Local subscribers to Time Warner and Insight cable woke up today without access to WLWT-TV (Channel 5) after the station and companies failed to reach a new retransmission agreement. Instead, the cable companies offered Channel 2 from NBC affiliate Terre Haute, Ind. The Enquirer is all over the story, reporting that Todd Dykes and Lisa Cooney in the morning were replaced by someone named Dada Winklepleck in Wabash Valley, Ind. Don’t worry: 30 Rock will still be on your new local Indiana station. Visit mywabashvalley.com for further details about additional programming. Or you can just hook up an antennae and get WLWT in hi-def for free.  Anyone in the market for a school building? Cincinnati Public Schools is adding four closed buildings to a for-sale list in an attempt to raise the capital necessary to complete an overhaul of its in-use buildings as part of its Facilities Master Plan. The new buildings on the list are Central Fairmount, Kirby Road, North Fairmount and Old Shroder schools.  Ohio brought in $23.5 million during the first seven weeks of legalized gambling in the state.  Mitt Romney says he’s not hiding anything in his offshore accounts. The proof: He doesn’t even know where they are, so they’re technically hidden from him, too. Barack Obama is in Iowa apparently setting up an issue on which to debate Romney later this fall. Obama is pitching an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for households earning less than $250,000, while Romney wants to extend them for rich people, too.  The FDA went against the advice of an expert panel, deciding not to require mandatory training for doctors prescribing long-acting narcotic painkillers that can lead to addiction.  Three-hundred-square-foot apartments in New York City? Mayor Michael Bloomberg asked developers yesterday to try to make them work. City planners envision a future in which the young, the cash-poor and empty nesters flock to such small dwellings — each not much bigger than a dorm room. In a pricey real estate market where about one-third of renter households spend more than half their income on rent, it could make housing more affordable. Droughts in 18 states have made the price of corn go up, and the soybeans are hurting a little bit, too. Sitting less adds two years to U.S. life expectancy.  A new study found that babies are healthier when there are dogs in their homes.The Major League Baseball All-Star Game will take place tonight in Kansas City. The Reds’ Joey Votto is a starter, while Jay Bruce and Aroldis Chapman are also likely to play. 

Bike to Work Week today kicked off its series of morning commuter stations offering free coffee and treats all week long in an effort to encourage residents to try cycling to work, meet fellow cyclists and learn about bike advocacy. The city was scheduled to announce an award for its Bike Program this morning at the Coffee Emporium bike commuter station on Central Parkway in Over-the-Rhine. Find a schedule of Bike to Work Week morning and afternoon commuter stations here. The Enquirer over the weekend checked in with another of its “in-depth” pieces, this one detailing the huge amounts of money energy companies will make once they're allowed to treat northeastern Ohio's land like they do Texas. The story accurately described the fracking process as “controversial,” though it took the liberty of describing Carroll County as an “early winner” because 75 to 95 percent of its land is under lease to an oil or gas company. Here's a link to the weird slideshow-style presentation. And here's a sidebar on the issues surrounding fracking, which includes the following regarding the industry's oversight: Fracking was exempted from the federal Safe Drinking Water Act under the Bush Administration, so it now falls under state jurisdiction. In Ohio, the Department of Natural Resources issues permits for all oil and gas wells, including fracking wells. The department also inspects the drilling of all wells in the state. The New York Times came to Ohio to see how the good, working class folks feel about the president who has spent three-and-a-half years trying to help people like them during a recession he didn't start. Turns out many still won't vote for him because he's still black. Madiera is a really nice suburb, and some residents plan to keep it that way by blocking developers from building luxury condos so “renters” can't move in and “alter the landscape of their charming suburb.” Ohio State University has released a plan to combat hate crimes in response to several incidents on its campus this spring. The "No Place to Hate" plan includes 24 recommendations including a public safety division “hate crime alert” line staffed by operators. The OSU campus reportedly had a mural of President Obama defaced and found spray-painted messages supporting the death of Trayvon Martin. Good news from the AP's strangulation beat: “States cracking down on strangulation attempts.” Newsweek's May 21 cover shows Barack Obama with a rainbow-colored halo over his head and the headline, “The First Gay President.” National media are talking about HBO's Weight of the Nation, a four-part documentary detailing America's obesity epidemic. CityBeat's Jac Kern told y'all about it last week. John Edwards' defense attorneys are reportedly basing a lot of their case on the definition of the word “The.” That should go well. Joey Votto hit a two-out, bottom-of-the-ninth grand slam to win yesterday's game for the Reds, 9-6 over the Washington Nationals. It was his third home run of the day. A Russian satellite has taken an awesome 121-megapixel photo of Earth.

Maybe what Joey Votto said after the Reds' latest victory rings true: “I think a losing record early in the year can be a good thing."The Reds have reeled off three straight series wins and a fourth is not out of the question as the last-place Cubs come to the Queen City. Votto ended a homerless streak in game three versus the Astros and drove in four runs as the Reds came from behind to clinch a 6-5 win. The Reds have won seven of their last 10 games and face three division foes in their next three series’.After the Cubs, the Reds travel to Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, the two teams nipping at the Redlegs (pun absolutely intended). Series victories can put some distance between the Reds and their division rivals and with some outside help could even see the Reds jump over the Cardinals for first. Jay Bruce has been paramount in the Reds' recent run, as he has hit a home run in four straight games and leads the Reds in nearly every offensive category.The hot bat of Bruce along with continued solid performances from Votto, Zack Cozart and a recently more effective Drew Stubbs are a must. Now the tail end of the Reds' starting rotation has to bust out of their slump — Homer Bailey and Mike Leake have a combined record of 1-5. The two can start a positive trend against an inept Cubs offense sans shortstop Starlin Castro (.333).Look for the Reds to win six out of their next nine and keep in touch with St. Louis before a huge series with a surprisingly good Washington team.