Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Monday, July 10, 2006

You Won't See an Outcry

You reap what you sow, and Christopher Allen Tull was out in the weeds with Crack Cocaine. Few will say much about how he died, which will have as much to do with his skin color than his circumstances.

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Personal Grudge or Hate Crime?

The Enquirer sums up the incidents at a Jordanian family owned business:
"May 20-21: Someone threw a beer bottle containing a flammable liquid at the side window, burning the outside of the window and cracking it.

June 11-12: Someone threw a piece of concrete through a side door, then tossed in a Molotov cocktail, igniting a fire inside the restaurant.

July 5-6: Someone broke in through a window and set the store on fire."
The article states that police have no suspects. If there were a personal grudge, it logically follows that the victims might have an idea of who they may have pissed off. That then points to a hate crime.

What is amazing is that this has been going on for some time, and didn't get the attention of the media. That might have been the family's choice, but it is funny how things can go under the radar for so long and not get any notice.

Three Cheers for the CFD!

34 Rescued From Three-Alarm Apartment Building Fire

Enquirer Editorial Page is Clueless

This editorial from the Enquirer:"Levee's appeal offers clues for Banks" demonstrates with little doubt that they are not qualified to have any say in the development of the Banks. If their answer is to look to Newport on the Levee, then they must be lazy, ignorant, and foolish.
The Levee's broad-based appeal with its mix of aquarium, cinema, restaurants and retail says a lot for the entertainment formula of trying to offer something for everyone and packaging multiple attractions in a relatively compact space. The planned Banks on Cincinnati's riverfront already equipped with the Freedom Center, Great American Ball Park and Paul Brown Stadium could assemble a similar winning combination.


Firstly: Newport on the Levee is not exactly a success. Last time I was there it had lots of empty space. So looking to it as a model for anything is suspect. I like the levee, so I don't mean to disparage it, but it is no way a panacea.

Secondly: Survey's like the one they are referring to and the bulk of attractions at the Levee are volatile and can change like the wind, not something one would normally use as the basis for a marquee project.

Finally: Why would you want to copy something that exists right across the river that would then compete with the thing it is copying? Why not be unique? Why isn't the Banks something that would bring people to the river because you can't get it anywhere else? Yes, the idea of having a mix of attractions is a very good idea, but the Levee doesn't really have that.

Philosophically speaking, the Banks needs to be its own community that is parlty based on bringing people together. It should have wide appeal to all demographics. That means, painful as it may be, that it really targets the suburbanites with kids, but doesn't make it a Mickey Mouse Land. It needs residents open to suburbanite tourists visiting a few times a year. It needs linked major attractions (Freedom Center, Reds, Bengals, US Bank Area, City Parks). It needs some retail, office space, restaurants. It needs to be a 7 day a week spot for people to live, work, play, and visit. The Levee model doesn't do that.

What must happen to really complement this type of mass market attraction is to then target Fountain Square to be an entertainment district 7 days of the week. That means targeting it to adults. Fun/unique retail, office space, restaurants and bars are what will make the Fountain Square area work. Busy during the day with downtown workers, busy at night with downtown residents and adults from all around the area wanting a place to go out on the town. The Square needs to feed off the banks as the place to go after the game for the adults, keeping the bars off the river.

What loses out with this approach is Main Street. We can't sustain entertainment districts every five feet in the city, unless again the targets are narrow, and then how long can they really be sustained? I don't know if any this does anything to attract new young people to the city, which is what should be a primary goal of new development. That may be where Main Street, Uptown (UC), Covington's art district and Northside fill in the gaps, but not by being the entertainment zone for the masses, and instead retain a character they can create on their own. That unique character is what would attract the creative class, while Fountain Square would attract you more buttoned-down YPs.

Now, I'm sure that no one is going to want me to be planning the Banks or anything at all, but Enquirer seems to be using blinders when thinking about the future of the various areas in the city, without considering what happens there when your put money/resources here.

NuTone Closing Local Plant

Over 400 jobs will be leaving the region up word of NuTone Co. closing its doors. This closure has some earmarks of a plateauing company, where contraction is the only means of survival.

More from the Business Courier.

Friday, July 07, 2006

Reds' Shackelford Arrested For Sexual Assault

Ok, what I don't get is that the article says he was arrested but not yet charged with a crime? Is someone jumping the gun? If this guy is a slime ball, then lock him up, but the situation has to have more to it. Throwing in the Match.com profile makes it look like a plant. What is a professional baseball playing doing using an online dating service?

Hate Crime?

This sounds like it is being taken lightly by local officials, but the signs of a hate crime are there. If not a hate crime, then some really nasty feud is raging.

Black Police Convention

I am hoping that all of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives enjoy their stay in Cincinnati, but lets hope none of them get profiled by the CPD or even worse, arrested.

Stickland and Blackwell to Duel in Cincinnati

We don't know when or where but the campaigns for Ohio Governor have agreed to hold one of their four debates in Cincinnati, with the Cincinnati Regional Chamber of Commerce as the main host.

I hope this is not a homer event for Blackwell, and is instead run like a classy debate with a quiet audience. I wonder who will get tickets? Also, what's the format, and who is moderating this? Getting the candidates to agree on journalists to moderate will be as much of a struggle as picking the time and place and number of debates.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Newport on the Levee Top in Survey

How does one separate Newport on the Levee from the Newport Aquarium in a survey of the best attractions in the region? What did it take to get on this list? What is totally open? Who would include "Movies" on a list of "Top 10 attractions to take out-of-town guests?" When is going to the movies on par with going to the Zoo? I can see from a marketing perspective you want to include all activities, but going to the movies is certainly not what is being measured here. Comparing unique local entities would seem to be the goal.

Uh, Bias, Hello??????

I took grief from commenters, who included some employees of Gannett I am fairly sure, about my strong contention that the Enquirer (editors mostly) has a huge bias against the city in favor of a suburbanite culture. Well, I present to you Exibit C for the prosecution. Why is this part included in what starts as a puff piece profile of the West Chester Area?
Others say people are coming here because it's not Cincinnati, which is losing people faster than any other big city in the nation, according to the U.S. Census.

"Who is his right mind would live in Cincinnati?" says Charlie Chappell, one of the original landowners of the Union Centre Boulevard area and president of West Chester 75 Inc., a group of investors who put up land for the interchange.

"We have better schools," he said. "We are more civilized. We have less crime."

But at the same time, township officials say they are not trying to steal business or residents from Cincinnati or Dayton.
Well what ever township official said they are not trying to steal business or residents from Cincinnati or Dayton was in my opinion lying their ass off. This reads like a West Chester Chamber of commerce propaganda piece. Where's discussion of sprawl? Where's the discussion of the McMansion homes and stale 'lifestyle centers' so championed as "newness" but from an honest perspective is responsible for more destruction of distinct American Culture than any other force today. The national homogenization of America is the single most destructive force for innovation of ideas and life in America, and that effort is crystallized in what suburbs have become, especially here in the Cincinnati Area.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Battle of Aggression

The Trial of Howard Beatty is starting to sound like a battle of who was acting like a bigger thug, Beatty or Oba. Who was the bigger peacock? I am still unable to grasp how two grown men let themselves get to the level of aggression where they had to carry around guns.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Change in Defense

Howard Beatty, the alleged murder of Kabaka Oba, and his lawyer, Ken Lawson, have changed tracks in what according to the information presented in the article is a tough case to defend. The article reports specifically that shooting of Oba was on video tape:
Prosecutors have a key piece of evidence from a video surveillance camera, which shows Oba walking to his car parked along Plum Street. Beatty is seen pulling up alongside, getting out of his car, walking over to Oba, firing several shots, getting back into his car and driving away.
Based on that alone, there is no doubt that Howard Beatty fired the shots. The rest seems like it is a major reach. For every person Lawson drags out to claim Oba was threatening Beatty, the Prosecutor will likely match with someone showing Beatty's aggression. The best Beatty can hope for is a conviction on a less crime.

This is going to be something of a show trial, with the cast of thousands being either witnesses or in the audience. It starts tomorrow, so look for some post Fourth of July fireworks.

Two Teens Shot In Forest Park

OK, with me posting this story about two teens getting shot in Forest Park, what will be the reaction about Forest Park or its surrounding communities? Will people start negative talk about Forest Park or Fairfield or even the nearby TriCounty area?

Strange Local Crime

What makes people stupid enough to kidnap someone for ransom. Real life isn't the movies, so 7 people are likely going to learn the hardway. Interesting tidbit from the article:
"This is the first kidnapping for ransom that Hamilton County has seen in more than 30 years."
In a city this size, I would have thought that there would have been more than 1 kidnap for ransom case in 30 years, but since it is the type of crime you can almost never get away with, that then makes sense.

Monday, July 03, 2006

Kudos for McConnell

Something I give rarely, but I say Kudos for Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky for helping prevent the anti-free speech flag burning amendment from passing. Every once in a while a Republican, who is not up for reelection, will avoid puffing his chest on faux issues of patriotism. It only makes sense though, anyone who thinks spending money is free speech, logically must agree burning a flag is a well.

The concept of property rights should've made the GOP against this bill anyway, since it is illegal now to burn a flag that does not belong to you. What is being talked about is my right to burn the flag that I own. Next will they try and make it a crime to write swear words in my bible.

Radio Swap

Clear Channel is swapping station formats for 1530 and 1360, with sports going to 1530, and Liberal talk radio moving to 1360. For dramatic affect, Rick Bird is trying to paint this as some big sign of Liberal Radio doom.

We're in Cincinnati. It is surprising that the Liberal Talk radio is even on the air. It is obvious that sports is going to be much more popular and far easier to sell ads on, than political talk plagued with groups trying to get it off the air. This change will likely make Clear Channel money, which is what they are after, above all.

Sunday, July 02, 2006

We're Not Dead Yet

I applaud the Enquirer Editorial Board for their call for a revitalized Main Street. Questions abound, however:
  1. Why is it time now, instead of a year ago to help Main Street?
  2. How do we help Main Street?
  3. What kind of Main Street does the collective 'we' want?
  4. Who are we trying to help?
  5. Is Main Street where we want marquee 'Entertainment District?'
Mostly I find this as kind of a 'throw a bunch of stuff on the wall and see what sticks' type of column, bully with calls for actions, but short on specific solutions or even goals. It strikes me as a sense of nostalgia for 1999 Main Street. It's not looking forward, it is looking back, and not learning.

When a few bars close, why are we worried about it? When bars close in Mt. Adams, we don't get editorials lamenting the death of Mt. Adams. Also, in Mt. Adams when bars close, we don't have the police/county/city letting the empty places go to hell with bums, crime, and derelict landlords.

In the tone of the editorial I still get a sense of their notion of morose of the Cincinnati Urban Culture. That notion brings out the negative attitude the Enquirer regularly puts on the city. The article is 'positive' in the sense that the editorial board understands that the city needs an entertainment district with vibrant/hip/edgy activities, but I get the sense that they really don't like having to need it.

Much like my regular laments against the soulless culture of the suburbs, I will repeat that the city is still around, still fighting against the bland and insipid boundaries of the suburban culture, which is being imposed on urbanites by much of the local media. If we are to remain an overall vibrant society progressing forward with new ideas, we can't pretend that we want a vibrant urban core. Instead we must find solutions to make one.

Ok, Then Why?

Why can't gays and lesbians experience and live in a marriage?

UPDATE: Did Peter Bronson even try and save Nick and Jessica's marriage?