Sam Malone Charged in 1991 with Hitting His Mother

According to the The Cincinnati Post, Councilman Sam Malone was charged with hitting and choking his mother back in 1991 at age 20. the article states he was allowed into an alternative treatment program:

A mental health evaluation recommended treatment for Sam Malone, and he was ordered to attend the YWCA's Amend Batterers Intervention Program. That is an outpatient treatment program that offers individual and group counseling for batterers and their victims.

The program tries to show abusers alternatives to violence. Also, it demands that abusers take responsibility for their actions and learn to handle the anger that often leads to attacks.

It appears Sam did not learn enough through this program. Question: why would a 20 year old get a mental evaluation after a relatively minor offense? What signs where there to warrant such an action?

CiN at Taste of Cincinnati

CinWeekly has collected up free MP3's of the bands appearing on the CiN stage at the Taste of Cincinnati. I will plug up the KY Struts live. I don't know original stuff, but their live set at Jammin' On included some rock-a-billy standards (at least I think there were) and it kicked.

Going up to Country

It appears that the hinterland has pull in the race for the 2nd Congressional district. It has pull more in the GOP primary, where extremists in Adams County are applying a rather insane litmus test:

n Adams County, the Rev. Ken Johnson, a United Methodist minister from Seaman, was the leader of the pro-Ten Commandments forces. Today, he is being courted for his endorsement by most of the 11 Republican candidates for Portman’s seat.

So far, he hasn’t given it.

“All I can say is that any candidate who comes into Adams County and says he is against having the Ten Commandments displayed on public property is not going to get elected to anything,” Johnson said.

Johnson said the upcoming primary presents a “difficult choice” for conservative Christians because “most of the Republican candidates are pro-life, pro-Ten Commandments, against gay marriage. They’re on the right side of the issues.”

But Adams County voters, Johnson said, “will vote on more than the moral issues. We have a lot of economic issues in this county that are important too.”

I am most sickened that his theocratic fascist, (yes folks those words of mine are back), is a United Methodist minister. I grew up in that church, and it never, never got political. It goes without saying that I am sickened by his bigoted stances, but this guy is a lightning rod, and illustrates the motive behind erecting the Ten Commandment stone displays in front of school: for religious purposes.

The key to know how much influence the rural areas will have is to simply look at population and voting patterns. I have no idea where the population centers are, outside of the Hamilton County area. If our side of the district dominates the population, its issues will dominate the election, but a primary fight could show divisions.

On the Dems side it should focus on issues and electability. I don't see Dem rural and urban votes being in conflict as much as the GOP's.

I have never been to Adams County (Praise Zeus!), but I am fairly sure the water does not taste like wine.

Diner Shuts Down

The Diner has closed. I never made it there. I just walk past there last Saturday night and it was not busy. I think its problem is that it tried to be a bar, more than a restaurant, and a higher end restaurant than I would have expected from what has been billed as the Diner. If you are going to go upscale, you can keep the decor of the diner, but the name makes you think of a greasy spoon. My impression is that it was better than that. It is still a great location. I hope it can rise from the ashes again.

Council Race Runners

The number of people running for City Council appears to be at 21 so far. 9 Dems, 6 GOPers, 4 Charterites, and 2 Independents, with 2 other possible Independents. This breakdown assumes that the GOP does not wake up and dump Sam Malone like they should.

The favorites, as usual, are the incumbents. I think only two returnees are locks: Cranley & Cole. The rest have possible vulnerabilities.

Good Column From Bronson

I can't complain much about Peter Bronson's latest column. He has a reasoned fair stance on this that I think most can agree with. What is missing is Bronson's call for Malone to resign from office. That is a failing. He may be waiting, as may be the editorial board, until he is convicted, but in this type of situation I think the public has more than enough evidence to judge him unfit for office and Malone would do the city, and most importantly his son good, by resigned office and removing the media spotlight.

Huggins

As a Miami fan, I can want nothing more than UC sports to lose, I really am torn Huggins' contract woes. I think he is part of what is wrong with college sports. He is running a professional team and cares more about winning than about educating. He is not unique among college coaches, so he should not get more scorn than others, but he is here and he has the drinking and driving problem that got him nothing more than a wrist slap. He should have taken the buy out and gone. The only way he stays beyond two years is win the Big East, which would give him a shot at a better program in the East.