Local

Using the citizen initiative provisions of the Columbus City Charter that allows citizens to propose legislation, the Columbus Coalition for Responsive Government (“the Coalition”) announced it will file signatures in support of a proposed law to reform political campaigns in Columbus on Thursday. “As progressive people, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United, we recognize the pernicious influence of money in our political life. Because all politics is local and we think globally but act locally, we are addressing this issue in Columbus,” said Coalition committee member Denise Benning. “Governance should be about more than staying in power. True public servants will want to ensure we have a robust, competitive, and fair electoral system, and we are hopeful that the individual members of Columbus City Council can see past their short-term political goals and approve this ordinance based upon the good it provides to residents of Columbus, present and future,” said Willis Brown. “This will be a test of our priorities. Council approves casino tax money to fund a bailout of an entertainment venue -- Nationwide Arena.

Sue Harshe is a founding member of the post-punk band Scrawl, who released seven albums between 1986 and 1998 on such labels as Rough Trade, Simple Machines, and Elektra. Last year they were invited to perform at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festivals held in New York City and Camber Sands, England. She also performs in the rock band Fort Shame, who released a full-length CD in the fall of 2012. Since 2003 she has composed music for nine films in the Wexner Center’s silent film series, the latest installments being The Farmer’s Wife and Champagne, part of the Hitchcock 9 series shown this fall. Last year she scored and performed music for the 1920 movie The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, which was commissioned by Shock Around the Clock, Columbus’ annual 24-hour horror-film marathon.

Nostalgia. The word itself has the power to transform our thoughts for a moment. It's pleasant and familiar, which is also a good way to describe Wing's Restaurant, 2801 E. Main St in Columbus. For those who grew up in Bexley or on Columbus's east side, as owners Ken and Kim Yee did, a trip to Wing's will certainly be nostalgic. Both Eastmoor High School graduates, the Yees continue a family tradition that's gone on now for 44 years. If you have ever been to Wing's during that time span, rest assured it has not changed. It will be exactly as you remember it. Wing's has many regular customers and the Yees know most of them by name. And Ken, who mans the bar, remembers what they drink. And if what you like to drink is scotch, well, Ken has a surprise for you. Wing's maintains what is surely the widest selection of scotch in central Ohio. Any label you can think of and about twice that number in brands you've never heard of dot his extensive list. Back in the day, this reporter favored Pinch from Haig and Haig and was delighted to see it on Ken's menu, as it has not been available locally for years. Sure enough Mr. Yee was able to produce the distinctively shaped bottle.

The man on the phone was talking very fast. I thought perhaps he had a lot to say but a short time to say it. I was wrong. It turns out he had lots of time, scads of it, far more time than I would have preferred to allot him. But I am polite on the phone, I listened to the bastard ramble on. What the conversation concerned is unimportant, it was an admonishment at the end that starched my collar. The fellow wanted to foist some documents upon me. I did not want them, but he insisted. “I can fax them to you,” the cad announced. I explained that I did not have a fax machine and that he'd be better off emailing them to me. “Just send them as attachments,” I said. That's when things got interesting. “You should really have a fax machine,” the meddler mumbled. I didn't say anything, still being polite. “If you had a fax machine,” the obtruder continued. “I could just fax these over to you.” “Yes, but I don't,” I said, still holding my tongue. “You might want to think about getting one,” he went on. Still I remained mum.

We have seen this act before. It always appears innocent to the untrained eye, but those who pay close attention can sense when something is rotten in Denmark, or in this case Dennison Place. Concerned citizen Frank Zindler smelled something foul in his neighborhood when he was notified that this year he wouldn't be voting at the Thompson Community Center, where he's cast his ballot for three decades. Instead Frank was told to go to the Ohio Student Union on campus to exercise his franchise. On the surface it sounds like a reasonable replacement for his usual polling station. It's public, it's open and easy to find. How can anyone complain they are being inconvenienced, as Frank did? Frank saw a fly in the ointment when he launched a recon mission to scope out the new polling place. What he found caused him to write a letter to the Columbus Dispatch. In that letter he explained a clear and present danger to his neighbors' voting rights. There's no place to park. Sure, there's a fairly large parking garage attached to the Ohio Union. But, as Frank pointed out in his letter, there's just one itty bitty problem.

While the votes of politicians are recorded, even when they slip through an obscure clause in the budget, the question of who influenced them remains. Who poured them the glass of tainted water to wash this poison bill down our throats with the budget? While it is not technically correct to use campaign contributions and bribes interchangeably, there is a tendency to contribute to politicians who will support one’s position. A leading recipient of fracking money in Ohio is House Speaker William Batchelder. The cushions of Batchelder's house seat are stuffed with a considerable amount of fracking money. Since 2006, he has received $44,293 from the Ohio Oil and Natural Gas Association, an industry lobbying group. The fracking industry also supported him directly with $55,000 from FirstEnergy Corp, $26,850 from NISOURCE, $26,350 from Dominion, $16,250 from Duke Energy, $12,500 from Chesapeake Energy and $35,750 from American Electric Power.

Thanks to a southern mother and time spent as a boy growing up in the heart of Dixie, I have a devotion to the region. This, I think, helped me understand the fertile cultural and emotional soil from which the rock 'n' roll and soul music revolutions sprang. Maybe, maybe not. But I like to think so. Southerners are not like Northerners. Margaret Yates was born beautiful, stayed that way her whole life and had a whole lotta soul if not a whole lotta education. Second eldest of 11 kids, she grew up in Richmond, Virginia, during the Great Depression, dirt-poor and left-handed, two things the tender mercies shown by the Catholic nuns never changed though they left painful memories from the trying. But that part, as they say, is another story. I was my mother's son. We moved around the country a few times. Dad was an up-and-coming steel company manager frequently promoted and transferred. Which is how I came to live in northern Alabama for a few precious boyhood years, Gadsden, to be exact. We were pegged for civil rights workers at first, it being the early '60s and with Ohio license plates on our '63 blue Mercury.

DJ Pos 2 and I sat down to talk about his monthly gig at the Rehab Tavern Vibes N Stuff which has its 4 installment Friday. “We wanted to do something different than Buggin' Out.” said the Hip Hop veteran comparing it to the successful bi-monthly Hip Hop showcase at Carabar that Pos and Zerostar have been promoting for two and a half years. “We just want to do something for the older crowd. It was just, 'let's do jazz fusion. Ohio funk.’ Just something different from Hip Hop.” In addition to Pos spinning jazz fusion staples such as Miles Davis and Donald Byrd, Vibes N Stuff also incorporates down-tempo music such as Flying Lotus and Diabese, which Columbus instrumental Hip Hop producer Maggz will be playing. Envelope will also be doing a guest deejay set of rock and soul classics. If Vibez N Stuff is different than Buggin’ Out, a beloved Hip Hop showcase that has had performances by some of Columbus’s finest such as Illogic, P.Black, Path, J.

Cheryl Shuman’s successful tour of Ohio to promote the Ohio Cannabis Rights Amendment, sponsored by the Ohio Rights Group (ORG), concluded in Cleveland a week ago with a segment by Lee Jordan on the city’s News Channel 5. Success becomes self-evident when the opposition appears, often in the form of the Drug Free Action Alliance (DFAA), which is headquartered on Huntley Road in Columbus. The segment, entitled “Northeast Ohio family seeks medical cannabis in Colorado to find effective treatment for seizures” and aired on October, 25, 2013, included several quotes from DFAA Executive Director Margie Seidel to rebut the use of cannabis for treating the devastating seizures experienced by Jordan Lykes who suffers from Dravet Syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy. In the first quote, Ms. Seidel states that, “Medicine goes through a very rigid process of study and research through the FDA, a revered system throughout the world." Really? Many of these FDA approved drugs have proven to be harmful or even deadly. For example, in 2009, drug induced deaths, principally from otherwise legal opiates, exceeded deaths from motor vehicle accidents for the first time since such tracking began.

For me one of the best things about going vegan was discovering Indian food. I had no idea what an amazing spectrum of satiety I was really missing for the first score of my life. Banana Leaf has been a most generous supporter of the Columbus vegan community, and they strive at empowering others. This month, they started a new program designed to help people eat vegan easily, simply, deliciously, healthfully and affordably. Monday through Friday after 4 pm, you can pick up some rice, lentils and curried vegetables (vegetable changes daily) for only $5. If you would like to know how to prepare Indian style food, they also offer cooking classes; their next one is Nov 24th. They are aware that socially just diners are concerned about making sure they get organic foods produced locally and are in the process of making those priorities part of their operations model. They do provide a variety of gluten free options in their breads and desserts as well. All food is made from scratch, fresh daily, and their regular customers know nothing goes to waste; any left overs are sent home with customers at the end of the day to share with their friends and family.