Local

On Saturday, November 16, dozens of Ohio college students, activists and immigrant advocates will go to Morrow County Jail in Mt. Gilead, Ohio, to protest the county’s contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The demonstration will be held from 11:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. and will involve testimonials from those personally affected by ICE actions.

Corrections Facility Administrator Captain Sara Fulk emphasized at a Morrow County Commissioners meeting that expenses are increasing. “The cost of everything is up,” said Fulk. “The costs of meals, utilities, and wages have all increased.” ICE brings detainees from many central Ohio counties to the Morrow County Jail. A Kenyon College student involved in organizing the protest stressed that Morrow County residents should know that their municipal tax dollars are subsidizing ICE operations in Ohio.

Thursday, November 14, 2019, 7:00 – 9:00 PM
Did you know many individuals detained in jails have the right to vote? In Ohio, people only lose the right to vote while incarcerated after they have been convicted of a felony. So while citizens awaiting trial or convicted of a misdemeanor can cast a ballot, few are able to simply because jail officials do not have voting programs that encourage people to exercise their right to vote. In fact, at any given time, roughly 750,000 Americans in jails are legally allowed to cast ballots. Join All Voting is Local, Indivisible OH12, and Indivisible Westerville for a training to learn how to help register voters in Ohio's jails. Location: Westerville Public Library, 126 S. State St., Westerville. Facebook.

Wednesday, November 12, 2019, 4-6pm
Rep. Steve Stivers, 3790 Municipal Way, Hilliard
Next week starts public testimony in the impeachment hearings. We can not sit idly by and "hope" to get the results we want. We have to demand action! Bring your support impeachment signs as we read the week's testimony for all of Hilliard to hear. Sponsored by Ohio District 15 Indivisible .

Tuesday, November 12, 2019, 8:00 – 10:00 PM
Join us for BQIC's monthly fundraiser, BQIC Speak up! Spoken Word and Open Mic. Come out and share your poems, songs, monologues, inner musings, and good encounters, bad days, good dates etc on the mic! LGBTQIA+ people of color take priority within the space! Entry is $5 suggested donation! We will have snacks and drinks for suggested donation as well.  All proceeds will go to our newly developed emergency fund for Black LGBTQIA + people. This fund will be devoted to Black LGBTQIA+ people who are in need of emergency funds to help with prevention of eviction, housing assistance, bail, medical expenses, transportation and other emergencies.  Location:  Art Outside the Lines, 485 E. Livingston Ave.  Facebook. 

Monday, November 11, 2019, 7:00 – 9:00 PM
Discussion:  Have you been trolled for something you posted on Facebook or Twitter?  Or for a letter to the editor?  One of our members recently received a threatening letter in response to a letter published by The Columbus Dispatch.  Hear how this member responded and participate in a discussion to identify ways a person or we as a group could respond to trolling.  Location:  Columbus Mennonite Church, 35 Oakland Park Ave., Columbus 43214. 

Maybe City Council’s Elizabeth Brown forgot the Columbus Partnership was paying close attention.

Or maybe, just maybe, she was being genuine and didn’t care what the Columbus Partnership thought. Mrs. Brown on Tuesday night said this to WOSU Public Radio about Yes We Can candidates Joe Motil, Tiffany White and Liliana Rivera Baiman:

“Our opponents in this election are not our opponents in the fight to move this city forward. We have work to do in the city of Columbus. It will take all of us, pushing forward together, to get it done. Together, we can deliver.”

As we can tell, Mrs. Brown not only extended an olive branch but perhaps an invitation to a Yes We Can candidate that they have earned a future appointed seat to City Council. Yes We Can (YWC) did win 1 of 3 votes on Tuesday.

What Mrs. Brown is truly thinking is hard to tell. The Freep has asked to speak with Sherrod Brown’s daughter but we have not heard back.

What we do know is City Council is besieged by special interests such as the Columbus Partnership, the corporate influence that insists on shaping Columbus “Their Way.”

Saturday, November 9, 6:30-11pm
1021 E. Broad St., Columbus
Parking in side driveway, on street or rear parking lot
Free, no RSVP required
Network and socialize with progressive friends with refreshments, live music and special guests Wade Rathke, founder of ACORN and US Congressional candidate Morgan Harper
also:
GIVE YOUR TESTIMONY IN PERSON if you were harassed when petitioning against HB6 or were harassed by a pro-HB6 petitioner
Democracy can’t survive corporate bribery / physical assaults on peaceful signature gatherers.
We invite public testimony from those who experienced bribery and or intimidation during the signature gathering period aimed at putting the referendum repealing HB6 on the Ohio 2020 ballot. We will take sworn testimony that can be used in court.
BACKGROUND: https://en.calameo.com/read/0005704712372d0b0c4e9?page=21614-253-2571
colsfreepress@gmail.com

One year ago, I was the Libertarian candidate for governor of Ohio in a four-way race. The perfect outcome would have been for myself and the Green Party candidate, Constance Gadell-Newton, to both receive 3 percent of the vote so we could meet the arbitrary benchmark set by Ohio Republicans to maintain ballot access for our political parties the next four years. Another aspect of this perfect outcome would have been for our total amount of votes to cause Republican Mike DeWine to lose to Democrat Richard Cordray. The Ohio Republican Party has had a stranglehold on our state government for far too long, as evidenced by the aforementioned 3 percent benchmark being set for minor parties and signed into law at all. Unlike Republicans, Democrats have never made ballot access so difficult in Ohio, so a Cordray administration would have been a welcome change of pace, even for Libertarians.

Sat, Nov 9, 7-9:30pm
Just North United Church of Christ, 2040 W. Henderson Rd.
A concert to benefit a Honduran family of four living at Just North while they pursue asylum. The parents (“Juan” and “Maria”), with one small child at the time, walked for 15 months from Honduras to the US-Mexican border, where they were briefly “caged” with their toddler. Tickets: $20 general admission, $40 per family, online. Under 12 free. squareup.com/store/just-north-ucc.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019, 1:30 - 3:30 PM
Join us Wednesday, November 6 in the Senate Chamber for the floor vote on two anti-abortion bills - SB 155 and SB 208. The session is set to begin at 1:30 pm. This will be our last chance to show the Ohio Senate we need them to stop these bills in their tracks before they head over to the Ohio House to begin hearings there.  Location:  Ohio Statehouse, Senate Chambers, 1 Capitol Square, Columbus 43215.  More information on Facebook.