The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Free Ohio Now rallies downtown
A group of people voiced their disagreement with the closure Gov. Mike DeWine has imposed due to the novel coronavirus when they rallied May 23 outside Wellington Town Hall, 115 Willard Memorial Square.
The group, Free Ohio Now, put on the rally to gather like-minded people and to replace the cancelled Memorial Day celebrations, organizers said.
“It’s a combination of Memorial Day - we want to honor the people who died for our freedom - and a rally that we are concerned that the Ohio businesses need to be opened faster than DeWine is doing, said Ethlyn
Kennedy, the Lorain County contact for Free Ohio Now and a North Ridgeville resident. “Schools, libraries, movie theaters, live theaters, and sporting events (should be opened).”
Kennedy said the closures have had huge impacts on businesses.
“There are already big businesses that have talked about bankruptcy; Pier 1 Imports, J.C. Penney,” she said. “Those are big businesses, so I can’t even imagine all of the small businesses, probably in the hundreds, that won’t be able to reopen. Their employees have probably gone some place else, they have had to pay bills during all this time...it feels like there’s nothing left.”
Kennedy said the closures should not have happened as early as they did.
“At the time, we did not know what we were dealing with,” she said. “It may have made sense, but the closures have been going on now for way too long. We should be focusing our attention to nursing homes because I hear anywhere from 60 to 70 percent of the deaths in Ohio have taken place in nursing homes. That is where we need to focus on getting things better, and we can open businesses. I certainly hope we can recover from this, but it won’t happen anytime soon. I also worry about our November election.”
Kirsten Hill, an Amherst Township resident and one of the lead organizers of the group in Lorain
County, said Free Ohio Now was created throughout the state in response to what the governor was doing.
“We came together in response to the governor and health director’s (Dr. Amy Acton’s) actions,” she said. “In the process, we realized we need to clarify what we are asking for. Folks can go to our website (freeohionow. com) to find out about who we are. We are part of 29 counties statewide that are participating.”
Hill said the event was a way for people to contact each other.
“They are already there (believe businesses should be open),” she said. “This is about getting in contact with people that are at the same place they are.”