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On a warm night in October, a small parade of all colors and ages worked their way down a Sullivant Avenue sidewalk on the west side of Columbus in the setting sunlight. At the lead was a young girl, holding up a cardboard placard with the smiling picture of James Johnson III. In 2020, the 29-year-old was ambushed by gunfire as he walked out of a nearby gas station. His murder remains unsolved and his mother is unwavering for answers.

Who will never be seen in such a sad procession is Ohio Attorney General David Yost or the rural county judge he found to put a December 5 temporary restraining order on three new gun laws passed by Columbus City Council. This judge, Fairfield County Common Pleas Judge Richard Berens, represents just a fragment of southeast Columbus, which includes a small stretch of Refugee Road and Blacklick Woods Metro Park.

“The city has knowingly and deliberately overstepped its legislative authority,” stated Yost following Judge Berens’ temporary restraining order.

A Cincinnati area father whose son committed suicide after being bullied by his Kroger managers is suing the grocery giant for wrongful death. The case claims nothing was done to remedy a hostile and toxic work environment even when Kroger corporate and the local Kroger union were aware of his son’s pleas for help.

Evan Seyfried, who was 40, had worked for Kroger in Milford, Ohio for nearly two decades before taking his life in 2021. He had no prior history of mental illness, and, by all accounts, popular and well-liked by his co-workers.

But perhaps Evan’s popularity, and maybe even his politics, put him on the radar of two managers who would soon wage “a campaign of terror” against him. Many are not aware that Kroger moves managers from store to store every four months or so, and many Kroger workers believe this is part of corporate’s strategy to keep them in line.

In a perfect Ohio world, the two months between the November election and the early January would be free of insults to our intelligence by the rogue Ohio Legislature.

We would be free to enjoy the holiday season without having to worry about our public schools being taken over by the governor, our voting privilges made more difficult, and our opportunity to petition our government severely diluted.

But this is the real Ohio where the rapacious Republicans are running roughshod over the rest of us during what is commonly called the lame duck session, the two months between the election and the New Year.

I call it the rogue duck session. It has got to end.

There is a remedy for this political malady.

The Ohio legislature needs to be defanged.

Its elected members need to become part-timers, banned from meeting for all but financial and existential emergencies between election day and the New Year.

The Red Oak Community School, located in the Unitarian Universalist Church in Clintonville, was the site for both a huge success and a huge failure for the Columbus police on Saturday morning. The school had attempted to host an annual fundraiser featuring three local drag artists reading holiday stories to students.

The brand new, blue-vested, de-escalation focused, Columbus Police Dialogue Team was out with a stunning presence, standing two by two among the Proud Boys keeping the confrontation with counter-protesters to a mild roar. 

Eight specially trained officers and sergeants were on site to protect the protesters’ right to free speech while reducing the use of force, arrests, and injuries that protesters have experienced in the recent past.

Chief Elaine Bryant reported in a YouTube statement on Monday night that they had been successful in that goal. No use of force, arrests, or injuries were reported. 

As disturbing as it was to see the Proud Boys and their fringe groups marching through Clintonville in camo with long rifles slung over shoulders, it is equally as absurd.

One US military veteran on the Columbus Reddit page perhaps said it best.

“The mismatched gear and overall sloppiness of the ‘boots and utes’ of Y’all Qeada never fails to trigger me as a veteran,” they wrote. “How big of a snowflake do you have to be to be triggered by drag queens?”

Another head-scratcher was to see the Columbus police a bit too chummy with the Proud Boys. True, the police were following new “keep-the-peace” protocols, but Canadians would deem this absurd because their nation officially designated the Proud Boys a terror organization in 2021.

Nothing like a mysterious disappearance to get our minds off Ohio’s miserable political situation and Ohio State’s one-sided loss to Michigan.

On Tuesday, dispatch.com broke the story that OSU President Kristina Johnson would be departing in the spring with more than two years to go on her contract that pays her upwards of $1 million in salary and benefits. The article contained a curious reference to staff complaints leading to an investigation by the trustees leading to her requested departure.

Of course, nobody is talking for the record. The OSU trustees are notoriously closed-mouthed about such matters despite keen public interest in the inner workings of Ohio Land Grant University.

Perhaps a complaining staff member will come forward and spill the beans, but it could mean risking one’s livelihood if outed.

The leaves what is left of the news media that regularly covers the Capitol City and its signature university.

Many of the reporters who might break the whodunit story are connected to OSU in some way, shape or form and dare not bite the hand that feeds them.

In 1986 – one year after the state of Ohio sanctioned oil & gas waste “brine” spreading on roads – it was discovered that brine contains high levels of benzene. State protection agencies were alarmed and lobbied for a ban of brine spreading, but the practice continued. In 2017, tests by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) confirmed that brine also contains high levels of radioactive radium, but still no ban. After 36 years of spreading toxic and radioactive oil well brine on Ohio roads with the silent acquiescence of state officials, the people are clamoring to end this poisonous practice.

Ohio House Bill 434 has passed the House. Proponent testimony will be heard in the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee on Nov. 29, 2022.  It is likely that opposition testimony will be held the following Tuesday, Dec. 6, with a vote possible that day. HB 434 could open the State of Ohio to a lot of mischief.

Find your senator’s name and contact information using your address. Write one letter and use it SIX WAYS! Here’s how: write or phone to stop Ohio House Bill 434.

The Ohio Nuclear Free Network has created a 4-page flier with 28 concise points on why this bill is dangerous and precedent-setting. This article has highlights from the flier. A link to the flier is at the end of this article.  You can write a letter in your own words, copy and paste talking points from the flier, OR send the entire flier.

As Thanksgiving rolls around again this year, it’s time to once more get in your Republican family members’ faces about the harsh realities that their political party is creating –– whether they fully understand those realities or not. After all, it’s only been two years since one of the most controversial elections in American history –– and two years away from another that will have massive implications on democracy in our state and country as well. However, this past midterm election was equally important –– and while the majority of Americans succeeded in showing up and realizing that importance, it’s fair to say that Ohio voters failed to fully grasp the gravity of our own state’s situation. Ohio’s democracy is slowly teetering on the edge of fascism –– and Republicans are to blame.

Six out of ten people in jail have not been convicted of a crime. They simply cannot afford to pay their cash bail and are awaiting their court trials. The financial implications for taxpayers include an estimated quarter of a billion dollars spent each year to incarcerate these folks.  

For the accused who can’t afford to pay cash bail, the financial ramifications of sitting in jail compound each other. They could suffer the loss of their job, an eviction, loss of custody of their children, additional health concerns, or a long-term impact on their credit rating.  

Cash bail is paid to the court by the accused to get out of jail and returned when they appear for trial. Bail bondsmen, essentially loan companies, are often used to come up with the amount, but they charge on average a 10% nonrefundable fee.