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Julie Whitney Scott – Free Presscolumnist, radio producer, actor and theater festival director – was honored with the Harold Award at the 20th Annual Central Ohio Theatre Roundtable Theater Awards Celebration show on February 16. Scott founded the Columbus Black Theatre Festival and received the award for her Mine 4 God Productions and for and presenting the annual Festival for eight years. The Harold Award is named for the late Harold Eisenstein the long-time theater director for the Gallery Players.

“I am honored, grateful, humbled, privileged and in awe of what God is doing and has done for me. What he is doing for me has blessed others and I will continue to pay it forward,” Scott said after receiving the award, “I was being recognized for something I had and was doing to serve others in my community, of my race, for the unity of all people, to ensure our stories, the here and now stories, the ‘we are no longer slaves’ stories were being told, under the title of Mine 4 GOD Productions. A title that from the beginning had to fight and preserver through the naysayers because I dared to use ‘God’ in my Theatre production company.”

Snarls will play at Ace of Cups on March 6 to celebrate the release of their album Burst. The Columbus band is attracting attention from the blog circuit while preparing to tour.

Snarls’ sound is somewhere between the better riffs of 90's rock with a shoegaze verse chorus combination that gives a strong backing to songs about relationships.

Snarls fits in with bands like Soccer Mommy and Best Coast.

Snarls ages are 18-22. Their age groups indicates Arctic Monkeys instead of Veruca Salt.

Should I call Snarls college rock?

I interviewed Snarls singer/guitarist Chlo White.

The last time Snarls entered a press cycle there was discussion regarding the uncertainty of graduating high school. Do you feel better?

Definitely. Lol.

Do you have advice for teenagers still in high school regarding their next few years?

1. Those who are working, SAVE YOUR MONEY! Why? Just do it.

Wednesday, March 4, 2020, 7:00 PM

James Brown has been on my mind lately, not sure why.

Wasn't the first time and definitely won't be the last he just pops in and we stare at each other.

My first JB experience was like seeing a being from another planet. And it all started when I....

Got mesmerized by his shoes so shiny they could be seen from outer space as he danced on TV's Shindig in September of 1965, singing Papa's Got A Brand New Bag.

I was ten. And transfixed. His dance moves – mainly from the ankle down – were...incredible. Never had I ever seen any man move like that – certainly not Fred Astaire. I still marvel at his grace and muscular control. I think Mick Jagger copied a couple of his moves. Sad.

But the transfixed part is the key.

That was a long time ago. And I'm still mesmerized by the man in toto.

Something about his music is so, I don't know – primal, yes, but more than that, African, I suppose. But what does that mean?

Valentine’s Day is long gone, but a couple of non-mainstream movies are hoping to bring romance back to Columbus screens. And they’ll go about it in very different ways.

France’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire is the kind of elegant period piece that relies on atmosphere, long pauses and meaningful glances. And, oh yes, it also throws in choice moments of nudity and explicit sexuality – just so you’ll know you’re not watching a French adaptation of Jane Austen. 

The tale begins in the late 18th century as an artist named Marianne (Noemie Merlant) travels to an island estate to paint a bride’s wedding portrait. Once there, she learns that the assignment is not as straightforward as it seems.

Her subject, Heloise (Adele Haenel), has been forcibly snatched from a convent to replace her deceased sister at the altar. Not only is she an unwilling bride but an unwilling model, having rejected a previous artist’s attempt to capture her image on canvas.

Village Taco reopened their newest location last month on Parsons Avenue (formerly Hal & Al's and TatoHeads) with yet another 100 percent plant-based vegan menu to the greater Columbus metropolitan restaurant market. Sitting within a block of Two Dollar Radio and new vegan bar Daddy’s, this neighborhood is fast becoming nicknamed “Vegandale of Columbus” (following the vegan neighborhood in Toronto, Canada).

Their menu boasts much more than tacos, too. They definitely do the typical TexMex favorites one expects from a taco joint: fat burritos, chimichangas, enchiladas and holy Toledo – fried vegan ice-cream. They can even wow patrons with loaded double decker burgers, popcorn chickun and have a kid’s menu, too.

The Democratic Party calls itself the "party of the people" and labels the Republican Party the "party of money."

Republican Mitt Romney's candidacy for president in 2012 against Barack Obama was skillfully derailed by Democrats attacking his enormous wealth and lack of sensitivity toward common people.

Democrats are not immune to rich standard-bearers. President John F. Kennedy was and is a hero of mine, but without daddy Joseph P. Kennedy's millions he probably would not have made it to the White House.

Howard Metzenbaum was and is a hero of mine, but his millions gave him a leg up on becoming a U.S. Senator from Ohio.

Enter Michael Bloomberg, worth $60 billion. He is vying for the Democratic nomination for president and has been attacked by fellow Democrats for trying to buy the nomination.

The former New York City mayor had dropped $500 million on television and social media ads by late February, vaulting him into or near the lead in public opinion polls in the 12 Super Tuesday (March 3) states and earning him a spot on the debate stage February 19.

In this era of Columbus development explosion, Freep has often been critical of the mixed-use condominiums jammed into some of the city’s most unique neighborhoods.

We also feel some recent developments were much needed in certain areas, such as Italian Village and Grandview. But did the city have to allow off-campus to turn into a lame corporate piano bar and Clintonville’s Indianola Avenue into a Siberia-looking gulag loaded with condo boomers?

Speaking of Indianola, Freep has criticized the city’s lack of effort to save Olympic Pool, which of course was destroyed for a high-end condo with a stunning view of I-71. Clintonville realtor Joe Jackson of Keller Williams Realty told the Freep he just learned – and confirmed just last week – the owners of Olympic Pool had tried to gift the pool to the city, but the city refused.

The city helped save the Crew, but the team’s new stadium could cost the city $100 million. With that commitment we feel saving Olympic and rehabbing it into an updated water park would have been worth any lack of long-term profitability.

Could anything have saved Olympic?

On Monday, March 2, there was a speak-out protest in honor of She Decides Day at Ohio State University. 

At this rally, over 20 #Fight4HER, Buckeyes For Harm Reduction, Ohio State University Democrats, PERIOD, and Take Back the Night. activists spoke about what their #NewNormal would look would look like in terms of climate change, reproductive justice, global health, institutionalized racism, criminal justice reform, gender equality.  

Well-known local human rights activist Esther Flores is this month’s speaker at the Free Press Second Saturday Salon. The Free Press Salon is a gathering place for progressive people to socialize, network and have a good time. At most salons, there is a presentation on a political or social justice issue. Esther is a registered nurse, founder of the non-profit 1DivineLine2Health, and an advocate for the needy in her West Side neighborhood.

At the salon Saturday, March 14, Esther will speak about her work with 1DivineLine2Health and how they “provide care to the sick who have no access to healthcare via a line of compassionate messengers who deliver healing to victims of human and drug trafficking.” The Salon runs from 6:30-11pm and you can hear Esther’s presentation at 7:30pm. The Free Press Second Saturday Salon is at 1021 East Broad Street, is free, with no RSVP required. Join local progressives for food, drink, music, art and good company.