Westside Messenger - September 20th, 2020

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PAGE 2 - WESTSIDE MESSENGER - September 20, 2020 Trustees discuss crime, snow and more in Prairie Township By Amanda Ensinger Staff Writer At a recent Prairie Township meeting, the trustees discussed an increase in criminal activity. According to Prairie Township Administrator Rob Peters, there has been a spike in theft from both retail stores and private residences. “Recently there were 592 calls for service and several of those included breaking and entering, aggravated robbery and theft of a motor vehicle,” Peters said. “All residents are encouraged to make sure that their vehicles are secure, park in well-lit areas if possible and not leave valuables in their vehicles.” The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office patrols the township and officials hope to see criminal activity decline as the weather turns cooler. With the colder months approaching, the board also discussed snow and ice removal plans with the city of Columbus. This annual agreement is a partnership with the city for the township to remove snow and ice on Columbus streets that are within the township. “In exchange for the township maintaining, during snow and ice events, 11.58 lane miles of road, the city of Columbus will compensate the township $953 per lane mile for a total of $11,035,” Peters said. “The township maintained these same roads last year. As in the past, township roads will have priority.” Peters said that partnerships like this ensure township residents are protected when they drive from township to Columbus roads. news and notes COMMUNITY CENTER Continued from page 1 to 5 p.m. on Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 12 to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Pollack said with the pool and other activities continuing to not be offered, the center is seeing attendance lower on Friday and Saturday, so keeping the center open extended hours didn’t make sense. Pollack added that the community center pool will stay closed. “We are continuing to evaluate the COVID-19 trends and see what impact schools and colleges being reopened are having on the public health emergency,” Pollack said. “We also are looking at what other communities are doing who have indoor pools and seeing what makes the most sense to do.” The township wants to see if the virus infection numbers in Franklin County will increase, as they did in July, or go down before they decide when the pool will reopen. “We want to make sure there isn’t another surge before we make any decisions,” he said. “We haven’t forgotten about the pool, but we need to see what our capacity can safely be before we reopen it.” Pollack said the pool can safely allow a small number of people to swim at once, so it financially doesn’t make sense for the township to reopen it until it can be used by more people at the same time. Once the pool is open, officials want to keep it open because the expenses of filling it and continuing to maintain it are costly. “We can’t say we are going to reopen it on a specific date right now,” Pollack said. “We don’t have a www.columbusmessenger.com In other news, as township employees return to the office, the board discussed the need for further COVID-19 safeguards to protect employees. The township will install hands-free electrical and plumbing devices at some township facilities. “It includes COVID-19 guards at 25 Maple Drive for protection of workers and residents while interacting with the staff,” Peters said. “The work would also involve extending a glass opening for resident service at entryway at 23 Maple Drive.” The cost for this work is approximately $47,500. The work will be paid for from the CARES Funds that the township has received for COVID-19 related expenses. CML helps county promote voter registration Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) has partnered with the Franklin County Board of Elections to promote voter registration and participation in the upcoming General Election on Nov. 3. In addition to sharing the board of elections messaging in marketing channels, CML offers voter registration information and resources online and at all 23 of its locations. Additionally, CML staff are available to provide voter registration assistance using CML public computers. The voter registration deadline for the upcoming General Election is Oct. 5. Five locations will close for library services on Election Day to serve as official polling places: •Karl Road Branch, 5590 Karl Road •Linden Branch, 2223 Cleveland Ave. •Parsons Branch, 1113 Parsons Ave. •Reynoldsburg Branch, 1402 Brice Road •Shepard Branch, 850 N. Nelson Road Columbus Metropolitan Library has served the people of Franklin County since 1873. For more information, visit www.columbuslibrary.org. Produce giveaway at YMCA The Hilltop YMCA hosts a fresh produce giveaway the third Wednesday of each month from 4 to 6 p.m. at 2879 Valleyview Drive in Columbus. For more information, call the YMCA at 614- 276-8224. timetable on this and need to see how things progress in the county first. We want to reopen the pool and have not forgotten about it; we just aren’t there yet.” As a result of the pool being closed, annual events like the Pumpkin Swim will not be taking place this year. The township also will not be doing its annual Halloween Trail event. However, the center has reopened its childcare room for members. “While childcare is now open, we have limitation on capacity and have made significant changes to the guidelines,” Pollack said. “Previously, children 6 months of age and up could come to the room, now only children 3-9 years old can be in the room.” Pollack said the reason for this is the added risk with children that are so young, as well as staff ratio needed when infants are in the room. Pollack said once the childcare room is open for a while, officials will revaluate. “We like to start with the strictest guidelines and then slowly ease up,” he said. “It is easier to loosen up restrictions than tighten them up later.” Members who want to utilize the Prairiedise Childcare Room can either purchase a full membership that includes childcare for an additional $20 a month, pay $2.50 an hour per child and a $1 an hour per additional child or purchase a 10-hour discount card for $22.50 or a 50-hour discount card for $100. Children are limited to one hour maximum in the childcare room each time they visit.
www.columbusmessenger.com By Josephine Birdsell Staff Writer Gun violence is on the rise in Columbus and city officials want to put a stop to the dangerous trend. On Sept. 3 Columbus City Council met to address the issue. According to Timothy Becker, deputy chief with the Columbus Division of Police, 83 people have died from gun violence this year and more than 750 people have been shot. City leaders said the novel coronavirus has not helped the issue. “Our youth are overwhelmed by the many challenges we are facing,” said councilman Mitchell Brown, “a pandemic that has emptied our schools, canceled extracurricular activities; an economic crisis that has diminished opportunities; and a number of national incidents of police misconduct that have undermined trust in law enforcement. These factors have led to a perfect storm.” Council must address these issues and provide relief to the city’s youth if it wants to curb rising violence, he said. In an effort to decrease the violence, the city began a number of community programs. The recreation and parks department hosted programs and summer camps to provide kids with positive role models to help replace support that students may have lost after schools closed. The department plans to continue providing recreational programming during the school year. It also plans to provide active learning sites where students can complete their homework and access the Internet. The department’s Applications for Purpose Pride and Success violence intervention program works to interrupt cycles of violence within neighborhoods through direct intervention as well. The Columbus CARE Coalition helps families cope with violent loss by providing funeral support, connection to support groups and coping resources. It also provides free education to help community members understand the impact of trauma and build community resilience. The city’s Violence Outreach Intervention Community Engagement program, in partnership with Grant Hospital, provides bedside therapeutic intervention to victims of violent crime. City leaders want to use community engagement solutions to violence rather than relying on the criminal justice system. “Involvement in the criminal justice system is often times related to the trauma an individual experiences, and there are also racial and gender inequities we should consider,” said councilwoman Priscilla Tyson. According to Elizabeth Gill, a Franklin County juvenile court judge, the criminal justice system is not always fit to address the root cause of violence. Spending one night in a detention center can decrease youth likelihood of graduating high school by 50 percent and increase youth likelihood of committing another crime during their lifetime by 50 percent, she said. “These are all of our children. They are not just the children of our schools,” said Gill. “They are not just the children of Franklin County Children’s Services. They’re not just the children of Franklin September 20, 2020 - WESTSIDE MESSENGER - PAGE 3 Government Focus City officials discuss solutions for a rise in gun violence CARES money for families Mayor Andrew Ginther along with Columbus City Council and officials from Franklin County announced CARES Act funding to increase family stability. Columbus will use $6.2 million of CARES Act dollars to help childcare providers handle new regulations, including reduced teacher-child ratios, reduced maximum class sizes and new sanitization protocols that are crucial for the health and safety of both the children and the teachers. Franklin County will contribute an additional $2 million of its own CARES Act dollars for this initiative. The combined $8.2 million will go to childcare providers that serve low-income children in the city. “The struggles of this pandemic are real and continuing,” said Ginther. “While we are taking additional steps to slow the spread of COVID-19, we must also do all we can to keep families whole and stable during this unprecedented time.” “Access to childcare is a critical work support for parents, just as high-quality early learning is vital for long-term child development,” Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services Director Joy Bivens said. “On behalf of our commissioners, we are proud to partner with the city to offer support for hundreds of child care providers serving thousands of children and families in communities with the greatest need.” In addition, more CARES Act funds will be used for rental and utility assistance. In May, the city announced $2.6 million of CARES dollars to be used for rental assistance programs through IMPACT Community Action. The city will also set aside just over $1 million to be used for utility assistance grants. “Families in Columbus continue to suffer from the negative financial impact of COVID-19,” said councilwoman Shayla Favor. “It is critical that we continue to utilize these dollars to keep our residents safe, housed and supported.” The city has received $157 million CARES Act dollars from the U.S. Treasury to provide assistance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act funding must be used for expenditures necessary to address public health issues due to COVID-19. Food waste is a complex issue that impacts the health of our community, economy, and environment in ways many people don’t realize. That’s why SWACO and more than 150 partners in the Central Ohio Food Waste Initiative teamed up to create and launch “Save More Than Food, Make a Difference,” a consumer education campaign aimed at cutting food waste - in homes, schools, restaurants and businesses - in half by 2030. Each day, central Ohio residents and businesses throw out a million pounds of food. Food waste is the largest portion of the waste stream and accounts for 15 percent of all material in the Franklin County Sanitary Landfill. That’s food that could be feeding hungry people or returned to the earth in the form of a nutrientrich soil enhancement. In addition to being the top material thrown out each day, food waste also presents one of County juvenile court, and they’re not just the children of the parents that are raising them. We need the entire community at our table.” PAID ADVERTISING “Save More Than Food” the best opportunities to increase Franklin County’s diversion rate and reach 75 percent by 2032, a goal set by SWACO in 2017. In 2018, SWACO convened non-profit, education, government and business entities to work together to reduce food waste in central Ohio. Calling itself the Central Ohio Food Waste Initiative, the group published the Central Ohio Food Waste Action Plan in May 2019 with the ultimate goal to cut food waste in half by 2030. When food goes to waste, so does all of the time, money and resources that went into producing it. Wasted food accounts for an estimated $106 million in economic loss in central Ohio. In addition, 22 million gallons of gas and 41 billion gallons of water are used every year to grow and transport food that never gets eaten. For information visit SaveMoreThanFood.org.
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Westside Messenger - September 20th, 2020

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