Columbus Monthly / October 2010 / Lessner on MSNBC

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Lessner on MSNBC

Elizabeth Lessner got some national face time when the Columbus restaurant entrepreneur was interviewed by MSNBC talk show host Keith Olbermann in late August during a program examining the economy and small businesses. Lessner says she was surprised to receive a call from producers as she sipped a gin and tonic at her Dirty Frank’s Hot Dog Palace, and, an hour later, she headed to a local studio to appear on the show. Lessner’s name was given to producers by Columbus-based Greg Schultz, the Ohio director of Organizing for America, Barack Obama’s grass-roots group, since she has been involved in small business and health insurance reform advocacy. “I didn’t mention that Dirty Frank’s has a hot dog named after Olbermann’s rival, Glenn Beck,” Lessner jokes.

Luke Russert, reporter for NBC News, co-host of “60/20 Sports” on XM Radio and son of the late “Meet the Press” moderator Tim Russert, traveled to Columbus in late August to cover congressional races. He went to Twitter to show support for the Ohio State Buckeyes, posting: “Thanks to the Ohio State University for their hospitality today. Best of luck to the Vest on the 2010 campaign!”

Just as she once did as the president of the Columbus Board of Education, Stephanie Hightower isn’t pulling any punches now as the leader of USA Track & Field. The organization’s board, led by Hightower, canned CEO Doug Logan in mid September. The surprise move—just two years after Logan was hired and two years before the 2012 Olympics in London—drew some criticism. A Chicago Tribune reporter in his Olympic blog questioned the timing and feared the firing could result in an expensive settlement with Logan, as well as strained relations with the U.S. Olympic Committee. Hightower, however, defended the decision in an interview with the New York Times. “This is halftime for us,” the former world-class hurdler from Ohio State told the paper. “In the locker room at halftime, you assess where you are. More than likely, you make adjustments. We made some adjustments to find the right person to lead our federation.”

Columbus Collegiate Academy has maintained the eye-opening standardized test scores that marked its inaugural year. In the charter school’s state report card for the 2009-2010 school year, CCA received a B grade (“effective”) from the Ohio Department of Education—an unusually high mark for an urban middle school with low-income students (94 percent qualify for free or reduced lunch). Founder Andy Boy says CCA would have received an A grade (“excellent”) if the state included “value-added” data, a measurement of student improvement from the previous year that will be part of its next state report card. Meanwhile, CCA began the new school year in August back inside Seventh Avenue Community Baptist Church, the Weinland Park congregation that has housed the school since it opened in 2008. Boy hoped to move to bigger digs this year, but the tough economic climate ruined the plans. He says he’s eyeing several properties in the Weinland Park area for the 2011-2012 school year. “We have some real possibilities for next fall,” says Boy, the subject of a May article in Columbus Monthly (“Building a better middle school”) that profiled his struggles to launch CCA and his impressive results since then. “In my early years of running this school, I’ve tried not to deal in absolutes. But we’re almost 100 percent sure we cannot stay in this building after this year. We’re determined to make sure that we have a facility lined up for next year.”