These are turbulent times for the Cincinnati Fire Department. With the city of Cincinnati massively over budget, officials are eyeing cuts to the department's funding just as spiraling overtime costs have led to temporary closures of some fire stations and the department is facing a constant deluge of critics, including local firefighters union leaders. It's also become clear that, without major changes in either funding or its mission, the department's future looks even more grim.  

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.