7 days in … the doldrums

Older man with gray hair and long white mustache standing at a podium with his mouth open waving both hands in the air and the words American Conservative Union on the podium

We had yet another week of very little to be joyful about. The executive branch is fixated on destroying our environment and living out childhood fantasies by playing around with the military. We are yet to see a sanguine and inspiring candidate for the midterms rallying the people on the scale of Ralph Nader or Bernie Sanders. Even beautiful actions by teachers calling for higher wages and better educational conditions have a demoralizing side. They are receiving meager support from national political figures, and they show us how poorly the most important people in our communities are treated. The last seven days become even more unacceptable when they are just a continuation of the garbage we had to endure throughout March. I’ll begin with a recap of the month to put this week’s news into perspective.

Franklin County Green Party meeting

Young white man with brown-rimmed glasses with mustache and goatee talking to the camera

Tuesday, April 10, 6pm (business meeting); 7pm (general meeting)
Northwood-High Building, 2231 N. High St., Rm. 100
Join the Franklin County Greens. We meet on the second Tuesday of each month. Free parking is available in the “R” spaces — “R” for “Rardin Clinic” — behind the building. Contact: fcgreenparty@gmail.com. facebook.com/FCgreenparty.

Last day to register to vote in the May 8 primary

Stickers that say I, then a red silhouette of the state of Ohio that looks like a heart and then the word votng

Monday, April 9, 8am-5pm
Franklin County Board of Elections, 1700 Morse Rd.
vote.franklincountyohio.gov/voters/register-to-vote.cfm. 614-525-3100.
Or go to your local board of elections or Ohio Secretary of State.
https://olvr.sos.state.oh.us/

URGENT! We Need Your Help to Keep Pedro Home

Bald older man wearing a green pullover sweatshirt that says Capital University standing in front of a building with glass doors and a glue curvy sign above that reads ...and correctional center

This is Pedro walking out of ICE detention after being unjustly held and threatened with deportation for the last 7 months! We are excited to see our collective hard work pay off. Without the courage of Pedro’s guardian and his immigration attorneys he would still be in detention or in an even more dangerous situation.

But Pedro’s release from detention is only half the battle. Now we need YOUR help so Pedro can transition back into the community. The link below has more details about Pedro’s story and needs. Please consider a tax-deductible donation that will go directly to housing, food, and transition assistance that are essential to keeping Pedro out of immigrant detention facility.

Together we can!

Letter to the Editor: ColsMediaInsider should report on Sinclair News Group

Blue design with sideways rectangles at the bottom and words Sinclair broadcast group at the top

Dear Editor,

I’ve have been a long time reader of The Columbus Free Press and of your “Columbus Media Insider” articles. I have a strong problem with the articles as of late, The focus on The Dispatch has been too much actually and have come at the cost of not serving the mission of your paper “speaking truth to power”

Recently, There have been articles galore about Sinclair Broadcasting Group and their recent “Propaganda” disguised as a Editorial / PSA that stations that were owned by them were forced to run that attack the press in general. Unfortunately, This is not the first time this company has used their stations to push propaganda. This goes back and ranges a long time over conservative issues and bias that they are forcing it station to run.

In Columbus, They own three stations, WSYX ABC 6, WTTE FOX 28 and WWHO CW 53 and in Ohio they own a station in EVERY Ohio Market except, Cleveland. This could change if a merger with Tribune goes through and they acquire WJW FOX 8 in Cleveland.

Why the Google Protest of War Work Is Wonderful

The fact that 3,100 Google employees signed a

The View of the March For Our Lives from My Phone

Backs of people standing watching a speaker on a screen

On March 24, 2018, over 1.2 million people across the country rallied and marched to show the political establishment and the gun lobby that the American people are serious about gun control. Unfortunately, I was not one of them. As a father of two small children, I can’t always make it to every protest. Don’t get me wrong, protesting is in my blood, and my children have been to their fair share already, but on March 14, I was conscripted to help with a seasonal egg hunt. The key to being an activist parent is figuring out how to give your children a better future while allowing them to have meaningful childhoods. That day, in the name of meaningful childhood, I bundled up and hid some eggs.

Sixth Annual Ohio Move To Amend Network Gathering

Blue words saying Help Us Topple Corporate Rule! against the Constitution in the background

Saturday, April 7, 9:30am-3:30pm [registration begins at 9am], First Unitarian Universalist Church, 93 W. Weisheimer Rd.

A statewide gathering of local chapters of the national Move to Amend organization that is calling for a U.S. Constitutional amendment to reverse several U.S. Supreme Court decisions during the past century and thereby to firmly establish that corporations are not people and that money is not free speech.

“We, the People of the United States of America, reject the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling and other related cases and move to amend our Constitution to firmly establish that money is not speech and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.”

This event will also include workshops, action planning, a “People’s Assembly,” and reports on work across the state during the past twelve months.

• Keynote Speaker: Mary Jo Kilroy [former U.S. Representative, Franklin County Commissioner, and Columbus School Board member] on “What a True Representative Democracy Looks Like”

Ohio Green Party Statewide Convention

Green silhouette of the state of Ohio with a white flower in the middle

Saturday, April 7, 10am-4pm
Northwood-High Building, 2231 N. High St. room 100
Bringing together Greens from all over Ohio to prepare for the upcoming election year.
Morning - by-laws conversation for Ohio Green Party Central Committee.
Afternoon - Hear from the candidates running for Green Party office this year and how to get involved.
Free, no RSVP required. If you are registered Green or not, you are welcome.

ColumbusMediaInsider: Dispatch Elevates Yost, Ignores Foe

Black letters Columbus Media Insider with the M looking like cracked glass

The Columbus Dispatch cannot give Dave Yost enough sweetheart coverage in his bid for Ohio Attorney General. The newspaper might as well be named deputy campaign manager for the Delaware Republican and current state auditor. This is hardly the way the recently crowned Ohio's best newspaper should behave.

In fact it is hard to remember the name of Yost's Democratic opponent. Let me take a moment to look it up. The Democrat candidate for attorney general is Steve Dettlebach. He gets little coverage in the newspaper and dispatch.com and when he did get covered, the Dispatch headline gave it a negative spin.

In early March, Dettelbach, former U.S. attorney for northern Ohio, was endorsed by former New York U.S. attorney Preet Bharara at a fund-raiser in Cleveland. The Dispatch carried the Associated Press account. I suspect no Dispatch reporters were available because they were tied up covering Yost.

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