The City and its development offices have been working to overhaul the zoning code since 2021, but some local housing advocates say City officials made the changes “blind” in some respects, after they decided not to use area and neighborhood land use plans as guides.

“Zone In Columbus” – which was formally voted into existence Monday night by City Council – could radically change Columbus’s major corridors as the region continues to experience population growth with some estimates saying nearly 90 new residents a day are moving here.

But a few critics say “Zone In Columbus” is mostly about building taller apartment buildings with no parking options in these major corridors so to create more density. For example, “Zone In Columbus” states Clintonville and its High Street corridor are being “underutilized”.

Check out the billboard currently up on the corner of State & High, right across from the statehouse and the Riffe Center, where the House of Representatives and the Governor have their offices! Thank you for sponsoring that, ACLU of Ohio!

TUESDAY, April 9 at 1pm - Show up to stay in opposition gas suffocation executions in Ohio! House Bill 392 has been scheduled for sponsor testimony in the House Government Oversight Committee in room 313 at 1pm on Tuesday, April 9. This will be sponsor-only testimony, so we're not on the hot seat to schedule people to testify, however, we must demonstrate opposition. If you can show up, please be in room 313 in the Ohio Statehouse by 12:45pm. We had hoped that this bill would not be brought up at all, but here we are...

Wednesday, April 10 at noon in front of the Statehouse - Join the visibility action with the mobile billboard sponsored by the ACLU of Ohio on behalf of the #NoDeathPenaltyOH campaign.

The Free Press Second Saturday Salon will present an Earth Day Birthday celebration for WGRN 91.9 FM community radio on Saturday, April 13, 2024. WGRN will honor it’s “Volunteer of the Year,” long-time Board member Joe Keehner. And “Producer of the Year,” Felice Thomas, host of “The Cell.”.

The doors will open at 5:30 with light refreshments, socializing and an awards ceremony. It is followed by a 7:00 PM concert by folk musician Tom Neilson.

The celebration and award event will be held in Beach Hall at the First Unitarian Universalist Church at 93 West Weisheimer Rd. in Columbus. For information, contact: spatzer1959@gmail.com.

Decision Time 

I finally calmed down and let Annie finish telling her story. Her mother sold the house, moved from the southside to the eastside and never looked back. Annie stopped asking about her father because her mother would just look at her and say “What father? You don’t have a father.” After a while, Annie stopped dreaming about her father. Forgot what he looked like or how he smelled. The sound of his voice had faded from her ears, and she no longer heard his songs. Her mother had destroyed any pictures that her father was in, so Annie couldn’t even look at past memories they had as a family.