Local

I was going to write about the current labor dispute between SEIU Local 1 and ABM that resulted in a janitors' strike last week, but apparently some of the documents involved contain information that needs to be redacted, so we're just waitin' on that FOIA. In the meantime, life is a precious gift, and every day spent alive is a miracle. Fall is here people and it is gangsta. I know nobody picks up this righteous newspaper to hear my life story, but a few context-relevant details are necessary. For the past six years, I have spent my time in that seasonless simulacrum of a world known as California. I haven't experienced crisp autumn air, real apple cider, the sensation of walking over fallen leaves while wearing socks, tailgating in real football weather since I was in high school. As I contemplated my ignominious yet triumphant return to Ohio, fall was what I was looking forward to the most. And yet, when I came back, I was worried. Fall has always been that most ephemeral of seasons.

When you run a well-oiled political machine like Michael Coleman, you don’t expect to hear any squeaks. The Mayor’s commitment to pass Issues 50 and 51, the Columbus School levy issue and the establishment of an independent School auditor, appeared to be a non-controversial landslide. Imagine his dismay now, with less than two weeks to go before Election Day, knowing opposition is spreading spontaneously in unexpected places. First, “It’s OK To Vote No on the Columbus City Schools Levy 50 & 51” popped up with a strong internet presence. Then “No Cheaters, No Charters Columbus” began placing “Vote No on 50/51” yard signs around the city. But the Mayor knew he was in for a battle, looking genuinely stunned and agitated when the Columbus Council of PTAs unanimously rejected his levy proposals. The Mayor’s headaches grew on Wednesday, October 16 when a new group emerged opposing the levy issues – Citizens Against Issues 50 & 51. The group sprang from Khari Enaharo’s Magic 106.3 radio talk show and includes three well-known African American ministers: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s cousin Joel L. King, Jr., and Pastors Dale B. Snyder and Frederick LeMarr.

On an ink-stained night in October, 1973, sheriffs near Zanesville witnessed three pulsating globes over a local graveyard on the edge of town. UFOs hovering over graveyards sounds like a bad plot line to one of the countless number of abysmal horror films made in the last decade. But 40 years ago this month, and just days before thousands of kids flooded the streets for Halloween, the truth was way stranger than fiction as a UFO wave swept across the Midwest in October of 1973. Even the Ohio governor at the time, John J. Gilligan, had a close encounter with an “amber-colored vertical craft” for 30 minutes as he was driving with his wife. “I saw one the other night, so help me,” said the shaken Gilligan during a press conference that was cited by Walter Cronkite during the national news. “I'm absolutely serious. I saw this. It was not a plane. It was not a bird. It didn't wear a cape. And I really don't know what it was.” Gilligan, a liberal Democrat, was voted out of office the following year. Not for claiming he saw a UFO chasing his car in the dead of night – but for implementing Ohio’s income tax.

We believe there are two things a public entity should demonstrate before going to the ballot for a levy: trust and merit. The public entity should earn the trust of voters through complete transparency, and the public entity should present a ballot proposal that has obvious merit. With Issues 50 and 51, we have questions about both those prerequisites. It is beyond obvious that the Board of Education has taken a low profile during this levy campaign, and the public has not heard directly from the Board, but from a million dollar advertising campaign organized by the Mayor’s Office. However, it is the Board of Education that should be held responsible for previous transgressions, and for levy promises. There has been much solid reporting on the transgressions, but no media has been able to nail the Board of Education down to some obvious inconsistencies in its response. We ask that the Columbus news media pursue solid answers to these questions from the Board of Education prior to the levy, so that voters can have complete information prior to casting a vote. 1. Background: Columbus City Schools has been unclear on its beliefs about data scrubbing.

I went to Vegas once, bet $18 and won 25 and quit while I was ahead. Blowin' dough in a scam where the house owns the odds is for fools. You want to gamble, own a record store in 2013. No, I took my 30 percent winnings and principle and blew them over the course of the next 24 hours as I gorged myself on three of those 'all-you-can-eat' casino buffets which are awfully damn good for eight bucks. This really jammed my sperm count into overdrive with New York strip steaks headlining each meal with plenty of refills. Three cheers for meat products! So it was this past weekend, where I did better than three oranges in a row when I saw the Fleshtones, Los Straitjackets and Neko Case. Each knocked it out of the ballpark and in the case of the 'jackets, knocked the skin right off the ball. But how did I do better than a trifecta? Throw in the best emcee this town has ever seen: Bruce Nutt, promoter for the 'shtones and 'jackets at Woodlands Tavern Sunday night, and a most wonderful old-school huckster/fast-talking/big-city-slicker who outdoes Wolfman Jack when it comes to firing up an audience and presenting the acts. Dude has a talent for presenting talent.

Pattycake bakery is one of the most precious gems of the Columbus vegan community. Their sticky buns (Saturday’s special only) are one of my few but true addictions. Whether I want to impress non-vegans or a hungry hoard of 300 Vegans 4 Independence, it is with Pattycake, because everyone deserves dessert. What makes this place so special even surpasses the decadence of delicious; it is made with true love for the people, the planet and the animals. Everything is 100% vegan (strives for organic and GMO free ingredients, serves gluten-free, soy-free, raw, locally produced kombucha and soy and almond milk), their sweets are delivered locally by bicycle, they have distinguished themselves in the Columbus food market as a worker-owned cooperative and an unstoppable force of awareness to the dire consequences of the horizontal fracturing (aka “fracking”) process running rampant in our region. When your sweet tooth strikes or if you are a restaurant that has no vegan dessert options, meet your new best friend or path to adding a star for socially just options to your menu. Open everyday! Mon-Fri: 8-7, Sat: 9-6, Sun: 11-4. Located at: 3009 N.

I was leaving a preview screening of All Is Lost when a disappointed film buff commented that it was no Life of Pi. That’s for sure. There’s no digital tiger and no otherworldly 3-D photography. For 99 percent of the film, there’s not even any dialogue. There’s simply a man struggling to survive after his sail-powered yacht is damaged in a mid-sea collision. Fortunately, that man is played by Robert Redford. If anyone of less stature had starred as the unnamed shipwreck victim, the film would be far less watchable. Not only is he compelling in a role that alternates between grunts and tense silences, but his age and familiarity add depths of meaning to what is otherwise a deliberately paced adventure. In the first scene, we hear the man’s voice apparently reading from a journal of his trip while the man himself is seen floating in the ocean. “I think that you will all agree that I tried…” he says. Is this Redford himself talking, we wonder. Is he praising himself for founding the Sundance Film Festival?

With its presence and attendance continuing to climb, the country’s longest-running film festival is receiving the stretch treatment. The 61st Columbus International Film & Video Festival (CIF&VF) will run for two weeks next month. Assorted screenings, manifesting throughout Columbus at different times, will play from November 3rd through November 17th. “Entries have been pouring in from every part of the planet. It’s always a very multicultural event,” said Susan Halpern, executive director of the Columbus Film Council, which puts on the festival.

“The Butler: A Witness to History” author, Washington Post reporter and Columbus native Wil Haygood will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Columbus Association of Black Journalists (CABJ)’s 25th anniversary celebration. Wil Haygood, whose grandparents are from Selma, Alabama, is a journalist and cultural historian. His success as a journalist has opened the door to key newsrooms and reporting sites around the world. His thoughtful studies of iconic personalities Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Sammy Davis, Jr., and Sugar Ray Robinson prepared him well for the gentle interrogation needed to unlock the wealth of information maintained by Eugene Allen, butler to U.S. presidents for 34 years. As author of “The Butler: A Witness to History,” Haygood provided the inspiration for a movie that has informed America of key moments during political processes that enriched and strengthened many community and political actors. For the past 25 years, the Columbus Association of Black Journalists (CABJ) has been dedicated to the support, recognition and professional advancement of African Americans in the news industry.

Lonnie Holley serenaded “Thumbs Up For Mother Universe” to the Wexner Center crowd on Friday with a textured and undeniable intimacy. The Atlanta-based contemporary folk artist/musician sat warmly at a piano backed solely by a guitar player. The sparse set-up allowed Holley’s soulful, harmonized affirmations to resonate a call for humans to respect the cosmic beauty in themselves and others while the musical undertones provided an ambient calm. Holley described himself as a “spiritual vessel.” The 63 year-old man came to Columbus this past weekend for the aforementioned Wexner performance, and also to open his “My People Shall Perish From Lack Of Knowledge” Art Show at the Lindsay Gallery in the Short North. In between the events Holley stopped to work with students at the Short Stop Youth Center and OSU’s Sculpture Department. His Columbus appearance follows a positive career trajectory for Holley, who also played at the Whitney in New York in chorus with their presentation of the “Blues For Smoke” exhibit that is currently at the Wex.