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When most people think of the suffering artist, they probably don’t factor in weather.

Nicario Jimenez of Naples, Fla,, has learned that the elements are part of the business, especially during the10 years he has exhibited at the Columbus Arts Festival.

“The first time I was here it was freezing; it was on the (Scioto) river,” said Jimenez, billed as “Artist of the Andes.”

Heat, humidity, high winds and hard rain all took their turns in making artists scramble to protect their works at this year’s show. Challenging weather kept visitors away or chased them inside the Columbus Museum of Art and other nearby buildings. It also forced artists to zip up their tents during much of the first two days of the three-day festival in the Discovery District.

Family medicine a family affair for Parkers

By Felix Hoover

Photo By Terry Gilliam

Front left: Medical student Krista Parker, Mother Cheryl Parker. Back left: Dr. Augustus G. Parker IV, Dr. Augustus G. Parker III, and Dr. Jason Parker

Dr. Augustus G. Parker III has delivered hundreds of babies in central Ohio during his three decades as a practicing obstetrician and gynecologist.

But the three in which he takes greatest pride are the ones he and his wife, Cheryl, brought into the world and raised to adulthood, their children Augustus IV, Jason and Krista.

Part of the pride stems from the children’s decisions to follow their dad’s footsteps into the medical profession. Three children in a family becoming doctors is a rarity anywhere, but especially among African-American families.

All three of the Parker children gathered at the family house in Blacklick this weekend, where graduation celebration was in full force for Jason and Krista. He completed Howard Medical School and she received her bachelor’s at Hampton University.

“I’m trying to relax as much as I can,“ said Jason, 26, who is getting ready to begin his first-year residence with Mount Carmel Health System. Krista is preparing to start Ohio State Medical School in August.

Her brothers said they thought she might break the string because of her longtime interest in veterinary medicine.

Stellar writing career earns Columbus native first stars on Lincoln Theatre’s Walk of Fame

By Felix Hoover

Photo By Terry Gilliam

Journalist and author Wil Haygood, center, pose with his family next to his star at the Lincoln Theatre Walk of Fame.

The name of a Columbus man whose byline has appeared on newspapers, magazines and books, worldwide now graces the sidewalk in front of the Lincoln Theatre on E. Long Street.

A star to the left and a star to the right flank Wil Haygood, honoring the journalist and author as the first person enshrined in the Lincoln’s Walk of Fame.

Standing tall, hands folded humbly across his heart, he looked on as Mayor Michael B. Coleman and County Commissioner Marilyn Brown unveiled the stellar rectangle.

“He is deserving of a star because he is a star,” Coleman said.

Larry James, president of the Lincoln’s board, had provided some of the background on the honoree.

“Wil Haygood grew up in the King-Lincoln District so it seems particularly appropriate that he should be the first name on the Walk of Fame,” James said. “Columbus is very proud of this Pulitzer Prize finalist, award-winning reporter, and celebrated author, and this is our way of honoring his talents and accomplishments for generations to come.”

Many honors have gone to Haygood, a staff writer for the Washington Post, throughout his career. Earlier this month he was named a finalist by the National Association of Black Journalists for one of his articles “A Family’s March through History and Hope.”

Muralist Jeffrey Abraxas had made it clear to friends and family that he wanted no funeral or memorial after his death. He was always so upbeat and optimistic that he didn’t want to sadden those close to him.

Loved ones have wrestled with the request since his death on May 6 at age 39, but ultimately many folks decided that something had to be done to mark a life that touched so many.

Many of his fans and family gathered Sunday afternoon at the Urban-Spirit loft, where they took turns recounting tales of love and admiration for the person as well as the artist who was known by many names.

Until a week ago, Sagittarius Lamar didn’t know how to tie a necktie, but now he’s an expert with the Windsor knot and not afraid to show it.

The skill came in handy for him and a number of his peers who are members of the Generation of Gentlemen at West High School. They were honored at an awards banquet Thursday evening at the SafeAuto headquarters at Easton.

Through the school year, members of the organization took part in community service and meetings with adults who presented positive messages, including T. Wayne “The Builder” Gatewood, Principal Daniel Martin, and National Basketball Association standout Michael Redd, all of whom are West High alumni.

The theme song from a Sixties Western series asks “What do you do when you’re branded?”

Motivational speaker Melissa Dawn Johnson asks what can you do when you’re not?

The Otterbein grad returned to her alma mater Wednesday and talked to nearly 50 people about creating the image they want for themselves and their businesses.

Johnson’s message isn’t about overcoming the brand of cowardice as in the old TV show that starred Chuck Connors, but rather of having the courage to get the ultimate out of life.

The notion of branding might conjure images of Fortune 500 companies, but Johnson promotes strategies that are more inclusive.

Kiara Gravely, who's going into her senior year at Brookhaven High School, is recognized by Columbus Schools Superintendent Gene T. Harris as one of the Leadership Award winners in the Miracle-Gro Capital Scholars @ COSI Program. The award was presented during a recent ceremony at the Center of Science and Industry on W. Broad Street.

Four recent grads from Columbus City Schools are reaping benefits from giving up free time in the summer and after school.

They are among 43 students who have spent three to eight years in the Miracle-Gro Capital Scholars @ COSI Program, an effort that enhances educational, social and decision-making skills to develop tomorrow’s leaders.

"I believe it's the longevity of the program, its resources and our students' involvement that make it such an outstanding opportunity," Program Director Tifani D. Kendrick said.

Scholarship recipients, with their high school and the college they plan to attend, were: Molly McClelland, Beechcroft, Columbus State Community College; Diamond Clark, Walnut Ridge, Ohio State; Rondale Nicholson, Marion-Franklin, Bowling Green; and Civon Thomas, Beechcroft, Bowling Green.

Children from 5- to 18-years old had a chance to show off Friday night what they had learned throughout the school year concerning sound decision making.

They have dealt with such topics as alcoholism, drug abuse and violence in sessions conducted by Community for New Direction, which has its headquarters on W. Mound Street. It also has an East Office on E. Main Street.

Some of the youths’ knowledge was showcased in skits and poems during a season-ending program at West Mound Elementary School.

By Felix Hoover

Photo By Terry Gilliam

After several years of dormancy, the First Tee Columbus program has revived at Bridgeview Country Club, as some of its youthful participants can attest.

When asked to demonstrate some of the basics she learned in the six-week spring session, Lauryn Stubbs, a third-grader at Liberty Christian Elementary School, transformed from student to instructor.

“You set up and make your legs into a letter “A” and you make your arms into a letter “V.” she said.

Her favorite subject is math, so she knows that she is hitting the ball measurably farther as a result of lessons with First Tee. Straighter, too.

An initiation on Friday and a special salute on Saturday differentiated the two programs that marked the 10^th anniversary of the Thiossane West African Dance Institute.

The milestone celebration took place at the Lincoln Theatre, which provided ample room for the two nights of high-energy dancing and drumming.

The initiation involved NiaAdwoa Gwendolyn Sheard, a graduating senior at Fort Hayes High School who plans to attend Norfolk State University in Virginia. The “village” of blood and dance families recognized her maturation and, as her name implies, “purpose.“

In case Sarah Jessica Parker isn’t available for Sex and the City 3, central Ohio has plenty of replacements in waiting.

Many of the starlets showed up at the MC Easton Town Center to watch Sex and the City 2, attended a fundraiser at Martini Park at Easton with the TV series-turned-movie as the theme, or both.

“I am Carrie,” said Janet Lewis of Hilliard, referring to the SJP character in the TV series and movies that tell the stories of four girlfriends.

“Yes, she definitely is,“ said Tonya R. Cole of Grove City “And I‘m Carrie Jr.”

They were “glammed up” from head to toe, emphasis on the toes, outside the theater.

“It’s all about the shoes,” Lewis said.

She wore Zigi Girl, while Coles sported Marc Jacob.

Small businesses get information boost Downtown at Ohio entrepreneurship workshop

By Felix Hoover

Business owners and prospective entrepreneurs received stacks of information and a pep talk on Tuesday at the Grow It, Make It. Sell It Ohio Micro Business Exchange.

The daylong program at the Rhodes Tower on E. Broad Street bolstered the notion that small businesses will turn the economy around.

“If we invest in the one-to-five person businesses, we are investing in the future of Ohio,” said Iris Cooper, director of the entrepreneurship and small business division of the Ohio Department of Development.

FAN Club members from Columbus City Schools match stride with Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin and Walk with a Doc team

By Felix Hoover

Archie Griffin used to endear himself to folks on the Ohio State campus by running for 100 yards or more in most of the games he played en route to two Heisman Trophies.

He made similar impact on third-, fourth-, and fifth-graders on Wednesday with a peppy mile walk at Fred Beekman Park.

Before embarking on the mile-long loop, the students heard words of encouragement from Griffin and from Dr. David Sabgir, a cardiologist and creator of the Walk with a Doc program.

The youngsters take part in the Fitness and Nutrition Club, or FAN, a program of Nationwide Children’s Hospital that’s offered at three Columbus City elementary schools. Funding backers besides Nationwide Children’s are Abbott Laboratories and Mount Carmel.

Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman

When I became mayor more than a decade ago, I felt there was a need to change how Central Ohioans viewed urban Columbus. With a generation of affluent and educated fleeing the city for supposedly greener pastures in the suburbs, it was time for Columbus to adopt new policies that would point inward rather than outward as our new frontier for growth, opportunity and prosperity.

The seeds of demographic transformation were being planted in Columbus, as well as cities across the nation. Demographic change leading to a new urbanization of our region was altering our landscape. Columbus needed to be at the forefront of change.

Rather than simply following the half-century-plus policy of expanding Columbus’ land mass, a more strategic growth policy was born from the call to grow outward with a purpose and inward with a passion.

We committed to revitalizing our Downtown and making it into a 24-hour neighborhood rather than a 9-to-5 workplace. We made its streets friendlier to pedestrians and cyclists, we brought in housing for people to live, and parks for people to recreate.

We also set about reinvesting in our older neighborhoods that had suffered from neglect, such as Franklinton, the King Lincoln District, South of Livingston, Northland, Olde North Columbus and South Linden. We are now embarking on new strategies for the near South Side, around Children’s Hospital, the Far South Side along Parsons, West Broad Street near our new medical center and the Far West Side near the future casino.

Democrats kick off campaign throughout state with Day of Action