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How is Donald Trump managing to receive $1 million bribes (by a more polite name, of course) for a dinner at his Florida lair?

What is Elon Musk using to offer voters in state elections $1 million for their votes?

How is Vivek Ramaswamy flooding televisions in Ohio with his campaign for governor over a year out from any election?

What is spreading like an epidemic into local races like those for mayor of Boston and New York — with Andrew Cuomo in New York seeming to skirt the rules by using this entity as if it were his campaign, and one billionaire dumping $1 million into attacking a candidate in Boston?

I recall seeing a sign in a yard in my small hometown of around 12,000 residents. “No matter where you are from,” it said, “we’re glad you are our neighbor.”

It was positioned defiantly, facing a Trump sign that had been plunged into the neighbor’s yard across the street. It poignantly illustrated the tensions in my rural Ohio town, which — like many similar communities — has experienced a rapid influx of immigrants over the last 20 years.

The sign’s sentiment was simple yet profound. I found myself wondering then, as I wonder now, when compassion had become so complicated. It seems everyone has become preoccupied arguing over the minutiae of immigration that they’ve missed the most glaring and essential point: We are neighbors.

When establishment Democrat Tiara Ross, City Council candidate showed up for the Free Press’s recent candidate forum for the District 7 primary, it came as a mild surprise.

Did she know anti-establishment Democrat Joe Motil is a regular writer for the Free Press? Our blistering criticism of the out-of-control, tax-abated and mostly unaesthetic development establishment Dems have forced into our most popular neighborhoods?

Certainly, the Free Press wanted Ross to be there, and here she was. But also to our surprise was who else unexpectedly showed. A broadcast reporter from Channel 10 (WBNS). And this is what we’ve come to know about Ross. She wasn’t going to let the other two candidates appear on the 11 o’clock news without her.

In some ways Ross reflects a growing cadre of modern-day political office seekers and holders. There’s a distinct and disingenuous difference between her public and not-so public persona.

When you’re living in a foreign land, human connections can be as precious as they are rare. Maybe that’s the message of Constance Tsang’s debut feature film, Blue Sun Palace.

Then again, maybe it’s not. Writer/director Tsang doesn’t force an interpretation on you, any more than she tells you what to think of her characters, all Chinese or Taiwanese immigrants eking out a living in Queens, New York. She merely invites you to sit back and watch their stories unfold.

In the case of one of them, their story doesn’t unfold nearly long enough.

We first meet a young woman named Didi (Haipeng Xu) when she’s sharing a restaurant meal with Cheung (Kang-sheng Lee), a somewhat older man who seems to be a good friend and maybe a future boyfriend. The two clearly enjoy each other’s company, and Didi even invites Cheung to spend the night after he misses the last bus home.

The next morning, however, the couple’s relationship seems less certain. When Cheung begins talking about possibly sharing a home someday, Didi jokingly shuts him down, saying her ultimate plan is to move to Baltimore and open a restaurant with her friend Amy (Ke-Xi Wu).

On April 26, 2025 WOSU Public Media reported, “Columbus campaign reports show donations from councilmembers, out-of-state residents.”

When questioned about the majority of his campaign contributors coming from of out-of-state, Columbus City Council candidate Jesse Vogel stated:

"What we're doing is trying to garner support of individuals who are excited about the potential of our campaign collective to make collective change rather than from a handful of politicians who are working to maintain the status quo.”

Although WOSU “estimated about half of his contributors came from out of state,” after a thorough review of his Annual and Pre-Primary finance reports, 56 percent of his contributors were from out of state and if you include contributors from outside of Central Ohio, but in Ohio, that number jumps to 60 percent.

The WOSU article also includes some “prominent names” as contributors to Mr. Vogel’s campaign. Two prominent newsworthy names not mentioned are those of Dan McCarthy and Laurel Dawson who donated $250 each to Vogel’s campaign.

Central Ohio Rank and file Educators (CORE), a group of unionized educators, are holding a national day of action for May Day, in coordination with local groups and national movements by 50501 and Indivisible. The “Fight for Public Education” action will be at the Ohio Statehouse May 1 4:30-7 pm and prioritizes fair and full funding of Ohio public schools and protections for students and families.

Every year, WGRN 91.9FM radio commemorates their Earth Day Birthday to celebrate their first broadcast in April 2016. This year they partnered with WCRS 92.7/98.3FM community radio to hold a special celebration at El Vaquero with food, drinks, an awards ceremony and more.

The Earth Day Birthday celebration was held Saturday April 19 at the El Vaquero party room, 3230 Olentangy River Road

Awards recipients:

Producer of the Year:
Evan Davis, producer of "Conscious Voices" and "Your Music" and a long-time supporter of community radio in central Ohio. 

Evan comes from a family of artists and social justice activists. His grandparents were charter members of the Pacifica Radio  station KPFK in Los Angeles, where his mother, folk singer Leslie Zak, was an occasional guest on the children's music show, Half Way Down The Stairs. As a child he attended numerous protests against the Viet Nam War, and would later organize protests in Columbus against the US war on Iraq.

Watch video here

Columbus celebrated the 55th Anniversary of Earth Day on Sunday, April 27, for the first time at Scioto Audubon Metro Park on the Whittier Peninsula.  

Although the statement that “power grows out of the barrel of a gun” was made by Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong, it’s an idea that, in one form or another, has motivated a great many people, from the members of teenage street gangs to the statesmen of major nations.

The rising spiral of world military spending provides a striking example of how highly national governments value armed forces. In 2024, the nations of the world spent a record $2.72 trillion on expanding their vast military strength, an increase of 9.4 percent from the previous year. It was the tenth year of consecutive spending increases and the steepest annual rise in military expenditures since the end of the Cold War.

Faydark’s Lost Empires is Dungeon Synth straight from Columbus via Springfield, Ohio’s Dungeon Synth label Dungeon Deep Records. I don’t know why I was sent Faydark instead of VM.

True Norwegian Black Metal’s author Pete Beste ordered Faydark from Dungeon Deep…

Perhaps Faydark is the Dungeon Deep hit. Dungeon Synth is a genre which I’d like to call Adult Contemporary Black Metal. Dungeon Synth replaces guitars, and screaming with synthesizers.

It isn’t quite that easy to compare dungeon synth with fusion jazz Weather Report or hardcore post-punk turned house deejays. Dungeon Synth orgins are 90’s Black Metal.

Mortiis of Emperor liked Klaus Shulze, early Pink Floyd and German electronic music. Mortis started in metal as a fan of W.A.S.P. with a love of porn star Samantha Fox. I would call Tangerine Dream a maturation from Blackie Lawless. I won’t slut shame Samantha Fox. He wasn’t super technical so electronic music fit his skill set.