Ohio students must pass state proficiency tests to graduate, but state legislators keep failing the Ohio Supreme Court's test on public school funding. Three times the court has found Ohio's proper  

Hamilton County has one of the most useful court Web sites in Ohio. Citizens can check upcoming court dates or the status of traffic tickets and even read electronic scans of actual court documents   

Do you know why Cincinnati City Council passed a new law against panhandlers? To keep them from asking for change. The worst puns are the ones that are true: In this city, change does not come easy  

Does good citizenship ever require us to break the law? We honor some lawbreakers, especially after they're dead. Mayor Charlie Luken issued a proclamation last month praising the late Rev. Martin   

Did Cincinnati voters know what they were doing when they approved a charter amendment for campaign finance reform? John Kruse of Hyde Park says no. Kruse is trying to remove public funding from th  

The Hamilton County Democratic Party Central Committee meets Saturday to endorse candidates, and once again Marilyn Hyland is on the outside looking in. The party's nominating committee has recomme  

Did what law-and-order types call a "technicality" keep Hamilton County Prosecutor Michael Allen from facing contempt of court charges? In October, Common Please Judge Norbert Nadel said he would s  

These days, the Underground Railroad is widely considered a heroic effort to bring slaves to freedom. But it wasn't always a one-way trip, nor always supported by most Americans, according to sociol  

Does anyone take the Green Party seriously? Their Cincinnati City Council candidate finished last among 27 candidates in 2001. They have $56.14 in their bank account, and their Web site hasn't been  

In this post-riot, recession and war-burdened economy, who would dare open or expand a business in Over-the-Rhine? The answer is a young woman, a long-time business owner and a business backer, amo  

Can Cincinnati really handle more new cops, when the ones it already has have caused so much trouble? That's the biggest question left unanswered in city council's rush to hire 75 more police offic  

Does Cincinnati City Councilman John Cranley believe the things he says? When, for example, he looks out upon the city, does he honestly believe litter is its biggest problem? That's what he said a  

After 50 years of city-building by the numbers, are Americans getting the kind of places they deserve to live in? The answer is yes, according to James Howard Kunstler, a prominent and outspoken cr  

Doesn't everyone already know "homeless" is a synonym for "derelict" -- men who don't hold jobs because it's easier to bum cigarettes and panhandle for beer money? Statistical analyses seldom conta  

What part of the budget will Cincinnati City Council cut in order to pay for candidates' campaigns in 2003? That's the question Chris Finney, vice chair of the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spend