Good morning Cincy. Let’s get to some news real quick.
Some Cincinnati leaders say they’ll be unveiling a “significant next step” in addressing racial disparities at a news conference this morning. That’s an ambitious goal, but there are some heavy hitters involved: local faith and civil rights leaders including Bishop Bobby Hilton of the National Action Network; former State Sen. Eric Kearney, currently CEO of the African American Chamber; former mayor Dwight Tillery; and council members Tamaya Dennard, Greg Landsman, David Mann, P.G. Sittenfeld and Wendell Young are all slated to speak. They’ll be unveiling their new proposal at City Hall at 10:30 a.m.
• Cincinnati-based retailer Macy’s is asking the Cincinnati Planning Commission to let it divide up its downtown headquarter space, Seventh Street Tower, into an eight-acre parcel that would include its parking garage and retail space as well as another 22-acre parcel that would have its office space. That move would allow the company to sell the garage and comes as Macy’s reconfigures its downtown presence, closing up its 20-year-old store just down the street at Fountain Place.
• A riverfront site in Newport once proposed as a place to put FC Cincinnati’s stadium has seen some major infrastructure investment recently. Newport site owners Corporex and the City of Newport have poured more than $1 million in sewer infrastructure spending into the Ovation site just west of Newport on the Levee. That spending doesn’t necessarily mean anyone is prepping for a stadium there. Before all the stadium chatter, Corporex filed plans to put more than 50 townhomes and hundreds of condos and apartments on the site, along with a couple hundred thousand feet of retail space. FCC’s stadium needs pivot on whether they get a Major League Soccer expansion franchise. They could also very easily end up in Cincinnati after the city and Hamilton County agreed to $52 million infrastructure spending to support a stadium in the city. But the spending at Ovation is a sign that something is coming. Eventually. Right?
• Let’s stay in Northern Kentucky for a minute. The region has seen a surge of HIV cases related to intravenous drug use, but a practice that could mitigate those infections is hamstrung by state law. Though needle exchanges have proven effective in reducing the spread of diseases related to IV drug use, such exchanges in Kentucky must gain both municipal and county-level approval. That’s a big hurdle to clear, even in places like Newport, which has been hit hard by new needle-related HIV cases. If it happens there, however, other city and county officials may move forward with approving the exchanges.
• A white Mason City Schools teacher who told one of her middle school students that his peers were going to “form a mob and lynch” him has been put on leave by the district. Renee Thole, the teacher, told the student she didn’t mean the comment the way it came out. The student told his mother, who complained to the district.
Initially, Thole received a formal reprimand and was ordered to attend sensitivity training. But the district later decided to suspend her as well.
“There’s no explanation or defense that would make such a comment appropriate in any setting,” Mason City Schools Superintendent Gail Kist-Kline wrote in a statement explaining the move placing Thole on administrative leave. “It was wrong. Racism is real in America, and we all have an obligation to fight it.”
• Troubled online charter school the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow could close after the state of Ohio demanded it pay back millions of dollars. Should its founder also be on the hook for the money the state paid for students who likely didn’t log on? Candidates running for Ohio attorney general think so. Read more in this Columbus Dispatch story.
• In case you didn’t notice over the past year or two, Ohio Gov. John Kasich has some opinions about fellow GOPer President Donald Trump. He gave his latest jab last week while speaking on a media call for watchdog group Freedom House. Kasich’s remarks sound like something you tell your 8 year old when they throw a fit because you won’t buy them pizza for dinner.
“Sometimes when you’re frustrated, it’s best just to sit on your hands and keep your mouth shut,” Kasich said, referring to Trump’s bombastic tirades against the press and the nation’s judicial branch. Kasich also blasted a recent decision by Trump to rescind residency permits for some 200,000 Salvadoran residents in the United States. Those permits were issued following a 2001 earthquake and subsequent political unrest in the country. Trump’s decision could lead to deportations next year.
For the record, Kasich’s comments came before Trump reportedly called nations in Africa and elsewhere “shitholes” as he talked about immigration. No word what Kasich thinks about that, but if I wasn’t in reporter mode, I’d tell you what I think about it.
• Finally, if you thought the end of net neutrality was a done deal after the FCC squashed the Obama-era rule requiring that internet providers charge the same price for access to various websites and kinds of content, well, there may be hope. Democrats in the U.S. Senate say they have 50 votes to overturn the FCC’s decision and need just one more Republican senator to jump on board. Who’s it going to be, y’all? I can’t afford to pay $90 a month to stream ’90s R&B videos from YouTube. Boyz II Men should be free for all.
This article appears in Jan 10-17, 2018.
