Students, community, support teacher fired by church for her sexuality
Over 100 students, alumni of Columbus Bishop Watterson, and community, labor supporters, packed the meeting room of the local Unitarian Church last Saturday, rallying to support beloved 19 year Watterson teacher, Carla Hale, who was fired by the Catholic Diocese for “violating the morality clause.”
Carla had just lost her mother and had returned to work, as a teacher at Bishop Watterson High School, after the funeral. However, instead of the condolences she received from students, staff and other teachers, the administration of that Catholic facility called her in and fired her. The diocese had, they stated, received an “anonymous letter” pointing out that her mother’s obituary stated that she was survived by Carla “& her partner.”
“That is really a disgusting double-standard,” said Bill Clarson, who, with his wife Jane, were just leaving the Unitarian Church. “When you see how they’ve treated the priests who’d molested children, just moving them and covering up, for them to fire a wonderful teacher, who’d done nothing wrong is just plain wrong!”
Carla had just lost her mother and had returned to work, as a teacher at Bishop Watterson High School, after the funeral. However, instead of the condolences she received from students, staff and other teachers, the administration of that Catholic facility called her in and fired her. The diocese had, they stated, received an “anonymous letter” pointing out that her mother’s obituary stated that she was survived by Carla “& her partner.”
“That is really a disgusting double-standard,” said Bill Clarson, who, with his wife Jane, were just leaving the Unitarian Church. “When you see how they’ve treated the priests who’d molested children, just moving them and covering up, for them to fire a wonderful teacher, who’d done nothing wrong is just plain wrong!”
The Dayton (Drone) Development Coalition
Recently, the Free Press ran a story about Jim Leftwich, covering his double-dipping into the public trough, lobbying the Federal Aviation Agency to designate the Dayton-Springfield area as a special testing site for military drones, while simultaneously charging Wright State University a consulting fee. While reporting on his $114,000 per year from the State of Ohio, and $20,000 per month from Wright State and the resultant ethics flap, we did not roll the clock back far enough.
Leftwich has vast connections in the Dayton Aerospace world, built in part by the job he had prior to his getting in on the ground floor of the Kasich administration. Leftwich was previously the CEO of the Dayton Development Coalition, a non-profit job that netted him $257,000 in 2009.
Far from being a civic booster non-profit that works to attract business to the Dayton area, the DDC is a military funded nonprofit powerhouse. It is the sole authorized group to disburse funds granted by the congressional Base Relocation and Closures Commission or BRAC.
Leftwich has vast connections in the Dayton Aerospace world, built in part by the job he had prior to his getting in on the ground floor of the Kasich administration. Leftwich was previously the CEO of the Dayton Development Coalition, a non-profit job that netted him $257,000 in 2009.
Far from being a civic booster non-profit that works to attract business to the Dayton area, the DDC is a military funded nonprofit powerhouse. It is the sole authorized group to disburse funds granted by the congressional Base Relocation and Closures Commission or BRAC.
Is there fracking fraud and lease flipping in Kasich’s Ohio?
The FBI and the state Inspector General’s office are investigating mineral rights lease flipping and falsification of public records in Noble County. Environmentalists claim this is a precursor to massive fracking planned in the rural Ohio area.
One family affected by this are the Bonds. They charge that state officials are harassing them and covering up the theft of gas and mineral leases at the behest of Ohio Governor John Kasich and his quest unleash the forces of fracking on rural Ohio.
The investigation focuses on Form 7, a public record that is filed with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to identify who actually owns the mineral rights under the surface land. Each Form 7 is supposed to be accompanied by a mineral lease recorded at the County Recorder’s office.
One family affected by this are the Bonds. They charge that state officials are harassing them and covering up the theft of gas and mineral leases at the behest of Ohio Governor John Kasich and his quest unleash the forces of fracking on rural Ohio.
The investigation focuses on Form 7, a public record that is filed with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to identify who actually owns the mineral rights under the surface land. Each Form 7 is supposed to be accompanied by a mineral lease recorded at the County Recorder’s office.
OSP Prisoners Join Hunger Strike in Solidarity
Tues April 16th, 2013, Youngstown, OH - At least twenty one prisoners at Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) refused all three meals on Monday, April 15th in solidarity with the four Lucasville Uprising prisoners who've been on hunger strike since April 11th.
Warden David Bobby says no additional prisoners are officially hunger-striking, because none have refused nine consecutive meals, but he said numerous prisoners have refused meals off and on during the hunger strike.
The four prisoners who are on hunger strike are Greg Curry, Siddique Abdullah Hasan, Jason Robb and Bomani Shakur. All have been held in solitary confinement since receiving convictions after the Lucasville Uprising in 1993. They are demanding media be granted access to sit-down interviews with them.
The warden also met with the prisoners on Monday to hear their demands, but has not begun negotiations with them. When asked, Warden Bobby said that he does not have final say regarding media access. The decision is made by Director Gary Mohr and the Office of Communications at ODRC Central Office.
Warden David Bobby says no additional prisoners are officially hunger-striking, because none have refused nine consecutive meals, but he said numerous prisoners have refused meals off and on during the hunger strike.
The four prisoners who are on hunger strike are Greg Curry, Siddique Abdullah Hasan, Jason Robb and Bomani Shakur. All have been held in solitary confinement since receiving convictions after the Lucasville Uprising in 1993. They are demanding media be granted access to sit-down interviews with them.
The warden also met with the prisoners on Monday to hear their demands, but has not begun negotiations with them. When asked, Warden Bobby said that he does not have final say regarding media access. The decision is made by Director Gary Mohr and the Office of Communications at ODRC Central Office.
Thousands support Medicaid expansion in Ohio!
An emotional crowd, estimated at over 2,500, packed the statehouse grounds on Friday in Columbus, Ohio, calling on legislators to support the expansion of Medicaid proposed under "ObamaCare," (Affordable Care Act). The expansion has been supported by Ohio’s conservative Republican Governor John Kasich, but it is now being blocked by legislators from his own party.
Enduring a cold, constant rain, the large crowd roared after each speaker; "Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, health care works!"
Enduring a cold, constant rain, the large crowd roared after each speaker; "Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, health care works!"
Four Lucasville uprising prisoners on hunger strike
April 11th, 2013, Youngstown, OH- Four prisoners housed at Ohio State Penitentiary began refusing food today. Greg Curry, Siddique Abdullah Hasan, Jason Robb and Bomani Shakur, who have been housed at OSP since it opened, are demanding that media outlets be allowed to come for sit-down on-camera interviews with them. In a recorded announcement, Bomani Shakur described the hunger strike as a "protest [of] the state's unfair and unreasonable refusal to grant us access to the media... I am an innocent man. This is injustice, the state of Ohio is trying to kill me."
Numerous news sources have recently contacted the prisoners because of their involvement in the Lucasville Uprising twenty years ago. The hunger strike was timed with the anniversary of the uprising, along with a conference focused on taking another look at what happened in 1993.
Numerous news sources have recently contacted the prisoners because of their involvement in the Lucasville Uprising twenty years ago. The hunger strike was timed with the anniversary of the uprising, along with a conference focused on taking another look at what happened in 1993.
"No cuts to Social Security" say Ohio Retirees
Meeting in Columbus, Ohio on 4/9/13, the 300 delegates to the Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans (ARA) greeted the president’s announcement that his proposed budget would propose cuts to Social Security with outrage!
A proposal that Ohio ARA support a petition against the Ryan budget was changed to a petition defending Social Security from any cuts. That resolution was adopted unanimously.
“Nobody likes that Ryan budget,” stated Keith Bailey, IUE retiree from Dayton, “but we aren’t anyone’s pawn. We don’t care who proposes it, if they want to cut the most successful federal program in our nation’s history, that didn’t add one penny to the deficient, then we’ll stand up together and tell them---No Way!”
The resolution opposing any cuts to Social Security also stated that the cap on Social Security taxes, now at $113,000, should be eliminated, so that the wealthy pay their fair share.
A proposal that Ohio ARA support a petition against the Ryan budget was changed to a petition defending Social Security from any cuts. That resolution was adopted unanimously.
“Nobody likes that Ryan budget,” stated Keith Bailey, IUE retiree from Dayton, “but we aren’t anyone’s pawn. We don’t care who proposes it, if they want to cut the most successful federal program in our nation’s history, that didn’t add one penny to the deficient, then we’ll stand up together and tell them---No Way!”
The resolution opposing any cuts to Social Security also stated that the cap on Social Security taxes, now at $113,000, should be eliminated, so that the wealthy pay their fair share.
Know drones: Jim Leftwich has the Wright and secret stuff
On the front page of the April 7 Sunday New York Times, the paper revealed that there was a secret deal between the military government of Pakistan and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to allow U.S. predator drones to violate the Pakistan’s airspace in exchange for assassinating enemies of their state.
Now Ohio has its own drone secrets. The state’s Development Services Agency is refusing to disclose what Jim Leftwich did as a state employee, claiming that his work for the state is a “trade secret.” Leftwich was paid $114,850 over a 13-month period to lobby the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) to designate the Dayton-Springfield area as a special testing site for unmanned aerial vehicles.
The Dayton-Springfield corridor has been infamous to critics of the military industrial complex since the end of World War II. Wright Patterson Air Force Base was the site of a well-known foreign technology division that was involved in the reverse engineering of Soviet planes and weapons. Both Wright Patterson and Columbus’ Battelle Memorial Institute employed former Nazi scientists under the covert "Operation Paperclip."
Now Ohio has its own drone secrets. The state’s Development Services Agency is refusing to disclose what Jim Leftwich did as a state employee, claiming that his work for the state is a “trade secret.” Leftwich was paid $114,850 over a 13-month period to lobby the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) to designate the Dayton-Springfield area as a special testing site for unmanned aerial vehicles.
The Dayton-Springfield corridor has been infamous to critics of the military industrial complex since the end of World War II. Wright Patterson Air Force Base was the site of a well-known foreign technology division that was involved in the reverse engineering of Soviet planes and weapons. Both Wright Patterson and Columbus’ Battelle Memorial Institute employed former Nazi scientists under the covert "Operation Paperclip."
Job Opening - Petition Circulator
The Columbus Coalition for Responsive Government is looking for paid petition circulators to go door-to-door in Columbus neighborhoods seeking signatures from registered voters for our petitions. We are a citizens' group trying to get two pieces of legislation on the ballot for a vote: 1) we believe the people of Columbus should approve or reject the bailout of Nationwide Arena, and 2) we believe there should be campaign finance laws in place for local elections as the voters approved in 1994.
You pick the neighborhood you want to work in. We provide you a "walk list" with the names and addresses of the registered voters on each street, and two clipboards and some talking points. You pick the days and time you want to work (likely evenings and weekends, when people are most likely to be home), and go out and get signatures. You bring the signatures back to us on Monday, and we pay you on Friday afternoon.
You pick the neighborhood you want to work in. We provide you a "walk list" with the names and addresses of the registered voters on each street, and two clipboards and some talking points. You pick the days and time you want to work (likely evenings and weekends, when people are most likely to be home), and go out and get signatures. You bring the signatures back to us on Monday, and we pay you on Friday afternoon.
Six million member Sportman’s event highlights conservation project
As I rushed through a cold drizzle to get to the Union Sportsman’s Alliance (USA) dinner in Columbus, I was stopped by a huge line snaking around the building outside. Assuming it was the ticket line, I waited, got wet, only to find out that the line was not the ticket line at all, but was a line to get pictures taken with Daniel Lee Martin and Julie McQueen, hosts and stars of the award winning union sportsmen/women TV show ‘Brotherhood Outdoors.
The Pipefitter’s Union Hall was packed, over 500 folks filing in for what was the eighth in a series of Union Sportsmen’s Alliance public events. The USA now has over 6 million members, making it “larger than the NRA and next two largest sportsmen’s organizations combined,” according to USA National Director Fred Myers. Local media were present, along with a contingent from ‘Field & Stream’ magazine. The Ohio AFL-CIO had just voted to become a sponsor of USA, www.unionsportsmen.org at its recent state convention.
Dave Caldwell, President of the local AFL-CIO labor federation said that the endorsement is couldn’t have come soon enough for him.
The Pipefitter’s Union Hall was packed, over 500 folks filing in for what was the eighth in a series of Union Sportsmen’s Alliance public events. The USA now has over 6 million members, making it “larger than the NRA and next two largest sportsmen’s organizations combined,” according to USA National Director Fred Myers. Local media were present, along with a contingent from ‘Field & Stream’ magazine. The Ohio AFL-CIO had just voted to become a sponsor of USA, www.unionsportsmen.org at its recent state convention.
Dave Caldwell, President of the local AFL-CIO labor federation said that the endorsement is couldn’t have come soon enough for him.