Millworks in Oakley Still on Track

Not much as been said about the Millworks project for a while, but word has come out that the project has landed a deal for a new Movie Theater tenant. According to the article the project "could" start next summer and finish in the summer of 2008.

This should be a council issue next year. How about firming up some dates on this? How about firming up the construction of the proposed I-71 exit upgrade?

Budget Forum

Will the Mayor and Council members hear what the people are saying or will they hear what "4th Street" is saying?

Why Not Annex the "First Suburbs"?

Chris Bortz and Pat DeWine are making efforts to mix City and County services. This smells a lot like the first step in the dissolution of the County's municipalities. If places like St. Bernard, Elmwood Place, and Norwood are in trouble, then why don't they ask the City of Cincinnati to annex them and take advantage of the cost savings in that manner?

What I fear here is the anti-government forces out there trying to make Hamilton County into one big Township and a government with no teeth to do anything.

I would consider a metro type government that created a county wide city. That entity would have an even partisan stance, if not a slight edge for Republicans. That might suck on certain levels, but it would be one where the government would still have the structure to allow a city to function.

Greg Harris Running for City Council

CityBeat is reporting that former Congressional Candidate Greg Harris will run in 2007 for Cincinnati City Council. Greg is a great candidate and has a great chance to get on council. I love this early idea has as expressed in the CityBeat article:

I also see a strong need to create a seamless public transit grid to unify and support the emergence of a central entertainment corridor that unifies The Banks, downtown, Over-the-Rhine, UC, Clifton, Northside, etc.

I would throw in Mt. Adams to that entertainment corridor.

City Budget

Well, cuts are fairly wide spread, but how will it look in the end?

Crying Wolf?

I will believe it when I see Nordstrom's open and taking sales in Kenwood.

Two Nerds Enter, One Nerd Leaves

The battle of words at Jean-Ro Bistro ending before someone was taken to the hospital, thankfully egos were not so lucky and both suffered a near fatal blows. Luckily the glasses survived!

2007 City Council Race Is On

We are less than a year from Cincinnati City Council's make-up being on the ballot. We are already getting comments on who will be running for office.

We know Tarbell can't, so at least one new person will join council in 2007. Who else has the public service bug?

Another Strange Occurance

While I hate and despise robbers, I don't believe killing them under these circumstances is a good thing. I can't imagine the man who hit the robber with this truck likely would be convicted of anything but fairly minor offenses, if he is charged.

New Radio in Town

The much hyped format switch for 94.9 FM took place yesterday and produced what is being called a "Hybrid" station targeting 25 to 34 year olds with more taste in rock music than WEBN provides. The station is billed as "The Sound." I've heard a little bit of it so far and I like a large portion. It is going to have a wide mix, so people are going to have to either accept it and broaden their tastes or be like me and just use the pre-sets in the car more often. Yea, some of you will stick to your CDs and I-pods, as I do, but I still like the sense of a live over the air radio station.

New Local Blog

Want a different perspective on culture? Check out The Managed Expectations of Three Cincinnati Women for a take from three locals discussing life, ideas, and what ever else comes to mind.

Smoking Ban Wins

December 7th is the day the ban goes into effect. Will this hurt bars in Cincinnati and Ohio? One bar owner says it hasn't hurt him yet:

Nick Sanders, owner of five restaurants locally, including the Pub at Crestview Hills Town Center in Northern Kentucky, Nicholson's downtown and the Pub at Rookwood Commons in Norwood, said he will be watching closely. He owns a restaurant in Lexington, which enacted a smoking ban in 2003, and said that law didn't change sales much.

In the short run, there may be some problems, but I don't know about the long term. Thoughts? Will an outdoor patio now become the norm for a bar?

Oh Yea, Dems Win Big!

I left early this morning on business, so I haven't blogged on the news but the Dems won the Senate and the House! Locally Pepper Won, and on a state level the Dems won really big.

Wulsin Not Conceding

In the race of the OH-2 the fat lady is not singing. The dragon lady is singing, but she should hold her tongue until all the votes are counted.

2 Precincts Missing

The Enquirer and BOE seem to be making this into no big deal, but two precincts in the City of Cincinnati have not been tallied and are missing. The article indicates that that the BOE states these missing votes won't affect the results of any races. That is true only if these are part of OH-1, not OH-2. 13-H is in North Avondale and Precinct 6-B in Downtown. I am pretty sure 6-B is in OH-1, but not sure about 13-H.

At this early hour no other reports were online concerning the missing precincts. If this was something as simple as the poll workers locking up the poll location without turning in the votes, then that is understandable (someone should be banned from working the polls), but if not, when does the BOE call the police? What cause much concern is that there are two locations not near each other.

If this was an error at the BOE, then I hope they stayed to account for the vote before they went home. The BOE should not sleep if it is possible anyone's vote could have been literally stolen.

Hamilton County Vote Counting Delays

I hope we get more of an explanation than we got here as to why it took so long to have votes counted here in Hamilton County. Ohio held reporting any results until 9PM because polls up in Cleveland remained open, but why did Hamilton County not have any votes counted by then and not until about 10 PM?

The Candidate Doesn't Know How To Vote

Well which is it going to be? Is the Steve chabot an idiot for not knowing what was needed to vote or is this an example of how people will not vote because of the foolish ID requirement? How many people are going to go home and get a phone bill when their Diver's license isn't good enough?

I can tell you that many will not!

When I re-read the SOS website it actually quotes the ID law:

R.C. 3505.18(A)
Voters must bring identification to the polls in order to verify identity. Identification may include a current and valid photo identification, a military identification that shows the voter's name and current address, or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document, other than a reminder or a voter registration notification, that shows the voter's name and current address. Voters who do not provide one of these documents will still be able to vote by providing the last four digits of the voter's social security number and by casting a provisional ballot.

Voters who do not have any of the above forms of identification, including a social security number, will still be able to vote by signing an affirmation swearing to the voter's identity under penalty of election falsification and by casting a provisional ballot.

If you have a valid driver's license, why does your address have to match? That doesn't appear in the law on that website. Who made the interpretation that a matching address on a driver’s license is required?

Finally, this report indicates that a poll worker may have violated the law by denying use of a military ID.

WCPO Staffer Challenged by Pollworkers

The Enquirer Politics Blog is reporting that a WCPO videographer was "challenged" by poll workers at 6:30 AM today after he shot video of Jean Schmidt voted. Poll workers cited a law regarding polling procedures.

It is unclear what the "challenged" meant. I am not sure if they kept him from filming or were claiming he could not use the film he shot. WCPO is reportedly going to air the footage.

Clear Channel owned WKRC was able to film Jean Schmidt and aired it on TV.

[Hat tip to Atrios]


UPDATE: Further down on the Enquirer blog they report that an Enquirer Reporter and Photographer where threatened with arrest in Butler county when trying to interview and photograph John Boehner as he voted.

Report from Cranley Campaign

The Cranley Campaign reports that things going "smoothly at the polls... better than expectations."

They also stated John Cranley has hit College Hill, Mt. Airy, and Wyoming already this morning and that there are reports of "very high turnout" in Avondale and College Hilll.

WCPO Voting Stories

WCPO has reports on experiences voting, including a problem Jean Schmidt had.