Good morning all. It’s apparently National Donut Day, and I’m observing. I wasn’t able to snag any free donuts, but when a certain iconic local ice cream company runs its bakery within smelling distance of your house, any day could potentially be donut day. Or Danish day. Or cheese crown day. But enough about pastries. We’re here to talk news, so let’s get to it.
Jury selection is expected to begin today in the retrial of Ray Tensing. Hamilton County Judge Leslie Ghiz paused the process earlier this week after an appeals court ruled she had to hold a hearing on media restrictions she instituted before the trial began. After holding that hearing, Ghiz yesterday evening issued the restrictions again with some slight changes — personnel from chosen local and national media outlets will be able to use electronic devices in a media room on the fifth floor of the courthouse and five media personnel chosen by lottery will be in the courtroom every day. Previously, reporters were not allowed to bring any laptops, recording devices or cellphones into the media room and only three members of the media were allowed into the courtroom itself.
Tensing’s previous trial ended in a hung jury. At one point, jurors refused to enter the courtroom because they said they were afraid they would be photographed and could be in danger after the trial. Ghiz has said that all media will be dismissed if a juror is photographed this time around.
Still pending — a decision about whether questionnaires filled out by the 180 potential jurors will be released to the media. The next step in the jury selection process is voir dire, in which both defense and prosecution question potential jurors in an effort to narrow the pool down to a final 12 who will hear the case. We’ll keep you updated on developments in the retrial for Tensing, who shot and killed unarmed black motorist Sam DuBose during a routine traffic stop in Mount Auburn in July, 2015.
• As you may have heard, President Donald Trump yesterday announced he was withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Accords, an international agreement aimed at reducing carbon emissions and fighting climate change. Syria and Nicaragua are the only other countries not participating in the accords. Local leaders aren’t too happy about that and have pledged that Cincinnati will do its part to uphold the agreement despite the White House. Mayor John Cranley yesterday afternoon held a news conference outside City Hall to announce he was joining a list of 648 mayors across the world pledging to take action to protect the environment. Councilwoman Yvette Simpson, meanwhile, says she’s working on a resolution that will appear in Council next week that would have the city adopt specific tenets of the Paris agreements. Sixty-eight mayors in cities across the U.S. including New York, Austin, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and others have specifically pledged to honor the Paris agreements. Cincinnati isn’t one of those cities — yet.
• City of Cincinnati officials are set today to announce what they’re calling a “voluntary refresh” of the city’s Collaborative Agreement, the historic, federally ordered police reform efforts that came in the aftermath of the 2001 police shooting death of unarmed Timothy Thomas. Federal oversight of reforms to the Cincinnati Police Department formally ended in 2008, but the city and community advocates are looking to “identify gaps and barriers and take successes to the next level,” according to a news release sent out by the city. Cranley, City Manager Harry Black, Iris Roley, Pastor Ennis Tait, FOP President Dan Hils, Police Chief Eliot Isaac, original court-appointed reform monitor Saul Green and U.S. District Court Judge Susan Dlott are scheduled to speak during the event, which will take place at 1:30 p.m. at City Hall.
• Preschool Promise, the effort to extend preschool opportunities to more Cincinnati children, is now accepting applications from qualified preschools as it gears up for its fall launch. The program, which voters overwhelmingly approved to fund with a tax levy last year, is seeking preschool education providers with a three- to five-star rating on the state of Ohio’s Step Up to Quality rating system. Those providers would receive tuition assistance reimbursements for children enrolled under Preschool Promise. Other providers who don’t yet have that ranking can also qualify for quality improvement supports aimed at getting the provider up to the higher-level ratings. The program is holding application sessions June 5 at the United Way of Greater Cincinnati from 1-2:30 p.m., June 6 at the Mayerson Academy, June 7 at Price Hill Recreation Center, June 8 at Evanston Recreation Center, all from 6:30-8 p.m. and June 10 at 4C for Children from 9:30-11 a.m. You can find out more here.
• Will the city finally fill gaps in Northside’s bike lanes? It could come down to a vote in City Council’s Tuesday Transportation Committee meeting. Lanes for cars on some parts of Spring Grove Avenue are 14 feet wide — much wider than the 10-foot widths found on nearby Hamilton Avenue — but don’t have lanes for cyclists. Five years ago, Northside Community Council drew up a plan with Cincinnati’s Department of Transportation and Engineering to add more bike-friendly features as part of the I-74 interchange revamp that came through the area. But some segments of Spring Grove got overlooked. In April, the community council again worked with DOTE to change the lanes, and those changes are awaiting approval by Council. The vote should come next week.
• As the Greater Cincinnati area sees an outbreak of youth suicides, mental health services available in public schools could see big cuts. A law changing the federal government’s policies on health care passed by the U.S. House last month would slash funding for Medicaid, the federal program that pays for a significant portion of mental health services provided by Cincinnati Public Schools. Meanwhile, 13 young people killed themselves in Hamilton County last year — up from eight youth the year prior. Eight more people under 18 have killed themselves in the county so far this year. Congress’ proposed cuts to Medicaid still must pass the U.S.Senate, where they face some tough opposition.
• Yesterday we told you about Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s lawsuit against five drug companies that played a role in Ohio’s opioid addiction crisis. As it turns out, those companies might not be the only ones on the hook for the hundreds of millions of dollars in damages the state is seeking. High-level drug distributors, which act as middlemen between drug companies and patients, could also end up getting lawsuit papers from DeWine. DeWine says he’s still considering that move, but as this Columbus Dispatch story shows, there could be reasons he won’t do it. One of the state’s biggest distributors, Cardinal Health, has given DeWine $26,000 in campaign contributions over the years. That’s part of nearly $1 million the company has doled out to Ohio politicians since 1999.
This article appears in May 31 – Jun 7, 2017.