Citing a long-festering frustration with the “the lack of any progress or any meaningful discussion” with the Reds and Bengals on their spiraling demands for Hamilton County stadium subsidies, County Commissioner Todd Portune gathered a unique group of allies for a May 20 press conference outside a Court Street barbershop downtown.  

A spate of deaths in the area during police chases has renewed both local and national concerns about how and when officers should pursue suspects in vehicles. The most drastic incident, which ended late at night on March 16 with the deaths of a 33-year-old West African taxicab driver and his blind passenger, has already been noted by national advocates and pointed to as a reason why police pursuit policies need changed.  

While hopes appeared to dim last week for Cincinnati’s long-planned streetcar system due to a series of legislative setbacks, local leaders say the project is far from dead. “With any large project, I always preface anything by saying that it’s always a very long process and there are always obstacles,” says Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls, one of several City Council members supporting the project.  

While opponents have stepped up calls to shut the Volunteers of America (VOA) center that treats sexual offenders in Over-the-Rhine, operators of the controversial halfway house are trying to assuage longstanding concerns — concerns that flared anew due to two recent cases in which sexual offenders from the program committed new crimes.  

Just 18 months after Cincinnati voters rejected Issue 9, the proposed charter amendment that likely would’ve blocked the city’s proposed $143 million streetcar system, the project’s opponents are taking another shot. COAST and the NAACP’s local chapter are working to put another referendum on the primary ballot that would call for a straight up-or-down vote on the project, hoping for a different result.  

Owners of the Keller’s IGA, a longtime anchor of the Gaslight District on the Ludlow Avenue business strip that was forced to close its doors earlier this month, still are optimistic that they can soon reopen the store but admit there are too many obstacles in the way to be certain.  

A Boston-based firm responsible for managing City West, the once-praised $200 million West End development, might be removed from the project after its relationship with the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority has worsened in recent weeks.  

A Northern Kentucky police department has come under attack from a pair of lawsuits that could cost it millions of dollars. If proven true, the cases — which include charges of ignoring sexual abuse claims, retaliation against a whistleblower and planted evidence — paint an unflattering picture of the Ludlow Police Department.  

In what could be a lull before a legal maelstrom for Cincinnati-based Chiquita Brands International, attorneys involved in several pending federal lawsuits against the company expect a Florida judge to soon decide to let their cases proceed. The cases charge the owners of the giant produce firm of helping fund Central American paramilitary groups through much of the 1990s, fueling the groups' terrorist activities. Chiquita has asked Marra to dismiss the cases, which otherwise could cost the company billions of dollars.  

The fallout from a bitter 2008 power struggle involving a major contractor used at Cincinnati City Hall is about to spill over into the courtroom. Linda S. Kirkland, who had been hired by Invest in Neighborhoods Inc. two years ago to be its executive director and then was summarily terminated just days later, has filed a lawsuit in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court alleging the organization breached her contract and charged its leaders with gender and racial discrimination.