John Deatrick seems genuinely excited and proud to be part of the riverfront project receiving the American Planning Association’s (APA) 2013 National Planning Excellence Award for Implementation, announced Jan. 9.   

The shutout in this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame voting was ugly, but the 2013 ballot and beyond could get downright messy.   

The case of a former Miami University student who pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct for posting a “Top Ten Ways to Get Away with Rape” flier in a dormitory bathroom just keeps getting more controversial.   

Private prison critics have been proven right once again. Smuggling incidents are on the rise around Lake Erie Correctional Institution, which Ohio sold to the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) in 2011.   

When an Ohio charter school consistently fails to meet academic standards, the state automatically shuts it down. But a report from Policy Matters Ohio found some charter schools might be evading the rule altogether.   

In the 1940s, upholding a dainty, proper nuclear family wasn’t just common — it was the absolute standard for social acceptance. Seventy years later, that’s no longer the case.    

Is Dalton the quarterback who can lead the Bengals to a Super Bowl? For now, at least, his coach is sticking by him, so that’s about all that matters.   

A new policy limiting the amount of sick days for Metro bus drivers was not received well by the bus service’s workers last week. Fifty-nine bus drivers called in sick Friday, Jan. 4 in protest of a new policy reducing the number of sick days available for drivers.    

 U.S. Rep. Tom Massie, the congressman who represents the Kentucky side of the Cincinnati metropolitan area, used his first day in Congress to file a bill that would erase a 23-year-old federal ban that makes it a crime to carry guns near schools.  

Cincinnati’s largest cable provider announced Jan. 3 that it will drop Current TV after its sale to Pan-Arab news network Al Jazeera.    

With 2012 in the past, it’s time to start preparing for a brand new year of politics and policy. From what’s been hinted at so far, progressives could have another big year in 2013, but only if they work for it.   

Another small New England daily made news at the end of the year. Recently, the Cape Cod Times revealed how it stumbled in a way that had many journalists mumbling, “There but for the grace of God.”  

Over the past few weeks, the political drama in Washington, D.C., has circulated around the “fiscal cliff,” a series of tax hikes and spending cuts set to kick in for 2013. On Jan. 1, U.S. Congress narrowly avoided the fiscal cliff. But the close call left some wondering: Could it have been more easily prevented, particularly through redistricting reform?   

Orson Charles had no idea that the Bengals hadn’t won a playoff game in his lifetime. Yet, it’s true. The Bengals rookie tight end was born Jan. 27, 1991 — just three weeks after the team’s 10-7 victory over the Houston Oilers on Jan. 6, the franchise’s last playoff victory.    

CityBeat covered a variety of topics in 2012. Here are the stories that really stuck through, from the former pit bull ban to the Anna Louise Inn to private prisons.