Things happen. News things. Even on Fridays. That’s why I’m here. Let’s do this.
The city will not step in to help Mahogany’s, the embattled restaurant at The Banks. The establishment’s landlord, NIC Riverbanks One LLC, served Mahogany’s an eviction notice last week after the restaurant fell behind on rent and state sales taxes. The city, which recruited Mahogany’s to come to The Banks from Hamilton in 2012 in part to increase diversity at the new development, had until today to step in and broker some kind of agreement between the restaurant and the leasing agent. Mahogany’s owner Liz Rogers has said the restaurant is looking to relocate.
New City Manager Harry Black, who started work this week, said the administration won’t be coming to Mahogany’s aid and that it’s high time the city get out of the restaurant business. The restaurant owes about $250,000 on a loan the city gave in 2012. That loan was accompanied by a nearly $700,000 grant.
• A federal judge ruled yesterday that a 19-year-old Ohio law banning lies in campaign ads is unconstitutional and must be repealed. That’s a win for Cincinnati-area conservative group Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes, as well as anti-abortion group the Susan B. Anthony List, both of whom sued Ohio over the law in 2010. That case stemmed from a complaint then-U.S. Rep. Steve Driehaus filed with the Ohio Elections Commission. Driehaus complained that a billboard ad SBA planned to buy accusing him of supporting taxpayer-funded abortions was a lie. The billboard’s owner declined to run the ad due to the possibility of legal action under the Ohio law. SBA and COAST claim that’s a violation of their free speech rights, and a federal judge agreed, saying it was up to voters to decide the truth of political statements, not the government.
• Just a quick hit: Yesterday I wrote about Cincinnati’s Red Bike program, and how it will launch Monday. Well, here’s a useful list of all 30 of the bike share’s locations around the city.
• Another quick one: Mayor John Cranley yesterday convened a meeting for folks interested in becoming involved in the Young Professionals Kitchen Cabinet, an advisory board made up of, you guessed it, young professionals. Cranley gave remarks about his vision for the city as it relates to the youngins, pledged to consider and advocate for proposals the group comes up with and also briefly mourned the ephemerality of his youth. YPKC leadership talked about the role the group can play by keeping issues important to young people on the city’s radar. The group is taking applications until Oct. 31 and will meet monthly.
• I missed this one a few days ago but feel like it’s noteworthy, so let’s circle back and take a brief look. Brewery X, the project that looks to renovate Mount Adams’ historic pump building, is on again after some back and forth over the terms of a $1.5 million loan the city was considering for the project. The deal has been restructured in such a way that the city will retain ownership of the building, instead of the developer having the option to eventually buy it for $1.
• OK, so this is kind of terrifying. Nineteen-year-old T.J. Lane, who killed three people in a 2012 school shooting, briefly escaped from a prison 80 miles south of Toledo yesterday with two other inmates. Ohio Highway Patrol officers recaptured him about six hours later just 100 yards away from the facility. The other two escapees were also quickly recaptured. Prison officials say they’re investigating how Lane escaped and why he wasn’t in a more secure prison.
• President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton will participate in a volunteer swearing-in ceremony today honoring the 20th anniversary of national service program AmeriCorps, which was created on this day in 1994. Since that time, more than 900,000 people have served more than 1 billion hours of community service, officials with the program say. Full disclosure: I did AmeriCorps for two years here in Cincinnati and it was pretty much a life-changing experience.
• Favorable weather for abundant harvests in major food producing regions around the globe means food has gotten relatively cheaper, the United Nations says. The UN’s global food price index is at its lowest level in four years, with most essentials from grains to dairy products becoming more affordable. Some foods like beef and pork are still expensive, however. And though it’s been going down recently, food is still more expensive than it was in the past. Most prices are still significantly higher than they were in the 1990s.
