Local

Nineteen-sixty-eight was the like the runaway carousel in the Alfred Hitchcock movie Strangers on a Train. The Vietnam War, the assassinations of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and United States Senator (D-MA) Robert F. Kennedy within two months of each other, the chaos at the Democratic convention in Chicago, urban rebellions and their attendant horrors in black enclaves across the United States, the black gloved fists at the 1968 Summer Olympics, the election of former Vice President Richard Nixon to the presidency–these things and more made it an annus horribillis. Yet at the same time, sports magic was happening in Columbus, Ohio.

While modern warfare may consist of a hefty dose of drone strikes and off-site technology, it doesn’t change the fact that post-traumatic stress disorder has been and continues to be a genuine threat to veterans returning from the battlefield.

Many solutions to PTSD involve medical treatment. However, over time an interesting element has crept back into the treatment conversation: the fact that people with PTSD are human beings. PTSD is a profound mental struggle that can’t simply be “turned off” with a pill. It’s a challenge that requires a complicated response, something that music is uniquely equipped to deliver.

According to the University of Nevada, Reno, there are nearly 20 million veterans in the United States. That’s a significant portion of a population that, as of 2016, consisted of around 330 million people. To put it another way, on average, just over one in every 16 people you meet is a veteran.

Saturday, April 27, 2019, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
Keynote Speaker:  Michael Lighty, Sanders Institute Fellow.  Conference fee: $40.00.  Workshops and lunch provided.  Scholarships available.  Location:  Quest Business and Conference Center, 8405 Pulsar Place, Columbus, Ohio.  Register at www.spanohio.org.

Fri, April 26-Sun, April 28
Ohio Union, 1739 N. High St.
A variety of topics including: Medical Issues and Developments, Healthcare and Safety, Partners, Spouses, and Family, Legal Issues and Employment, Youth and Aging Needs, Homelessness, Mental Health, Legislative Updates and more. Tickets: transohio.ticketleap.com/symposium2019. transohio.org.

Thursday, April 25, 2019, 7:00 - 9:00 PM
Open to all, this meeting is to coordinate our activities, discuss chapter business, and hear committee updates. Location:  Northwood High Building, Room 100, 2231 N High St Columbus, OH.  For more information, contact columbusdsa@gmail.com. 

The resurrected Columbus Destroyers open the season this Saturday night on the road against the Albany Empire (7 pm broadcast on CD102.5), but Destroyers’ head coach Matt Sauk isn’t letting on who will be under center and their starting quarterback could be a game-day decision.

“We’ll name a starter when we line up for the first play of the game,” said Sauk, who himself played quarterback for Utah State and in the Arena Football League (AFL).

The Destroyers have two quarterbacks in camp at the Bo Jackson Dome in Hilliard. Rookie Grant Russell from Newark, Ohio, and 36-year-old AFL veteran Danny Southwick. In the AFL it’s all about the quarterback all the time, where 98 percent of the plays are passing attempts.

On a recent weekday at camp the 6'4″Russell took the majority of snaps with the first-team offense. Barely recruited out of Newark High School, Russell found a home at Division II Ohio Dominican University where he started three seasons and excelled, completing 72.5 percent of his passes in 2017, and was named Great Midwest Athletic Conference player of the year.

Spring is finally here, the time of year when most people go outside and treat their lawn for noxious weeds. This is so commonplace, that many overlook potent medicine right in their own backyard. There is a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson that summarizes this well, “A weed is a plant, whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”

Hearings in the Ohio Legislature this week (Tuesday and Wednesday) will underscore opposition to the proposed mega-bailout meant to keep the decrepit Davis-Besse and Perry nukes operating to ultimate failure.

PLEASE go there to testify.

Here are some key talking points (in progress).  Please insert your own:

Physical status of the plants:

1) These two Nukes are literally crumbling (see work by Kevin Kamps/Beyond Nuclear, Mike Keegan, and more)

2) The shield building at Davis-Besse is swiss cheese…pock-marked with holes caused by moisture getting into the cracks, then expanding in cold weather, then melting in thaws.  It could easily drop heavy chunks onto vital components.

3) At more than 40 years old, there has been no recent comprehensive inspection of DB by an independent agency to check for cracking, embrittlement, incomplete maintenance, etc.  Such an inspection must be a pre-requisite for any major investment by the public, and must be subjected to public hearings.  Does one buy a used car without seeing if the block is cracked or if the brakes work?

Earth Day Birthday Celebration for Green Renaissance Radio
Earth Day, Monday, April 22, 6-11pm
Dick’s Den, 2417 N High St., Columbus
April 22 is WGRN 94.1’s Third annual Earth Day Birthday bash! WGRN 94.1FM is Columbus’ eco-socialist feminist Green Renaissance low power community radio station. A Pacifica affiliate, 94.1 plays Amy Goodman, Thom Hartmann, and many other national and local news and music programs.

At our third birthday bash, you’ll hear live Music from Happy Chichester, Bob Sauls, Elizabeth Bolen & Friends, Brian Clash, Dan D and the War Pigs, and Victoria Parks. Enjoy home cooking and environmental speakers.

$10 Suggested donation, cash bar. On street and off-street parking available, call Dick’s Den at (614) 268-9573 for those details  Stay tuned to 94.1 for further event details, or visit the website at wgrn.org.

RSVP on our Facebook page – WGRN 94.1.

WGRN is always open to interns and volunteers to help produce and schedule programs, promote us at events or online, and raise money.

Sunday, April 21, 4:19-11pm
William Oxley Thompson Memorial Statue, 161 Oval Dr, OSU campus
HostedPlease join us for central Ohio's 2ND ANNUAL BICYCLE DAY CELEBRATION! On this day, we will consider how Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) has altered the perspective of millions, unfolding possibilities of human consciousness. OH, AND WE'RE RIDING OUR BIKES (so please bring one).