Local

Celebrate Thanksgiving in June - “Songs of Gratitude” Concert with Bill Cohen

WHEN: Saturday June 8 at 7 pm, doors open 6:30pm
WHERE: Glenwood Methodist Church 2833 Valleyview Drive at Hague 43204

The Free Press is inviting you to a musical event for our Second Saturday Salon. All are welcome, all ages.

Friends. Freedom. Food. Music. Parents. Children. Pets. Laughter. Emotions.

Join us at Glenwood Methodist Church for a concert with Free Press award honoree Bill Cohen and his musical friends, Joe Lambert and Joanne Blum.

With piano, guitar, and voices, they will sing well-known songs from decades ago, linked to a wide variety of folks --- John Denver, Bing Crosby, Phil Ochs, Louis Armstrong, and Don McLean. Even Johnny Appleseed, Jiminy Cricket, and the TV show, “Golden Girls.”
Inspirational and wise sayings about gratitude will also be part of the mix. Because when we’re thankful, we feel good. And we’re more forgiving, more charitable, and more energized to pitch in and help make this a better world.

Admission: The church is asking for minimal donations at the door --- just $5 a person.

Friday, June 7 @ 3pm, Columbus Arts Festival “Word Is Art” Stage, Bicentennial Park

West African griots are storytellers, memory-keepers, and historians of families, communities, and societies. On June 7, Cleveland’s Papa Assane M’baye, founder of TamTam Magic, will sample this oral tradition, with drummers, before a live audience at the Columbus Arts Festival. This event is co-hosted by the Ohio Immigrant Alliance and Columbus Free Press.

Contributors to the Ohio Migration Anthology will read from their work, and the Columbus Free Press and Ohio Immigrant Alliance will invite the audience to additional community storytelling opportunities. 

Central Ohio Starbucks workers at Neverland Drive and East Broad filed a petition for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) today, joining 18 other Starbucks stores across the country that also filed this week. The massive wave of union filings comes just days after Starbucks Workers United members wrapped a second round of national bargaining with Starbucks where the two parties continued to make significant progress toward a foundational framework for store contracts.

“If I go to my manager for help, nothing happens. If we all go together, Starbucks has no choice but to listen – that’s why we’re unionizing,” said Ash Wearly (he/him), a barista at the East Broad store (88 East Broad St.).

“This pride month we are showing up in solidarity with our partners who have paved the way for us. We are filing because we deserve a living wage, a safe and dignified work environment, and to be respected by Starbucks. We love our partners and want to make our store and this company a better place for all of us,” said Katherine Butler (she/her), a shift supervisor of eight years working at the Neverland Drive store (21 Neverland Dr. in Lewis Center).

Leah is joined by ANDREA MILLER of the Center for Common Ground, RAY MCCLENDON of Communities United, MAYA VAN ROSSUM of the Green Amendments campaign, and HOLLY MOSHER of Why Do You Vote, who shows us a wonderful video of folks explain to us why, in fact, they vote.

KENNY BRUNO chimes in with cogent questions about the impacts of Gaza and other key issues in the upcoming election.

DENNIS BERNSTEIN, renowned host of KPFA/Pacifica’s Flashpoints, tells us about the great LARRY BENSKY. Emmy-winning DAVID SALTMAN adds to the eulogy, as does KPFK Chair Tatanka Bricca, who also underscores the need to become a voting member of the Pacifica Radio Network.

VINNIE DE STEFANO updates us on the Julian Assange case.

WENDI LEDERMAN urges us to think about Gaza and how it might affect the upcoming election.

RICK GOODWELL urges us to make sure we and our neighbors are, in fact, registered to vote.

RAY LUTZ updates us on the crisis in our voting machines.

PAUL NEWMAN, MIKE HERSCH and MYLA RESON get into the struggle of a southern high school and statue-defenders intent on being named for Confederate traitors.

That’s right! And it turns out that it’s the Canadian Pension Plan who owns 98 percent of Encino Acquisition Partners who were awarded the rights to frack Valley Run Wildlife Area and Zepernick Wildlife Area in Ohio! Now, Canadians are nice people, but we must say - “Stop destroying our environment!”

This summer, we’re turning up the heat to demand an end to the genocide in Gaza and to Free Palestine! It's time to educate, agitate, and mobilize our communities like never before. Inspired by the courageous campus encampments that have swept across colleges nationwide, CODEPINK is thrilled to announce the Gaza Summer School!

Join us for a transformative, summer-long online Zoom education series that will empower you to become a powerful advocate for Palestine. Through bi-weekly classes, you’ll gain in-depth knowledge and vital skills to make a real impact. Led by dynamic leaders, each session kicks off with a 30-minute deep dive into the history and current realities of Palestine, followed by a dynamic 30-minute skills training to arm you with the tools to drive change in your community.

Tuesday, June 4, 6pm
Columbus Main Library, 96 S. Grant St.

An evening of solidarity with Gaza. Film screening and panel discussion. 

Monday, June 3 – June 10, 2024

SOS is an empowering story of successful community action to shut down leaking reactors. But then they discover horrific amounts of high-level radioactive waste lethal for millions of years are being placed in thin canisters only 108 ft. from the rising sea. Criminal mismanagement of radioactive waste is a syndrome at all 93 reactors in the U.S. and beyond. Will safer alternatives be taken in time?  

The film will be available at no charge for video on demand viewing anytime from June 3 through June 10 thanks to an educational grant from the Grassroots Network of the Sierra Club to the Nuclear Free Team at this website.  

In politics, context is crucial. 

 To truly appreciate the recent decision by Ireland, Spain and Norway to recognize the state of Palestine, the subject has to be placed in proper context. 

 On November 15, 1988, Yasser Arafat, then Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, declared Palestine as an independent state.

 The proclamation took place within important and unique contexts: 

FrackStock, a celebration of science journalist Justin Nobel's new book
exposing health risks gas and oil workers are exposed to from working with
radioactive toxic waste will be held Sunday, June 2 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the
First Unitarian Universalist Church, 93 W. Weisheimer Road in Columbus.

The alcohol-free event features free food, folk, Celtic and blues music, and
presentations by Ohio organizations dedicated to preserving Ohio's
environment and phasing out fossil fuels.

To register for a free ticket, visit https://bit.ly/4byaDSY.

"Woodstock came about because of the Viet Nam War and young people's desire
to express love and peace with music," said Carolyn Harding of Grassroot
Ohio, an event organizer. "FrackStock operates on the same premise-love,
Justin and music."

Nobel spent seven years traveling eastern and southeastern Ohio, West