Wise elders, wild ethics, fat savings, fan searching
Have no fear about “The Posse” that has ruled over a Hilltop neighborhood on Columbus’ West Side for seven decades or so. The two remaining members of the group of faith-centric Black women bestowed with the title of church mother, Ms. Dollene Scott and Ms Opal Walker, still command respect in their 90s as community sages worth listening to. More such leaders are needed today.
If “it takes one to know one” is the best criteria for who should help state lawmakers identify unethical behavior in their own ranks, it makes perfect sense for indicted state Rep. Larry Householder to retain his seat on the Ohio General Assembly’s Joint Legislative Ethics Committee. New Speaker Bob Cupp yanked Householder’s vice chairmanship but state law purposely makes it tough to remove lawmakers from the committee itself.
We’re not sure how folks are managing it, but one positive outgrowth of the pandemic is fatter savings accounts, say U.S Commerce Department data. The share of monthly income socked away plumped up to 33.5% in April before slimming down to a still-hefty 19% in June. That’s much better than the annual 7.5% rate prepandemic. It’s one bright side of staying home from malls, movie theaters, restaurants and recreation.
What’s more sobering than seeing record numbers of Americans buying guns this year, as indicated in growing requests for background checks? How about the revelation that among Ohio’s 700,000 concealed-carry permit holders are a few dozen who are packing confirmed mental illness along with their firearms? Attorney General Dave Yost unearthed that scary data recently and has asked county sheriffs to revoke licenses of those 41 individuals.
Forget the fish tale. To a family of Cincinnati Reds’ fans, “Finding Nemo” is about spotting the sonogram of Adam Nemo’s baby-to-be among cardboard cutouts populating the stands of Great American Ballpark while COVID-19 keeps real fans away. Nemo’s brother, Aaron, secured a third-baseline seat for the fetal image to help announce the baby’s pending arrival.
A Columbus advisory to boil water Downtown last week, in effect 23 hours, flamed residents’ tempers for how it was communicated. While the city has texted alerts for Downtown issues such as protests, the warning about possible contamination following a water plant power outage was issued in a news release and on Twitter. Subsequent tests showed the water was safe.
Upper Arlington mom Julia Hanna wanted to celebrate diversity with books promoting inclusion for school kids on behalf of her half-black daughter, Harper, who heads to kindergarten in another year. After a Facebook plea, her new nonprofit, Harper’s Corner, drew enough support to donate 800 books to 11 elementary schools in Upper Arlington, Worthington and Bexley.
Rising coronavirus cases among kids is a real downer, especially as some K-12 and higher education students are returning to classrooms with higher risks of indoor environments. A 40% jump at the end of July is a move in the wrong direction. Fingers crossed that back-to-school in Ohio doesn’t mirror the experience of a Georgia high school that shut down eight days after opening as new cases sent more than 1,100 students and staff into quarantine. Face masks weren’t required at Cherokee County School District.
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