Reminder: Today is the last day to register to vote in the 2013 mayoral and City Council elections. Since early voting is currently underway, it’s possible to register and vote on the same day. Get a registration form
here
and find out when and where to vote
here
.
The federal government shutdown is closing in on its second week. The shutdown has
forced some services in Cincinnati to seriously cut back
, ranging from Occupational Safety and Health Administration safety inspections to small business loans.
CityBeat covered the shutdown and the local leaders involved in further detail
here
.
met at a forum
on Oct. 5 to discuss their different visions for the city’s future. The candidates agreed Cincinnati is moving forward, but they generally agreed that the city needs to carry its current economic growth from downtown and Over-the-Rhine to all 52 neighborhoods. Participating candidates particularly emphasized public safety and government transparency, while a majority also focused on education partnerships and human services for the poor and homeless, which
have been funded below council’s goals since 2004
. The forum was hosted by The Greenwich in Walnut Hills and sponsored by
CityBeat and the League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area. Check out
CityBeat ’s candidate-by-candidate breakdown of the forum
here
.
Hamilton County Administrator Christian Sigman plans to propose a quarter-cent hike of the county sales tax to pay for lower property taxes, the elimination of permit and inspection fees paid by businesses, or the construction of a new coroner’s lab and addition of nearly 300 jail beds, according to
The Cincinnati Enquirer
. Hamilton County’s sales tax is currently 6.75 percent, which is lower than 65 of Ohio’s 88 counties. Sigman says the plan would refocus the county and allow it “to transition from a posture of where to cut to where to invest.”
agreed to pay more than $1,200
to dismiss a lawsuit from an anti-tax group that would have cost the city $30,000. Seelbach’s payment reimburses the city for a trip he took to Washington, D.C., to receive the Harvey Milk Champion of Change award for his accomplishments in protecting Cincinnati’s LGBT community. City officials said the trip also helped Seelbach market Cincinnati and learn what other cities are doing to attract and retain LGBT individuals. The lawsuit was threatened by the hyper-conservative Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST), which claims to protect taxpayers from government over-spending and high taxes but simultaneously forces the city to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight off lawsuits.
must use city-delivered trash carts
if they want their garbage picked up. To save space in the carts, city officials are advising
recycling
. If city workers didn’t deliver a trash cart to your home, contact them
here
.
A bill in the Ohio legislature
would ban licensed counselors
from attempting to change a youth’s sexual orientation. The practice, known as “conversion therapy,” is widely perceived as unscientific and psychologically damaging and demeaning. California and New Jersey banned conversion therapies in the past year.
Ohio’s legislative leaders on Friday
promised to make a Medicaid overhaul a focus of the ongoing fall session
. It’s so far unclear what exactly the overhaul will involve. Meanwhile, the Ohio legislature has refused to take up a federally funded Medicaid expansion, which would expand eligibility for the federal-state health care program to include anyone at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level. The Health Policy Institute of Ohio estimates the expansion would generate $1.8 billion for the state and insure nearly half a million Ohioans, and it’s supported by Gov. John Kasich. But Republican legislators are skeptical of expanding a government-run health care program and claim the federal government wouldn’t be able to meet its obligations to the program, even though the federal government has met its payments since Medicaid was created in 1965.
Although insurance plans in Obamacare’s online marketplace (
HealthCare.gov
) offer lower premiums, the reduced prices
come with less options for doctors and hospitals
. But supporters argue some health care coverage is better than no health care coverage.
The Ohio branch of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the country, today announced a slate of Democratic endorsements for state offices, including Ed FitzGerald for governor, David Pepper for attorney general, Nina Turner for secretary of state, Connie Pillich for treasurer and John Patrick Carney for auditor.
helps connect
University of Cincinnati Medical Center researchers with people with a personal or family history of breast cancer. About 5,600 people are currently on the list, which researchers can tap into to collect data or solicit individuals for studies.
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center is
investing its single largest contribution ever
on treatments for mental health and behavioral issues.
dipped further
this week.
chastised his daughter
in a letter for kicking out his gay grandson: “He was born this way and didn’t choose it more than he being left-handed. You, however, have made a choice of being hurtful, narrow-minded and backward. So while we are in the business of disowning children, I think I’ll take this moment to say goodbye to you.”
Designing an anti-poaching drone
could earn someone $25,000
.
This article appears in Oct 2-8, 2013.