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COLUMBUS ACTION NETWORK STATEMENT IN OPPOSITION TO ISSUE 6

The Columbus Action Network ("CAN") urges Franklin County residents to vote "against" Issue 6, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium's proposed 1.5 mill continuing property tax levy. Issue 6 proposes to more than double the Franklin County property tax dollars directed toward the Zoo, and to make the levy permanent, where in the past levies had to be renewed every ten years. The CAN opposes this request for several reasons: 1) Any publicly funded entity seeking to double its public funding should have its proposal looked on with great skepticism, and such is the case here with the zoo's 110% proposed increase. We see no compelling reason for a doubling of the zoo's property tax collected from Franklin County residents. Quite simply, a zoo is not an essential element of the county, and our essential levy-funded human services to our most vulnerable residents - public schools, public transit, child protective services, mental health, addiction services, developmental disability services, and senior services - are a far higher priority for scarce taxpayer dollars than is the Zoo. 2) More than $65 million of the Zoo tax increase would go to fund a proposed downtown zoo.

A new fascist resurgence in America

The end of winter has brought an dramatic uptick in far right activity in America. 2014 seemed on course to be no different from 2012 or 2013, which saw very little organizing or activity by Klan and neo-Nazi groups. In the past few weeks there has been an armed standoff in Nevada, a racist murder spree in Kansas, a storming of a union hall by Ukrainian fascists in Chicago and massive KKK flyer drops in Ohio and throughout the Midwest.

In each incident, the response by government agencies has been muted and coddling. Mainstream media sources appear unwilling or not competent to conduct basic background research either the players or the action on the field. Frazier Glenn Miller, a long time white supremacist, decided to start Passover with a murder spree on Sunday, April 13 in Kansas City. Meanwhile in Chicago, activists engaged in a teach-in at a United Electrical Workers Union hall were besieged by a mob of nearly 50 Ukrainian fascists.

Mahoning County Earthquakes and ODNR Deja Vu all over again

March 2014 marks the third anniversary of the first reported earthquakes in the Mahoning Valley. The largest one was a magnitude 3.9. These tremors have been proven scientifically to be injection-induced earthquakes due to pumping fracking waste deep underground. March 2014 also saw twelve earthquakes at the Carbon-Limestone landfill in Poland Township, south of Lowellville, Ohio. The depths of these earthquakes were reported between 8,200 feet and 17,000 feet but the uncertainties in these values are very high. According to The Business Journal and The New York Times, Hilcorp Energy Company was fracking one of its wells at the site when the earthquakes occurred. The exact specifics regarding timing, fluid volumes and pressures have not been made public. A completion report for one of the wells puts the horizontal leg at 8,100 feet below the surface. I estimate the Precambrian basement to be an additional 1,500 feet below the well. After four earthquakes occurred between 2:26 and 11:44 am on March 10th, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) ordered Hilcorp to suspend all activity at the site.

US Army detains journalists on American soil and destroys photos Toledo Blade sues

March 29 was just another working day for two working journalists from the Toledo Blade. They began by attending a press conference at a Ford factory in Lima, Ohio. On the way back to the office, the pair, Jetta Fraiser and Tyrel Linkhorn, were assigned to update their publication's stock photo library by taking exterior shots of industrial facilities in the area. Their trip to a Heinz ketchup plant was followed by a stop at the General Dynamics tank plant. That is where the camouflage painted face of post constitutional America raised its ugly head and the day turned sour. The conduct of the soldiers on American soil has caused Fraiser and Linkhorn's employer, the Toledo Blade to file a federal lawsuit against the army, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, and several individual soldiers. The pair were engaged in a routine, unglamorous journalistic task. Pull up to a building, take some photos of the building, go back to the office, and catalog the photos in case they might one day be relevant to some future story. Fraiser, who was handling the camera, took photos of a driveway entrance to a sprawling plant with an unmanned guard post, a chain link fence and a grass median.

CONSERVANCY DISTRICT ORDERED TO RELEASE PUBLIC RECORDS

The FreshWater Accountability Project (FWAP) prevailed in court last week in a lawsuit initiated under Ohio’s Open Records Act to obtain the addresses of those who lease residential and commercial property from the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD). FWAP sought the records as public information in order to directly communicate with people whose property rights and values can be affected by the Muskingum District's huge lease deals for oil and gas fracking on public lands around the District's reservoirs. The MWCD denied the public records and lost the issue in court. The Fifth District Court of Appeals courts fined the MWCD and awarded attorney fees to FWAP as plaintiff. “To force us to file a lawsuit to obtain records is just another example of how the MWCD believes it does not have to adhere to the principles of democracy and accountability as a public agency receiving tax dollars,” stated Lea Harper, co-founder and Managing Director of FWAP. “The MWCD receives a large amount of its revenue from people like me as a property tax payer within the district.

Dominique LaRue is poised to be the next Queen Of Rap

Earlier this month NPR.com posted an article by University of Richmond Hip Hop Culture educator Erin Nielson which poised the question: Where Did All The Female Rappers Go?

   Well, Columbus emcee Dominique LaRue is having her Ohio release party for her album with DC/Indianapolis producer Maja 7th entitled Grand at Double Happiness Friday April 4.

   I asked her about the current marginalization of female rappers in Hip Hop.

   LaRue listed off a quite a few female lyricists, “We are here. Just getting recognition on a mainstream level has been an issue. But you know, Rhapsody, Boog Brown, there are other women ­­­ Ra the mc, In Silence, Nikki Linette, Psalm One, Invincible, Miss Corona, Apani, Jean Grae.”

   On instagram I often see the phrase, “Be the change you want to see”, and LaRue is working hard to put more women on the map starting with herself.

   When I met up with her and her manager Buka, LaRue had just returned from out of town shows. She had a release party for Grand in Indianapolis and also performed at a Women’s History Month Festival in Chicago.

Legendary Mixmaster Speaks On Hip Hop History

Whether you speak on his work as UTFO’s deejay,his influence on the technical development of the scratch or current presence in deejay culture Mixmaster Ice is a Hip Hop legend. The Harlem born, Brooklyn Bred deejay has been an Ohio resident since the Mid 90s so we have had the good fortune of seeing him at concert halls performing with other legends like Rakim, as well as rock dive bars and ratchet clubs. I spent most Sunday evenings from 2002-­2006 listening to Ice’s Old School Mixes during his stint on Power 107.5. So I was stoked that Ice came to my space in the Skylab building downtown last week. His hair was freshly braided. True to Hip Hop, Ice stays fresh so it cracked me up to walk him past a couple people in Death Metal t­shirts that were crashed out on the living room couch next to crushed beer cans. The best part is Mixmaster Ice made small talk with one groggy degenerate before taking a seat on my office’s couch and immediately took me back to the day he battled for the Mixmaster part of his moniker in 1982. “I used to be DJ Ice. There was a guy in the neighborhood calling himself Mixmaster Wood or Mixmaster John something like that.

Sucking up to Johnny Thunders' ghost and other tales of woe

As Cleveland's sadder sister city to the west, Detroit, has been struggling to be reborn so it can rejoin the great American Midwestern civilization. Does one of its newest bands, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., indicate there is vital life and future left in the crater once proudly known as the Motor City?

   Cheekily named after America's premier NASCAR champ so it "could musically go anywhere it liked" (according to its founders, Josh Epstein and Daniel Zott, does cut new ground with itsindie­synth­pop­crashing­percussion and generally disarmingly happy­go­lucky lyrics and danciness. Read: girls love 'em.

   At the A&R March 15 the quartet did what only the British seemed able to do in the 80s, namely take electro­styles and customize them so tastefully that style pretty much became substance, a viable if not pragmatic alternative in the pop universe.

John Petric interviews Columbus' own Zachery Allan Starkey

Zachery Allan Starkey will go down as one of Columbus's stranger home­grown musical exports. A black­haired, Hitler Youth haircut­sportin' dude who embraces the latter ­end of British post­punk electro­pop, he can sing off­key for hours and yet can get a dance floor filled at will. Could it be he's one of the nicest guys this city's bratty/catty music scene's ever produced? Quite possibly, quite possibly. I do know this: you can take the Zac out of Ohio, but you can't take the Ohio out of the Zac. Our loss is the Big Apple's gain, where he moved in 2010. High Street hasn't been the same without him. We talked recently. ZS: I've missed you, Johnny Go, what have you been up to? JP: Why, thank you, Zachariah's Red­Eye Saloon! I've been finishing my life's work, a book: "How To Get Bitches To Do What You Want On The First Date," by Tony Redunzo, the Make­Out Man." That's the whole title, too.

Socially Just Dining: Nicola

If you are a connoisseur Italian food, Nicola brings the taste of authentic trattoria locally, and they happily accommodate veganizing their delicious offerings upon request. There is an abundance of fresh, organic, premium produce to work with on the menu that can meet the needs of vegans, gluten­free and other allergies people may need to negotiate. I’ll be very interested to see what kinds of creative vegan desserts they develop. They can also provide a creative opportunity for a group (up to 80 people), such as a special event wine and dinner pairing, or speaker platforms and film screenings. I’m looking forward to organizing a Vegan meet­up with them as they were quite enthusiastic about accommodating our rapidly growing community. Restaurants that are interested in serving vegans may want to discover the amazing nut (walnut, almond, or macadamia), legume (cashews) or seed (coconut) based cheeses and/or creams that can be created.
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