[WINNER]
THE ENVIRONMENT: The Hamilton County Parks District recently bought 184 acres of land in Colerain Township from the Rumpke waste removal and landfill companies. Located next to the Oak Glen Nature Preserve, the site will be preserved as greenspace and was purchased for $1.1 million, with most of the money coming from a Clean Ohio Conservation Grant. We like the smell of that.
[LOSER]
JEAN SCHMIDT: Caught on videotape while entering the halls of Congress by a crew from the Firedoglake political Web site, U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Miami Township) couldn’t answer the simple question of whether she believed President Obama was born in the United States. Stammering and evasive, Schmidt refused to distance herself from the “birther” nonsense dominating the Far Right. Once again, Mean Jean shows she can’t act without a script.
[???]
PETE ROSE: It looks like the stars have aligned just right to reopen the question of inducting Charlie Hustle into the Baseball Hall of Fame. True, Rose was banished from the game in 1989 for betting that the team he managed would win (meaning he couldn’t have thrown any games for personal benefit), but his legendary record as a slugger remains. With even Hank Aaron saying Pete should be allowed in, Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig’s heart might be softening. It’s about time.
[WINNER]
EMPOWERMENT ZONE: The Cincinnati Empowerment Corp. disbursed $1.3 million in workforce development grants to 14 local nonprofit organizations. The largest single grant was given to the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati, which received $263,275 for its Accelerated Call Center Education Program, a four-week course that trains people for the customer service field. Another $800,000 in grants will be awarded soon.
