This week all three Beacon batters sit down with Columbus Clippers General Manager Tyler Parsons to talk about baseball’s past, present, and future in Central Ohio.

Kevin sets the stage with a quick history of Columbus baseball, tracing the journey from Cooper Stadium and the Redbirds to today’s Huntington Park and the Clippers’ 12(ish) championships. From there, Parsons shares his own baseball roots. He grew up a Detroit Tigers fan, worked his first job in baseball as “Director of Fun” in the Coastal Plain League, and carried those lessons in fan experience through to leadership roles in Durham and now Columbus.

The conversation touches on the developing balance between competition and entertainment. Parsons explains that minor league baseball is as much about experience as it is about wins and highlights promotions like Dime-a-Dog Night and the Clippers’ efforts to create affordable, family-friendly fun. With player decisions controlled by the Cleveland Guardians, the Clippers’ job is to make Huntington Park the best environment possible for both players and fans.

Parsons also covers Columbus’ unique ownership structure: the Clippers are county-owned, making them one of the rare professional sports franchises operated as a true community asset. That means keeping ticket prices low, focusing on accessibility, and serving as an anchor in the Arena District’s growth.

From rule changes like the extra-inning “ghost runner,” to the cultural mix of pro wrestling, Savannah Bananas–style showmanship, with baseball traditions, the discussion paints a picture of a sport constantly evolving. For Parsons, the joy is simple: bringing thousands of people together on a summer night to share a game and maybe a scoop or two.

This Podcast and Music were Produced by Tim Hofmann and recorded at Franklin Street Creative (doot-dah-doot-dah-doot-dah-dooooooo)

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This week’s episode of the Hilliard Beacon Audio Companion runs in two distinct halves.

In our first bit, Jordan, Tim, and Kevin gather around the mics to talk through recent events in Hilliard. We start with Tim’s firsthand account of a serious train accident that shut down parts of Northwest Parkway and Leap Road for hours. Thankfully, no fatalities were reported, though the truck driver was hospitalized in stable condition.

From there, the guys connect the incident back to the city’s long-running “quiet zone” debate, revisit past council discussions on grade crossing safety, and touch on community events including Celebration at the Station, National Night Out, and the latest election filings.

Listeners also get updates on the uncontested HCSD school board race and a Norwich Township trustee contest that’s already drawing fundraising attention.

The second half of the show shifts gears into a longform interview with Gold Path Solar founder Jake Trubiano. A Hilliard native now leading a Dublin-based solar firm, Trubiano walks through his path from Air Force Academy to Ohio University to solar entrepreneurship. He explains how rising electricity rates and federal incentives make solar projects pencil out for both homeowners and commercial developers in Ohio, with payback windows as short as six years and warranties stretching 25. The conversation ranges from rooftop systems to solar carports, from the Inflation Reduction Act’s promise of U.S. manufacturing to the uncertainties caused by new tariffs and the rollback of residential tax credits.

It’s a wide-ranging episode and fun conversation - one part history. one part future and definitively ALL HILLIARD.

In the sweltering heat of summer, the Beacon’s Audio Companion returns to full strength. Hosts Jordan, Kevin, and Tim (back from the Poconos) reconvene post-three hours and change of Clippers baseball that left 2/3rds of the crew absolutely fried. (7/24)

* After some vacation recap, the crew reflect on the recent interview with johnn(y)ie co-author Johnny Dawson. Topics include: reinvention, the toll of ambition, addiction, and post-service life. The guys draw parallels between Dawson’s post military recovery, Johnny Dixon’s athletic career pivot, and their own business and creative endeavors and fail-deavors, calling attention to the importance of personal grit and breaking from isolation to embrace the next thing.

* Local matters round out the show. Michelle Crandall’s final week as Hilliard city manager prompts discussion on future city leadership, council dynamics, and the future of representative governance. The hosts consider the slow, necessary shift toward neighborhood-level input and “low-intensity, frequent engagement,” as a process to navigate local issues at the citizen level.

* They wrap with updates on the Bryant Street land trust home, ongoing sidewalk repairs (and speculation about their distribution), a lightning-struck tree, and the arrival of Pickleball Kingdom - approved by a vote of 5-2 amid concerns about income tax yield for that prime corridor spot.

Finally, in true Companion form, a few jabs at axe throwing and a not-so-subtle digression into the latest Epstein insanity.

Music and Production by Tim Hofmann at Franklin Street Studios (doot-dah-doot-dah doooo)

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There's a lot of interesting things happening in Ohio.

It's always drawing us forward even as the larger picture is scaring and abusing us.

So I think it's a challenge to us to find ways to make our contribution as loud as

we can and try to come through some of this noise and chaos that we're facing. - Jordan

In a resonant conversation, Marine veteran and local advisor Johnny Dawson opened up about the release of johnn(y)ie: a memoir of conquering the modern-day goliath, a collaborative memoir co-authored with former Ohio State wide receiver Johnnie Dixon. The title itself, stylized to highlight the shared name “Johnny/Johnnie,” signals a layered story of two men from vastly different worlds confronting the same internal and generational giants.

Dawson was born in Columbus but spent his early youth in Butcher Holler, Kentucky. Those years were shaped almost entirely by a volatile father figure, whom Dawson describes as “an outlaw, not a criminal,” who once took him on a drive that ended in what Johnny can only describe as a shotgun shooting. That memory of trauma (and the silent image of cattails swaying in the headlights) became the metaphor and opening chapter for the memoir.

While Johnnie Dixon’s path took him through the elite structures (Ohio State) and physical grind of preparing for a professional football career, Dawson’s escape from generational poverty and addiction came through the United States Marine Corps. He enlisted the very day of his high school graduation and was deployed to Iraq in 2004, serving in Anbar Province and participating in the first Battle of Fallujah. Dawson described daily mortar fire, booby-trapped roads, and the moral injury of losing friends in combat and children in war zones. Particularly remarkable were Dawson’s series of encounters with a young Iraqi boy named Mohammed, who led them to a massive weapons cache and was later murdered by insurgents for doing so.

As feelings grew that the mission had lost focus and purpose Johnny returned stateside and enrolled at Ohio State, but his transition was fraught. He self-isolated, drank heavily, got into fights, and nearly ended his life - stopped only by the quiet, persistent companionship of his dog, Rocky. His own spiritual reckoning began when his now-wife Bora, then pregnant with their son Maddox, gave him an ultimatum: come to church or lose your family. He chose church, and with it, a slow path back to a more peaceful life.

Through a growing faith and eventual work with Cypress Wesleyan, Dawson wrote a 12-week Bible study for men wrestling with trauma. That project laid the groundwork for johnn(y)ie, which he and Dixon shaped by comparing their vastly different lives and recognizing mirrored battles: mental health, poverty, and what Dawson calls “generational curses.”

“We internalize who our parents are,” Dawson said. “Until one day, we make a choice to be something different.”

For Dawson, writing the book was about vulnerability, honesty, and reaching others who might find themselves lost after a mission ends.

Music and Production by Tim Hofmann at Franklin Street Studios (doot-dah-doot-dah doooo)

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Councilman Carrier is back at the table - Development, Representation, and What Comes Next for Hilliard

On this week’s HBAC longtime councilmember Les Carrier returns to the podcast for an open and wide-ranging conversation with hosts Jordan, Kevin and Tim. This episode was recorded right as Hilliard was preparing for Independence Day festivities and just shifting into the next major political season.

Why Les Is Running Again

Carrier opens up about his decision to run again this fall after previously considering retirement and a rare loss running for Township office. He cites growing concerns over how the city’s Comprehensive Plan is being implemented - particularly around zoning, high-density development, and infrastructure prioritization.

He points to rising resident frustration in his inbox over sudden changes and communication gaps around land / property use. Carrier argues that while development has been efficient, it hasn’t always been right or “neighborly.”

On the Need for Neighborhood Representation

Later in the episode, Jordan floats an idea that’s been gaining traction in recent Beacon conversations: creating a ward-based structure for ongoing public input. Not dividing up elections, necessarily, but establishing recurring neighborhood forums in wards that already exist on our maps and encompass all parts of the city (Leap Road, Old Hilliard, West Hilliard, etc.) to ensure resident voices don’t get lost in the noise.

Carrier doesn’t push back. In fact, he sees the logic. “It's not until the bulldozers start pushing dirt that people pay attention,” he says. Recent events, such as 750 homes receiving re-zoning notices on the same day have been a wake-up call and he believes the city’s growing Muslim population, in particular, has felt sidelined throughout. “They’re busting at the seams everywhere they’re operating,” he says.

Jordan stresses that permanent community structures - like recurring ward meetings or neighborhood planning groups - could offer something more durable than single-issue advocacy. Carrier agrees but suggests that legislation out of votes like Issue 9 have had lasting value and believes citizen-led engagement, when codified, has made for lasting impact.

On the City Manager Transition

The conversation also explores perspective on the leadership vacuum following the resignation of City Manager Michelle Crandall. Carrier expressed frustration that neither of the assistant managers already on staff seemed to want the permanent top job. “We're paying these people a quarter million dollars a year!”

He believes this moment could have been used to test an interim manager in real time. At this juncture he hopes the full process (likely to stretch into months) yields a chance to reset the office and find a leader who can build consensus and not, in his view, just secure four votes.

Hilliard’s Future Coming into View

Much of the conversation circles back to Old Hilliard, where the city is investing millions in storm and sewer upgrades to support future development. Carrier perceives an impending push to “go vertical” in Old Hilliard as a mistake. “Why change what’s already successful?” he asks. “And there isn't one apartment they needed to have to make it successful.”

As the episode wraps, Carrier leaves listeners with a simple suggestion: Hilliard is heading into an election that can and should shape how the city grows.

Whether it's ward meetings, ballot initiatives, or stronger council deliberation, he says the public should play a more active role. “Whether my point wins or loses, if we’re talking about it, we’re winning,” he says. “If we’re just doing groupthink, we’re not.”

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The summer interviews continue fast and furious! Listen to some of what’s happening in Hilliard right now!

Hosts Kevin and Tim begin with a feature on Sam and Charlie Owsley, Hilliard siblings organizing “Food for the Fourth.” The brothers have launched a civic initiative to collect non-perishable food items from the crowd lining the route of Hilliard’s July 4th parade. Coordinating with city police and parade organizers, and securing help from friends, family, and the Hilliard Food Pantry, the brothers aim to bolster summer donations during a time of reduced inventory due to budget cuts. With support from Kroger and local church partners, the effort represents a great example of local youth in service.

The episode then pivots to a full-team discussion with Katie DeLand, co-founder of Ohio Women Lead Right, on companion bills (SB167 and HB226) in the Ohio General Assembly that would require one-time parental age verification to regulate minors’ access to mobile apps. DeLand frames the legislation as a commonsense, streamlined method for restoring parental control over children's digital lives, contrasting it with more piecemeal or industry-friendly alternatives. The approach is modeled after Utah’s successfully implemented law, upheld in court despite First Amendment challenges.

Throughout the conversation, DeLand and the Beacon team explore wider issues from digital consumer grooming and addictive app ecosystems to the challenge of enforcement and broader questions about how kids are socialized and viewed as a market in a tech-saturated world.

The proposed law joins a larger package of efforts by Ohio’s GOP supermajority, including a provision in the state’s operating budget to restrict student phone use during school hours.

The conversation underscores a bipartisan concern over the shaping influence of apps, advertising, and screen time on youth development even as Ohio Republicans diverge in their preferred policy remedies.

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In this edition of the HBAC, Jordan, Tim and Kevin welcomed return guest Paul Lambert for an overdue look at the local political landscape following Hilliard’s recent Democratic primary. We talked the upcoming November election and the pending transition in city management.

You can connect with more of Paul’s writing on his Facebook profile: Educate Hilliard

Local Elections Signal Civic Awakening

We opened with a reflection on the Democratic primary, where voters selected a slate of candidates including incumbents and newcomers. Notably, Nadia Rasul secured a nomination, reflecting both her community ties (including decades as a local pharmacist) and the increasing engagement of Hilliard’s Muslim community. Lambert highlights how civic involvement often grows from communities feeling excluded or wronged, pointing to the Noor Islamic Cultural Center’s increased political participation as an example of developing democracy in action. The group discusses the challenges and opportunities of building representative governance through both the ballot box and the courts.

City Manager Transition at a Pivotal Moment

As Hilliard’s first city manager, Michelle Crandall, prepares to step down at the end of July, the group examines what’s at stake in appointing her successor:

* Balance between professional administration and elected oversight,

* Potential for political maneuvering ahead of the November elections,

* Importance of local knowledge in managing a city like Hilliard.

Lambert notes that any incoming city manager will need a deep understanding of Ohio’s unique municipal frameworks to be immediately effective.

Tracing the Roots of Hilliard’s Complex Governance

The podcast then shifts into an educational / historical deep dive led by Lambert. He traces the trends and policy decisions—from postwar annexation and water system practices to the “win-win” school district agreements—that have shaped Hilliard’s patchwork of municipal boundaries, school districts, and tax districts. His walk-through of some of the intricacies of property tax policy, annexation law, and school district politics helps explain how present-day development tensions emerged.

Paul’s latest post regarding property tax and school funding interactions from June 9th.

Why Local Engagement Matters

To wrap it up, local politics offers a rare space where citizens can meaningfully shape outcomes—whether through elections, advocacy, or direct service. Hilliard residents deserve improving ways and methods to stay informed, involved and participating beyond just Election Day.

The Hilliard Beacon is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Latest Ohio Budget News (click the image)

In our latest episode, we welcomed Tony Logan—local resident, farmer, agricultural attorney, and former Ohio head of USDA Rural Development—for a great chat on agrivoltaics, the integration of solar energy and agriculture.

Logan shared how agrivoltaics offers a sustainable path forward, blending traditional farming with renewable energy in ways that can improve soil health, support pollinators, and keep farm families on the land. Drawing on Ohio State University’s research and his own experience, he explained how solar installations—when designed with farming in mind—can enhance moisture retention, increase microbial activity, and provide long-term economic stability for rural communities.

Additionally, tools like smart leasing, legal safeguards, and forward-thinking design (such as solar trackers and higher panel mounts) enable farmers to continue raising crops and livestock—even sheep grazing directly under the panels. Logan emphasized the need for community solar legislation to empower towns like Hilliard to generate affordable, local power while preserving prime farmland and farm families.

The conversation touched on Ohio’s latest regulatory hurdles and fresh updates on the still raging FirstEnergy corruption scandal winding its way through PUCO hearings.

But Tony stayed focused on the opportunity for agrivoltaics to combat sprawl, and the potential of pairing solar with battery storage for 24/7 clean energy. He urged landowners and residents to advocate for policies that allow agrivoltaics to flourish, calling it “the best of two worlds: clean energy and better soils.”

For those interested in learning more, Logan encouraged looking beyond myths and toward the emerging science and practical models already in place here in Ohio.

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Freshly retired (Coaching only) Hilliard Darby boys basketball head coach Chris Maul joined Jordan, Tim, and Kevin for the 113th installment of the Hilliard Beacon Audio Companion. Maul, a proud product of Hilliard schools, spoke candidly about his two-decade coaching career, the evolving culture of youth sports, and his classroom work teaching financial literacy and economics.

A 1995 graduate of the Hilliard system, Maul recounted the community’s transition from a one-school town to a multi-high school district and the way that shift changed a little of the classic mystique. “When I was in high school,” Maul noted, “we were the largest school in Central Ohio.” That was just before Darby opened, and the idea of “everyone in town at one game” still reigned.

Maul reflected on the growing complexity of high school athletics, where students face pressures to specialize, stay visible on social media, and juggle overlapping sports seasons. “There’s just too much,” he said, adding concerns about injury, burnout, and the loss of the well-rounded athlete. He expressed particular pride in this year’s senior group, most of whom were multi-sport athletes who had grown up through Darby’s youth basketball program, which Maul developed and oversaw starting in third grade.

That commitment to player development culminated in a bit of poetry for his final season as coach: after going 4–19 the previous year and contemplating stepping away, Maul returned at the urging of his son Ty—who told him, simply, “Let’s run it back.” The Panthers went 19–4, secured their first league title since 2008, and Maul was named OCC Cardinal Coach of the Year and Ohio Division I Coach of the Year.

Off the court, Maul has taught over 7,500 students in personal finance since 2000 and he emphasized the real-world value of both subjects, recounting stories of students opening Roth IRAs at 17 and sparking dinner-table conversations about 401(k)s, insurance deductibles, and credit scores. “It’s everything you wish you’d learned by 23,” Maul said.

As for what’s next? After 25 years of teaching and coaching, Maul’s stepping away from the gym to spend more time with his wife and four children—though he’s considering launching an adult financial literacy program. “I’ve emptied the tank on basketball,” he said. “Now it’s time to show up for my family in a different way.”

What’s Next for Darby?

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In this episode of the Hilliard Beacon Audio Companion, Executive Director Erin West helps us learn about the work, challenges, and steady commitment of the Hilliard Food Pantry. As someone who personally experienced poverty in her youth Erin has brought personal compassion and a professional grit dedicated to housing, youth development, and neighborhood wellness throughout her career.

West’s leadership in Hilliard came to yet another test after a 2023 fire displaced the pantry from its long-time Cemetery Road location. From pop-up parking lot operations to temporary homes in churches and shared spaces, the pantry never missed more than two service days—thanks to a flurry of community support and some bold, door-knocking logistics.

Now operating out of Hilliard United Methodist Church’s Warehouse 839, the pantry is more than a place to get groceries. West explains how the pantry offers a full client-choice model, allowing individuals to “shop” for items ranging from fresh produce and meats to toilet paper, diapers, and personal care—many of which SNAP benefits don’t cover. “If you ever have extra in your garden,” she adds, “we’ll take it.”

But it doesn’t stop there. Cooking and parenting classes, housing and job support, a “share closet” free store, and utility assistance all form part of a wraparound strategy for stability. Your donation dollars also deliver extra value through the purchasing power of the Pantry’s connection to the larger Mid-Ohio Food Collective.

Yet even with this expansive model, West is sounding the alarm. Federal and state food assistance cuts are looming, with hundreds of millions in USDA and Ohio funding on the chopping block. “This is going to be a crisis,” she warns, encouraging residents to contact legislators and get involved.

https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/06/02/advocates-huge-numbers-of-ohioans-stand-to-lose-food-benefits-if-gop-house-budget-becomes-law/

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