Local

Hour 1

We open with a beautiful poem from our Laureate MIMI GERMAN.

We then explore the origins of the 1963 Atomic Test Ban with the tragic tale of the premature death of Patrick Kennedy, the son of President John Kennedy and First Lady Jackie.

This terrible loss led directly to JFK agreeing with Nikita Khrushchev to ban nuclear explosions in the atmosphere.

We are then honored by the genius of ROBERT ALVAREZ, JOE MANGANO and KARL GROSSMAN on critical issues of radiation and health.

We celebrate a vital op ed on this by CHRISTIE BRINKLEY in the Kansas City Star, with McClatchy syndication.

We take a deep dive into the legendary “Baby Teeth” study, and Project 2025’s insane push for more nuke testing.

We hear from PAUL NEWMAN warning about Christian Nationalists who want an Armageddon to fulfill Biblical prophecy.

A spiritual contribution comes from LYNN MYSTIC-HEALER, and from MELISSA, who asks “Is this even legal?”

From LISA WHITE we hear about the movement in Fresno for post-nuclear sanity.

“We affirm that migration is a basic act of being human.” So begins a letter to state and local officials, signed by 80 institutions and 2,500 Ohioans from 69 counties. “Our state is made better, stronger and more vibrant by the countless contributions of immigrants and refugees.” List of counties is at the end of this press release.

The federal government has unleashed an assault on people who came to Ohio to contribute and take care of their families. Ohioans expect elected officials to lead from a place of compassion and common sense, instead. The petition lays out the actions they want Ohio city and county officials to take:

Despite spring break in full swing at campuses across Ohio, including the Ohio State University, Ohio University, Cleveland State University, and Kent State University,  dozens of students gathered at the Ohio Statehouse to testify against Senate Bill 1, a controversial higher education bill currently under consideration in the Ohio House. The bill would consolidate university governance in the hands of the government, censor what students can and can’t learn, gut our professors’ labor rights, and ban any program, office, or scholarship deemed to be “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” 

At noon Wednesday, March 12, a volunteer with Indivisible Central Ohio will present a staffer in Senator Moreno’s Columbus office with the below attached invitation requesting the Senator's attendance and participation at their town hall on March 22nd at 2PM.

At 12:30 PM, Ohio Progressive Action Leaders (OPAL) and Indivisible Central Ohio will host their weekly Wednesdays at Bernie's protest rally outside of Senator Moreno’s Columbus office to demand the Senator attend (or hold his own) in-person town hall during the upcoming Senate recess.

As Trump’s largest campaign donor Elon Musk takes a chainsaw to our federal government and wreaks havoc on Ohio and our country, Ohioans want their Senators to explain why they have failed to stand up for their constituents. Ohio citizens are frustrated by their inability to convey their concerns and get answers from either of their United States Senators. Senator Husted has yet to open a single office in Ohio, and Senator Moreno hasn’t shown his face publicly in the state. 

WHEN:

Approximately 100 students and community members gathered outside OSU Hillel Wednesday, March 5 in protest of former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who was set to speak to students and members of the hillel community. The demonstration was part of a growing wave of opposition against Bennett’s U.S. university tour, which has faced backlash at multiple campuses. Just a day prior, more than 200 students at Columbia University protested his appearance.Then a day after the OSU protest, over 100 protested his appearance at the Harvard Business School on March 6, 2025. Naftali Bennett is currently on a U.S. university tour, organized by Hillel International’s Teach-In Tour 2025, in an effort to shape narratives about Israel and its policies amid growing student activism. His presence on college campuses comes at a time when student movements are increasingly challenging Israeli state policies and advocating for Palestinian rights.

Similar to local Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) offices and programs, Columbus’s 21 area commissions could someday be shuttered by those in power, several housing advocates and activists told the Free Press.

While fundamentally different, DEI offices and area commissions share similar missions: They are pro-people by giving one and all a chance to speak out against those who control the strings and pocketbooks.

From the Near East to the Hilltop to the Far South Side to the Far West Side, these 21 area commissions are resident-based and strictly recommending bodies, they have no legal authority. But they have a consequential purpose: To represent their neighborhood(s) when City officials try to force unwanted development into their community. Commissions are also committed to preservation and enhancement of parks, streets and traffic. And during this time of unprecedented growth, logic suggests these commissions are needed more than ever.

Tuesday, March 11, all day

March 11, 2025 is the 14th anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. 

It's time for our annual boycott of grid electricity as a protest against nuclear power and to remember the victims of the Fukushima meltdowns, past, present, and future. March 11 is the 14th anniversary of the nuclear disaster that contaminated so much of Japan, rendering parts uninhabitable forever. That is a fate that could await any community near a nuclear plant anywhere in the world.

That's why, for the 24 hours of March 11, Fukushima Day, people will be boycotting grid power as much as possible. There are four Levels, from simple conservation through to putting more power on the grid using solar or wind than your household uses that day.

The March 2025 Free Press Salon was held over Zoom on March 8. This is what happened.  

Link to salon video

Free Press Board member Mark Stansbery started out the March 2025 salon by wishing everyone a happy International Women’s Day and relating a message from our friend Yurii Sheliazhenko in Ukraine, highlighting the day’s Ukrainian roots and connection to anti-war efforts.

Sunday, March 9, 2025, 3:00 – 4:30 PM
RSVP for the location and details.
Join Never Again Action's field director, Shayna Solomon, to explore what fighting for immigrant rights can look like in Central Ohio, to learn about Central Ohio's new Community Response Hub, and to identify what you and your community can do.

Let me start by saying that I am not a doctor. I have more experience than many in this particular area, but my words are based on real life experience and not science. My trainings are long behind me. I do check in for new thoughts and techniques, but i have yet to lose anyone and quite a few were flatlined when I started.

The opioid epidemic, as it has been named, has touched pretty much everyone in one way or another. I am one of them. I have reversed 23 overdoses so far. Two of those were dogs that got into a stash.

I used fentanyl for quite a while. I didn’t particularly want to. I liked smoking heroin tar on foil. Sadly, fentanyl became so pervasive that it was economically and practically impossible to avoid. Many people fall in this way. Prescription pills are so expensive, and frequently fake, that sustaining a habit is impossible except for the very wealthy. Even the wealthy will eventually get a pressie (fake pills) if  they aren’t fastidious about testing.