Local

TOLEDO, OH:  Fifty years after the media infamously declared “Lake Erie is dead,” Toledo voters recognize that Lake Erie and its entire ecosystem is very much alive – and as such, Lake Erie has the right to exist, flourish, and naturally evolve.

Despite agricultural and industrial interests’ well-funded campaign opposing the ordinance, with a 61.37-percent yes vote on Tuesday, Toledo voters have enacted the Lake Erie Bill of Rights Charter Amendment. The law recognizes the rights of the lake and its watershed, and empowers citizens – as part of that larger ecosystem, and who have “the right to a healthy environment” – to stand up for the lake when those rights are violated.

“It was definitely a long, hard struggle to get to this day, but all the hard work and countless volunteer hours by everyone in our local community group has paid off,” stated Crystal Jankowski, a Toledoan for Safe Water organizer. “We started this more than two years ago and had to overcome election board decisions and protests in court just to get on the ballot.”

My students often say to me that they aren’t clear what they should be highlighting when they are reading their texts or primary source documents.  I had a similar thought when I was reading A More Beautiful and Terrible History; I wanted to underline just about everything.  What a terrific book!

As a professor of African  American history, I know my students are woefully ignorant of the story of race in America.  They usually know about Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King’s 1963 speech at the March on  Washington, Malcolm X’s “by-any-means-necessary approach to ridding America of racism.  But even with those subjects, they often get details wrong and miss the nuances.  And they are absolutely gobsmacked to learn that white people fought and died alongside blacks for freedom.

Sustainability is no longer a niche effort. Today, it’s a global initiative that’s demanded by society and practiced by businesses across all industries. Car companies, from newer additions like Tesla to old standards like General Motors, understand this and are doing what it takes to get on board.

One reason why American car manufacturers are focusing on sustainability is to compete with foreign car manufacturers – and to improve where those have failed. Additionally, a big portion of jobs in the U.S. auto industry relies on sustainable products. According to a study by the BlueGreen Alliance and the Natural Resources Defense Council, "Building clean vehicle technology directly supports 288,000 manufacturing and engineering jobs in the United States.”

COLUMBUS, OH – Joe Motil, candidate for Columbus City Council attended today’s public hearing at City Hall that was held by Councilwoman Shayla Favor for a proposed designated Kenny & Henderson Community Reinvestment Area (CRA). The CRA was initiated by developer Preferred Living who is seeking to purchase and develop the property where the Kahoots Gentlemen’s Club is located near the southeast corner of Kenny and Henderson Roads. Preferred Living would potentially replace the business with a 219 unit apartment complex. If approved, new construction in this CRA would be eligible for 15 year 100% tax abatements.

The Medicare for All Act of 2019, is scheduled to be introduced into the Congressional House by Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal of Washington State this coming Wednesday, February 27th. She hoped to have more than 100 cosponsors at the time the bill is introduced.

Wednesday, February 27, 12pm
Join us Wednesday, February 27 in front of the Franklin County Courthouse for a rally to have a visible presence during the grand jury. TIME TBD, WILL EITHER BE AT NOON OR 4/5pm PENDING THE STATUS OF THE GRAND JURY THAT DAY. Donna Dalton was killed by Columbus Police Officer Andrew Mitchell on August 23, 2018. CPD have completed their investigation of the shooting and the case is being presented to the grand jury during the final week of February.
We must make our voices heard and hold space for Donna Dalton and her family. Please get in touch if you have any questions.
We are also asking folks to call Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien once a day, every day, until the grand jury concludes, demanding he indict Andrew Mitchell for the killing of Donna Dalton. For details visit the Facebook call-in event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/327837431173682/?ti=icl

Saturday, February 23, 2019, 12:00 – 3:00 PM

I am responding to recent publicity about this byproduct of oil/gas drilling, AquaSalina being used by the Ohio Department Of Transportation (ODOT) on our roads.

Unfortunately, I have a history with this product and this company. In 2012 I was sued by the maker of AquaSalina in a $1 Million SLAPP lawsuit for trying to warn my city and community members that this product was potentially dangerous to us and the environment. At the time, I didn’t have access to the product to test it myself. But, after learning about the oil/gas drilling process and the hazardous byproducts it generates, I used common sense to deduce that this solution could not be good. There are radioactive elements at the 4,000–5,000 foot depth of the wells drilled in my community. Basic physics tells us that when you force chemicals, sand and water down at high pressure, radioactive stuff is going to come back up along with what you pushed down. I wish many of the lawyers, judges and electeds involved in my case had also used deductive reasoning.

Wednesday, February 20, 2019, 6:00 – 9:00 PM

Over 100 people gathered on a cold Monday morning February 18th -- President's Day -- in downtown Columbus to protest what they called Trump's fake emergency on the border to justify his spending more money to build a wall. They marched to U.S. Senator Rob Portman's office to appeal to him to stop the fake emergency to stop the wall.