Saturday’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade drew a lot of criticism Friday for excluding the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network, a group within K-12 schools that works to prevent bullying by striving for equality regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity and expression. Councilman Chris Seelbach led the criticisms and a boycott on the parade — an effort that gained national attention. Chris Schulte, who was on the board that organized the parade, apparently told Seelbach that the board did not want to be affiliated with gays and lesbians due to the parade’s Catholic roots, but Schulte said in a follow-up press release that the parade does not allow any political or social movement, no matter the cause.

Cincinnati’s plan to lease its parking assets to the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority remains in legal limbo, even after a court hearing on Friday. Judge Robert Winkler, who presided over the hearings, did not hand down a ruling after hearing extensive legal arguments from the city and opponents of the parking plan. Opponents argued the city charter’s definition of emergency clauses is ambiguous, and legal precedent supports siding with voters’ right to referendum when there is ambiguity. The city said legal precedent requires the city to defer to state law as long as state law is not contradicted in the city charter. Cincinnati’s city charter does not specify whether emergency legislation is subject to referendum, but state law explicitly says emergency laws are not subject to referendum.

Despite the reversal of his friend and Republican colleague Sen. Rob Portman, House Speaker John Boehner says he doesn’t see himself ever supporting same-sex marriage. Portman gained national recognition Friday for reversing his position two years after finding out his son is gay.

Mayor Mark Mallory will announce details about the City’s Summer Youth Jobs Program tomorrow, and he’s also seeking as many employers as possible to participate in his eighth Annual Youth Job Fair. Employers can sign up for free booths at www.mayormallory.com.

Due to a policy that encourages doctors to work overtime, psychiatrists are among the state’s top paid employees. State officials say the policy saves money because overtime rates are lower than psychiatrists’ normal hourly wages. On average, the doctors end up working 80 hours a week, but state officials say there are precautions in place to ensure the highest levels of care.

The Steubenville rape case came to a close over the weekend, with two teenagers being found guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl. While most people were appalled by the teenagers’ audacity on Twitter and other social media regarding the rape, CNN decided to report the story with sympathy for the convicted rapists:

A University of Cincinnati study found a cholesterol drug could prevent colorectal cancer recurrence.

Sometimes science can do gross things, like resurrecting a frog that gives birth from its mouth.

Popular Science has been covering 3-D printer plans for houses, and the latest one actually looks like a house.

Kick off the holiday Saturday with the 47^th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which starts at Eggleston Avenue and Reedy Street, travels north on Eggleston, west onto Central Parkway, south down Sycamore Street and east on Fifth Street. Nick Clooney serves as grand marshal for the parade, which steps off at noon.

Fountain Square and Washington Park will be bustling with Irish pride on Saturday as well. Enjoy plenty of drinks, grub, live music and Celtic entertainment between bar hoppin’ from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. on the Square and 8 p.m. at the park.

Naturally, the Irish Heritage Center of Greater Cincinnati is also offering plenty of holiday festivities. From Irish dancers to an on-site pub, the center offers a more traditional but fun run of events Saturday and Sunday. Find a full schedule here.

ReelAbilities, the film festival featuring movies made by and about people with disabilities, continues this weekend. Catch film screenings Friday and a closing event Saturday at the Contemporary Arts Center. Read our feature on the festival here.

Local arts organizations have collaborated on a multifaceted performance inspired by Shakespeare’s works. Catacoustic Consort (which performs “early music” from the Renaissance to Baroque periods) and concert:nova (a chamber music ensemble that performs in unconventional spaces, blending traditional with contemporary styles) worked together with Cincinnati Shakespeare Company to present a show of music performed in or drawn from Shakespeare’s plays in A Common Thread. The show takes place at Mercantile Library Sunday and Monday. Read our full feature on A Common Thread here.

For more stuff to do this weekend, check out our To Do page or full calendar (with plenty of St. Patty’s Day bar events) and Rick Pender’s Stage Door for weekend theater offerings.

But boy what a difference a gay son and two years of reflection make.

Portman had to prepare his own coming out speech yesterday, this one to his GOP senatorial brothers and sisters, none of which support same-sex marriage. Imagine how nervous he must have been, sleeves rolled up, flag pin hanging slightly askew as he spoke to reporters in response to the op-ed he published supporting gay marriage. If he stuttered at all it’s not because he wasn’t earnest — he just really loves his son.

Portman explained his new found interest in respecting millions of fellow humans this way: "[I want] him to have the same opportunities that his brother and sister would have — to have a relationship like Jane and I have had for over 26 years.”

Portman says he would like to see congress overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, a redundant and discriminatory piece of legislation banning federal recognition of gay marriage, which he helped pass in 1996. But he still doesn’t think the federal government should tread on the states and make them recognize it if they don’t want to.

Meanwhile, in Washington Harbor, Md., Republicans at the Conservative Political Action Conference yesterday discussed their bigotry during a panel called "A Rainbow on the Right: Growing the Coalition." The featured speaker was Jimmy LaSalvia, whose Republican gay-rights organization GOProud wasn’t allowed to sponsor the conference.

While gay-rights leaders celebrate the support and the possibility of other powerful Republicans realizing that they know and care about someone who is different, the announcement brings attention to other conservatives trying to remove yuckiness from the party’s official stance on homosexuality and gay marriage.

NBC News today recapped a few other Republicans who have recently come out in support of gay-marriage:

Jon Huntsman, a GOP presidential candidate in 2012 who had endorsed civil unions, said this year that he supports marriage rights. Furthermore, he framed it in conservative terms. 

"There is nothing conservative about denying other Americans the ability to forge that same relationship with the person they love," he wrote. 

And Theodore Olson, a former solicitor general for President George W. Bush, has been one of the lead attorneys challenging California's Proposition 8, a ballot initiative barring same-sex marriage in that state. (Portman fretted in his op-ed that a court decision might hamper the political movement toward legalizing gay and lesbian weddings.) 

And Fred Malek, a Republican power-broker, told NBC News this week that conservatives shouldn't feel threatened by gays and lesbian couples who wish to marry.

"I've always felt that marriage is between a man and a woman, but other people don't agree with that," he said. "People should be able to live their lives the way they choose. And it's not going to threaten our overall value system or our country to allow gays to marry, if that's what they want to do."

Nearly a quarter of Republicans reportedly support same-sex rights, leaving the door open for plenty more GOP leaders to search for gay family members on Facebook who might offer insight inspirational enough to frame their own stories of new found compassion and respect for other people.

In May of 2011, a man broke into the home of Butler County Assistant Prosecutor Kelly O’Keefe in Fairfield and brutally attacked her. When her brother, Danny O'Keefe, came to her aid, he was also attacked, beaten and stabbed.

Miraculously, both siblings survived the attack. The man responsible was caught and sentenced to 21 years in prison. But the O'Keefe family's lives will never be the same. While Kelly has physically recuperated from the attack, Danny, according to an open letter from his mother, Kathy, has a long road of therapy and recovery ahead of him.

The mother of Danny, who was stabbed in the brain 19 times during the attack, writes, "Danny has Anthem insurance. They pay for 30 therapies a year. We got him on Medicaid, and they pay for 20 a year. Mercy Hospital is helping, but only for three therapies a week. We're told for Danny to get better he needs more, closer to 9 therapy sessions each week. He takes Speech, Occupational, and Physical therapy 3 times each week now. We're to send him to the University of Michigan UMAP program for speech. It's around $27,000 for 4-5 weeks of therapy, and his insurance doesn't pay for this. His doctors and therapists say he could need to go several times. Room and board for Danny and his caregiver (his dad will go with him) is not included in the cost. Neither is the cost of the other ongoing two therapies, physical and occupational."

The family has set up a website (where you can read about the harrowing attack and the siblings' recovery) and fund for people to donate here. This Saturday night at Bocca Billiards in Milford, three of Danny O'Keefe's cousins will reunite their local Thrash Metal band Azygous for one night only to perform at a benefit concert for O'Keefe's mounting medical bills.

The benefit will feature a strong lineup of local metallers, as well as raffle items from the show's various sponsors. Here are the set times:

11:30 p.m.-12 a.m. Azygous
11:00-11:30 p.m. Eyes On Tomorrow
10:15-10:45 p.m. Red Soul Rising
9:30-10 p.m. Specyphi
8:45-9:15 p.m. Soul Rot
8:00-8:30 p.m. Sinful Crow
7:15-7:45 p.m. Escape The Silence
6:30-7 p.m. One Shot Solution
5:45-6:15 p.m. Osiria

Click here for more on the event, which is open to all ages. Doors open at 4 p.m. and admission is a $10 donation.  

Here's a video from Azygous taken from the band's 2007 album, Whiskey Driven Hate Machine.

Schulte denied the request, according to Seelbach, which propelled him to make a post on Facebook informing people of the decision and requesting that others not walk in the parade as a sign of support. "By participating, in a sense, you're supporting their decision. They [GLSEN] just want to wear their T-shirts and walk in the parade."

The parade is set to take place tomorrow, Saturday, March 16 at noon beginning at Eggleston Avenue and Reedy Street downtown.

Seelbach is also suggesting people contact Schulte to urge him to allow GLSEN to participate at 513-941-3798 or info@cincystpatsparade.com. CityBeat's attempt to contact Schulte by phone was unsuccessful. We'll update this story if we receive any new information.

The city of Cincinnati and opponents of the parking plan met in court today to debate whether laws passed with emergency clauses are subject to referendum — a crucial legal issue as the city attempts to speed ahead with plans to lease the city’s parking assets to the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority to help balance the deficit and foster economic development.

After hearing extensive legal arguments from both sides, Judge Robert Winkler, who presided over the hearings, said a decision is unlikely today.

Curt Hartman, who represented opponents of the parking plan, argued the city charter’s definition of emergency clauses is ambiguous, and legal precedent supports siding with voters’ right to referendum when there is ambiguity.

Terry Nestor, who represented the city, said legal precedent requires the city to defer to state law as long as state law is not contradicted in the city charter.

Cincinnati’s city charter does not specify whether emergency legislation is subject to referendum, but state law explicitly says emergency laws are not subject to referendum.

Meg Olberding, city spokesperson, previously told CityBeat that if the parking plan is held up for too long in legal battles, the city will have to carry out spending cuts before July to balance the budget in time for the 2014 fiscal year.

Emergency clauses remove a 30-day waiting period on approved legislation, and the city claims they also remove the possibility of referendum.

City Council approved the parking plan in a 5-4 vote on March 6 before attaching an emergency clause to the law in a 6-3 vote. But the law was quickly put on hold by a temporary restraining order from Winkler after a lawsuit was filed in favor of subjecting the plan to referendum.

Opponents of the parking plan say they’re concerned the plan will cede too much control over the city’s parking meters, which they say could lead to skyrocketing parking rates. 

The city says rates are set at 3 percent or inflation, but the rate can change with a unanimous vote from a special committee, approval from the city manager and a final nod from the Port Authority. The special committee would comprise of four people appointed by the Port Authority and one appointed by the city manager.

The city is pursuing the parking plan to help balance the city’s deficit for the next two fiscal years and enable economic development projects (“Parking Stimulus,” issue of Feb. 27).

February is Black History Month, a period when the arts traditionally wake up and pay attention to African-American stories and artists. I'm always a bit troubled by this segmenting, so I want to commend both the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati for presenting two fine productions of shows featuring African Americans in engaging stories — in the middle of March. They represent two of this weekend's best choices.

At ETC, Black Pearl Sings! features two outstanding local actresses. Annie Fitzpatrick plays Susannah Mullally, a folk music researcher in the 1930s; Torie Wiggins is Alberta "Pearl" Johnson, a prisoner (for a violent but probably justified crime) who has a remarkable recollection of songs she learned as a child from her family. They form an uneasy alliance that turns into a guarded friendship, and Fitzpatrick and Wiggins have a delightful interplay and chemistry. I heard that this might be the 40th production Fitzpatrick has done at ETC; she's a versatile actress, and she convincingly creates the uptight but driven Susannah. Wiggins, who graduated from the drama program at CCM, earns her Equity card on this production: Chronologically, she's probably a tad young for the role, but she so wholly embodies Pearl's feisty character that it makes no difference. Hers is a tour-de-force rendition, musically and theatrically. This one is a definite must-see. Box office: 513-421-3555.

Let's give the Playhouse — and new artistic director Blake Robison — props for finally getting around to staging a show by Horton Foote, who died in 2009 at the age of 92. He was a prolific dramatist and screenwriter (he wrote screenplays for To Kill a Mockingbird and Tender Mercies) for years, and his play A Trip to Bountiful is a lovely, emotional paean to the notion that "there's no place like home." Foote wrote the play about an elderly Texas wido pining to return to her hometown in 1953 (as a play for television, in fact) and it was an award-winning 1985 movie  with a white cast. For the Playhouse, Timothy Douglas has changed up the story by overlaying an African-American filter over the story and casting veteran actress Lizann Mitchell as Carrie Watts. She's a dream of an actress, portraying a tiny Texas cyclone of energy with a wry sense of humor. The story is nothing too innovative — she runs away from a cramped apartment where she lives with her son and his demanding wife to return to her girlhood home, which has all but disappeared — but the truth and dignity of the tale (and Mitchell's performance) make this show worth seeing. Box office: 513-421-3888.

Finally, I need to mention Clifton Players production of A Behanding in Spokane by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh. He's the writer of dark tales like The Beauty Queen of Leenane and The Cripple of Inishmaan, as well as the even darker film In Bruges. Clifton Players perform at Clifton Performance Theatre, a tiny, intimate storefront space on Ludlow Avenue. I've heard lots of positive remarks about this production. Be prepared to be shocked and entertained by the show's comic violence. Tickets: 513-861-7469.

Republican Sen. Rob Portman reversed his stance on same-sex marriage after his son came out as gay. The announcement means both Ohio senators are poised to support the Freedom to Marry amendment, which would legalize gay marriage in Ohio and could be on the ballot this year. CityBeat covered FreedomOhio’s efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in Ohio in further detail here.

Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld is asking Gov. John Kasich to reverse local government funding cuts carried out during his tenure as governor. A previous Policy Matters Ohio report found the state has cut local government funding by $1.4 billion since Kasich took office, which happens to be the exact amount Kasich says his tax cuts are worth. The governor’s office has previously argued that Kasich had to make some cuts to help balance an $8-billion deficit inherited from former Gov. Ted Strickland, and Kasich is touting his tax cuts as one way to reinvigorate Ohio’s small businesses. But local officials from around the state say that money is needed in cities, villages and counties.

The Cincinnati parking plan will be in court today to determine whether a temporary restraining order should remain and whether a lawsuit that claims the plan should be subject to referendum should move forward. If the restraining order does remain, the city says it will have to make cuts to balance the budget by July — in time for the 2014 fiscal year. CityBeat wrote more about the lawsuit here and the parking plan here.

State Auditor Dave Yost says he “fully anticipates” he will get the financial records for JobsOhio, the state-funded nonprofit agency that Kasich supports. Some state Republicans and Kasich argue that only JobsOhio’s public funds should be open for audit, but Yost wants to audit all of the agency’s finances. Kasich says he wants JobsOhio to eventually replace the Ohio Department of Development, which is susceptible to a full audit.

Plan Cincinnati won the Frank F. Ferris II Community Planning Award from The Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission, which commemorates “a local planning commission or committee whose efforts have contributed to the elevation of planning principles, greater awareness of the value of planning and improved quality of life,” according to a press statement. CityBeat covered Plan Cincinnati, the city’s first master plan since 1980, in further detail here.

Supporters of the Medicaid expansion gathered at a rally yesterday. As part of his budget proposal, Kasich suggested expanding Medicaid, which would cover 456,000 Ohioans by 2022 and save the state money in the next decade, according to the Health Policy Institute of Ohio. Opponents say they fear the plan will leave the state under an unsustainable financial commitment. CityBeat wrote more about the Medicaid expansion and the rest of Kasich’s budget here.

Defense cuts that are part of sequestration, a series of across-the-board spending cuts that kicked in March 1, have forced the Air Force to cancel an Ohio festival.

The development team behind The Banks says it wants to have a hotel built and ready in time for the 2015 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

Some analysts are doubting Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble, which could have bad implications for the local economy.

Higgs Boson, the theorized particle that gives the universe its mass, has been discovered with the help of the Large Hadron Collider.

With the support of local officials from around the state, Cincinnati Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld is launching a website called ProtectMyOhio.com to organize efforts to restore local government funding cut during Gov. John Kasich’s time in office.

Speaking during a phone conference today, Sittenfeld, Dayton Commissioner and mayoral candidate Nan Whaley, Columbus Councilman Zach Klein and Toledo Councilman and mayoral candidate Joe McNamara described how state funding cuts have forced cities and counties to cut services.

“What we’re really trying to do today is speak up and sound the alarm about the governor’s ongoing raid on the Local Government Fund,” Sittenfeld said. “Over the last four years, the governor has taken away $3 billion in local government funding. This year alone, municipalities across Ohio are going to receive nearly $1 billion less than they previously would have.”

He added, “This is the exact same money that cities, villages and townships used to keep cops in the street, staff our fire departments, fix the potholes and some of the other basic services that citizens rightly expect and the local governments are the ones responsible for delivering.”

In the past, the Kasich administration has argued the cuts were necessary. When previously asked about cuts to education and other state funding, Rob Nichols, Kasich’s spokesperson, told CityBeat, “The reality is we walked into an $8 billion budget deficit. … We had to fix that.”

But the 2014-2015 budget is not under the fiscal pressures Kasich experienced when he took office, and the governor is pursuing $1.4 billion in tax cuts over the next three years, which he argues will help spur small businesses around the state. During the phone conference, local officials said the revenue going to tax cuts would be better used to return funds to local governments. 

Sittenfeld says the cuts have left Cincinnati with $12 million less per year. “That is the difference between us having our first police recruit class in nearly six years versus not having it,” he said. “It’s the difference between enduring dangerous fire engine brownouts versus not having to do so.”

Klein, who represented Columbus in the call, said the cuts have amounted to nearly $30 million for his city, which he said is enough money to help renovate nearly all the city’s recreation centers, parks and pools.

“No one is spared,” Klein said. “Everyone is getting cut across the state, and every neighborhood — no matter if you’re in a small village or in a large city like Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo or Dayton — (is) at some level feeling the effects of the cuts, whether it’s actual cuts in services or what could be investments in neighborhoods.”

Klein said the cuts, which have been carried out by a Republican governor and Republican-controlled legislature, contradict values espoused by national Republicans. At the federal level, Republicans typically argue that states should be given more say in running programs like Medicaid, but Ohio Republicans don’t seem to share an interest in passing money down to more local governments, according to Klein.

Some state officials have previously argued that it’s not the state’s responsibility to take care of local governments, but Sittenfeld says it’s unfair to not give money back to the cities: “Cincinnati is a major economic engine for the entire state. We’re sending a lot of money to Columbus, so I think it’s fair to say we would like some of that money back. John Kasich doesn’t have to fill the potholes, and John Kasich doesn’t have to put a cop on the street.”

Whaley, who represented Dayton in the call, said, “There’s a county perspective on this as well. The counties would certainly say that the unfunded mandates that the state legislature brings down daily are covered by those local government funds. While (state officials) keep on making rules for the counties to administer services and make those efforts, it’s pretty disingenuous to say that (county officials) don’t get a share of the income.” 

A Policy Matters Ohio report found the state has cut $1.4 billion from local government funding — nearly half of total funding — during Kasich’s time as governor. The report pinned much of that drop on the estate tax, which was phased out at the beginning of 2013 and would have provided $625.3 million to local governments in the 2014-2015 budget. The estate tax was repealed in 2011 by the Republican-controlled Ohio legislature and Kasich.

Cincinnati had structural deficit problems before Kasich took office, but local officials argue the state’s cut have made matters worse. When presenting his 2013 budget proposal, City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. said the state funding reductions cost Cincinnati $22.2 million in revenues for the year.

Kasich’s office did not return CityBeat’s phone calls for this story.

Kasich’s latest budget proposal has also been criticized by Republicans and Democrats for tax cuts and education funding plans that benefit the wealthy and expanding Medicaid (“Smoke and Mirrors,” issue of Feb. 20).