Supporters of the streetcar project
are rallying in a last-stand effort to save the streetcar
from an incoming city government that’s threatening to cancel the project. Supporters plan to meet today in a town hall-style meeting at 7 p.m. at the Mercantile Library, 414 Walnut St. #1100, downtown Cincinnati. Some of the supporters of the movement are residents, business owners and realtors in Over-the-Rhine who told
CityBeat that canceling the project will set the city’s economic momentum back. Mayor-elect John Cranley disagrees, but the decision is ultimately up to the newly elected City Council to cancel the project, and at least three of nine newly elected council members previously seen as streetcar opponents — P.G. Sittenfeld, David Mann and Kevin Flynn — told
CityBeat they’d like to evaluate the costs of canceling the project and the potential return of investment versus the cost of completing construction.
will resign on Dec. 1
and receive one year of severance pay, Cranley announced yesterday. To political watchers, the news comes as very little surprise. Cranley and Dohoney disagreed on two key issues — the streetcar project and
parking plan
, both of which Cranley opposes and Dohoney supported and helped get off the ground. Once the new mayor and City Council take over in December, Cranley says he will appoint a yet-to-be-named interim city manager and begin looking for a permanent replacement.
Despite Saks Fifth Avenue’s departure, the city
intends to move forward
with its plans to build a retail corridor downtown, and others have approached the city about taking Saks’ space, according to Kathleen Norris, managing principal of Urban Fast Forward and the city’s retail leasing consultant. Saks announced yesterday that it’s closing down its downtown store and moving to Kenwood Collection. Although the move is a blow to the city, a few city officials were quick to point to other growth in downtown Cincinnati as an example of what will attract new retail outlets in the future.
nearly set
to fund the $107 million interchange project at Interstate 71 and Martin Luther King Drive. As part of the deal, the Ohio Department of Transportation will pay for $52 million, and Cincinnati and the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) will take a loan from the state infrastructure bank to pay for their share. OKI says it will pay for its portion of the loan through $25 million in federal funding, but it’s so far unclear how the city will pay for its share of the project. The outgoing city administration intended to pay for the project through the now-canceled parking plan, which would outsource the city’s parking meters, lots and garages.
can get out of the parking plan
without defaulting on the lease agreement with the Greater Cincinnati Port Authority, but Cranley’s position is at odds with the stated opinion of officials in the outgoing city administration and Port Authority. Cranley
announced on Tuesday that the parking plan will be called off
once he and the new council take office in December, but it’s unclear how much it will cost to break out of the plan and its various contractual obligations.
held a hearing
yesterday for two bills that would increase safeguards for victims of domestic violence, including new housing and employment protections.
CityBeat
previously covered
the story of Andrea Metil, a domestic violence victim who is calling for greater protections.
signed up for Obamacare
HealthCare.gov
portal, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced yesterday. Both the Ohio-wide measure and nationwide number — 106,185 — fell far short of the federal government’s expectations for the first month of enrollment. But many of the troubles are caused by technical problems that have made HealthCare.gov largely unworkable for most Americans. The federal government is working to correct the errors by December, but
The Washington Post reports that
the website likely won’t be fully functional by then
.
will be able to enroll in the now-expanded Medicaid program
on Dec. 9. Republican Gov. John Kasich
got the federally funded Medicaid expansion for two years
through the Controlling Board, a seven-member legislative panel, despite the Republican-controlled legislature’s opposition.
approved a bill that reforms municipal taxes
, which businesses support but cities oppose. Supporters argue it will simplify the tax code so businesses can more easily work around the state and from county to county, but opponents claim it will reduce how much revenue cities receive.
temporarily delayed convicted child killer Ronald Phillips’s execution
so Phillips can donate his non-vital organs to his mother and possibly others.
Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble is shuffling some of its top positions
.
is how Mars might have looked 4 billion years ago.
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This article appears in Nov 13-19, 2013.
