The Enquirer today performed its daily newspaper version of multimedia progress, sending a reporter out with a hand-held thermometer on a 90-degree day to measure the heat. Prefacing his discoveries with the acknowledgment that only a fraction of people in Cincinnati didn't already know it was hot as hell outside, this intrepid layoff-dodger recorded such fascinating discoveries as a 113-degree metal picnic table and 133-degree asphalt.  

While much of the local media attention during the past several days was focused on Cincinnati City Council's vote to approve $2.58 million for the proposed streetcar system, another controversy involving the long-discussed project was brewing that went barely noticed.  

Cincinnati is grappling with a budget crisis triggered by a drop in tax revenues, and to avoid a $28 million deficit this year the city manager is considering laying off some municipal workers, including 138 people in the Police Department. Republicans, particularly the party's long-shot mayoral candidate, are salivating over a wedge issue they can use to their advantage. But even with layoffs, the Police Department's staffing level still would be within the range that Chief Thomas Streicher Jr. said was sufficient just a few years ago.  

Ever since David Pepper finally confirmed last week what CityBeat first reported online in mid-March — that the prominent local Democrat will run for Ohio Auditor next year — speculation has run rampant about who will campaign for the seat he's vacating on the Hamilton County Commission.   

The race for Cincinnati Mayor and City Council inches forward as the calendar turns to April, though we're far from shifting into full campaign mode. Still, signs of life are peeking up as surely as the crabgrass in my front yard — yet no one has emerged yet to challenge Mayor Mark Mallory.  

Cincinnati City Councilwoman Leslie Ghiz has an idea: Let's elect our council members. Seems like a great idea, huh? Straight out of the Democracy 101 textbook. Problem is, most city council members are already elected and the alternative to the current system has two shocking options: big costs and empty seats.   

Greg Harris was cautiously optimistic that 2009 might finally be his year to get a seat on Cincinnati City Council. He just didn't expect it to happen so soon. The longtime Democratic Party activist and candidate was appointed to John Cranley's seat when the term-limited councilman left to join a downtown law firm. Cranley had recommended Harris for his seat, though the ultimate decision lay with City Council's other Democrats, who, after interviewing Harris and other contenders, agreed with Cranley's choice.   

As I learned working on a political campaign this fall, guessing is a genuine art form for politicos of all stripes. Each person guesses over another's guess about what might happen next, and the cycle continues ad nauseam. Accuracy is fine and all that, but speculation and rumor-mongering is much more fun. In that spirit, here are my predictions for 2009.  

Some Cincinnati officials are angrily alleging that the city manager went behind their backs and approved a deal with Duke Energy to raise gas and electric rates in exchange for the city getting $7 million that will help pay for the proposed streetcar system.