Good morning, all. Here’s a quick rundown of the news before a retreat into a hole to finish all the things I need to finish so I can then finish my holiday shopping.
Some people like Joe Deters, Hamilton County’s prosecutor. That’s none of my business. But do they like him enough to check his name on a ballot twice? That could be the situation voters face next year in the Hamilton County commission race for a seat current commission head Republican Greg Hartmann will vacate on Monday. Kinda. Joe’s running for reelection as prosecutor, and his brother, Dennis Deters, is running in next year’s race for the seat against well-known Democrat Denise Driehaus. However, he’s registered for that race as Dennis Joseph Deters. That’s raised the ire of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, which has called the move a cheap trick aimed at capitalizing on the Republican prosecutor’s name recognition among county voters. They point out that on property records and past registrations, the commissioner candidate has listed his name as Dennis P. Deters. Dems fired off a letter to the Ohio Secretary of State yesterday seeking to block Dennis Deters from using “Joseph” on the ballot. This is going to be a very interesting race, folks.
• A long-time anchor in the Clifton business district will get new life starting in February. Grocery cooperative Clifton Market has closed on a nearly $3 million construction loan from the National Cooperative Bank, allowing it to move forward with plans to establish a co-operative grocery store. The rest of the more than $5 million project has been funded by more than 1,000 share holders and nearly 200 shareholder loans to the co-op. The project will also get a 12-year tax exemption passed by Cincinnati City Council earlier this month. The grocery will occupy the former Keller’s IGA building on Ludlow Avenue, which will see construction starting Feb. 1. The store should be open by next summer.
• While I may be panicked about my holiday shopping, I’m not as panicked as the folks who drove a van through a display window at Saks Fifth Avenue downtown this morning in a pretty ballsy smash-and-grab scheme. The perps then jumped into another waiting car with about $11,000 in purses and sped off Police are looking for them now. Have no fear, holiday luxury item shoppers. Saks Fifth Avenue is apparently open, albeit with extra police presence.
• Kentucky marriage licenses will no longer carry the name of the county clerk who issued them after an executive order from brand new governor Republican Matt Bevin. That order comes after Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis raised controversy over this summer’s Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states. Davis claimed her religious rights are violated by that court order, and that her name on a marriage license for a gay couple is a sin. The resulting legal battle over Davis’ refusal to issue licenses landed her in jail briefly. Bevin promised that he would enact the executive order during his campaign for governor, which some political pundits say may have influenced staunch social conservatives to turn out and vote for him. Now, 15 days into his term, Bevin has made good on that promise.
• As you may know, Cincinnati has gained population for the first time in decades over recent years. But that trend doesn’t hold true for the rest of the Buckeye State. A recent study found Ohio among the biggest losers when it came to population loss among states. Though we’re not as bad as New York, which lost an incredible 653,000 people (though, hey, they also have a ton of people) to domestic migration. Now, New York’s population still grew slightly in that same time period due to births and immigration from other countries. But alas. Ohio lost the sixth-most population to domestic migration last year, with about 150,000 people streaming out to greener pastures or, well, probably actually Texas or Florida or something. Those states topped the list when it came to gaining population from migration. Texas gained more than 735,000 people, for example.
• Finally, here’s your daily update on the presidential election that hasn’t even really started yet but is already driving me crazy. A few days ago, Donald Trump used the word “schlonged” to describe Hillary Clinton’s 2008 Democratic primary defeat to Barack Obama. We all know this by now. But, did you know that “schlonged” isn’t actually a dirty word, according to The Donald? No, the dishonest and godless horde of journalists who exist simply to oppress Trump have merely distorted your view of the word, according to the GOP presidential primary candidate. It doesn’t actually mean male genitalia at all. It simply means to defeat badly, according to Trump, and it is his enemies in the media who want to tell you otherwise. Of course. Trump’s use of the word, which is indeed a slang term for, uh, male genitalia, set off a new round of controversy over the outspoken and many say factually challenged candidate. So far, Trump’s dalliances with both sexist language and sheer disregard for factual information have done nothing to his poll numbers: He’s still the frontrunner in the GOP primary.
This article appears in Dec 23-29, 2015.