Local

City Council this week approved of two new Community Reinvestment Areas or CRAs, one for Grandview Crossing and one for Northland. They also extended the boundaries of the Linden CRA. These CRAs now make developers eligible for a 15-year 100% property tax abatement. 

Furthermore, City Council approved a $6.7 million tax abatement for Kaufman Development’s Gravity Project 2 in Franklinton.  

I do not have an issue with the creation of the Northland CRA and extending the boundaries of the Linden CRA as long as tax incentives are used primarily to benefit true affordable housing for low-to-middle income residents, and keeps gentrification in check.  

But at a time when people are struggling to survive, the Mayor and City Council must be out of their minds for approving the Grandview Crossing CRA and the Kaufman Gravity 2 abatement.  

Wednesday, May 20, 2020• 8:00 - 10:00PM • EDT (US & Canada)  

Join us for a free teach-in on "Building the Peace Movement." Bring your questions and suggestions. We'll hear briefly from a number of key speakers before moving into Q&A. 

50th Anniversary : 1970-2020, Remember Kent State, Jackson State, and all the victims of wars.  

Host:  
David Swanson, Executive Director of World BEYOND War  

Speakers:  
Leonardo Flores, Latin America Campaign Coordinator CODEPINK 

Kathy Kelly, Voices for Creative Nonviolence    

Andy Shallal, Busboys and Poets  

Medea Benjamin,  CODEPINK  Co-founder 

Rich Whitney, Green Party Peace Action Committee 

Sponsors include:  

Cleveland Peace Action  

Joe Motil, former Columbus City Council candidate and longtime outspoken critic of City Hall’s tax abatement policies, testified at this evenings Columbus City Council meeting against the creation of the Grandview Crossing Community Reinvestment Area (CRA). The creation of a Grandview Crossing CRA will more than double the amount of property eligible for this 15-year 100% real property tax abatement. Just 3 months ago, Thrive Companies (previously known as Wagenbrenner Development) was given a $4.2 million 10-year 75% property tax abatement for their Grandview Crossing development.          

Today at 6pm, an infectious disease expert and an advocate for Ohio immigrant families will address the COVID-19 crisis before the Morrow County Health District during their monthly board meeting. Members of the public and media are invited to attend the meeting via Zoom. See this Facebook Event for information.

The Morrow County Jail, which houses county inmates as well as civil Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees from around Ohio, has become the first 100% COVID-positive ICE facility in the nation. Sadly one man, Oscar Lopez Acosta, has already died after contracting the virus there. 

Last week, an additional eleven men were released from ICE custody in Morrow due to an ACLU of Ohio lawsuit.

Gov. Dewine, Lt. Gov. Husted, and Dr. Acton,

First off I want to thank you for your diligent work to keep myself and the rest of the state of Ohio safe during these unprecedented and strange times. When historians look back on this period in American history, all three of you—and the many people on the ground working for your administration—will be fondly remembered for your compassionate, logical, and careful work. I am particularly impressed by Dr. Acton’s ability to not only speak truth to power, but to explain complex, scientific ideas and data to a general audience. As someone who has spent a lot of time in higher education, both at the undergrad and grad levels, I am infinitely impressed by this trait. Your press conferences have brought confidence, truthfulness, and science to the forefront of the conversation on how Ohio can overcome this frightening enemy.

The post office has been a cornerstone of our democracy for over two centuries. It's literally written into the Constitution that government must operate it. But right now it's in danger of total collapse. Trump just said people should pay more for sending packages -- and if that doesn't happen, he won't save the postal service.  If the post office fails, it will hurt millions of Americans who depend on it. And it will undermine the November election by making vote by mail that much more difficult.

Free Them All: 1000 Conversations for Decarceration
Friday, May 8, 2020, 4:00 -7:00 PM
Will you take on action right now and sign up for our upcoming phonebanks to #FreeThemAll? We have had 320 conversations and recruited those people into taking 437 actions. We need you to reach 680 more people and ask them to take an action to #FreeThemAll. Decarcerate Recruitment Phone Bank Sign Up here. 

Tough times call for tough headlines. We at the Free Press can oblige and rightfully so. 

Kroger is the nation’s largest supermarket chain, and arguably Central Ohio’s most popular grocery store. 

Yet earlier this week, Cincinnati-based Kroger announced it is ending their $2 more-an-hour “Hero Pay” after May 16th, even as it continues to run expensive commercials thanking its store employees. 

Also this week their corporate office released a proxy statement for their June 2020 (virtual of course) shareholders meeting, as reported by the national political news site Popular Information, which is authored by journalist Judd Legum. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires companies to provide a proxy statement to shareholders.

Proxy statements reveal CEO compensation, and the Popular Information article states: 

Thursday, May 7, 2020, 4:00 PM
Election Day 2020 is fast approaching, yet it’s increasingly difficult for voters to exercise their democratic rights and make sure their voices are heard. A surge in civic action to protect these rights is building momentum and political leader, bestselling author, and founder of Fair Fight Stacey Abrams is leading the charge in this fight for our democracy.  Join Stacey Abrams and Mother Jones senior reporter Ari Berman for a special live podcast episode of the Mother Jones Podcast, as they discuss voting rights, this crucial moment for mobilization, and the current state of democracy in America.  Register for the event here. 

Ohio’s first Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainee died earlier this week from COVID-19 after being detained at the Morrow County Correctional Facility.

Last week the Free Press reported how the jail – an ICE contracted county jail where many of their Columbus detainees are sent – is besieged by the virus, yet by all accounts the jail was woefully unprepared and its officers acted far too late to mitigate the spread.

Oscar Lopez Acosta, an early 40-something from suburban Dayton, was provisionally released from the jail on April 24th for being high-risk due to his diabetes, but was soon diagnosed with COVID-19, this according to immigration activist Anna Babel, who picked up Acosta after his release and returned him to his family.

After a week in a Dayton-area hospital Acosta was released but died on May 10th, Mother’s Day. The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office in Dayton confirmed with the Free Press that Acosta died from COVID-19.