Long-time Columbus “trucker country” band The Sovines are playing a special show at Cafe Bourbon Street, Thursday July 10 in support of community radio station WCRS. Joining them on the bill are Bee Humana and Closet Mix.

The Sovines formed in 1995 when a friend suggested to Bob Starker and Matthew Benz that they should form a band to play country truck driving songs and call themselves “the Sovines,” after famed country singer Red Sovine. It might have been said in jest, but Starker and Benz ran with it. With bass player Ed Mann and drummer Pete English (and later Gene Brodeur on drums), the Sovines took their revved-up take on truck-driving songs, punky rock n’ roll, country ballads and roots rock on the road and in the studio, through five albums and a lot of shows. This show will mark their first live appearance in over three years.

This article first appeared in the Buckeye Flame

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has signed the state’s two-year budget, vetoing three anti-LGBTQ+ measures and leaving three intact.

Shortly before the midnight deadline on June 30 to approve the budget, DeWine issued 67 line-item vetoes to the 5,500-page document. 

DeWine vetoed an amendment requiring all public libraries to place material related to sexual orientation or gender identity or expression out of the view of persons under the age 18.

In a document explaining his vetoes, DeWine said the language created “vague restrictions” and that current laws on obscenity and material harmful to juveniles can be used to ensure that “no child should have access to inappropriate materials or to materials that their parents or guardians deem inappropriate.”

Congressional passage of Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” provides the latest evidence that human greed, despite its primitive nature, remains alive and well.

Perhaps most noticeably, the legislation provides for over $3 trillion in tax cuts that disproportionately help the wealthy and their corporations.  This largesse is facilitated by slashing over $1.4 trillion in healthcare and food assistance for low-income Americans and increasing the national debt by $3.3 trillion.  Estimates reveal that at least 16 million Americans will lose health care coverage and 7 million people (including 2 million children) will lose food aid or have their food aid cut significantly.  Meanwhile, according to the Yale Budget Lab, the nation’s top 0.1 percent―people with an annual income over $3.3 million―will receive tax cuts of $103,500 on average.  Condemning the legislation, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops declared simply that it “takes from the poor to give to the wealthy.”