Local

Saturday, August 24, 1-5pm
Whetstone Park of Roses Shelter House, 3901 N. High St.

The first Columbus ArborFest, a celebration of the trees, plants, waterways, animals, and insects of Columbus, will be held at Whetstone Park this summer on Saturday, August 24 from 1pm to 5pm. The festival is free to attend and will feature live music, food trucks, local exhibitors, a native plant sale, and activities for adults and children alike.

Use this link to learn more about this event.

Hosted by Clintonville GreenSpot and Green Columbus.

Facebook Event

Dr. Bob Fitrakis and Dan-o Dougan play tunes by some of their favorite local Columbus musicians. Hear Willie Phoenix, Willie Pooch, Donna Mogavero, Ray Fuller, the Royal Crescent Mob, Gathering Stars, Tom Harker the Ukuele Man, Bob Sauls, and Ronald Koal, 

Listen live Fridays, August 23 and 30 at 11pm on WGRN 91.9FM -- or streaming on wgrn.org .
or
Mondays, August 26 and September 2 at 2pm on WCRS 92.7 or 98.3 -- or streaming on wcrsfm.org. 

The City of Columbus, high-end developers, and mining companies have been hoarding local quarries for two centuries. Now one of Columbus’s last remaining quarries – which is not surrounded by high-end development or a fake metro park – will remain a dumpster of sorts, even though a Native American burial mound could be on a small island in the middle of its rain-filled crater.

In the 1800s, thousands of Italian immigrants flooded into the near west side of Columbus to make $1 a day hacking out limestone with pickaxes and were often beaten by their Upper Arlington bosses if they slacked. Many decades later, after the limestone was extracted, the quarries turned into lakes from rainfall, sold to developers, and ringed with high-end developments, such as at Runaway Bay.

Saturday, August 24, 1-5pm, Seafarer’s International Union, 2800 S. High St.

Join the Central Ohio Worker Center and NP [Nicholas Pasquarello] Immigration for the annual celebration honoring the life of Rubén Castilla Herrera! Every year, we gather to celebrate Rubén’s life and his lasting impact on the community on his birthday; August 24. The event will also be a fundraiser for the Central Ohio Worker Center.

Link to Fundraiser: actionnetwork.org/fundraising/annual-celebration-ruben-castilla-herrera-cowc-fundraiser.

All are welcome, including those who were not able to meet Rubén before he passed in 2019. This annual event serves as a place for such people to learn more about Rubén and feel his presence.

Food, made-from-scratch jugos (beverages), and cake will be provided. Parking will be provided on-site. Unfortunately, the building is not handicap accessible.

This article first appeared on the Ohio Capital Journal

As promised, supporters of an anti-gerrymandering amendment have asked the Ohio Supreme Court to intervene regarding language the Ohio Ballot Board approved for the November ballot, saying the language violates the Ohio Constitution.

A brief filed Monday with the state’s highest court cites constitutional provisions that dictate the way in which titles and language can appear on Ohio ballots, according to the court document written by attorneys for Citizens Not Politicians, the authoring group for the redistricting reform.

When you’re hiking through nature, you miss a lot if you’re not paying attention. The same holds true when you’re viewing Good One, the story of a teenage girl’s hike through the Adirondacks with her dad and his best friend.

Seen mostly through the eyes of 17-year-old Sam (Lily Collias), the flick is full of telling moments, but few of them hit you over the head. Instead, writer/director India Donaldson expects you to watch and listen for clues about what Sam is going through.

Fortunately, Collias’s face registers the girl’s most fleeting thoughts, and cinematographer Wilson Cameron’s lens is right there to capture them.  

Taking place over three days, the film follows along as Sam goes on what seems to be a family tradition: an extended hike with her dad, Chris (James Le Gros). They were supposed to be accompanied by both Chris’s friend Matt (Danny McCarthy) and his teenage son, but the son bails out following a last-minute family argument.

This leaves Sam alone with two divorced, middle-aged men whose egos and life experiences sometimes make them difficult traveling companions.

Indivisible Central Ohio Thursday Action Group Meeting
Thursday, August 22, 2024, 12:00 – 1:30 PM
Please join Indivisible Central Ohio for a Zoom with ALL THREE Democratic candidates for Ohio Supreme Court: Justice Donnelly, Justice Stewart, and Judge Forbes! 
Zoom call HERE. 

I stepped out. I jumped on the 1. My 62 dollar, 31 day-pass expired.

I paid 5 for a day pass. Five dollars is  still cheaper than paying for parking. I would visit Kroger soon for my 62 dollar Month COTA pass.

GZA from the Wu-Tang Clan’s concert existed within a short jaunt from my residence. At first discovery of the Wu, if people asked who my favorite Wu-Tang Clan member. I would say, GZA or RZA. In an online quiz, those would be the intellectual Wu members. I don’t have a Wu Favorite anymore. I like everyone in Wu-Tang Clan.

GZA was opening for Sublime with Rome. I’d looked at Sublime’s setlist. Sublime wasn’t playing the only Sublime song I know, KRS-1. During KRS-1,  Sublime details Boogie Down Bronx’s KRS-1 teaching them about Elijah Muhammad, and our countries’ economic disparities.  I hadn’t heard this song until last year. Sublime’s KRS-1 was an epiphany for me.

Wednesday, August 21, 7:30pm
The Go Go bar, 987 N. Fourth St.

The Central Ohio chapter of RESULTS invites you to a Bingo Drag Show at The Go Go bar in Columbus on August 21 for an evening of fun in a supportive and inclusive environment! Please join us to learn more about our advocacy with RESULTS and help us to raise money to support the lifesaving work that we do.

Where: The Go Go bar, 987 N. Fourth St.

Cost: There is no charge to enter, play trivia, or attend the drag performances. Bingo, 50/50 raffle, and beverages available for purchase, and a food truck will be onsite. Gifts to RESULTS at the event or on this web page are tax-deductible and are deeply appreciated!

RSVP: Kindly write Ginnie Vogts at gvogts43@gmail.com if you can join us.

Time banks are popular around the world, and Columbus is lucky enough to have a very active time banking community. Hello, My name is Vilvi Vannak; I am the president of the Care and Share Time Bank (CSTB) -- a time bank based right here in Columbus, Ohio.  

Difficult economic times that see most of us struggling to make ends meet, a general lack of community, and a feeling that our own hard work doesn’t get respect -- all of these things can be helped with time banking! Perhaps you heard the broadcast of Freakonomics on Sunday, August 18, about time banking?  Here is a link to the broadcast: https://youtu.be/wQJVb3EQg50?si=yJiYmvAa9PN7BZf3