This article first appeard on the Buckeye Flame

At the Contemporary Theatre of Ohio in downtown Columbus, a busy cast and crew are preparing to open the 2022 Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Fat Ham.”

Early this year, the theater was awarded a $10,000 grant by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to produce James Ijames’ overtly Black and queer adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”

At the start of March, the Ohio Power Siting Board – which is the government body responsible for approving or denying the project – is holding a final hearing in Columbus for Eastern Cottontail Solar.   

The Eastern Cottontail Solar Project is a proposed up to 220-megawatt (AC) solar powered electric generating facility on approximately up to 1,550 acres of privately owned land in Fairfield County, Ohio. Located within Walnut Township, the purpose of this Project will be to generate and deliver electricity to the bulk transmission system. The Eastern Cottontail Solar Project would include various equipment, including, without limitation, solar panels, inverters, and a project substation, all of sufficient size and capacity to achieve up to the proposed nameplate capacity set forth above.

It will be extremely important for the room to be filled with solar supporters. Please consider attending. There won’t be testimony from community members, as this is a legal proceeding where the public can observe. As such, all we’re asking for is your presence – and to wear green – to show your support!  

Here are the details:  

Ohio House Committees are currently hearing public testimony on HB 96, the budget bill for Fiscal Year 2026-2027. This state operating budget bill will determine if the third phase of the Fair School Funding plan is adopted. Implementation of the third phase of the bipartisan Fair School Funding Plan is essential to ensure our schools, children, and families receive the constitutional funding they deserve. Urgent action is needed to fully fund our schools. Submit written or in-person testimony; make calls; send emails.

Submit written or in-person testimony

Did you know ICE puts Ohioans in jail who haven’t even been charged with crimes?

You guessed right. It's about money for the jailers, not what's best for our communities.

The people we're talking about are Ohioans who have cases in immigration court, or who are eligible for deportation — a civil matter. Said Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, "Incarceration is an extreme action. It's separation from your family, your job, your home. The loss of liberty. It's isolating; it makes people sick; and it's terrifying. If it seems patently inhumane to put people navigating a civil process in a criminal jail, that's because it is."