Hello all. Let’s wrap this week up with a quick news roundup before the holiday weekend, shall we? To the news:
A move by Greater Cincinnati Water Works to charge outlying municipalities higher fees is on the rocks for now as a Hamilton County Judge granted a temporary restraining order against the proposal. The Hamilton County Board of Commissioners asked for that pause, calling it “unfair and inequitable.” Currently, those living outside the city pay 1.25 times what city residents pay for water service. The proposal, if approved by Cincinnati City Council, would boost that to 1.43 times the city rate. That, Judge Robert Ruehlman ruled, would “irreparably” harm residents in townships. Ruehlman wants a joint city-county taskforce to figure out a reasonable rate. Water Works argues that the rate hike is based on research it has done and that city residents currently pay an unfair share of maintenance costs for the region’s water system.
• The coming FC Cincinnati soccer stadium in the West End may need more seats than initially proposed, team GM Jeff Berding said yesterday. The team has regularly sold around 25,000 tickets, more than the 21,000 seats slated for the new stadium. When FCC joins Major League Soccer — the occasion for its new stadium — its ticket prices will go up. That may slake demand somewhat, but team officials still expect to be able to sell more than the new stadium’s proposed capacity.
The city and county will spend about $34 million on infrastructure for the stadium, including a county-funded parking garage. New maps for the stadium site show it going as far north as West Liberty Street, though the stadium’s footprint will be roughly on the site of the existing Taft High School Stargel Stadium, team officials say.
• Cincinnati City Councilman David Mann announced a motion earlier this week that, if approved, would hold electronic scooter rental company Bird liable for injuries caused by riders of the scooters should the riders themselves not pay for damages. The legislation comes after a woman reported visiting an urgent care after a rider hit her with a scooter. That rider rode off, according to the woman. More about Mann’s proposal in our story here.
• Cincinnati and Hamilton County elected officials, LGBTQ advocates and business leaders gathered yesterday at 12th and Vine to celebrate the dedication of the city’s first “pride walk.” It’s basically a rainbow-colored crosswalk, but it has significant symbolic meaning, its boosters say. You can read more about the walkway in our story here.
• If you’re looking for a good place to plant your tech flag and gamble at the poker table that is capitalism, you could do a lot worse than Cincinnati, a new ranking says. CNBC listed the Queen City among seven that are the best for young tech startups. That distinction came after Cincinnati-based Lisnr made CNBC’s “Disruptor 50” list earlier this year. Atlanta, Austin, Texas, Boston, Chattanooga, Tenn., Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. were the other cities CNBC tapped. You can read more about their reasoning behind the list here.
• U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, who represents parts of Hamilton and Warren Counties in Ohio’s1st Congressional District, yesterday scored the backing of a group associated with billionaire industry magnates the Koch Brothers. A political group funded by the staunch conservatives, Americans for Prosperity, announced it was endorsing seven Republican congressional contenders, and Chabot was among them. That could give his campaign a lot more financial firepower and outside backing: Koch-funded groups have spent roughly $400 million on political and policy initiatives surrounding the coming November election. You can read more here.
• Here’s a quick story about some rather no-holds-barred comments made by Ohio State Rep. John Becker, a Republican, about officer-involved shootings. At the risk of providing spoilers, his comments involve the words “punks” and “dead punks.” You can read more here.
• Finally, a new poll has some bad news for President Donald Trump. A survey of 1,003 randomly-selected adults commissioned by ABC News and The Washington Post found that almost half — 49 percent — favored Congress initiating impeachment proceedings against the president. There are some other bruising findings for the president. For example, 63 percent of those surveyed support the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller into collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. And 60 percent of respondents disapprove of Trump’s performance in office — with 53 percent “strongly” disapproving — while just 36 percent approve of the job Trump is doing in office. While the 2016 election is a strong cautionary tale about putting too much stock in polling, those approval numbers generally line up with other recent polling. You can read more about the results and methodology of the survey here.
This article appears in Aug 29 – Sep 5, 2018.