Local

Martin Luther King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

1DivineLine2Health (1DL2H), a grassroots community 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, was denied the purchase of a house to be used as a Drop-In Center for the Street Sisters on Sullivant Avenue who are often murdered, raped and beaten. Currently the City does not want to issue the permits for the house that was donated to 1DL2H and is demanding 13 different construction items to be completed before allowing the building to be used as a drop-in center.

On the week of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Mayor Ginther came to the Hilltop to give his gratuitous speech to roll out the Hilltop Envision plan and ignored the picketing of 1DL2H supporters. Last year, the mayor walked away three times from me when I implored him to exercise his authority and help the west side human trafficking victims. He gave the usual shrug-off, telling me “Someone will get back to you.”

Donald Trump received the highest Republican presidential vote total in Lake County, Ohio since George Herbert Walker Bush whipped Mike Dukakis in 1988. Trump beat Hillary by 15 points in that county. The Lake County News Herald pointed out that “Trump won in many communities that had traditionally voted for Democratic candidates.”

By contrast, Barack Obama lost in Lake County by less than one percent of the vote in 2012. Bill Clinton only lost by three points in that county in 1992 to Bush the Elder. Obama won 16 counties in Ohio, Hillary Clinton only won seven.

Various polls indicate that Ohio is in play once again as a swing state for the 2020 election. A recent Emerson poll of Ohioans revealed that 47 percent of Ohio voters supported impeachment while only 43 percent opposed. In a recent Baldwin Wallace University poll, Trump is trailing a hypothetical “or any” Democratic candidate by five points, with 16.3 percent undecided.

Will your vote be counted?

Tuesday, February 4, 2020, 1:30 – 4:00 PM
It’s time for equality.  Join us at the Ohio Statehouse for public testimony on the Ohio Fairness Act (HB369). #OHFairnessAct would protect LGBTQ people from discrimination throughout the entire state.  Please plan to arrive on Tuesday at the Ohio Statehouse 1:30 PM.  The hearing itself is at 2:00pm.  Over 250 people have submitted testimony. Come listen to fellow Ohioans make the case for LGBTQ equality.  Location:  Ohio Statehouse, Room 114, 1 Capitol Square, Columbus.  More information on Facebook. 

There are two ways to watch a show at the Shrunken Head Rock 'n Roll Club. The first is grabbing some dinner with some friends and heading over just in time to buy a drink before things get going. Sit at a table and sneak off before midnight. It’s not a bad life.

There is another way. You can show up by yourself in the late afternoon for the Head’s “happiest hour” and get yourself involved with their absurdly cheap draft beer and whiskey special. If you survive that you can stick around for their regular happy hour, and by the time the music starts you’ll be sitting criss-cross applesauce on the second stage wondering why your left eye has stopped working. This is poor decision making, especially if you are intending to write a review. But hey, what else were you going to do that’s so important anyway?

The first band tonight is Six Miles to Nellie, a six-piece country-rock band from Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Front person Courtney DeCosky sings like a house on fire. I’m not sure what I like more – her lead singing or the harmonies she drops over guitarist John Schnabel when he takes a turn at vocals. Wow – when she goes high look out.

Lifestyle Cafe launched last month introducing yet another 100 percent plant-based vegan and organic when possible menu to the greater Columbus metropolitan restaurant market. They are located in Old Town East on the corner of 18th and Oak Street. We sampled an item from every segment of their menu, which had staples like avocado toast, fast start breakfast (just egg and bac’un on a croissant style roll with a side of sweet potato puree), corn chowder with bac’un, lettuce and tomato sandwich, avocado hummus and chips, and crispy waffles with fried chick’un. Every single item was packed with flavor and delicious. 

They had an abundance of baked goods from cookies, donuts, croissants, muffins, cinnamon twists to pop tarts to choose from as well. The restaurant and restroom are clean and bright, though seating is limited if you are there at lunch time and the menu is located at the kiosk, not printed or posted anywhere to review while waiting. Be sure to make a trip to Lifestyle Cafe for breakfast or lunch, you will be happy you did.

Should the Franklin County Democratic Party (FCDP) be endorsing in a primary? Jonathan Beard (55th Ward) said “No” at the January Franklin County Democratic Party Central Committee meeting and was backed by none other than the powerhouse former FCDP Chair Bill Anthony.

When a candidate is endorsed, their name appears on the Democratic Party sample ballot. These are mailed to all potential Democratic voters, handed out by the tens of thousands at polling places, and nearly always assure victory.

Beard believes the Party should not be endorsing in the open Ohio 25th House District and that the decision should be left up to the Franklin County voters.

There were eleven people seeking the Party seat for the 25th District. The FCDP machine endorsed Dontavius Jarrells. Jarrells won strong support from U.S. Representative Joyce Beatty. It is Beard’s contention that the Dems are forcing potential supporters away from the Party by allowing prominent elected Democratic officials to secure endorsements for their supporters or staffers.

There has been an increase in the things that have separated us as Americans in our nation these past three years. We have been separated by hate. In 2018, the FBI reported that 16,039 law enforcement agencies submitted hate crime reports totaling 7,120 incidents. Of those hate crimes reported 59.6 percent were based on problems related to race, ethnicity, ancestry or bias. 

We have been separated by religion. The recent anti-Semitic attacks that occurred in New York and Jersey City – where five victims were stabbed during a Hanukkah celebration, four killed while shopping and one physically attacked while out with her child – has brought attention to the public that anti-Semitic hate crimes continue to plague our cities. There have been shootings in black and white churches last year.

Artists, designers and anyone who wants to be a part of ComFest history, start your pens.

It’s ComFest Logo Design season again, and we need your artistic vision for the 2020 program guide, volunteer T-shirt, and beer mug designs. Each year, the winning ComFest logo is incorporated throughout the festival and becomes part of ComFest’s illustrious history. By tapping into the vast creative energy in our community, ComFest seeks to promote and share our values with a unique visual statement that inspires festival participants, volunteers and attendees. Perhaps your inspiration can do it all this year.

This year’s theme highlights each person’s power to make a difference, actively contribute to community conversations and elevate the political consciousness of everyone around them.

Including these concepts when creating your proposed design will make your entry more competitive in the selection process.

Here’s how it works:

The East Side of Columbus – where the Columbus we know now was essentially born – has been much maligned during this modern era. No doubt calls for improvement have been echoing for some time.

The city has done plenty to facilitate the Short North. More recently attention and infrastructure funding have turned to Franklinton and South Linden.

East Side residents from the Near East to Eastmoor and out to Eastland Mall are saying, once again, don’t leave us behind.

“The city when it comes to the East Side, the plan is all very piecemeal, and frankly, half-assed. That is the only way to put it,” says Michelle Santuomo, former president of the Eastmoor Civic Association, representing the neighborhood between Bexley and Whitehall. “There’s so much that needs to get done. The city has ignored us. And I have gone down to City Council and made fools of them whenever they do their budgets. I say, ‘Where’s the money for the East Side?’

Martin Luther King Jr: “Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it.”

January should have been a month to celebrate new beginnings and Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy. Instead, in Columbus, Dr. King would likely have boycotted his own birthday party after observing how our City leaders practice systemic racism and sexism in our city. At the City’s much touted annual MLK Breakfast, two young Black women interrupted Mayor Ginther’s speech by yelling “Justice for Julius!” It was peaceful protest – an example of the civil disobedience King’s legacy represents and what the City leaders were presumably celebrating. The two women were dragged out of the gathering and arrested.

In 2018, Julius Tate Jr., a 16-year-old African American, was shot five times by an undercover cop after he pulled out a gun. Julius’ 16-year-old African American girlfriend Masonique Saunders was charged for his death and with aggravated robbery. She reported that Julius had no gun and there is an affidavit by another eyewitness that has a different story from Columbus Police Department statements.