Good morning all. Here’s the news today.
The Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation has announced its plans for the site of the former City Gospel Mission in Over-the-Rhine. The non-profit social service agency, which had occupied the spot on Elm and Magnolia Streets since 1927, recently moved to a new facility in Queensgate. That move was part of the city’s Homelessness to Homes plan, which created five new shelters in places like Queensgate and Mount Auburn. Those facilities are larger and more up-to-date than the older buildings occupied by organizations like City Gospel and the Drop Inn Center, but aren’t in Over-the-Rhine and aren’t as close to downtown. City Gospel’s historic church won’t be torn down, but another, more recent building next to it will be demolished to make room for three townhomes 3CDC wants to build. The developer purchased the property from City Gospel earlier this month for $750,000.
• The city has settled a civil wrongful death lawsuit with the estate of David "Bones" Hebert. Hebert was shot and killed by Cincinnati Police Sgt. Andrew Mitchell in 2011 after officers responded to a 911 call alleging an intoxicated man was robbed by Hebert and assaulted with a pirate sword. Hebert was located sitting on a sidewalk on Chase Avenue in Northside about 10 minutes later. During subsequent questioning, officers said Hebert drew a knife and moved toward an investigating officer, causing Mitchell to believe the officer’s life was in danger. Mitchell shot Hebert twice, killing him. Initial investigations cleared Mitchell of wrongdoing, but other reviews found he acted outside of police protocol, getting too close to Hebert and not formulating a plan for engaging him. Friends of Hebert have since made efforts to clear his name, saying he was a non-violent person caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. His advocates have set up a website, friendsofbones.org, to present evidence in the case and try and clear Hebert's name.
The settlement states that it's unclear whether an open knife found at the scene was Hebert's, and that there was no sword involved in the incident. Paul Carmack, who is administrator of Hebert's estate in Cincinnati, made a statement about the settlement on social media yesterday.
"Today the Family has reached an agreement w/ the City of Cincinnati to settle the pending lawsuit in the death of Bones. In the days to come a statement will be released on behalf of the city & the estate to clarify Bones name and show that he did not attack anyone on the night in question. This statement is why this lawsuit was undertaken. Without this statement there would be no settlement. Bones wasn't the attempted cop killer he was painted as nor did he attempt suicide by cop. Bones was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, in front of the wrong people. Today's events allow Mr. & Mrs. Hebert to bury their son as the fun loving, care free spirit we all knew and love to this day."
• More information is coming out about the other officers who responded to the University of Cincinnati police shooting death of 43-year-old Samuel Dubose. Two officers who were at the scene of that shooting and made statements supporting officer Ray Tensing, who shot Dubose, have been suspended as an investigation into their statements continues. At least one of those officers, Phillip Kidd, was also involved in the 2010 taser death of a mentally ill man named Kelly Brinson. Kidd and fellow UC officer Eric Weibel, who wrote the police report about the Dubose shooting, were defendants in a wrongful death lawsuit over Brinson’s death in UC police custody. Weibel’s police report about the Dubose shooting quotes Kidd saying that officer Tensing was dragged by Dubose’s car. But body camera footage of the incident shows that Tensing was never dragged by the car before shooting Dubose. Kidd could face criminal charges for the apparently false statements.
• Tensing has pleaded not guilty a murder charge and is out on a $1 million bond. He’s also suing to get his job back. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Enquirer has published some, uh, interesting pieces around the Dubose shooting, including a first-person article in which a reporter who never met Dubose visits his grave and another where a baseball coach from Tensing’s teenage years vouches for the officer, saying he’s “not a monster.”
• The tragic shooting of a four-year-old in Avondale seems to have sparked renewed tensions between Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell and Cincinnati City Manager Harry Black. The unidentified girl was sitting outside when she was struck by a stray bullet from a drive by near Reading Road. She’s currently hospitalized in critical condition, and doctors say it’s unknown if she will survive. Black told media on the scene that he takes such incidents into account when judging the chief’s performance. As city manager, Black has hiring and firing power for the position. A spike in shootings earlier this summer and documents drafted by the city detailing the chief’s potential exit created speculation that Blackwell might be forced out of his position. Black said last night that while overall crime is down, he considers the level of shootings in the city unacceptable, and that he holds Blackwell accountable.
"It's ridiculous and it's not acceptable and it will not be allowed to continue," he said. "I told the chief tonight we are going after them. That is my expectation and that is how I'm going to be how I evaluate his effectiveness as chief."
• In a final push, marijuana legalization effort ResponsibleOhio made its extended deadline to turn in extra signatures for a petition drive to get a state constitutional amendment making weed legal on the November ballot. The group, which missed the required 300,000 signatures last time around by about 30,000, turned in another 95,000 to the state yesterday at the buzzer. The state will now review those signatures, and if enough are valid, the measure will go before voters. ResponsibleOhio proposes legalizing marijuana and creating 10 commercial grow sites owned by the group’s investors. Small amounts of private cultivation would also be allowed under the amendment.
• Finally, prepare thyself for the swarm: As this New York Times piece details, the Republican Party is focusing in on Ohio in a big way. Next week is the first GOP 2016 presidential primary debate in Cleveland, and the party is hoping to use the event to stoke its base in a big way. And that’s just the start. Expect activists, political operatives, and many, many people in red bowties and blue blazers (sorry to my Republican friends. But you really do look dashing in the Tucker Carlson getup) descending upon the heart of it all. Can’t wait for that. One brilliant thing someone has done: a number of billboards around the debate venue in Cleveland will carry messages about unarmed black citizens killed by police, including 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was shot by police while playing with a toy pistol in a park.
That's it for me. Get out and check out that big full moon tonight, and for the love of god, have a good weekend my friends. Find something thrilling. Hang out with folks you love. It's been an intense week.
