Alexander Payne's "The Holdovers" is exactly why we love movies. It takes us on a journey, immersing us in the warm and cozy, unique setting of a 1970 New England prep school, the fictional Barton Academy, and stirs our emotions along the way. This unlikely Christmas movie, starring Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, and Da'Vine Joy Randolph, is the perfect blend of humor, grief, and redemption, far removed from your typical holiday movie.

As a teenager, spending Christmas break with a professor, let alone a prickly one would be haunting. I'd feel trapped, hopeless, and abandoned, as if the world had forgotten me. This is supposed to be a time with family.

Today’s announcement by Environmental Court Judge Stephanie Mingo that she would recuse herself from hearing the City of Columbus v. Wilson 845 LLC (Greyhound/Baron’s) case should be of no surprise. And the residents of the Hilltop neighborhood who have been trying to do everything in their power to shut down the Greyhound/Barons bus terminal on North Wilson Road since July can thank their newly re-elected Mayor Andrew Ginther for breaking the law.

As Mayor, Andy Ginther is a party to City of Columbus v Wilson 845 LLC et al 2023 EVH 060592. As disclosed by Judge Stephanie Mingo on December 8, Ginther called the personal cell phone of Judge Mingo with specific needs on the case.

Suspicion 

Sara was on her way to Annie’s house. She was listening to DJ Kurt Bishop on her pink transistor radio, holding it to her ear to hear it better as the cars and buses roared past her on Long Street. Sara hated that it was pink, she asked for a blue one, but knew better than to say something negative about it to Shelia. Better to be pink then to have it taken back for being an “ungrateful brat.”

Sara and Annie had made plans to walk to Franklin Park and hang out. It was Saturday and the day was sunny and bright, so it would be packed with people. Annie liked to sit and people watch, as she called it. They would point out a person and then make up stories about who they were and what their lives were like. Annie always made up nice stories. The people were always successful, loved by many and beautiful. Sara’s stories were, what she felt, more realistic. The people had problems, they suffered great tragedies and harm and sometimes, to make it really interesting, they knocked people off, you know, murder.

Gaza was among the main topics on the agenda of Russian President Vladimir Putin as he arrived in the Middle East region on Wednesday, December 6.

The December Free Press Second Saturday Salon was held on December 9 over Zoom.

Listen to the recording here.

Mark Stansbery of the Free Press Board, introduced the speake Vina Colley. She related to us how she used to work at the Piketon Gaseous Diffusion Plant. She found that workers there, including herself, were not protected from radiation while at work. She complained about it and began to be suppressed by her employer.

On an aquifer, the plant has been contaminating the Ohio River in addition to the workers, the surrounding community, and several schools – one that was shut down because so many children had died. It is a cancer cluster and Vina herself has many physical problems as a result of her job. Also affected are the Scioto River, the Beaver Creeks, and many external sites.