Over-the-Rhine Pretzel Fest January 21st

The Over-the-Rhine Pretzel Fest, a benefit for the 2011 Bockfest, rises up on Friday January 21st, 2011 from 5 to 10 PM at Venue 222 (222 E 14th St). A $35 ticket price will get you exclusive tastings of a variety of freshly baked pretzels from local restaurants and bakeries. Add in a brat and a couple of drinks and the evening is full for this year's first benefit for annual Bock Beef Festival.

Special events include the Arnold’s Bathtub Raffle and the Ultimate Bockfest Weekend Raffle. Entertainment will be provided by the Cincinnati Dancing Pigs, a groups of musicians no strangers to beer. Get out and support a rowdy event , Bockfest, which takes place this year from March 4th through the 6th.

The Young Urban Four

Soapbox included a section this week in its article listing the Ten Things To Watch in 2011 on four young candidates for Cincinnati City Council: Jason Riveiro, Chris Seelbach, PG Sittenfeld, and Yvette Simpson.

All four have a connection to the Downtown/OTR area. I've been listening to those who want to through out everyone on council, impractical and improbable as is may sound. I wouldn't mind seeing all Four of these candidates on council. That isn't a political reality, unless all manage some campaign miracles, but it is a good sign to see people stepping up and joining the process. Conventional Wisdom states none of these Four will be in the top Nine in November's election, but all, if they run a solid campaign and place well, move closer to a 2013 win if they keep their organizations together.

I give out this advice every council election to new candidates, which doesn't mean it is impossible to win your first time running (See Chris Bortz), but it takes lots of money and lots of political dichotomies to win. Neither is easy to gain or manage. I hope all Four stick it out.

New Online News Magazine to Serve the Cincinnati Area GBLT Community

The Cincinnati Business Courier is reporting on a new non-profit website, TriStatePride.org, recently started to serve the Gay and Lesbian community. Editor Troy May wrote on the purpose for creating the online magazine.

TriStatePride.org is our first of many minority publications. Since the Tri-State area has never had a professional magazine covering the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and progressive community, I thought it was an ideal area to launch our first publication.

My hope is that this online magazine will inform, inspire and unit the local gay and progressive community to rally together like never before in history. What would help is for the gay, bisexual and transgender people in this area is to read about the successes of others in our community. After people read these stories, I hope they get a powerful injection of pride, self confidence and comfort with who they are today.

You can depend on TriStatePride.org to always be honest, fair and ethical as we report on the community. At the same time, our goal is to highlight people who are successfully ‘living out loud’ in the Tri-State.

The site covers a wide range or topic, including politics, arts & Culture, Business, Relationships, and family stories. A recent article had local reactions on the repeal of DADT.

Amy Murray Picked to Fill Empty Seat

The Hamilton County GOP didn't do anything stupid last night and instead unanimously picked Amy Murray to fill Chris Monzel's open City Council Seat.

It will be interesting to watch how the Hyde Park Republican starts out. She was able to miss the conflict ridden days of last week. I'm hoping in the coming months she doesn't add to the conflict and instead looks for compromises that can help fix the impending budget crisis that exists at the end of the 2011. Yes, it exists now, so why not start mentioning it?

Carolyn Washburn is the New Editor at the Enquirer

The Cincinnati Enquirer has named Carolyn Washburn as the new editor of the Gannett daily.

I've not heard much about her, other than what the Gannett Blog has posted recently, which is that she previously worked for Enquirer Publisher Margaret Buchanan while at the Idaho Statesman.

I don't know what any editor can do to face down the business side of the business that has been draining reporters from the newsroom for years, but we shall see.

So, Anyone Think Amy Murray Will NOT Fill Monzel's Seat?

WVXU has a story today reporting that the Hamilton County Republican Committee will be meeting tonight to select someone to fill Chris Monzel's Cincinnati City Council Seat. Leslie Ghiz and Charlie Winburn 'offically' get the appointment, but they are expected to do what the county party wants.

Great, the anti-City Republicans (which in my opinion make up about 90% of local Republican Party officials) get to pick who will serve on City Council. I would love to know how many voting tonight actually live in the city. That would be a great news item for a professional reporter to dig up.

Amy Murray was the next highest Republican vote getter in the 2009 election and would be the fair and logical choice. The tone in the media and the actions of Mrs. Murray indicate she is the front runner. I have heard that many or at least a powerful few in the local GOP want Brad Wenstrup, the failed 2009 Republican Mayoral candidate. I've not heard his name mentioned for a while, and he may no longer want the job, but as Ghiz referenced in the article, it wouldn't be the first time the local GOP screwed over a woman Republican. If Murray is not the pick, Ghiz should stand up to the outsiders in her party and nominate Murray. I don't know how it would work if she and Charlie Winburn don't agree, but I would hope Charlie wouldn't stand to see someone who worked for it, not get what is fairly their's. Yet, no one can actually trust Winburn, and Winburn's buddy, Sam Malone, was the person who denied Ghiz's appointment back in 2005, in favor of Chris Monzel. If I were Amy Murray, I wouldn't trust anyone.

UPDATE: The Enquirer Politics Extra blog is reporting there are Five candidates being interviewed tonight by the 40 member GOP committee. They are: Amy Murray, Lamont Taylor, Wayne Lippert, Jr., Sam Malone, and Mike Robison. Reportedly, Brad Wenstrup isn't being interviewed. That makes Four ways the GOP could screw over Murray. If anyone on the committee votes for Sam Malone, please name them publicly, so they may be ridiculed appropriately.

UPDATE #2: The Enquirer's Politics Extra blog has an update on Brad Wenstrup. He's out of the mix for the council seat and says he was his choice.

So...'We Demand a Vote,' Where's the Outrage about $809M?

The I-74 expansion is thoroughly described by UrbanCincy's Jake Mecklenborg. It is a plan that does nothing but continue our transportation system down the high cost wasteful path we have been on for 60 years.

I've yet to year the coalition of groups, called "We Demand a Vote," come out with a press release denouncing this boondoggle and demanding that the Citizens of Hamilton County vote to approve any spending for building new or upgrading existing roads. This new road will not pay for itself and there is no budget for its maintenance and operation in either the City, County, or State budgets.

After all, its not like anyone on the West Side is going to ever travel to the East Side (or visa versa).

So I expect to see a new ballot issue to require the citizens vote on this plan prior to spending a dime on it. I don't just expect to see, I demand to see it. (Cough, cough)