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Will the Oct 18 No Kings protests equal or surpass the 5 million who marched last June? Trump’s poll numbers keep dropping with his escalating attacks on democracy. People are hungrier than ever for ways to act and resist.  And the huge Jimmy Kimmel victory should create resistance momentum. But when I look at the major national days of protest since the original No Kings, I see organizing and communications breakdowns that make their impact less than it could have been. And we want them to be as large and broad as possible.

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According to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, “All the Freedom Flotilla and Thousand Madleen boats were pirated in the early hours of October 8, 2025.” 

Among the crew on the flotilla is Tom Hayes, a documentary filmmaker and Associate Professor of Instruction in the School of Film at Ohio University, currently serving as a media volunteer.

Hayes was sailing on a boat called the Conscience, carrying dozens of international journalists and medical professionals from 25 countries. The Conscience was on a mission to break Israel‘s illegal siege of Gaza, challenge Israel’s media blackout of Gaza, and affirm the Palestinian people’s right to live in freedom and dignity.

Ohio University Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine join the Freedom Flotilla Coalition in demanding the following:

Banned Books Week (October 5–11, 2025) is an opportunity to celebrate literature and a reminder that reading is resistance in our fight for the freedom to learn.

The Clintonville Area Commission gets a fighter and longtime labor advocate in Will Klatt, but he had to fight to make sure his election was not overturned. Some on the commission tried to prevent Mr. Klatt from assuming a position he was overwhelmingly elected to by using a technicality. 

A candidate has to stay 100 feet from a polling place and Will crossed that invisible line. There were no markers indicting the 100 foot rule. When it was pointed out to him, he immediately backed up, but a couple of his opponents tried to use it to disqualify him. One witness there who did not even support Will said that if every election was negated because of that, few elections would even be upheld throughout the State of Ohio. The Commission took the matter up without even contacting Will, but he happened to show up at the meeting where an argument ensued. The matter was tabled until the next meeting, that happened just a couple days ago on Oct. 2. 

US Energy Storage Sets New Record

The U.S. energy storage market set a record for quarterly growth in the second quarter of 2025, with 5.6 GW of installations, according to the latest U.S. Energy Storage Monitor report released today by the American Clean Power Association (ACP) and Wood Mackenzie.

The utility-scale market led the way, setting a record with 4.9 GW installed, enough capacity to power 3.7 million American homes during average peak load demand.

The residential storage market expanded 608 M. This represents a 132 percent increase year-over-year and an 8 percent jump quarter-over-quarter.

• Most of the growth was driven by California, Arizona and Illinois,

Residential storage is expected to outpace solar due to stronger policy resilience, high attachment rates in key markets and continued investment tax credit access through third-party ownership."

Wood Mackenzie projects that these record levels of additional storage capacity will continue into the foreseeable future.

Renewable Energy Jobs grew 3X faster in 2024

Vermont, New York, Washington, New Jersey and Maine have the best combination of relatively low environmental risks and robust environmental policies, according to a report released this week.

West Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Florida and Mississippi ranked lowest on the 50-state scorecard produced by the Commonwealth Fund, a foundation that advocates for health care improvements.

Ohio ranks 31.

Researchers at Northeastern and Yale universities ranked states based on risks from extreme heat, flooding, poor air quality, natural hazard risks to health care facilities and greenhouse gas emissions by the health care sector. The authors of the report also analyzed states’ clean energy policies and climate change mitigation efforts.

We Have a New Resource for Central Ohio Recyclers!

Recycling can be confusing — the details of what can be recycled and how we recycle keep changing in Central Ohio as advances in technology allow us to do more! That’s why Simply Living created a Household Recycling Resource Page

 How to Recycle Household Items in Central Ohio.

We hope this cheat sheet, brought to you by volunteer Ann Marie Condo and Board Member Vilvi Vannak here at Simply Living, serves as a great resource. And we promise to keep it updated as new information becomes available.

Franklin Country has lent Israel $28 million that could be used to fund its ongoing wars. That means Franklin Country's taxpayers have effectively loaned Israel $28 million to use how it sees fit. While many US officials want you to believe that Israel is considered the United States’ most trusted and dependable ally in a region of the world that is volatile at best, they do not tell you that Israel has a long history of spying on the US, stealing its top secrets, blackmailing US politicians, and killing US citizens in cold blood. Don't believe me, Google search USS Liberty, Rachel Corrie, Shireen Abu Akleh or Jonathan Pollard to name few.

Israeli bonds are inherently political. That seems to be the way the cities, counties, and Ohio State politicians view them: an investment that delivers political capital.

According to Arkansas Times article, "Since the Development Corporation for Israel’s inception in 1951, the Israeli bonds have not only served as financial instruments but also as a gesture of support for the state of Israel. This is, in fact, part of Israel Bonds’ marketing strategy.

I’m not going to say there’s a falling out among the thieves, because I don’t want to cast aspersions, but there’s a thunderstorm in heaven, there’s a break in the ranks, there are flies in the anointment, or whatever expression you want to choose, it’s not trivial, and perhaps very important, that there is finally some proof of life within the Republican caucus in the Senate and the US House of Representatives over the wild and crazy dictates of cabinet members and appointees trying to outdo themselves in fealty to Trump’s whims and wishes. After allowing Trump and his people to roll over elected members of Congress, this is might be a finger in the wind for change. Additionally, where the conservative ecosystem has essentially been an obsequious amen corner on almost every Trump connect outrage, finally there’s a stirring of complaint.

Sunday, September 21, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Corban Commons, 3426 Corban Commons Drive, Columbus, OH 43219

Sun Day is a nationwide celebration of clean energy progress and a call to accelerate the transition that's already underway. We'll be joining communities across the country to showcase the businesses, organizations, and families that are already leading the way to a clean energy future. Corban Commons is an affordable senior living center in Columbus that recently added a large rooftop and ground-mount solar array.