Not a sound you’ll want to hear when the temps are in the frigid-zone. If you don’t take care of your pipes that might be exactly what you have to deal with.

Read More

A new group in Cincinnati’s Westwood neighborhood that seeks to be less political and more positive than its counterparts has achieved one of its initial goals.

The group, Westwood Works, formed late last winter to help revitalize and publicize the neighborhood. Its creation, in part, was due to discussions about how another organization — the Westwood Civic Association — decided not to muster support for an ArtWorks mural in the neighborhood, despite the interest of some residents.

Read More

Nope, not an ad for stomach surgery; 86,000 pounds is the amount of computer equipment recycled to date via the Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District’s free computer recycling program. If you want to add your old technology to the growing weight, according to a press release, you can contribute the following:

Monitors, CPUs, hard drives, mice, keyboards, laptops, docking stations, back-up batteries, power cords, speakers, modems, external hard drives, memory chips, storage chips, cellular phones, printers, scanners and desk top fax machines.

Hamilton County residents have until Dec. 30 to take their obsolete equipment to Technology Recycling Group (5139 Kieley Place, St. Bernard, OH, 45217) for cost-free recycling.

Drops can be made 8 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays. Take proof of your address such as a current diver’s license or utility bills. The facility will be closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

For more information about the computer recycling collection program, call 513-946-7766 or visit www.hamiltoncountyrecycles.org.

This week’s issue of CityBeat, which hits the streets Wednesday, features a Porkopolis column about the “Cincinnati Tea Party” rally held last weekend on Fountain Square.

As is often the case, space constraints prevented us from including all the information gathered for the column. One bit that didn’t make the cut answered a common question we received from skeptical callers about the event: Did organizers pay to use the square, and did they have the required insurance?

Read More

I’m one of those rare liberals who live in southwest Warren County, in a suburb that’s almost certainly one of Sarah Palin’s "pro-America" areas of the country. On primary election day, when I announced my party affiliation, everyone looked up and laughed.

Yet, shockingly, few American flags fly in my neighborhood on a daily basis. And not many find their way outside on holidays like Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day or Independence Day. Well, this Monday is Flag Day, another prime opportunity for everyone across the political spectrum to express their passion for America’s ideals by flying the old Red, White and Blue.

Read More

It's over. Big guys, you won.

Western & Southern in a press release today announced an agreement with Cincinnati Union Bethel (CUB) that will sell the Anna Louise Inn in Lytle Park to W&S for $4 million, ending years of entanglements between the two entities over what should be done with the property in need of millions of dollars in renovations. 

As part of the deal, ALI will move to a new location in Mount Auburn at the corner of Reading Road and Kinsey Avenue, in the same vicinity as the United Way of Greater Cincinnati and The Talbert House. The settlement also provides CUB time to construct the new Inn, so none of the current residents will be displaced. CUB will still retain its $13 million in funding to develop the new property.

The Anna Louise Inn, which provides safe and affordable housing for low-income women, has called the Lytle Park location home since 1909. The new agreement will dissolve all ongoing litigation; most recently, W&S accused ALI of potentially discriminating against men.

In 2009, W&S passed up on an opportunity to purchase the Inn for $3 million, before CUB obtained city- and state-distributed federal funding to renovate the building and stay in the neighborhood, a decision Western & Southern admitted it regretted. Since then, the Fortune 500 company has been battling with the ALI in hopes of getting another chance to purchase the property. 

According to the CUB website, the settlement came about for several reasons, including concern that ongoing litigation with W&S would have caused it to lose tax credits earned through the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, which were due to expire at the end of 2013 and cannot be used during ongoing litigation.

Now W&S plans to renovate the building into an upscale new hotel, which will essentially give the company a monopoly on real estate in the Lytle Park neighborhood.

It's a bittersweet change for the women and staff at the Inn, explains CUB President and CEO Steve MacConnell, but "ultimately, it's the right decision," he says. MacConnell says CUB learned about the plot of land just three to four weeks ago, when they started seriously considering a move. "After two years of litigation, the women — and us — we were all feeling so much uncertainty," he says, "and ultimately what's best for the women is what we've always had in mind."  

A homeless man who was featured on the cover of CityBeatin September and talked about his life in makeshift camps under bridges and in vacant lots throughout the city has died.

William Floyd, known as “Baldy” to most people, died late Sunday night after a fire spread through a camp near Mehring Way and Sixth Street downtown. Baldy was 44 or 45, according to different records.

Read More

For those of you who don't celebrate Christmas

Read More

A local nonprofit group dedicated to efforts at promoting peace and social justice will hold its annual holiday sale on Saturday.

The Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center (IJPC) will stage its seventh annual St. Nick Day Sale from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Peaslee Neighborhood Center, 215 E. 14th St., in Over-the-Rhine.

Read More

The public is invited to attend and help question local candidates at the annual endorsement meeting of the Cincinnati Women's Political Caucus 7-9:30 p.m. June 24 at First Unitarian Church, 536 Linton St., Avondale.

Although the public may attend, only caucus members will be allowed to vote on endorsements after the question and answer session.

Read More