Local
From the Sierra Club
The House began committee hearings on HB6 repeal legislation last week in the newly created Select Committee on Energy Policy and Oversight. The committee heard sponsor testimony on both the primarily Democratic bill (HB738) and the GOP bill (HB746). Chairman Hoops had the sponsors of the bills provide testimony together and answer questions together since the bills do the same thing and I think highlights the bipartisan support for repeal.
Wade Rathke, founder of ACORN and Chief Organizer of ACORN International, joined us from Mississippi to take about the Voter Purge Project. This protects eligible voters against disenfranchisement by monitoring, reporting on, and organizing against wrongful voter purging. Wade has a list of purged Ohio voters and asked for volunteers to help call them and get them re-registered. Volunteer for Wade Rathke’s voter purge project - OHIO
This year – 2020 – marked the 50th anniversary of many momentous moments: breakup of the Beatles, emergence of Earth Day, killings at Kent State and enactment of the Controlled Substances Act. This law left an indelible mark on public policy, both at home and abroad, that towers over other semi-centennial events. It has cost trillions and incarcerated millions.
Entitled the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and passed as Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, this centerpiece of U.S. drug policy governs manufacture, importation, possession, use and distribution of drugs – narcotics, stimulants, hallucinogens, steroids and, yes, marijuana.
Sunday, Sept. 13, 3pm
Gather at Ohio Supreme Court Justice Fountain, 65 S. Front and march to City Hall, 90 W. Broad St.
Call for more counselors in schools, feed the hungry and isolated, educate youth, rebuild the breach that racism causes, and welcome everyone into our community.
Mark Stansbery, walk@igc.org, 614-252-2955.
Since we can't get together in person, we can gather for a couple hours on the second Saturday night of each month from 7-9pm Eastern Time on Zoom.
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://zoom.us/j/222255972
Meeting ID: 222 255 972
Join through your computer or phone
Speakers:
Lynn Stan and Candy Watkins
Announcing the virtual Hot Times Festival
Mark Stansbery
50 years of student rebellion
Cynthia Brown
De-escalate Ohio - Heartbeatmovement
Wade Rathke and Bob Fitrakis
Voter purge project and other election issues
The struggle to make the Columbus Division of Police reflect the racial make-up of urban neighborhoods goes back nearly 50 years and perhaps longer. But even though federal lawsuits and demands to have more African Americans on the force have been ongoing for more than half-a-century, the number of Black Columbus police officers is still woefully short compared to the number of African-American residents.
Columbus police union’s FOP President Keith Ferrell has said “systemic racism” does not plague the division, but there is too much evidence showing the division’s hiring process has historically “removed many good Black officers,” several current and retired African-American Columbus police officers told the Free Press.
One question these officers raised is: Have Black and People of Color candidates been removed deliberately by systemic racism or is implicit bias to blame?
The Black officers told the Free Press they agree both factors have played a role in keeping their numbers down.
September 11th, 12th, 13th, 2020
Hot Times is a Community driven, multi-Arts event
Check out THE 2020 virtual festival at www.hottimesfestival.com and live performances and live MCs here on FB
Like many Americans, I’ll never forget where I was on 9/11. Fittingly, I was in world history class during my senior year at Bexley High School — the hallways had already been buzzing about a possible terrorist attack in New York City that involved hijacked airplanes. Since it was September 2001, we didn’t have smartphones or ample Internet access to quickly check the facts, so we wheeled in a portable TV from the Teacher’s Lounge and fired up the network stations. Sure enough, as the static faded from the screen, images of the Two Towers billowing black smoke across lower Manhattan became visible and our worst fears were realized. At that point, I had only been 18-years-old for over a month, but 9/11 was the day I went from learning about world history to watching it on live TV. By the time the bell rang, the first tower had collapsed into the streets of New York and with it, as Hunter S. Thompson wrote that day, “all hopes for Peace in Our Time, in the United States or any other country.”
Thursday, Sept. 10. 5-7pm
299 King Ave,.
In partnership with the Ohio League of Women Voters, King Avenue Church will be hosting a drive-through event in the church parking lot to help folks to check their voting registration, register to vote, update their information, and apply for absentee ballots.
You can help by spreading the word about this event!
Voting by absentee (mail-in) ballot? Don’t delay - use this link to request an absentee ballot: https://bit.ly/31cpnp4
How much incompetence can one county jail exhibit, and continue to operate? A jail break Tuesday (September 8th) from the Morrow County Correctional Facility in Mt. Gilead should be the last straw.
Despite warnings this would happen, the Morrow County Correctional Facility (MCCF) became 100% COVID-positive this year. Since the jail doubles as a federal detention center for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), MCCF became the first 100% COVID-positive ICE facility in the nation.
Now, with two jailbreaks and a suicide in the past few weeks, one has to wonder: When will the Morrow County Commissioners, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, or anyone else with authority step in and say enough is enough, this jail needs to close?