News

Nearly 25 million Black and Latino people are missing or incorrectly listed in the voter databases sold by the political industry and used by campaigns to conduct voter outreach, according to a report from the Democracy & Power Innovation Fund. While 40 percent of Black and Latino people were effectively invisible in the vendor databases, only 18 percent of white people were missing or mislisted. 

Franklin County Treasurer Cheryl Brooks Sullivan has demonstrated long standing support of Israel Bonds. The treasurer has attended multiple of the company’s events, both before and during her time in office including one that featured Netanyahu and was personally recognized by Israel Bonds at an event in 2019 for her investments.   

Franklin County Treasurer Cheryl Brooks Sullivan has demonstrated long standing support of Israel Bonds. The treasurer has attended multiple of the company’s events, both before and during her time in office including one that featured Netanyahu and was personally recognized by Israel Bonds at an event in 2019 for her investments.

Michael Broidy (representing Jay Schottenstein, Israel Bonds Columbus general chairman),  Municipal Court Judge Cynthia Ebner, and Franklin County Treasurer Cheryl Brooks Sullivan 

The Free Press has asked this before to some high-profiled state Democrats: Who on earth is trying to turn the tide in deep-red rural Ohio?  

Shrugs and blank looks are their answers. There is no rural Dem strategy. Hasn’t been one in a long time. But there are grassroots Democrat candidates who have been pushing back, yet not being properly funded by the state party. Such as Tamie Wilson of Ohio’s 4th congressional district. She’s a mom, a small business owner, and a patriot who’s a descendant of veteran families. She’s a granddaughter of a WWII veteran and has two uncles named after Presidents.

March 19 will be Wilson’s second Dem primary. She won her first primary by herself in 2022 with just $2,500 in her campaign chest, beating a candidate who had $1 million in contributions, a team of experts, and 60 volunteers.

Franklin County Treasurer Cheryl Brooks Sullivan has purchased $10.5 million in Israel Bonds since Israel began bombing Gaza in the aftermath of October 7, bringing the total 2023 investment to $14.5 million and pushing the county’s total holdings to $33 million.

Ohio Attorney General David Yost – part of the state’s far-right GOP super majority – is deliberately blocking not one but two proposed constitutional amendments backed mostly by African American activists, they claim.

Ohio is the second most voter-purged state behind Georgia and has some of the worst gerrymandered district maps in the country. Many would think that any Statehouse would reverse such undemocratic practices, but this is Ohio, now a MAGA stronghold, which passed HB 458 and signed into law by Gov. DeWine in 2023. HB 458 enacted the nation’s strictest voter ID law and other provisions restricting voters.

Concerned the Ohio GOP is desperately trying to restrict African American voters, a coalition of civil rights groups is leading a grassroots effort to put the “Ohio Voters Bill of Rights” to a statewide vote, which they say would modernize Ohio’s election system with pro-voter policies, such as same-day voter registration and expanded early voting options and locations, among other provisions.

Re/Descheduling – What It Is and Why It’s Important

It felt like a marathon, right? The two-year trek spanning 2021 to 2023, which led to passage of Ohio Issue 2 (the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol initiated statute), moved through many twists, turns, ups, and downs before arriving at a new age. No longer must we look over shoulders, hide our stuff, or whisper our canna-conversations. We’re free to be who we are … almost.

Federal law, the root of prohibition, remains a different matter. Despite Issue 2, if you find yourself in possession of cannabis on federal land (parks, courthouses, etc.), you are subject to federal penalties. They. Have. Not. Changed. And they are harsh. The War on Drugs, including cannabis, is not yet over. That two-year trek was a walk in the park compared to the last 50 years of prohibition.

Bruce Miller, a Far South Columbus Area commissioner, has caught the eye of City officials after he spoke out about future development plans for the Far South Side. Now he’s facing intimidation, something a Columbus resident should never be dealing with when it comes to simply wanting their neighborhood having a seat at the table.

Miller, a nurse, has alerted hundreds of South Side homeowners and business owners to the City’s new “Zone In Columbus” plan, which has designs on building condos and apartment buildings – twelve stories tall possibly – at the Great Southern Shopping Plaza. Also in the crosshairs is a nearby beloved drive-in theatre, and all of South High Street, for that matter, from State Route 104 to 270, including residential side streets.

Bruce Miller, a Far South Columbus Area commissioner, has caught the eye of City officials after he spoke out about future development plans for the Far South Side. Now he’s facing intimidation, something a Columbus resident should never be dealing with when it comes to simply wanting their neighborhood having a seat at the table.

Miller, a nurse, has alerted hundreds of South Side homeowners and business owners to the City’s new “Zone In Columbus” plan, which has designs on building condos and apartment buildings – twelve stories tall possibly – at the Great Southern Shopping Plaza. Also in the crosshairs is a nearby beloved drive-in theatre, and all of South High Street, for that matter, from State Route 104 to 270, including residential side streets.

Save Ohio Parks statement on court’s decision to dismiss appeal

Save Ohio Parks is disappointed that our appeal of the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission’s (OGLMC) decision to approve fracking lease nominations in our state parks and wildlife areas was dismissed. But we will continue to advocate for the protection and future of our public lands and public trust.

Ohio statute says it is state policy to use our natural resources responsibly. There is nothing responsible about how water, one of our most precious natural resources, is used in the fracking process. Fracking permanently pulls millions of gallons of water out of our water supply, laces it with toxic, cancer-causing chemicals, injects this mix at high pressure deep into the earth, pulls it back up, and then injects the radioactive waste that results from it into another series of wells—wells that can leak and endanger our water supply.