News

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.  

The Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) will meet Monday, Feb. 26 at 10:30 a.m.-but a Franklin County judge may stay its decisions to award oil and gas bids to frack Salt Fork State Park and Valley Run and Zepernick wildlife areas.

EarthJustice and Ohio Environmental Council announced yesterday they filed an emergency stay to suspend and delay OGLMC orders to frack, pending a decision on the appeal by Save Ohio Parks, Buckeye Environmental Network, and Backcountry Hunters and Anglers of OGLMC's Nov. 15 decision to approve nominations of these areas for fracking.

A decision by Court of Common Pleas Judge Jaiza Page on the emergency stay was requested by Friday, Feb. 25.

When it comes to the last boomtown in the Midwest, certain Columbus neighborhoods make for unusual destinations for future residents to call home. And at first glance, the Far South Side near the Great Southern Shopping Plaza doesn’t seem like a prime location for Intel and Honda employees.

But according to a South Side activist, the future of the Far South Side could be radically altered if City officials and developers get their way, which as many already know, is a sure thing for all parts of Columbus.

“Tony Celebrezze [Deputy Director for the Department of Building and Zoning Services in Columbus], in a conversation, told me that they want to – and this is a verbatim quote – they want to make the Far South corridor the next Short North or the next off-campus, as far as the way they look,” says Bruce Miller, president of the Scioto Southland Civic Association. Miller also sits on the Far South Columbus Area Commission, a City-affiliated and strictly advisory body for the community when it comes to City-approved development.

When Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Meade used deadly force against Casey Goodson, Jr., as he entered his home shortly after noon on December 4, 2020, Meade felt justified.

He told the first officer on the scene, Clinton Township Officer Terry Phillips, "He [Goodson] came out of his car, gun in his hand as he was going to the side door as I was pulling up.."

This week, during his murder trial, Meade amended his statement including new insight into his threat assesment. He testified, "I thought he was going to shoot me." He added, "An armed suspect like that, he could go into a home and take hostages, and barricade himself to ambush police officers.”

In the U.S. Congress, the Democrats and Republicans have been unable to reach an agreement on immigration policy governing the southern border. This is so even though the number of immigrants crossing the border illegally has risen to record levels. This post offers an explanation of the policy stalemate and what an alternative, less restrictive and less punitive policy would contain.

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Katherine Bucholz reports on the number of “migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border for fiscal years 2023 and 2024. These include

“both migrants apprehended and those asking to enter legally but deemed inadmissible. Their numbers rose to almost 2.5 million in FY 2023 and stood at 785,000 three months into the new fiscal year, which would constitute another record if extrapolated” (https://statista.com/chart/20397/number-of-migrants-apprehended-at-us-mexico-border).

While President, Trump’s efforts to control the border

This past October at the Columbus Italian Festival, those who drove to the festival had to find parking amidst the new Italian Village condo and apartment buildings which seemingly sprouted up overnight.

As revelers walked to the grounds of St. John the Baptist Italian Catholic Church, it was evident the transformation of the old neighborhood is full steam ahead in the Midwest’s last great boomtown. But some weren’t too thrilled with the new digs or the new parking ramps, which are going to be there for a long, long time, after all.

“Everything looks the same,” some told the Free Press.

“I find it hard to believe this is how long-time residents envisioned Italian Village,” said another.

Welcome to the new Italian Village and the new Weinland Park, its neighbor to the north. Both are on the comeback, and some are calling it a success story. Many long-time residents agree with this, but because the changes came so quickly and so unequivocally, some are left wondering what could have been.

Two more Columbus of Division of Police officers were arrested for stealing and dealing illicit drugs, the second such arrest over the previous three years.

John Castillo, 31, of Grove City, and Joel Mefford, 34, of London, Ohio, were taken into custody on Thursday by the FBI. Both are alleged to have stolen cocaine from houses suspected of drug trafficking, and Mefford was also accused of stealing a large amount of cocaine from the Columbus police property room. Whether the two were working in tandem was not revealed in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Ohio, press release.

In 2021, two Columbus police narcotics officers assigned to the Division’s cartel unit were arrested by the FBI for dealing cocaine and fentanyl. Both Marco Merino, 44, and John Kotchkoski, 33, pled guilty and are now serving lengthy sentences.

Today, the coalition of civil rights organizations fighting for access and full participation of Black voters and other voting rights advocacy organizations behind the Ohio Voters Bill of Rights ballot amendment filed a legal challenge to AG Dave Yost’s unauthorized rejection of their proposal. The complaint requests that the Ohio Supreme Court issue a writ of mandamus directing the Attorney General to certify their petition, citing his clear lack of authority to opine on the proposed title, let alone reject it entirely based on his subjective distaste for it – a decision that impacts millions of Ohioans’ ability to cast a ballot.

The coalition released the following statement about their legal challenge:

“The latest rejection of our proposed ballot summary from AG Yost’s office is nothing but a shameful abuse of power to stymie the right of Ohio citizens to propose amendments to the Ohio Constitution.

Most members of the legislature should be well acquainted with the HB 6 fiasco that ultimately led to a 20-year prison sentence for former Speaker of the Ohio House Larry Householder. At the center of the scandal was the supposed need for a $1 billion, publicly-funded bailout for two nuclear reactors, Davis-Besse outside of Toledo and Perry, northeast of Cleveland. To further the scam, FirstEnergy, the owner of the reactors at the time, placed them in bankruptcy in March 2018. 

In six short years, however, the two nuclear reactors have gone from being bankrupt and needing a billion-dollar bailout to Perry operating so well its current owner, Energy Harbor (EH), has asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to extend its operating license for another 20 years. But as can be seen in the linked article, neither the NRC nor EH care to address pesky questions from the public such as is the energy from the Perry nuclear plant even needed in the first place? 

Starbucks workers continue to win union organizing victories in stores across the country, as workers at the Worthington store overwhelmingly voted to join Starbucks Workers United. With a unanimous vote of 22-0, partners at Worthington became the 12th Starbucks location in Ohio to join Starbucks Workers United in one of the most rapidly growing organizing campaigns in modern history. 

"Starbucks is making it increasingly clear that they will sacrifice the health and safety of their retail workers for its bottomline,” said Raquel Spiezio (she/her), a shift supervisor who has worked at Starbucks for more than ten years. “It is time for Starbucks to be held accountable for the decisions that impact thousands. The deep-seated problems created by this company’s unsustainable standards can be solved. I am so proud of the unified front we have presented in this exciting venture. Our partners are the very best, and we would be nowhere without our shared strength and determination.”