Democratic mayoral candidate John Cranley is
releasing a plan
today that promises to reward more of the city’s business contracts to black people, Latinos and women if he’s elected. Cranley says he will hire an inclusion officer that would help him achieve the goals of the plan, which is modeled partly after the African American Chamber of Commerce’s OPEN Cincinnati Plan that was passed by City Council in 2009. “In order to make Cincinnati a world-class city, we have to have a thriving, diverse middle class. We can’t do that if we leave half of our residents behind economically,” Cranley said in a statement. Cranley’s main opponent in the mayoral race is Democratic Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls, who supported the OPEN Cincinnati Plan in 2009. So far, the main issues surrounding the campaign have been the streetcar and parking plan — both of which Cranley opposes and Qualls supports.Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald is
asking Ohioans to take up a long, complicated petitioning process
that could lead to the repeal of some of the anti-abortion measures in the state budget. The process could force the Ohio General Assembly to consider repealing some of the measures unrelated to appropriating state funds, or it could put the repeal effort on the ballot in November 2014. FitzGerald is jump-starting the repeal campaign through a new website,Ohioans Fight Back
. CityBeat covered the state budget and its anti-abortion provisions, which Republican Gov. John Kasich signed into law, in further detailhere
.found more evidence of misused public funds
at Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy (CCPA), Greater Cincinnati’s largest charter school, including one example of salary overpayment and a range of inappropriate purchases of meals and entertainment. The school’s former superintendent and treasurer are already facing trial on charges of theft for previously discovered incidents. CCPA is set to receive $6 million from the state in 2014, up 3 percent from the previous year.The state’s prison watchdog released a new report that found force is
more often used against blacks in Ohio prisons
. Nearly 65 percent of “use of force” incidents in 2012 involved blacks, even though they only make up about 46 percent of the total prison population.After analyzing reports from the first quarter, Hamilton County
revised its estimates for casino revenue downward
. That means $500,000 less in 2014 for the stadium fund, which has long presented problems for the county’s budget. Still, the county says the revision isn’t a big problem and the focus should instead be on the bigger problem: a looming $30 million budget gap.Following an approved transfer from the governor and his staff, Ohio’s “rainy day fund”
hit an all-time record of $1.5 billion
. The fund is typically tapped into during emergency economic situations in which the state must spend a lot of extra money or take extraordinary measures to fix a sudden budget shortfall.reached a record high
in 2012.No. 4 in the nation for foreclosures
, according to a report from real estate information company RealtyTrac. The report adds more doubt to claims that Ohio is undergoing some sort of unique economic recovery, following a string of reports that found year-over-year job growth is lacking in the state. Still, Ohio added more jobs than any other state in May. If the robust growth holds in the June job report due next week, it could be a great economic sign for the state.leading to a downtown street closure
this weekend, presenting yet another sign that the project is moving forward. Earlier this week, CityBeat published thetop 10 misrepresentations surrounding the streetcar project
.New evidence suggests a fraction of disposable wells used during the hydraulic fracturing process — also known as “fracking” —
cause earthquakes
, but the risk can be averted with careful monitoring, according to the researchers. Fracking involves pumping millions of gallons of water underground to free up oil and gas reserves. CityBeat covered its effects in Ohio in further detailhere
.kill germs with sunlight
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