Saturday, June 9, 6:30-11pm
1021 E. Broad St.
Network and socialize with progressive friends, food, drink, music and a political presentation. Free. No RSVP required. colsfreepress@gmail.com or 614-253-2571.

Cleveland.com is reporting that Senator Sherrod Brown has strongly denounced yesterday’s aggressive, military-style raids on the Corso’s Flower and Garden Center in Sandusky and Castalia, calling them “immoral” and an “insane policy.”  Sabrina Eaton reports:

"Tearing families apart will not fix our broken immigration system," said Brown. "It will mean more problems for all of us. There is no good reason, ever, to separate children from their parents." "I don't want to be the kind of country where federal agents split families up and send kids who knows where without being able to account for them," said Brown, who is running for re-election this year against GOP Rep. Jim Renacci of Wadsworth.

To our knowledge, Sen. Brown is the first member of the Ohio congressional delegation to speak out publicly against the raid.  Taking one look at these photos of children whose parents were arrested yesterday, posted by Veronica Dahlberg of HOLA, will make it clear why. 

You won’t want to miss Wizard World on June 8-10 at the Columbus Convention Center. Wizard World, Inc. (www.wizardworld.com) produces comic, gaming and pop culture conventions across North America that celebrate the best in pop culture: movies, television, gaming, live entertainment, tech, comics, sci-fi, graphic novels, toys, original art, collectibles, contests and more. A first-class lineup of topical programming and entertainment takes place at each event, with celebrity Q&A's, comics-themed sessions, costume contests, movie screenings, evening parties and more. Wizard World Comic Con Columbus is also the place for cosplay, with fans young and old showing off their best costumes throughout the event. Fans dressed as every imaginable character – and some never before dreamed – will roam the convention floor and participate in the famed Wizard World Costume Contest on Saturday evening.

Here’s a rundown of what’s happening there:

A recent visit to Las Vegas demonstrated the wisdom and far-sightedness of the Nevada city's leaders compared to the "thinkers" of Columbus regarding NHL hockey and casinos.

Two decades ago, Columbus landed an NHL expansion team, the Blue Jackets. The team was housed downtown in Nationwide Arena.

It was Columbus' first "big four" major league sports franchise. Fans hoped the Jackets would be competitive from the start, make the playoffs and eventually win the Stanley Cup.

What ensued was an epic fail. The Jackets have made the playoffs only three times and have never gotten beyond the first round.

Industrialist John H. McConnell plunked down an $80 million franchise fee and the team began play in 2000. After he died, his son John P. McConnell took over. Nationwide Insurance now owns 30 percent of the club.

It is well-known that for professional teams in medium-sized metropolitan areas to compete for championships, the owners must be wealthy enough to subsidize the team to the tune of millions a year. This does not appear to be happening in Columbus.

As Trump continues to attack the Mueller investigation's criminal findings into his coterie of grifters, we're seeing the outline for what is the ultimate authoritarian presidency. Issuing a legal memo to Mueller, then leaking it and falsely claiming that leak came from Mueller's office allows Trump to get his ideas out ahead of a subpoena while also claiming the Mueller investigation is a rogue operation.

According to his lawyers, Trump not only can order any investigation to end or be initiated at his whim, he is incapable of being charged with a crime, can pardon himself anyway. And if that wasn't' enough, his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, says he can actually shoot the FBI Director dead if he so desires. That it's legal, technically, but that he'd be impeached the next day.