Despite problems with staff and records, a report is calling changes to Ohio’s youth prisons system a model for the nation. The report from a court-appointed monitor praised the Ohio Department of Youth Services for reducing the number of offenders in secure confinement and spreading services for youthful offenders around the state. However, the report also points out staff shortages, inadequate teachers and inconsistent medical records. Advocates for youthful offenders claim the bad findings show a need for continued court supervision.

There’s a new sheriff in town, and the old one is becoming a visiting judge. Simon Leis, who served as sheriff for 25 years, is best known for going after an allegedly obscene Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit and prosecuting pornographer Larry Flynt. As visiting judge, he will take on cases other judges are assigned but can’t get to due to full dockets.

An appeals court is allowing City Gospel Mission to move to Queensgate. The special assistance shelter wants to move from its current Over-the-Rhine property to Dalton Avenue, but businesses and property owners at Queensgate oppose the relocation. In its opinion, the Ohio First District Court of Appeals said opponents to the relocation “have not raised any genuine issues of material fact in support of their constitutional attack upon the notwithstanding ordinance in their capacity as neighboring businesses and property owners.”

Butler County nonprofit services are worried that a greater need for their services in 2013 will force more budget tightening.

U.S. retailers did not have a good Christmas. Holiday sales were at the lowest they’ve been since 2008. The disappointing sales have forced retailers to offer big discounts in hopes of selling excess inventory.

Former president George H.W. Bush is in intensive care “following a series of setbacks including a persistent fever,” according to his spokesperson.

The Food and Drug Administration says FrankenFish, a giant, genetically modified salmon, is environmentally safe.

Fun fact: More Iranians worry about global warming than Americans. 

Colleges are now helping students scrub their online footprints.

Antifreeze now tastes bitter to deter animals and children from eating it.

Scientists have developed a highly advanced robot boy capable of doing chores. Keep its face in mind, for you could be looking at the first of our future robot overlords.

The newly hired top editor at The Enquirer will be making several public appearances in coming weeks in an effort to become acquainted with the community.

Carolyn K. Washburn, the newspaper's editor and vice president, will be speaking at events organized by Northern Kentucky University and the League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area, among others.

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Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan weighed in on the controversy over replacement National Football League referees in a Tuesday town hall-style meeting in Cincinnati, comparing the Obama administration to the substitute officials who cost his home-state Green Bay Packers a victory with their botched call Monday night.

“Give me a break. It is time to get the real refs,” Ryan said. 

“And you know what, it reminds me of President Obama and the economy — if you can’t get it right, it’s time to get out. I half think that these refs work part time for the Obama administration in the budget office.”

Ryan was referencing a play that should have been called an interception for the Packers but instead allowed the Seattle Seahawks to score a game-winning touchdown on Monday Night Foodball. Replacement referees — some of whom may have been fired by the Lingerie Football League for incompetence — are filling in for unionized officials who are locked out.

The vice presidential candidate spoke inside a Byer Steel warehouse surrounded by piles of I-beams and rebar. A self-proclaimed Southern gospel rock band played before the event, occasionally pausing to talk up GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s conservative credentials.

Much of Ryan’s prepared speech, as well as questions from participants in the town hall, focused on the economy, the deficit and the need for changes to entitlement programs.

Asked by an audience member how he would limit government and eliminate programs, Ryan said he and Romney would spur economic growth by lessening the tax burdens on small businesses, cut discretionary spending on government agencies and overhaul entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

Outside before the rally, protesters called for Ryan — whose House-passed budget made deeps cuts to many welfare and safety-net programs — to have more compassion for the poor. 

Meanwhile an airplane sponsored by MoveOn.org carried a banner reading, “Romney: Believe in 55% of America?” referencing comments revealed in a recent video where Romney claimed 47 percent of Americans didn’t pay any income tax and viewed themselves as victims reliant on government so it wasn’t his job to worry about their votes.

“We’re here with several messages, including the immorality of the Ryan budget and how it will impact the vast majority of Americans negatively," said David Little with the liberal advocacy group ProgressOhio. “When a budget protects those with the most and negatively impacts those with the least, I would suggest that is immoral.”

Bentley Davis with the Alliance for Retired Americans said she was concerned about what Romney and Ryan’s plans for Medicare and Social Security would do to retirement security.

Ryan had proposed to keep Medicare the same for anybody already 55 and over, but give younger Americans the choice to get money to spend toward private insurance or stay in a Medicare-like program.

Inside the warehouse was a digital sign that ticked up the national debt, which was at $16 trillion and rising.

“Here is what our government, our Congressional Budget Office, is telling us our debt is in the future if we stay on the path that President Obama has kept us on, has put us on … the debt goes as high as two and a half times the size of our economy by the time my three kids are my age,” Ryan said. 

The Obama campaign fired back in an email response, saying Ryan used misleading rhetoric to hide his own record and Republican plans to raise taxes on the middle class to fund tax cuts for wealthier Americans.

“The Romney-Ryan ticket has plenty of questions to answer about a failed record on manufacturing and job creation and their support for policies that will devastate middle class families by raising their taxes and shipping jobs overseas,” Obama for America – Ohio Press Secretary Jessica Kershaw wrote.

“These policies would take the growing manufacturing industry backward, not forward.”

For some in the audience, the economy was also on the forefront.

Steve Teal, 56, of West Chester, said he doesn't like the direction the country is going in.

"Just get the country back to work," Teal said. "I don't trust him (Obama). He doesn't stand up for America. He doesn't stand up for Americans."

CityBeat writer Stefane Kremer contributed to this report.

Ryan went from Cincinnati to an event with Romney in Dayton later on Tuesday.

A state lawmaker will host two sessions later this month designed to give advice to small business owners on obtaining loans to start or expand a business.

State Sen. Eric Kearney (D-9^th District) is sponsoring the Small Business Credit Access Forum on July 28. The sessions will be held at the TechSolve Business Park, located at 6705 Stegner Drive in Carthage.

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A bill that supporters say would've ensured women are paid the same as men for doing the same work was blocked today by the U.S. Senate in a 58-41 vote. All Republican senators — including George Voinovich from Ohio — voted against allowing debate on the bill.

The bill, known as the Paycheck Fairness Act, was approved by the House in January 2009 and was supported by President Obama.

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An annual human trafficking report released by Attorney General Mike DeWine gave Ohio a C. The grade, which comes from Shared Hope International, was a step up from D's in the previous two years. But DeWine says it’s not enough, and further action will be taken. Ohio has made some strides on the human trafficking issue, including passage of a new “Safe Harbor” law for sex-trafficking victims, new details for minor trafficking victims and the training of 24,000 law-enforcement officers to better detect and help trafficking victims.

Gov. John Kasich is giving $5 million to mental health services to help curb and prevent violence. The news comes in the wake of school shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14 and a California high school yesterday. Mental health services are important, but so is gun control, as CityBeat pointed out here. Vice President Joe Biden is currently heading an investigation to make suggestions on gun control to President Barack Obama.

The remaining businesses in Tower Place Mall were told to get out. Cassidy Turley, the court-appointed receiver of the mall, apparently filed eviction notices telling businesses to leave by March. The mall has been struggling for some time now, and the city of Cincinnati is currently in the process of trying to buy it. City Manager Milton Dohoney says the city had no part in the evictions.

The city of Mason is apparently becoming a technology corridor. Since 2011, the city has brought in $110 million in investments and created 1,400 jobs. The new jobs are related to technology, robotics, automation, innovation and health care.

Warren and Butler counties are apparently seeing a surge in sales tax revenue. The budgetary boost is being seen by some as a sign of further economic expansion.

Surrounded by dogs, Gov. Kasich signed legislation effectively banning puppy mills. Previously, animal advocates claimed lax rules and regulations had made Ohio a breeding ground for abusive practices. The lack of oversight also helped enable Ohio’s dog auctions, which CityBeat covered here. The new law will go into effect within 30 days.

An Ohio school is apparently arming janitors. Previously, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters made a suggestion to arm school staff, but research shows it doesn’t help deter or stop acts of violence.

Natural gas is being slightly deregulated in Ohio. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) is allowing two companies — Columbia Gas of Ohio and Dominion East Ohio Gas — to eliminate regulated pricing for businesses, with some conditions. Supporters say the move will create more competition and lower prices, but the deregulation gives a substantial advantage to two big energy companies.

Congress is apparently less popular than head lice, but it’s more popular than Lindsay Lohan. Damn. Does that mean people prefer head lice to Lindsay Lohan? Even Nickelback and Ghengis Khan beat Congress. Poor Lindsay.

Science has now found that animal grunts can act similarly to Morse code. Is this yet another warning of the impending animal takeover?

The Internet’s strange allure can’t be resisted.

First, local blogger and veteran journalist Bill Sloat decided to revive his excellent Daily Bellwether blog after an absence of several months, once again offering his fresh take on news around Ohio’s major cities.

Now Jim Hopkins has brought back his insightful Gannett Blog, offering news, analysis and criticism about the newspaper and media giant that owns The Cincinnati Enquirer and USA Today.

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After a few months of preparation, two Ohio legislators today formally introduced an economic development plan that a nonpartisan group has said could create up to 16,000 jobs in the state.

State Sens. Eric Kearney (D-North Avondale) and Nina Turner (D-Cleveland) have submitted Senate Bill No. 278, known as “Forward Ohio,” for the State Legislature’s consideration.

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