The “Old Amateurs” of Columbus – also known as those who do most of the hard work in the community – have not been invited by City officials to take personal tours beginning this week of the “Zone In” gallery which opened downtown at 141 N. Front Street. The gallery offers an opportunity for the public to see and comment on the zoning overhaul which could radically change Columbus’s major corridors.

To the City’s credit, members of our LGBTQ+ community, recent immigrants, and the arts community have been invited (pictured above). But those at the head of the line for a personal tour are “Young Professionals,” who are coveted by “Zone In Columbus” considering they’re the few who will able to afford the tiny condos and apartments in the tall towers which “Zone In” will green light for high-end developers to build in Columbus’s major corridors.

We live in contentious, troubled times when Americans are increasingly divided along political, ethnic, sexual lines – consider the fact that a recent box office hit is a movie about a near-future embattled USA entitled, literally, Civil War. Now along comes playwright Christian St. Croix’s Monsters of the American Cinema, which instead poses in stark contrast the unity of two polar opposites. Remy (portrayed by Kevin Daniels, an actor so large that he played Magic Johnson in the 2012 Broadway production of Magic/ Bird) is a Black gay man, who operates a drive-in movie theater at Santee, San Diego County. As Remy’s former husband has died, he has stepped up to the plate to raise his late partner’s son, Pup (Logan Leonardo Arditty), a white straight teenager of average height.

Monday, April 29
The event at the courthouse in the morning is not a protest.  The plan is for people to remain outside the courthouse and show their love and support for the people inside when they exit.  

Almost 40 years ago, I attended The Ohio State University. I was so proud that when I was presented with different options for my graduate studies, I chose OSU and prayed to be admitted. My prayers were answered. Ever since, Columbus has been my home. My children are Buckeyes.  That was a no-brainer in our family. So proud that while working overseas, myself and other Buckeyes formed an OSU Alumni Club with many activities. We even created social media groups for those of us who attended OSU. In other words, I am a Buckeye to the bone as well as my entire family. At one point, my daughter Jana, while my wife was at work, asked that we remodel her room with an OSU theme. Sure enough, we went to Sears, bought scarlet and gray paint and painted her room and furniture with OSU colors. The Lantern has articles with our names, mine and my children, being cited on so many issues, domestic and international. OSU St John Arena was selected for the “Town Meeting” planned by President Clinton where he sent his national security team —National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, Defense Secretary William Cohen and Secretary of State Madeline Albright, when he planned to bomb Iraq.