The city of Cincinnati is considering selling Over-the-Rhine’s historic Music Hall for just $1 to nonprofit Music Hall Revitalization Co. Inc. The looming need for $165 million worth of repairs has been too great for the city to handle, and selling it to a private entity could make attaining the funds easier. Some council members, however, are concerned about future naming rights and the nonprofit group’s request for $5 million in city funding. CINCINNATI +0
Televangelist Pat Robertson of the Christian Broadcasting Network’s The 700 Club told The New York Times he felt that marijuana should be decriminalized and treated the same way as alcohol because it was costing the government a “fortune” and turning young offenders sent to jail into “hardened criminals.” WORLD +1
Newport Aquarium topped travel website 10Best.com’s “Best Aquarium” list in its Readers’ Choice Travel Awards, beating out the Shedd Aquarium Chicago and others, including the seaside aquarium in Monterey Bay, Calif., and Discovery Cove in Orlando, Fla. CINCINNATI +1
In the latest bout of Abercrombie & Fitch’s anti-human antics, a leaked email from the A & F staff in Milan, Italy, ordered male employees who made errors to do pushups, while females were commanded to do squats. WORLD -2
Two St. Xavier swimmers, senior Andrew Brower and former student Alex Smit, have qualified for the 2012 Olympic trials to take place this summer in Omaha, Neb. Represent! CINCINNATI +1
Computer security firm Symantec Corp. conducted an elaborate experiment on lost smartphones, and the results weren’t pretty. Although the “lost” smartphones were loaded with easy-to-find data to return the gadgets to their rightful owners, only 50 percent of finders returned the phones and 89 percent of finders viewed information deemed private, such as banking information, social networking info and passwords. WORLD -1
THIS WEEK: CINCINNATI +2, WORLD -2
TO DATE: CINCINNATI +4, WORLD -14
