In 1962, the Mansfield (Ohio) Police Department stationed officers armed with a movie camera behind a two-way mirror in a public restroom known for its "cruisy" atmosphere. With the help of the footage shot, dozens of men were arrested, prosecuted, and convicted on
sodomy charges, which at the time carried mandatory minimum sentences of a year in prison. In 2007, the original surveillance footage was obtained by filmmaker
William E.
Jones. He's screened the unedited 56 minute film as
Tearoom at festivals and museums the world over, providing a clandestine look at the scrutiny small-town Midwestern gay men faced in the 1960's. [
warning:
explicit,
NSFW material lies beyond most links]
[more inside]
posted by item
on Feb 9, 2012 -
81 comments
On the other side of the flimsy fence separating them from his neighbor Terry Thompson's property, Kopchak noticed that Thompson's horses seemed even more agitated. They were circling, and in the center of their troubled orbit there was some kind of dark shape. Only when the shape broke out of the circle could Kopchak see that it was a black bear.
Yesterday,
Esquire and
GQ each published lengthy pieces on the suicide of Terry Thompson and the crisis at his exotic animal zoo in Zanesville, OH. (
Previously)
[more inside]
posted by Horace Rumpole
on Feb 7, 2012 -
35 comments
How can we better understand the interplay of nature and nurture in determining our personalities, behavior, and vulnerability to disease? Perhaps we should be looking at
identical twins.
(National Geographic January 2012 cover story) [more inside]
posted by zarq
on Dec 19, 2011 -
89 comments
Who holds the longest home sell-out streak in professional sports? The Red Sox have the longest streak in major league baseball, just under 700 games (and counting.) The Washington Redskins have sold out 348 straight home games, a streak dating back to 1968. But the longest streak belongs to the Portland Trail Blazers, who sold out 814 straight home dates between 1977 and 1995.
Yesterday, they were joined by
the Dayton Dragons of the Class A Midwest League, whose victory over the Bowling Green Hot Rods marked their 814th straight sellout. The Dragons, despite playing in an
economically troubled mid-sized city,
have sold out every home game the team has ever played, drawing over 8,000 fans a game, better than most AAA clubs. Dragons manager
Delino DeShields was
last seen on MetaFilter as a hitting coach in the independent Pioneer League. General manager Gary Mayse
explains how the Dragons have found success in hard economic times.
posted by escabeche
on Jul 3, 2011 -
35 comments
Public Job as Only Route to Middle Class. 'While that might not seem like much, jobs' 'with benefits and higher-than-minimum wages, are considered plum in' the town of
Gallipolis a 'depressed corner of
southern Ohio. Decades of industrial decline have eroded private-sector jobs here, leaving a thin crust of low-paying service work that makes public-sector jobs look great in comparison.''Now, as Ohio’s legislature moves toward final approval of a bill that would chip away at public-sector unions, those workers say they see it as the opening bell in a race to the bottom. At stake, they say, is what little they have that makes them middle class.'
[more inside]
posted by VikingSword
on Mar 16, 2011 -
183 comments
Kelly Williams-Bolar has been sentenced to ten days in prison in a school residency case. The African-American mother of two lives in public housing in Akron, Ohio, and forged court records so that her children could attend a better school in nearby Copley Township. Judge Patricia Cosgrove sentenced her to 10 days in prison, 80 hours of community service, and two years of probation. Ms. Williams-Bolar works as a special education classroom aide, and was working towards a teaching degree. Because of the felony conviction she may no longer be eligible to teach in the state of Ohio.
posted by mmmbacon
on Jan 25, 2011 -
190 comments
In 1933,
a mysterious benefactor posted an ad in the local Canton, Ohio paper, offering some Christmas funds to people who might otherwise shy away from asking for aid, even in those tough times. That Anonymous Giver went by the pseudonym "Mr. B. Virdot," and ended up giving some money to 150 families and people in town who wrote in with their personal stories. The unknown person's identity was never revealed, and
his true identity was not even known to his grandson, until the mysterious benefactor's daughter gave her son, Ted Gup, a battered suitcase full of letters and checks signed by "Mr. B. Virdot". The mysterious man was Samuel J. Stone, a Jewish man whose family had fled Romania when he was young. Stone had done well in the United States, and owned a small chain of clothing stores in 1933. The story of the mysterious gifts
hasn't faded from Canton, and on November 5 of this year,
Stone's grandson, Gup, gave a public talk to the community and decedents of the original recipients of Virdot's gifts. And now,
Canton residents are bringing back the spirit of Virdot.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Dec 21, 2010 -
16 comments
Ohio McDonald's Restaurant Tells Employees to Vote Republican As the election season is here, we wanted you to know which candidates will help our business grow in the future. As you know, the better our business does it enables us to invest in our people and our restaurants. If the right people are elected we will be able to continue with raises and benefits at or above our present levels. If others are elected we will not. [more inside]
posted by moorooka
on Oct 29, 2010 -
70 comments
Appalachia Ohio is home to an eclectic mix of individuals united by a common sense of place. Through photography, video, audio, text and interactive graphics,
Soul of Athens reveals the spirit of this unique community. Produced by students at Ohio University's
School of Visual Communication. (
2008,
2007)
posted by netbros
on Oct 5, 2009 -
9 comments
"The Cleveland Tourism Board gave me 14 million dollars about 8 months ago to make
a promotional video to bring people to Cleveland. As usual, I waited till the last minute and I ended up having to shoot and edit it in about an hour yesterday afternoon. I probably should have invested more time."
posted by dhammond
on Apr 16, 2009 -
50 comments
"One dude's quest to save democracy!"
Free for All! is a new documentary about the 2004 Ohio election results, which decided the presidential winner. It covers some familiar ground, but also a lot of details you might have missed. You can see it in theaters on October 8, or
view it online right now. Here's
Roger Ebert's review.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner
on Oct 4, 2008 -
28 comments
Illicit Ohio has a wide range of photos and essays of
abandoned places in Ohio, from the
Cincinnati subway system (yes, there really
is was one, and it's been
discussed here before), to
various and
sundry prisons,
government installations,
hotels,
hosiptals,
houses and more. And don't miss the
old vs. new galleries, either.
posted by dersins
on Aug 29, 2007 -
20 comments
Whooops! While making a required filing to the state ethics commission, Ohio Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Kenneth Blackwell finds Diebold shares in his stock portfolio that he now claims to have bought "accidentally." Yes,
that Diebold -- the e-voting company whose chairman promised to "
deliver the vote" to George Bush. And yes,
that Blackwell, whose state
helped deliver the White House to the GOP. Blackwell insists that the humble amount of Diebold stock was in one of those "
blind trust" type of arrangements that worked out so rewardingly for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.
[newsfilter via RawStory.]
posted by digaman
on Apr 4, 2006 -
108 comments
Ohio Senator: Bar adoptions by the GOP ---In response to Ohio Senator
Hood's bill to bar adoption by gays and lesbians, one Senator uses humor to counter hate:
...To further lampoon Hood's bill, Hagan wrote in his mock proposal that ``credible research' shows that adopted children raised in Republican households are more at risk for developing ``emotional problems, social stigmas, inflated egos, and alarming lack of tolerance for others they deem different than themselves and an air of overconfidence to mask their insecurities.'
However, Hagan admitted that he has no scientific evidence to support the above claims.
Just as ``Hood had no scientific evidence' to back his assertion that having gay parents was detrimental to children, Hagan said. ...
posted by amberglow
on Feb 24, 2006 -
29 comments
The Axis of Evil has some competition — in Ohio. The Bush Administration continues to apply pressure to North Korea about its alleged counterfeiting of $100 notes: This
Korean story quotes Amb. Alexander Vershbow demanding physical proof that Pyongyang has destroyed its forging equipment. On the other hand, according to the BBC, South Korea's intelligence service
doubts the North is counterfeiting, although it may have done so in the past. Meanwhile, on the homefront, a 16-year-old has been fingered as the mastermind of a bogus bill ring operating out of the boy's home in North College Hill, OH. Oddly, the
Cincinnati Enquirer article announcing the bust is chock-full of juicy tips for would-be home engravers: rip off old bills rather than new, don't overlook those colored fibers, and set the wash cycle for delicates. Oh, and don't even think about using scissors: it's a sure giveaway!
posted by rob511
on Feb 19, 2006 -
17 comments
Meet the Bloggers is a group of Ohio citizen journalists who have been interviewing state political candidates, podcasting the interviews and taking questions from anyone who is interested in the candidate's policies. [more inside]
posted by sciurus
on Jan 10, 2006 -
3 comments
Governor Taft of Ohio is about to sign
Senate Bill 9, the Ohio Patriot Act. Among its provisions:
- Police can deny entry to "transportation infrastructure" to anyone not showing an ID;
- Police can demand the name, address, and date of birth of anyone suspected of having committed a crime or being about to commit a crime, or having witnessed a crime or a plan to commit a crime. Failure to provide this information is an arrestable offense -- so basically all demonstrators could be required to give their names, addresses and dates of birth or face arrest;
- Reminiscent of Joe McCarthy's famous question, many state licenses will begin with the question "Are you a member of an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List?". Failure to answer means no license; answering affirmatively is self-incrimination.
- Perhaps worst of all, the original version of the bill simply prohibited state or local governemnts or government employees from objecting to the USA PATRIOT act. The current version allows criticism, but threatens local government with the loss of funds if they in any way "materially hinder" Federal anti-terrorism efforts.
"Welcome to Ohio! Ihre Papiere, bitte!"
posted by orthogonality
on Dec 23, 2005 -
128 comments
