Mallory's Education Plan Gets Press

This article provides the same summary Mallory discussed in last week's Democratic Forum event. I am willing to listen to the plan. I don't know if it could work. We need more details than we have are provided in this article.

Open City Council Race?

Kevin Osborne of the Post gives a good update on the Council Race. According to the article we have the following names floating out there as declared or possible candidates:

Dems:
John Cranley, David Crowley, and Laketa Cole are the incumbents.
Jeff Berding, Eve Bolton, Brian Crum Garry, and Eric Wilson are all seek an endorsement.

Other Dems with their names floating out there include: Bernadette Watson, Cecil Thomas,and Greg Harris.

GOP:
Sam Malone, Chris Monzel are the incumbents.
Leslie Ghiz has declared her intentions.

Other GOPher's with their names floating around are Pete Witte, Tom Jones, and Paul McGee.

Charter:
Jim Tarbell and Chris Smitherman are the incumbents.
Nick Spencer had been endorsed by the party.
Chris Bortz is waiting for a endorsement.

Independents:
I am sure Damon Lynch III is still thinking about it. A run for Mayor is not out the question for him either. Nate Livingston is playing with the idea. Two UC college students also have their names out there: Andrew Warner and Robert Wilson.

If I missed any names of possible candidates, chime in on who should be on the list.

UPDATE: As nearly everyone has pointed out, Fanon Rucker is running for Judge, and is therefore not running for council. I have correct that error above.

Also, Nick Spencer comments on the article and the race in general.

21st Century Stripmalls

With plans for yet another retail "center" or "lifesytle center" as some are called, are these the new strip mall? They seem to be popping up all over the place. They are replacing the stripmall hells on roads like Beechmont, Fields Ertel, and Colerain. In the city we had neighborhood squares that provided a mini-downtown area to find retail and various services. The butcher, coffeehouse, and a funeral home in Mt. Lookout Square are but one example of what made Cincinnati neighborhoods appealing. Are these big-boxish centers trying to create a retailers Disneyworld?

What really sucks about these places is that no one lives there. What makes squares like Hyde Park or Oakley special is that people live on the square or just off the main road and can walk to the shops and restaurants. These centers are just like malls, islands of illusion with faux landscaping, faux streets, and faux life. Plastic town squares for plastic people. You won't see me there. Or, rather you will see me there often, which is not sad for anyone but me. I am a sucker for following crowds.

Leslie Ghiz Makes It Official

Leslie Ghiz announced officially she is running for the City Council. She is considered to be the front runner to take one of the two open seats. Jeff Berding is likely also right up there with her.

Nick Clooney, Get into the 21 Century Please!

I generally like Nick Clooney and his columns are light fun, but Nick needs to maybe buy a computer. His column is footnoted with this tidbit:

Nick Clooney writes for The Post every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Write to him in care of The Post at 125 E. Court St., Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. E-mails sent to Nick at postliving@cincypost.com will be forwarded to him via regular mail.

Can't George buy the guy a Blackberry or something? Hell, hire someone to come to the house once a day and print them out. Why oh why would the Post print off emails and mail them to Nick? I am sending Nick an email on this.

Millworks Isn't Free

In the article announcing the pending deal to add a new Jungle Jim's market to the Cincinnati Millworks in Oakley we learn about one of the sticking points that Jim wants assurance on, the city's commitment to building a new roadways to connect Kennedy Avenue and it's I-71 access points to the Millworks project. The city has already earmarked $6.9 million to the $19.3 million dollar road project. Don't get me wrong, this road project is badly needed whether or not the Millworks happened or not. I just want to make sure no one thinks that the City is not shelling out some bucks for this. I hope the State/Federal governments pick up the rest. This is the type of development that every red blooded Republican should be chomping at the bit to support. I guess the only drawback is that it is not up in Mason.

This hopefully will not require Eminent Domain, but if it does, it should sail through without any significant hindrances.

Pepper's Parking Problems

Should Councilman and Mayoral Candidate David Pepper just hire a full time driver to avoid the tickets? That would actually be much more expensive than the $1,088 in parking fines he paid last year, but his image might improve just a bit if he were able to follow the simplest of rules.