This afternoon, the City of Cincinnati announced that it will extend the winter shelter emergency through tonight and tomorrow night. So on Wednesday, February 10, and Thursday, February 11, the OTR Community Center at 1715 Republic Street will be open beginning at 10:00 pm.
The weather temperatures are frigid: tonight's low is expected to be 21 degrees, with lots of wind. Tomorrow night, the temperature will drop to 8 degrees.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Cecil Thomas Is Running For Commissioner
First he was in, then he was out, now he is back in the race for Hamilton County Commissioner. I really don't like the Godfather III plot parallels.
Thomas' hemming and hawing does not bode well for him as a candidate. Thomas is not known as a big retail campaigner. Tarbell knows how to campaign face to face well and appears to like doing it, that edge goes to Tarbell. Thomas is an elected Democratic official, while Tarbell ran and won as a Charterite, edge to Thomas. Tarbell may need to get some party allies lined up. I would look see who Roxanne Qualls backs. She is the most popular political official in the city. If Jim can get her supporters along with the suburbanite Dems, he will go along way.
This will be a difficult primary race to analyze. We've not had Dems face off against each other for county wide races since I've been in town, so, almost 20 years.
Thomas' hemming and hawing does not bode well for him as a candidate. Thomas is not known as a big retail campaigner. Tarbell knows how to campaign face to face well and appears to like doing it, that edge goes to Tarbell. Thomas is an elected Democratic official, while Tarbell ran and won as a Charterite, edge to Thomas. Tarbell may need to get some party allies lined up. I would look see who Roxanne Qualls backs. She is the most popular political official in the city. If Jim can get her supporters along with the suburbanite Dems, he will go along way.
This will be a difficult primary race to analyze. We've not had Dems face off against each other for county wide races since I've been in town, so, almost 20 years.
Winter Shelter Emergency Tonight
The emergency cold shelter in the Over-the-Rhine Community Center at 1715 Republic will be open tonight beginning at 10:00 pm. The City has issued a press release announcing that it has declared a winter shelter emergency. Excerpts from the release:
Cincinnati—Mayor Mark Mallory and Dr. Noble Maseru, Commissioner of Health, today jointly declared that a Winter Shelter Emergency will be in effect tonight and will end on the morning of Wednesday February 10, 2010. This means the emergency Winter Shelter located at the Over-the-Rhine Community Center, 1715 Republic Street, will be open tonight from 10:00PM until 8:00AM. Social service agencies and community organizations should refer persons who are not accepted by existing shelters to the OTR Center.
A Winter Shelter Emergency is declared when temperatures are in the single digits and/or wind chill is in the single digits for sustained periods of time; when it is determined that regular shelters are expected to be filled to capacity; and life threatening conditions could result from lack of temporary housing. In addition the Winter Shelter Emergency communication system remains activated.
The release also offers instructions for anyone wishing to donate time, money or supplies:
Though very much appreciated and valued the OTR Emergency Weather Shelter
is not equipped or staffed to handle unexpected donations. Please advise individuals interested in making food or clothing donations, or volunteering their time, they should first coordinate with Josh Spring of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless at 421-7803 ext 13 or 716-7455 (cell).
Snow Day
The Snow continues to fall Downtown, and doesn't seem to be letting up. Any ideas for what to do on a Snow Day?
Monday, February 08, 2010
The White Death, Part Deux
So, with the sun shunning brightly over Cincinnati today, it is time to fret over the massive blizzard to hit over night.
Predictions:
1) I will lose my voice screaming at the cars going 10mph on I-71 as I drive into work tomorrow morning.
2) I will step in a total of six piles of slushy snow during the next 48 hours.
3) Some will want to throw a snow ball at my head, but will hold back, intuition telling them not to get into a snowball fight with a man who grew up near Buffalo.
Predictions:
1) I will lose my voice screaming at the cars going 10mph on I-71 as I drive into work tomorrow morning.
2) I will step in a total of six piles of slushy snow during the next 48 hours.
3) Some will want to throw a snow ball at my head, but will hold back, intuition telling them not to get into a snowball fight with a man who grew up near Buffalo.
Saturday, February 06, 2010
A Metropole Moving Day
- Did 3CDC pay for the mover? I hope they did.
- How many people holding out for more attention/money are left?
Friday, February 05, 2010
Leveraging the Lockout?
We all know by now about Hamilton County's stadium fund problem. I'm not even going to link to an article; anyone who cares is familiar with the issue. I'd love to write a post demanding that Leslie Ghiz, Chris Monzel, and Jim Tarbell offer their stadium fund solutions, but it'd be a waste of time: the current commission is going to have to find a fix before the November election. (Of course, should any of the candidates criticize the solution the commission adopts, that candidate should be prepared to offer his or her own specific alternative.)
I've been thinking that there ought to be a way for the county to use the possibility of a lockout in 2011 to its advantage. My first thought was that a lockout could mean low revenues for the Brown family, so maybe there'd be a way to defer some HamCo payments until 2011. But it turns out that the teams will make a killing on TV revenue regardless of whether games are played. So that's not the answer.
But here's another thought: if the owners lock the players out--that is, if the NFL decides not to have games (and it's not the result of a strike, but instead unilateral owner action)--would the county have an argument that the Bengals were in breach of the stadium lease? If that argument exists, then perhaps the county could agree to waive the right to declare a breach in 2011 in exchange for more meaningful concessions from the Bengals now.
I haven't read the lease (I can't find a copy online), so I'm not sure if this is viable. And since all of the commissioners are lawyers, and they have some really good lawyers working for them in the civil division of the prosecutor's office (in addition to outside counsel), I'm not sure anyone needs my input; it's just a random thought on a dreary Friday afternoon.
I've been thinking that there ought to be a way for the county to use the possibility of a lockout in 2011 to its advantage. My first thought was that a lockout could mean low revenues for the Brown family, so maybe there'd be a way to defer some HamCo payments until 2011. But it turns out that the teams will make a killing on TV revenue regardless of whether games are played. So that's not the answer.
But here's another thought: if the owners lock the players out--that is, if the NFL decides not to have games (and it's not the result of a strike, but instead unilateral owner action)--would the county have an argument that the Bengals were in breach of the stadium lease? If that argument exists, then perhaps the county could agree to waive the right to declare a breach in 2011 in exchange for more meaningful concessions from the Bengals now.
I haven't read the lease (I can't find a copy online), so I'm not sure if this is viable. And since all of the commissioners are lawyers, and they have some really good lawyers working for them in the civil division of the prosecutor's office (in addition to outside counsel), I'm not sure anyone needs my input; it's just a random thought on a dreary Friday afternoon.
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Left Out in the Cold
Last week, I had an experience I knew I'd write about. I wanted to gather my thoughts, first, though. I also was pondering the right venue for my tale; I wasn't sure whether I should write here, or submit an essay for print publication elsewhere. Yesterday's story by WLWT on the "misunderstanding" at the OTR cold shelter has made me d
ecide to write now. The following is a bit longer than the typical Cincinnati Blog post, and for those of you who read it, I offer my thanks.
My criminal defense practice includes representation of the indigent. This past Friday, I met with a client we'll call Mary to discuss an upcoming case. She's charged with a relatively minor offense. As we neared the end of our meeting, I sought to confirm the address in my file, so that I could send her notification of new court dates. She confided that she was presently homeless. I asked where she'd been sleeping, assuming that the answer would be the Drop-Inn Center. (Residents of the Drop-Inn Center can receive mail there.) She told me that she'd spent the last two nights sleeping in doorways or on park benches, because she'd not gotten to the DIC in time to get a bed.
As Mary, obviously exhausted, began to cry, I thought back to that morning. I remembered leaving my apartment at 7:00 that morning and how cold it was. I remembered that I'd parked my car near my residence the night before (I usually leave the car at my office, about six blocks away, and walk) because I'd decided it would be too cold to walk all the way to the Justice Center, where that day would begin for me. I also remembered grumbling because my car never warmed up on its 11-block, cross-downtown trip. The low temperature Friday was 12 degrees. I couldn't imagine having spent a night on the street in those conditions, much less two.
So I asked Mary to wait while I went to another room to see if I could figure out how to get her off the streets, at least for the night. I started out by calling the two women's shelters I know of in Cincinnati. The Anna Louise Inn is a terrific place but, as the woman who answered the phone explained, emergency shelter--particularly for women who don't have children in tow or a history of prostitution offenses--isn't really its mission. My next call was to Bethany House, another great organization. But it only has a few beds, none of which were available that night.
I was starting to get frustrated. I had really thought that I could pick up the phone, make a couple calls, and solve a problem. So I tried to reach out to a couple of social-worker type folks who have been helpful in the past. Unfortunately, neither of them were at their desks that afternoon. Someone else I talked to gave me the name of someone else who should have plenty of contact information at his fingertips. Unfortunately, his suggestion was Bethany House, with whom I'd already struck out.
Then I decided to call the Drop-Inn Center. I knew before calling that I wouldn't be able to "reserve" a bed for Mary, but I thought they might have other suggestions, or at least a tip on how Mary could assure herself of a bed. The woman who answered the phone explained that the DIC opens its doors at 8:00 pm and takes residents on a first-come, first-serve basis. She recommended that my client get to the DIC by 6:00. As we were talking, I realized that the "city cold shelters" I'd vaguely heard about must be open. I asked the woman if she knew whether they were. She didn't. I asked her if she knew where the Downtown/Over-the-Rhine cold shelter was. She didn't. She referred me to a website that didn't contain this information, either.
At that time, I had no idea where the "cold shelters" where. The only times I'd heard of them had been when a newscast would announce that the city had opened them. Nonetheless, at least that gave me a starting point. My next call was to the City Manager's office. I assumed someone there could give me the information I needed. Wrong again. The cold shelters aren't a function of the City Manager, I was told. Instead, they're run by the City Health Department. The woman gave me the department's number and transferred my call. After hearing the phone ring a few times, I got the voicemail of the Health Department's Public Information Officer. I hung up and dialed the number I'd been given, which of course was answered by the PIO's voicemail.
My frustration had moved towards seething anger. I'm a lawyer. Sometimes, accomplishing goals for clients requires that I work the phone. So I've gotten pretty good at that task over the last few years. But I was hitting roadblock after roadblock. No one, it seemed, had the information I needed. Or if they did have the information, they weren't answering their phones. I was particularly upset with the Drop-Inn Center. Why wouldn't they have information on the cold shelters readily available given that they know that (a) the DIC is over-capacity, and (b) it's really, really cold? Besides having the information near the phone, shouldn't they have that information posted at the front door, for anyone who was turned away?
If I were having so much trouble, how must it be for someone who actually needed the information for him- or herself? Someone with limited education, without regular access to a phone, and who was sleep-deprived? Would they have any chance of doing better than a park bench if there were no room at the Drop Inn?
Turning back to the web, I checked to see if the number I had was the main number for the Health Department. It was. I tried another number that should have been useful. Voicemail again. (It was not, by the way, past 3:00 yet.) I finally tried a randomly selected extension, and got a human being. She was kind enough to check whether the shelters were open (they were supposed to be), and where the nearest one was located (the recreation center on Republic, just north of Liberty). She told me when the shelters open (10:00 at night).
I went back to Mary and apologized for keeping her waiting so long. We worked out a plan: she would get to the Drop-Inn Center by 6:00 and wait there. If she didn't get a bed, then she'd walk the few blocks to the cold shelter on Republic. I wished her luck.
Mary's court date isn't for a few more weeks, and I don't have a way to contact her in the meantime. So I don't know whether she got off the street that night or the next. Now I know that on Saturday night, the City closed the cold shelter, apparently because it was too warm. (The city's standard for opening the shelters is single-digit wind-chills. The low temperature Saturday was 16 degrees. The low temperature Sunday was 9 degrees. The city was really so confident that from Saturday night to Sunday morning, the windchill would remain above 10 degrees?) I hope that next time I see Mary, I'll learn out she found shelter through the weekend, and has found a stable housing solution. But until then, I'll wonder.
There were lots of failures last week. There's clearly a dearth of options for homeless, single women in Cincinnati right now. There's seemingly no good clearinghouse of information for people who need emergency shelter. The Drop-Inn Center, which should have a lot of knowledge about places to which the homeless can turn, either doesn't have it or isn't sharing it. And the City isn't doing a good enough job of publicizing, on a daily basis, whether the cold shelters are open and where they are.
WLWT quotes Pat Clifford, Drop-Inn's manager:
As far as I could tell, the door wasn't all that open last week. And no one else seemed terribly interested in answering other doors, either.
ecide to write now. The following is a bit longer than the typical Cincinnati Blog post, and for those of you who read it, I offer my thanks.My criminal defense practice includes representation of the indigent. This past Friday, I met with a client we'll call Mary to discuss an upcoming case. She's charged with a relatively minor offense. As we neared the end of our meeting, I sought to confirm the address in my file, so that I could send her notification of new court dates. She confided that she was presently homeless. I asked where she'd been sleeping, assuming that the answer would be the Drop-Inn Center. (Residents of the Drop-Inn Center can receive mail there.) She told me that she'd spent the last two nights sleeping in doorways or on park benches, because she'd not gotten to the DIC in time to get a bed.
As Mary, obviously exhausted, began to cry, I thought back to that morning. I remembered leaving my apartment at 7:00 that morning and how cold it was. I remembered that I'd parked my car near my residence the night before (I usually leave the car at my office, about six blocks away, and walk) because I'd decided it would be too cold to walk all the way to the Justice Center, where that day would begin for me. I also remembered grumbling because my car never warmed up on its 11-block, cross-downtown trip. The low temperature Friday was 12 degrees. I couldn't imagine having spent a night on the street in those conditions, much less two.
So I asked Mary to wait while I went to another room to see if I could figure out how to get her off the streets, at least for the night. I started out by calling the two women's shelters I know of in Cincinnati. The Anna Louise Inn is a terrific place but, as the woman who answered the phone explained, emergency shelter--particularly for women who don't have children in tow or a history of prostitution offenses--isn't really its mission. My next call was to Bethany House, another great organization. But it only has a few beds, none of which were available that night.
I was starting to get frustrated. I had really thought that I could pick up the phone, make a couple calls, and solve a problem. So I tried to reach out to a couple of social-worker type folks who have been helpful in the past. Unfortunately, neither of them were at their desks that afternoon. Someone else I talked to gave me the name of someone else who should have plenty of contact information at his fingertips. Unfortunately, his suggestion was Bethany House, with whom I'd already struck out.
Then I decided to call the Drop-Inn Center. I knew before calling that I wouldn't be able to "reserve" a bed for Mary, but I thought they might have other suggestions, or at least a tip on how Mary could assure herself of a bed. The woman who answered the phone explained that the DIC opens its doors at 8:00 pm and takes residents on a first-come, first-serve basis. She recommended that my client get to the DIC by 6:00. As we were talking, I realized that the "city cold shelters" I'd vaguely heard about must be open. I asked the woman if she knew whether they were. She didn't. I asked her if she knew where the Downtown/Over-the-Rhine cold shelter was. She didn't. She referred me to a website that didn't contain this information, either.
At that time, I had no idea where the "cold shelters" where. The only times I'd heard of them had been when a newscast would announce that the city had opened them. Nonetheless, at least that gave me a starting point. My next call was to the City Manager's office. I assumed someone there could give me the information I needed. Wrong again. The cold shelters aren't a function of the City Manager, I was told. Instead, they're run by the City Health Department. The woman gave me the department's number and transferred my call. After hearing the phone ring a few times, I got the voicemail of the Health Department's Public Information Officer. I hung up and dialed the number I'd been given, which of course was answered by the PIO's voicemail.
My frustration had moved towards seething anger. I'm a lawyer. Sometimes, accomplishing goals for clients requires that I work the phone. So I've gotten pretty good at that task over the last few years. But I was hitting roadblock after roadblock. No one, it seemed, had the information I needed. Or if they did have the information, they weren't answering their phones. I was particularly upset with the Drop-Inn Center. Why wouldn't they have information on the cold shelters readily available given that they know that (a) the DIC is over-capacity, and (b) it's really, really cold? Besides having the information near the phone, shouldn't they have that information posted at the front door, for anyone who was turned away?
If I were having so much trouble, how must it be for someone who actually needed the information for him- or herself? Someone with limited education, without regular access to a phone, and who was sleep-deprived? Would they have any chance of doing better than a park bench if there were no room at the Drop Inn?
Turning back to the web, I checked to see if the number I had was the main number for the Health Department. It was. I tried another number that should have been useful. Voicemail again. (It was not, by the way, past 3:00 yet.) I finally tried a randomly selected extension, and got a human being. She was kind enough to check whether the shelters were open (they were supposed to be), and where the nearest one was located (the recreation center on Republic, just north of Liberty). She told me when the shelters open (10:00 at night).
I went back to Mary and apologized for keeping her waiting so long. We worked out a plan: she would get to the Drop-Inn Center by 6:00 and wait there. If she didn't get a bed, then she'd walk the few blocks to the cold shelter on Republic. I wished her luck.
Mary's court date isn't for a few more weeks, and I don't have a way to contact her in the meantime. So I don't know whether she got off the street that night or the next. Now I know that on Saturday night, the City closed the cold shelter, apparently because it was too warm. (The city's standard for opening the shelters is single-digit wind-chills. The low temperature Saturday was 16 degrees. The low temperature Sunday was 9 degrees. The city was really so confident that from Saturday night to Sunday morning, the windchill would remain above 10 degrees?) I hope that next time I see Mary, I'll learn out she found shelter through the weekend, and has found a stable housing solution. But until then, I'll wonder.
There were lots of failures last week. There's clearly a dearth of options for homeless, single women in Cincinnati right now. There's seemingly no good clearinghouse of information for people who need emergency shelter. The Drop-Inn Center, which should have a lot of knowledge about places to which the homeless can turn, either doesn't have it or isn't sharing it. And the City isn't doing a good enough job of publicizing, on a daily basis, whether the cold shelters are open and where they are.
WLWT quotes Pat Clifford, Drop-Inn's manager:
Clifford stressed that while most people hear about them on the cold days, the
Drop Inn Center is serving and acting as the community's open door all year
long.
As far as I could tell, the door wasn't all that open last week. And no one else seemed terribly interested in answering other doors, either.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Dear Cecil Thomas, It's Time to Get Off, Love: the Pot
The Daily Bellwether is reporting that Cincinnati City Council member Cecil Thomas is reconsidering a run for county commissioner after he told the Enquirer last week he was not running. I thought P&G canceled all of their Soap Operas?
Maybe The Trash Police Really Are Coming....
You may remember that one of the mini-dramas during City Council's budget fight concerned the purchase of new, bigger, better recycling bins for city residents. While I continue to consider myself a Democrat, I've not hid my lack of passion regarding environmental issues. Keep a rec center open or do something "environmentally conscious"? Save a job but kill a spotted owl? I'll choose rec centers and jobs every time.
Nonetheless, I recognize that Mt. Rumpke cannot continue to grow ad infinitum. So increased recycling--assuming it doesn't come at the expense of social services or other core government functions--is probably a good thing. But I was disturbed by the following from the Enquirer's article on the new bins:
Really? The city is now monitoring how much individual households recycle? It makes me glad I'm an apartment-dweller.
Does anyone remember two years ago, when Chris Monzel proposed a fine for people who put "inappropriate garbage" in city-owned trash cans? At the time, I ridiculed the suggestion, as did most of our commenters.
But is it paranoia to think that the city's new recycling program is the first step towards punishing people who don't recycle enough? Now that the cans are being distributed, what would stop the city from calculating how much a typical household should recycle, and punishing (i.e., taxing) anyone who falls below some threshhold level? Some, no doubt, would think that to be a terrific idea. I'm concerned, though, any time we find new ways for the government to know more about our daily lives. (Yes, I realize I have no right to privacy in trash--or recycling--I leave at the curb; however, constant government monitoring of each citizen's trash/recycling habits is far removed from the possiblity that a police officer, looking for evidence of a crime, might snoop in an individual's abandoned trash.)
On the bright side, one of RecycleBank's partners is Cold Stone Creamery. So at least there will be ice cream.
Nonetheless, I recognize that Mt. Rumpke cannot continue to grow ad infinitum. So increased recycling--assuming it doesn't come at the expense of social services or other core government functions--is probably a good thing. But I was disturbed by the following from the Enquirer's article on the new bins:
Each cart will have a tag that can be read from a collection truck. That tag will tell the city who's recycling and how much. Those who recycle most will earn points to redeem through a system called RecycleBank, which offers rewards from stores including Whole Foods, CVS and Bed Bath & Beyond.
Really? The city is now monitoring how much individual households recycle? It makes me glad I'm an apartment-dweller.
Does anyone remember two years ago, when Chris Monzel proposed a fine for people who put "inappropriate garbage" in city-owned trash cans? At the time, I ridiculed the suggestion, as did most of our commenters.
But is it paranoia to think that the city's new recycling program is the first step towards punishing people who don't recycle enough? Now that the cans are being distributed, what would stop the city from calculating how much a typical household should recycle, and punishing (i.e., taxing) anyone who falls below some threshhold level? Some, no doubt, would think that to be a terrific idea. I'm concerned, though, any time we find new ways for the government to know more about our daily lives. (Yes, I realize I have no right to privacy in trash--or recycling--I leave at the curb; however, constant government monitoring of each citizen's trash/recycling habits is far removed from the possiblity that a police officer, looking for evidence of a crime, might snoop in an individual's abandoned trash.)
On the bright side, one of RecycleBank's partners is Cold Stone Creamery. So at least there will be ice cream.
Some Downtown Food Blurbs
My blogging has been a bit sporadic lately, as my day job has been keeping me quite busy. The cancellation of a jury trial set for today leaves me a bit of time, though, and I wanted to quickly blog three items.
1. Mayberry's Beer and Cheese Tasting
You may remember that a few weeks ago, I mentioned that Mayberry was having a beer and cheese tasting. It was, frankly, a terrific event. For $20 bucks, you got five beers and five cheeses, which were served on two different cheese plates. The first plate held mozzarella, goat cheese, and camembert. Those were joined by a candied fig (mmm!) and whiskey-infused strawberries. The second plate yielded gorgonzola and a three-year old cheddar, accompanied by dried cranberries and truffled honey. (Yes, I said truffled honey. Amazing!) I hadn't ever thought of pairing beers with cheese, but Mayberry clearly had. It's fully a week later, and I still want some more gorgonzola. Of the five beers, there was one I'd had before, and the other four were revelations (delicious revelations).
So it's official: I have a man-crush on Josh Campbell, Mayberry's chef.If I ever When* I get married, I'm going to insist he cater the reception. If you're not a fan of the World Food Bar Restaurant Group on Facebook (and thus receiving updates on upcoming events), you're a fool.
2. Mr. Sushi is Open!!!
Whoopie! (Typed without sarcasm.) We have sushi downtown! Mr. Sushi opened in the 580 building, on 6th Street next to the defunct Oceanaire. I went for lunch today (I thought I might be the first to blog on the restaurant, but Polly Campbell, who actually knows something about food, beat me to it.) My friend and I ordered take-out (we had fooled ourselves into believing we'd eat at our desks and actually work this afternoon). The sushi rolls run between five and seven dollars. I had a tuna roll, a salmon roll, and another one whose name I forget--basically a spicy tuna roll with lettuce leaf. (Yes, a lot for lunch, but I was worried a partner back at the office might try to swipe some.) They were all quite good and the restaurant was quite busy, even by 11:30.
3. Abby Girl Sweets is Downtown.
Josh may be the subject of my man-crush, but I've got a full-on infatuation with whoever Abby Girl is. Her cupcakes are divine.
Abby Girl Sweets is on 5th next to the Havana Martini Club. The flavor of the week is tangerine. I ordered one, worried it could be too sweet, but it was perfect. I can also report that the chocolate, the carrot cake, and the "neapolitan" (strawberry cupcakes with half vanilla, half chocolate frosting) are all delightful. (For anyone who knows I'm supposed to be dieting: of course, I wouldn't have tried these myself. I must have heard about how good they are from others. Yeah, that's the ticket.)
* Edited for the sake of my patient though long suffering parents (who just marked their 40th anniversary!), whose hopes for grandchildren have dwindled so low they're buying a puppy.
1. Mayberry's Beer and Cheese Tasting
You may remember that a few weeks ago, I mentioned that Mayberry was having a beer and cheese tasting. It was, frankly, a terrific event. For $20 bucks, you got five beers and five cheeses, which were served on two different cheese plates. The first plate held mozzarella, goat cheese, and camembert. Those were joined by a candied fig (mmm!) and whiskey-infused strawberries. The second plate yielded gorgonzola and a three-year old cheddar, accompanied by dried cranberries and truffled honey. (Yes, I said truffled honey. Amazing!) I hadn't ever thought of pairing beers with cheese, but Mayberry clearly had. It's fully a week later, and I still want some more gorgonzola. Of the five beers, there was one I'd had before, and the other four were revelations (delicious revelations).
So it's official: I have a man-crush on Josh Campbell, Mayberry's chef.
2. Mr. Sushi is Open!!!
Whoopie! (Typed without sarcasm.) We have sushi downtown! Mr. Sushi opened in the 580 building, on 6th Street next to the defunct Oceanaire. I went for lunch today (I thought I might be the first to blog on the restaurant, but Polly Campbell, who actually knows something about food, beat me to it.) My friend and I ordered take-out (we had fooled ourselves into believing we'd eat at our desks and actually work this afternoon). The sushi rolls run between five and seven dollars. I had a tuna roll, a salmon roll, and another one whose name I forget--basically a spicy tuna roll with lettuce leaf. (Yes, a lot for lunch, but I was worried a partner back at the office might try to swipe some.) They were all quite good and the restaurant was quite busy, even by 11:30.
3. Abby Girl Sweets is Downtown.
Josh may be the subject of my man-crush, but I've got a full-on infatuation with whoever Abby Girl is. Her cupcakes are divine.
Abby Girl Sweets is on 5th next to the Havana Martini Club. The flavor of the week is tangerine. I ordered one, worried it could be too sweet, but it was perfect. I can also report that the chocolate, the carrot cake, and the "neapolitan" (strawberry cupcakes with half vanilla, half chocolate frosting) are all delightful. (For anyone who knows I'm supposed to be dieting: of course, I wouldn't have tried these myself. I must have heard about how good they are from others. Yeah, that's the ticket.)
* Edited for the sake of my patient though long suffering parents (who just marked their 40th anniversary!), whose hopes for grandchildren have dwindled so low they're buying a puppy.
Hey Downtown Nightclub Staff and Regulars!
Do you know who the man known as 'Madness' is? If you do know, police want to talk to him about allegedly seriously beating a man up. The man is now in a coma. The man was found on January 24th in the 600 block of Walnut, just outside Bootsy's Restaurant, around 3:45 a.m. Don't protect anyone; there were three women seen with 'Madness' and watched the attack. If you know who any of the people are, please contact police: Crime Stoppers (513) 352-3040, or District One Police at (513) 352-3505.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
A MMA Blog, Really?
Cincinnati.com/Enquirer has started a mixed martial arts blog called MMA Nati and I honestly don't know why. I'm way out of touch with this sport, in the sense that my knowledge of it comes from the Jon Favreau story arc on Friends, so when I wonder how this warrants any more attention then say NASCAR or Professional Wrestling, my ignorance may be in the way. I really wonder about that, though, I'm not totally out beyond niche culture to miss the local appeal. Maybe I am just getting a bit old.
Monday, February 01, 2010
More on SCPA and 'Taking the Stage'
Classicgrrl from Cincyvoices goes into detail on problems with the auditioning of the new cast members for entrance into SCPA.
2010 Bockfest Sausage Queen Competition Dates Set
The Sausage Queen has few qualifications other than being 21 and likeing Bock beer and Sausage. Additionally, there is more innuendo at these events than can fill your mouth. (You know, fill it with ground up meat inside a casing. What else were you thinking?)
Anyway, this year's event branches out to Northside and Covington, so be sure to get your friends to enter the contest. I think if you pretend there is a prize, like say a year's worth of bock beer, you might get your really cute next door neighbor to take part. Seriously, costumes earn more points. And I can tell you that points matter in a really serious event such as this. The bribes have been known to go way beyond free beer. People bring baked goods! Yes, a clear violation of all things that are holy, but hell, all's fair in love and war and the Sausage Queen competition.
The preliminary events are:
Friday, February 12, 9PM, The Comet, 4579 Hamilton Avenue, Cincinnati
Thursday, February 18, 9PM, at Arnold's, 210 East 8th Street, Cincinnati
Friday, February 26, 9PM, at the Blue Bar, 266 Pike Street, Covington
Saturday, February 27, 9PM, at Milton’s, 301 Milton Street, Cincinnati
The Finals will be during Bockfest on Saturday March 6th, 8PM at Bockfest Hall.
For more information, check out www.bockfest.com.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
COAST Caught Lying Again
Truth and honesty are two elements that the person posting on COAST's Twitter account just doesn't understand. How do I know this to be a fact? Well, by first reading this COAST Twitter Post:
Then if you simply link on the profile of the person they are re-tweeting, you can read this:
So a house equates to a "Trolley" and people equates to the "City?"
COAST has being cherry picking Twitter post looking from anyone and everyone complaining about any rail service problems. You can find people complaining more often about highway traffic and road conditions, but COAST will ignore anything that does not fit their agenda. I guess today they couldn't find any posts about some kid pissed they missed their train and instead COAST just TOTALLY changed what a person was talking about and tried to pass it off as a call to the City, thinking that using [] will be enough to fool people into thinking this person was agrees with COAST's desire to kill any and all public transportation.
This is what we in the sane world call Lying. It is nothing new for COAST, so for those who know what the group has done before, this will just be more of the usual.
If any politician associates with this group, they are working with liars, out to mislead the public. Their credibility was dead long ago, this is just being pathetic.
DITTO. RT@amybsells:Challenging to come up with new ways to tell [CITY] to stop spending and start saving if they want to buy a [TROLLEY].
Then if you simply link on the profile of the person they are re-tweeting, you can read this:
Finding it challenging to come up with new ways to tell people to stop spending and start saving money if they want to buy a house.
So a house equates to a "Trolley" and people equates to the "City?"
COAST has being cherry picking Twitter post looking from anyone and everyone complaining about any rail service problems. You can find people complaining more often about highway traffic and road conditions, but COAST will ignore anything that does not fit their agenda. I guess today they couldn't find any posts about some kid pissed they missed their train and instead COAST just TOTALLY changed what a person was talking about and tried to pass it off as a call to the City, thinking that using [] will be enough to fool people into thinking this person was agrees with COAST's desire to kill any and all public transportation.
This is what we in the sane world call Lying. It is nothing new for COAST, so for those who know what the group has done before, this will just be more of the usual.
If any politician associates with this group, they are working with liars, out to mislead the public. Their credibility was dead long ago, this is just being pathetic.
"So You Want To Be A Rock 'N Roll Star"
'Taking the Stage' the MTV reality show about students at Cincinnati's SCPA is totally manufactured, if you hadn't already guessed. Producers for the show brought in 5 kids to the school from different areas around town and 1 kid from out of state.
I hope people understand that this is nothing but exploitation of a school for benefit of no one but MTV. It will not make the careers of the students. This is really looking like a mistake for CPS.
The School gets attention, nationally. That is a win, but is it enough? Is it worth it? Does the SCPA really want to attract new students here with the false hope that they can have their break and be rich quick? This is not the way I would want to begin the next school year in a new building. We need our schools to be about all of the students and not about outside production schedules.
I hope people understand that this is nothing but exploitation of a school for benefit of no one but MTV. It will not make the careers of the students. This is really looking like a mistake for CPS.
The School gets attention, nationally. That is a win, but is it enough? Is it worth it? Does the SCPA really want to attract new students here with the false hope that they can have their break and be rich quick? This is not the way I would want to begin the next school year in a new building. We need our schools to be about all of the students and not about outside production schedules.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Jim Tarbell Running For Commissioner
Howard Wilkinson of the Enquirer posted on Twitter this morning that former Vice-Mayor Jim Tarbell will run for the Democratic nomination in the Hamilton Count Commissioner's race.
This is very interesting news. If he wins the primary, would he get a Charter Committee endorsement? I'm not sure how Jim will play outside the city, but he should far well within the city, and would counter both Ghiz and Monzel strongly.
UPDATE: I guess we now may know why Cecil Thomas is not running, after he said he was considering it.
This is very interesting news. If he wins the primary, would he get a Charter Committee endorsement? I'm not sure how Jim will play outside the city, but he should far well within the city, and would counter both Ghiz and Monzel strongly.
UPDATE: I guess we now may know why Cecil Thomas is not running, after he said he was considering it.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Was this CityBeat Article Actually Meant for the Enquirer?
In this week's CityBeat I was very surprised to read the article entitled: Pregnancy Center More Than Just 'Anti-Abortion'. The surprise comes with the balance of the article. The article gives many instances of contrary viewpoints from critics of the "Pregnancy Center," namely from Planned Parenthood. That's not the problem. The problem is that the article in total gives deference to the subject. The Pregnancy Center make statements about what they do or don't do, but they are taken at their word that they actually are being honest about their counseling practices and don't have an alternative agenda. This deference is like the natural bias the Prosecution gets in the eyes of the jury, when it often thinks: why would they bring a case at all if they guy wasn't guilty?
CityBeat is a liberal/progressive paper and more often than not it chooses subjects that would not present a positive viewpoint of an 'anti-abortion' organization. For example, a question that I would have asked the group, and I think most of the CityBeat staff would as well: Does the Pregnancy Center provide contraception? A follow-up question if they said 'no': If part of your mission is to prevent abortions, why would you not take the simple action of giving people the means to prevent unwanted pregnancy? That question may have been asked, but it wasn't in the article. If the group had said they do give out condoms or birth control pills, then that would earn the headline it got.
This story is something I would have expected to read in the Enquirer. This is how the Conservative bias of the paper comes through, especially with the headline used. The article has balance, but gives the subject, one the print readers of the Enquirer favor, a positive spin it likely does not deserve.
Add this to a pro-marriage insert this week and you would think there's a spy over at CityBeat's offices!
CityBeat is a liberal/progressive paper and more often than not it chooses subjects that would not present a positive viewpoint of an 'anti-abortion' organization. For example, a question that I would have asked the group, and I think most of the CityBeat staff would as well: Does the Pregnancy Center provide contraception? A follow-up question if they said 'no': If part of your mission is to prevent abortions, why would you not take the simple action of giving people the means to prevent unwanted pregnancy? That question may have been asked, but it wasn't in the article. If the group had said they do give out condoms or birth control pills, then that would earn the headline it got.
This story is something I would have expected to read in the Enquirer. This is how the Conservative bias of the paper comes through, especially with the headline used. The article has balance, but gives the subject, one the print readers of the Enquirer favor, a positive spin it likely does not deserve.
Add this to a pro-marriage insert this week and you would think there's a spy over at CityBeat's offices!
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