Columbus Dispatch - Economist sees Ohio’s home sales soaring

The story is here

Home sales and prices in Ohio should increase more than in the nation as a whole this year, a national economist told a group of real-estate agents yesterday.

Lawrence Yun, the chief economist with the National Association of Realtors, delivered his bullish forecast to more than 200 agents gathered at the Ohio Association of Realtors’ winter conference at the Columbus Hilton at Easton.

Yun predicted that home values could rise 15 percent and home sales will rise more than 20 percent during the next three years across the nation.

Ohio, however, is poised for a stronger showing because it has so far lagged behind the nation’s recovery, he said.

“I would not be surprised if Ohio outperformed the rest of the country in 2013 and 2014 in terms of home prices and sales,” he said.

Yun said he based his forecast on several factors, including a pent-up demand for housing, anticipated job growth and a shortage of homes for sale — which is contributing to a rise in prices.

Perhaps the biggest reason, though, is an anticipated growth in household formation. The number of new households has been exceptionally low the past five years as children moved in with parents and renters doubled up for financial reasons. Between 2007 and 2011, about half a million households were created each year, roughly half the traditional average.

The rest of the story is here

Columbus Dispatch - Battle brews over Italian Village parking

The story is here

Business owners, residents are upset

Parking has long been a challenge for visitors to the Short North. But now the city is trying to forge a policy to quiet a growing conflict between residents and area workers.

One problem seems to be that there are too many permits for too few parking spaces.

The city had issued permits for employees to park in Italian Village, east of High Street between Hubbard and Poplar avenues.

Andy Klein, who leads the Italian Village Society’s parking and traffic committee, said the city told area leaders in November that a total of 728 permits had been issued for 186 spaces in the neighborhood.

Those included 147 permits for businesses.

“We just don’t have the parking available,” said resident Mark Fazzina.

City officials are meeting with residents and other parties to figure out a solution. But the city’s latest plan, which calls for parking changes by April 1, doesn’t sit well with business owners and the Short North Alliance, which promotes area businesses and neighborhood revitalization. The plan calls for businesses along the east side of High Street between Hubbard and Poplar to receive two permits — one good any time and one good only on weekdays before 6 p.m.

“I think the debate is whether side streets are strictly for the residents ... or are community assets,” said John Angelo, executive director of the Short North Alliance.

He said “business residents” are entitled to use those community assets. “They come here every day. They are very much part of the fabric.”

Klein said the bigger problem is that there are more permits than spaces. “Focusing on the employees, in my mind, is a red herring,” Klein said. “There are still too many permits for the number of spaces.”

More of the story is here

HRC Applauds Washington National Cathedral’s Embrace of Marriage Equality

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 9, 2012
Paul Guequierre

HRC Applauds Washington National Cathedral’s Embrace of Marriage Equality

WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, today applauded the Washington National Cathedral’s announcement that it will begin celebrating weddings of gay and lesbian couples. The Cathedral is the most visible faith community within the Episcopal Church.

“Today marks another milestone in the Episcopal Church’s embrace of all God’s children, including LGBT people,” said Rev. MacArthur Flournoy, deputy director of HRC’s Religion and Faith Program.  “Today, the Church sent a simple but powerful message to LGBT Episcopalians – you are loved just the way you are, and for that we embrace you.”

Following recent victories for marriage equality across the country and particularly in Maryland and Washington, DC, the Very Rev. Gary Hall, dean of Washington National Cathedral said, “It is now only fitting that the National Cathedral follow suit. We enthusiastically affirm each person as a beloved child of God—and doing so means including the full participation of gays and lesbians in the life of this spiritual home for the nation.”

Since the 1960s, many clergy have provided private blessings to gay and lesbian couples, but the Church had no official practice.  Following the 2009 General Convention, the Church said bishops may provide “generous pastoral response” to gay couples, especially in states that allow civil unions or gay marriages. Today’s announcement is consistent with the adoption of a new liturgy for blessing same-sex unions at the denomination’s General Convention in August.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his last Sunday sermon from the Canterbury pulpit of the Cathedral in 1968.  In 2004, the state funeral service for President Ronald W. Reagan was held at the Cathedral.  President Barack Obama and several other past presidents-elect have been in attendance for the presidential inaugural prayer service held at the Cathedral on Inauguration day. 

“The Episcopal Church is one of a growing number of denominations to see a new day in the intersection of faith and sexual orientation and gender identity.  This is not only good LGBT people, it is good for the soul of the church,” added Rev. Flournoy.  

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

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Ted Strickland will not to seek election as Governor of Ohio in 2014

January 8, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Louis Capobianco

Statement From Former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland

COLUMBUS, OHIO – Today, former Governor Ted Strickland released the following statement:

“Today, I am announcing my decision not to seek election as Governor of Ohio in 2014.

“In many ways, this has been a very difficult decision. I look back fondly on my time as Ohio’s 68th Governor –and am proud of my Administration’s efforts to guide our state through the greatest national economic crisis since the Great Depression. With the help of my First Lady -- Frances Strickland-- my dedicated and loyal Cabinet, and my incredibly hard-working Executive Staff, we held the ship steady. With the help of President Obama, who provided the funds necessary to keep Ohio and all of America from slipping into another Great Depression, we were able to preserve the social safety net, make important investments in education, and position Ohio’s economy for the recovery that started in February 2010.

“And when I look back on my four years as Governor, I am equally proud of those in the Strickland Administration who served the public with honor, integrity, and humility. We sought to make Ohio better.

“My administration was about positioning Ohio as a leader in our rapidly changing economy and global world. We worked to rebuild our infrastructure with a special effort to make sure the national system for rail transportation included Ohio. We worked to ensure there were more Ohioans with affordable health care coverage. We significantly improved our national standing in public education, made sure it did not suffer from deep cuts during the economic crises, and worked to satisfy the Supreme Court’s ruling for equitable funding with a new formula that was less dependent on property taxes. We enacted a comprehensive energy reform bill that helped to stabilize the energy market for consumers and business while creating a renewable portfolio standard that has positioned Ohio as a leader in advanced energy. And, we made college more affordable. Most significant for jobs, we were leaders in investments in alternatives sources of energy and went to bat for the automobile industry; working closely with President Obama on the rescue plan that has been so pivotal in Ohio’s economic recovery.

“In short, I believe my Administration stood and spoke for the causes that count.

“Frances and I will continue to be politically active private citizens. We will continue to stand with working men and women to build a stronger Ohio ---and to defeat anti-worker and anti-middle class legislation that may arise.”

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Mortgage forgiveness tax treatment gets one more year

Mortgage forgiveness tax treatment gets one more year

From the Columbus Board of Realtors:

As part of the fiscal cliff deal, Congress extended the cancellation of mortgage debt relief provision for one year, through the end of 2013. President Obama is expected to sign the legislation into law shortly. 

The law – which was set to expire at the end of 2012 - is crucial to foreclosure mitigation efforts such as principal forgiveness and short sales. Normally, U.S. law decrees that when a lender forgives all or a portion of a borrower’s debt, the forgiven amount is considered taxable income for the borrower. This is known as Cancellation of Debt (COD) Income and must be included in a taxpayer’s gross income.

This Act, however, created an exception to this rule under the U.S. Tax Code. The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act allows homeowners who received principal reductions or other forms of debt forgiveness to not pay taxes on the amount forgiven. The amount extends up to $2 million of debt forgiven on the homeowner’s principal residence.

For homeowner’s to qualify, their debt must have been used to “buy, build, or substantially improve” their principal  residence and be secured by that residence. The law, which was passed in 2007 with a five year sunset provision, will now be in effect until January 1, 2014.

ThinkProgress - GOP Rep. Stivers Tentatively Endorses Employment Non-Discrimination Act

By Rebecca Leber and Scott Keyes on Jan 4, 2013 at 12:10 pm

WASHINGTON, DC — Republicans have obstructed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) for years, preventing a federal law from prohibiting discrimination against LGBT employees. On Thursday, Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH) told ThinkProgress that he would be in favor of preventing employment discrimination, if there is a way to “not mess up many states’ employment laws” in the process.

More information and his video comments are here

Joel Diaz, Mikey's Late Night Slice make the Huffington Post

The post is here

From Joel Diaz:

This past weekend I was a part of something incredible that happened in my community of Columbus, Ohio. After a fun night out in the Short North, my friend Ethan and I ventured down the street to a popular pizza truck called Mikey's Late Night Slice. As a frequent late night visitor to the truck I knew the requisite wait in line is part of the process for securing an insanely good slice of pizza. It was really cold so Ethan and I were holding hands and standing close together to keep warm, we were laughing and joking about all the fun we'd had that night, when all of the sudden the guy in front of us turns around and tells us to cut our "gay shit" out.

I was a bit startled by his words but I didn't expect what happened next. Almost every single person in that line made it known to him it was not OK for him to speak to us like that. By happenstance my friend John, who is also gay, was standing in front of him and as he continued his rant about being disgusted by us we both let him know that this was our city too and that we were not about to stand down to his bigoted ideas, especially not in one of the gayest neighborhoods in town. As he continued it was actually the straight people in line who spoke up that were so awesome.

I didn't expect to see allies so willing to chime in and let this guy know that his hate speech wouldn't be tolerated. The best part though was as he grew more irate and vocal the guys who work the truck stopped what they were doing and leaned towards the window and told him they would not serve him because he was spewing hate. They said they support everyone in our community and that he should get out of line because they would not be serving him. He begrudgingly got out of line and walked away escorted by a friend who had been hanging back.

As I walked away with my pizza all I could think about was "THAT'S IT!" Every person who spoke up to defend us including the pizza guys representing their business was doing their part to make hate a thing of the past. I've been involved for a number of years with our movement for equality having co-chaired the Human Rights Campaign dinner in Columbus and being involved as a community organizer but I had never witnessed such a public display of support. It was incredibly moving.

The next day I typed up a post on Facebook and shared it thinking my friends that read it might enjoy the display of courage of those that stood with Ethan and I that night and appreciate a local small business standing up for us as well. What I did not expect was the post to go viral and the responses from people all over the country regarding the story. It has been shared over 900 times since Sunday morning and a version with a fantastic response from Mikey's Late Night Slice was posted to reddit with over 266,000 views to date.

I think the story was so powerful because we as an LGBT community don't hear these types of stories where our allies and businesses speak up against oppressors. I think the fact that the story takes place in Ohio also has something to do with it. The state doesn't have the best reputation for LGBT rights but Columbus is a very progressive city in our state. We have a very large active gay population and we are the home of the largest pride festival in the Midwest. The city just celebrated its bicentennial and is known as a smart and open city, which is a testament to the diversity of our community here.

I think stories like this shared by our LGBT friends and allies are important because it gives people hope and courage. It shows that the arc of the moral universe does bend towards justice and we are not alone in this struggle. I ended my post by saying we must never forget to speak up and make our voices heard no matter where we find ourselves. I firmly believe this is how we will continue to change hearts and minds across this country and in the world but we can't do it alone, we need everyone to take up our mantle for equality and drive it forward. I'm inspired and amazed at what has transpired with what started off as a simple post in appreciation of people who stood up for us and am grateful for the opportunity to share a little bit of Columbus with the world.