As Election Day creeps ever closer, it's time for CityBeat to start publishing election endorsements and help those remaining undecided voters get their act together. Given our niche in Greater Cincinnati as a voice for progressive causes, we've recommended candidates and ballot issue positions since our founding in 1994 and take that role seriously.  

Nov. 4 can't get here soon enough. I'm writing this column before the second McCain-Obama presidential debate, exactly four weeks until Election Day. I can't wait for it all to be over and for Barack Obama officially to be president-elect.  

I'm the kind of person who wants to know everything about everything. It's difficult for me to admit privately, much less publicly, when I can't get my arms around an important topic. But the current financial crisis is kicking my ass.  

I squinted as I surveyed the scene toward the west. The sky was bright blue, people milled around, music wafted in from several places and the smell of grilled sausages and tangy barbecue was everywhere. I closed my eyes and inhaled the scene, literally and figuratively.   

All you need to know about what’s wrong with Cincinnati City Council elections is that every two years candidates try to finish ninth. If you can finish ninth in a citywide election here, you’re in charge.  

My time as a lab rat is now officially over. Growing up near the Fernald Uranium Processing Plant has allowed me a special privilege.   

Election season and arts seasons kick off just after Labor Day, so I love this time of year. Voting and enjoying the arts are two of my absolute favorite things in life. It's no coincidence that   

How are you feeling about Barack Obama these days? Are you ready to get revved back up? The Democratic National Convention begins Monday in Denver, and Obama is scheduled to accept the official pa  

The cooler weather has screwed up my internal calendar, and the kids are headed back to school next week. Is summer over already?  

Do you know which two members of a long-running, still-active local band were name-checked on The X-Files? Which local guitarist/actor had a bit part in the Jodie Foster movie Little Man Tate?  

Immigration continues to be a hot button issue everywhere in the country, even here in the mostly insulated Midwest.  

Sen. Barack Obama came to Cincinnati July 14 a much different man than the last time he publicly spoke here. Back in the winter, when he held a boisterous rally at UC's basketball arena, he was   

On July 8 CityBeat filed a federal lawsuit against government officials in the city of Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Campbell and Kenton counties in Northern Kentucky and Dearborn County in Indiana.  

Cincinnati City Council recently passed a motion to pursue taking over the area's bus system on the Ohio side. The fact that the motion passed unanimously means change is afoot. Greater Cincinnati   

A dark cloud started to move over downtown around 6:15 p.m. June 20, just as CityBeat staff were gathering beside the stage on Fountain Square. We were about to deliver our official response to the