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Standing Rock is the focal point of a struggle between the indigenous people of the United States and the big oil industry. Energy Transfer Partnership is building the Dakota Access Pipeline that will transport Bakken fracked oil to the Gulf of Mexico and then likely sold outside this country. The pipeline is planned to go right under the Missouri River just one half mile upstream of the Sioux Reservation. The Missouri is the main source of water for the people on the reservation, as well as approximately 13 million people downstream.
Via social media, I was shocked to see video footage of natives being attacked by guards with pepper spray and vicious dogs as they tried to peacefully defend their sacred burial grounds from bulldozers. I became resolute that I wanted to go to the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota.
On September 8th I arrived in North Dakota. As I drove down route 6 into the reservation, I started to see small camps along the road next to areas that had been disturbed by bulldozers. A little farther and I saw hundreds of flags lining a long road into the camp. The land was covered in tepees and bright colored tents.
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted may have stepped out of bounds by keeping “community bill of rights” proposals off the ballot in Ohio. Residents of Medina, Athens and Fulton counties gathered required signatures to place proposed county charters on their respective ballots in 2015. Medina County Board of Elections (BOE) disallowed their residents’ proposal, and all of the proposed charters were kept off the ballots by Husted.
Husted interjected his interpretation of what “should” go on the ballot, as citizens came forth and asserted their constitutional right to create local laws when our higher-level government is not working for us. The Ohio Supreme Court upheld Husted’s decision. The primary legislative issue is that the 2004 ‘Niehaus Bill’ (HB 278) gave Ohio state regulators full control of oil/gas production, usurping home rule from communities.
Attack of the Mixed-Use Monsters
Across Columbus and its suburbs mixed-use developments, which often include high-end condos, parking garages, office space, retail and entertainment, are either up-and-running, under construction or being proposed with each new week.
Some of these developments work for certain neighborhoods, especially if the development utilized a property that was either vacated or in need of investment, developments in Grandview and Franklinton, for example.
But cramming a mixed-use development into an already established and historically unique neighborhood is a different beast altogether. A recent case-in-point is the development that replaced Clintonville’s Olympic Pool, a summer hangout cherished by several generations of kids and parents alike.
Even in Upper Arlington there are some residents who see the coming invasion of high-density, mixed-use development as a gamble that not only could cause too much commercialism and increased density, but worse, demolish a community’s soul and character.
Three-C Body Shops is a lot like The Columbus Free Press. Both are fiercely independent and locally owned. And if you haven’t noticed, both are outspoken and unafraid to take on corporate bullies. Three-C and the Free Press are driven to help consumers understand how the corporatization and the consolidation of their respected industries is marginalizing not only them, but also their community.
Three-C owner Bob Juniper, the second-generation patriarch of the company, says the collision repair industry is under attack and being devoured. Four to five companies, he says, are making a serious attempt to monopolize the industry he’s worked for since he was a teenager. One of these companies is Service King Collision Repair, which is majority owned by the Carlyle Group.
Due to its unusual choice of subject matter, Next to Normal is a very brave show. Sure, there have been stage and screen works galore about insanity and other mental disorders. Shakespeare dealt with related themes, such as depression, notably in Hamlet (although there is, as the Melancholy Dane remarks, “A method to [his] madness”). Just about every Bond villain has been certifiable, John Malkovich perfected the onscreen lunatic and some movies have made light of psychological disorders, from 1966’s Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment to 1970’s Where’s Poppa?, which found much humor in dementia.
When Columbus residents come to City Hall to voice their concerns, City Council members always thank them for their advocacy, often in tones that stop just short of being patronizing. The City Council meeting on September 26 was no exception.
“We’re grateful that you’re taking time out of your day to be with us this evening,” City Council President Zach Klein told 150 audience members who came to protest the police killings of Tyre King and Henry Green. “It’s really important with all issues facing the City of Columbus that we have an engaged citizenry,” he said. “I’m grateful for the activism, the determination, the passion, and the resolve for justice, accountability, and transparency.”
The crowd was not interested in Klein’s gratitude. After sitting through two of Council’s agenda items, a woman stood up and shouted, “Will you amend the Columbus city budget to remove the Summer Safety Initiative and replace it with neighborhood programs?”
“I thank you for your advocacy,” Klein responded. “But I respectfully ask that you follow the rules of Council —”
“Yes or no, sir?” the woman shouted. “Your rules are killing us!”
Monday, September 26, 4:30-6:30pm, Columbus City Hall, 90 W. Broad St.
Nonprofit Organizations Join to Demand Reform of Rogue Agency
Washington, DC – More than 180 organizations representing communities across America called on leaders in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and House Energy and Commerce Committee to hold congressional hearings into the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) extensive history of bias and abuse. The groups are also requesting reform of the Natural Gas Act, which the groups say, gives too much power to FERC and too little to state and local officials.
“The time has now come for Congress to investigate how FERC is using its authority and to recognize that major changes are in fact necessary in order to protect people, including future generations, from the ramifications of FERC’s misuse of its power and implementation of the Natural Gas Act,” says Maya van Rossum, of the Delaware Riverkeeper, a primary organizer of the effort.
Two lawmakers in the Ohio House of Representatives have introduced a non-partisan resolution calling on state and federal legislators to support an amendment to the U. S. Constitution “that would abolish corporate personhood and the doctrine of money as speech.”
State Reps. Kent Smith (D8 Euclid) and Nickie Antonio (D13 Lakewood) today announced the introduction of House Companion Legislation to Senate Resolution 187.
House Companion Legislation corresponds to Ohio Senate Resolution 187 introduced in 2015 by Senator Mike Skindell (DLakewood). Both resolutions follow the spirit and the letter of the 28th amendment to the U.S. Constitution advocated by Move to Amend (MTA), a national nonpartisan coalition of hundreds of organizations and hundreds of thousands of individuals.
Join us for a book event with Bill Ayers, part of a national tour to celebrate the release of his latest book, Demand the Impossible!: A Radical Manifesto. Wednesday, September 21, 6-8pm, University Hall, room 014, Ohio State University. https://www.facebook.com/events/1675303502790715/
In an era defined by mass incarceration, endless war, economic crisis, catastrophic environmental destruction, and a political system offering more of the same, radical social transformation has never been more urgent. We must imagine a world beyond what this rotten system would have us believe is possible.