City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. defended the streetcar project at a special four-hour session of City Council yesterday, but the city manager did not reveal any specifics over how the project’s $17.4 million budget gap could be closed. Dohoney revealed the price of halting the project would be $72 million: the project has already cost the city $19.7 million, the city would have to spend another $14.2 million in close-out costs and another $38.1 million in federal grants would have to be returned to the federal government. Most of Dohoney’s presentation focused on the streetcar’s economic benefits, but opponents say the budget gap proves the streetcar project is unsustainable and its costs are too high. The Cincinnati Enquirer identified the 17-year-old honors student at LaSalle High School who tried to commit suicide in front of a classroom of 22 other students yesterday, even though parents asked press to provide privacy. The student remains alive and in critical condition this morning. No other students were physically hurt, and classes are resuming as normal. (Update: The student’s name was removed from this post upon the family’s request.) The city is moving to sell Tower Place Mall for $1 to Brook Lane Holdings, an affiliate of JDL Warm Construction, so the construction company can pour $5 million into the defunct mall and convert it into a garage with street-level retail space. Financing the project at Pogue’s Garage, which is across the street from Tower Place Mall, is still being worked out now that the parking plan has been delayed by court battles and a referendum effort. Cincinnati’s police and firefighter unions are filing a lawsuit over the city’s health care dependent audit. The city is asking employees to verify whether spouses and children are legitimately eligible for health care benefits by turning over documents such as marriage licenses, birth certificates and tax returns. The unions’ attorney told WVXU the unions are willing to provide the necessary documents, but he said they’re concerned the process is too intrusive and difficult. Two firms are getting tax credits for creating jobs in the Greater Cincinnati area: 5Me, which creates manufacturing software, and Festo Americas, which specializes in factory and process automation. Altogether, the credits could create 312 jobs in the region. A Democratic state senator hinted yesterday at letting voters decide whether Internet sweepstakes cafes should be allowed in Ohio. State officials, particularly Attorney General Mike DeWine, claim Internet cafes are hubs for criminal activity. The Ohio House already passed a measure that would effectively ban the cafes, but some are cautious of the ban as the Ohio Senate prepares to vote. An intelligent headlight makes raindrops disappear. Some people may prefer death to being saved by this terrifying robot snake.

Supporters of the Anna Louise Inn, the women-only shelter near Lytle Park, will hold a rally in front of the Hamilton County Courthouse at noon today, which was supposed to be the day Western & Southern and Anna Louise Inn owner Cincinnati Union Bethel met in court again. The court date has been delayed as the controversy continues to grow. The legal battle surrounds Western & Southern’s attempts to take over the Anna Louise Inn property and build a luxury hotel in its stead. After Western & Southern failed to buy the Inn at below market value in 2009, the financial giant has taken to court challenges to slow down government-funded renovations at the property and seemingly force Cincinnati Union Bethel to give up and sell. CityBeat’s extensive coverage about the Anna Louise Inn can be found here. Cincinnati’s Horseshoe Casino dropped to the No. 3 spot for Ohio casino revenue last month, losing out to casinos in Columbus and Cleveland. The Horseshoe Casino brought in adjusted gross revenues of $17.8 million, according to figures released by the Ohio Casino Control Commission. With the drop, the city’s projections of bringing in $10 million to $12 million in casino tax revenue for the year are looking far more accurate. Ohio’s business climate is the most improved in the nation, with Ohio’s rank going from No. 35 in 2012 to No. 22 this year, according to the annual survey of CEOs by Chief Executive Magazine. The improved ranking comes despite Ohio losing half a star in “workforce quality” and “taxation and regulations” between 2012 and 2013. But the ranking doesn’t seem to be translating to real jobs, considering both liberal and conservative think tanks seemingly agree Ohio is not undergoing an “economic miracle.” If the city fails to restore its emergency powers through court battles, it could ask voters to reinstate the powers on the November ballot, according to City Solicitor John Curp. Previously, the city used emergency clauses to remove 30-day waiting periods on laws and effectively remove the ability for voters to referendum, but opponents of the city’s parking plan say the City Charter does not explicitly remove referendum rights. So far, courts have sided against the city; if that holds, voters will have to rework the City Charter to restore the powers. A study from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital found nurse-to-patient ratios really do matter. Charles Ramsey, the man who allegedly helped save three kidnapped women and a child in Cleveland, has become an Internet sensation because of his expressive interview with a TV news station. Read more on the kidnappings at the Toledo Blade. A 32-year-old Hamilton man jumped on a moving train because, according to him, he’s filming an action movie. News of massacres and gun violence can seem pretty bleak at times, but it’s worth remembering gun homicides in the United States are down 49 percent since 1993. The analysis from The Washington Post and Pew Research points to economic conditions, stricter prison sentences and lead abatement as driving factors, but it’s also worth noting the Brady Act, which requires background checks on many firearm purchases, passed in 1993 and went into effect in 1994, around the time the dip in gun homicides began. Teachers, rejoice. New software can teach photocopiers to grade papers. A vaccine halts heroin addiction in rats, and it’s now ready for human trials.

A new interactive map shows hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," is flourishing in U.S. areas where water is already scarce — a potentially bad sign for Ohio counties that are allowing the water-intensive drilling process within their own borders.The map from advocacy group Ceres shows northeast Ohio counties with fracking activity are made up of low, medium-to-high and high stress areas, with most of the identified fracking wells in medium-to-high and high stress areas.The website explains Ohio's experience is actually better than the national trend: "In the map below, one can see that almost half (47 percent) of shale gas and oil wells are being developed in regions with high to extremely high water stress. This means that more than 80 percent of the annual available water is being withdrawn by municipal, industrial and agricultural users in these regions. Overall, 75 percent of wells are located in regions with medium or higher baseline water stress levels."Fracking is a relatively new drilling process that involves pumping millions of gallons of water underground to fracture shale and reveal oil and gas reserves. CityBeat previously covered Ohio's fracking boom in further detail here.

Today is primary election day in Ohio, but there are no ballot items in Cincinnati. Some Hamilton County precincts outside the city have ballot issues, which are listed here. Polls will be open between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. An amendment snuck into the budget bill approved by the Republican-controlled Ohio House would force universities to decide between providing the proper documentation for voting to out-of-state students or getting extra money from out-of-state tuition rates, prompting concerns from Democrats that Republicans are attempting to limit voting opportunities once again. Republicans spent a bulk of the lead-up to the 2012 election approving measures that limit voting, including a later-repealed set of laws that greatly reduced early voting hours. About 82 percent of all Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified buildings in Ohio are in Cincinnati, and the reason is likely local tax incentives, which allow Cincinnatians to eliminate property taxes for up to 15 years by retrofitting businesses and homes in an environmentally friendly manner. CityBeat covered Cincinnati’s successes in solar energy here and FirstEnergy’s campaign to weaken Ohio’s energy efficiency standards here. If legislators fail to take up the Medicaid expansion, the issue could appear on the ballot on November 2014. Supporters of the expansion, including Gov. John Kasich, say the expansion will help insure hundreds of thousands of Ohioans and save the state money in the next decade, but Republican legislators say they’re concerned the federal funds backing the expansion will eventually dry up. CityBeat covered the Ohio House budget bill, which effectively rejected the expansion for the time being, here. The Ohio Department of Transportation says 2,230 bridges in the state need repairs, but there’s not enough funding to make it happen. Ohio banks are warning of possible cyberattacks that could happen today. The Ohio Bankers League and the Ohio Credit Union League said the attacks would impact online services but not the security of customers’ bank accounts. The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport has the second highest airfares in the nation, according to statistics released by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble was ranked No. 7 in a ranking for top 50 most diverse companies by DiverseInc. Sometimes human brains make people do bad things, such as enjoying high-calorie foods even when the foods aren’t delicious.