What You Talkin' 'bout, Cincy?

A new blog in town: Overheard in Cincinnati. It describes itself:

Random snippets of conversation, overheard in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky."

Go there and you can submit your best eavesdropping experiences for the whole city to read.

An Absentee Candidate

Ok, what does it say about not living in the area a candidate on the ballot votes absentee?

This was a political response to the lawsuit. Very neat trick, but will it backfire?

The Bodyguard

This was a movie, but now the Kevin Costner-Whitney Houston movie has become reality.

"And I-eee-I will always love yo-ooooo-u."

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

The Bloody 2nd

The knives are out in the race for the 2nd District GOP primary with Jean Schmidt suing to bar her opponent Bob McEwen from voting because she claims he is not a resident of Ohio. Now, who is her lawyer? If you guessed Democrat Stan Chesley then I think you must be high. You would be correct, but really, really baked.

Is this a sign of desperation on the part of Schmidt? That's what McEwen's people think. I have to wonder when they file this suit with a week to go before the primary election, instead of doing it at the date he legally had to be a resident to qualify for this ballot.

Bar Blogging

A cardinal rule of blogging is to never blog drunk. Well, I am on my first beer, but I am blogging from The Stand in Mt. Lookout. You can't beat a bar with good beer, a great jukebox and free Wifi.

Helpful or Waste?

How will a crimestoppers type website help significantly in the high level crime areas? Those areas are generally poor areas, with poor/working class people living there. They, I would say with confidence, are less likely to own or use a computer or the Internet. They would have few opportunities to use the website. If they are not already using the phone line, why would the web produce different results? Having a website on this level is a good idea in concept, but will it end up helping stop crime or create more web noise? Is any effort a worth while effort?

WKRC and WSTR Joining News Forces

I don't quite understand how this is going to work, but WKRC is going to produce a half hour news cast in partnership with WSTR at 10 to air on Channel 64. Will this just be recycled news from Clear Channel? Will it be just more non-local "local" stories about bus crashes and such. Will they instead gather more local news?

Build Towards New SCPA

Development plans in OTR should have the SCPA as its core. A new and vibrant arts district is starting to form along Central Parkway. It should be something that complements but not compete with Main Street, fountain Square, or the Banks.

Ethical?

The Enquirer actually used that descriptor in the sub headline of their endorsement of Ken Blackwell in the GOP primary for government. Yea, that’s surprising. This is the guy who put his foot on the scale in the 2004 Ohio voting process to help his candidate, Bush, get elected. He's the guy who doesn't seem to know when he buy's the stock of a company that manufactures the voting machines he is looking to require that every board of elections to purchase. I really don't find that all too ethical.

Backhand Endorsement

The Enquirer appears to have held their nose while endorsing Jean Schmidt for the GOP nomination in the 2nd district. They think she can be strong on constituent service. Well, if all you can do for you district is help them get their passport in a pinch, then I don't see you as much of a Congress person. Constituent service is half about staff. Does she have a good team working here and at the Capitol?

McEwen is no better of a choice. He is something of a carpetbagger. He has the anti-government COAST types in his corner, which does give you the stench of extremism. I don't know if that is enough for him to win. If she loses, and I am leaning that way, she loses because the voters think she has done a horrible job in the last 10 months, not because they love Bob McEwen.

Cool Cincinnati

From Comments yesterday, we got a great NY Times story about making movies in Cincinnati.

Farewell Editor's Blog, We Hardly Knew Thee

Here today and gone tomorrow. Tom Callinan's Editor's blog at Cincinnati.com was interesting. The key word is "was," meaning it is no more. It was up for maybe a couple of weeks. The Beacon has more.

Big Know Coverage!

The Know Theatre got a great story in today's Post, complete with a photo. Love seeing the Know Tribe get ink space.

Show your love for the Know by attending their big event one week from today:

The Inaugural House Party
Friday April 28
Happy Hour 6-8 p.m.
Performance of In The Blood @ 8 p.m.

After Party Champagne Celebration @ 9:50 p.m.

The Know’s New Theatre: 1120 Jackson Street
Featuring DJ The Late Circuit
$50 Single & $90 Couple
Includes Dinner-by-the-Bite, Drink Tickets and Admission to In The Blood.
Proceeds Benefit The Know Theatre Tribe’s Installation Expenses into 1120
Jackson. Reserve your tickets now.

More HERE.

Oh Not Much!

Open, Be NICE!

First Desdemona Acts Announced

Nick Spencer has announced the initial list of acts for the Desdemona festival:

THE WALKMEN
THE FIERY FURNACES
RADIO 4
THE HEARTLESS BASTARDS
RICHARD SWIFT
SMALL SINS

My HB fix will be met with stars. Nick states this is only 1/5 of the acts to play, so more to come! Tickets go on sale May 1st.

Portman Moves Up

Former Cincinnati Congressman Rob Portman is moving closer to the President as White House Budget Director. This I think is an insiders pick to try and stem off some of the conservative ire over Bush's spending habits.

You Can't Handle the Truth

When I first read about John Donaldson getting kicked off the Citizens on Patrol Board, he was just reinstated by the Police Chief, all I could think of was Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men:

"I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it."

That is what Assistant Cincinnati Police Chief Richard Janke came off as when he kicked Donaldson off the COP Board for speaking some truth in an Enquirer article about the news of the Sheriff starting to patrol OTR. This shows some insight to the mentality of the Cincinnati Police leadership. If they are going to act like political hacks, then they should be treated as such, and not treated like deities by the likes of the Peter Bronsons in town.

Thinking Big

Nick is thinking big about new ideas for Cincinnati. The arts district I believe is one that is well on its way, but hinges most on reducing crime on Vine Street and Washington Park. Leaving off the Banks on the list is very interesting. I would have added development around Fountain Square too, but that doesn't need much backing, it is beyond the development stage.

More Bigotry

Pure bigotry was laid on the city by the anti-gay group CCV and their bigot in chief, Phil Burress.

Before any of the usual suspects gets out there and whines about the "bigot" use, why don't you ask yourself in the this case Phil Burress and his gang is fighting the amendment to the Discrimination Ordinance? Why don't they fight the whole law? Why just the part that tries to help gays and lesbians? Hmmmm, I wonder why they want to allow discrimination against gays, but not against say blacks or Christians? Why motivates that? I wonder????

Overreaction

It is not surprising to me, but the Enquirer has called for the firing of NKU professor Sally Jacobsen, who was involved with the dismantling of the anti-abortion religious display on the NKU grounds.

This will likely be the first voice from the right wing for this, it will not be the last. NKU appears weak, and will cave if Kentucky lawmakers jump on the bandwagon. NKU is in the middle of an expansion and will not stand up for a teacher giving them horrible press.