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This week we are calling the following Ohio House Energy and Natural Resource Committee Members. Please help us track the number of phone calls being made by responding with the word “Done” to info@benohio.org when you have completed your calls.

Call House Energy and Natural Resource Committee Member O'Brien, (614) 466-5358 (Ask him to Vote No on HB282), then Committee Member Reidel, (614) 644-5091 (Ask him to Vote No on HB 282), then Committee Member Wiggman, (614) 466-1474  (Ask him to Vote No on HB 282)

Script

Monday, November 8, 6pm, this on-line event requires advance registration

Losing a loved one to violence is unspeakably painful; the death penalty only prolongs this pain for the families of victims. This powerful discussion features Melinda Dawson and Jonathan Mann, both of whom lost loved ones to murder and still vehemently oppose the death penalty.

This event is co-sponsored by the Human Rights Center at the University of Dayton.

RSVP for this event by using this link.

Hosted by Ohioans to Stop Executions.

As a published author of scholarly and popular writing for more than 50 years, I expect criticism. I’ve received my fair share. But never have my words been described as “trash,” and never have I been criticized with so much disingenuousness, misrepresentation, illogic, and ignorance of the issues at stake. Nowhere do Downing and Oliphint acknowledge that they are throwing stones at a 600-word opinion essay that is by definition limited. No one but Downing and I know that July 26 began with a cordial exchange of emails that were complimentary and, I thought, constructive. I was initiating a conversation with him and other media to promote more responsible, constructive criticism of Columbus and its institutions. I was completely surprised when this rant arrived in my inbox several hours later. 

Sunday, November 7, 5pm, The Boat House Restaurant at Confluence Park, 679 W. Spring St.

Please join us for an inspirational evening with elected officials, interfaith and community leaders, and our youth leaders, as we gather to support and celebrate Columbus youth and families.

During the last seven years, MY Project USA has become a mainstream Muslim social services and civic engagement organization. We are working hand in hand with our interfaith and social justice partners to bring prosperity and hope to the under-served communities in Columbus. At our annual banquet, we will celebrate our accomplishments. We will also re-energize our base and will raise money to continue and grow our work to the next level. Please join us and bring your family and friends with you.

The proceeds of this dinner:

• will be used to protect and empower Columbus needy and under-served families,

• will help launch and grow initiatives to address hunger, poverty, family violence, drugs, gangs, human trafficking, and many other issues that need our urgent attention,

Thanks to the participants of the car caravan through the streets of Columbus on Saturday, 11-6-2021, sponsored by National Nurses United and partnered with SPAN Ohio. The purpose was to echo the ad in the Dispatch on Friday and Saturday, to ask our Congressional House Representative, Joyce Beatty, to sign on as a co-sponsor of Medicare for All, HR 1976. We were surprised early this year that her name was not on the cosponsor list, because she was an original cosponsor in 2019, and is a member of the Medicare for All caucus in the House.

Medicare for All is now main stream, desired by a majority of people, both Democrats and Republicans. The reason is too many people have been devastated by medical bills, from hospitals and meds, out of network nonsense, and pre-authorization refusals on the part of health insurers. With administrative medical costs now at 36% of medical revenue, people are realizing we have a health care payment system that is just plain "wacko." People who are poor experience a disparity of life expectancy of 25 years; maternal death rates and infant mortality that are 3 times the rate of more affluent people.

One day after Ohio Republicans introduced the nation’s most restrictive abortion bill, progressive Senate candidate, Morgan Harper, spoke at a press conference on Friday in the shadow of Ohio’s Statehouse. “We are hanging by a thread here,” she urged, as the dozen or so onlookers stood bundled on a cold November morning. “We can’t let them win, the stakes are too high.”

Editor's Note: This article is in no way intended to trivialize the death of Chase Meola. We send our condolences to his friends and family and understand his murder and other campus crimes are critical issues that must be addressed. We appreciate the feedback from readers pointing out the misspelling of his name and that has been fixed.

If you ask OSU parents or students, or OSU itself on certain days of the week, you will be told that The Ohio State University, especially the off-campus University District, is having a crisis in crime and violence. Articles in the Columbus Dispatch and The Lantern student newspaper support that impression without quite saying so or presenting evidence.  

Saturday, November 06, 12:00 PM
Ohio Statehouse
Gathering in front of the Ohio Statehouse by the William McKinnley statue. We gather to support the urgency of the UN climate negotiations by 200 countries in Glasgow,UK. We urge the Ohio General Assembly to adopt clean energy standards and get to net zero carbon emissions by 2030. Bring banners and signs (no sign poles permitted). We will march around the Statehouse and hand out information about COP 26 and paths to a sustainable future. Social distancing necessary or wear a mask.
https://actionnetwork.org/events/columbus-global-day-of-action-for-climate-justice-6th-nov?fbclid=IwAR2rPCqknLFVtHtWreS9oF5teG8V74dz4I2tdm6aCd-IFxgghGHzBzaR3mY

Register for this event
To be held Saturday, November 6, 12-12:45pm
Meet here: parking lot on North 4th Street, between Long and Spring Streets, (set your GPS for 144 North 4th Street, and look for the Medicare for All signs at the entrance)

The following is from the author of Boomtown Columbus, Ohio’s Sunbelt City and How Developers Got Their Way

Joe Motil’s article in the Free Press published November 1st makes some excellent points. He is absolutely correct on how Columbus City Council is a closed shop; a case for breaking and entering, though it is very hard to do. What concerns me most here is Joe’s reference to City Council’s incestuous relationship with the developers. How to resolve this subordination isn’t clear, except that discouragingly, the solution is unlikely to be local.