NEWS ITEM: Alaina Shearer, insurgent Democratic candidate for John Kasich's old Congressional seat (OH-12), caused shockwaves in Republican circles when she outraised her opponent U.S. Rep. Troy Balderson in the most recent reporting period.

Republican Balderson originally eked out a victory in a special election two years ago over Franklin County Recorder Danny O'Connor. It took none other than President Trump to descend upon the district at the last minute to gin up support for Balderson and save the GOP bacon. Balderson beat O'Connor by a slightly larger margin in the general election three months later.

RealClearPolitics.com rates this contest as "leans Republican." It is the only Congressional race in Ohio that the political website considers competitive. The district of nearly 800,000 people consists of a swath of north-central Franklin County, all of Delaware, Licking, and Morrow counties, and parts of Muskingum, Richland and Marion counties.

CAPA today announced the schedule for ¡Viva Festival Latino!, a week-long, online experience that will stand in for the popular, annual Festival Latino canceled for 2020. ¡Viva Festival Latino! will offer a series of online cultural events and activities that highlight some of the favorite features of Festival Latino, including offerings in Latin music, food, dance, visual artists, children’s activities, fashion, and community and health and wellness resources.

Produced by CAPA, ¡Viva Festival Latino! is presented by HONDA. Additional support has been provided by Nationwide, AEP Foundation, L Brands Foundation, City of Columbus Department of Recreation and Parks, and Abbott.

Wednesday, July 29, 6pm
Governor's mansion
Location TBA. We will be meeting at The Ohio Statehouse and traveling to the location. We will need bikers and medics for this event!

The Columbus Way is what our city leaders call the public/private partnerships that have been used to dress up and showcase the 14th largest city in the U.S.

Former Mayor Mike Coleman’s approach, and continuing under Mayor Ginther, has been successful in developing dozens of projects – the Arena District and Huntington Park, Columbus Commons and Bicentennial Park, the Scioto Mile, the Veterans Memorial, and the Crew Stadium, to name a few.

Here’s an apt description from Smart Columbus, another project that exemplifies the partnership approach:

“The concept of ‘The Columbus Way’ describes the unique community collaborations between the city, the businesses headquartered and located in the region, and nonprofit and academic institutions that make up the Columbus community. A 2015 Harvard Business School case study coined the phrase, capturing a decades-long spirit of collaboration that has been repeatedly tapped to tackle big challenges in central Ohio and transform the region into a world-class destination.”