- The Scarlet Letter
- Posts
- Start Your Week With Us!
Are you interested in sponsoring the best local newsletter on the planet? Reply to this email to help your organization reach hundreds of thousands of engaged Columbusites.
Top of Mind
Fire in the Yard…
Columbus Auto Shredding Goes Up in Flames:
It was a scene straight out of a disaster movie this weekend when Columbus Auto Shredding on Alum Creek Drive erupted into flames, sending a column of black smoke high above Southeast Columbus.
The fire broke out early Friday morning, and since then, around 150 firefighters have been working tirelessly to contain the blaze. Their task isn’t exactly easy when faced with acres of scrap metal, old cars, and industrial junk acting like kindling for the fire.
The cause? A total mystery. Officials are scratching their heads about how this inferno got started, but one thing’s for sure—it wasn’t your average campfire mishap.
Hazmat teams were quickly called to the scene to ensure that the smoke wasn’t carrying any toxic surprises, and while no dangerous chemicals have been detected so far, the city still issued a warning for people with respiratory issues to stay inside. Better safe than sorry, especially when you’ve got smoke clouds billowing over the city like a signal fire.
Fire Chief Jeffrey Geitter pointed out the challenges of battling a fire in a scrapyard. “You’ve got flammable liquids, compressed gases, and an endless pile of junk that becomes a nightmare to extinguish. It’s not a quick job, and firefighters expect to be there for a while before it’s completely out.
For now, the fire is contained, and luckily, no injuries have been reported. But the sight of those ominous smoke plumes sure had people wondering—what started this blaze? The city will need more than a bucket of water and a few extinguishers to figure this out.
Scarlet Letter Trivia
Question: According to the Storefront Safety Commission, What percentage of cars hitting buildings are crash-and-grab robberies?
A. 12%
B. 6%
C. 17%
D. 21%
The Lettuce Box
Ohio State student Bud Shively signed out a $5 bill from the “lettuce box” at a campus hangout that provided short-term loans to students, 1949.
How Five-Dollar Loans Fueled Weekends of Fun at Ohio State.
Imagine it’s 1949, and you’re a broke student at Ohio State University. Tuition’s paid, but your pockets are a little too light for weekend plans. Enter the “Lettuce Box,” a clever and life-saving invention hanging on the wall of Hedon Hall, a popular student hangout owned by Will Parker. No, this wasn’t a box for salad fixings; it was essentially a mini-bank, where students could borrow $5 (equivalent to about $63 today) in times of need. The rules? Simple. You sign out a $5 bill, promising to return it in five days or face a little public embarrassment as your IOU is turned face-up in the box.
This informal loan system wasn’t just a quirky college tradition—it was a lifeline for many students, particularly veterans using the GI Bill to attend college post-WWII. With $2,500 lent out over the years and only one unreturned loan, the Lettuce Box proved that trust, even in matters of finance, could work wonders.
Will Parker (right), owner of popular campus coffee shop Hedon Hall, retrieved a $5 bill from the “lettuce box” to loan to Ohio State student Bud Shively (fourth from left) Columbus, Ohio, 1949.
They really loved their White Castle…
Staked with $5 for the weekend, Ohio State student Bud Shively and his date Vivan DeMaria spent 40 cents for burgers and Cokes at a White Castle, 1949.
One particularly legendary story featured Ohio State student Bud Shively, who borrowed from the Lettuce Box and embarked on a whirlwind weekend, meticulously documented by LIFE magazine. Shively’s weekend escapades—ranging from burgers at White Castle, to a poker game and he even took his girl to the circus—showcase the simplicity of college life in the late 1940s. And yes, by the time Sunday rolled around, Bud’s $5 was gone, but not wasted. He even tossed his last quarter into the church plate.
The weekend included a picnic on Sunday afternoon put on by the girls; by this time Bud had blown through his $5 loan, Columbus, Ohio, 1949.
In the News
0 Days Since Our Last Nonsense…
It happened again… Sunday evening, A car drove into the O’Charley’s in Reynoldsburg.
Clint Lautenschleger (O'Charley's Chief Operating Officer) had this to say:
"On Sunday evening at approximately 6:30 p.m., a guest crashed into the O'Charley's Restaurant located at 2272 Baltimore-Reynoldsburg Road.
Thirteen people were transported to the hospital, though we are grateful to say, none with life threatening injuries. The restaurant has been closed and will remain closed until we can fully assess and address the damage. We are incredibly thankful for the first responders who were on the scene quickly and our associates who handled themselves admirably in the situation. We will continue to cooperate with local authorities as they investigate and determine next steps."
Does this happen elsewhere?! YES.
In April 2022 The Storefront Safety Council completed an exchange of data and methodologies with an arm of Lloyd’s of London, the largest insurance market in the world. Lloyd’s found that their data was valid and credible and that their collection methodology gave them such high confidence that their collection of data concerning vehicle-into-building / storefront crashes should be used by researchers and risk managers as “source data” given the lack of any other available data sets involving private property accidents in the United States.
Lloyd’s concluded in their remarks that the data, as complete as it is, reflects only a fraction of the total of storefront crashes that occur every single day: At the most conservative, it appears that the SSC database captures 1 in 12 incidents (8.33%)
Storefront crashes occur more than 100 times daily, and if we are only tracking 8%, that means the problem is actually WAY bigger than we thought…
ISI® Elite Training - New Albany
Beat The New Years Resolution Rush…
A new boutique fitness gym coming to the New Albany/Westerville area located at 6580 N. Hamilton Rd!
ISI® is a 50-minute, low-impact, high-intensity, strength-based workout. Each workout is designed and led by a certified coach who provides one-on-one training in a group fitness setting. We focus on simple but dynamic movements that help you burn fat, build muscle, and gain confidence and strength. Through functional movements, each ISI® workout is designed to target different muscle groups, deliver measurable results, and help you train for life."
The real value here is that they are offering Founding Memberships at the lowest rates they will ever be, to YOU the valued SL reader ♥️
As a Founding Member, you will receive:
Lifetime discount of $30 off a month (Current $149, open $179).
A 7-day trial during VIP week before they open to the public to try us out before we charge any monthly membership dues.
You will also get an unlimited amount of InBody Scans while on the unlimited plan (each scan not on the unlimited plan will have a fee to track progress)
Maybe the most valuable perk will be a 3-week booking window rather than 2 weeks which will almost guarantee you can book the session times you want, every day.
Finally, you will also receive two buddy passes a month instead of one, ONE free late cancel per month, and the founding members can drop in on all the ISI locations around the country. This is Perfect for when you are traveling for work or trying to keep it tight on vacation!
Click HERE to get started!
What does a session look like?! Watch this!
Trivia Answer
B. 6% - To no one’s surprise, the most significant chunk is user Error at 21%. User error and pedal error combine for 41% of all recorded cases.
Signing Off
