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Gene Smith
Craig James
Gene Smith might want to avoid speaking at big Ohio State sporting events for a while. The OSU athletic director, under fire for his handling of Tattoogate, was booed when he introduced new football coach Urban Meyer at halftime of the OSU-Indiana men’s basketball game at the Schottenstein Center on Jan. 15. Smith did manage to dilute the boos, however, by starting an O-H-I-O cheer, according to someone who was at the game.
The Statehouse press corps lost one of its most experienced members at the end of 2011. Bill Hershey of the Dayton Daily News filed his last story after 12 years in the paper’s Columbus bureau. Previously, Hershey worked for the Akron Beacon Journal for more than two decades, including some 13 years as a Washington correspondent. Hershey actually retired two years ago, but readers probably didn’t notice as the paper hired him back as a contract employee. This year, Hershey declined to renew the contract. In retirement, he says he plans to work on a biography of Ray Bliss, the Akron insurance man who rose to chair the national Republican Party. Hershey is collaborating on the book with University of Akron professor John Green.
Insider was surprised while watching a recent Shadowbox Live performance that a certain local magazine played a prominent role in the troupe’s newest show, Body Language, which runs through March 3. Video clips, which ran in between the comedy sketches, featured a “feud” among cast members over who would be named the sexiest person in the city by the publication and end up on its cover. OK, the magazine was Columbus Monthly, and while the contest is fictitious, it did give us an idea.
In December, the Dispatch reported on a University District man, David Murchie, who lobbied the Columbus Board of Zoning Adjustment to permit him to install a 75-foot-tall wind turbine in his backyard. The board recently rejected his proposal for the turbine, citing the small size of his lot. (It did, however, grant the avid environmentalist’s request to build a three-car garage with a second-floor greenhouse and solar panels on the roof.) Murchie isn’t giving up on the turbine, though. He says he’s in contact with legislators and also hopes to appeal to Mayor Mike Coleman to change the rules.
Bob Breithaupt built a reputation as a skilled administrator during his decade at the helm of the Jazz Arts Group. Now, he wants to put his skills to use for other arts organizations. Breithaupt, who left Jazz Arts Group in early January, has started a consulting business called R.B. Music. He says his target audience is “performing arts organizations interested in broadening their base.” During Breithaupt’s tenure as executive director, Jazz Arts Group grew into one of the largest jazz organizations in the country. It oversees Columbus Jazz Orchestra, the ensemble led by Byron Stripling. Breithaupt, a Capital University music professor, will continue to play drums for Columbus Jazz Orchestra, as he has done since 1980.
