Happy Birthday to the City of Pride

200 years ago today, the State Legislature of Ohio, much to the dismay of Chillicothe and Zanesville (my birthplace) created a new city to be the State Capitol and Columbus was born.

Columbus doesn’t have mountains; in fact it’s hard to find a hill. There is no Ocean front. No mighty rivers like the Hudson or the Mississippi, though smaller scenic ones we have. The weather there isn’t the best nor the worst. But the thing Columbus has that no city in the world can beat, is the pride of its citizens.

Nothing pleases a Columbusite more then to show off his City. Years ago when a business visitor pointed toward the skyline and asked, is that Cincinnati or Cleveland over there? I grinned with pride and said, that is the downtown of Columbus, Ohio’s largest city.

Visitors to Columbus sometimes chuckle at the little tours locals invariably give them, showing them downtown, campus, the short north, german village, and don’t forget the Santa Maria, and we miss showing them the first Wendy’s.

Have you ever heard a local talk about the city of firsts? The first branch bank, first drive thru, first supermarket among a long list of them. How about the fast food capital, home of Wendy’s, White Castle, US headquarters of Tim Horton’s, and so many that have come and gone. (Remember the home of the whirling satellite?)

Whatever you do don’t get us started on the Corporate Headquarters based in our city. We will brag loudly about Volkswagen of America, The Limited, Aberchrombie and Fitch, Bob Evans, Nationwide Insurance, and AEP among so many others.

You know what is fun is taking a frequent shopper to one of our malls. They may not be the biggest but boy do we have everything. I recall showing a visitor Easton once. Just as we drove down the little European like street in front of the theater, she exclaimed, “now this is a mall”

Yes those from other places may mock our pride sometimes. They will never understand the awe some of us felt when we walked into the newly restored Palace Theater in 1980, the euphoria that waved over us when Buster Douglas upset Mike Tyson, the joy we felt when we walked into Nationwide Arena the first time and heard, “Welcome to the NHL, Columbus,” the broad smiles on our faces seeing Jack Hanna representing our Zoo so well on Letterman, or the tears that well up in our eyes simply seeing two lines of drummers silently lead a band out onto the field.

They may chuckle all they want, we will not change. Our pride is real, it is deep and it is never ending. Yes we love our City and we proudly shout out:

HAPPY 200TH COLUMBUS!!

Help Keep Progressive Radio on the Air in Columbus

If you like many of us get sick of only having the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity to listen to on the radio, then you understand the importance of stations like WVKO1580 in Columbus.

It gives us shows from Air America, but also Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz and local progressive programming as well.

However it takes money to keep this station on the air and they need your help.

Below is a reprinted letter from the station to tell you how you can help.

WVKO-AM 1580 is Central Ohio's "Air America" station, broadcasting
Progressive Talk programs since December 2007.

There is good news and bad news about the station.

First the bad news:

Due to slow advertising sales, WVKO is currently having trouble
paying its bills. Good, progressive Salespeople are hard to find in
Central Ohio, especially for a startup mom-and-pop station like WVKO.
The station now finds itself with unpaid bills, and may have to shut
down if $50,000 is not raised within the next few weeks.

Now the good news:

Do you remember how it felt when Air America was pulled from the
airwaves a year and a half ago? Air America fans were told that there
was nothing they could do to help save that station. Well, this time
there is a way for you to keep Air America on the air ... through a
generous donation to the station. By clicking on your choice of PayPal
buttons on our Contribution page
http://www.wvko1580.com/contributions/
, your contribution will go directly toward keeping Air America on
WVKO.

This show of support from Progressives like you will keep the station
on the air, and will enable WVKO management to pay off current debts.
Salespeople will be assured that the station will remain on the air,
enabling them to make sales calls with confidence.

Please make your contribution now:

http://www.wvko1580.com/contributions/

For more information, and to track the Grand Total of contributions,
go here: http://www.wvko1580.com/contribution/

If you have any comments or suggestions for the station, please fill
out our online comment form here: http://www.wvko1580.com/contact/

Thanks very much for your support!

WVKO Management

-and-

Ohio Majority Radio

Progressive Radio, It's up to us.

For decades the radio talk show world was completly controlled by Conservative right wing blowhards like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. As they continued to spin their mistatements, lies and twisted logic on the American People, there were no voices to offest them.

Several years ago Air America was born, around the same time the Jones Broadcasting Network promoted Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz nationwide. Air American in particular had a rocky start. In addition a number of the stations that carried Air America and JBN were owned by Clear Channel.

There was an immediate attack from the right wing. There were boycotts of advertisers, there were constant stories on right wing radio perdicting the demise of Progressive Radio. Then in 2007 Clear Channel pulled the plug seeming to be a death blow.

It failed. Air America still survives, The Jones Broadcasting Network grows every day. Today Ed Schultz was added to the lineup of WWRL in New York City.

The bottom line remains that radio is in business to make a profit. Progressive Radio will not grow, in fact cannot survive without advertising dollars. It is up to us to support not only the stations carrying the Progressive talk, but to support its advertisers. While doing so to let the advertisers know we are giving them business because of their support for Progressive Radio.

In Columbus we have WVKO 1580 on the air. It has a growing listenership and list of advertisers. I urge you all to go to the web site below and make a point to patronize some of these businesses. Let's keep our views on the air.

WVKO Advertisers

Stephanie Miller!!

Mama was in the house at the WVKO1580 Democratic “Party” in Hilliard tonight. About 1000 progressives packed the house at the Makoy Center.

When I arrived Donna Mogavero was entertaining the crowd with her alternative acoustic original music. She was followed by various WVKO personalities such as Michael Cole and Michale Alwood. Various Democratic Candidates were introduced to say a few words, including Mary Jo Kilroy running for the 15th congressional district, John O’Grady who is running for Franklin County Commissioner, Cindy Lazarus and Kelly Wenzlaff among others.

Stephanie then took the stage and got the crowd going with her brand of unique political humor she is famous for on her radio show and in appearances on CNN such as Friday night on Larry King. She spent a good deal of time handling questions from the audience which brought a lot of laughs and biting attacks on the Bush administration, John McCain, Bill Cunningham and of course Jean Schmidt.

Stephanie shared with us that Columbus was her “first love” as it was the first major market her show was on the air. In 2007 the Clear Channel station that carried the show dropped progressive radio and switched to a conservative radio format like so many others. Just recently WVKO switched to a progressive format and brought Stephanie Miller along with Ed Schultz and Air America back to Columbus. She also let us know that in the most recent ratings, the station that dropped progressive radio is now dead last in the Columbus Market. She commented “good luck selling that!”

The size of the crowd showed a real need and appreciation for progressive radio in Columbus. It is important that we support this station and show America that we deserve a voice on the airwaves as well.

If you live in the Columbus market be sure to tune in to 1580AM. If you don’t you can listen to it on the net at www.wvko1580.com. Tell your friends about it. And most of all support the advertisers that make progressive radio possible.

Stephanie Miller Coming to Columbus

I'll be there to support Progressive Radio on Saturday Night, hope to meet many of you there.




WVKO 1580 AM Democratic “Party”
Join us for a Democratic “Party” with
Stephanie Miller as we welcome Progressive Talk Radio back to the Central Ohio airwaves!

Her fresh and funny show is on dozens of radio stations across the country, including in Los Angeles where she is now the #2 rated talk program in her time period. The Stephanie Miller Show is on the air in Miami, Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. and now Columbus, Ohio!

March 1, 2008
The Emerald Room at the Makoy Center in Hilliard
5:00 – 10:00 PM.
Tickets - $25 Individual
$40 Couple
Get tickets online at www.wvko1580.com through 2/29/08,
and picked up at will-call.
Tickets also for sale at the door for $30.
Complimentary pizza, cash bar, raffle, WVKO promotional items and more!

This event will feature a “pizza challenge” with local pizzerias competing for the best pizza as determined by the event attendees! Come and enjoy a fun time with like-minded individuals as we enjoy Stephanie’s comic spin on the world of U.s. politics. Let’s discuss the Progressive Movement and its importance this election year. Pass the word to your Progressive Friends. A good time will be had by all!

For more information and to purchase tickets visit www.wvko1580.com

Obama in Columbus: “I’ve got news for John McCain"

I attended the Obama Rally at St. John Arena in Columbus this morning. Despite the cold, the morning time and distant parking an enthusiastic crowd of 6-7000 were in attendance.

After Miss Ohio 2007 sang a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem, The crowd was warmed up with a speech by State Treasurer Richard Cordray and music by the Pickerington Central Marching Band. The crowd waited patiently a good hour past the scheduled time of 10am for Obama to arrive. In typical Ohio State Fashion cheers of OH-IO were frequent as well as the wave moving around the arena a number of times to kill the time.

Then to the podium to the delight of the Columbus faithful,came Hiesman Trophy Winner Eddie George who shared a story of struggles as a football player and his mother telling him, “Yes you can.” Then tied it to our country after 7 years of frustration wanting change and saying under the leadership of Barack Obama, “Yes we Can.”

Then Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman welcomed all to the city and did the introduction of the “next President of the United States, Barack Obama.” Barack arrived in the arena to a deafening roar of cheers comparable to any Ohio State athletic event. Knowing Columbus well his first words at the podium were, “O..H” which of course got the enthusiastic response “I..O”

Much of his speech was similar to past events, talking about the end of the Bush era, health care, the economy, and the war in Iraq. Throughout the approximate 45 minute long speech he only mentioned Senator Clinton twice that I recall, but made numerous mentions of John McCain.

Perhaps the highlight of the speech is when Barack Obama mentioned a statement McCain made this morning, “I’m got news for Barack Obama, Al Qaeda is in Iraq.”
Barack responded with “I’ve got news for John McCain, there was no such thing as Al Queda in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain decided to invade Iraq.” This once again brought the crowd to their feet in a roar of approval.

The thing that stuck me most about this event was the crowd. Men, women, black, white, hispanic, old, young, $500 suits as well as sweatshirts and jeans. I saw a number of children from babies to elementary to high school age, some brought by parents wanting their child to see history in the making and some high schoolers in varsity jackets that came on their own.

The feel of the event was summed up with the words of an Ohio State Student on the way out of the building when she said, “He was even more awesome in person!”

Obama Rally at The Ohio State University

Barack Obama will hold another "Keeping America's Promise" rally wednesday February 27th, 10 am at St. John Arena on Woody Hayes Drive. Doors will open at 8:30 am.

Seating is limited and will be on a first come first serve basis. This is the former basketball arena so should hold a significant crowd.

This rally will be the morning after the Cleveland debate and should be full of great emotion and excitment as Barack Obama turns the final corner and heads for the finish line of the democratic race.

For more information: http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/columbus