Community News – The Oberlin Review

Despite Zoning Challenges, Lorain Street Food Truck Opens

October 4, 2019

After over a year of searching, Steel Magnolia — the only food truck currently located in Oberlin — has found a home on 408 E. Lorain St., near IGA. The truck serves a mix of soul food and traditional Caribbean cuisine and was opened by Oberlin native Shontae Jackson who runs it with her mom, Sarah Jackson, and 17-year-old daughter, Tanzania. Sarah says that seeing her daughter succeed has been incredibly fulfilling. “Ever since she was a little girl, it’s been her dream,” Sarah said...

Toni Morrison Honored at “Bench By the Road” Ceremony

October 4, 2019

Campus and community members gathered at the Toni Morrison Society’s “Bench by the Road” to celebrate the life and work of the late Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison last Friday. Attendants honored Morrison, who grew up in Lorain, Ohio, by reading passages from the author’s seminal works, The Bluest Eye and Beloved. “The tribute was wonderfully warm and solemn — exactly the atmosphere you’d want to honor an amazing writer and intellectual who is now transitioning into our cultural an...

City Council Candidates Engage With Voters

Rachel Serna-Brown and Anisa Curry Vietze

October 4, 2019

Eleven local candidates running for Oberlin City Council met with voters at The First Church in Oberlin for Tuesday’s Community Candidates Night. The event was organized by Oberlin’s chapter of the League of Women Voters with the goal of giving voters the opportunity to ask the candidates questions about local issues. In previous years, Community Candidates Night has showcased candidates for other offices in addition to City Council, such as Ohio State Senate, the county auditor’s office, and local judicial spots. College Science Librarian Alison Ricker — who is a member of Oberlin’s LWV and helped organize the event — explained why this year’s event only focused on council. “The only candidates who spoke were ...

City Council Prepares to Release Next Greenhouse Gas Inventory

September 27, 2019

The City of Oberlin’s Office of Sustainability has completed a 2019 iteration of a greenhouse gas inventory, which will be released on the city’s web page in the coming weeks. The inventory is the latest of four, dating back to 2007, and was performed in order to prioritize how to spend the city’s Sustainable Reserve Fund. “[The greenhouse gas inventory] is what we’re going to look at as a guide when we start looking at what initiatives are really going to be the most important and in...

Property Records Reveal Gibson Family Holdings

Nathan Carpenter, Editor-in-Chief

September 20, 2019

Property records obtained through the Lorain County Auditor’s office reveal that the Gibson family, who recently won a $25 million judgement in the lawsuit they filed against Oberlin College and Vice President and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo, own property within Oberlin city limits worth approximately $1.7 million, a sum figure not previously discussed in the media. The value assessments are calculated by the auditor’s office using tax information and in-person assessments. The figure does not include properties owned outside of Oberlin or controlled through Off Street Parking, Inc. — a corporation in which David Gibson owns a majority stake. While the Gibson family’s property ownership was not a key element...

Oberlin City Schools Receive Poor Report Card

September 20, 2019

Oberlin City Schools received a D rating on its School Report Card released by the Ohio Department of Education last week. This is down from last year’s C rating. The Ohio School Report Card measures the performances of public school districts across the state. A district’s letter grade is calculated using multiple predictors, including achievement, progress, and career preparedness. Oberlin City Schools Director of Curriculum William Baylis expressed that the D rating was deeply upsetting....

Court of Appeals Sides With Oberlin in NEXUS Dispute

Ella Moxley, Senior Staff Writer

September 20, 2019

In a legal blow to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the U.S. Court of Appeals sided with the City of Oberlin and other plaintiffs who opposed the NEXUS pipeline’s proposed use of eminent domain in the construction of the natural gas pipeline. Oberlin took NEXUS to court because the 256-mile natural gas pipeline, which stretches from Kensington, OH to Canada, runs through land within city limits. The city argued that under the Natural Gas Act, FERC could only grant authorization for the use of eminent domain to companies like NEXUS for interstate projects, not international ones. The legal concept of eminent domain concerns reclaiming of private land for public need without compensation. In addition, Ober...

Local Overdoses Raise Concerns

Katie Lucey, News Editor

September 6, 2019

The Oberlin Police Department responded to 13 reported heroin overdose incidents within Oberlin city limits between January 1 and August 13 of this year, one of which resulted in a death. These incidents are part of a larger pattern of fatal drug-related incidents that claim the lives of hundreds of Lorain County residents each year. According to County Health Ratings, a database of comparable county statistics, Lorain County has a slightly higher drug overdose mortality rate than the state of Ohio at large. Data recorded between 2013 and 2017 reveal that 39 people per 100,000 die due to drug overdoses in Lorain County, compared to 37 in the rest of Ohio. Although the drug overdose death metric includes overdoses from...

Despite Legalization, Medical Marijuana Faces Hurdles

Alexa Stevens

September 6, 2019

Sunday will mark the third anniversary of the legalization of medical marijuana in Ohio. On Sept. 8, 2016, Ohio House Bill 523 went into effect, allowing those with specific medical conditions to purchase marijuana with the recommendation of a licensed physician. Since the passage of the bill, the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program granted licenses to two medical marijuana dispensaries in Lorain County, Rise and Clubhouse Dispensary, both of which are still active. However, Oberlin native and Lorain County resident John Pardee is one of many who believe that — three years later — medical marijuana still isn’t accessible enough. “[The system] needs a lot of work,” Pardee said. “It has a long way to ...

Jury Rules For Gibson’s, Assigns $44 Million in Damages

June 14, 2019

Editor's note: Due to the scope of national media attention, the Review took the extraordinary step of covering the Gibson's verdict outside of normal publication dates. Because of limited staff capacity, the Review does not moderate comments during the summer, and letters to the editors in response to any article will be reviewed for publication in the fall. Please direct any questions to [email protected] The Lorain County jury overseeing the trial between Gibson’s Bakery and Ob...

Congressional Map Ruled Gerrymandering

Jane Hobson, Staff Writer

May 10, 2019

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio Western Division ruled last week that Ohio’s congressional map is an “unconstitutional partisan gerrymander” and ordered that the district map be redrawn by June 14, leaving enough time for the map to come into effect for the 2020 election. On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost requested a stay on the federal court decision. The existing districting map was drawn in 2011 by the Republican-controlled Ohio General Assembly, a bipartisan legislative task force advised the assembly. The court’s three-judge panel concluded that this map was deliberately created to favor the Republican party and elect three Republicans for every Democrat elected. �...

Big Parade Wows Community

May 10, 2019

Students, faculty, and community members of all ages marched handcrafted costumes, puppets, and intricate floats through the streets of Oberlin on the morning of Saturday, May 4 as a part of the annual Big Parade. Since 2002, this celebration has showcased creative expression and community in downtown Oberlin. Paraders begin working on their floats and costumes months in advance of the parade. This year, community members led workshops in the Oberlin Public Library to teach origami, large-scale mask...