Chapter 1 of Sir Derek of Snow vs. The Blue Suite #CincyFringe

Somewhere in this dazzling serial there rests a mystery that can only be solved by seeking out a web browser, going to www.cincyfringe.com, and buying as many tickets to Fringes shows as your credit card allows.

If you don't buy them, don't hold anyone but yourself responsible for what might happen...

Council Member Wayne Lippert Supports COAST

Cincinnati council member Wayne Lippert is set to be a "co-host" of a fundraiser for COAST's political action committee for a June event featuring national conservative-activist Grover Norquist.

Yes, that is "the" COAST.

That is the COAST bent on doing what ever it can to block any type of progress and development the City is trying to push forward.

That is the same COAST that mocks people who live anywhere in the City of Cincinnati that isn't either majority white or majority upper-middle class.

That is the same COAST that has no known members who actually live in the City of Cincinnati.

That is the same COAST that purports lies about anyone and everyone that dares speak out against their vitriol.

You may be wondering why a member of Cincinnati City Council would support a group like COAST. I'm wondering the same thing.  COAST represents the mindset that has been holding Cincinnati back.  What possible reason would any member of council support this group?  Sure, there is the political angle, which likely is part of the game here.  There is suburbanite money to be gained, and COAST has some far right-ring surban money out to keep the city down.  There has to be more to it than that.  Ok, fine, Grover Norquist is a well know speaker to Conservatives.  If one wants to go the event as a Republican, I can comprehend doing so.  I don't get "co-hosting" the event to benefit a group like COAST.  That ties Lippert to the group more than just attending the event.  This links Lippert to everything COAST has done.

When COAST wastes tax payer money to file a nuisance lawsuit against the City and the Mayor because they seek to harm the Mayor's personal financial income, that is something that will be linked to Lippert.

Some would ask how I can claim Lippert is going to be linked to everything COAST or a member of COAST does.  Well, that is rather easy.  Lippert will be linked to COAST because he chose to support them and every time he does not voice his disagreement with a position or action they take, I believe it's fair game to assume he concurs with it.  When they do something outrageous and offensive and Lippert does not denounce it, then his silence is a clear sign of agreement.  That is the bargain made when you "co-sponsor" an event and willfully show your support for a political organization.  You buy it, you own it.  Those who get into bed with the Local NAACP, for example, are burdened with the selfishness that is Chris Smitherman, so this fits along the same lines.  The problem here is that the local NAACP is in bed with COAST, so that type of mutual opportunism reeks of hazing at a really dreadful frat house, but that's a whole different topic.

What I am seeing Lippert and nearly all of the other Republican candidates for city council do is play politics like this is Washington, D.C.  They are playing alliances like they are either running for a Federal level office or for a suburban township board of trustees.  We live in a city.  It is a real place. We have Democrats here that make up a majority of populace.  We also have citizens who mostly believe in reality.  COAST lives in a fantasy land with an antebellum political philosophy that ignores the reality of the last 150 years.  Over that time cities were and are the center of progress.  We didn't win two world wars from ideas formed on farms or cul-de-sacs, we won them from the ideas born in urban areas.  Cities foster ideas on how to live with each other, not on ideas on how to live apart.  If Lippert wants to be a leader, he needs to lead the GOP and himself away from the nut-cases like COAST.  If not, he's going to end up another nut-case.

A first step for Wayne is to voice why he's supporting COAST (or denounce them for their tactics).  I'll open up my blog for a response from him or his campaign, published without alteration. Drop me a line and I'll get it up as quickly as I can.  I want to understand why a Cincinnati council member supports COAST and I believe the rest of you out there want to know the same thing, so I look forward to a retort of my comments.

Enquirer Still Lacking on Analysis, Producing More Bias

It is not new for the Enquirer to specially highlight crime in OTR over other areas, but when they do, it would be less biased if they did a few things.

1. Know the neighborhood better: Do the analysis and show where in OTR the crimes have taken place. You could answer better why something is happening statistically if you know where in the neighborhood these crimes are taken place. There are a couple of hot spots.  Then you might answer why police don't target those areas.
2. Before putting of this type of news report, tell us who is publishing it and why they are doing this know. Are council members using this for political gain?
3. If you are going to talk about increases, why not share the attention where shootings have risen at as high or higher rates, like in Northside, Lower Price Hill, Madisonville, North Avondale, and Bond Hill.
4. Why does the article address why Avondale's rate fell so much? In 2010 Avondale had almost twice as many shootings. In 2011 it had about half as many.
5. Why weren't any residents who live say North of Liberty in OTR interviewed, or not included in the article? I guess that get's back to my first point, something Journalist no longer do: know the people and areas they cover.
6. Why not ask why police don't patrol OTR as much anymore?  Are shootings up in one place and down in other because of where police patrol and the drug dealing and criminal element go where the police are not?

WLWT recently focused on a why the recent anti-crime blitz of OTR failed, but their story covering the same story the Enquirer covered instead focued on the overall murder rate and police calls for more resources. They didn't target OTR the same way, they lumped the whole city together, a different type of bias. WKRC has similar story to WLWT.

Live Penguins at the Know Theatre!!!!!!!

DougScout out did himself for the final installment of the the Saga of DougScout.


Help the Know Theatre keep DougScout and the rest of the staff and company continuing to make amazing theatre right here in Over-the-Rhine. Head to their donate now page, click on the donate Today button and give what you can. The more you give, the happier you will feel, guaranteed!

Data Comparisons Can Due Wonders

I don't know how long it would have taken, but some Cincinnati City Official found out that 400+ City of Cincinnati Employees have outstanding parking tickets to the City.  I can personally attest that a comparison like this wouldn't take long.  Say 15 minutes if you have two lists with compatible indexes.  A little longer if reformatting would be involved, but any database software and/or a spreadsheet tool would due.  Why wasn't this done before?  Why just now?  I think it would be a good idea for any government to compare any list of individuals who owe it money to those who are employees by such government. There may be laws against this in some jurisdictions, but if there are, they should be repealed immediately.

Kasich Is Waxing His Pinto

Prince John Kasich, Governor of Ohio, is playing chicken with Casino developers and they just gunned their muscle car directly at Kasich's Pinto. He really might want to consider swerving his Pinto out of the way or he will end up as roadkill.

Winburn Stunt Backfires: Streetcar Support Shines!

Cincinnati City Council Member Charlie Winburn's stunt backfired Wednesday night when Cincy Streetcar supports turned out in great numbers to politely voice their support for the Streetcar and for the city as special council session called by Winburn and other Council Republicans. Social media reports indicated that 40 out of 45 citizen speakers were in favor of the Streetcar project. Several attendees reported on Twitter that many of the the small number of Streetcar opponents were disruptive and all anti-streetcar speakers yelled into the microphone and spoke longer than the two minutes alloted.

Another report indicated that alleged candidate for Cincinnati City Council and local NAACP president Chris Smitherman had a confrontation of some type, possibly with security in council chambers.  If the political reporters are not paying attention and don't report on his antics, then they are propping up his candidacy just to attract readers or viewers.

The clear message was the Streetcar has strong support from Cincinnati and the handful of people who are against it couldn't muster up enough suburbanites to drive downtown at 6PM on a Wednesday. We also saw Charlie Winburn comes across like a fool, playing a game instead of doing his job. All that's left to see how the mainstream media butchers the story in favor of the nut cases (like COAST and Smitherman) or of the Republican Council members who played more for contributions and Westside votes than they did actually constructively discussing the issue.

UPDATE:  Here's the Enquirer Story with more on Smitherman's apparent angry reaction to getting his picture taken.  Other than covering the Smitherman outburst, the article gives the usual bias against the Streetcar by given the opposition to the Streetcar more ink than to view of supporters the overwhelming number in attendance.  It isn't balanced when you report the number of supporters, but quote a small percentage of them, while giving 2 of 5 of the anti-streetcar speakers opinions in the article, adding to it the anti-streetcar Republicans comments and you get a biased story.  What we have come to expect from the Enquirer on this topic.

Golf Rankings Clearly Are Worth the Time of a Political Reporter

I for one am 'totally ecstatic' that the Enquirer's Washington based political reporter blogged about the golf handicap of John Boehner. That has relevance, surely it does. Golf handicaps are a 'true' measure of political power and everyone in the world knows this. How do you think the seating arrangements work at GOP National convention!

At least the reporter mentioned that although Boehner has a much better handicap than President Obama, VP Joe Biden crushes them both. Gotta be impartial, exept when it comes to the focus of the story, because it appears people in West Chester want to read about the Speaker of the House only in a positive or human interest sort of a way. Gotta be a 'Homer" after all and you can't make the Speaker of the House look worse than the VP, except in the order of succession.

I think the Enquirer can just fire all of its Sport reporters, since they were scooped by the political beat with this Earth shattering blog post.

I am so much better off for knowing all of this. I can't count the ways that my political knowledge has grown. I can't think of any other political stories that could possibly be more important. Zero. None. Nada.

DougScout Of The Dance...

Help the Know Theatre pay for DougScout's dance classes or he's going to dance at your wedding and he's not going to be drunk!

Winburn Uses Council Meeting For Campaign Stunt

Council member Charlie Winburn wants to have a Council Meeting during his Campaign Stunt. So he's gotten the two appointed Republican council members to help him create a faux council meeting to use a prop in his Campaign for city council. This meeting takes place Wednesday evening (May 11th) at 6PM, so if you have time, go down and ask Charlie Winburn why he is using a council meeting as a prop in his Campaign stunt. I'd also advise asking him why he sent out a pdf flier about his campaign stunt disguised as a Council meeting with his picture on it with a doozy of a quote, which reads:

“Although I do not support the streetcar, I think we need to hold the Mayor, City Manager, and City Council accountable for wasting $99 million of taxpayer money.”

So, first, what a poorly written quote. It reminds me of using the same word more than once in a sentence. Like: The fast lemming moved really fast over the cliff. Secondly, what kind of an ass emails this kind of thing from his council email? It is tacky. It is a waste of time and resources and it's only purpose is to give Winburn (and his GOP accomplices) a platform to campaign for council.  It doesn't appear to break any obvious rules, but it certainly was designed to skirt the law and promote his candidacy.  Here's what it looked like:

A classless act, but it's nothing new from Winburn.

Slow Local News Day or is WCPO Just Saving Money?

This morning I opened WCPO's Website and found that four of the seven top stories on their Front Page were Not local stories. Here's how it looked:

The three local stories are:

1.  A weather story
2. A wedding story with a Royal Tie in
3. A story about the report that a bid move is to be filmed in the Cincinnati area

So, nothing important appears to be happening in Ohio or the Cincinnati area that is not the weather, human interest, or entertainment.  We must have a perfectly run State Government that is not trying to gut funding for a huge list of schools.  We must not have an election for City Council taking place in a few months.  We must not have a search going on for a new Police Chief.  We must not have a Casino project under threat from the Governor.

Those stories may have a story buried on the website, but they are not important enough to have stories on the front page to get your attention.  Instead, you get weather, fluff, and stories with good pictures or about something that may in some minor way affect your kids.  Exurbanites appear to be kid obsessed, so get their attention and you have them hooked. None of these non-local stories cost anything extra to WCPO because they were written by a non-local journalist.  They are cheap and catch the eyes of the non-engaged reader who might care about reading topics that they could get on many national news outlets.

Yes, local TV news sucks.  This isn't a rarity, this is what it does.  If a local story is big enough, it takes the lead, otherwise the rest if filler from affiliates with stories that matter more other places or belong on national outlets.  This is NOT a plot to keep people ignorant, this is what the masses consume.  You, the reader, don't care much about local news, so no one tries to sell you on it very often.  Our willful desire to be ignorant about what is happening in our communities helps create horrible local journalism.  If you want Walmart, that is what you will get.

Chris Bortz Is Running For Council

Cincinnati City Council Member Chris Bortz will seek another term on council, his last before being term-limited.

The Charter Committee endorsed candidate had been on the fence about running, but has publicly made his decision to run.

Bortz has strong backing and likely will do well in the election. He puts a dent into the chance of adding new faces to City Council. All current officer holders are running, so no open seats are up for grabs, but three current officer holders are unelected appointees and will face stiff challenge from several candidates.

Osama Bin Laden Is Dead: Justice.

The criminal Osama Bin Laden has been killed by American forces. The death of any human being is never something to be joyous about, but this is justice. This was necessary. This was an honorable act. The horror this man caused was unfathomable by most people, less the few who lived through it or had a relative or friend killed by this murderer. The only thing more satisfying than his death would have been to parade this criminal into a courtroom to put him on trial for his crimes against humanity, but this evil man likely would never have been taken alive.

I applaud our government and the American forces who took action to ride the world of this criminal.

Bin Laden's death will not end terrorism in the world and will not end al Qaeda, but this is a blow to those who seek to murder the innocent in a delusional effort to push forth a twisted ideological/religious stance on the world.

Teilen/Rhine Brings Community Together May 1st at MOTR

Tomorrow May 1st a new way to "share yourself" starts off with Teilen at MOTR. The event is the first in series that will travel throughout the area that will invite participants to share their stories. Admission is free and it begins at 6PM at MOTR, located at 1345 Maint Street.

iRhine has more.

OTR Picnic To Benefit Tucker's Shooting Victims Saturday April 30th

The first annual OTR picnic will be held this Saturday (tomorrow April 30th) in St. Francis Seraph’s secret garden (corner of Vine & Liberty) from 1-5pm. Come join us celebrate spring with live music from Robin Lacey & Dezydeco and the Wild Mountain Berries. Food will be provided and drinks will be available to purchase. Organizers will raffle loads of Downtown items thanks to our neighboring retailers and restaurants.

A $10 donation is requested at the door and the event is open to the public. All proceed will go to Carla Tucker and Ronisha Burgin, the two women injured during the shooting at Tucker's Restaurant in January 2011.

Special thanks to the event's partners & contributing parties: Coca-Cola, Christian Moerlein, Arnold’s Bar & Grill, The B-List in Bellevue, KY, Dewey’s Pizza, Dr. Dennis Suggs, Findlay Market,
The Lackman, Lavamatic, Local 127, Madison’s at Findlay, Maumee World Traders, Mica, Milton’s Prospect Hill Tavern, MidPoint Music Festival, Motr Pub, Neon’s Unplugged, Park + Vine, PetWants, Queen City Underground Walking Tours, Rookwood Tile, Segway of Cincinnati, Senate, Shadeau Bread & Shalini Latour.

It's DougScout vs Tarbell: Give to the Know Theatre

If you were expecting King Kong vs Godzilla, you might be disappointed, but you can share the legendary view on who is who? DougScout has some King Kong qualities, but Tarbell does as well. The only way to solve the mystery is to go to see the Know's production of the Dragon! There you will have to ask a staff member: "Does DougScout symbolize King Kong or Godzilla?" You will need to ask more than one staff member, since you will certainly get more than one answer.

Help the Know Theatre keep DougScout out of trouble. A newspaper route doesn't keep wayward boys on the right track by itself.

No Free Lunch for Cops

The People of Cincinnati should not be subsidizing private money making efforts of police officers. 100% of the costs of administering the off-duty private details should be paid by either the police or the private groups that are their customers. I find it amazing that most of the conservatives on council, according to the Enquirer, want the city to subsidize the private business interests of Cincinnati Police officers.

Council Member Leslie Ghiz made a proposal to only charge police officers a much smaller flat fee for their private business enterprize's costs. This smaller fee would bar far not pay for the expenses incurred to administer the enterprise and Ghiz is seeking to make up the budget by cutting the Mayor's office and the Office of Enviornmental Quality by #100,000. Additionally she wants to cut the HEALTH DEPARTMENT by $200,000. Yes, it appears Ghiz favors police officers making money for themselves, (outside of their full time job to serve the pubic) over the health of the citizens of Cincinnati. I know she's a shill for the FOP, but I think this is taking things a bit too far. It was also really disappointing to see Chris Bortz and Wayne Lippert supporting Ghiz's plan to subsidize the police's private business. I don't see how this can be seen as anything other than a political ploy for an FOP endorsement. Winburn played it down the middle, and for some unknown reason abstained. Is he church a customer of the off-duty police enterprise?

CincyPac Kicks off the 2011 Election Season With Fundraiser

CincyPac, the YPish based polical action group is kicking of it's activities in the 2011 election season with a fundraiser and the chance for politically mind people to network, drink and maybe learn a little bit about this year's elections. Neon's is the spot this Friday, April 29th, where you can participate in a the happy hour starting at 5:30 and stay for the scavenger hunt starting at 7:30.  Details are here.

DougScout: The Movie Will Blow You Away Like the Wind - Support the Know Theatre!

Help the Know Theatre make this movie into the best Theatre humanly possible for one person to write, produce, direct, stage manage, sound design, make cosumtes, and act in.  Give them some money!!!!!

Ok, excuse the next part of the this blog post as I gratuitously play for getting a quote on the DougScout movie poster:

You'll pee your pants if you see this movie. You'll poop your pant if you don't
B. Griffin - Cincinnati Blog

State of the City Speech Tonight: What Will the Mayor's Message Be?

Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory will give his State of the City Speech tonight (April 21st) at the Duke Center. This will be an opportunity for the Mayor to update the City on what the next step will be for the Streetcar Project, since State funding was removed for partisan political reasons by Ohio Governor John Kasich. I hope the takes advantage of that opportunity.  We need a plan to move forward.

With the City elections coming up later this year, I also wonder if the speech will contain other issues that will form a rally point for Democratic candidates, both incumbents and challengers. The Mayor is a lame duck, so he does not have the sway inside the city's political circles. There is a Federal election coming up in 2012 and no Democratic candidates have announced, so if the Mayor is looking to put his hat into the ring and face Steve Chabot, this would be a chance to preview himself to a wider audience.

Candidates for congress in 2012 need to be working towards that immediately, if they plan on winning. The only thing holding them back is redistricting, which will be controlled by Republicans. The issue facing us locally will be how much of Hamilton County will Republicans give to District 1 (Chabot) and how much do they give District 2 (Schmidt). Hamilton County is majority Dem right now, barely, so neither incumbent really wants more of the County in their district, unless you cut it up like Swiss cheese.

If Mayor Mallory doesn't run, who else is positioned to run?

MPMF Announced Indie Summer Series Initial Headliners

The Midpoint Music Festival has announced the initial headliners for the first portion of Indie Summer at Fountain Square.

June 3rd: You You’re Awesome with Javelin and Lydia Burrell
June 10th: Neon Indian with Oberhofer.
June 17th: Maps & Atlases
June 24th: Asobi Seksu with Prussia.
July 1st: Pomegranates
July 8th: Big Freedia

The remainder of the headliners and opening acts will be announced later in the year.

How Did you Ride Out the Storm?

The warning sirens echoing off buildings woke me up around 1:30 AM this morning and the sights out my window were quite alarming. Seeing rain drops pushed by the brutal wind like blowing snow in a winter blizzard was unsettling even to my usually calm nerves. Other than venturing out to close the hallway window in my building, I stayed in my condo and watched TV for about 20 minutes until things calmed back down.

I was able to get back to sleep rather easily, so my lost period of slumber hopefully won't affect me like those up all night. I predict the line at Coffee Emporium will be out the door this morning.

Damage I hope wasn't too bad for most people. There are reports of chairs been ripped of decks in OTR and many trees were toppled, including this one into a house in Mt. Lookout.

Pones Inc 3rd B-Day Bash April 23rd at the Avenue

Move your ass on down to the Avenue in Covington this Saturday April 23rd to celebrate Pones Inc's third year of existence with a Red Hot, Off the Chain Birthday Extravaganza.

Support local theatre with a modest suggested $3 donation at the door. Details:

• Launch of Pones Inc. NEW SWAG Line (including t-shirts & bumper stickers)
• Launch of Pones Inc. Donation Feature on Website
• Back to Back Local Bands and DJs
• Pizza and Cake
• Graffiti Wall
• Party Favors
• Videos and Projection
• Dance Party and
• Get your DRINK On

Saturday April 23rd 8pm -2am
The Avenue Lounge and Patio
411 Madison Ave.

The Remaining Joesph-Beth Bookstores to be Autioned

Joesph-Beth Booksellers is in bankruptcy and has closed four of its nine stores, but reportedly a financing plan was rejected forcing the remaining five stores to be sold at auction. This of course includes the store in Norwood near Hyde Park, which is a main stop for well know authors on book tours.

The impression I get from the article is that the auction would intend to keep the business going, but I don't see how that can be assumed. In an auction the buyer usually has pretty much no strings attached if they pay the price bid, but in this type of business auction, there may be other rules or requirements.

It will be a dark day for books if Joesph-Beth closes. There are so few book stores left and e-books are becoming so common that the future of retail book selling is not bright for small or even medium sized companies.  Book stores used to be a core pillar of American Intellectualism.  Now, Walmart sells more books than any other company.  They have a horrible selection and censor books at the drop of a hat.  Knowing what to read should not be left to the Walmarts nor to online popularity lists at Amazon.

A Cincinnati Police Officer Shot and Killed a Man in Northside

Details this morning are very limited but news reports indicate that a Cincinnati Police officer shot and killed a man early Monday morning around 3AM in Northside near Chase and Georgia Avenues.

A press conference is scheduled at 11AM.

WCPO is reporting that police were called to a location on Chase Avenune to "intervene" in some type of situation.

WLWT also reported what sounded like a rumor that the suspect may have been involved in a shooting from the prior night. I could not find any news reports of a shooting either on Sunday or Saturday.


More from the Enquirer.

Cincinnati Council Candidate to Appear at Glendale 'Tea Party' Event

The Glendale 'Tea Party' is holding a Tax Day Rally and are featuring Cincinnati Republican Council Candidate Catherine Smith Mills. Their website even includes a reference to here as "Cincinnati Council Conservative Candidate."

Why would a candidate for Cincinnati City Council make an appearance in Glendale, outside the City of Cincinnati. at a far right-wing political event? Is she looking for contributions from the likes of Finney and Mike Wilson. Too bad they are doing everything they can to hurt the City.

How can this win her votes in this election? Are there a significant number of citizens who would vote for a candidate who looks outside the City for Support and finds it in anti-Cincinnati groups?

If one wants to gain votes from the people of Cincinnati, it might help if you'd spend more time with them, and less time with those trying to undermine the city. I guess some might call that conventional wisdom. I'm sure a high-priced political consultant advised Ms. Smith Mills to head to the Suburbs to find money, but damn it looks bad. She's hanging out with a bunch of nutty crack pots. I guess she's writing off every moderate vote in the City.

I suggest that is she wants to appeal to suburbanite Republicans, she move to where she can actually represent them in public office.

DougScout Washing Cars, But the Know Still Needs Your Support

Support the Know Theatre or DougScout will wash your car!

Help The Governor: Tell Him What Is NOT Cool

In an effort to reach out across party lines, I will am making a 'sincere' effort to help Ohio Governor John Kasich Understand what is and what is not cool. He made it clear that he wants Ohio to be cool, so we can attract younger people to the state. (No this was not an Onion story) To make it easy, I thought I would point out a bunch of stuff that is NOT cool. These are random things, that I am sure he already knows, but just needs a little refresher.

Ok, so things that are NOT Cool:

• Lawn darts
• Driving a Hummer full of $4 dollar a gallon gas to the suburbs
• Milli Vanilli
• Zima
• MySpace
• Handguns
• Lawn Jockeys
• War
• Banning same-sex marriage
• American Idol
• FOX News
• Destroying the freedom for women to control their own bodies
• Canceling a high speed rail project that would create 16,000 jobs
• Making it more difficult to vote
• Cutting funding for the arts
• Pushing religion on others
• Being anti-urbanist
• Asphalt
• Cul-de-sacs
• Taking political revenge on Cites, like Cincinnati, for not voting for you
• Revoking a grant to build a Streetcar project that would develop the inner city
• Taking away the rights of Ohio citizens to collectively bargain
• Being anti-public transit, especially rail projects
• Mocking Portland, then praising Austin for basically the same reasons

So that's a start, what else can you share with the Governor to help him know what is NOT Cool.

Bunbury Musc Festival Coming to Sawyer Point in 2012

Soapbox's Sean Rhiney has an interview with Bill Donabedian, managing director of Fountain Square and co-founder of the Midpoint Music Festival (along with Rhiney), and they discuss Donabedian's plans to hold a music festival called Bunbury in July of 2012 along the Ohio River at Sawyer Point.

Plans are for a "Lollapaloza" or "Pitchfork" type of festival which would have a combination of the best of local music and national acts. Donabedian's ideal would be to have groups like "The National" and "Flaming Lips". I'd presume he'd include more locals along the lines of Bad Veins, the Seedy Seeds, and Wussy, but that's just my speculation.

I love the idea. I really hope it can give the right mix of national, regional, and local acts. I also am pleased that it doesn't appear to be conflicting with any other big local indie music event.  It does appear to be occurring during the World Choir games taking place in Cincinnati in 2012.  I don't know if that is intended or not.  With a large group of people already here, that is good, but there could be some logistical issues.

Bunbury would no matter what be a great way for Midpoint to market to music fans and get them to come to that event the following September.  Other music venues or events could also find opportunity getting their names known to fans and music acts by helping out (Southgate House, MOTR, Northside Tavern, Mayday, and Comet come to mind.)

I look forward to hearing more details on how the festival will work and who the team will be to get it done.

Smitherman Is Running, Supposedly

The Enquirer is reporting that local NAACP President Chris Smitherman is running for City Council. He said this before, so I will believe it when he is on the ballot.

We have a clear lack of independent candidates running, so adding more is a good thing, but Smitherman is an attention whore concerned only about himself. His one term on council was a worthless disaster and he managed to piss off so many people that he lost the next election. He wants attention and I expect the Enquirer will give him all he wants, as they do on a regular basis, while ignoring other news. Now they'll just ignore other candidates in favor of the three ring circus.

We don't need a political circus and that is all Smitherman does. He will makes some outlandish comments, make some implausible and divisive proposals and will not be criticized by the Enquirer.

Let's just hope this is yet another Smitherman ploy, that will fade away faster than the stench of rotten meat.

So Is Sheree Paolello Biased Or Just a Jerk?

WLWT news anchor Sheree Paolello made this open mic goof back on March 31st, mocking former Congressman Steve Driehaus:

So is she biased or just a jerk? I doubt she intentionally did this, but is it a sign of a political opinion that is lurking deep below the surface? On the other hand, she could be a jerk who likes to mock politicians. Either way, she's looks really petty and foolish, two things you don't want in a TV news anchor.

Via Kiesewetter.

Democratic Party Endorsements for Council Made Official

CityBeat's Kevin Osborne has the run down of Thursday's meeting of the Cincinnati Democratic Committee, where endorsements for Cincinnati City Council were made official. No surprises arose and the recommended slate was approved. The endorsements are:

Nicholas Hollan
Roxanne Qualls
Laure Quinlivan
Jason Riveiro
Chris Seelbach
Yvette Simpson
P.G. Sittenfeld
Cecil Thomas
Wendell Young

Happy Arnold's Bar and Grill Day!

Today in the City of Cincinnati it is officially Arnold's Bar and Grill Day! Head to Arnold's to celebrate 150 years of a history, drinks, and great food.

The Enquirer has a look back at Arnold's history through photos. Political events run deep at Arnold's.


If you are interested in more Cincinnati political history, check out Boss Cox's Cincinnati: Urban Politics in the Progressive Era (Urban Life and Urban Landscape Series)

Anniversary of Thomas Shooting and Riots Remembered

Today, April 7, 2011, marks the 10th anniversary of the shooting of Timothy Thomas by Stephen Roach, then a Cincinnati Police officer. Thomas was unarmed and fleeing from police when shot. This incident sparked the Riots which began on April 9th after a heated City Council Committee meeting.

Both the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Cincinnati Herald had multiple stories recently remembering what happened 10 years ago and looking forward to where we are now.

From the Enquirer:
Special Section Cincinnati Riots
Changes in policing
A different struggle

From the Herald:
City was in crisis during civil unrest of 2001
How far we’ve come since 2001
Looking back a decade—

I recall how vivid tension that filled the streets was back then. I remember walking Downtown during the day and I could sense the tension. It is a feeling that was likely all in my head since I was following the unfolding events very closely, but it was a feeling I can remember to this day. I don't know if it is because I live in Over-the-Rhine now or that we have changed, but that tension is gone. Many of those at the forefront of the protests have retreated from the public eye or just left town, so I don't know how much that has changed the feel of the city over the last 10 years.

I believe the City and its citizens have changed. That change has been positive. The police have a much improved attitude towards the public, particularly the black community. We have outlets for the citizens to voice their views. We still do have a significant separation between the communities, something we must still work on. Much of that separation is rooted in socio-economic differences, but much of it is culture. The cultures of our city still are very different and don't like to mix. We don't communicate outside of our own culture as often as we could or should. Since the animosity towards the city continues to fester in large sectors of the suburban and exurban areas, we can't afford to not have a wider community in the city working together. I hope we can improve the connections to that macro community for everyone.

Stop a DougScout From Crying: Donate to the Know Theatre Today

Go to www.knowtheatre.com and Donate today!

Cincinnati Band Walk the Moon Featured on Carson Daily Show

Cincinnati Band Walk the Moon was at SXSW the year and got the notice of the Carson Daily Show, here's the segment:

Lead singer Nicholas Petricca appeared in a Cincinnati Fringe Festival show last year and made many connections. The music video highlighted in the Carson Daily show you can see Pones Inc., Cincinnati Fringe veterans, who helped out Walk the Moon in making the video.

Summer Will Bring Taste of Belgium to Gateway Quarter

Polly Campbell blogs some great news about a new Taste of Belgium cafe coming to the heart of the Gateway Quarter. A big congratulations goes out to owner Jean-Francois Flechet on this news. I look forward to having another dinning spot on Vine Street this Summer.

Anti-City Zealot Farts and the Enquirer Rushes in to Sniff

I think if anti-City extremist Chris Finney were to write a letter to Santa Claus containing nothing but the first 100 names in the Cincinnati Bell white pages, the Enquirer would write a story about it. If you promote EVERYTHING a political group does with a positive 'news' story then you have a bias. That bias is either for the group or a bias against the people or organizations that group is attacking.

From WCPO: A Look at the Arts Ten Years Later

Donate to the Know Theatre Right NOW!

Theatre, as an art form, brings unmeasurable value to a society. Theatre  provides humanity a purpose. That purpose is a journey of discovery to understand what it means to be human. Here in Cincinnati one Theatre company speaks to me more than any on that journey of discovery and that is the Know Theatre.

It takes money to make a theatre work and right now the Know needs your help. Impending budget cuts at the State are going to make it difficult for all arts organizations to make ends meet, and that includes the Know. We must as a community do everything that we can to keep our society on a path of discovery. I've chosen to donate a modest amount to the Know Theatre. I ask that you help out Now as well. Check out the Know's website with the details on how your can give. Remember that any sum can help. $20 goes a long way. $100 can go further.

With the Cincinnati Fringe Festival Coming up in less than two months, your funds will be put to great use to keep the lights on for an organization that is vital to the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood and the entire arts community.

Also, be sure to see their latest production, The Dragon.  I got to see it on opening night and was amazed with the work.  The show is a co-production with MadCap Puppets and should not be missed.  It runs through May 7th.

Chris Bortz to Decide on Council Run Within Two Weeks

Cincinnati City Council Member Chris Bortz will make his decision on running for City Council within a couple weeks. Council Member Bortz tells the Cincinnati Blog that it has been his habit to wait until the Spring of an election year to make the decision to run or not. The question of whether Chris Bortz will get a Charter Committee endorsement has has already been answered , and that answer is an undramatic yes.

Bloody Mary Rankings From: get in mah belly

I personally don't like tomato juice, but if you want to know about local bloody mary hits and misses check out Liz's take with the get in mah belly bloody mary rankings for Cincinnati, so far.

The Enquirer is On Top of the Important News!

Yes, the Cincinnati Enquirer knows what news is important to its readers and they write about it.

Stadium Mustard is really important. We need reporters to spend time tracking down the news stories that matter. Mustard matters and don't you forget it!

Damon Lynch III's Church to Leave Over-the-Rhine

I find it very surprising that the New Prospect Baptist Church is leaving Over-the-Rhine. I am surprised that Damon Lynch III would do that. From a pure practical perspective, the article lays out a case for the church, which appears to want a more big box church facility. That's not something you would find in OTR. I thought, however, that part of the Church's mission was to reach the trouble youth of the inner-city, which places them right where they need to be. Are they abandoning that mission or are do they see that mission being more of an issue in other neighborhoods in the City? On the other hand are they looking to capitalize on the demand for property in that part of OTR?

I am really not sure what to make of this. What does it say about the neighborhood? We are days away from the 10th anniversary of the killing to Timothy Thomas and the Riots of 2001 and a church that was at the epicenter of those events announces they are leaving the neighborhood. The neighborhood is on the upward rise. I want to live in a diverse neighborhood, and New Prospect leaving makes it less diverse. Or does it? As the article points out, most of the people going to the church don't live in OTR, so does this really affect much at all?

Section 8 Housing in the Burbs? It's Hell Freezing Over Time!

I know there are going to be curse words, shouts, and protests if 'public housing' increases in the suburban areas of Hamilton County, but since this is part of a deal to resolve a discrimination complaint, legal action to block the housing will have a bigger hurdle.

It is only fair that 'public housing' is included in all areas of the county. It should also be inlcuded outside of the county as well, for I would surmise Warren County doesn't have much, if any, Section 8 housing.

Sidenote: I am also very glad the Enquirer does not have comments turned on for that article. The racist and bigoted comments would fill up your screen if they did.

Happy Opening Day: Let's Go Reds!!!

Enjoy the Findlay Market Parade!

My Plan: Expose Meaningless Political Speech

We all hate meaningless poltical speech, but politians continue to use it. Why? Well, the "we" I use means those reading this blog and other political commentary. That "we" doesn't include most people.  The average person in America doesn't bother to pay attention to anything other than American Idol. When they do finally pay attention it is for about 2 minutes and that is only enough time for a candidate to give a few political generalities about their ideas. 99% of the time they are meaningless.

In the City Council Election we are going to see this a lot. Today I offer up the meaningless political speech of the week from Republican candidate Catherine Smith Mills. In a recent blog post on her campaign website she addressed her "Mills Means Jobs Plan." She emphasized it to the point of putting it in bold.

I looked through her website for a white paper. I didn't find one. I looked for some type of listing of what the plan would entail. I didn't find anything. A plan to create jobs is not an easy thing to create, if you are actually going to write up how to create jobs.

Instead I found this on her "issues" page:

Mills Means Jobs: Job Creation, Retention, & Economic Development

I support job creation and retention efforts for businesses, because a city with a strong tax base can support its services. We must stop unnecessary barriers for business creation and growth. The vitality of small businesses in Cincinnati and the cultivation of the entrepreneurial spirit are key components to our City’s future success. I will work to develop new polices[sic], research tax incentives, and create a business friendly atmosphere in which companies of all sizes have an opportunity to succeed.

So her plan is nothing but typical light Republican fare with a little extra pro-business sauce on the side.

That's not a plan, that just word tested meaningless political speech that maybe a few ignorant people will think means something. What she needs to do is tell the truth: She's willing to give away the farm to businesses, and hope they actually hire people here. She's not going to do anything that is unfriendly to them, so I presume that includes NOT making it legally binding that any give-away to business requires the business to maintain a number of jobs here in the City (as opposed to overseas or out of state.)  If Mills would do that, why not put it in print?

What she has put out their so far is meaningless. There is no detail. There is the illusion of detail, but that is worse than no having no political rhetoric at all.

Mills is not and will not be unique in this or any campaign. She's just the first I chose to look over. There will be more.  We can only hope other candidates will try a little harder to provide more details on their websites.

The Mightly Casey Coston At Bat: Home Run

Soapbox columnist Casey Coston's article this week elegantly summarizes the recent attacks being made on Cincinnati. Those attacks are not from a foreign land or even a different state, (Pittsburgh is not a suspect.) These attacks are coming from Exurban Ohio law makers bent on pushing an anti-Cincinnati, anti-urban, and dogmatic conservative agenda on the City of Cincinnati and the entire State of Ohio. We must not let this go unchallenged and must be heard. Kudos to Casey for this brazen commentary.

Señor Roy's Taco Patrol to Close?

This Tweet from @Señor Roy indicates the owners looking to get out of the business by selling the food truck.

@SenorRoys
Señor Roy
Wehave had a fabulous time with everyone, but for personal reasons, we have decided to offer SRTP for sale. Inbox fordetails

There have been rumors going around that they might be going under, but this is the first credible comment I've seen that indicates the establishment may close. I've had good food from the mobile eatery, and will be sorry to see them go.

Recommendations for Democratic Endorsements For Council Floated

A listing of recommendations for the Democratic Council enforcements were made public at a recent fundraising event.  These are not finalized, but would be the preliminary slate, pending official action from the City Dems.  There are:

Incumbents:
Roxanne Qualls
Laure Quinlivan
Cecil Thomas
Wendell Young

Challengers:
Nicolas Hollan
Jason Riveiro
Chris Seelbach
P.G. Sittenfeld
Yvette Simpson

Two key points:

• It is unknown if Qualls and/or Simpson either have or are seeking the double endorsement from the Charter Committee.  If they don't, Charter may only have once candidate running (Kevin Flynn).
• One name you don't see is Bernadette Watson.  She logically would be a good candidate, with her good showing in 2009, but not seeing her name on this list leads me to presume she is not running.

On the Democratic and liberal side, I've not heard of anyone else running for office other than those on this list.  For all of my ranting about the GOP not fielding a full slate, the Dems barely have nine running.  At last count, there are only 15 confirmed candidates with Bortz and Smitherman still unknowns.  17 candidates total would be the lowest number as far back as I found online, 18 being the next lowest twice.

Outside of the possible inclusion of Chris Smitherman, what we are missing are the fringe and crazy candidates.  It is still early, so maybe some unknowns will get into the race this summer.