Good morning all. Here are some quick news bits to get your Monday off to a really fun start. I know it was probably a chore to slog through the long, news-free desert that is the weekend, but congrats! You made it.
Mayor John Cranley on Friday unveiled his proposal for the city’s role in a potential FC Cincinnati soccer stadium in Oakley: about $37 million in infrastructure improvements to the area around the stadium. That money would come from TIFs near the Oakley site, proceeds from the city’s sale of the Blue Ash Airport site and from the city’s portion of a county hotel tax. Cincinnati City Council would need to approve the plan. You can read our story for all the details about the proposal here.
• Representatives from the estate of O’Bryan Spikes are expected to file a lawsuit against Cameo Nightclub this morning. Spikes and another man died in the March mass shooting in the nightclub, which injured a number of other people. The incident was among the worst mass shootings in Cincinnati history — and lawyers for Spikes’ estate say it could have been prevented. Cameo, its manager Julian Rodgers, his company Jrodg LLC, owners of the building the Kellogg Group, the city of Cincinnati and four off-duty officers working security at the time of the shooting are all named in the suit. It’s the second suit filed against the club — eight survivors injured during the shooting filed another suit in June. The suits allege that security let patrons in without checking them for weapons if they paid a fee — allegedly between $50 and $100 — and that lax security allowed three gunmen to enter the club the night of the shooting with multiple weapons.
• Cult leader, convicted murderer and Cincinnati native Charles Manson, a macabre cultural icon of the 1960s, died yesterday of natural causes in California at age 83. Manson had been imprisoned for 45 years for his role planning an infamous series of 1969 murders in California, including the murder of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and her companions at a Hollywood mansion owned by director Roman Polanski.
• Ohio Supreme Court Justice and Democratic gubernatorial hopeful William O’Neill apologized yesterday for a Facebook post he made last week in which he blasted sexual harassment allegations against U.S. Sen. Al Franken while ticking off his own sexual exploits. O’Neal’s weird humblebrag about sleeping with “50 very attractive females” is a pretty good primer on what not to do if you’re running for governor. At first, O’Neill was somewhat defiant about the post, but has since apologized twice after criticism from thousands of people — including women in his family and his colleague Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor. Critics have called for O’Neill to step down from his spot on the court, but he has indicated he is staying.
• There are new allegations against former State Rep. Wes Goodman, who resigned from his seat last week after admitting to “inappropriate behavior” with a man in his office. That man, who has not been identified, was not a state employee, and no criminal charges have been filed against Goodman for the incident. Following Goodman's resignation, new reports have come out alleging that the freshman lawmaker who campaigned on staunch conservative Christian values allegedly fondled an 18-year-old while the latter was asleep during a conference for the National Council on Policy. His accuser says he ran from the room and was shaken following the incident.
• Finally, the GOP primary for the party's nod for governor is looking to be a battle over who is the Trumpest of them all. Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine all scrambled to praise Trump during a Saturday event for Clermont County Republicans in Loveland. Some, like Renacci, boasted of their personal relationships with the president, while others, like Husted, promised Trump-like polices on immigration and other issues. The crowd reportedly ate it up. Trump took Clermont County by a wide margin over Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
