[WINNER]
HOMELESS PEOPLE: People who live on the streets and have mental problems soon will get some much-needed help. Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health Services recently received a $300,000 grant from the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati to fund a three-year joint project with the Cincinnati Health Network. It will provide behavioral health services to homeless individuals through an office at the McMicken Health Collaborative in Over-the-Rhine. Findings from a Hamilton County study in 2010 showed that at least 56 percent of chronically homeless people report problems with mental illness. Officials estimate about 500 individuals will be served each year at the site.
[LOSER]
INDIANA OFFICIALS: Well, not all Indiana officials. Just the ones in the state’s Department of Natural Resources. They’re losers because of how they’ve chosen to interpret the state’s animal cruelty laws. Maybe you’ve heard of Snapperfest, held annually at a private campground in Rising Sun. Since 1996, contestants have grabbed large, formerly wild turtles by their tail, thrown the animals on the ground, then used their hand to force the terrified turtle’s head out of the shell, wrapped their hands around its neck and hoisted it into the air. The same actions would be deemed violations if done to a household pet, but IDNR’s position is that animal cruelty laws don’t apply to wild animals. Disgusting.
[WINNER]
STREETCARS: Republican candidatess vying for Cincinnati City Council must be in a quandary right about now. That’s because even though the GOP contenders have made opposing Cincinnati’s planned streetcar system their cause du jour during this campaign season, the regional Chamber of Commerce is against a charter amendment that would block the system’s construction for a decade.
Republican stalwarts like Leslie Ghiz and Charlie Winburn usually trumpet their lock-step agreement with the Chamber on issues, so this one poses a problem for them. (Also opposing Issue 48 is the League of Women Voters, a well-respected, nonpartisan group.) Speaking of Winburn...
[LOSER]
CHARLIE WINBURN: As head of City Council’s Job Creation Committee, Winburn can’t point to much that he’s done. Now that a major Cincinnati employer might leave town, though, Winburn is quick to pass the buck. After Chiquita announced it might move its headquarters — and 330 jobs — to another state, Charlie told The Enquirer, “If the city loses this company, then we need to call for an evaluation of city administration.” No, you need to look in the mirror. Among the reasons Chiquita is mulling a move are the dwindling number of international flights at the airport and the lack of a bilingual workforce. Neither of these issues have been on Winburn’s radar, and they certainly haven’t been causes embraced by the GOP.
