Here we go again.

After getting her marching orders from parent company executives, EnquirerPublisher Margaret Buchanan told newspaper employees that more layoffs would occur, probably this afternoon.

Reliable sources say between 15 and 18 people would be terminated from Greater Cincinnati's only remaining daily newspaper. Overall, about 2 percent of The Gannett Co.'s total workforce will be eliminated in the latest downsizing.

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An Illinois nonprofit organization that once sued a local blogger after he raised questions about its program has filed dissolution paperwork with the state.

The Save-a-Life Foundation (SALF) filed the papers with the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office on Sept. 17. The action ends the existence of the 16-year-old corporation.

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The lead feature article in the new issue of The New Yorker focuses on the anti-gang program Cincinnati implemented two years ago. John Seabrook's "Don't Shoot" is a long, well-researched and well-written story about David Kennedy, who devised the "Ceasefire" crime-fighting model in Boston, and his experiences here implementing C.I.R.V. (Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Crime).

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A resident has filed a complaint with the city's Law Department, alleging that Christopher Smitherman’s dual role as a Cincinnati city councilman and president of the NAACP’s local chapter constitutes an abuse of corporate powers.

In his complaint, resident Casey Coston states that the NAACP’s status as a 501(c)(4) organization under the federal tax code allows it to lobby City Hall and participate in political campaigns and elections without jeopardizing its tax-exempt status. Such activities are a conflict of interest with Smitherman’s council duties, Coston alleges.

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Bike advocates that have been holding their breath in hopes of seeing the Riverside Drive bike project come to fruition can exhale again, thanks to another change in the status of the project. The issue still hasn't been resolved, but on Wednesday supporters of the Riverside Drive bike lane project crossed a major barricade when a City Council meeting ended with every member present in agreement that the project should move forward without delay.

The only council member who didn't cast a positive vote was Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls, who was out of town and unable to attend the meeting. The meeting garnered significant community support, including East End residents, business owners and Queen City Bike representatives.

Last week, the city's Department of Transportation and Engineering (DOTE) announced that the project would be postponed for a year to two years in hopes of preventing traffic overflow on Riverside during the impending construction project scheduled for I-471. City Council's overwhelming support to ignore DOTE's recommendations means the project could move forward as scheduled.

A Council Committee is likely discuss the issue and take a final vote in about two weeks. In the meantime, a social bike ride is scheduled to Saturday, March 31 along Riverside Drive, which will function as a "road rally" for the cause and hopefully garner more cycling commuters. According to Nern Ostendorf, Queen City Bike executive director, the ride will function as a "bike bus" on Riverside, which she explains will make the journey safer and less stressful for bikers wary of Riverside's unsafe conditions. Riders will meet at 6 p.m. on Fountain Square.

Ostendorf, who is an avid cyclist, describes the commute on Riverside heading downtown during rush hour as "really intense."

"There are a lot of really large trucks on that road, which is why cyclists are so wary of riding on there. Nobody's looking for a little cyclist on the side of the road," she says.

The bike lane project would presumably create a significant buffer between the bike lane and the road, protecting cyclists from large trucks and speeding drivers. Cyclists say Columbia Parkway, which also runs from the East End downtown, is a far more viable alternative for commuters inconvenienced by I-471 construction. Speed limits on Columbia Parkway are higher than on Riverside Drive, and the infrastructure is markedly unfriendly for bikers, while Riverside Drive holds far more potential.

UPDATE: Laure Quinlivan is suing her former employer, WCPO (Channel 9), in federal court for age and gender discrimination.

ORIGINAL ITEM: The former TV news reporter who headed Channel 9’s I-Team pool of investigators is considering running for Cincinnati City Council, reports say.

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Although it doesn't compare to the wholesale hacking and slashing of staff that occurred in 2009, the latest round of layoffs at The Enquirer includes several positions in the newsroom, which already had seen significant reductions.

At least 16 people on the newspaper's editorial staff were laid off, and another chose to retire, according to reliable sources at the paper.

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Since 2006, the Ohio Smoke-Free Workplace Act has banned indoor smoking at public establishments and places of employment, making Ohio the first Midwestern state to enact a state-wide ban. Despite controversy and contestment, that ban will continue to be enforced statewide.

The owner of Zeno's Victorian Village in Columbus who attempted to combat the law was shut down by a unanimous 7-0 vote in the Ohio Supreme Court today, which ruled that the state's six-year smoking ban is constitutional. 

Ohio's ban affects some 280,000 establishments across the state of Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH). 

According to the Supreme Court of Ohio's case summary, Zeno's was cited 10 times for violations of the ban from July 2007 and September 2009, receiving multiple fines, none of which were paid. In protest of the violations, the director of the ODH filed a complaint against Bartec Inc., the corporate entity that owns Zeno's, requesting the bar to pay all outstanding fines.

Bartec and legal representative 1851 Center for Constitutional Law, a nonprofit legal center, asserted that the smoking ban was unconstitutional, a violation of the state's policing powers and  that prohibiting smoking in an adults-only liquor-licensed establishment such as Zeno’s is "unduly oppressive," according to the case summary.

The ban and its enforcement, argued Bartec, constitutes an unlawful taking of property, meaning an improper confiscation of the owner’s control of the indoor air.

"The goal of this legislation is to protect the health of the workers and other citizens of Ohio. ...  It does so by regulating proprietors of public places and places of employment in a minimally invasive way.  We therefore hold that the Smoke Free Act does not constitute a taking,” wrote Justice Lanzinger in her opinion.

In her written opinion, Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger also cited 2002 Supreme Court decision, D.A.B.E., Inc. v. Toledo-Lucas Cty. Bd. of Health:

"We have previously stated that the General Assembly has the authority to enact a public-smoking ban. ... Although the Smoke Free Act was ultimately passed pursuant to a ballot initiative, the voters of Ohio also have a legitimate purpose in protecting the general welfare and health of Ohio citizens and workforce from the dangers of secondhand smoke in enclosed public places.  By requiring that proprietors of public places and places of employment take reasonable steps to prevent smoking on their premises by posting ‘no smoking’ signs, removing ashtrays, and requesting patrons to stop smoking, the act is rationally related to its stated objective.”

According to the Columbus Dispatch, the bar owes the state approximately $33,00 in violation fines, and the state has threatened to seize and foreclose the bar if the fines aren't paid.

See how Ohio's public smoking laws compare to those in other states across the U.S. here.

It's well-known that The Enquirer has been timid about calling out local corporations on possible misconduct or shady dealings ever since the newspaper paid $14 million to Chiquita in the late 1990s when the produce giant threatened to sue following the publication of a damning special section on its alleged practices in Central and South America.

In the years since, The Enquirer's business coverage has been tepid, and some reporters have alleged they were told to not pursue certain stories after advertisers complained to the publisher.

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(*In conjunction with the group 350.org, Cincinnati will be one of dozens of cities worldwide on Saturday that hosts an International Day of Climate Action event. The local event will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Fountain Square. Activist Jeff Cobb, of Climate Change Advocates of Cincinnati, outlines why the effort is important.)

The most important meeting in the history of humanity is the climate change treaty meeting in Copenhagen this December. As hyperbolic as it sounds, it is being said more often and more stridently by thousands of scientists the world over specializing in climate change.

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