Morning News and Stuff

Mayor Mark Mallory will deliver his operating budget proposal to City Council today after making changes to the

city manager’s proposal

, which hikes property taxes and lays off 201 city employees, including cops and firefighters. City Council will then be able to change and give final approval to the budget plan before June 1. Some of the cuts may

hit parks the hardest

, but city administration officials are cautioning that they did not recommend the specific cuts being outlined, and it’s up to the Cincinnati Parks Board to decide which areas the cuts will impact. The city planned to help balance its $35 million operating budget deficit with the

parking plan

, but that plan is currently being held up in court .

The Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition is

speaking out

against the settlement to sell the Anna Louise Inn to Western & Southern for

$4 million

. “What has been served today is not justice nor moral on the part of Western & Southern, and we will push for a day when Western Southern recognizes their wrong-doings, asks for forgiveness and turns to doing good,” said Josh Spring, executive of the Homeless Coalition, in a statement. The group is asking supporters of the Anna Louise Inn to meet at the Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church Friday at 6 p.m. to discuss further action.

City Council is likely to

keep its ability to call votes on different items

in larger ordinances and motions after seemingly failing to get support from six elected council members. Councilwoman Yvette Simpson, who proposed the changes, says the power is confusing because there’s no hard standard set for what is separable, but Councilwoman Laure Quinlivan, who has used the power before and supports it, says the rule retains choice and flexibility. City Council is currently reviewing many of its procedural rules, according to Simpson.

Ohio’s third grade reading guarantee was reworked by the Ohio House in part to

relax standards for teachers

. Previously, the law mandated teachers providing reading guarantee services to have taught the subject for at least three years, which critics of the law previously called “impossible to meet.”

The Ohio House is

slowing down

with its Internet cafe moratorium bill while the Ohio Senate works on its bill that would effectively ban the businesses altogether. State officials, particularly Attorney General Mike DeWine, have warned that Internet cafes are prone to criminal activity, but supporters say the businesses are just providing a demanded service.

The National Transportation Safety Board is recommending states

strengthen drunken driving standards

from a blood-alcohol limit of 0.08 percent to 0.05 percent.

Here

is the science behind hating nails on a chalkboard.