Matt Weiler: Coaster Safety
I share Matt's comments on politicians jumping the gun, and calling for something to be done about roller coasters. What that something might be, I have no clue. I myself don't really like to ride roller coasters. I am not the most agile person, and extra g-forces are not something that does anything for me, but make me feel like crap.

Open air waves
The UC News Record profiles WAIF 88.3 FM. The "all volunteer" radio station has been rolling on for 25 years. They have online streaming, so have a listen.

Fountain Square shooting alarming
Update: WLWT is reporting the victim, 26 year old Antonio Owens, has now died from his wounds.

Cinco de Mayo Mini-Riot 2.0
It appears that a drunken mass of UC students could not help themselves and lost control. Why do people act like this? Why do allegedly semi-educated people feel the need, drunk or not, to act like common criminals? The police also appeared to be slow to respond to this riot. According WLWT, police did not move in on the crowd until nearly an hour had passed after at least 2 cars were overturned. Last year the moved in hard on the crowd, this year they let it linger. Was this somehow tactical? Was their plan to let the frenzied crowd vent a bit, and then move in on a softer target? I hope that is the case. Running commentary from amateur video of the riot shows a police helicopter overhead, but the camera operator asked where the police are. I predict police will be attacked for letting what boycotters will likely call a "white riot" to go on unchecked. The reasons for it will be painted in simpleton racial terms, but what else can one expect from the one-track mind boycotters.

Man shot on Fountain Square
Details are limited on this case, but damn. I hope this story gets wall to wall coverage in local media. The City can kiss a Fountain Square upgrade if they don't address crime. No more pussy footing around about it. No more worrying about they boycotter's propaganda. No more police slowdowns. Break out the “Batman and Robin” costumes if you have to, but start fighting crime. When someone is shot in the heart of the city, you don’t just tape over the wound, you call in the heart surgeon. Everyone at city hall needs to get off their asses and start cracking down on the criminals in this town, no matter who they are, or what groups are trying to shield them from justice.

More from WCPO:

"Everybody seems to be cooperative," said Thomas. "They stayed around. They're willing to come talk to us."

If every crowd who witnessed a shooting in this city were as cooperative, we might get a handle on crime. If this had happened in OTR, I wonder if any of the witnesses would cooperate with the police. Based on prior incidents, I would bet few would care to get involved and help fight crime in their own neighborhood.

Jerry makes his case: Springer selling 'authentic' image
Jerry is making a hard push for support. Some of his political positions can be found here. The Dayton Daily News reports he will make up his mind officially on running for office in July.

Minority and small firms win a share
It appears that either alot of out of town firms were used, or a new form of affirmative action was instituted.

About 32 percent of a projected $65 million in building, design and management contracts went to black-owned firms for a total of $21.2 million. Small businesses accounted for 42 percent of $38 million in building contracts, or $16 million.

32% is rather high for a county that has a population of blacks less than 25%. For Paul Brown Stadium there were not enough "black-owned" businesses in the region to provide 32% of the building supplies, but here it happened, granted on a smaller project. I have to wonder how "black-owned" is determined. I assume it means any company that is at least partially owned by a "black" person.