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Thirteen Class II injection wells in Central Ohio sit in the headwaters of the Olentangy River and threaten to contaminate Ohio’s drinking water, warned Dr. Julie Weatherington-Rice, hydrogeologist and soil scientist. The key 2004 and 2010 laws that have allowed deregulated fracking injection wells in Ohio came from the secretive American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) bankrolled by the controversial Koch brothers.

The Koch brothers, cited as the third and fourth wealthiest individuals in the United States, have made Ohio the worst state in the northeast for protecting the environment against the oil and gas industry.

“We’re the worst by far in our area of the country,” said Weatherington-Rice. “We’ve become the dumping ground, more than 60% of the fracking waste in Ohio is coming in from Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Ohio is doing virtually nothing” in regards to regulating fracking.

“If you’ve got an old oil or gas well you can easily turn it into an injection well to take fracking waste,” she explained.

A handful of cold, wet protesters stood in the rain outside Nationwide Arena on Sunday afternoon, January 25, urging people to ask the City of Columbus to overturn the bailout of the Arena with their tax money.

The message from the Columbus Coalition for Responsive Government (“the Coalition”) to National Hockey League (NHL) All-Star fans attending the game was direct: Columbus’ kids and generations of the unborn will be burdened with nearly three billion dollars of debt because of the city’s taxpayer bailout of the Blue Jackets and Nationwide Arena.

The Coalition’s Jonathan Beard explained, “Columbus politicians and business leaders cut a deal to dump the money-losing Nationwide Arena on the taxpayers two years ago.” Beard charges that the deal was “done behind closed doors” and against the citizens’ wishes, who had five times rejected any tax money going into the Arena.

Because voters rejected using their local tax money to fund the Arena, City officials decided to use state casino tax revenue which had been earmarked by the City of Columbus and the County for general citizen needs.

Every so often, a celebrity like Shaleigh Woodley creates controversy by rejecting the “feminist” label. What’s less newsworthy is that lots of non-celebs do as well, even as they enjoy the freedoms the feminist movement brought about. A likely explanation is that some women simply don’t realize how restrictive society was when it was divided into rigid “his” and “hers” categories. They also may not realize how hard it was to begin breaking down the patriarchal barriers that were holding an entire gender back. The best antidote for this kind of historical obliviousness is to watch the entertaining and enlightening documentary She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry. Directed by Mary Dore, it’s a warts-and-all look at the early years of the modern feminist moment, roughly 1967-71. Considering that’s a period of only four or five years, it’s astounding to recall how fast the feminist movement gained followers—and how quickly those followers began seeking change in every corner of society. And they did it all, one woman notes, without the benefit of the Internet, instead relying on mimeograph paper and the postal service to spread the word.

Tom Hayes’s brilliant new documentary Two Blue Lines explores the passionate debate among Israeli citizens about their government's Occupation of Palestine. The film deftly splices together dueling creeds, and the result is electrifying, because it’s a split so rarely displayed on U.S. Screens. Zionist "settlers" claim all of historic Palestine, asserting, variously: "This is our territory returned by God"; "The Arabs are trespassers in the land of Israel: it's not their country"; "This [land] is ours in every sense of the word"; It's a "Jewish and democratic state." Human rights' advocates say the opposite, deploring the contradiction between a "Jewish state"--with “Apartheid” privileges for Jews in an "ethnocracy"--and a democracy with equal rights for all. The movie shows competing views of Judaism: a religious entitlement to land versus a spiritual commitment to freeing the oppressed, asking whether Jews are safer segregated or connected to other humanity.

Gail Larned is a fiber artist, has been collaborating with Eric Marlow, jewelry designer, on artistic endeavors for more than three decades. Gail’s artist statement reads: It is my intention to create art that brings an element of natural beauty to the environment. The flower sculptures and dioramas that I make are monumental in scale and elicit a sense of child-like wonder in the viewer. This suspension of the familiar is beneficial in that it allows one to be transported to another reality – much like a feeling of Alice in Wonderland.

 

Traditionally flowers are used to commemorate major events in life. They represent renewal, celebration, remembrance and pure beauty.

The "Patterns of Life" is an imaginary landscapes seen from above. A bird’s eye view of the Earth, which embodies a pastoral peacefulness and contentment.

In today’s chaotic world I create art that is peaceful and soothing to the viewer, creating a visual oasis.

 

The opening of American Sniper may remind Hemingway fans of a quote from For Whom the Bell Tolls: “You never kill anyone you want to kill in a war…” Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) is peering through his scope from an Iraqi rooftop when he sees a woman and her young son approaching a U.S. convoy. As he watches, the woman produces what appears to be an explosive device and hands it to the boy. The marksman asks in vain whether anyone else can verify what he saw, even as the boy begins running toward the troops Kyle is assigned to protect. Mercifully, director Clint Eastwood interrupts the tense moment with a lengthy flashback that explains just how Kyle ended up in this situation. Beginning with the Texan’s boyhood hunting trips with his father, it follows him into young adulthood, his early flirtation with the life of a cowboy and his eventual decision to join the military. It even details his courtship of and subsequent marriage to a goodhearted woman named Taya (Sienna Miller). It’s only then that we return to the rooftop and watch as Kyle reluctantly does his duty, launching his career as the most lethal sniper in U.S.

Mughal Darbar in the High St. University District is a new (to me, Taj Mahal was formerly located there) Indian restaurant I discovered as the result of a Groupon debacle. The staff was gracious enough to honor my groupon deal even though I had placed a “to go” order and arrived thinking I was elsewhere since the other entrance (rear) doesn’t boldly display a new name. The hostess was quite thoughtful and negotiated with the owner to ensure I had a great first experience there. Being conscious of my vegan needs she even created a delicious roti appetizer with some garlic and fresh herbs and some hot tea to de-thaw from this frigid Ohio winter for me while I waited. Overall it was a delightful and greatly appreciated experience and I will be sure to return again. This meal was purchased the night before I set off for a month long adventure to California to pursue the dream that is a rapid world vegan shift. My life has been dedicated for over 14 years to raising awareness and empowering our society to live in alignment with our values of truth liberty, justice, equality, respect, dignity and peace that all earthlings crave.

Central Ohio vegans and omnivores alike now have another dining option. Chipotle, the national alt-Mex chain with an edgy image and a reputation for high standards, now offers Sofritas at all its Columbus-area locations. The spicy concoction of shredded organic tofu braised with chipotle chilies, roasted poblano peppers and a blend of aromatic spices first appeared in the company's California stores in Spring of 2013. Although Columbus has long been a popular test market for the fast-food industry, it is behind the curve this time as part of the last nationwide launch of the new product. Bob Fitrakis and I had the chance to try Sofritas this week at the Bexley location, 2484 East Main Street. Even we carnivores came away impressed. We were joined by Sarah Russell, Marketing Strategist for Central Ohio Chipotle locations, who gave us the skinny on the new meatless offering. “A lot of people do what you're doing,” she said, “combining Sofritas with another protein.” I had paired mine in a burrito bowl with steak, while Bob opted for the Sofritas straight up in soft taco form.

In November of last year, my friends and I in Miller-Kelton were asked by Mingo Town Music to contribute a song for their annual holiday EP. Wrangling all six members of MK into doing anything these days is an impossibility, but four of us (which we view as a quorum) accepted. This was both in accord with the Second Commandment of Amateur Musicianship, “thou shalt not turn down free studio time,” and a perverse desire to abuse an Amy Grant standard. Post-acceptance, we realized that a standard would be tedious, and decided to instead do this weird stream of consciousness rant about labor strife at the North Pole. Some of us got together and worked up a chorus, with the idea that it would allow what was really just a puddle of overly-caffeinated gibberish to pass itself off as a song. The day before we were scheduled to record, Brian was kind enough to point out that no one had bothered to put together an arrangement. No worries, I said, let’s just meet up at my house an hour before the session and put something together. Brian was also kind enough to bring along a case of PBR to this meeting, resulting in nothing actually being arranged.

I went over to Columbus punk outfit Yuze Boys’ north campus house early last week. They were in the middle of recording their demo which will be released on Athens’ punk label, “Gnarly As I Wannabe.” We sat down, and somehow landed on the subject of sex in automobiles. I just thought we were just building rapport. Yuze Boys’ drummer Winston Hightower divulged that he “had sex in a soccer mom’s van.” It wasn’t with a soccer mom. I did not find out if Winston’s sexual partner played soccer or perhaps had a sibling who did. Perhaps that makes me a bad reporter. Bassist Kyle Bergamo likes to have sex up against the wall. Anyway. This conversation led to pertinent info: Yuze Boys formed because Nervosas’ Jeffrey Kleinman was living behind Cafe Bourbon Street in his van.