Cincinnati Blog

• Black Friday Question

  How much Black Friday shopping is about Christmas-present-giving-these days?
  One of the best deals at Sears, for instance, was a deal on a washer and dryer. Are there really that many clueless men who honestly believe they can give their wives a washer and dryer for Christmas and still hope [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 6:40pm EST
  

• How About Those Bearcats?

  In an effort to appease those who think we need more sports posts, I thought I'd mention the excellent play of the Bearcats recently. But I'm talking here about the team coached by Mick Cronin.
  For those who missed it, last week the 'Cats went to Hawaii (I know,' [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 6:13pm EST
  

• "Progress" v. The Metropole Tenants Association (Part II)

  Note: this is a continuation of the post immediately below.
  2. Does 3CDC have too much power in downtown and Over-the-Rhine? Truthfully, I have no idea. Certainly, we should talk about 3CDC and what it does. (And I don't think 3CDC would shy away from that discussion.) I definitely don't [...]
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  Posted: November 28, 2009, 8:05pm EST
  

• "Progress" v. The Metropole Tenants Association (Part I)

  I've been wanting to write about the coming conversion of the Metropole (located on Walnut between Sixth and Seventh) to a luxury hotel for some time. (Background: Enquirer; Streetvibes.) I've been reluctant to, for fear of what will appear in the comments. I don't want to feed the' [...]
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  Posted: November 28, 2009, 7:38pm EST
  

• Dear Gang of Five: It's Your Turn

  Mayor Mallory didn't waste any time after Milton Dohoney issued his budget by passing the plan right to City Council, which will change on December 1st. So the message I took from this is: Gang of Five, it's your turn to govern, not grandstand. I'll be very interested in [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 7:27am EST
  

• Playing Chicken, Part II

  Well, it is no longer election season. Now we shall see who really will be honest and who will continue to grandstand on the City's Budget. The City Manager has announced his plan and it includes cutting 315 jobs, including 110 from the police department, and 47 from the [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 6:31pm EST
  

• Most Dangerous Cities 2009: Where's Cincinnati?

  So, the same flawed group is out with another Most Dangerous list, this time for Cities, but Cincinnati didn't make the list. I for some reason didn't read this in any of the local media. Cleveland made the list, but not Cincinnati. St. Louis is #2, but no mention [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 1:46pm EST
  

• Cincinnati Unchained November 21st

  This Saturday join your fellow Cincinnatians and support local independent businesses in the annual Cincinnati Unchained. From the press release for this year's event:On November 21, locally-owned businesses across Greater Cincinnati will urge area residents to support the city’s vibrant independent businesses by shopping locally-only. As part of Cincinnati [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 1:41pm EST
  

• Brother, Can You Spare A Dime . . . . . A Report From The Breadline

  Raise your hand if you think the United States has the best health care access and coverage in the world and if you think the United States is the richest and bestest country in the world . . . . Let's hear it for American exceptionalism . . . . [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 3:35pm EST
  

• 'Every Breath You Take, Every Move you Make'

  Bring on "Big Brother!" Public Safety will improve with the installation of video cameras at various points around town. Starting in Downtown and Uptown, street corners will have 24 hour surveillance and will be able to better catch criminals and watch for medical emergencies.
  
  OTR is being considered [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 7:24am EST
  

• Jim Knippenberg - Requiescat in Pace

  What a sad thing to learn of Jim's death last evening. He was truly a legend in Cincinnati, the kind of person who knew everyone and, truthfully, knew a lot of gossip about everyone. Jim was a kind and generous man who loved life and lived it about as fully' [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 11:07am EST
  

• Good News For CNN

  National Cable News became a joke yeas ago and Lou Dobbs made CNN far worse than it needed to be with his insanity. His anti-immigrant jingoism, his embrace of birthers, and his out right anti-Obama stances were what you expect from outright biased news outlets like FOX. Lou Dobbs is [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 7:16am EST
  

• Serious Run or a Stunt?

  28 year old Surya Yalamanchili is running of the Ohio 2nd Congressional District. By itself, that action is neither serious nor a Stunt, but when you add the fact the Yalamanchili was a contestant on "The Apprentice" television show, then I just don't see how this would be anything' [...]
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  Posted: November 11, 2009, 6:48am EST
  

• Remove Cole From Finance Chair

  If there is one thing Mayor Mallory can do to improve City Council quickly, then it is removing Laketa Cole from the Finance Committee Chair. Her inability to work with, well, anyone, makes it an obvious need. She was the only person voting for her motion on the Property [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 7:59am EST
  

• Qualls Nixes Vice Mayor Slot

  In this in-depth piece by Howard Wilkinson Roxanne Qualls stated she does not want the Vice Mayor's appointment. Here's the meat of what her future may hold:Does she parlay her strong support among Cincinnati voters into a position of greater influence on the new City Council, such as an [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 7:03am EST
  

• Oscar at 40: Does He Need a New Home?

  The New York Times reports that Sesame Street has reached its 40th anniversary. The article points out that the show's sets have changed and now look "gentrified."
  
  As a kid, my two favorite characters were (of course) Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch. PBS has already updated Cookie' [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 7:19pm EST
  

• Downtown Restaurant Happenings (Mayberry's, Roma Trattoria, and Busken's)

  None of these items seemed substantial enough for a full post, but each is interesting enough to be included in a round-up.
  Mayberry's: Earlier this week, Mayberry's opened on Vine Street between Ninth and Court, in the space formerly occupied by Tom's Pot Pies. It's run by the same folks [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 10:07am EST
  

• Who Will Be the Next Vice Mayor?

  With David Crowley term limited, the position of Vice Mayor will become vacant. The mostly cermonial position is not filled with much power, but it carries some influence. The Mayor gets to pick the person he wants, but it is often used as a way to reward or instill loyalty [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 11:17am EST
  

• Someone Tell Ghiz There's a Veto

  I just heard Leslie Ghiz speaking on WVXU (mp3) about getting five City council members to reverse anything thing the lame duck council does, specifically on Property Taxes. Is she forgetting about something called the Veto? Here's the relevant part of the City Charter:Section 6. Every ordinance shall' [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 7:14am EST
  

• The Truth Sometimes Does Win

  Like the Mayor, I was a little bit worried about Issue 9 going into last night. Once the absentee votes came in, however, I was convinced that the night would end well for those of us opposing Issue 9.
  
  The campaign by the those in favor of Issue 9 [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 5:15pm EST
  

• Council Election: What the Hell Happened?

  Well, the council on the surface has appeared to have flipped to a majority Conservative 5. I think we need a new name, the rebirth of the Fiscal Five maybe? I don't know what we are going to call them, but what ever it is, with Charlie Winburn making up' [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 3:38pm EST
  

• Election Post-Mortem

  The final election results are in. Once again, Roxanne Qualls was the top vote-getter. Greg Harris has been ousted from Council, and Charlie Winburn and Laurie Quinlivan will join the fray. What does all this mean?
  
  First, the political breakdown is as follows: Council now has three Democrats plus [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 1:35pm EST
  

• Council Race

  Alright, yet another post.
  98.50% of City precincts have reported. I'm not sure the last 1.5 percent will change the running order much. If not, the order of finish is:
  QuallsThomasBortzBerdingGhizMonzelColeWinburnQuinlivan.
  Greg Harris is in 10th place, a full .7% behind Quinlivan.
  This Council is going to present a much' [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 11:23pm EST
  

• Mayor's Race: Mallory Wins

  Ok. One more post. If you didn't see it on WCPO: Brad Wenstrup has conceded the race to Mayor Mallory. We should thank Wenstrup for being willing to serve his community, even if he was ultimately rebuffed by the voters.
  And congratulations to Mayor Mark Mallory. I voted for him' [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 11:20pm EST
  

• This Doesn't Mean "Yes" On Streetcars

  Issue 9 is clearly going to fail. But I'd better not hear streetcar supporters tell me this means Cincinnatians favor streetcars.
  You told us that Issue 9 was about more than streetcars. It was about all passenger rail. And even more broadly, it was about our form of government. We're [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 11:16pm EST
  

• No on Nine Winning Big!

  The votes are almost all in, and I think Issue Nine will fail! A last
  minute prediction. [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 11:13pm EST
  

• Live-Blogging Results

  I'm in the office late tonight, so I'll be live-blogging election results as they're available from the BOE. I will continue to update this post as the night goes on; feel free to use this as a comment thread, as well.
  
  8:10 PM: HamCo BOE has released some results.' [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 7:44pm EST
  

• Some Random Election Thoughts

  As Election Day winds down, I had a few thoughts to share.
  
  First, I hope Greg Harris retains his seat. Conventional wisdom holds that as an appointee, he is the most vulnerable of the incumbent Council members (though I suspect it may be a long night for Jeff Berding), [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 4:17pm EST
  

• Congratulations, New Lawyers

  This past Friday, the Ohio Supreme Court announced that 957 applicants achieved passing scores on the July 2009 bar exam. They will be sworn in during public ceremonies in Columbus on November 9. The state's passage rate was 81.3 percent overall, and 87.8 percent for first-time test-takers.
  
  Locally,' [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 3:14pm EST
  

• Lowest Shot of the Campaign

  If you want proof that Mary Kuhl is a complete jerk read no further than this tweet post from earlier today. She really is unhinged and needs to go away. I hope every Member of Westwood Concern, PWR PAC, and the Westwood Civic Associate takes note of her comments. [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 12:55pm EST
  

• Strong Finish

  Something else to watch for, which I'll comment more on tomorrow, is how the GOP council candidates finish. Assuming Leslie Ghiz returns to council, which is likely, then speculation turns to when will see leave council. She's on many people's lists for GOP candidates for the Hamilton County Commissioner's race [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 8:33am EST
  

• Mullane's to Reopen

  I'm sorry to interrupt election blogging, but this news seemed too good not to pass along. (It's actually relatively old news, but I'm just learning of it, and haven't seen any of the usual suspects mention it yet, either.)
  It appears that Mullane's is going to reopen. Mullane's was [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 8:27am EST
  

• Who's Voting - Some Analysis

  Plum Street Studios has an analysis of some of the general trends of absentee voting, which includes early voting. The Conventional Wisdom is that absentee voters tend to be more likely white, older, and more Republican. With the increase of early voting, I think those numbers are less true [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 7:32am EST
  

• The Polls Are Open

  The Polls opened up in Ohio this morning and will remain open until 7:30 PM tonight. Be sure to check that your polling station as not changed via the BOE website's poll search.
  
  If you have an absentee ballot, you can still return it, but it must be' [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 6:54am EST
  

• Seven

  That's the number of messages from robo-calls that were on my answering machine today. Wow.
  Interestingly, two of these were about Jeff Berding. One was from David Crowley, reminding me that "Jeff Berding is not a Democrat." The other was from Eric Kearney (a Democrat), supporting Jeff Berding.
  I'll be' [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 10:32pm EST
  

• Queen City Survey Signs Off

  Dan from Queen City Survey posted yesterday that his blog is ending. He may spin off some of his featured content in other forms, but the blog will end, at least for now. Good Luck Dan and I hope to keep reading your interesting take on Cincinnati in other [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 7:10pm EST
  

• TV's Here to Keep You Ignorant

  I guess I should thank John Kiesewetter for reporting on TV's continued indifference to society, but I'm not sure John has a problem with that. It is an injustice to the community that local TV stations will provide close to no coverage of important local elections. It is sad' [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 4:42pm EST
  

• Monzel Lies in Campaign Ad

  So, I disagree with Chris Monzel on most things, but I respected him for being a person of personal principle. Well, now he's lying in his campaign TV spot about the streetcar, so that respect has gone out the window. Where does he lie:
  
  1. The streetcar does [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 3:31pm EST
  

• Charlie Don't Surf

  So I take that either Charlie Winburn's robo-call targeting African-American voters is valid and Winburn would support the Mayor's Majority on council, or he is pandering and lying to the African-American community in hopes they won't notice his Republican political stances. Charlie is claiming he voted for Obama, but' [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 11:57am EST
  

• Cincinnati Opera Online Auction Begins

  Check out the items up for bid in the Cincinnati Opera's Online Auction.
  
  Also, don't forget the Cincy Opera will be having the Opera Ball After-Party on November 21st, so buy your tickets now ($30 pre-sale, $40 at the door).[...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 11:54am EST
  

• Post-Release Control Is Not Parole

  This morning's Enquirer contains a story about people being freed from prison without being placed on "parole," even though, by law, they should be supervised following their release from prison. Sharon Coolidge picked up on an important issue here, as there are some people who should be supervised upon [...]
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  Posted: November 01, 2009, 6:54pm EST
  

• What Constitutes A Tax Increase?

  This past week, we saw more drama in City Council, this time over whether--and when--to change property tax rates for 2010. City Council has three options: leave the millage the same, a move which would--because of increases in property values--generate about $400,000 more in 2010 than in 2009; raise the [...]
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  Posted: November 01, 2009, 6:41pm EST