Local

Tuesday, August 20, 2024, 7:30 PM
Join the zoom meeting here. 
The purpose of this zoom is to enable members and allies to make BDS-type divestment and investment decisions. This occurs, as always, on the 3rd Tuesday of the month, August 20th at 7:30pm EST.  Sloane Ortel (She/her), Chief Investment Officer for Ethical Capital Investment Collaborative will present on how one can invest ethically. She is also available to present follow-up trainings and zooms, and to review investment portfolios. 

Monday, August 19, 2024, 7:00 PM
Register here. 

You’ve likely already heard that the Ohio Ballot Board – chaired by Sec. of State Frank LaRose– approved inaccurate, confusing, and misleading ballot language for the Citizens Not Politicians amendment, November 2024’s Issue 1.  

September is National Sickle Cell Month, and the Faith Thomas Foundation is excited to announce that we will be celebrating our 11th Annual Red Diamond Gala (RDG). The evening will include Hors d’oeuvre, program, dinner, silent auction, cash bar and music.

The Red Diamond Gala (RDG) will be held on Friday, September 13, 2024, at Creekside Conference and Event Center located at 101 Mill St #300, Gahanna, OH 43230.

Our theme this year is “The Gift of Life.”

This is a fundraising event that will raise awareness of sickle cell disease and to help us improve upon the quality of care and programs provided to sickle cell patients.

This event will benefit The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC) – James, Nationwide Children Hospital, and the Faith Thomas Foundation.

Registration closes on Saturday, September 7, 2024. 

You can purchase your tickets online at,

Columbus Mayor Andy Ginther claimed stolen data from the city’s database was encrypted or corrupted and likely unusable to any criminals, along with his Deputy Chief of Staff Jennifer Fening stating, “There is no evidence of ratepayers, or the general public were exposed.” And when asked by a local television reporter if he lied earlier this week about the extent of his knowledge of the information that had been leaked, and he gave a resounding "No" when it was noticed that his nose grew about four inches.

Friday, Mayor Ginther released the following statement: “To protect the community from the recent cyber attack on the city’s IT infrastructure, the City of Columbus is providing notification and offering free Experian credit monitoring to all residents and impacted individuals. Anyone who has shared their personal information with the city or municipal court may be impacted and can sign up for two years of free Experian monitoring, which includes $1 million of protection against fraud and identity theft.”  

Saturday Aug 17, 7pm
Old First Presbyterian Church, 1101 Bryden Rd.

 Topic of effective and peaceful communication. Julie Hart from Ohio Dominican will lead a workshop on non-violent communication starting at 7 pm.

A live music bill featuring creative instriumental & electronic music- courtesy of local non-profit Fuse Factory, will follow around 9 pm. No fee for the workshop, but donations are welcomed to cover our costs and if you plan to stick around for the entire music program, there is a suggested donation. Light snacks and beverages will be served.

Old First is at the corner of Bryden and Ohio, and there is ample parking available on Bryden. Hope to see a lot of you out for this! 

It took the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) just 22 minutes Monday to rubber stamp fracking under Keen Wildlife Area and four Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) parcels.

The four-member, unelected commission appointed by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine ignored shouted questions and concerns from Save Ohio Parks audience members about the harms of fracking under Ohio’s state parks and public lands, and did not allow the public to speak either before the meeting or afterward.

EOG Resources, Inc. of Houston, Texas was selected to frack 84 acres of Keen Wildlife Area in Harrison County. The lease bonus is expected to bring in $211,650 to the state, plus royalties of 12.5 percent and an additional amount of 5.5 percent of production, according to an Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) press release.

The ongoing debate over redistricting in Ohio highlights a critical issue within the democratic process: the manipulation of ballot language by people in power to influence voter perception. This tactic is part of a larger national trend where biased ballot language is used as a tactic to defeat citizen-led initiatives. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is attempting to exploit the Citizens Not Politicians ballot language in an attempt to consolidate power and limit democracy.

On Thursday, civil rights leaders and advocacy groups released the following statements to the media condemning the biased ballot language released by LaRose: 

“Public service should be a calling, where elected officials honor the sacred trust instilled in them, but the language presented to the Ohio Ballot Board on redistricting is another sad example of politicians abusing their power.  This is another obvious attempt by Secretary of State LaRose to use his power to mislead voters, and as civil rights organizations, we believe the public will not buy it.” – Bria Bennett, Communications Director of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative.

WHEN:   Sunday September 1st, 4 pm – 5:30 pmWHERE: Columbus Mennonite Church, 35 Oakland Park Avenue, Columbus 43214.(Free parking along Oakland Park and in nearby lots, owned by North Broadway Methodist Church)
Let’s put some meaning back into the Labor Day holiday this year by singing the praises  -- literally -- of all the workers who make our lives richer by doing their everyday jobs--- farmers, truckers, factory workers, teachers, doctors, white collar workers, miners, and more.

Join Bill Cohen as he sings songs made famous by a wide variety of folks: Woody Guthrie, Sam Cooke, Dolly Parton, Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, Alabama, James Taylor, etc.

Powerful vocal harmonies will be added by veteran Columbus musicians Phil Hart and Teresa Schleifer.

Plus, we’ll recall how, decades ago, labor unions won historic reforms that many of us take for granted today – the 8-hour workday, improved workplace safety, a guaranteed minimum wage, and an end to child labor.

Since July 18, Columbus Mayor Andy Ginther has downplayed the severity of the city’s data base being hacked. He has basically told the media and public not to worry. Everything is hunky-dory and under control. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

A mayor’s spokesperson stated, “City officials have been ordered by someone not to disclose publicly the totality of computer outage or its cause.” He waited weeks before sending City employees with credit monitoring information. In late July, several Columbus Police officers contacted Fraternal Ordr of Poice (FOP) officials claiming that their data may have been compromised, including retired police officers. And the number of officers “continues to multiply.”

Thursday, August 15, 2024, 3:00 PM
Webinar

You’ve probably heard about Project 2025 – which produced a 900+-page compendium of extremist proposals put out by the right-wing Heritage Foundation (although the head of the project left the Heritage Foundation after Project 2025 proved intensely unpopular). So why should you know about these plans? Because they have been developed by many with connections to the former Trump Administration and are similar to certain proposals before Congress now. Whoever wins the election, these proposals to shrink human needs programs may emerge – and we have to be ready.