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There’s a lot of national attention on this topic right now, because President Trump is telling states like Texas to rig (“gerrymander”) districts to give Republicans more seats in Congress.
500,000+ March in Labor Day “Workers Over Billionaires” Events Nationwide
This Labor Day, more than five hundred thousand laborers, families and community members showed their resistance against the billionaires and corporations who continue to hoard wealth and power at workers’ expense.
This is a pivotal moment for working families. Billionaires are stealing public dollars, separating families and destroying U.S. democracy in their pursuit of profit, but in the streets and on the shop floor, in union halls and the halls of Congress, working people are rising up and fighting for freedom, fairness and security. Working Americans won’t be scared away by the billionaires taking over our government.
Highlights include:
Global investment in renewable energy projects hit a new record this year - but fell in the U.S. according to a study by BloombergNEF.
The first half of 2025 saw the "reallocation" of investment dollars away from the United States, with spending falling $20.5 billion, or 36 percent, from the second half of 2024. It was the steepest drop in renewable energy investment in any nation. Bloomberg stated the falloff was a direct response to the U.S. presidential election and anticipated anti-renewable federal policies.
Columbus is in the middle of a building boom. Sleek apartment towers climb skyward, marketed with rooftop lounges and pet spas. Rents stretch past $1,500 for one-bedroom units. But a very different Columbus exists on the other side of the leasing office glass: one where families tuck their children into bedrooms streaked with black mold, where winter nights are endured with broken furnaces, and where cockroaches scurry across kitchen counters.
These tenants aren’t silent. They are doing exactly what the city says they should — calling 311, filing code complaints, and showing up in Environmental Court. Since January 2024, Columbus renters have filed more than 7,000 housing complaints, and the court has opened nearly 2,600 cases. Judges have ordered more than $1 million in fines against landlords.
Yet the same addresses keep appearing in 311 logs, the same landlords keep showing up in court dockets, and the same families keep waiting for repairs that never come. Columbus’s enforcement system documents the crisis in detail, but rarely fixes it.
Thousands of Complaints, Few Consequences
Wednesday, September 3, 2025, 12:00 PM
Ohio is preparing to draw new congressional maps this year. The Ohio Environmental Council has invited Peter Miller with the Brennan Center for Justice to provide an in-depth dive into redistricting at the national level and its relationship to Ohio’s upcoming redistricting process. His discussion will both review recent litigation nationwide and the data-driven analysis relevant to future redistricting across the country.
General Admission Tickets: Free. Attorney Tickets: $25 registration fee for attorneys, eligible for CLE credit.
Monday, September 1, 4pm
McFerson Commons, 218 West Street, downtown Columbus
Labor Day, September 1st, 2025, people in more than 1,000 communities across the 50 United States, Sweden, and the Territory of Guam will gather for Workers Over Billionaires. This is a national day of action sponsored by the same coalition that brought you this year’s May Day National Day of Action. Participants will creatively and nonviolently protest the billionaire takeover of our democracy and the government’s abandonment of the American working class.
The War on Workers.
Donald Trump has signed an unconstitutional executive order banning protected speech. He is ordering that anyone who burns an American flag should receive a year in jail.
So I guess it doesn’t matter if the flag is desecrated, but only how you desecrate it. MAGAts seem to think this is OK.
Trump did pardon J6 MAGAt terrorists for using flagpoles with the flag to attack Capitol Police.
And he seemed OK with Kid Rock’s attire.
And in the Oval Office, which Kid Rock must have confused with Waffle House, and with the way Trump decorates, who can blame him?
And Trump desecrates the flag with his ping-pong paddles, which you can find in the Trump Store.
Today, over on GoComics, a MAGAt told me my school shooting cartoon should be removed because it’s disgusting. GC is a private platform, but the MAGAt still proved how he feels about protected speech. The only speech he approves of is speech he wants to hear, just like Donald Trump.
Community Potluck in Support of our Immigrant Refugees
Sunday, August 31, 3-5pm
Old First Presbyterian Church, 1101 Bryden Rd.
Join us for a community potluck where we will center our immigrant community. We will share stories, food, and more as we build collectively towards a better world.
Hosted by Old First Presbyterian Church.
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Concert for a Meaningful Labor Day: Celebrating All Who Work
Sunday, August 31, 4pm
Columbus Mennonite Church, 35 Oakland Park Ave.
Join Bill Cohen as he sings songs made famous by a wide variety of folks: Woody Guthrie, Sam Cooke, Dolly Parton, Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, Alabama, James Taylor, etc.
Powerful vocal harmonies will be added by veteran Columbus musicians Phil Hart and Teresa Schleifer.
Plus, we’ll recall how, decades ago, labor unions won historic reforms that many of us take for granted today — the eight-hour workday, improved workplace safety, a guaranteed minimum wage, and an end to child labor.
Dr. Bob Fitrakis and Dan-o Dougan talk about the importance of unions and spin union movement tunes from a serious Solidarity Forever by Leonard Cohen to Salt of the Earth with the Rolling Stones. Hear an unexpected version of The Internationale, Union Maid, King Harvest and more!
Listen live at 11pm Fridays, August 29 and September 5 streaming at wgrn.org or on the radio at 91.9FM
and
Mondays at 2pm streaming September 1 and 8 at wcrsfm.org or on the radio at 92.7 or 98.3FM
Friday, August 29-Saturday, August 30, 10am-4pm
Virtual Statewide Conference on Policing, Criminal Legal System, and Immigration. We have some amazing speakers who will touch on topics ranging from immigration, wrongful conviction, to policy, etc. Guest speaker: Eric King
If you have not already, you can register with the link below.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf0jZLhNLkXoFNJk3cK95m1elgL70YXvIjIpgclEOZfE1sJwA/viewform?usp=header