Good morning all. Here’s a quick news rundown to start your week off.
The City of Cincinnati last year passed on purchasing technology costing roughly $580,000 that might have helped emergency crews find Kyle Plush, the 16-year-old who last month suffocated in his van after calling 911 twice. Now, the city is mulling purchasing the software, The Cincinnati Enquirer reports. The system, called Inform Mobile, relays maps available at the city’s emergency communications center to each squad car when officers are responding to an emergency call. The vendor for the city’s computer aided dispatch system, TriTech, recommended the additional technology last summer as it worked on fixing problems with the city’s computer aided dispatch system. Cincinnati firefighters now have that technology — and fire officials say it was worth the money — but the Cincinnati Police Department didn’t get the update.
• The enormous Newport on the Levee shopping development just across the river in Northern Kentucky is changing hands. The Price Group LLC has been an owner of the mall and entertainment complex since it opened 17 years ago and is working to sell it to North American Properties, which plans to make improvements to the 380,000 square foot complex. The incoming owners say they’re not sure exactly how they’ll update the site just yet, but plan in community outreach as they make plans. The deal is expected to close in August.
• While we’re south of the river, let’s talk about efforts to update plans for cycling and pedestrian improvements in Kenton County. Officials with the county’s Kenton Connects Advisory Committee have just revealed a draft of that plan, which calls for added safety measures for walkers and bikers, bike lanes and clearer signs around bicycling on roads. The committee also identified hotspots in places like Covington where a lot of accidents involving bikes and pedestrians have happened. The next steps for the plan: a public meeting in August.
• Ohio Gov. John Kasich last week announced he was creating the Office for Opportunities for New Americans via an executive order. The office would help immigrants with vocational training, medical information and help with Ohio’s education system. Kasich’s move comes as a contrast to increasing rhetoric from many in his party — including President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions — that sounds alarms about undocumented immigrants. Kasich’s move is aimed at documented immigrants, his office says, but the newly-created initiative wouldn’t check immigration status.
“At a time when Americans are all worked up about immigration, I believe that immigration is a good thing,” Kasich said last week during a news conference announcing the executive order.
• Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot is running to lead the House Judiciary Committee, which would oversee any impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump should they happen. Chabot says he’d like to avoid that, however. Trump’s 2016 campaign is currently under investigation by special counsel Robert Muller for alleged collusion with the Russian government in the lead up to the last presidential election. Chabot says that so far, he thinks that investigation hasn’t turned up anywhere near enough evidence to impeach Trump, though Muller’s probe has resulted in a number of indictments against other campaign staff.
Chabot has previous experience — he served as one of 13 House members who oversaw the impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton. Chabot says the difference between Trump and Clinton is that it isn’t clear that Trump has committed perjury.
"This president has been accused of saying things that are not true, but not under oath," Chabot told The Cincinnati Enquirer after announcing he was running to head the judiciary committee. "If he does so, that's a different story."
