Good morning Columbus. Here’s what you need to know– Columbus native and Trump; city’s first Pride Festival; remembering Judy Lifferth

By
Scarlett Syse
-

Greetings Columbus —

We’ve got a couple of Columbus connections grabbing national headlines today.

A colleague reminded me that Victoria Toensing is a 1958 Columbus High School graduate. Toensing and her husband and law partner, Joseph diGenova, have been in the news for their on-again, off-again job representing President Donald Trump in the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.

This is the latest from The Associated Press:

President Donald Trump will not be adding two new lawyers to the legal team defending him in the special counsel’s Russia investigation after all, one of the president’s attorneys said.

On Sunday, diGenova and Toensing released a joint statement, saying, “We thank the president for his confidence in us, and we look forward to working with him on other matters.” DiGenova, who provided the statement to The Associated Press, declined to answer additional questions about the nature of his and Toensing’s representation of the president. Full story here.

Toensing got the late, great Harry McCawley treatment in May 2013 in The Republic. He wrote a column when she was on television with allegations that the Obama administration was trying to silence whistleblowers about the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi.

Here is some of the background Harry included in his column:

She was born Victoria Long in Panama when her father, Phil Long, was serving in the Army. Her mother was the former Victoria Brady. Phil Long was one of the early developers of Grandview Lake and a decorated veteran of World War II. Her grandmother was legendary Bartholomew County historian Laura Long.

Read the entire column here. Make sure you read to the end!

The other Columbus connection is about an area high school student organizing the first LGBTQ Pride celebration in our community. HuffPost has picked up on the event and writes about Erin Bailey, a senior at Columbus Signature Academy-New Tech, and Columbus Pride Festival slated for April 14.

The article notes that Vice President Mike Pence is from Columbus native and that he is opposed to gay marriage and other LGBTQ rights.

“We are so much more than just a small town that he grew up in. It is important for this event to be happening now so that others know that even in this time of hatred that is going on in the White House, we don’t all agree with it. We want to show our support as an all-inclusive community,” Bailey is quoted in the article.

Link here.

Here’s what else you need to know —

Remembering Judy Lifferth.
She was the force behind National Family Week events in Columbus for nearly three decades. On Monday, she died after having dealt with multiple sclerosis for 42 years and most recently with cancer. The opening line of her obituary is: “She did it!” Read it here.

More cameras. No metal detectors.
Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. board met last night and talked about security procedures in the wake of a school shooting in Florida and threats at area schools. Wednesday’s Republic.

School threat suspect.
We’ll be in court this morning for a hearing on whether a 16-year-old who made a threat against Columbus East High School should be waived to adult court. Wednesday’s Republic.

Tipton Lakes Athletic Club undergoes leadership switch.
We’re talking to Cheri Stone about what she has planned for the facility on Goeller Boulevard. Wednesday’s Republic.

Bartholomew County Indivisible: ‘Political not partisan.’
Reporter Brian Blair touches base with group leaders to learn about their goals and why they say the focus is more on educational conversations than defensive debates. Wednesday’s Republic.

Have a great day. Send your story ideas to ssyse@therepublic.com.

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