Morning News and Stuff

Mayor-elect John Cranley and the newly elected City Council announced on Tuesday that, upon taking office in December, they

will terminate the city’s plan to lease its parking meters, lots and garages to the Greater Cincinnati Port Authority

, following an agreement with the Port Authority to hold off on a bond sale that would have financed — and effectively sealed — the deal. But it remains unclear how much it will cost to terminate the plan, default on the lease agreement with the Port Authority and allow the Port to break its contracts with private companies that would have operated the assets under the deal. The current city administration argues the parking plan is necessary to help balance the budget over the next two years, pay for economic development projects around the city and modernize the city’s parking assets so, for example, parking meters can accept credit card payments. Opponents argue the plan gives up too much control over the city’s parking assets by outsourcing their operations to private companies based around the country.

But some business leaders

are upset with the death of the parking plan

because it leaves no visible alternative for funding major development projects like the interchange at Interstate 71 and Martin Luther King Drive.

Cranley

now says he will not allow a referendum on any ordinance undoing the streetcar project

and will instead try to work with supporters of the project to find another way to put it on the ballot if they can gather enough petition signatures. Cranley says blocking a referendum is necessary to avoid spending money during a referendum campaign that could last months. But for supporters of the streetcar, Cranley’s decision seems highly hypocritical following his repeated praise for the “people’s sacred right of referendum” on the campaign trail after City Council blocked a referendum on the parking plan. If the project is placed on the ballot, it will essentially be the third time it’s brought to a public vote; opponents of the project in 2009 and 2011 pursued two ballot initiatives that many saw as referendums on the streetcar.

Meanwhile, Over-the-Rhine businesses and residents yesterday

officially launched a campaign to save the streetcar project

from Cranley and a newly elected City Council that appears poised to cancel the project. Touting the project’s potential return on investment and

cancellation costs

, the group plans to lobby newly elected officials to vote in favor of keeping the project going. The group invited Cranley and all elected council members to join them at a town hall-style meeting on Nov. 14 at the Mercantile Library, where supporters will discuss their path forward. So far, supporters have publicly discussed a concerted lobbying effort, a ballot initiative if council passes an ordinance undoing the streetcar project and possible legal action against the city.

The Cincinnati Enquirer’s editorial board

is apparently unpleasantly surprised

that Cranley undid the parking plan, even though the board endorsed Cranley for mayor after he ran in opposition to the parking plan for nearly a year.

An Ohio Senate bill

caps the spending ability of the Controlling Board

, a seven-member legislative board that

previously approved the federally funded Medicaid expansion

despite the Ohio legislature’s opposition. Gov. John Kasich angered many Republican legislators when he decided to go through the Controlling Board to get the Medicaid expansion, which is a major part of Obamacare.

Meanwhile, the Ohio legislature is

working on changes to Medicaid

that would cap future cost increases and employ professional staff for a Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee that would have the ability to review Medicaid programs and agencies. The bill also includes a portion that clarifies its passage “shall not be construed with endorsing, validating or otherwise approving the (Medicaid) expansion.”

Despite attempts from city officials and local business leaders, Saks Fifth Avenue

is leaving downtown

to open a store at Kenwood Collection.

Kentucky’s state auditor

will look at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport board’s spending policies and expenses

, following reports from The Enquirer that the board spent exorbitant amounts on travel, dining and counseling.

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals

denied the Milford-Miami Advertiser’s request to appeal a 2012 ruling

that charged the Gannett-owned suburban weekly with defamation and ordered the paper to pay the defamed plaintiff $100,000 in damages. In a story titled “

Cop's suspension called best move for city

,” the newspaper wrongly implicated a Miami Township police officer who was previously accused but later exonerated of sexual assault.

Attorney General Mike DeWine warns that some typhoon relief requests could be scams

.

Not satisfied with the mere wonder of beginning to exist, some stars

explode in a rainbow of colors when they’re born

.

Follow CityBeat on Twitter:

• Main: @CityBeatCincy

• News:

@CityBeat_News

• Music:

@CityBeatMusic

• German Lopez:

@germanrlopez