Morning News and Stuff

New York City mayoral candidates

see Cincinnati Public Schools’ (CPS) community learning centers as a model for their city’s schools

. The centers bring members of the community, including dental clinics, mental health therapists and mentors from local banks and churches, to a school hub to keep students engaged after traditional classroom hours end. But an analysis from The New York Times also finds that progress has been fairly modest, with some schools in the district still struggling and graduation and attendance rates showing little sign of improvement. Still, CPS officials argue the initiative has helped mitigate the effects of poverty and hunger in the classroom. CityBeat covered CPS and its community learning centers back in October

here

.

The city of Cincinnati

could take control of the Emery Theatre

following a legal dispute between the Requiem Project, a nonprofit seeking to renovate the theater, and the University of Cincinnati, Emery Center Apartments Limited Partnership and the Emery Center Corporation, the group of leasers and owners trying to push Requiem out of the building. Requiem stated in a letter Friday that it would approve of the city taking over the building, a possibility currently being analyzed by Cincinnati’s legal team. CityBeat first covered the Emery Theater situation in further detail

here

.

SoMoLend, the local startup and city partner that connects small businesses seeking loans and lenders,

is being accused of fraud by the state of Ohio

. The charges could force the high-profile business to shut down; for the time being, it’s not giving out any loans in the state. In December, the city of Cincinnati

teamed up with SoMoLend

in a partnership that was meant to land local small businesses and startups much-needed loans through crowdfunding.

Ohio

will spend $6.2 million this fiscal year to combat gambling addictions

. With casinos, racinos and gambling generally expanding in Ohio, the state government is directing more money to county mental health and addiction boards to ensure problem gamblers are treated.

The two officers who were on the clock when death row inmate Billy Slagle hung himself

have been put on paid administrative leave

while the Ohio prisons department investigates what happened. Slagle was convicted of murder and sentenced to death — a punishment the Ohio Parole Board and Gov. John Kasich upheld in July despite pleas from a county prosecutor — but he hung himself days before he was supposed to be executed. CityBeat covered Slagle’s case in further detail

here

.

Attorney General Mike DeWine is asking Ohioans to be cautious of unsolicited phone calls offering medical alert devices

.

Cincinnati’s Horseshoe Casino

accidentally awarded two $1 million prizes

on Saturday night. It turns out the casino gave a $1 million check to the wrong Kevin Lewis, so it decided to keep course with the original check and give another $1 million to the Lewis the check was originally intended for.

Cursive might get kicked from the classroom

.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is directing federal prosecutors to

minimize the use of mandatory minimum drug sentences

. The change will mostly benefit drug offenders with no ties to large-scale organizations, gangs or cartels and no history of violence.

Ohio gas prices dropped this week and remain below the national average

.

Actual headline: “Video shows thief stealing cigarettes

.”

Check out Kings Island’s new roller coaster:

Banshee

.

Sanjay Gupta, neurosurgeon and CNN’s medical respondent, is now

down with marijuana

.