After 18 months in the courts, Democrat Tracie Hunter has won a Hamilton County Juvenile Court judgeship, but a GOP challenge to the court's acceptance of Hunter's challenge is likely to follow. Republican John Williams led hunter by 23 votes on election night 2010, but Hunter filed a lawsuit over provisional ballots cast at incorrect polling stations that weren't counted. After a recount of 286 provisional ballots, Hunter moved ahead by 74 votes. Republican board of election members reportedly plan to argue that the 286 should not have been recounted. The Enquirer's Mark Curnutte today offered an analysis of recently released census data that shows a steady growth of the regional Hispanic population and a growth of minority population in areas outside the city that were once largely white. Cincinnati's data suggests that the city and region are slightly different than the nation's overall trend, which in 2011 for the first time found a majority of the country's under 1-year-old population minority (50.4 percent), up from 49.5 percent in 2010. Included in The Enquirer's story, which included a profile of a Mexican-American Florence family that moved to Northern Kentucky eight years ago from Los Angeles: A decrease of 1.3 percentage points in Hamilton County’s black population under 5 was countered by increases in the black population under 5 in each of the region’s six other core counties: Butler, Clermont and Warren in Ohio and Boone, Campbell and Kenton in Kentucky. Overall, the regional population of Hispanic children under 5 years rose from 7,583 in 2010 to 8,032 in 2011, a proportional increase of 0.4 percentage points to 6.1 percent. The family of a teenager fatally shot by a Cincinnati police officer on Fountain Square last summer has filed a federal lawsuit alleging police used excessive force and violated 16-year-old Davon Mullins' constitutional rights. Police say Mullins pulled a handgun, but the lawsuit says he had been disarmed before officer Oscar Cyranek shot him multiple times. Cincinnati's Bike Month revelers and Over-the-Rhine residents received some good news this week when Reser Bicycle Outfitters announced the opening of an OTR location. The store could open by June 1 in the 1400 block of Vine Street. Legislation regulating ownership and breeding of exotic animals has been approved by the Ohio House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, 17-4. Senate Bill 310 could get through the full House and Senate next week and be signed by Gov. John Kasich soon afterward. The ban on the acquisition, sale and breeding of certain species would take affect 90 days later. Europe is preparing for Greece to completely duck out of the Eurozone. The world markets are feeling the pressure. Mitt Romney has released his first general election TV ad. And he's giving cookies to the media.Former Senator John Edwards will learn his fate today, as a jury was set to deliberate this morning on charges that Edwards used campaign funds to conceal an affair during his run for president. More than 200 pages of documents, photos and audio recordings were released yesterday offering further details about what happened the night George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin. The documents include an FBI audio analysis of the 911 call placed by a resident that captured yells and screams. Two FBI examiners said they could not determine whether it was Martin or Zimmerman yelling because of the poor quality of the recording and the "extreme emotional state" of screamer. The AP is live-blogging Facebook's stock market debut. Why does Bono have so much Facebook? Cell phone maker Nokia has accused Apple of programming bias into its interactive Siri voice search by making it answer the question “What is the best smartphone ever?” by stating “"Wait... there are other phones?" The answer had apparently previously been “Nokia's Lumia 900.” Apple won't say whether or not it changed Siri's answer after finding the glitch. A new study suggests that nighttime fasting can go a long way toward keeping you slim even if you eat bad stuff during the day. Scientists have found a car-sized turtle shell. The private space launch is scheduled for 4:55 a.m. Saturday, and there will be alcohol involved.

Fifty-six. That's how many exotic animals Terry Thompson of Zanesville, Ohio set free last October from his home, just before he committed suicide. Today, only five of the animals from Terry's menagerie survive: a spotted leopard, a black leopard, a brown bear and two Celebes macaques (primates). Today, those five will return to the care of Marian Thompson, Terry's widow, to the same farm where 48 of the creatures were massacred by zealous Muskingum County deputy sheriffs in an attempt to protect public safety. They'll be transferred from the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium back into what was once their "home." The state ruled on Monday to lift the state-issued quarantine order that mandated the survivors be housed at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium after the October tragedy, based on the suspicion that the animals could house infectious diseases and were residing in unsanitary conditions.  Those slaughtered included rare Bengal tigers, mountain lions and wolves. Photo: The Associated Press A vet has since cleared the remaining five animals for any infectious diseases. The Thompsons reportedly kept the dozens of exotic animals as "pets." At the time of his death, officials found Terry owed nearly $70,000 in unpaid taxes to the IRS and Muskingum County and other legal maladies, including animal abuse charges and prison time. Since October, Marian has allegedly made improvements to the living conditions, including cleaning the cages and adding a perimeter fence around the enclosures. There's no language in Ohio law that allows state officials to check on the welfare of the animals or monitor living conditions. In fact, the Thompson's ownership of the dozens of exotic animals was, and still is, completely legal — a gaping legislative hole that, since October, has caused uproar among concerned neighbors and animal welfare activists from across the country. The Ohio state Senate recently passed a bill that would ban the private ownership of lions, tigers, bears, monkeys and other exotic animals, but would allow current owners to obtain a permit documenting legal ownership, pending strict considerations, by 2014. The bill is now in the House pending review.