What we're watching in Columbus this June
🏳️🌈 Festival season: June is peak outdoor event season in Central Ohio.
Arts Festival, June 6-8
Stonewall Columbus Pride, June 13-14
Creekside Blues & Jazz Festival, June 13-15
Buckeye Country Superfest, June 21
Juneteenth Ohio Festival, June 21-22
ComFest, June 27-29
Plus: A few events remain from our spring festival guide.
🏫 School closures: The Columbus Board of Education voted to close five schools last year, and superintendent Angela Chapman is scheduled to share a realignment plan and next steps.
🦦 New zoo region: The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium will open its new $40 million North America Trek after a delay caused by a construction mistake and a rainy spring.
💨 Cannabis law changes: Ohio lawmakers appear close to passing Senate Bill 56, which would change and restrict various elements of marijuana legalization.
🎓 Higher education changes: Controversial Senate Bill 1 goes into effect June 27, overhauling Ohio laws for colleges and universities.
The bill outlaws faculty strikes, bans diversity initiatives and requires an "American civil literacy" course.
💰 A new budget: Gov. Mike DeWine has until June 30 to sign a new two-year state operating budget, which has already sparked plenty of debate.
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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
What started fight in Cincinnati? City is focus after brawl videos go viral. What we know
∎This story is no longer being updated. Visit or click or tap here for the latest updates.∎ Viral videos of a fight in downtown Cincinnati have thrust the city into the national spotlight. Now, local officials are working to pick up the pieces, mitigate crime and address the public's safety concerns. Gov. Mike DeWine said on July 30 that the Ohio State Highway Patrol is "working and in-touch" with the Cincinnati Police Department after Mayor Aftab Pureval accepted his offer for some law enforcement assistance. Pureval, who's been away from Cincinnati on a long-planned family vacation, expressed "deep appreciation" for the governor and his assistance to local law enforcement. How Ohio will help Cincinnati fight crime In an interview with WLW radio host Bill Cunningham, DeWine said the support will include "a real data analysis" of where crime happens in Cincinnati, in addition to using a helicopter for "criminal suspect searches, and vehicle pursuit mitigation," according to a news release. State highway patrol troopers will also focus on traffic enforcement to "free up" local officers to investigate other crimes. "Combatting violence is our most urgent challenge, and this coordination and support from the State of Ohio will assist our local law enforcement in ensuring the safety of all our residents," he said. Pureval added that he will cut his vacation four days short and arrive back in Cincinnati on the evening of July 31. He plans to make an announcement Aug. 1 about how the city will combat crime and address public safety concerns. Council member Victoria Parks' post sparks backlash A Cincinnati council member sparked an online backlash with her response to one of several videos of the viral fight. "They begged for that beat down!" Councilwoman Victoria Parks posted to Facebook on Sunday, July 27 at 4:50 a.m. in response to a video showing some of the brawl. "I am grateful for the whole story." Parks, on July 31, responded to the controversy by invoking free speech. "In this country, we have freedom of speech, however, you may not run into a crowded theater and scream fire," Parks told The Enquirer. Fellow Democratic Councilwoman Meeka Owens condemned Parks' comments on July 31. "Making comments that inflame a violent incident is never acceptable," Owens said in her statement. She said members of council should not speculate on the motives of the fight. She said Parks' comment doesn't reflect those of council .... The Councilmember is entitled to her opinion; however, it is not beneficial to the city nor the region when she advocates for violence as a means of retribution," Owens said. Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney also issued a statement on July 31, saying the council condemns the violent actions of the instigators of the fight, as well as the violent actions of those who retaliated. "Opportunists are trying to use this incident as a way to divide us – racially and politically – and cast our great city in a false and negative light," Kearney said. "Every city has challenges, and we confront our challenges head on. We must stand together and work for justice, knowing that a united Cincinnati is strong and victorious." More: 'They begged for that beat down!' Council member Victoria Parks' post sparks backlash Vivek Ramaswamy to host Cincinnati town hall Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy posted on X on July 30 that he plans to host a town hall on Monday, August 4, with former Cincinnati Vice Mayor Chris Smitherman. A time and place for the town hall have not yet been set. "We plan to invite city officials, community leaders, and any of the victims from Friday's assault who wish to participate. When people feel afraid to speak their minds, that's when frustration festers & we can't let that happen," Ramaswamy said in the post. Who has been arrested in connection with the Cincinnati brawl? Montianez Merriweather, 34; Dekyra Vernon, 24; and Jermaine Matthews, 39, face charges including felonious assault and aggravated riot. Merriweather was out on bond when police said he was involved in the early morning brawl on July 26 in downtown Cincinnati. He received a $500,000 bond during a July 30 arraignment in Hamilton County Municipal Court. Matthews was given a $100,000 bond, although a judge is expected to set an additional bond on July 31. Vernon's bond was set at $200,000. Police say they have identified two other suspects as well, but they have not been reported to be in custody as of the evening of July 30. What happened in the Cincinnati brawl? Some of the videos posted on social media showed that the fight began as two men circled each other and a crowd gathered. A few people step between them, in an apparent attempt to calm them down. One man appears to slap the other. At that point, more people join in, attacking the man who delivered the slap and kicking and punching him after he falls to the ground. Later on in the videos, a man is also seen punching a woman in the face, causing her to fall to the ground, where she remained motionless, possibly unconscious, until a person helped pick her back up. Cincinnati police Detective Barney Blank said video of the incident shows Merriweather walking up to Matthews, whispering something to him and approaching one of the victims from behind before striking him in the face. Merriweather and Matthews then chased the victim, who was trying to retreat, to the ground before punching and kicking him, Blank said. The detective added that Merriweather went after another man. "We believe that he coordinated this with Mr. Matthews," Blank said. Blank added that Matthews was seen on video knocking the victim to the ground and kicking him several times in the face and chest, before going after another victim. Blank said that Vernon was a bystander watching the brawl when she approached and punched a Russian woman trying to protect someone on the ground. The detective said Vernon was not involved in any of the arguments that preceded the fight. "She just interjected herself into a brawl on the street," Blank said. Who was injured in the Cincinnati fight? Jonathan Cunningham, a spokesperson for the Cincinnati police, told USA Today on Tuesday, July 29, in an email that "two victims did go to the hospital the following day with at that time non-life-threatening injuries, treated and (were) released." He added that he does not know what the status is of their follow-up care. A Russian woman whom Vernon is accused of punching has since returned to her home country. Is the FBI investigating the Cincinnati brawl? Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich previously said in a statement to The Enquirer that she will prosecute the attackers in the fight "to the fullest extent of the law." U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno said the FBI is in the midst of an investigation on orders from the U.S. attorney general, but The Enquirer was not able to confirm an official investigation. The Enquirer will update this developing news report. Enquirer reporters Quinlan Bentley, David Ferrara, Scott Wartman and Erin Glynn contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What started fight in Cincinnati, arrests, victims, response: Updates
Fox News
4 days ago
- Fox News
Ohio State Highway Patrol to support Cincinnati on the heels of violent assault caught on camera
The Buckeye State will provide support from the Ohio State Highway Patrol to assist the Cincinnati Police Department, a gubernatorial press release indicated on Wednesday. "Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval, and Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge announced today that the state will provide additional manpower to support the Cincinnati Police Department," the press release states. The announcement comes in the wake of a vicious downtown beating in Cincinatti, Ohio last week that went viral online, shocking the nation. "After listening to concerns from community members about recent instances of violence, local authorities have requested support from the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) to aid with traffic enforcement and provide aviation support," the release states. "OSHP troopers will focus on traffic enforcement to free up local officers to respond to and investigate other crimes. OSHP's Aviation Unit will focus on supporting local violent crime reduction initiatives, criminal suspect searches, and vehicle pursuit mitigation," it continues. DeWine, a Republican, has served as governor since early 2019. "Ohio essentially has a package of law enforcement support services the state can provide in times when local authorities could use some additional help," he said, according to the press release. "We've done this in other cities, and it has made a big difference." DeWine is also offering other resources if the city needs them, the release indicated. "In addition to aviation support and traffic enforcement, Governor DeWine has also offered Cincinnati additional services should they be needed, including additional support from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and Ohio Department of Youth Services to locate adults and youth who are not following post-release control or parole conditions; evidence analysis and intelligence gathering by the Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center; and targeted enforcement by the Ohio Investigative Unit on liquor establishments that are known for illegal sales, drug trafficking, and prostitution," the press release states.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
If Edinburgh Fringe wants more hits like Fleabag and Baby Reindeer, it needs a complete overhaul
When the TV channel Dave announced it was scrapping its long-running Joke of the Fringe award, I felt a weird mixture of relief and trepidation. Yes, the widely publicised one-liners increasingly felt like a bit of a disservice to all the actual comic genius you'll find at the world's biggest arts festival (2023's Lorna Rose Treen winner 'I started dating a zookeeper, but it turned out he was a cheetah' was only ammo for pub bores across the land to say they could do better). But all the same, it's this kind of mainstream attention that makes the Fringe what it is: a place where hit shows like Fleabag and Baby Reindeer emerge from dingy tents, and comedy legends from Bridget Christie to Sacha Baron-Cohen to Miranda Hart find their feet, victors of a fevered battle against the odds, the Scottish rain and public indifference. The loss of Dave's headline-grabbing annual award feels like a warning sign. Is the fest coming dangerously close to losing its relevance? Before the pandemic, the story of Edinburgh Fringe was one of unstoppable growth and opportunity. Each year, press releases trumpeted the 'biggest arts festival to date' line, as it ballooned from a plucky band of eight companies in 1947 into an event with 3,548 shows at its still-unsurpassed peak in 2018. But in recent years, some of its sheen has worn off. The tide started turning in 2017, when activist group Fair Fringe drew attention to the appalling pay and living conditions of Fringe workers in roles that stretched the term 'volunteer' beyond its reasonable limits. Meanwhile, outcry gathered as profiteering festival landlords began to distort the city's housing market, all year long. But it wasn't until the festival started to get back up to speed after the fallow Covid years that these issues dominated the conversation. Wasn't the pandemic-induced break meant to be an opportunity to build back, better? Instead, accommodation costs have since soared to new heights: 'I can't afford Edinburgh Fringe accommodation – so I'm sleeping in a tent,' said cash-strapped comedian Narin Oz in The Times. A recent Guardian article warned that university comedy revues are struggling to afford the festival, where comedians from John Cleese to Ed Gamble cut their teeth as students. Leeds Tealights paid £6,500 for their accommodation this year, in a huge increase on the £4,000 spent in 2023. And key venues have struggled, too. This year feels artistically depleted by the absence of influential venue Paine's Plough Roundabout, which presented some of the festival's biggest success stories, including hit West End musical Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder! in a tent in Summerhall courtyard. Funding challenges, too, have meant that this year's International Festival is presenting a diminished programme of local shows. In a major financial blow, key sponsor Johnnie Walker has pulled out after six years, and the Fringe has struggled to attract new corporate sponsors – many of whom are spooked by the idea of funding the arts, when highly publicised campaigns have forced institutions to reject backing from Baillie Gifford (Edinburgh Literary Festival) and Shell (National Gallery). So many of the Fringe's problems could be solved by a massive injection of cash: to subsidise performers' costs, to shore up struggling venues, to make sure everyone's paid fairly. But outgoing Fringe Society director Shona McCarthy sounded a gloomy note as she left her role this spring. 'This festival is not seen as something that you invest in,' she said. 'It's seen as something that's a money-spinner that you can extract from. And I think that's a real problem.' As she reminded us, the Fringe is the third-biggest ticketed event in the world, after the Olympics and the Fifa World Cup. But while those cultural institutions are given billions in funding by both governments and corporate sponsors, the Fringe is funded in a piecemeal fashion. Its biggest investors are the impecunious artists and comedians who shell out for accommodation and venue hire each year, in the hope of making it big. Last year's scandal over box office takings at Summerhall highlighted that central unfairness. Artists who'd brought shows to the venue were left out of pocket by up to £15,000 each, after their ticket income was caught up in a corporation tax dispute with HMRC (they eventually got their money back in January this year). It's this kind of situation that risks deterring future artists from bringing work to the Fringe – and artists' confidence matters, because although the outside world might love an overnight success story, the truth is generally less romantic. Baby Reindeer seemed like an overnight sensation when it debuted on Netflix in 2024. In reality, its success was years in the making. Richard Gadd had premiered the play at Summerhall in 2019, after nearly a decade of bringing dark, disturbing and increasingly successful shows to the fest (including another stalker narrative, 2013's Cheese & Crack Whores). As his trajectory shows, mainstream success only comes when artists have had time and space to trial their work on the fringe, in front of crowds who are uniquely receptive to brave experiments. But they can only keep going if they can afford to. The Edinburgh Fringe is a hard sell for corporate sponsors, due to its uncurated messiness, its profiteering landlords and its boundary-pushing artistic values. Still, what's heartening is the way that arts industry leaders are increasingly dreaming up new ways to make sure the Fringe lives up to its own mythos, as a place where luminous new talents can emerge from tiny dark spaces. Francesca Moody, the producer who famously locked Phoebe Waller-Bridge in a room until she finished the script for her Edinburgh hit turned telly sensation Fleabag, is running a new Fringe venue this year. Shedinburgh has a uniquely nurturing model: it pays artists' travel and accommodation, plus a fee or box office split, whichever is higher. Another break with tradition comes courtesy of The Keep It Fringe Fund, which launched in 2023 with a £50,000 donation from Waller-Bridge, the honorary Fringe Society president. Now, the fund has secured UK government funding that means it can support 180 shows a year with grants of £2,500, prioritising working-class and disabled artists who might otherwise struggle to attend. In some ways, these measures are drops in the ocean. But they do suggest a key shift. Historically, the Edinburgh Fringe prided itself on being an open-access festival where anyone could turn up and try their luck – provided they didn't expect a leg up beyond a listing in the programme. Now, at least, there's an understanding that the Fringe will only live up to its promise if it supports its participants to take risks in an increasingly tough economic landscape. Changing the Edinburgh Fringe will be costly – but it can't afford to stay still.
