It was 79 years ago this past Wednesday that Prohibition was repealed in the United States. After more than a dry decade of bootlegging, gangsters and booze-related crime, people could finally go to a bar and enjoy a cocktail legally. Can you imagine the parties that were thrown the night Prohibition ended? Tonight, Japp's recreates that celebration with the second annual Get Wet Repeal Day Party Friday. Get dolled up and party like it’s 1933 with performances by Rose Room and Cin City Burlesque and a DJ Havination dance party. Hot bites will be cooking up all night long; use the speakeasy password “George Remus” for cocktail specials featuring Canadian Club. It’ll be just like a scene in Boardwalk Empire — minus all that murder and stuff. Want to get involved in local television and radio? Media Bridges hosts a holiday open house at their Central Parkway facility from 6-9 p.m. Friday. Learn about Media Bridges, WVQC and how to create your own media for TV and radio. Go here for more information. If your office holiday party is a drag, skip that shit and head to Newport for Powerhouse Factories’ annual shin dig Friday. Enjoy drinks, music and great deals on Powerhouse’s rockin’ posters — perfect gifts for the music lovers on your shopping list. The first 50 partiers to arrive will get a freebie holiday print. It’s Northside Second Saturday time, and this month features NVISION’s newly expanded space with the opening reception for artist Nancy Gamon; craft beer tasting contest at Mayday; Chicken Lays an Egg three-year anniversary; Hopnosis small batch specialty beer bash at The Comet and much more. Did reading this month’s drink column make you want to learn more about the art of brewing and cupping coffee? Rob Hoos of Nossa Coffee, Adam Shaw of Deeper Roots Coffee, Alex Stahler of Tazza Mia host a “Coffee Nerdom” class this Sunday at 1215 Wine Bar & Coffee Lab in OTR. Learn about specialty coffee, the cupping process and single-brewing methods — and get your caffeine buzz on. Go here to register. See our To Do picks for more suggested happenings this weekend and check out our calendar for a full lineup of arts, theater, classes and other events.

Mitt Romney was criticized for wanting to “kill Big Bird” due to his proposed cuts to publicly funded media, and now City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. could face similar criticism. In his 2013 budget proposal, Dohoney suggested eliminating $300,000 in support to Media Bridges, an organization that provides public access TV and radio stations in Cincinnati. Tom Bishop, executive director of Media Bridges, called the cuts a “meteor” to his organization’s budget. He described dire circumstances in which Ohio originally cut funding to Media Bridges in June 2011, leaving the organization with $198,000 from remaining money in the state fund and $300,000 from Cincinnati’s general fund. The state fund was provided by Time Warner Cable, and lobbying from the cable company is what eventually led to the fund’s elimination. The end of the Time Warner fund cut Media Bridges’ budget by one-third, forcing the organization to change facilities to make ends meet with less space. With the city manager proposing to cut the city’s $300,000 in funding, Media Bridges is essentially losing $498,000 in 2013. Bishop says that’s about 85 percent of the organization’s budget — a financial gap that would be practically impossible to overcome. “If it’s a complete cut, we’re looking at liquidation,” says Bishop. When it was notified of the changes a few months ago, Media Bridges gave an alternative plan to the mayor’s office that keeps $300,000 in funding every year after a six-month transition period. But even that plan isn’t ideal, according to Bishop. It would force Media Bridges to cut four staff members, become more dependent on automation and charge $200 a year for memberships with a sliding scale for low-income members. Media Bridges will be reaching out to the public, mayor and council members in the coming weeks to draw support in fighting the cuts. At the government meetings, Bishop will make the plea that public access outlets are important for low-income families. He says it’s true that the Internet and cable television have expanded media options for the public, but, according to the 2010 Greater Cincinnati Survey, more than 40 percent of people in Cincinnati don’t have access to broadband. That’s a large amount of the population that will be left without a way to easily speak out in media if Media Bridges funding is dissolved. In a world of saturated media, Bishop rhetorically asked why four TV channels that do a public service would need to be targeted: “Does it seem so ridiculous that the people should have a tiny bit of that bandwidth so that they can communicate with the community, share cultural events, share what’s going on in the community and participate politically?” He added the organization also provides educational access, which allows institutions like the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Public Schools and various private schools to reach out to the community. Media Bridges also sees the cuts as a bit unfair relative to other budget items. Bishop acknowledges “fiscal times are hard,” but he pointed out CitiCable, which broadcasts City Council meetings and other educational services, is getting more than $750,000 in the proposed budget to run one TV channel, while Media Bridges isn't getting $300,000 to run four TV channels and a radio station. He praised CitiCable — “Those guys do a great job over there; they provide a great service” — but he also says the disproportionate cuts are “just not right.” The cuts to Media Bridges are some of many adjustments in the budget proposal by Dohoney. To balance Cincinnati’s estimated $34 million deficit, Dohoney suggested pursuing privatizing parking services and other cuts, including the elimination of the Cincinnati Police Department’s mounted patrol unit and a $610,770 reduction to human services funding.Update (Nov. 30, 3:45 p.m.): Meg Olberding, spokesperson for the city manager's office, called back CityBeat after this story was published. She explained Media Bridges was a target for cuts for two reasons: The program was ranked low in importance in public feedback gathered during the priority-driven budget process, and Media Bridges isn't seen as a core city service.Olberding also said that while some funding does flow through the city to CitiCable, that money has always come from franchise fees from Cincinnati Bell and Time Warner. In the case of Media Bridges, the city was not funding the program until it picked up the tab in 2011. Until that point, Media Bridges was funded through the now-gone Time Warner fund. Only after funding was lost did the city government provide a “one-year reprieve” in the general fund to keep Media Bridges afloat, according to Olberding.

One of, if not the, coolest youth outreach programs in the region is the "Hip Hop Youth Arts Center" Elementz on Central Parkway, which gives local kids a consistent outlet to explore their creativity and learn about the arts. The center is now 7 years old and tonight at 6 p.m. the founders are hosting an anniversary party featuring performances by several artists affiliated with Elementz. Admission is just $3.The people behind the non-profit center recently began sending out video press releases to keep everyone in the loop on their happenings. Below is a clip about this evening's birthday celebration, followed by Elementz's winter video newsletter, which includes footage from various performances and workshops from the past few months, as well as an interview about politics with local DJ Hi Tek.There's also a special, surprise announcement about Elementz at the end of the winter newsletter clip. The center is preparing to move to the old Media Bridges headquarters on Race St. (across from SCPA) now that Media Bridges is relocating to the WCET building around the corner. (The new Media Bridges is slated to be reopened in its new space on May 3.) For more on Elementz, visit its website here.