michael b coleman

Tonight on the show, we celebrate with Prince's favorite year, 1999. The last year of the 20th Century, 1999 capped out a decade and century both of highs and lows, and paved the gateway to the 21st Century.

HEADLINES:
- President Clinton is impeached and subsequently acquitted for his inappropriate relationship with White House Intern Monica Lewinsky.
- 12 students and one teacher are killed in the deadliest school shooting (at that time) at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.
- The International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague indicts Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic for War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity against the nation of Kosovo.
- John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife Carolyn Bessette are killed in a plane crash in July.
- Russian President Boris Yeltsin announces his resignation in December, and Yeltsin is replaced by the 45th President of these United States, Vladimir Putin.
- East Timor announces a referendum on Independence from Indonesia.
- Ford purchases Volvo.
- Panama gains control of the Panama Canal from the United States on December 31.
- The Y2K Bug has people on edge.
- Napster, MySpace, and the Bluetooth were born.
- The longest-running Primetime Drama Series in Television History, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit makes its debut.

LOCAL HEADLINES:
- Bob Taft (R) takes office as Ohio's Governor. But, for 11 days, Maureen O'Connor (R) takes Office as Ohio's First Female Governor after Governor George Voinovich (R) resigns 11 days before the end of his second term to assume his seat in the United States Senate.
- The Easton Town Center opens its doors in Northeast Columbus, becoming Columbus's premier Shopping and Nightlife Destination for the Greater Columbus Area.

“The State of Our City is strong.” Those were the words that Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman said in the State of the City Celebration when asked about the state of Columbus in 2015.

From the format of the State of the City, it hardly seemed like the normal address. It felt more like a celebration of the achievements and accomplishments of an administration, and the work that needs to continue to keep Columbus shining in the spotlight long after Mayor Coleman’s run as Mayor wraps up at the end of this year.

“I think we’re in a renaissance,” Mayor Michael B. Coleman (Democrat) said in the interview-style State of the City Celebration at the Palace Theatre on Thursday in Downtown Columbus. Coleman cited the creation of 40,000 new jobs to the city, and the $ 7 Billion invested into the city.

The program, which started 26 minutes late, began with a moment of silence in remembrance of former Columbus Mayor Dana G. “Buck” Rinehart (Republican), who died on Wednesday, just days shy of his 69th birthday. Rinehart was Mayor of Columbus from 1984 to 1991, and like Coleman, helped develop the city’s growth with City Center Mall, the Short North Arts District, and a development that would later be Easton.

Following the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance, The Harmony Project singing the Phil Collins song “Take Me Home”, with a video playing on the screens overhead of neighborhoods throughout the city, to set the tone for what was ahead during the program.

Columbus is the hometown that has gone from “Cow Town” to competing with the likes of Philadelphia and Brooklyn for the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Columbus is the top city for Young Professionals.

Columbus was the top-ranked “Opportunity City” in Forbes Magazine. Columbus was ranked the top city for African-Americans in Ebony Magazine. Columbus received a score of 100 in the Human Rights Campaign Index. Columbus, in the 15 years that Coleman has been Mayor, has grown and made strides.