Local
4th and State just opened in downtown Columbus – literally on the northwest corner of 4th and State in December 2019. What an exciting opportunity for folks working in the area to have easily accessible, fully-vegan breakfast and lunch equivalent alternative that has a fabulous affordable menu and vibe.
4th and State offers breakfast: decadent French toast, pancakes, “vrunch” wrap and even vegan bac’un and “eggs” (for those who haven’t tried the humane, mung-bean-derived JUST egg here’s your chance). Lunch options include: salads, unique and delicious sandwiches (blueberry and mozz cheeze and the roasted red bell pepper and avocado are absolutely delightful!), smoothie and veggie bowls, and great sides such as sweet potato home fries, Mediterranean pasta salad (yes, vegan feta exists) and scrambled eggs!
If you are in the mood for donuts and coffee (with actual vegan CREAMER- not just plant-milk), it can be had here. They have really developed a fantastic menu that must be tried as nothing has disappointed. They even accommodated a side of vegan sour cream and blueberry compote for the “blueberry blintz” (my family tradition) pancakes I asked for.
In a world where advanced healthcare has not only been plausible, but widely available for decades, one would think that with time, healthcare would become better, easier to access, and if not free, very close to free. Certainly, one would think this to be true of all resources that we need to survive. Life should be getting easier with time, not harder.
We all know, however, that this is fundamentally not what has happened. Instead, the United States, the wealthiest country in the world, has proven itself unable to provide its citizens dignified livelihoods, even when it comes to the most basic necessities.
This has become abundantly clear with the country’s healthcare system.
The statistics speak for themselves:
World War I tale uses gimmick to jaw-dropping effect
When a director tries a novelty such as pretending to tell a story in one uninterrupted take, we’re likely to approach it with a little cynicism. After all, isn’t this just an attention-getting gimmick?
Admittedly, that was my suspicion when I began watching Sam Mendes’s World War I thriller, 1917. And I remained skeptical as British Corporals Blake and Schofield (Dean-Charles Chapman and George MacKay) set out on a seemingly impossible mission.
Eventually, though, Mendes won me over with help from co-screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns and cinematographer Roger Deakins. This is a gimmick, yes, but a devilishly impressive one. More importantly, it’s used in the service of an exciting adventure and a sensitively told war story.
It’s late December, and I’m standing at the Dick’s Den bar with my brother Charlie a little after six o’clock. We’re here to play the Phil Ochs Tribute Show, along with a couple of other bands and solo musicians. But we’re really just watching the audience.
The thirty odd souls that have come out on a cold Thursday night to pay tribute to the last protest singer. Forty-three years since Phil was last alive. Not much of a crowd, really, but this isn’t early sixties Greenwich Village. This is Columbus, collared shirts and half smiles nursing their bourbon and Black Labels, vodka and tonics. An all-ages crowd that are going to stay for the full two and a half hours.
The performers are nervous, as nervous as I’ve ever seen. The guitars sound a little out of tune – nerves make you press too hard on the strings. The songs are tight somehow – “I Ain’t a Marchin’ Anymore,” “Christmas in Kentucky,” “When I’m Gone.”
Esther Flores is a fighter. She champions for the rights and dignity of all people and she fights against bigotry and prejudice. You want Esther on your side.
A Registered Nurse, Esther has created and developed a program, One Divine Line to Health, which provides vital services health care to those women caught up in sex trafficking in Columbus and especially on the infamous Sullivant Avenue on the Westside. She has also set up several safe houses within Columbus for women in recovery.
Raised in New York City, Esther is a woman of strong faith and characters. She teaches us that we can change our attitudes about trafficked women by calling them what they are, “Street Sisters” who deserve our care and understanding. One can see her red minivan driving around attending to her Sisters on the Westside.
Planning for ComFest 2020 is underway. This is a very special year. It is the beginning of a new decade.
Many will call 2020 the year of perfect vision and hope that it will be. This is a very special year for ComFest and Columbus. This will be the 50th ComFest event (in 1973 & ‘75 there were two Festivals and in 1974 there was no Festival).
2022 will be ComFest's 50th anniversary and should be a cause for a great celebration to start now. This is a celebration of ComFest and its long history and wonderful moments. It is also a celebration of the ongoing passing of the torch to the new generations of the volunteers and attendees that will lead ComFest into its 6th decade. But even more so, it is a celebration for Columbus and its progressive community and what we have accomplished together since ComFest in 1972.
A sign at the Columbus’ December 17 Impeach and Remove rally joked: “Impeachment: It’s not just for blow jobs any more.” As funny as this saying is, the reality of what prompted the current impeachment process and society’s response is an atrocious state of affairs.
Even though Christianity Today (CT) came out for impeachment before Christmas, Trump’s die-hard MAGA fanatical white evangelical Christian base still seems to support him. ‘Tis the season for hypocrisy.
Perhaps they believed Trump when he promised during his campaign: "I’m going to be the greatest president God ever created.”
In 1998 CT, a leading voice in the evangelical movement had called for the removal of President Bill Clinton from office. CT argued that Clinton had to go because “unsavory dealings and immoral acts by the President and those close to him have rendered this administration morally unable to lead.”
Ohio State University graduate students have enough struggles to contend with: completing degree requirements, teaching, research, and making ends meet on poverty stipends. Now OSU officials plan to take away a resource that grad students with children have relied on for decades: affordable family-friendly housing. In October, the university announced plans to close Buckeye Village at the end of the school year. OSU wants to demolish the housing complex to make room for a new sports facility.
As it has done with energy, parking, and janitorial services, OSU wants to hand over the responsibility for graduate student housing to the private sector. The university is negotiating plans to move Buckeye Village residents to the University Village apartments on Olentangy River Road, subsidizing the higher rent for two years.
Sunday, December 29, 2pm
82 E. 16th Ave.-cooking/YMCA, Long and Front Streets-serving
We’re cooking to share a meal outside the downtown YMCA shelter again — bring whatever vegan(ish) food you can find, or just bring yourself to help prepare the meal, or just come over for conversation and company. New people are Always welcome!
The address on the event is where the cooking itself will occur. (We're test-running a new cooking location that is a bit bigger, and is wheelchair accessible)
We'll gather our resources by 2pm and start prepping a meal to serve, Should be done cooking by 5pm and then go to the YMCA on W Long St & N Front St and then to set up (hopefully by 5.15-5.30pm) a community picnic for those in need (picnic usually lasts only an hour til we're out of food). Come help (learn) to cook, or come help with the serve ... just let us know you are actually coming :)
All are welcome to come with, and we should be able to find you a ride if needed. columbusfnb@gmail.com
Saturday, December 28, 2019, 9:30 – 12:30 AM
Come join UUJO, the Columbus Poor People's Campaign, members of Bethel AME and others as we learn about the realities of Voter Suppression in Ohio and how to become a Voter Advocate for 2020. The training will be facilitated by Rev Susan Smith, Crazy Faith Ministries, and Rev Joan VanBecelaere, UUJO. We will learn about how to help people register to vote in Ohio, and how to easily check the voter registration roles to make sure our family and neighbors have not been purged. And learn how to form a team in your congregation or neighborhood to help register others. We will have materials and Voter Advocacy tool kits available. Questions: contact Rev Joan VanBecelaere, uujoanvanb@gmail.com. Location: Bethel AME Church, 2021 Cleveland Ave, Columbus, OH 43211.