News

Hours after Ohio’s Issue 1 went down in the August special election, Secretary of State Frank LaRose “sounded the alarm” on Fox News about the latest proposed constitutional amendment to end Qualified Immunity for law enforcement.

Sore loser LaRose told Fox, “They’re trying to turn Ohio into California [and] now they’re coming after our police.” In reality, no one is “coming after” police and by the way, what is so scary about California?

What LaRose knows and refused to mention is that the effort to end Qualified Immunity in Ohio has been ongoing for well over half a decade.

The Ohio Coalition to End Qualified Immunity (OCEQI) was inspired by the shooting death of 30-year-old Kareem Ali Nadir Jones in 2017. Jones was killed after he was approached by Columbus police for no good reason (family members pictured above). The police body cam video of Kareem’s death can be viewed here.

Democracy in Ohio ain’t dead yet -- voters ensured that yesterday by overwhelmingly rejecting Issue 1. The people’s right to democratically amend the Ohio Constitution prevailed despite relentless attacks from far-right schemers and big business owners.

As of the morning after the election (August 9), the unofficial results from the Secretary of State (who, it should be noted, campaigned hard for Issue 1 to pass) show 1,315,346 votes in favor of Issue 1 and 1,744,094 against – showing that overwhelming 57 percent of voters said “hell no” to the Statehouse power grab.

These results are quite a debacle for Ohio Republicans. In January, they made August Special Elections illegal. They argued that, especially due to low turnout, elections in August were a “waste of money.”

In response to a criminal complaint filed by Columbus mayoral candidate Joe Motil against a city official, Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein referred the matter to Whitehall assistant prosecutor Brad Nicodemus, supposedly for an independent review. Nicodemus had previously been a special prosecutor who declined to pursue charges of alleged misconduct by Columbus police during the 2020 protests over George Floyd’s murder.

Because Nicodemus’ dismissal of Motil’s complaint had serious problems, concerns have resurfaced about his dismissal of the police cases.

Motil’s complaint stemmed from his removal from an April 28 press conference at the Columbus Police Academy. Mayor Andrew Ginther and other city officials were there to discuss the city’s disturbing rise in gun violence. Motil had attended similar events without incident before becoming a candidate for mayor.

But Glenn McEntyre, an assistant director for the city’s Department of Public Safety, told Motil to leave because he wasn’t a member of the press. Motil said McEntyre grabbed his arm in the process.

As the unprecedented, unnecessary and expensive special election approaches on August 8, the Libertarian Party of Ohio (LPO) still stands with over 200 other organizations against Issue 1. But now the LPO is taking things further by filing a complaint against one of Issue 1’s biggest proponents, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose.

On Monday, the LPO filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, saying that LaRose violated the federal Hatch Act as a public official by receiving federal funds for elections, while also using his office to affect an election. LaRose first earned the LPO’s scorn by voting for SB 193 when he was a state senator in 2013, which gutted minor parties’ ballot access.

Andy Ginther and Columbus City Council continued to show their true colors at the Monday, July 24 Columbus City Council meeting.

Three separate Enterprise Zone 10-year 75 percent abatements were handed out without a blink of an eye totaling roughly $24.74 million dollars. But it doesn’t end there. The generosity of Ginther and company also included more taxpayer funds to help subsidize the construction of the Merchant Building totaling $31 million.

Recipients of the tax abatements included a $4.7 million hand out to the Trident Capital Group whose company assets are valued at about $1.2 billion. Local developer and friend of Ginther, Crawford Hoying, received a $9.6 million property tax gift. And not to be outdone was CCBCC Operations LLC which is the nation’s largest Coca-Cola bottler and who is owned by Coca-Cola Consolidated. Gross profits for Coca-Cola Consolidated in the first quarter of 2023 were $624 million and one share of Coca-Cola Consolidated is currently selling at $646. Do you think that just maybe they might be able to get by with paying their fair share of property taxes?

Are you struggling to pay rent in Columbus? Are those creeping student loan payments causing you anxiety? Is healthcare forcing you to pick up extra hours at work?

Well, good news! Your tax dollars are about to be going to work for you by going to an international developer with $1 trillion in assets to build less than 600 apartment rooms that have no guarantee to be affordable to anyone who doesn’t work downtown.

Blackstone, an international investment group owning more than 150 companies, was approved yesterday by Columbus City Council for re-zoning changes as a first step towards tax abatements. According to the Guardian, “Over the past two decades, (Blackstone) has quietly taken control of apartment blocks, care homes, student housing, railway arches, film studios, offices, hotels, logistics warehouses and datacentres.” They are the largest commercial landlord in world history.

The Columbus Dispatch ran an op-ed by Tim Ryan — the former Ohio Congressman now employed at a fossil fuel industry-backed organization — on July 24. Ryan asserted that expanding our use of natural gas is necessary for accelerating progress toward climate goals. If we care about a livable future on this planet, we will heed the warnings of nature over the false claims of the fossil fuel industry.

When Andy Ginther’s office was asked by WSYX TV on July 3 to respond to the deplorable conditions of the new Greyhound bus terminal on North Wilson Road, his office stated, “Greyhound is private property and that issues should be brought to the Greyhound company.”

That statement couldn’t be further from the truth. Officials of Ginther’s Development Department signed off on a Zoning Clearance and allowed this facility to open and operate without plumbing, one trash receptacle, improper maneuverability for buses, no lockers for passengers’ baggage, vending machines and no on-site security.  

On Wednesday, July 5, Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights (OURR) filed more than 700,000 signatures to place reproductive freedom on the November General Election Ballot. The ACLU of Ohio is proud to serve on the Executive Committee of this historic campaign.

Several major Columbus news media reported this past week that Greyhound buses are leaving their central location from downtown Columbus and are opening a new terminal at 845 North Wilson Road in the Hilltop neighborhood.

A June 27 Dispatch story stated, “Greyhound’s new terminal, in the site of a former Shell station, features indoor and outdoor seating, ADA accessible restrooms, a ticket kiosk, and round-the-clock live ticket sales. The new site doesn’t offer food but is within walking distance of a Waffle House, Wendy's and McDonald’s…The Greyhound station Downtown has moved nearly 10 miles west of the city’s center.”

The decision to move the Greyhound terminal drew harsh criticism from numerous transit advocates. One stated, “Columbus is a joke of a city. The new location is wildly inaccessible without a car. Just getting to the new station via COTA will add an hour to any trip I take.”