Morning News and Stuff

It’s legal in most of Ohio for an employer to fire someone over his or her sexual orientation, but a new bipartisan bill being pushed by Equality Ohio could

make the practice and anti-LGBT discrimination for housing illegal

. Critics of the Equal Housing and Employment Act argue it could lead to a flood of lawsuits against companies, but Equality Ohio argues that just hasn’t happened in other states that passed nondiscrimination statutes. The bill’s Democratic and Republican sponsors argue that it would actually grow the economy by making Ohio more inclusive, which would make it easier to keep “the best and the brightest” employees. The bill was introduced in May and its sponsors expect it to be taken up after the General Assembly reconvenes in October.

In the United States, Ohio’s power plants

pollute more than all but Texas’ power plants

, making Ohio one of the nation’s leading contributors to global warming, according to a Sept. 10 report from advocacy group Environment Ohio. The report calls for all levels of government to create and enforce stronger standards and regulations to curtail pollution and encourage cleaner forms of energy. National conservative groups oppose the stricter rules; they flat-out deny human-caused global warming despite

the nearly unanimous scientific consensus that it’s at least partly caused by human actions

. Some companies also

argue efficiency standards impose too many costs

on businesses and customers.

Cincinnati officials apparently

expected Pure Romance to get tax credits from Ohio

. But the state ultimately refused to grant the credits, which are regularly given to firms for job creation. Now the company, along with its $100 million in annual revenues, is considering moving across the river to Covington, Ky. Ohio officials won’t clarify why Pure Romance’s request was refused, but the company suspects it’s because its product lineup includes sex toys, which could have been politically embarrassing for Gov. John Kasich’s administration.

Following the Sept. 10 mayoral primary’s historically low voter turnout, the Charter Committee, Cincinnati’s unofficial third political party, is

supporting efforts to reform how the city elects its mayors

. “It is absurd that taxpayers paid $400,000 for a primary yesterday that few people voted in, and that decided very little,” said Mike Goldman, convener of the Charter Committee, in a statement. Voter turnout for the Sept. 10 mayoral primary was a dismal 5.68 percent, much lower than the 15 percent that turned out for the primary held on Sept. 11, 2001 — the day of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon — and the 21 percent of voters that participated in the 2005 primary.

A City Council motion could

strip council members’ support

for a controversial permanent supportive housing facility in Avondale. The proposed facility, Commons at Alaska, would be a 99-unit housing facility with residency and supportive services for the homeless, particularly those with mental health issues, physical disabilities and histories of substance abuse. Several Avondale residents are concerned the facility would further deteriorate an already-blighted community. CityBeat covered the dispute in further detail here .

Cincinnati Public Schools is asking the state to force the Emery Center, home of the embattled Emery Theatre, to

pay taxes

. The property taxes could produce $130,000 a year for CPS, which the school district says it needs because local property taxes make up more of its funding than the typical urban district in Ohio. The Emery Center was originally tax exempt under a plan that used the ground floor for education purposes and a renovated Emery Theatre for community events. But neither happened; the ground floor is currently used by the Coffee Emporium, and the theater currently isn’t being renovated or used.

A judge ordered Duke Energy to

destroy or return a memo

that was apparently embarrassing for Cincinnati officials because the memo, which was sent by the city’s Law Department to the city manager, was supposed to remain private under attorney-client privilege. Duke wanted to use the memo in its current case against the city. The city and Duke are in court as part of an agreement between the two entities to legally settle who has to pay for moving utility lines to accommodate for the streetcar project.

The Ohio Department of Insurance

hasn’t received any applications or certified individuals for Obamacare’s formal outreach effort

. The “navigators,” as officials call them, are a crucial part of Obamacare because they’re supposed to promote the law’s benefits to ensure the federal government meets its health insurance enrollment goals to keep costs down. Health care advocates claim the lag is driven by federal training requirements and a state law enacted in July. The state law made it so some groups, including Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, can no longer participate in the navigator program, as CityBeat covered in further detail

here

.

Debe Terhar, the president of Ohio Board of Education,

wants Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye removed from the state’s Common Core education standards

because the book contains a rape scene. Terhar called the book “pornographic” at a Sept. 10 Board of Education meeting. But Terhar clarified that she doesn’t want to ban the book, and she would still allow different school districts keep it in their curriculums.

State Auditor Dave Yost says Ohio’s cities and counties

need to do a better job complying with public record requests

. A sampling of 20 cities and counties found eight, or 40 percent, had weaknesses in compliance. The most common problem was inadequate measures to track public record requests.

The Cincinnati area’s largest mall is

up for sale for $45 million

. The struggling mall has gone through several names over the years: Forest Fair Village, Cincinnati Mall, Cincinnati Mills and Forest Fair Mall.

Orangutans apparently announce their travel plans a day in advance.