Hey all! It’s rainy and gloomy, but it’s also Friday, so there’s that. Grab a cup of your morning brew of choice (no beer or liquor just yet, please; let's maybe wait until at least noon for that) and let’s talk about the news.
The Bureau of Criminal Investigation has released new information about the Aug. 5 police shooting of John Crawford III in a Beavercreek Walmart. The documents show that at least three other people proceeding Crawford had picked up and carried the unpackaged pellet gun Crawford had with him when he died. The reports also indicate at least one employee expressed concern about Crawford carrying the pellet gun because it was hard to tell if the weapon was real or not. The documents also reveal that the officers did not identify themselves as police, and that the officer who shot Crawford, Sean Williams, is not the one who gave alleged orders for Crawford to put the weapon down. However, the police story that officers shouted those orders is corroborated by at least three other witnesses in the documents, though the length of time they say police gave Crawford to comply with those orders varies from one to two seconds to five or more, depending on the witness. An Ohio grand jury declined to indict Williams in Crawford’s death, but the Department of Justice is investigating the case.
• Lincoln Heights fire fighters are back at work this morning after a lapse in the municipality’s insurance police left the department, as well as the village’s police force, off the job yesterday. The police department is still not back at work, and emergency calls for law enforcement are being handled by neighboring municipalities.
• Speaking of law enforcement: The University of Cincinnati has named a new police chief. Jason Goodrich, currently police chief for Lamar University in Texas, will become UC’s new director of public safety on Nov. 1. Goodrich has also been a police captain at Vanderbilt University as well as a chief at University of Indiana Southeast and Southern Arkansas University.
• A Cincinnati-area brewery is one of crowdfunding site Kickstarter’s most popular projects. Braxton Brewing Co. raised $30,000 in just 35 hours from funders on the site. The project set a single-day fundraising record for breweries on Kickstarter. Part of the boost probably came from the really cool Rookwood beer steins they're offering backers. I don't even really drink beer (I'm more of a whiskey guy) and I want one of those. Although one of those steins filled with Wild Turkey would probably mess me up real good. Anyway, Braxton is looking to open in Covington this winter.
• Walnut Hills has been quietly changing for a while now, stacking new development and rehab projects. Here’s an article about an upcoming rehab of a historic building on Madison Road and Woodburn Ave. that local group Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation hopes will spark more development in the area. It’s a preview of what may lie ahead for the neighborhood, one of Cincinnati’s first suburbs and, more recently, one of the city’s lowest-income neighborhoods.
• Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell rolled into Cincinnati yesterday to chat with The Cincinnati Enquirer, making his case for why Kentuckians in the Greater Cincinnati area should vote for him. His pitch is basically that voters should keep him in power because he’s, well, powerful, and could run the Senate if it flips to Republicans in November. Give him power because he’s powerful. Got it? Good. On more substantive issues, McConnell was wishy-washy, providing few details or practical policy ideas on the state’s heroin epidemic or the crumbling, highly trafficked Brent Spence bridge linking Ohio and Kentucky. Oh yeah, and he said Congress can’t get anything done because Democrats are bad, and that if he’s reelected and Republicans take the Senate he’ll run a smoother ship. Or, again, give him power because he could be powerful. He also wants to lower corporate taxes as a way to fix the gap between the wealthy and everyone else. Because giving the wealthiest, most powerful interests in the country a break on taxes is exactly what low and middle income people need. Give them power, because they’re powerful. Got it.
• Finally, speaking of Congress, wealth and power, here’s a Brookings Institution piece on just how many of our U.S. House members come from humble means. Spoiler alert: not many. There are 435 House members overall, and the article finds five who come from something other than a wealthy background. Here’s a quick takeaway: The median yearly income for an incoming House member in 2012 was $807,013. The median income for Americans overall is about $45,000.
