Columbus citizens voted five times not to spend public taxes on private sports arenas like Nationwide. So why is the Greater Columbus Arts Council (GCAC) trying to extort taxpayer dollars under the guise of supporting “arts and culture” to bail out the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Nationwide Arena boondoggle?

The first open forum on GCAC’s proposed 7 percent ticket tax faced stiff opposition Wednesday night, August 22 at the Vanderelli Room art gallery and event space with standing room only. The ticket proposal would place a 7 percent increase to all Columbus cultural and sports events except for high school and college sport events.

The tax is estimated to generate $14 million a year. GCAC is straightforward in their fronting for the Arena’s needs. Point Four of their handout entitled “The Proposed Ticket Fee Helps All of Columbus and Franklin County” specifically states that the tax will “…fund up to $4 million annually in efficient, essential renovations to Nationwide Arena, to maintain the facility and attract major concert shows, and sporting events that add so much to our economy and quality of life.”

Tuesday, September 4, 6-8pm, Franklin County Municipal Court, 373 S. High St.

Come out to the Pig Roast Against Prison Slavery, a solidarity event with the #August21 National Prison Strike!

This event will be a community gathering outside of the Franklin County Municipal Court where there will be:

• Food and drinks available for all in the area

• Information, scripts, phone numbers, and other materials provided by the Central Ohio Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee [IWOC] for you to participate in phone zaps and letter-writing campaigns at the event to support prison strikers

• Short speak-outs from people about the importance of the 2018 Prison Strike

• A papier-mâché pig in a police hat that we will “roast” after you drop a note inside about why you want to set flames to prison slavery

Hosted by Central Ohio Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee [IWOC] and Black Queer and Intersectional Columbus [BQIC].

On Friday, September 7th at high noon on Erie Blvd., north of Monroe St., in Schenectady, NY, the graphic above will be up on a giant billboard, and people will gather to discuss and promote the message.

Saturday, September 1, 11am, Studio 35 Cinema & Draft House, 3055 Indianola Ave.

The Official Animal Rights March is an annual march founded by the U.K. animal rights organisation Surge. The march began in London in 2016 with 2,500 vegans; in 2017, the march doubled to 5,000 vegans marching for animal liberation through London. In 2018, we’re bringing The Official Animal Rights March to Columbus, Ohio to spread the message of animal liberation across the globe.

In order to make this march succeed, we need your help. Invite your friends, tell every vegan you meet, this is the day where we unite, where we stand up, rise up and say, “no more, not in our name.”

The future is vegan, but we must continue to speak out on behalf of the animals until the day that their suffering ends.

Save the date, spread the word, and let’s make history for the animals.

Note: this march will begin and end at Studio 35 Cinema & Draft House and will follow a circular route through the nearby neighborhood.

Free tickets for the After-March Speech, featuring Joshua Entis, are available at the following URL: