by the day. So why is the city and county still sitting on millions of taxpayer dollars of our American Recue Plan (ARP) money when it should be being utilized to  address this crisis?

A public hearing was held by the Franklin County Commissioners to hear comments on how the ARP funds should be spent clear back in July of 2021. I testified that the county and city of Columbus should allocate $60 million each of their ARP funds and that the Columbus Partnership should match it. And it was clear from the majority of those who testified at the county public hearing that ARP dollars should be allocated towards affordable housing.”

Motil points out that, “last month elected officials of St. Paul Minnesota and Ramsey county pooled together $74 million of their ARP funding for “deeply affordable housing” needs for those with incomes of 30 percent Average Median Income (AMI). What are our city and county elected officials waiting for?” 

In the weeks following the one-year anniversary of the January 6 insurrection, there were countless editorials, think pieces and discussions in the media about whether or not American democracy was “dead.” From Fareed Zakaria on CNN to Ann Fisher on WOSU, news personalities and politicos alike tried to address the question, with answers ranging from “no, but it does need attention,” to “it’s basically on life support,” to “I don’t know how to answer that!” Strangely enough, no one offered a hearty “hell yeah, it’s dead,” which makes me think that no one really knows the answer. But this is understandable. After all, it must be hard for political commentators to admit that the American experiment –– once a robust representative democratic republic with grand ideals at its core –– is in fact, finally dead.

Like many a Midwest metropolis, Columbus has a multitude of evangelical, Jesus-is-my-savior churches and if he’s not yours, you are going to hell because “Hell is Real,” as the sign says.

There’s Rod Parsley’s World Harvest mega-church in Canal Winchester, which the Free Press has heard purchases used cars for struggling single mothers if they were to convert. There’s the youth-focused Vineyard, which has multiple campuses around Central Ohio including a new church in Grandview. And the head-scratching Xenos, which recently changed its name to “Dwell,” the cultish church that sure-as-hell seems to prey on Ohio State campus kids.

These churches and their pop-rock bands promote, for the most part, a loving Christianity. Rock City Church, for instance, with its shiny and modern-ish locations in Hilliard and the Short North, has partnered with 30 Ohio prisons helping inmates.

But when tough times assail the flock, like a pandemic and a Democrat in the Oval Office, evangelical pastors begin to seriously push apocalyptic evangelicalism.