Cincinnati Public Schools could be getting much needed additional space for pre-schoolers as soon as next school year. The CPS board voted unanimously in favor of renovating the old Vine Street school. The old school, which sits at Vine and Mulberry streets in Mount Auburn, has been empty since 2012. The building was last used to house Rothenberg and Taft elementary schools while their buildings were undergoing renovations. The proposed project will cost about $7-$8 million and go forth "when the funds are available," ideally opening next fall potentially as a pre-school, according to board member Eve Bolton. Pre-school expansion has become a priority for CPS as it turns away 1,000 kids from pre-school every year.
• A debate over Mayor John Cranley's proposed city park property tax levy between pro-levy environmentalist Brewster Rhodes and anti-levy activist Don Mooney drew a crowd of more than 200 people to The Phoenix downtown yesterday. Mooney is disturbed over the amount of control Mayor Cranley, who was not in attendance, has over the money and projects. Rhodes argued it's OK because City Council, the parks board and the mayor would share control. Rhodes later admitted the proposal wasn't perfect because it lacked public input. I was not in attendance at this event, but staff writer Nick Swartsell was, so more details on this debate will follow.
• There is still no cost estimate from the state on the new Uptown Interstate-71 exchange. The Ohio Department of Transportation is dragging its heels on finalizing the sale price of 16 properties, and the price tag for the project won't be known until those sales are finalized. A spokesman for the DOT told the Enquirer that the real estate purchases could possibly be a contributing factor in holding up the construction, but the project should be finished by August 2017. Gov. John Kasich, who is currently schmoozing with undecided voters in New Hampshire, has pushed the project since he first took office in 2011. The Uptown area is the second-biggest area for jobs in the city, but lacks direct access from interstate 71.
• The Red Bike program, which recently turned 1 year old, celebrated another milestone yesterday: It had its 100,000th ride. Cincinnati resident Keith Piercy unsuspectedly checked out bike that made the milestone ride Monday morning and was actually on his way to buy a bike helmet, having recently enrolled in the city-wide bike-sharing program. As someone who frequently bikes to work on bike lanes that are nearly empty, I encourage everyone to follow Piercy's example.
• The stoners of Colorado and their fun, fruity marijuana-laced candy couldn't win over Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. He recently returned from a trip to the state that has famously legalized recreational marijuana and reported that he met with more than a dozen people who apparently told him "you'd be crazy to bring this to Ohio." DeWine gave a press conference yesterday in which he declared, “Ohio will be fundamentally changed if Issue 3 passes." DeWine took issue with the marijuana-laced candies, which look the same as non-laced candies and could potentially be a danger to kids. Ian James, the executive director of ResponsibleOhio, the super PAC responsible for putting Issue 3 on the Nov. 3 ballot, said DeWine didn't meet with marijuana supporters in Colorado, including Gov. John Hickenlooper.
• Well, we've all just barely recovered from the GOP presidential primary debates in time to watch the Democrats duke it out. Jim Webb, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Lincoln Chafee and Martin O'Malley will be in Las Vegas tonight to push their liberal agendas on CNN. Clinton and Sanders will likely be the most-watched contenders, as they're received the most attention for their campaigns, but it should be nice to see a few extra faces in there. The action starts at 8:30.
If you start to zone out in the middle of the debate, you can always stay focused by looking for City Councilman P.G Sittenfeld, who will be popping his head in three times during the debate in the form of television spots. The spots form a kind of narrative arc to promote his run for the U.S. Senate, where he is far behind better-known fellow Democratic contender and former Ohio governor Ted Strickland.