Community Shares of Mid Ohio

Community Impact in July
	It’s OEFFA’s 29^th annual farm tours. Learn from the Dispatch how you can get up close and personal to see where your food is coming from and meet the farmers producing it. Full details are available from the Dispatch.
Stop the Suffering held its annual Patriotic Pets contest. Find out from the Newark Advocate who were the winners. Find out from the Newark Advocate which pet took top prize. A new federal plan to combat homelessness contains ideas from Central Ohio including COHHIO (Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio). Find out from the Dispatch which local innovations are being taken to the national level. OEFFA is featured on Columbus Underground as part of their Philanthropy Friday series. Learn more about the great things this organization does. Bill Faith of COHHIO explains why the state needs housing reform if it wants to repair the housing market. Read his quote and get the full story from the Dayton Daily News. Another family has a new house to call their home thank to Habitat for Humanity. It is also one of Habitat’s most eco-friendly houses yet. Learn from the Dispatch what Habitat is doing to make their builds more eco-friendly. Metro Parks will be taking over care and maintenance of the bike trails in the city. Consider Biking was quoted in the story. Find out from the Dispatch what Consider Biking’s thoughts and how the trail care & maintenance change will affect users. Columbus Historical Society’s new exhibit focusing on rock and roll in Columbus during the 1950s and 1960s. Get more details from Columbus Local News. Consider Biking is part of the Bike Columbus Festival on July 16 and 17. Find out from Columbus Local News how Consider Biking is involved in the festival and how all types of cyclists can learn the benefits of bicycling. The festival was also featured in Columbus Alive. COSI will be reopening their “Adventure” exhibit. Find out from Business First how you can get your chance to relive this great exhibit. Check out additional coverage in the Dispatch. Another follow up story on the exhibit too from the Dispatch. NBC4 spoke to Capital Area Humane Society about the recent cases of several dogs being seized due to inhumane conditions. Find out more about these cases involving animal hoarding and how organizations like Capital Area Humane Society deal with these issues. Columbus Landmarks announced their summer walking tour series of historic Columbus neighborhoods. Get the scoop from the Dispatch on the upcoming tour sites and more. You can also learn more from This Week. The Furniture Bank of Central Ohio was featured in story called Beyond the Freeway, looking at how the recession has impacted the Columbus area. Watch the story here from NBC4. Nancy Neylon, Executive Director of Ohio Domestic Violence Network, talks about how economic downturns lead to increases in domestic violence and places stress on organizations trying to meet demand of services to help. Get the full story from This Week. A great video from COSI showing the debut of new artifacts being added to the Titanic exhibit.
Mercy For Animals - Ohio Dairy Farm Abuse
While the story of dairy cow abuse at a local central Ohio farm broke a few weeks ago it is still receiving a lot of attention in Columbus and reaching national attention. We've got all the latest coverage for you here. You can learn more about Mercy For Animals, our member who reported the abuse, under our member section here.
7/13/10 - Dispatch - Letter to Editor: What vet would OK kicking a cow? 7/7/10 - Huffington Post - No Charges for Farm Owner Gary Conklin in Dairy Cow Abuse Case 7/7/10 - Dispatch - Dairy Farmer Off Hook; Vows to Fight Against Future Abuse 7/6/10 - LA Times - Owner of Ohio Dairy Farm at Center of Animal-Cruelty Investigation Won't Face Charges 7/6/10 - NBC4 - No Additional Charges To Be Filed In Animal Abuse Case 7/6/10 - 10TV - Dairy Farm Owner Cleared Over Animal Abuse Allegations 7/6/10 - Dispatch - Farm Owner Won't Face Animal Abuse Charges 6/15/10 - Newark Advocate - Letter to Editor: Give livestock board a chance to do its job 6/10/10 - NBC4 - Accused Animal Abuser Pleads Not Guilty to Cruelty & Firearms Charges 6/10/10 - 10TV - New Charge for Man Accused of Abusing Dairy Cows 6/9/10 - The Dispatch - Letter to Editor: Let investigation of dairy farm play out 6/9/10 - The Dispatch - Letter to Editor: Rooting out abuse requires secrecy 6/9/10 - The Dispatch - Letter to Editor: Farm spies bring maltreatment to light 6/6/10 - The Dispatch - Farms beset by spies 6/5/10 - The Dispatch - Letter to Editor: Cruelty to animals must be stopped 6/4/10 - The OSU Lantern - Central Ohio dairy farm employees abuse cows 6/2/10 - Uweekly - Conklin Dairy Cattle charged with animal abuse 6/2/10 - The Dispatch - Editorial: Ugly Behavior 6/1/10 - Newark Advocate - Letter to Editor: New board did not protect abused animals 6/1/10 - The Dispatch - Protest averted at dairy farm in cruelty case 6/1/10 - The Ellen Degeneres Show - Ohio Farm Animals Need Your Help 5/29/10 - The Dispatch - Dairy farm in abuse case resolves burial-pit issue 5/28/10 - The Dispatch - $100,000 bond set in dairy cruelty case 5/27/10 - LA Times - Ohio dairy farmworker charged with animal cruelty after advocacy group releases undercover video 5/27/10 - NBC4 - Bond Set for Worker Accused in Cow Abuse Video 5/27/10 - 10TV - Ex-Dairy Farm Worker Held on $100K Bond 5/26/10 - LA Times - Advocacy group releases undercover video depicting alleged animal cruelty at Ohio dairy farm 5/26/10 - The Huffington Post - Conklin Dairy Farms Video Shows Dairy Cows Being Violently Abused, Says Mercy For Animals 5/26/10 - ONN - Dairy Farm Employee Charged with Abuse After Undercover Video Released 5/26/10 - 10TV - Dairy Farm Employee Charged with Abuse After Undercover Video Released 5/26/10 - NBC4 - Who is Mercy For Animals? 5/26/10 - Columbus Business First - Animal cruelty claims at dairy farm lead to arrest
Don't Let Important Reform Croak
Ohio Citizen Action and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio along with other local organization are calling on the Ohio Senate & House of Representatives to return to the Statehouse to pass important legislature that has stalled. The legislature covers several issues affecting Ohio including foreclosures, payday lenders, equality rights and redistricting laws. Learn how you can get involved and reach out to your elected officials. Additional Videos: Don't Let Redistricting Croak Be a Hero Nobody's Home at the People's House
Community Impact in June
	Karla Rothan, Executive Director of Stonewall Columbus, was quoted in an article on the stalling of Equal Housing and Employment Act. Get the full story from 614 Magazine. A garden in Greater Linden was recently expanded to provide more opportunity to the community. Donna Hicho, Executive Director of Greater Linden Development Corp, was quoted on the changes the garden will have for the community. Get the full scoop from the Dispatch.
Local cities are helping to cover the cost of a fine given to a power plant. Ohio Citizen Action questions why it should be the responsibility of the cities. Get more details from this Dispatch article. Cat Welfare, Capital Area Humane Society and CHA Animal Shelter are partnering up for a week to help reduce the cat overpopulation. Find out from ThisWeek what they’ll be doing to try to combat the issue. Columbus Landmarks’ City Hop was a Staff Pick in Columbus Alive. Find out what makes the downtown event a must attend. Cat Welfare & Capital Area Humane Society cannot take in any more cats. Find out from the Dispatch what’s causing the overpopulation. Otterbein students go dumpster diving to save reusable items to support local charities including our own Furniture Bank of Central Ohio. Learn more from Westerville News & Public Opinon about this great program and how it started. Columbus Landmarks’ City Hop featuring tours of downtown living and condos was featured on Columbus Underground. City Hop, an event from Columbus Landmarks, was an NBC4 pick of the week. Catherine Turcer with Ohio Citizen Action speaks out on the inaction of the state’s Budget Planning & Management Commission. Find out more about the commission and Turcer’s comments in coverage from NBC4. Alive gets you the important details for the upcoming Pride celebration from Stonewall Columbus. Karla Rothan, Executive Director of Stonewall Columbus, was quoted on the importance of gay bars in gay history. Find out from Columbus Alive the impact the bars have had and how they’ve helped to change Columbus. COSI announces their 9^th annual “The Science of Big Machines”. Get the scoop from the Dispatch on this exhibit and the new changes for this year. A preview from The Other Paper for Stonewall Columbus Pride festival this weekend including tips and a full schedule. Check out from NBC4 how this year’s City Year graduates made an impact in their community. CHOICE , along with other midwives groups, is looking to create state regulation to have licensing for midwives. Find out from the Dispatch the benefits this would give CHOICE and other midwives. Get behind the scenes of the set up for Stonewall Columbus’ 2010 Pride Parade. The Dispatch gives you the details on the effort it takes and how Columbus Pride is gaining national recognition. Did you know it takes about 450 volunteers to help run the Pride Festival? Find out from the Dispatch how many people Stonewall Columbus was expecting to attend this year’s celebration. New bike markings have been added along High St. to emphasize the share-the-road concept. Learn from the Dispatch what thoughts Consider Biking had on the new markings. A COHHIO program was recognized by The President in his rollout of a strategy to end homelessness. Learn from the Dispatch how the federal government is working with local, state, and charities to bring an end to this issue. Preview of the Columbus Historical Society’s new exhibit: Rock ‘N Roll Columbus featuring Arnett Howard. Get the full details from Fox28. Mercy For Animals was featured on Philanthropy Friday. Learn more about this great organization on Columbus Underground. COHHIO, Ohio Citizen Action and several other organizations are calling on Ohio’s Congress to return to session to finish important legislation that has stalled. Get the full story from the Dispatch. Also get coverage from Dayton Daily News. Also details from ABC6. Pride Parade: Columbus, OH 2010 from Mike Beaumont on Vimeo. Quick little video of this year's Pride Parade. Enjoy!