Hello all. Here’s a quick news rundown to start your week.
A group of faith leaders, elected officials and others will gather today (Oct. 15) to protest Mayor John Cranley’s veto of funding passed by Cincinnati City Council for controversial nonprofit The Center for Closing the Health Gap. Among the speakers at the 5:30 p.m. event at the Avondale Business Center: Councilman Wendell Young, Bishop Bobby Hilton, former councilman Charlie Winburn — once an ally of the mayor — and others. The Health Gap, run by former Cincinnati Mayor Dwight Tillery, exists to address health disparities among minorities in Cincinnati. But some of its spending has been the subject of media investigations and a city audit, and Cranley said when vetoing the budget close-out containing the funding last week that the $700,000 council wants to spend on the organization this year is wasteful. Tillery and Cranley were once allies, and Closing the Health Gap has received up to $1 million from the city in recent years.
• Another protest over a Cranley veto will also take place at 5:30 p.m. today, when supporters of a plan to narrow Liberty Street in Over-the-Rhine will walk and bike across the street between north and south OTR with signs and other items. That protest aims to draw attention to a plan that took six years to complete that would take Liberty Street from seven lanes to five in an effort to increase pedestrian safety. Citing a relatively new water main that would take roughly $1 million to relocate, Cranley has touted a less-extensive version of the plan that would add curb bump outs to the road while preserving existing lanes and 85 parking spaces along the stretch. But many who worked on the original plan, which the city was moving forward with until recently, aren’t happy with the reduced version.
Meanwhile, some sources say council members are hammering out a deal that would give six votes to both the budget close-out and the ordinance funding the original Liberty Street plan Cranley vetoed.
• President Donald Trump dropped by Greater Cincinnati on Friday (Oct. 12) to promote a couple Ohio GOP congressional contenders. While he was here, he touted the economy, urged African-Americans to vote for him and also told a somewhat convoluted parable that involved Confederate general Robert E. Lee. You can read more about all of that in our story here.
• U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, meanwhile, continued his uphill battle to unseat U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown yesterday in Cleveland at the first debate between the two. Renacci, down decisively in the polls, needed an assertive performance and a big win to bolster his campaign. But Brown was aggressive from the outset. Renacci made some attacks — that Brown is an establishment politician in Washington and too far left to represent Ohio — but these sometimes backfired, as when Renacci brought up domestic violence allegations against Brown. The Republican cited a 1986 complaint by Brown’s ex-wife in which she sought a restraining order during their divorce. But she has since become a supporter of Brown’s, and even made a video blasting Renacci for using the issue for political gains.
“My former wife asked you to stop attacking our family,” Brown said to applause. “She called these charges and your attacks despicable. She is supporting me, and you should be ashamed of yourself.”
• More November election updates: A ballot initiative designed to allow drug sentencing reform in Ohio has gained an unlikely supporter. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican, has endorsed Issue 1, which would lower many non-violent drug possession charges from felonies to misdemeanors and increase chances for early release if an inmate goes through rehab or other programs. Supporters of the proposal say it will reduce the number of people incarcerated in state prisons who did not commit violent crimes. Currently, more than 2,000 people sit in Ohio prisons on drug possession charges. Opponents, however, say Issue 1 will exacerbate the state’s opioid addiction crisis. Ohio Republican gubernatorial hopeful Mike DeWine, now the state’s attorney general, has blasted his opponent Richard Cordray for the latter’s support of the proposal. Ohio Supreme Court Justice Maureen O’Connor, for instance, warned of “catastrophic consequences” if voters approve the change. Gingrich co-wrote a column in support of Issue 1 with noted Civil Rights leader Van Jones.
• It looks like Columbus’ Major League Soccer team will stay in the city after all, despite long-running noise that it could move to Austin. A team of investors fronted by Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and others will buy the Columbus Crew from owner Anthony Precourt, who announced last year he’d like to take the team to Texas. Austin was even working on preliminary moves to build a stadium there. Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther applauded the deal while acknowledging, “there are many details to work out.”
This article appears in Oct 10-17, 2018.