In the past this had been a youtube opinion series covering issues pertinent to inequality. Now, it returns – in a podcast-style format – for a weekly rant/review on current events impacting the 99%.

Enjoy.

formerRecent bullet points of local information you might want to know, but may have missed:

• A change in Ohio’s gun laws went into effect recently which will permit gun owners to carry on college campuses and daycares – unless objected to by the institution – and to store their weapons in a vehicle in a parking lot.
• Senator Sherrod Brown’s daughter Emily spoke at the Licking County Democratic Club’s 2017 FDR dinner, saying that people voted for Trump because they, too, are afraid of being left behind. The keynote speaker – and candidate for State Attorney General – echoed this sentiment.
• At another Democratic Party dinner, State Supreme Court Justice Mike O’Neill teased the thought of a gubernatorial campaign, indicating that he had been a strong Bernie supporter, blamed the party’s losses last year on the lack of a message and willingness to stand up for anything beyond what consultants advise. He wrapped up his commentary with a call to legalize marijuana, release non-violent marijuana offenders from jail, and to invest the savings and boosted revenue in the development of a top-notch mental health program.
• After former 4^th Ward Councilwoman Rhonda Loomis dropped her bid for her old seat, the Licking County Republicans replaced her on the ballot with a man named Mark Labutis. This alone is not controversial, however, it is interesting to note that his campaign manager will be former popular 4^th Ward Councilman John Uible while his campaign treasurer will be Cheri Hottinger, former leader of the Licking County Chamber of Commerce. It indicates that the local Republicans see this particular seat as a must-win, so they are preparing to pull off all-stops to regain it.
• In the city of Newark, the Charter Review Commission rejected – by a vote of 1-4 – a proposal to adopt nonpartisan elections, opting instead to punt the issue to city council in the hopes that the elected officials will form a charter review study group with nonpartisan elections as a stand-alone.

(Edit: Previous version wrongly stated that Mrs. Hottinger was the “current” leader of the Chamber of Commerce)

Recent bullet points of local information you might want to know, but may have missed:

• In Newark, a proposed ban on medical marijuana dispensaries was tabled. It wasn’t enough to ignore the will of Newark’s voters pertinent to decriminalizing the substance. Now they want to prohibit anyone in pain from seeking the aid of a proven method of relief. Reportedly, one member of Council even indicated – privately – that they don’t want the dispensaries within city limits because they are afraid such will be abused. Like abuse isn’t happening now.

Recent bullet points of local information you might want to know, but may have missed:

• In Licking County, Sean Fennell defeated Jim Amore in what sadly turned out to be a divisive primary campaign for an open council seat. Also, the voters of Licking County rejected a property tax increase proposed by the County Commissioners to pay for the 911 center so as to free up money for an unspecified set of priorities. The County Auditor had opposed it, and it looks like most of the voters took his side.
• For us progressives, we decided to hone in on an effort to get a measure on the 2017 or 2018 ballot which would end gerrymandering of congressional districts. Sadly, the summary submitted to the state Attorney General for approval to circulate statewide – which itself required quite a few signatures – was rejected, so this has to go back to the drawing board.
• Following the Republican House of Representative’s approval of the AHCA – which is meant to repeal the Affordable Care Act and destroy Medicaid as we know it -, Congressman Pat Tiberi is wearing his vote in favor as a badge of honor. Meanwhile, he continues to ignore calls for him to hold a town hall event, opting instead for telephone “town halls” where he can censor constituents with ease.

This week’s bullet points of local information you might want to know, but may have missed:

• The Licking County Democratic Party hosted State Senator and Gubernatorial Candidate Joe Schiavoni on Tuesday. At said meeting, Schiavoni attempted to pour cold water on any push for a $15 an hour wage or even public colleges being tuition free, saying that such was not “realistic”. To him, aiming for $10 was a much more attainable and worthy pursuit. Furthermore, when pressed on what the state can do to help incentivize local communities adopting public transit, he expressed his belief that we need to become “creative” as to how we address the issue – a theme he kept repeating throughout his responses to questioning -, noting that he doesn’t think everyone will see adopting such as worthwhile.
• Our Governor, John Kasich, was on MSNBC this week speaking with Chris Matthews and while Matthews was pandering to Kasich as some model for “moderate Republicanism” or at least as another “compassionate conservative”, Matthews lent praise to Kasich for his support of “school choice”. You know, the model for education which is designed to undermine our educational system and gradually privatize it? Yeah, that.
• A vote is coming this Tuesday with some degree of importance. For starters, there is a primary race in Newark’s Seventh Ward between two Democrats – Sean Fennell and Jim Amore – which has taken an unfortunate turn to worst that politics has to offer. What’s especially tragic here is that this primary – closed to anyone who isn’t a Democrat – will likely determine the next member of City Council from this ward since no Republican or Independent candidate is challenging them. Is this right? Should everyone in the ward have a chance to vote between the two men who will likely represent them come January? The other major vote is on a levy for 911, put up by the County Commissioners without much explanation beyond some assurances that approval will permit the Commissioners to spend some County dollars on “other” projects. The County Auditor has come out opposed to this measure, calling it unnecessary.
• Statewide, the legislature is pondering a series of actions. One of them includes a bill which will reduce funding for schools with “declining” student populations. Undoubtedly, one may well easily connect the dots with this population/funding decline with the diversion of both to privatized forms of education which aren’t held to the same public, high standard. The other matter they are pondering would harm the protection provided by the Medicaid expansion by forcing childless adults out of coverage if they get a better paying job and then lose it and would prevent any such adult from accessing this coverage anew.

Give us time, we will begin blogging as soon as events begin to unfold.