Columbus Day nixed

Sandusky, Ohio, home to one of the biggest amusement parks in the country, is ditching Columbus Day in favor of Election Day as a paid holiday in a decision that officials hope will send a message that the city values voting rights and diversity over a contentious holiday that many Americans already don’t celebrate.

“Columbus Day was not a way for us to show that we value our diversity,” Eric Wobser, Sandusky’s city manager, told The Washington Post.

Sandusky’s population of almost 25,000 is nearly 70 percent white, 23 percent black, and 7 percent Hispanic. The city is more Democratic than the rest of Erie County, which voted for President Donald Trump in 2016. But it swung to blue last year and elected Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.