1. Boca
2. Jean Robert at Pigall's
3. Orchids at Palm Court
4. Nicola's
5. Slims
6. Jean Ro Bistro
7. Cumin
8. Jo An
9. Nectar
10. Daveed's at 934
As usual, Boca and Pigall's flip flop for top restaurant. I'm surprised to see Slims and Cumin on this list (not because they're not good, they are, but because these lists skew towards the expensive and "special") and I thought Daveed's would place higher. What do you think? Which restaurants were snubbed, and which don't deserve to be on there?
Friday, February 22, 2008
Shameless Promotion Time
Time is running out on your chance to vote in City Beat's 2008 Best of Cincinnati (or Cincinnatuh as my Kentucky friends say) survey. Please go vote and be sure to vote for YOU KNOW WHAT as best blog --- Number 153 on the survey -- and vote for The Banks as Best Place To Take Visitors, Best Playground, Best Hot Spot, Best Romantic Hideaway, and Best Use of Public Funds. Voting ends March 1. Granted this may not be as important as the Ohio primary vote you cast on March 4, but please remember that Julie, Donald and I are on probation (or at least I am) and Griff is watching closely. I approved this ad because it is time Cincinnati had a blog as full of queenly vision as the Queen City herself.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
White Death 2008
OK...Here's an open thread for your commute stories. Have at it.
For me: at about 4:00, I left my downtown office to travel up 71 to Lebanon. You can imagine how well that went. The drive back down, which commenced around 8, was almost as much fun.
For me: at about 4:00, I left my downtown office to travel up 71 to Lebanon. You can imagine how well that went. The drive back down, which commenced around 8, was almost as much fun.
Roxanne Kills The Streetcars
According to the Enquirer, Roxanne Qualls will introduce a motion--which is already publicly backed by a majority of Council--to change the streetcar proposal so that rather than building the downtown-OTR loop, the streetcar would immediately include an uptown line. Under the current proposal (the one that Qualls is supplanting), the "loop" would be built first, with the uptown line added later.
Even the smaller, less ambitious looop initially proposed involves a huge outlay of public funds. But the Councilmembers supporting it had seemed to work through a way to finance it. I'm not sure there's any real hope that Council would pass a streetcar proposal that includes the increased pricetag that comes along with the Uptown link; it would be difficult to imagine finding the funding to do it immediately, rather than in the two phases initially proposed.
I'm not sure if Qualls is intentionally making sure streetcars don't come to Cincinnati, but that's almost certain to be the result of her actions.
Even the smaller, less ambitious looop initially proposed involves a huge outlay of public funds. But the Councilmembers supporting it had seemed to work through a way to finance it. I'm not sure there's any real hope that Council would pass a streetcar proposal that includes the increased pricetag that comes along with the Uptown link; it would be difficult to imagine finding the funding to do it immediately, rather than in the two phases initially proposed.
I'm not sure if Qualls is intentionally making sure streetcars don't come to Cincinnati, but that's almost certain to be the result of her actions.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
On The Docket: Stopping The Insanity
Gerry Porter bought a home in Green Township in 1991. In 1995, he was convicted of a misdemeanor sex-related crime, and in 1999, he was convicted of sexual battery. The trial court labelled him a sexually-oriented offender.
In 2003, Ohio enacted what we all call the "1,000-foot rule," the law that forbids sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school. A couple years later, the folks in Green Township realized (likely with the help of a GPS device) that Porter's house was 983 feet from St. Jude Elementary. Even though the school isn't visible from the house (or vice-versa) and walking or driving from the house to the school would require traversing a distrance of much more than 1,000 feet, Green Township filed an ejectment action against Pyle. Green Township won in the trial court and again in the court of appeals, even though Porter owned his home and had committed his offense prior to the enactment of the law.
Today, the Ohio Supreme Court, in a 6-1 decision, held that the law is not retroactive. In other words, people like Porter--whose offense was commited prior to the law and who owned a home within 1,000 feet of a school prior to the law--cannot be ejected. The decision does not stop the Ohio legislature from redrafting the law to make it retroactive; the court declined to reach the issue of whether such a law would be constitutional.
This is a terrific win for the Ohio Justice and Policy Center and its director, Cincinnati attorney David Singleton. It's an important first step in injecting some notion of fairness and sanity to Ohio's sex offender registration laws.
In 2003, Ohio enacted what we all call the "1,000-foot rule," the law that forbids sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school. A couple years later, the folks in Green Township realized (likely with the help of a GPS device) that Porter's house was 983 feet from St. Jude Elementary. Even though the school isn't visible from the house (or vice-versa) and walking or driving from the house to the school would require traversing a distrance of much more than 1,000 feet, Green Township filed an ejectment action against Pyle. Green Township won in the trial court and again in the court of appeals, even though Porter owned his home and had committed his offense prior to the enactment of the law.
Today, the Ohio Supreme Court, in a 6-1 decision, held that the law is not retroactive. In other words, people like Porter--whose offense was commited prior to the law and who owned a home within 1,000 feet of a school prior to the law--cannot be ejected. The decision does not stop the Ohio legislature from redrafting the law to make it retroactive; the court declined to reach the issue of whether such a law would be constitutional.
This is a terrific win for the Ohio Justice and Policy Center and its director, Cincinnati attorney David Singleton. It's an important first step in injecting some notion of fairness and sanity to Ohio's sex offender registration laws.
Cinciditarod: Registration Closes 5PM Thursday
Get your team ready for the Cinciditarod: Cincinnati's Urban Iditarod. Registration for the March 1st event end this Thursday February 21st at 5PM.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Bockfest Hall at Former Red Cheetah
One of the big questions on this year's Bockfest has been where the main Bockfest Hall would be located. According to the map of the parade and shuttle it appears it will be at the former Red Cheetah club (aka Sycamore Gardens). If anyone can confirm the map, please chime in.
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