Hi Cincy! Think you're finally done with election stuff? Think again! Results may be in for this year, but they've just started gearing up for election day 2016. Here are your morning headlines.
• So you're tired of thinking about parks and marijuana? Well, how about shifting those thoughts to preschool? Just a day after polls closed, the Strive Partnership, a group focused on education in the Greater Cincinnati area, kicked off Preschool Promise, their campaign to place a measure on next year's ballot. Their initiative would guarantee every child in Cincinnati, regardless of family income, receives two years of preschool through the use of tuition credits. Strive suggests universal preschool education allows all children a fair start and better prepares them to graduate from high school and prepare for college and careers. The event attracted around 150 people, including Vice Mayor David Mann, to hear about the initiative at Rhinegeist Brewery in OTR and also featured sushi, banh mi, free beer, tokens, a raffle and a DJ.
The initiative, if it manages to get on the ballot and approved by voters in next year's election, will be the first of its kind in the country and could be a big deal because 44 percent of Cincinnati's children live in poverty and may not have access to preschool.
"We will level the playing field for thousands and thousands of children. We will break the cycle of poverty for thousands and thousands of children," says Greg Landsman, executive director of the Strive Partnership. "We will make it a lot easier for middle class families to pay for quality preschool, which is a huge, huge deal."
• The day after Mayor John Cranley's park tax levy was shot down by voters, he told The Enquirer that he wished that their series of stories on the mismanagement of the Park Board had come out a year ago and not two weeks before the election. The stories pointed out questionable bonuses, car allowances and exclusive club memberships for some of the top executives on the Park Board, which has lead to an audit of the board by the city. Like one does after a bad breakup, Cranley says he won't dwell on his loss, and that it's time to move on from the failed levy, which 59 percent of voters voted against.
• ResponsibleOhio's constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana also failed, but at least one of the super PAC's investors say they might be back next year. Investor Suresh Gupta, a Dayton anesthesiologist, said the group might try another initiative for next year's ballot but would probably leave the whole monopoly thing behind, which many are saying is the factor that killed the issue for voters. Meanwhile, House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger (R-Clarksville) says the legislature hopes to release a series of bills in the next few weeks to test the plant further for its potential medical benefits and urge Congress to drop the drug to a lower classification.
• Covington Police Chief Bryan Carter announced yesterday that the city has launched a six-month drug trafficking investigation to fight its growing drug problem. Carter is pushing hard to arrest dealers who are contributing to the city's heroin, meth, cocaine and even marijuana problems. According to Carter, they're not concentrated in one area but are situated in pockets throughout the city. The city has arrested 10 people so far accused of dealing drugs in the area, and the city's narcotics officers are assisted by the Kentucky State Police, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
• Cincinnati-native Charles Clark II is suing the federal government to get his money back after officers seized thousand of dollars off of him at the Cincinnati airport last February. Clark was flying back to Florida, where he attends college, when he was stopped by officers who said his luggage smelled strongly of marijuana. A search did not find any drugs in Clark's suitcase, but he was carrying $11,000 in his pocket because he said he did not trust banks. His attorney Renee Flaherty, says Clark should get his money back as he was never charged with a crime and there was no evidence of drug trafficking.
• Japan issued its first same-sex "partnership" certificate today. The certificates are not actually legally binding but are more symbolic. They are an attempt to encourage employers and landlords to give same-sex partnerships the same treatment as they do married heterosexual couples. Japan currently does not offer legal protection for same-sex couples, but is culturally tolerant of the relationships.