Purple lighted picture of white man performing side view holding a guitar

The Electric Hand.

The Torments.

The Detroit Cobras.

Three die-hard garage rock bands. Three gangs essentially. Their main religious belief: die with your boots on, rocking on 11!

Thus the last Saturday night in February saw a throwback cave stomp the likes of which this two-bit poor man's colon of a town ain't seen in a stegosaurus's age.

Three bands, two killer banzai charges of three-chord brutality and a headliner's display of boozy public breakdown fronting Americana-tinged soul and hoe-down flavored stomperoos. Nothin' but good people, nothing' but real good.

First up: our own Electric Hand.

 T.C.Ottinger, the Hand's frantic front man, may just be Poopville's Number One Rock'n'Roll Personality in terms of live performance. He's utterly confident, completely full of himself and pretty funny. He jumps into songs like a speeding getaway car having just ripped off a Wendy's on Cleveland Avenue. He's a mania.

Drawing of a brightly colors pink pig against green grass and a blue sky with words Eat Fruit Not Friends

Sunday, March 24th 4-6pm
Portia's Cafe 4428 Indianola Ave.
Wanna try something different and tap into your creative side? It's like "wine and canvas", but with snacks from Portia's Cafe instead! Cheyenne Dodge from Iris Rain Studios will be guiding you into painting this cute lil piggie picture! $40 includes canvas, paint and snacks. Limit 12!
Please call 614-928-3252 or come in to pay and reserve your place. :) See you there!

If you saw a book in Barnes and Noble called “How Not to Go to War,” wouldn’t you assume it was a guide to the proper equipment every good warrior should have when they head off to do a little killing, or perhaps something like this U.S.

Black man with wire rimmed glasses and mustache and beard and a square topped blue hat

Last fall the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) put prisoner-rights activist Siddique Abdullah Hasan on severe communication restrictions in a Serious Misconduct Panel (SMP) hearing that included a number of clear irregularities and violations of due process.

 

Hasan filed appeals of the decision, and attorneys Staughton and Alice Lynd and other supporters tried to rouse the Inspector General to review the decision and process. Neither the ODRC nor the Inspector General (who is tasked with “investigat[ing] the management and operation of state agencies”) have replied to these appeals or requests.

 

The SMP recommendation suspended Hasan from phone and Jpay (email) access for one year, from August 14, 2018 to August 13, 2019. The warden at Ohio State Penitentiary, where Hasan has been held since it opened in 1996, has the authority to reduce this suspension every 3 months after a review of good behavior and no further rule violations. No such review has occurred.

 

On March 8 the Cincinnati Socialist Feminists coalition and allies from Columbus decided to send Ohio Governor Mike DeWine a message for International Women’s Day. A dozen women and men attempted to access DeWine’s upper-floor office at the Columbus Riffe Center.

After being turned away, they went to the ground floor lobby and held a sit-in. “Our bodies, our choice!” they chanted. “Governor DeWine, abortion’s not a crime!”

The protesters were targeting Ohio Senate Bill 23, the so-called “heartbeat bill” which would ban abortions six weeks after conception. DeWine has pledged to sign the bill if it’s passed by the Ohio legislature.

When the lobby closed at 5 PM, State Highway Patrol officers ordered the demonstrators to leave. Depending on their level of resistance, they were escorted, dragged, or carried out of the building. There were no arrests. Outside, the protesters were joined by about 40 supporters and held a rally on the sidewalk.

People in white robes with pointy top hats in a circle outside at night with a flag

Many people hear the name “Ku Klux Klan” and think of the deep South and unreconstructed neo-confederates riding at night with support from the city fathers and some obese caricature of a sheriff. That image is a convenient alibi of denial for those living in the deep North – as Ohio, Indiana and Michigan have always been hotbeds of Klan activity, and Dayton has always been a center of white supremacist activity. This is why the so-called Honorable and self-described Sacred Knights of the KKK have chosen to come to Dayton to recruit at a rally at the old courthouse on May 25, 2019.

The city gentrifiers-in-chief initially feigned shock and horror immediately followed by the usual mumbling about rights and free speech. On March 9, the other shoe fell. Black Lives Matter Dayton requested the use of the Levitt Pavilion Dayton, which is two blocks from the Klan's rally. Their plan was to hold an indoor concert in opposition. Black Lives Matter Dayton’s request was denied.

Handgun

The “ShotSpotter” voice surveillance system is being promoted by Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther and Deputy Police Chief Bash as a crime fighting tool capable of locating a gunshot within a 20-foot radius and determining the type and caliber of the weapon.

The ShotSpotter records everything it hears and simply selects what to detect. The sensor system associated with the software signals processing and alert system is designed to be incorporated into streetlights. ShotSpotter partnered with GE's CityIQ project that would incorporate surveillance cameras, ShotSpotter sensors, a WiFi hotspot and intelligent on-demand low power consumption LED lighting into a single streetlight.

The targeted pilot neighborhood for the ShotSpotter program is the Hilltop, though the project is budgeted to cover the entire city. However, it appears the Hilltop did not receive the whole package.

A nighttime survey of the area by a Mockingbird researcher found not a single LED, merely the same old energy hungry bulbs in use throughout the city with their characteristic yellowish light struggling to illuminate anything. No free WiFi hotspots were noted either.

Pages

Subscribe to ColumbusFreePress.com  RSS