Today is Veterans Day, which began as Armistice Day on Nov. 11, 1919, the one-year anniversary of the end of World War I. President Eisenhower formally made it Veterans Day in 1954.
HBO airs a new documentary film tonight, Wartorn: 1861-2010, focusing on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among U.S. soldiers as well as soldier suicides from the Civil War up through the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Actor James Gandolfini is the film's executive producer and conducts on-camera interviews. Watch a preview here.
One week after a landmark settlement was signed, members of Occupy Cincinnati will gather this evening in downtown’s Piatt Park to listen to music and discuss free speech issues.
The event, known as ReOccupy Free Speech Day, begins with a general assembly meeting at the park at 6 p.m. It will be followed by comments from various speakers at 8 p.m., and then a performance by “riot-folk” musician Ryan Harvey.
At 10 p.m., a soapbox session will be held for anyone to speak about issues that are important to him or her. Protestors are planning to stay in Piatt until 6 a.m. Tuesday.
If rain develops, the general assembly and other events will be moved to Occupy Cincinnati’s community warehouse, located at 2023 Dunlap St. in Over-the-Rhine.
After months of negotiations, Occupy Cincinnati and attorneys with the City Solicitor’s Office reached a deal drop all criminal trespassing charges against Occupy members in return for the withdrawal of a federal lawsuit filed by five protesters.
As part of the deal, about 100 square feet of Piatt Park as a 24-hour public space. The area is located on the park’s far eastern edge, near the statue of President James Garfield, adjacent to Vine Street.
Some Ohio anti-abortion groups apparently didn't learn their lesson from Gov. John Kasich's SB 5 failure, as at least one has broken away from Ohio Right to Life for refusing to endorse HB 125, the “heartbeat bill.” Ohio Right to Life believes HB 125 won't withstand a challenge under Roe v. Wade, but Warren County Right to Life wants to spend a lot of time and resources pursuing it anyway. Ohio Right to Life says a successful legal challenge could strengthen the women's choice side, but other groups are expected to join Warren County Right to Life anyway.
The Ohio Elections Committee dismissed a complaint against COAST for allegedly making false tweets about Issue 48, but it was only because the complaint, filed by pro-streetcar group Cincinnatians for Progress, improperly named a COAST political action as a defendant or something. Streetcar advocates say they'll refile the complaint, and COAST lawyer Chris Finney says he'll win again. (“HAHAHA!”)
Youngstown Vindicator is a cool newspaper name. It reports that Ohio Democrats walked out of a vote on the new Republican redistricting map after Republicans failed to gain enough Democrat support to pass it. Lawmakers reportedly yelled at each other, too.
"It would be the height of irresponsibly to commit funds they knew were not there," Rhodes said. "I've long criticized various governments for living in dream world.
"This takes it to a whole new level," Rhodes said.
Covington City Commissioner Steve Frank is getting a little bit of local coverage after posting the following to his Facebook account on Sunday: “Turn out the lights on the Occupiers, I feel like going Taliban on them!!!” Frank yesterday explained in a grammatically challenged response the wildly circular logic behind his statement: “The taliban, through there (sic) eyes are resisting occupation. I'm resisting the Occupiers. I figured that the irony would be lost on most of the dummies in Occupation Nation that oppose the war because they see us as occupiers. I happen to oppose the war too but for highly different grounds.”
A citizen committee has determined that levy-funded Hamilton County social-service agencies need to provide their services with fewer resources, advising that property owners pay the same levy rate despite decreases in property values that will reduce funding for groups that help senior citizens and people with mental illnesses. The decision by the 11-member committee will reportedly affect 30,000 residents who rely on such agencies to provide services such as meal delivery and counseling. In order to keep funding level the levy would have had to increase the cost for the owner of a $100,000 home by $6.
From The Enquirer:
Bosses of the Council on Aging of Southwestern Ohio had already agreed to live on less, but argued against some committee recommendations.Those include:
• Raising the age criteria. Currently 9 percent of clients are between 60 and 70 years old. An agency spokeswoman said that’s because services are disability-based. Some “younger” seniors – those suffering from strokes and early Alzheimer’s, for instance – have more needs than older people.
• Requiring new clients to meet U.S. legal resident requirements. According to the agency, screening for U.S. citizenship would make the program ineligible to use Older Americans Act dollars, at a cost of almost $1.2 million a year. The spokeswoman said all clients live in the county.
Enquirer reporters Carrie Whitaker and Janice Morse broke from traditional journalistic standard on Tuesday by reporting the names of teenagers involved in an alleged theft and police chase. The three girls, ages 16, 14 and 12, were identified by full name and as being from Avondale and Pleasant Ridge. A follow up story on Wednesday reported two of the girls being released from the hospital. It also included the minors’ names and did not include a reporter’s byline.
Jean Schmidt sided with Democrats on an attempt to stop Republicans from cutting even deeper the funding for the national food stamp program. The legislation that passed will cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by more than $16 billion over 10 years. GOP lawmakers wanted it cut by $33 billion.
Iran put on a missile show on Friday, demonstrating the accuracy of its long-range missiles and their ability to hit Western bases and Israel.
Headline: “Wells Fargo Posts $4.6 Billion Profit, Up 17%.” Big ups, Wells Fargo!
Condoleezza Rice as Romney’s running mate? Sarah Palin says it’s a good idea.
A nearly complete skeleton of a human ancestor has been found in South Africa.
Cincinnati Police arrested more than 20 Occupy Cincinnati protesters last night. Here's a recap of the events, which notes that a parade to honor local billionaire Carl Lindner was scheduled for this morning.
Here's an impressive collection of reports that back up nearly every grievance articulated in its first official press release. The research was done by a young woman in Boston who runs a Congressional watchdog website called C-SPAN geek. You can follow her on Twitter here.
City Council conservatives made Mayor Mallory real mad yesterday, blocking his appointment of Councilwoman Laure Quinlivan to the Hamilton County Transportation Improvement District. An initial vote actually allowed the appointment until appointed Republican Councilman Wayne Lippert heard that the other Republicans and Chris Bortz voted against it for various trivial reasons. Lippert asked for a re-vote and swung it the other way.
Mallory reportedly called out the conservatives, referring to them as "extremely unprofessional" and "horribly non-functional." According to The Enquirer, the normally even-tempered Mallory responded to their suggestions that they'd like to see someone else receive the appointment by saying, "that person's not getting appointed” and later adding, "I appoint a lot of people to a lot of things. And this will be remembered."
The case of a
former Miami University student who pleaded guilty to disorderly
conduct for posting a “Top Ten Ways to Get Away with Rape” flier in a
dormitory bathroom just keeps getting more controversial.
The controversy began Nov. 8, when Butler County Area 1 Court Judge Robert Lyons took the guilty plea and ordered all record of the case — including the defendant’s name — sealed from public view. The MU police chief says he is bound by Lyons’ order and can’t release the name. The Butler County Prosecuting Attorney’s office did not object to the sealing of the file.
The Cincinnati Enquirer entered the picture six days later. It sued Lyons in the Ohio Supreme Court, saying he sealed the file without giving the newspaper a chance to argue for public access. In his answer — filed by the Prosecuting Attorney’s office on Dec. 13 — Lyons stood by his actions. Furthermore, he wrote that “there was no plea” in the case.
Now we know where that came from. On that very same day, the case was back in Lyons court for reconsideration. This time, prosecutors agreed to drop the charge, and Lyons ruled it so. And, once again, he sealed the file, and no one present objected. The Enquirer reported on the dismissal Wednesday.
Prosecuting Attorney Mike Gmoser won’t say why he agreed to dropping the charge until the Supreme Court case is over. “Save that question, and I will give you a full and detailed statement,” he told CityBeat. “I don’t try cases in the press.”
Gmoser said he is asking the Supreme Court to dismiss the Enquirer’s suit because the issue at hand is “moot.”