After more than a year offstage due to the you-know-what, LA Opera is back as Giuseppe Verdi’s 1853 Il Trovatore launches the 2021/22 Season for long-suffering Angeleno opera aficionados. But what a “cheerful” choice!

As the lead sentence of Naomi Andre’s article in LA Opera’s Performances Magazine puts it: “There is something kind of odd about Il Trovatore.” “Kind of?” Verdi’s turgid tragedy, with a nightmarish libretto mostly by Salvatore Cammarano, adapted Antonio Garcia Gutierrez’s play featuring witchcraft, burning at the stake, civil war, duels, mistaken or confused identities, thwarted love, “gypsies,” grim reapers straight out of Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, imprisonment and other cheery plot points and bagatelles.

Recently I have become aware of the homeless community in Columbus. The first thing I have observed is the ecological impact. The pictures are of a homeless encampment under I-70 East bound on Central Avenue. Much of the embankment of I-70 East bound (North of Mound street) across from the old stadium has been cleared to keep the homeless out. Zumstein Drive near the Continent Shopping center is experiencing another large contingent of homelessness.

Housing issues I have seen include:

Slum lords refusing vouchers for fear of the dreaded "inspection." Meager by any standards the Section 8 or voucher inspections are so feared landlords refuse the vouchers. Attached is a copy of code complaint where it is suspected the rental agent feared a Section 8 inspection more than code enforcement. One must ask why a cash applicant is willing to accept such substandard housing. More so why isn't code enforcement bringing housing up to livable standards.

The Serpent Mound Star Knowledge Fall Equinox Peace Summit will honor the life of Chief Golden Light Eagle who was a great teacher, wisdom keeper and peace keeper. The outdoor event will offer the chance for visitors to enhance their cosmic connection to their deepest divine self and the universe as they are encouraged to pray for peace and enjoy music, workshops, vendors and presentations.  Members of Chief’s family will be at the event which will also include chanting, drumming, light language transmissions, peace activists and peace ceremonies including an international peace flag ceremony, performance art, presentations by Native American elders and others. The outdoor event will take place on Friday, September 24 from 10AM-midnight, Saturday September 25 from 9:30 AM-midnight and Sunday September 26 from 9AM-6:30PM at Woodland Altars, 33200 SR 41, Peebles, Ohio.  The site is located a short drive from the Serpent Mound. 

Suddenly there’s major concern across the country — from the mainstream media to every last rock-ribbed Republican — for the rights of Afghan women and girls to be able to work, to go to school.

Oh my God, we’ve given Afghanistan back to the Taliban! Even George W. Bush found his way back into the news cycle: “I think the consequences are going to be unbelievably bad and sad.”

America, America, the global do-gooder, bringer of civilized values to the Middle East. This is why we’ve hemorrhaged trillions of dollars over the past two decades engaging evil itself. This is why hundreds of thousands of people had to die, millions had to be displaced. We were defending the rights of . . . people we could care less about.

One of the last sprawling undeveloped areas inside I-270 is being transformed into Franklin County’s newest metro park – and at the same time into a $650 million mixed-use development packed with retail, offices and residential. Both should be open in some capacity by next year.  

Apparently, this is the future of parks nationwide. Trails, woodland and lakes integrated with retail, offices and expensive housing. The “Columbus Way” has embraced it, and Quarry Trails Metro Park along with “Project QT,” the mixed-used area, is their first attempt at getting it right. 

“We’ve become more intentional about it,” as told to Columbus Business Firstby Kenny McDonald, CEO of One Columbus, formerly Columbus 2020, which is working hand-in-hand with the Columbus Partnership. “There’s emerging ideas around the country to take parks and make them not just green spaces but places where we convene.”

Weren’t “we” already doing that at the metro parks?