Fire House Day in Cincinnati

Cincinnati Fire Department welcomes you to your local neighborhood firehouse this Saturday, October 11 from 1 to 5 p.m. Stop by to meet and great your neighoborhood firefighters and have a drink and bite on them. All fire stations are participating. For more information check here or call 352-6220.

Inside Cincinnati City Hall's Clock Tower

A recent treat was to grab the keys to Cincinnati City Hall's Clock Tower. The original mechanisms and technology continue to operate the clock.

Nux up again for Hall of Fame

WLWT - Loyal fans get another chance to vote the Ol' Left Hander into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Joe Nuxhall is eligible for the Ford C. Frick Award, which is presented every year to a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball." This is the fifth year in a row that Nuxhall has been up for the honor. Nuxhall, who died last year, came in first in the fan voting to be one of the 10 finalists, but was not chosen by the Hall of Fame committee.

To vote for Joe, just log on to www.hofjoe.com. If Nuxhall wins, he will be the fourth Frick Award recipient to have played in the major leagues.

Another Streetcar Endorsement

One of Cincinnati's major institutions, the University of Cincinnati, has checked out a consultants report and concluded that the Cincinnati streetcar is worthy of an endorsement.

"UC actually reviewed a consultant's streetcar study and concluded the numbers make sense, a likely net benefit of more than 300-million dollars over 35 years, nearly triple the cost of building the system ... even with an operating subsidy."

Read the rest of the article here

Ambition: Cincinnati's Historic Railway

Many Cincinnatians aren’t aware that the City of Cincinnati owns its own railroad line, the Cincinnati Southern Railway (CSR). In 1893, J. H. Hollander wrote, “One of the most striking instances of the latent vigor of American municipal government is the construction of the Cincinnati Southern Railway.”

Construction on the CSR began in 1869 with the ambition to preserve the city’s shaky mercantile industry. The rail had promises to open new markets in the south, but also opened a new world of manufacturing materials and natural resources to Cincinnati’s existing diversified industrial base.

The 336 miles of rail was initially estimated to cost $10 million, although the final cost was $18 million, supported by local bond funds, in lieu of a private initiative. Before the project was complete public debate was raging in how the railroad should operate. This controversy lead to the trustees who oversaw the operation to lease the line from 1878 to 1901, as the city retained ownership. This sparked more questions about private control of a public asset. The following decades brought the city to try multiple strategies in operation and utilization, as a result, the city has leased the line most of its life. At the time this unique outlook for a city administration was vibrant and intense. Ultimately, the city administration overcame mental and physical obstacles to finish the project successfully.

Cincinnati is the only municipality in the U.S. to bring in a steady source of income, as it leases CSR to Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific (CNO&TP). The railroad runs from Cincinnati to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Annually, City officials and representatives from the Cincinnati’s Department of Transportation and Engineering ride the rail to inspect its condition. The City of Cincinnati currently generates revenues from $17 to $18 million a year from leasing the CSR.

Downtown Yard Sale

Buy, Sell and a Trade items with other Downtown Residents

Saturday August 30th, 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Location: CityCellars, 908 Race Street - Downtown

Come on down to City Cellars and enjoy a Saturday afternoon shopping and mingling with Downtown Residents. There will be entertainment, food, drinks and adult beverages. Anyone is welcome to bring down their unwanted treasures to sell. No registration is required. All yard sale vendors are required to sell their own items and remove any items that have not sold at the end of the sale. Call 513-621-9463 for details.

CCV Put This In Your Pipe!

Citizens for Community Values should try to take this one on . I'll send a card when Charlie Winburn and Phil Burress go to the chapel.

"California and Massachusetts recognize same sex marriages and now Hallmark does too.

The greeting card company is rolling out a new line of same-sex wedding cards. They include images of two tuxedos, overlapping hearts or intertwined flowers.

Hallmark starting selling "coming out" cards last year in response to a consumer demand for them."

RIP Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones

Ohio's first black Congresswoman
Stephanie Tubbs Jones died this evening.
Much respect for this one of a kind leader. MORE HERE

Troublesome Martin's Bar to Close

Martin's Bar in Over the Rhine's Brewery District will close by August 31st. The news is good for those who live and are working to make the District a thriving part of Cincinnati’s most historic neighborhood. The bar, located at 111 E McMicken Avenue, has been the culprit of many fights, arrests, gun shots, only to name a few incidences. In a February 2008 letter to the Mayor, Council and CPD, David White President of the Pendleton Neighborhood Council stated that the establishment, "has been a nuisance to our community; numerous calls for service, drug dealing, litter and public intoxication are just a few of the problems." In April 2008, Council passed a resolution objecting the renewal of Martin's liquor license.

At a hearing today at Cincinnati City Hall more than eight Cincinnati Police Officers testified against Martin Bar's liquor license, as well as many citizens. The decision calls for the operation to end on or before August 31, 2008. The license may not be used in Over-the-Rhine or West End.

Rookwood to call Over-the-Rhine home

After a two year search for the right property, Rookwood plans to make Over-the-Rhine it's new home. This is awesome news as OtR continues to be Cincinnati's most dramatically changing neighborhood.

"He was looking for bigger space, and he’s passionate about Over-the-Rhine,” said Wade, who owns more than a dozen pieces of property in the downtown neighborhood. “We perceive this to be something that will be good for the city and great for Rookwood.”

The Enquirer has the story HERE.

Cincinnati Opening Day 2008

Click here for photos from the Opening Day game and parade.

A small collection looking back on the oldest professional baseball team's logo.

Northern OtR

Northeast Over-the-Rhine has seen tremendous rebirth in the past year. As Cincinnati starts to bloom, ne. OtR's blooming in it's own light. Surrounding the Liberty & Main Street corner (aka Vernon's Corner) you'll find Cincinnati's historic Grammer's serving your choice of German brew and sausages. The northern crown of Main Street, Rothenberg School is slated to be renovated serving OtR and Downtown as a neighborho od school. Rothenberg curriculum and design committees are already planning for the renovation and future use of the school.

Urban pioneers, Vernon Rader & Mark Bernhardt, are finalizing their 5 building, 18 residential and 5 commercial unit renovation at Vernon's Corner, Liberty & Main Streets. The vacant lot at 1604 Main Street once planned to serve as a 5 car parking lot, will now be an urban terrace/patio for residents of Vernon's Corner.

"Instead of it being an awkward parking lot for five cars, we've decided to turn the area into a terrace/green space. Plans include grass, patio area, trees, flowers, gas grill, tables and landscaping." Bernhardt adds, "We thought a green space/outdoor space was missing in the project, and thought it would be nice to have a place to put your feet in the grass in the middle of fabulous OTR."

There's been a lot of interest in the storefronts along both sides of Main Street. Bernhardt says they will only lease to a small business like a deli, bakery or coffee shop in the spirit of a greater sense of community. Mark and his partner Vernon Rader plan to open a studio space at 1606 Main Street.

The corner continues its makeover via the current streetscape project. Sidewalks are to be expanded, several added greenspaces, historic lighting and bike racks are to be included in the project. Details of the streetscape include utilizing the original granite curbs.

click image to enlarge

UNCOUNTED at the Esquire Theatre

Free Admission!

UNCOUNTED: The New Math of American Elections
A Film by David Earnhardt

Wed., March 26th @ 7pm
Esquire Theatre

UNCOUNTED is an explosive new documentary that shows how the election fraud that changed the outcome of the 2004 election led to even greater fraud in 2006 - and now looms as an unbridled threat to the outcome of the 2008 election. This controversial feature length film by Emmy award-winning director David Earnhardt examines in factual, logical, and yet startling terms how easy it is to change election outcomes and undermine election integrity across the U.S. Noted computer programmers, statisticians, journalists, and experienced election officials provide the irrefutable proof. Read more and see the trailer at www.uncountedthemovie.com

Hosted by: Democracy for Cincinnati & Hamilton County Young Democrats

May the spirits of Bockfest fill the streets of Over-the-Rhine
See ya there!

Be Part of Rothenberg's New Life

Rothenberg School is now starting the CPS community engagement process during which we will redesign the former Rothenberg School near Main Street and Liberty into a neighborhood school with the community learning center concept. Below is a definition of a CLC (community learning center).

ROTHENBERG SCHOOL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MEETING

Next Meeting: THURSDAY, MARCH 13th

Location: PEASLEE NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER, 215 East 14th Street

Time: 5:00 pm

EVERYONE WELCOME!

The Community Learning Center design, which embraces the assembly and coordination of a variety of partners to offer academic programs, enrichment activities and support to students, families and community members - before and after school, and during the evenings and on weekends:

• After-School Programs with an integrated curriculum
• On-site wellness programs (medical, dental, etc.)
• Community residents attend job-readiness classes at the school
• A sense of “community,” where families spend more time together
• Improved safety and security in the surrounding community
• Coordination of community resources to meet needs

Cincinnati: A City of Firsts

We should never shy away from our reputation as a city of many firsts. You’ll read that many of our firsts implemented national and global change.

• First city in the U.S. to establish a Jewish hospital.
• First city in the U.S. to publish greeting cards
• First city to establish a professional municipal fire department and first firemen's pole; the first fire department to use steam fire engines
• First city to establish a weather bureau.
• First professional baseball team
• First city in the U.S. to establish a municipal university - University of Cincinnati
• First and only city to build and own a major railroad
• First concrete skyscraper built in the U.S. - the Ingalls Building
• First night baseball game played under lights
• First and only city to have the largest designation
• First AM radio transmission
• First city to have a licensed Public television station
• First contemporary arts center
• First city in which a woman began and operated a sizeable manufacturing operation, Rookwood Pottery

In 1870, Cincinnatians had such strong spirit they convened a convention to determine if Cincinnati should become the United States capital. Cincinnati argued that its central location was more secure and had a better trade network, at the time Cincinnati had much more economic clout that DC, the region contributed 1/6 of the total collection of taxes in the United States.

Bockfest & Prohibition Tour

On March 8-9, 2008, during the 16th annual Bockfest, you are invited to travel back to Nineteenth Century Cincinnati and explore the city’s rich brewing heritage, both above and below ground. The Brewery District, in conjunction with Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal and the John Hauck House Museum, will be presenting the Prohibition Resistance Tour.

Each tour will start at Museum Center, where the tour will include an admission voucher to the Cincinnati History Museum's Beer, Breweries and Barons: A History of Cincinnati’s Brewing Industry exhibit. Greg Hardman, the CEO of Christian Moerlein Brewing Company, will give a presentation on the amazing story of how Christian Moerlein left his native Germany and started one of the biggest breweries in the country, a story that mirrors the history of Cincinnati. The bus tour will include many of the remaining historic brewery buildings in Cincinnati, including the John Hauck Dayton Street Brewery, the Clyffside Brewery, the Jackson Brewery, and the Christian Moerlein Brewery. We will explore the life of another of Cincinnati's great brewers at the John Hauck House Museum, where this restored mansion on Cincinnati's original "Millionaire's Row" contains original antiques, furnishings and brewing memorabilia. Our final stop is at the Kauffmann Brewery on Vine Street, where we will journey through the sub-basements and tunnels of the brewery, spaces unused since Prohibition and never before opened to the public.

Go to www.bockfest.com for more details and to purchase tickets.

Cabarets for Caracole

Cincinnati Needs a Bicycle Lift!

It's time for Cincinnati to consider a bike lift or a bike lift system. Cincinnati's Department of Transportation tells me they've heard an estimate of $1 million to complete a lift on Sycamore Street from Liberty Street to Walker Street.

Do you think a bike lift would be a success in Cincinnati?






Trampe is the system used in Norway

Q Blogger Tour

GetCincy.com is mentioned as a participant of the recent Q Blogger Tour of the Gateway Quarter in Over-the-Rhine. Unfortunately, the computer, internet connection and myself were moving from Downtown to OTR. I couldn't make it due to my move. Wish I could have attended and I look forward to attending future events. Check out local Blogger's sites who did participate HERE.

In place of a Q Tour posting, look for a post and photos of my new home at Vernon's Corner (Liberty & Main Streets) and the ever changing surrounding area.

Grammer's Rebirth in Over-the-Rhine

Grammer's joins an already dramatically changing northern OTR. N. OTR has experienced a great movement with Vernon's Corner near completion along with an incredible street scape starting in March. Other recent news includes a small group of citizens that saved historic Rothenberg School, which crowns Main Street's northern tip. Rumors include a new residential development behind Nicolas and another near Grammer's. Building by building, block by block, I cannot wait to see when all of these projects grow together as one.

From the B. Courier:

"Restaurant investors Martin and Marilyn Wade are preparing to reopen the former Grammer's Restaurant in Over-the-Rhine as an historic bar that could one day be the anchor of a revitalized district.

The 135-year-old restaurant, which has been closed since 1992, specialized in authentic German food. It is scheduled to reopen as a bar by early March, said co-manager Ryan Breen, and will remain true to its roots, though the menu will be limited to a few items - bratwursts and the like. And unlike the Wades' other endeavors, it will not be a vehicle for Chef Jean-Robert de Cavel, whose restaurants, including Pigall's and JeanRo's Bistro, are funded by the pair.

Rather, this venture by the Wades is broader - to revive the corner of Walnut and Liberty streets into a mixed-use development. Along with the restaurant, the couple in September purchased three contiguous properties for a combined $1 million.

"They are in it for the long haul," said former Vice Mayor Jim Tarbell, who had owned Grammer's since 1984 until its sale. "They have a very lofty vision about the future of the neighborhood."

Cincinnati's Streetcar Debate Starts Show Your Support!

The City of Cincinnati's Finance Committee has scheduled a hearing to consider the financial plan for the Cincinnati Streetcar.

February 25th @ 1:00p in City Council Chambers on the Third Floor of Cincinnati City Hall, 801 Plum Street, Downtown.

Sign up to testify find a friendly clerk at the Clerk's Desk at the right side of the room. You are allowed to speak for a maximum of two minutes.

If you cannot make it, please share your opinion with all council members on the Finance Committee.

Take 10 minutes to email them

John Cranley, Chair john.cranley@cincinnati-oh.gov
Jeff Berding, Vice-Chair jeff.berding@cincinnati-oh.gov
Chris Bortz chris.bortz@cincinnati-oh.gov
Y. Laketa Cole laketa.cole@cincinnati-oh.gov
David Crowley david.crowley@cincinnati-oh.gov
Leslie Ghiz leslie.ghiz@cincinnati-oh.gov
Roxanne Qualls roxanne.qualls@cincinnati-oh.gov
Cecil Thomas cecil.thomas@cincinnati-oh.gov

Introducing Judge Isaiah Gaines on YouTube

Retired Judge Isaiah Gaines (aka TheGodFatherofJustic) famous for his deep baritone voice, flashy television commercials, and going public with an interesting reason to retire, has a new YouTube channel. Below is a music video starring the Judge entitled, "The Bushwacking Working Poor Blues." A must subscribe!



"Since leaving the bench after nearly three years in February 1996, Mr. Gaines has: worked as an evangelist, a motivational speaker and an author; founded a church (Everybody's Tabernacle in Walnut Hills), which he co-pastors; lost a lot of weight, and regained some; divorced; suffered two heart attacks and a stroke; remarried - and became a father again." -ENQUIRER

Ohio Hub: National Rail Network

Today the Ohio Hub conceptual plan was presented to Cincinnati City Council's Economic Development Committee.

The Ohio Hub is a high-speed railway project maintained by the Ohio Department of Transportation that is aimed at revitalizing passenger rail service in the Ohio region. Upon completion, the transit system will be composed of 860 miles of track serving 32 stations. It will connect four states along with southern Ontario, consisting of 11 major metropolitan areas and 22 million people. The system's goal is to "expand the capacity of the transportation system by improving the railroads for both freight and passenger trains." -WIKIPEDIA

Ohio Hub @ ODOT Ohio Hub Report PDF

From Streetcar John

From streetcar movement leader John Schneider:

"Japan is increasingly not interested in new cars," he says.

The population in Europe is aging too, and Lane sees similar ennui spreading there. As car ownership becomes more expensive and cities increasingly impose congestion pricing on car usage in center cities, he sees car owners switching to mass transit for their daily commute, and then renting cars for longer trips.

"The U.S. is headed that way," he says."

Cincinnati too?

Read the entire article HERE

MLK Day: Celebration photos

This years program at Music Hall celebrating the life and accomplishments of Dr. ML King, Jr was the best in years. Powerful. Check out more photos HERE

Cincinnati skyline, welcome Kendle

Today Cincinnati City Council voted to approve a request from Kendle to add their logo identity high atop Carew Tower. What are your thoughts?

SurveyMonkey & Pepper?

Politics Extra reports Commissioner David Pepper has a web survey aiming to gage where Hamilton County residents stand on presidential candidates. By the way, what a great way to collect constituent's email addresses while campaigning; there's not much suspicion.

Take the survey HERE.

Undecided? Take this quiz

Minnesota Public Radio offers this quiz to assist you in identifying a presidential candidate to support. I was quite surprised that Dodd turned up on the top of my list because Edwards is my guy all the way. Check this one out too.

Q&A with YPs

Read what four young professionals think about Fountain Square's redesign and new look HERE

Cincinnati, do you recycle?

Downtown’s multi-site recycling program has been in operation close to three months. The program collects recyclables at four downtown sites, the locations can be found HERE.

It didn’t take the City of Cincinnati's program to start a greener life for many downtowners. Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District’s Michelle Balz continues to work closely with property managers, condo and building owners to create recycling programs in many downtown residential buildings. The current list of downtown buildings offering recycling service to residents:

The City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County work closely to coordinate recycling services, what the city doesn't provide, the county does. Although the county doesn't offer curbside recycling in any of its 49 political jurisdictions, the City of Cincinnati offers free weekly curbside pickup. There’s an alternative for county residents. The Residential Recycling Incentive Program offered by the county distributes more than a million dollars to communities based on recycling rates and tons recycled. The program allows communities like Cincinnati to offset the costs of a recycling program. Outreach efforts are always underway.

Getting Cincinnati, other citywide buildings working with the county to provide recycling services include the Regency in Hyde Park (296 units), Summit View in Price Hill (279), Edgecliff in East Walnut Hills (156), Meridian in East End/Columbia Tusculum (55), St. James in East Walnut Hills (52), RiverWalk in East End (30), Gilbert in Walnut Hills (30) and Ingleside (27) & Calvin Cliff (20) in East Walnut Hills.

More than 1200 residents continue to utilize recycling services in their own buildings. Due to the number of buildings and many sites in our urban suburbs, I think we’re off to a good start. Other city drop off sites include French Park (Section Road), Mt. Airy Park (Colerain Avenue), Eden Park (Eden Park Drive), Ault Park (Observatory Circle), Clifton (WHT Rd), Durham Recreation Center (Dunham, off Sunset), Hartwell Kroger (Vine Street), East End (Schmidt Field) and North Avondale (Clinton Springs). Most drop off sites are open 6am to 10pm.

For more information visit the city’s website HERE or the county’s HERE

Time Warner Cable Cut, Weird.

Were you effected by today's downtown internet/cable outage? Most of the day and evening downtown Time Warner customers lost the internet, cable & phone service. My service was restored around 11 p.m. A Time Warner representative explained the situation, "Vandalism - used cable cutting tool and cut the cable for phone, internet and television (cable) to the entire central business district".

The "cutting" took place near the exposed entry of the Cincinnati Subway, which runs along Central Parkway and is visible from I-75 South. Think about how many restaurants and other small businesses effected by such an outage. No credit card machines without high speed cable. More importantly, I see this as a huge mistake on Time Warner's part. Why would there be an exposed cable that feeds downtown's instant communications? Bad planning? Bad management? Interesting blunder.