In the Thursday, April 28 Columbus Dispatch, an article reported that Mayor Ginther’s office had lobbied the Citizens Commission on Elected Officials Compensation to boost the pay of whomever would become mayor in 2026 by 14% in addition to cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). Joe Motil, former Columbus City Council candidate and longtime community advocate who has begun circulating petitions to run for Mayor in 2023  states that, “Mayor Ginther apparently believes that record-breaking monetary compensation justifies the central purpose of serving as a public servant. And the fact that Ginther’s office would use pressure to influence the commission’s recommendations is an unethical abuse of power. Instead of Ginther and his office spending valuable time lobbying his hand-picked members of the compensation commission for a possible raise, they should be lobbying officials of Intel and the Columbus Partnership to invest in our affordable housing crisis.”

Friday, April 29, 2022, 11:30 AM
The Great Lakes Water Quality Board (WQB) of the International Joint Commission (IJC) is hosting a public webinar to provide information and answer questions about the board's recent report: Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Facilities in the Great Lakes Basin.  On the webinar, Great Lakes Water Quality Board members will provide an overview of the report's findings and recommendations. There will be Q&A for the panelists to answer participants' questions.  More information and registration here.

Two decades ago, a new name entered the Toledo political arena: Teresa Fedor.

I was living in nearby Bowling Green at the time and had never heard of her.

She had been an elementary public school teacher in the Toledo area for 18 years.

My first thought was that Fedor was giving up a lot -- a good-paying job that she loved and was gifted at that had good fringe benefits and a good retirement program -- for an uncertain future in the Ohio House of Representatives.

She was a protégé of U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Toledo, who is now the longest serving woman n in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives.

"Saint Marcy," as the congresswomen is affectionately known, is revered for her political insight and it was never keener than when she plucked Fedor out of the classroom and put her in the Ohio Legislature.

Now, another wise political hand, Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Cranley, has forged a partnership with Fedor by putting her on the ticket as his running mate.

By Nobel Peace Prize Watch, April 28, 2022

Honorable Prime Ministers of the five Nordic countries, Magdalena Anderson, Mette Frederiksen, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Sanna Marin, and Jonas Gahr Støre

The war in Ukraine once again shows that the world is like a city with brutal gangs constantly roaming the streets, looting and fighting with loads of heavy weapons. No one will ever feel safe in such a city. The same applies at the international level. No amount of weaponry can make us safe. No country will be safe until also neighboring countries can feel safe. The present international system is broken, to avoid future wars we need deep reforms.

Starting on April 15, the Israeli occupation army and police raided Al-Aqsa Mosque in Occupied East Jerusalem on a daily basis. Under the pretence of providing protection to provocative ‘visits’ by thousands of illegal Israeli Jewish settlers and rightwing fanatics, the Israeli army has wounded hundreds of Palestinians, including journalists, and arrested hundreds more.