State

Ohio’s power plants rank second in the nation in emitting carbon pollution, according to recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data. Private investor-owned utilities such as First Energy and American Electric Power operate the five leading pollution producers in Ohio that account for 50 percent of all the emissions in the Buckeye State. Just prior to the gathering at the 19th Conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 200 Ohioans rallied in front of the Ohio Statehouse demanding immediate action on global warming. The demonstration organized by Environment Ohio urged support for President Barack Obama’s plan to regulate carbon pollution at major U.S. power plants. “Our message today is clear. The time is now to act on climate change,” said Christian Adams, a state organizer with Environment Ohio. “Global warming threatens our health, our environment and our children’s future. Ohioans support President Obama’s plan to clean up the biggest carbon polluters.” The Obama plan directs the EPA to propose new standards for carbon pollution emissions for all existing and future power plants. U.S.

On the 31st of July, Yellow Springs Ohio was the site of a major police operation that involved multiple agencies. The resulting standoff left one resident dead from police gunfire and residents with serious questions about police conduct. Ohio Attorney General Mike Dewine took the opportunity on November 12th to deliver a state Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) report and push for new mental health laws and greater police funding. Questions from the deceased's family were not answered and the press conference ended abruptly. The BCI report, which has not been released in full, claims to have interviewed over 80 residents of Yellow Springs regarding the shootout and death of Paul Schenck in July. Several Yellow Springs residents have declined to give statements to the Columbus Free Press, claiming the police would not take their statements and alleging police harassment and surveillance since their attempts to go on record.

With a stroke of his pen on November 6, 2013, Ohio Governor John Kasich demonstrated his utter contempt for democracy. Fearing that Ohio Libertarian Party nominee Charlie Earl, who has strong Tea Party support, would cut into his conservative base, Kasich outlawed all third parties in Ohio for the 2014 election. The offending law is Senate Bill 193, which passed last week amidst controversy and turmoil at the Statehouse. It has been dubbed the “John Kasich Re-election Protection Act” for obvious reasons. The ever-arrogant Ohio Senator Bill Seiz (R-Cincinnati) introduced the draconian law the same day the Libertarians publicly announced Earl’s nomination. Kasich has always been a bit contemptuous of competitive elections. Other than his first campaign, most of his electoral victories were landslides aided by gerrymandered districts and an incredibly safe noncompetitive seat in the 1990’s.

As if they haven’t caused enough havoc by destroying social programs, pensions, women’s health and voting rights – our multi-tasking state legislators now want to line their pockets while they line our landfills with radioactive waste. Ohio’s neo-conservative Republican Governor John Kasich, a founding member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), has come up with another way to frack the people of Ohio with this “beneficial use” scam. If you wanted to suck up to the fracking industry and transform Ohio into a haven of radioactive waste dumps, the best place to hide it is in the budget. The Ohio budget bill (SB 59) passed in June gives the Ohio Department of Natural Resources sole authority over the radioactive content of fracking wastes, along with the most of the toxic sludge that the industry brings up from deep underground. This squeezes-out other regulatory agencies like the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Department of Health.

While the votes of politicians are recorded, even when they slip through an obscure clause in the budget, the question of who influenced them remains. Who poured them the glass of tainted water to wash this poison bill down our throats with the budget? While it is not technically correct to use campaign contributions and bribes interchangeably, there is a tendency to contribute to politicians who will support one’s position. A leading recipient of fracking money in Ohio is House Speaker William Batchelder. The cushions of Batchelder's house seat are stuffed with a considerable amount of fracking money. Since 2006, he has received $44,293 from the Ohio Oil and Natural Gas Association, an industry lobbying group. The fracking industry also supported him directly with $55,000 from FirstEnergy Corp, $26,850 from NISOURCE, $26,350 from Dominion, $16,250 from Duke Energy, $12,500 from Chesapeake Energy and $35,750 from American Electric Power.

Diebold: the controversial manufacturer of voting and ATM machines, whose name conjures up the demons of Ohio’s 2004 presidential election irregularities, is now finally under indictment for a “worldwide pattern of criminal conduct.” Federal prosecutors filed charges against Diebold, Inc. on Tuesday, October 22, 2013 alleging that the North Canton, Ohio-based security and manufacturing company bribed government officials and falsified documents to obtain business in China, Indonesia and Russia. Diebold has agreed to pay $50 million to settle the two criminal counts against it. This is not the first time Diebold’s been accused of bribery. In 2005, the Free Press exposed that Matt Damschroder, Republican chair of the Franklin County of Elections in 2004, reported that a key Diebold operative told Damschroder he made a $50,000 contribution to then-Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell's “political interests” while Blackwell was evaluating Diebold's bids for state purchasing contracts. Damschroder admitted to personally accepting a $10,000 check from former Diebold contractor Pasquale “Patsy” Gallina made out to the Franklin County Republican Party.

On an ink-stained night in October, 1973, sheriffs near Zanesville witnessed three pulsating globes over a local graveyard on the edge of town. UFOs hovering over graveyards sounds like a bad plot line to one of the countless number of abysmal horror films made in the last decade. But 40 years ago this month, and just days before thousands of kids flooded the streets for Halloween, the truth was way stranger than fiction as a UFO wave swept across the Midwest in October of 1973. Even the Ohio governor at the time, John J. Gilligan, had a close encounter with an “amber-colored vertical craft” for 30 minutes as he was driving with his wife. “I saw one the other night, so help me,” said the shaken Gilligan during a press conference that was cited by Walter Cronkite during the national news. “I'm absolutely serious. I saw this. It was not a plane. It was not a bird. It didn't wear a cape. And I really don't know what it was.” Gilligan, a liberal Democrat, was voted out of office the following year. Not for claiming he saw a UFO chasing his car in the dead of night – but for implementing Ohio’s income tax.

Over the millennia, the often deified and sometimes demonized Cannabis plant has taken a circuitous route from friend to foe and back. Scholars differ on when mankind first discovered the medicinal mysteries contained within Cannabis. Some trace usage back to 4000 BC in Central Asia. Charred seeds found in an ancient Romanian burial site suggest inhalation of the herb's potent and pungent smoke in third millennia BC. In 1500 BC, it was mentioned the Altharva Veda, one of four ancient holy books. A basket of seeds and leaf fragments dating back 2,800 years was discovered in China where Cannabis graced the pharmacopeia of emperor Chen-Nong.

How does one end up living in an “Earth Ship?” Well, if you are Jay and Annie Warmke, it starts with the impending birth of your grandchild. In 1993, the Warmkes purchased 38 acres in Muskingum County, in the foothills of the central Appalachian mountains to develop a retreat for their extended family. After the land purchase, Annie was listening to a radio show and heard the words of architect Michael Reynolds outlining the Earth Ship house concept. Their Earth Ship is a house built of waste products such as old tires and bottles, as well as what nature provides with straw, clay and mud. Annie became a contractor and project manager for what is now their home and a tourist attraction, called Blue Rock Station which hosts 20,000 visitors a year. Annie likes to tell tour visitors how she arranged for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to haul in 1200 tires from an illegal dump to create the foundation and walls of their family abode and other buildings on their property. The outer wall of the Earth Ship is buried, well, under the earth, and the walls are made of tires and bottles covered with mud.