By DEBRA TOBIN Logan Daily News Reporter This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

LOGAN – The Logan Daily News has received information about a pending lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, against the City of Logan, Logan Police Chief Aaron Miller, Lt. Gregg Cluley, patrolmen Josh Mowery and Tony Byram, Hocking County Prosecutor Laina Fetherolf, Logan City Mayor Martin Irvine, former Logan City Law Director Bob Lilley, Logan Fire
Chief Brian Robertson, and employees of the Hocking County Probation Department.

The suit, filed by Marshal Lucas “Great Elk Dancer for his Elk Nation” was received at the Southern District Office on June 12. According to the clerk’s office, it could take months or up to a year before any case goes to trial. She also indicated that not every case that’s filed goes to trial. Lucas, who believes he has been harassed since he opened his first business in Logan, the Mingo
Trading Company, alleges that those mentioned in the suit have interfered with his commerce, all of which he describes as “tribal” businesses.

According to the court paperwork, Lucas is asking the court for “injunctive relief and declaratory judgment as well as compensatory damages for the value of the business opportunity or expectancy that was lost as a result of the defendants tortious and improper interference in the amount of which is $20 million.”

Lucas claims that the Treaty of Canandaiqua of 1794, Jay Treaty of 1794, Greenville Treaty of 1795, 42 USC Section 1983 and the U.S. Constitution exempts him from prosecution and harassment by the City of Logan in state court for violations of city ordinances.

Some of the complaints in the suit include allegations that Miller visited Mingo Trading Company in 2008 because of a noise complaint in the middle of the day and allegedly told Lucas he needed to file for an event license; Logan Police officers allegedly followed his customers and harassed them after leaving his place of business; probation officers allegedly threatened individuals with arrest should
they frequent his establishment and slandered his business by calling it a “head shop.”

His Internet Café, Red Door, was closed for seven month due to “made up” code violations, which caused a loss of revenue and overhead cost and expenditures on the building, the court documents continue. And the defendants have allegedly intended to impair and destroy his business and relationships with the third parties, and that denial of licenses and police harassment was caused as a
result of Lucas’ national origin in that he is Native American.

A total of 19 complaints against the defendants are listed in the lawsuit.

While Lucas said he is not at liberty to discuss the case at this time, he told The Logan Daily News that this lawsuit is a culmination of more than five years of harassment and interference of his tribal commerce.

None of the defendants listed in the lawsuit have been served, so they would not comment on the pending case.

By DEBRA TOBIN Logan Daily News Reporter This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

LOGAN — An initial screening report and recommendation has been filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio regarding the civil action lawsuit filed by Marshal Lucas “Great Elk Dancer for his Elk Nation” in June against the City of Logan and numerous public officials. Magistrate Judge Mark R. Able recommended the lawsuit be dismissed against all defendants with the
exception of Logan Fire Chief Brian Robertson.

According to the report, Able referred to the case as “frivolous, malicious, and fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief.”

The complaint alleges a number of events occurred more than two years ago, but the statute of limitations for claims under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and 28 U.S.C. 1331 is two years. Consequently, all of the alleged events prior to June 12, 2011 are barred by the statute of limitations.

The lawsuit was filed with the U.S. District Court, on June 12 against the City of Logan, Logan Police Chief Aaron Miller, Lt. Gregg Cluley, patrolmen Josh Mowery and Tony Byram, Hocking County Prosecutor Laina Fetherolf, Logan City Mayor Martin Irvine, former Logan City Law Director Bob Lilley, Logan Fire Chief Brian Robertson, and employees of the Hocking County Probation Department.

Although Able has recommended the suit be dropped against all except Robertson, District Court Judge Michael H. Watson has not signed the paperwork making it official.

In response, Lucas filed an amended complaint on July 17 and claims a violation of his civil rights of due process and equal protection under the law secured by the United States Constitution and due course of justice in violation of his treaty rights.

Other names have now been added to the lawsuit in the amended complaint including Hocking County Assistant Prosecutor Bill Archer, Logan City Law Director Jonah M. Saving, Hocking County Common Pleas Court Judge John Wallace and Logan City Service Director Steve Shaw. On Thursday, a motion to strike the plaintiff’s amended complaint and motion for extension of an answer date was filed in the District Court by attorneys for the City of Logan. The law firm of Mazanec, Raskin & Ryder Co., L.P.A, represents the city and those named in the suit as defendants. Lucas, who believes he has been harassed since he opened his first business in Logan, the Mingo

Trading Company, alleges that those mentioned in the suit have interfered with his commerce, all of which he describes as “tribal” businesses.

According to court paperwork, Lucas is asking the court for “injunctive relief and declaratory judgment as well as compensatory damages for the value of the business opportunity or expectancy that was lost as a result of the defendants tortious and improper interference in the amount of, which is $20 million.”

Some of the complaints in the suit include allegations that Miller visited Mingo Trading Company in 2008 because of a noise complaint in the middle of the day and allegedly told Lucas he needed to file for an event license; Logan Police officers allegedly followed his customers and harassed them after leaving his place of business; probation officers allegedly threatened individuals with arrest should they frequent his establishment and slandered his business by calling it a “head shop.”

His Internet café, Red Door, was closed for seven months due to alleged “made up” code violations, which caused a loss of revenue and overhead cost and expenditures on the building, the court documents continue. The defendants have allegedly intended to impair and destroy his business and relationships with the third parties, and that denial of licenses and police harassment was caused as a
result of Lucas’ national origin in that he is Native American.

A total of 19 complaints against the defendants are listed in the lawsuit.

While Lucas said he is not at liberty to discuss the case at this time, he told The Logan Daily News that this lawsuit is a culmination of more than five years of harassment and interference of his tribal commerce.

By DEBRA TOBIN Logan Daily News Reporter This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

LOGAN — A code compliance hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 29 by the Ohio Department of Commerce on a downtown Logan building owned by Mike Nihiser.

According to department officials, inspectors have been attempting to conduct an inspection on the building for months, but have been denied access.

Lynn Tolen, communications director for the Ohio Department of Commerce, said that Nihiser has been very uncooperative with inspectors as well as officials from the Logan Fire Department who are seeking to conduct inspections on the building.

“This has nothing to do with the business that is located in the building,” Tolen said. “It’s strictly on the building itself. The department knows there have been amendments made to the building, and they need to make sure the building is in compliance with all regulations.”

However, Nihiser told The Logan Daily News in a phone interview on Tuesday afternoon that he believes the hearing is about the renters wanting to open a teen center again.

“Didn’t you read the complaint?” he questioned. “Didn’t you get a copy of it? And, why is this so important?”

“They’re the ones that have to prove their case,” Nihiser stated, referring to the Ohio Department of Commerce. “I will see what they’re saying and then take it from there.”

Nihiser also said he questioned and requested information from the Ohio Department of Commerce on several other buildings in Logan that have changed occupancy over the years, but has received nothing to date.

“I requested a copy of at least six other buildings in Logan concerning building compliance and not having an assembly permit,” he said.

He requested information on the buildings presently occupied by Saving Hardware, Spotted Owl, Office City, the former Logan-Hocking Chamber of Commerce building, and others that have changed owners and building use over the years.

“How many inspections did the Ohio Department of Commerce conduct on those buildings throughout the years as they changed from business to business?” he questioned.

“The VFW used to be located in the building where Saving’s rental business is located now,” Nihiser said. “Did they need to have a change of occupancy when they moved in there? Were they inspected?”

“The old chamber office throughout the years was a dress shop at one time, a home, a dentist office, as well as other things — did they come down and inspect that building every time it changed occupancy? This is what you should be asking the department of commerce,” he said.

Nihiser’s building in question is located at 54 E. Main St. and is the home of the Red Door Internet Café & Arcade, which opened in September. Shortly after opening, though, the business closed its doors due to violations placed on the building by the Ohio Department of Commerce.

Red Door Internet Café & Arcade is owned by local resident Dancing Elk, who is sub-leasing the building from David Weber, who in turn leases the building from Nihiser.

Dancing Elk did admit to making some minor structural changes to the inside of the building, including painting the walls and constructing a non-stationary office area.

According to Tolen, the state is aware of the changes, but needs to inspect the building to make sure the structural changes meet all compliance rules and regulations.

When Dancing Elk closed his business in October, a note was placed on the door stating, “Closed until further notice. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

On Jan. 7, though, that note was replaced with a new one that said, “We will reopen after the 26th of January. Our doors have been closed since October in support of the building owners hearing with the Ohio Department of Commerce building compliancy department, which in our opinion, is an example of administrative bullying and political attempt to keep us from operating. We look forward to your future business in hopes that all issues will be dealt with.”

The following day, the new sign was replaced again with, “Closed until further notice. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

When asked about the upcoming hearing, Dancing Elk said, “As far as the hearing, I know nothing about it other than we are stuck between a rock and a hard place. If we relocate, all the work and time has been for nothing. And we have to spend more money just to open.”

“If we wait until after the hearing to re-open, nothing is for sure and we could have been wasting time when we could have been operating,” Dancing Elk said.

“So far we have been sitting on our hands for four months, still paying our overhead and bringing in no revenue,” he explained. “This ordeal has cost me a lot of money I don’t have.”

“If I could afford to sue the state for this administrative bullying, I would,” he added. “You know the legal definition on their own documents states nothing about the ‘change of occupant’ which seemed to be their response when I questioned them about the legality of the definition of change of use and occupancy.”

“So at the request of the building owner, we have not opened,” he said. “Otherwise, I myself would have fought them in court and continued to do business if it had become a legal issue, which I believe might have been a misdemeanor. I do not agree with the way the state is conducting their affairs. The state is interfering with our commerce.”

A phone call to the Ohio Department of Commerce revealed that there has been a continuous issue with inspectors not being able to complete inspections on the building.

In September, five state officials arrived to inspect the building, but Nihiser was not present, so the inspectors left. According to Tolen, this has been a repeat occurrence.

“This is a violation hearing to determine if the establishment owner must allow officers in for an inspection,” Tolen said in a phone interview earlier this week.

“They need to allow inspectors in for code compliance and safety issues. It’s our understanding that the building owner not only has been uncooperative with our inspectors, but also uncooperative with your local fire department as well,” he said.

For Dancing Elk, it’s another disappointment and setback as he attempts to open his business and survive, yet keeps coming across stumbling blocks that prevent him from doing so.

“We just need to see both sides present during the hearing and hope both mutually agree to a solution to this issue,” said Logan Fire Chief Brian Robertson.

Logan City Service Director Steve Shaw agreed with Robertson and said, “We’re anxiously awaiting the outcome and hoping to get this resolved.”

Robertson and Shaw are planning on attending the hearing at the Ohio Department of Commerce office, located at 6606 Tussing Road, Reynoldsburg, on Jan. 29.

BY DEBRA TOBIN Logan Daily News Reporter This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

LOGAN — Red Door Internet Café & Arcade has relocated from its Spring Street location to 54 E. Main St., with plans to reopen in two weeks.

However, with pending code violations on the building and a stop work order placed on the front door by Logan Fire Chief Brian Robertson, the opening may be delayed.

Robertson said he acted on a tip that renovations were being made to the inside of the building without the proper permits in place from the state.

“He’s making changes to the inside of the building without state approved plans,” Robertson said Wednesday after placing the stop work order on the door.

“It’s a violation to do any construction or alterations of a building in the state of Ohio without the proper permits or state approved plans,” he continued, explaining the need for the order. Dancing Elk, Native American owner of the new Red Door Café & Arcade, is sub-leasing the building from David Weber Jr., who in turn leases the building from owner Mike Nihiser of Logan.

With a two week window for opening the new business, Dancing Elk said he will do everything in his power to make sure all code violations have been taken care of and the building and business has all its permits as required by the city and state.

When asked if he knew there were pending fire code violations on the building for change of use and occupancy, Dancing Elk replied "no comment."

When asked if he told Nihiser about relocating his business to the Main Street address, he also had no comment.

“We will take it one step at a time and I will deal with the issues as they arise,” he said when told of the building violations.

Following a public records request, The Logan Daily News obtained information about eight building violations from the Ohio Department of Commerce. Nihiser stated that to his knowledge there are no other violations pending, but records indicate that on Aug. 25. a notice of violation was filed by the state.

According to the notice, the building is in violation of the fire code for change of use and occupancy. A reinspection is scheduled for Sept. 25 to determine if the violations have been corrected. Dancing Elk says he would like to open an adult Internet café and later a family-oriented arcade. Along

with the renovations and expansion of the business, Dancing Elk said jobs will be created. With another new business on Main Street, it will help draw people to the downtown area where it is needed, he added.

“I have complied with all the laws and I’m an upstanding citizen of the community despite the opposing forces placed in the way because we’re doing something different," he said. "The town now has the unique opportunity to welcome a new business to draw future tourists to the area when others are moving out of the downtown area.”

Dancing Elk said all rules will be strictly enforced and no one under the age of 18 will be permitted inside the Internet café. Those visiting the café will be able to purchase Internet time and also have the opportunity to win prizes.

The name Red Door is significant to the Native American reference to the Red Road. It is a concept of the right path of life, as inspired by some of the beliefs found in a variety of Native American spiritual teachings. Native American’s spiritual teachings are diverse, and while there are sometimes common elements, the ceremonies and beliefs are unique to the people of the diverse bands, tribes and nations.

Dancing Elk said he is thankful and welcomes the community’s support of not only the Red Door Internet Café & Arcade, but also Mingo Trading Company.