Local
Saturday, July 12, 6:30-11pm
Pat Marida's house, 1710 Doresetshire Rd. , Columbus
Facebook Event
This event is free and open to the public. Some refreshments will be provided; potluck dishes are welcome; BYOB; bring a lawn chair.
Our speaker Chikako will speak on “Project 2025 and Managing Socio-Political Stress: Community and Personal Empowerment.”
Data from the American Psychological Association to understand the impact of sociopolitical stress on mental and physical health will be presented. The data and ongoing study groups provide practical tools to build resilience and restore balance.
The following discussion will focus on the participants to (1.) identify their personal stress triggers, set boundaries with political information, and to (2.) engage in respectful dialogue during politically charged situations.
While Florida's GOP sells "Alligator Alcatraz" merch, real people are suffering.
Here's what we've heard in just the first week since it's been opened: The facility has flooded. Massive swarms of mosquitoes fill the air. Detainees report that there are maggots in their food, the lights are on 24/7, and they're being denied basic medical care, showers, and religious rights. Its remote location makes legal and family visits nearly impossible – isolating detainees even further from the outside world.
This sounds less like a government facility and more like something out of a dystopian horror story. Our government is sending a clear message that they don't care about human dignity – and they won't even allow government officials to conduct unannounced oversight into this potential human rights violation.
Dr. Bob Fitrakis and Dan-o Dougan choose special songs that have been meaningful in their lives.
Listen live at 11pm Friday, July 11 and July 18 streaming at wgrn.org or on the radio at 91.9FM
and
Monday at 2pm streaming Julyy 14 and July 21 at wcrsfm.org or on the radio at 92.7 or 98.3FM
Long-time Columbus “trucker country” band The Sovines are playing a special show at Cafe Bourbon Street, Thursday July 10 in support of community radio station WCRS. Joining them on the bill are Bee Humana and Closet Mix.
The Sovines formed in 1995 when a friend suggested to Bob Starker and Matthew Benz that they should form a band to play country truck driving songs and call themselves “the Sovines,” after famed country singer Red Sovine. It might have been said in jest, but Starker and Benz ran with it. With bass player Ed Mann and drummer Pete English (and later Gene Brodeur on drums), the Sovines took their revved-up take on truck-driving songs, punky rock n’ roll, country ballads and roots rock on the road and in the studio, through five albums and a lot of shows. This show will mark their first live appearance in over three years.
"How many times does one person have to safe his own life before he can stop moving, and live in peace?" asked Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance. "How much good does he have to put out into the world, before Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will just let him be? Imam Ayman Soliman was arrested July 9 at the Cincinnati ICE office, despite having won his asylum case years ago, despite being a comfort to so many children and families, and Ohio became a poorer, sicker, dimmer place because of it."
RED ALERT — Ohio Statehouse Republicans are trying to ruin your Summer.
The Ohio House just announced that they will pause their Summer break and return to Session for one day on Monday, July 21st. Senate Republicans are trying to schedule a Summer Session date as well.
Do they just hate spending time with their families, or what?
The House plans to override some of Governor DeWine’s budget vetoes. They specifically mentioned:
We sat an outdoor platform in Nassjo, Sweden, awaiting the train that would take us to Arlanda Airport in Stockholm for our return flight to Texas. I had attended a professional conference there, and my wife had explored the city more thoroughly than my time allowed. Afterwards, we explored Scandinavia, wandering to Gothenburg, Copenhagen, and to my great-grandparents birthplaces in Smaland in Central Sweden. The morning train from Växjö to Nassjo had lasted about an hour, and we were enjoying the late summer afternoon, only to be interrupted by a barrage of text messages.
“You should call or text someone about your house; horrible flooding and people evacuating” The texts were variations on that theme. My brother returned my call with news that “things didn’t look good.” Anxiety prevailed for 24 hours. It was worse than we feared, damage that 18 inches of standing water would produce; outdoor furniture washed downstream, never to be seen; damaged photographs and pictures stored in closets, never to be hung; papers in our study drawers, illegible by mud stains.
One Big Beautiful Bill Signed into Law
The Republican budget reconciliation bill that recently passed both the House and Senate will end all incentive programs and tax credits for the wind and solar industry by the end of 2027.
Commercial and utility scale solar projects already permitted must be completed and placed in service by December 31, 2027 in order to qualify for the 30 percent tax incentive.
Alternatively, if a project has not yet been permitted and it begins construction within one year of the enactment of this bill, then they will have four years to complete that project to qualify for the tax credits.
The bill also eliminates all residential solar tax incentives that are completed after December 31 of this year.
House Rejects Foreign Entity of Concern (FOEC) Restrictions
The holiday weekend’s smoke has cleared from the summer sky, but a different kind of haze lingers over cities like Columbus. It is the acrid aftermath of a celebration scarred by gunfire, a pall that hangs over communities trying to reconcile the promise of America’s birthday with the reality of its violence.
On the South Side at a house party that should have been filled with the sounds of summer, the life of 17-year-old Cameron Moore was extinguished. His death was one of at least six youth fatalities in a five-day span that saw 25 other young people wounded in shootings across America.
The bloodshed was as tragic as it was predictable. Criminologists like James Alan Fox of Northeastern University have long identified Independence Day as consistently the most violent day of the year in the United States. The holiday’s mix of large social gatherings, warm temperatures, and alcohol consumption creates a volatile environment where the presence of firearms can instantly escalate conflict to fatal ends. This year was no exception as local officials grapple with the paradox of surging violence against a backdrop of statistically declining crime.