Saturday, August 18, 2007
In Other Drinking News
Crowley's celebrates 70 years of drinking. This has been my favorite bar in Mt. Adams since I first starting going up the hill in the mid 1990s. I look forward to 70 more years of drinking and singing along with with Frank songs on the Jukebox.
Fifth & Vine Has Its Own Brew
Check out the Conveyor for my take on the new beer from Christian Moerlein.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Polling Council Races
Polling for Cincinnati City Council is often like reading tea leaves. This week's CityBeat digs into one such poll which shows a weak spot for at least a couple of incumbents.
I think this poll is going to lull some candidates into a false sense of security. Cole and Winburn top that list. They both appear to be trying to appeal to both the Black community and the Westside. You can win if you get votes from both camps, but those camps make for conflicting positions on issues.
I wonder who paid for this poll. The article indicates it was paid for by certain candidates. That would logically indicate that the results would be skewed to prior election results and demographics as well as to the voter base of the candidates paying for it. Since Ghiz appears to have confirmed her campaign was one of those paying for it, I would surmise this is a GOP poll. This is why I think Winburn did so well.
The article points out that this poll was conducted prior to the Qualls appointment, so the details of the poll are moot, but the trend of vulnerable incumbents is still likely valid.
As of now I only see two locks and one near lock on council seats: Cranley and Qualls are locks, with Crowley nearly a lock. The other six seats are not locked in the least. There are many candidates who could slide into one of those six spots. It is possible that Cole and Winburn fall short. They more than likely will win, but they will both need to campaign for it, not just go through the motions. Winburn will have the money to, will Cole?
Ghiz, Monzel, Berding, Bortz and Thomas all could easily lose. I would say at least two of the three will. Who else gets on council? Here is where the candidates who run the most vocal and solid campaigns get the edge. Harris, Bates, and Kaup have the potential. Smitherman likely will fade from his attention in this poll. Cooper could ride her name into office if the turnout goes her way. It will be a big fight and I see it getting nasty.
If there are campaign staffers out there reading this, please make sure you provide sources when you "lead" dirt on your opponents. What ever blog or journalist you give them will most likely not post anything about it without some support for its validity.
I think this poll is going to lull some candidates into a false sense of security. Cole and Winburn top that list. They both appear to be trying to appeal to both the Black community and the Westside. You can win if you get votes from both camps, but those camps make for conflicting positions on issues.
I wonder who paid for this poll. The article indicates it was paid for by certain candidates. That would logically indicate that the results would be skewed to prior election results and demographics as well as to the voter base of the candidates paying for it. Since Ghiz appears to have confirmed her campaign was one of those paying for it, I would surmise this is a GOP poll. This is why I think Winburn did so well.
The article points out that this poll was conducted prior to the Qualls appointment, so the details of the poll are moot, but the trend of vulnerable incumbents is still likely valid.
As of now I only see two locks and one near lock on council seats: Cranley and Qualls are locks, with Crowley nearly a lock. The other six seats are not locked in the least. There are many candidates who could slide into one of those six spots. It is possible that Cole and Winburn fall short. They more than likely will win, but they will both need to campaign for it, not just go through the motions. Winburn will have the money to, will Cole?
Ghiz, Monzel, Berding, Bortz and Thomas all could easily lose. I would say at least two of the three will. Who else gets on council? Here is where the candidates who run the most vocal and solid campaigns get the edge. Harris, Bates, and Kaup have the potential. Smitherman likely will fade from his attention in this poll. Cooper could ride her name into office if the turnout goes her way. It will be a big fight and I see it getting nasty.
If there are campaign staffers out there reading this, please make sure you provide sources when you "lead" dirt on your opponents. What ever blog or journalist you give them will most likely not post anything about it without some support for its validity.
The Banks Going Bust?
Kevin Osborne from CityBeat has the latest on the Banks project and to no one's surprise, the developers want more money and more time to finish the project.
OK, I am ready to give up on it. I want the park to be built, but I don't see that there will be any benefit to building a new neighborhood from scratch. It will not be done for decades. Let's take that money and build up Downtown, Over-the-Rhine and the rest of the urban core that can be restored quickly. Buildings and entire blocks of OTR can be restored for far less money in a matter of a couple of years. Give the Money to 3CDC to bring more residents to existing neighborhood blocks. More residents bring more retail which brings more jobs. The people pushing for the Banks at this point are exurbanites who want a place to go spend a few hours before and after the Bengals/Reds games. It is not worth millions of public dollars to give non-county residents a twice a year place to drink beer.
OK, I am ready to give up on it. I want the park to be built, but I don't see that there will be any benefit to building a new neighborhood from scratch. It will not be done for decades. Let's take that money and build up Downtown, Over-the-Rhine and the rest of the urban core that can be restored quickly. Buildings and entire blocks of OTR can be restored for far less money in a matter of a couple of years. Give the Money to 3CDC to bring more residents to existing neighborhood blocks. More residents bring more retail which brings more jobs. The people pushing for the Banks at this point are exurbanites who want a place to go spend a few hours before and after the Bengals/Reds games. It is not worth millions of public dollars to give non-county residents a twice a year place to drink beer.
Battle of the Network Weeklies
I didn't know this before I arrived to check out Game Show Night (every Wednesday on Fountain Square), but I was to witnessr a grudge match of epic proportions as CityBeat faced off against arch rival Cin Weekly.
In a hard fought battle of Fountain Square Family Feud, the CityBeat Team soundly defeated the Cin Weekly Team. It wasn't really close.
Lots of thinking went into each question. Some of the answers were clever. On naming local beers one person answered "Pabst." On the other team one player came up with the classic answer to naming a dish soap: "cheese." Yes, that contestant had made several trips to the beer booth.
As a neutral observer, I can attest that both teams had fun. I didn't hear about any trash talk, but I was certainly hoping for some. Let's hope we can see a rematch soon. I would like to see the editors square off in a battle of trivia.
Club Nightmare
Another person was murdered near Club Dream in OTR early this morning. This isn't the first time this has happened. Exactly three weeks ago in nearly the same place at nearly the same time, an employee of Club Dream was murdered.
What is the problem here? Who is running this club on Wednesday nights? What type of atmosphere is being created to attract this type of violence? Why isn't the club hiring security, and when I say security I mean off duty police officers, not a big guy who can fight. What Club Dream must do is stop catering to criminals. Keep out the drug dealers (or the wanna be dealers).
UPDATE: The Enquirer has more on the story, including the identity of the victim: 22 year old Bryan Couch, of Western Hills.
What is the problem here? Who is running this club on Wednesday nights? What type of atmosphere is being created to attract this type of violence? Why isn't the club hiring security, and when I say security I mean off duty police officers, not a big guy who can fight. What Club Dream must do is stop catering to criminals. Keep out the drug dealers (or the wanna be dealers).
UPDATE: The Enquirer has more on the story, including the identity of the victim: 22 year old Bryan Couch, of Western Hills.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
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