Hello all. Here are some quick news bits for you this morning.
Are hopes for federal funding for a Brent Spence Bridge replacement sunk because Cincinnati is a sanctuary city? Probably not, but we could get more hints about that soon. As we mentioned yesterday, President Donald Trump will be in Cincinnati tomorrow at 1 p.m. at the Rivertowne Marina overlooking the Ohio River. He’s here to talk about his $1 trillion infrastructure spending proposal — specifically, the importance of inland waterways. But it seems unlikely he won’t at least nod to the functionally obsolete Brent Spence, which needs a multi-billion-dollar replacement. The project landed on a Trump administration list of potential infrastructure priorities — but that was before Trump vowed not to funnel federal funding to cities that say they won’t go along with the president’s draconian immigration enforcement efforts. That, however, may not matter in the case of the Brent Spence — the bridge is a major link for national shipping that is actually owned by Kentucky.
• Jury selection for the retrial of former University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing enters its third day today. With the pool narrowed down to 95 jurors after some were dismissed yesterday, Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Leslie Ghiz says she expects the final 12 jurors could be selected by the time the day is over. You can watch the court proceedings live here. Tensing is charged with murder and manslaughter for the shooting death of unarmed motorist Samuel DuBose during a routine traffic stop in Mount Auburn in July 2015.
• The city of Cincinnati has been hosting informational and listening sessions around the upcoming city budget, but it hasn’t exactly been a sold-out tour. The meetings, designed to disseminate information and get feedback about the budget, have been sparsely attended thus far. At last night’s meeting in West Price Hill, just 10 residents spoke, mostly in support of human services funding. The final budget informational session is tomorrow at 6 p.m. at the North Avondale Recreation Center. City Manager Harry Black has already released his budget proposal, which Mayor John Cranley adjusted. Cincinnati City Council must approve a budget by the end of the month.
• Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley yesterday announced that the city has filed a lawsuit against major drug manufacturers it says are partly responsible for the opioid epidemic. That move comes after Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine sued drug companies for the same reason last week. Both DeWine and Whaley are running for governor of Ohio in 2018. The City Council of Lorain has also voted to file a similar suit, and Cincinnati officials say they’re considering their options as well. Whaley’s lawsuit takes DeWine’s actions a step further, naming drug distributors like Ohio’s Cardinal Health as well as four out-of-state doctors who encouraged opioid use via marketing campaigns.
• Will the folks who brought us Rhinegeist beer open up a medicinal marijuana facility in Camp Washington? It could happen, but it's up to Hamilton County Commissioners, who must sign off on the plan to turn a former industrial facility into a grow site and dispensary. If the commission says yes, the next step would be an application for state licenses to grow and distribute medicinal marijuana.
• Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval is among 28 Ohioans tapped by the state’s two U.S. Senators to recommend candidates for two vacant federal judgeships in Ohio’s northern and southern districts. Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman will take the commission’s recommendations to President Trump, who must appoint the judges. The commission is made up of Democrat and Republican attorneys. The two positions are among 131 vacancies in the federal judiciary Trump has the opportunity to fill.
