The Denver Post reported Thursday that Metromix, a series of entertainment websites owned by Enquirer parent Gannett Co., is closing its localized websites in seven cities.

Metromix is closing its website operations in Denver, Atlanta, Cleveland, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Tampa and Washington, D.C. Each of the markets is where Gannett owns a television station but not a newspaper.

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[Further Friday coverage: 235 photos here and multimedia show here.]

Dear Diary: Friday Midpoint. Wearing my green Noctaluca T-shirt, my super cool non-leather jacket that looks like leather and my faded black jeans that are too big and too long — with my distracting, cool clothes choice, I was trying super hard to steer people away from the fact that I hadn’t had time to shower. Seemed to work. Yes.

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Ever wonder what happened to Dennis Barrie, director of the Contemporary Arts Center when it showed Robert Mapplethorpe's The Perfect Moment in 1990, resulting in pornography charges that a Hamilton County jury rejected in a landmark local case?

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Marcus Mitchell, aka local Hip Hop artist and inspiration Skandal Da Ruckus Man, passed away this week after a battle with leukemia. In tribute, here is an interview with Marcus from March 2005, written by CityBeat contributor Mildred C. Fallen, from our archives. Check next week’s issue of CityBeat for more remembrances of the fallen Cincinnati music supahero.

To dub Marcus D. Mitchell a “big man” doesn’t necessarily state the obvious. In some cultures, “big man” also translates as a local personality who speaks on behalf of his people, commences rituals and parleys with other “big men.” And facing foes, big men fight for honor.

In 2000, Mitchell, better known as Skandal (or Skandal Da Ruckus Man), flew to New York to freestyle on BET’s 106 and Park and contended with other unsigned MCs on HBO’s Blaze Battle. Today, the self-described juggernaut of Supapowers has been reincarnated as an industry ghost writer and producer after someone attempted to rob him of his ambition last spring.

While he was away, thieves carted away his studio equipment and masters. Although his property never resurfaced, he feels he knew the thief’s motive.

“Damn monkeys!” he declares, still affected. “Whoever stole it was doing it to get at me personally, because they didn’t touch anything else in the house, not even money. It was Easter Sunday, at that! Man, they know they goin’ to hell!”

Depressed and unable to produce tracks or record vocals, Skandal bounced back after supportive colleagues bartered their efforts.

“A lot of cats just saw the opportunity (to barter) and was like, ‘You ain’t got no equipment? Man, I been wantin' to do beats with you for years,’ ” he says.

Producers Fame and DJ Scott pitched in and donated many of the tracks heard on Vet Game, his first in a series of mixtape compilations to be distributed through the internet. Presented by Hall of Justice Entertainment and co-sponsored by Supapowers cohorts CJ the Cynic and Da Kid, Vet Game tongue-lashes antagonists, reprimands local radio and guides listeners of a tour of the Queen City, pointing out its idiosyncrasies.

Rounding out the compilation are appearances from Trina Holidai and Michelle Hollis, Piakan, Science, Donte (of Mood), Hi-Tek and J-Wiz.

“As far as the bangers, look for ‘Get Stole On’ and ‘Spell My Name Right,’ both produced by DJ Scott. ‘The Wrong Nigga’ talks about the break-in on Easter, when I was at Mom’s gate eating a plate,” he says. Thunderous vocals set violators straight as they detonate: “Y’all ain’t do nothin’ but put Skan/Back to ’96 with the hunger pangs.”

Reloading, “The Big Payback” unflinchingly fires direct hits at local black radio and venue promoters for lack of support. On the other hand, he shouts out Big Kap of New York’s influential station, Hot 97, for giving “For the Queen” 30 spins in a week, and says the exposure opened doors for him to sell songs to other artists, which subsidized his upcoming CD, Vigilante World.

“People don’t understand; you’ve got to invest in yourself before that big record deal comes,” he explains.

“For the Queen” traces Skandal’s roots back to Woodward High School “Bomb Show” performances and huddling in rhyme-ciphers against out-of-towners on Fountain Square.

“Before all the fightin’ and shootin’ started, we defended this city against all outsiders,” he says. “It was like something out of the movie Highlander.

“(Cincinnati) always had a beast,” he continues, naming warriors who fell into obscurity. “Regan used to be the most feared in a MC battle; he passed the torch to me and Clips (J-Wiz). Now Ill Poetic is the beast.”

“I used to really, really admire (Skandal),” says Ill Poetic, a solo artist and half of the duo Definition. He met Skandal following the Blaze Battle. “He was battling at Top Cat’s and I was amazed that Zone (the other half of Definition) knew him. He was just one of those people I kept hearing about.”

Although the HBO Blaze Battle episodes are available on DVD, Skandal laments, “Ain’t no honor in battling anymore, so now songwriting is where it’s at. There’s money in it. Cats who are known for their battle rep often aren’t known for making hit records.”

Skandal hopes his upcoming release, Vigilante World, will change that.

“I got the formula,” he says. “The problem is that nobody is rockin’ the (Hip Hop) heads and the streets at the same time. There’s nothing wrong with making good music that people who don’t make music can jam to.”

Having hosted local battles, he observes that today too many MCs lack originality and rely on trading insults to win battles.

“(There) was a time when you could murder ‘em with style,” he says. “Now, you only get response from the crowd when you say a punch-line, which is what I don’t like about battling anymore."

Skandal cites crowd-judged battles and MCs who deliver pre-written raps as the demise of the art form. He also emphasizes that styles differ from region to region.

“A lot of New York rappers spit written (verses) in battles and call it a ‘freestyle.’ And in the Midwest we call freestyling right off the top of the head,” he explains. “We used to listen to the New York style, not knowin’ they was spittin’ writtens in a freestyle, and we thought New York was just ‘cold wit’ it’ off the head.”

But since New York MCs assumed the precedent for battling, Skandal says he and his friends used New York as a benchmark in the beginning until they crafted their own niche.

Endearingly, he refers to his friends Supapowers as “stand-up guys I’d take a bullet for.” But of everyone, his mother is his best friend.

“She gives me an insight to things that you can only get from experience. I’m a true mama’s boy and if anybody got anything to say about it, come holla at me,” he says.

His weightiest ambition is to appeal to the female market and he’s slimming down because he feels that MCs like Notorious B.I.G., Big Punisher and Heavy D were merely lucky to be seen as sexy.

“They were rarities,” Skandal says. “When you’re fat, I don’t give a fuck, people are biased. I wanna have the whole package, not just the skills. I wanna have the whole market on lock.”

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) took to downtown streets today to distribute "cruelty-free shopping guides." The pocket-sized pamphlets list more than 950 companies that have completed a statement of assurance saying they don't do product testing on animals.

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America knew Henry Darger late. So it goes for most prodigious artists. Born in 1892, Darger worked as custodian at a children's school for most of his life. His mother died early and his sister was put up for adoption. Darger actually never met his sister and spent his time growing up in various institutions, including a children's mental asylum.

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Cage The Elephant is a young five-piece from Bowling Green, KY, Matt Shultz (vocals), Brad Shultz (guitar), Daniel Tichenor (bass), Lincoln Parish (guitar) and Jared Champion (drums). They accumulated 80 songs worth of ideas during a 2-year period touring around the globe and living abroad in England supporting their eponymous debut album. As they began sorting through their arsenal of songs, they returned to Kentucky to record album two.

We had the good fortune of catching up with members Lincoln Parish and Daniel Tichenor prior to a performance at the 2010 Voodoo Festival in New Orleans. They are currently promoting the upcoming album, Thank You Happy Birthday, to be released January 11, 2011, and their new single Shake Me Down.

CityBeat: I appreciate you guys taking the time to talk to me. I was interested in you guys because I’m from Clarksville, Tennessee which is very close to your hometown of Bowling Green.
Lincoln Parish: Yeah an hour away.

CB: The local connection. I know you guys have the new album coming out soon, Thank You Happy Birthday. What’s the story behind the title?
Parish: There’s not one I don’t think.
Daniel Tichenor: Not one. We just couldn’t… I just think titles at times are… I don’t think they’re really necessary.
Parish: I hate titles.

CB: But your last one was self-titled.
Parish: It’s one thing if you’re doing a concept album.
Tichenor: But we were asked to come up with a title. So…

CB: Was it somebody’s birthday?
Parish: There’s gonna be a picture of a cupcake on the front of the album cover.

CB: Like Cake?
Parish: We don’t know yet but it will be my proposed idea.

CB: You guys have been touring with STP right?
Parish: Yeah we did for about a month.

CB: Were you guys there when Scott fell off the stage in Cincinnati?
Parish: Yeah we were. I didn’t see it.

CB: That was a crazy night. That stage is really high. It’s like six feet tall. I think that usually the speakers are right up on the stage and he’ll jump on them and go out and sing.
Parish: Yeah, they usually build a platform but I think they didn’t think he was going to go over that far. And he did. He expected it to be there and it wasn’t. He kept singing though.

CB: He did. I talked to the security people the next week and they talked about pulling him out of the wires and they said he was pretty beat up. They said he sang the whole time. The band didn’t even miss a beat. I think if you’re lead singer fell off you guys might look for him right?
Tichenor: The thing is when you’re playing you’re really not paying attention. If somebody… If something happened to someone in the band you really don’t know.

CB: You really wouldn’t notice for a while?
Parish: I’ve fallen off a couple times.
Tichenor: Yeah, Lincoln has fallen off and I didn’t even know he fell off.

CB: You just keep going. I guess the only person who can’t fall off is really the drummer.
Parish: If he falls off, we’ve got big problems.

CB: Have you guys been here just today? Were you here yesterday?
Parish: We got in yesterday afternoon.

CB: Did you catch any of the shows?
Parish: No
Tichenor: We had rehearsal.
Parish: We had rehearsal. We haven’t played in a couple weeks.

CB: What’s your favorite track on the new album and why?
Parish: Mine’s probably Indie Kids.
Tichenor: And why?
Parish: I don’t know. I just like it. There are a lot of different elements I like about it. But it’s got a cool vibe.

CB: Do you guys write most of the music?
Both: Yeah we write all of it. We write together.

CB: And you do it together in the same room? I know a lot of bands write separately then they come together to put it all together.
Parish: I mean sometimes there might be an idea that starts off where there’s one person who has a guitar rift or a melody idea or something but usually…

CB: You’re all together.
Parish: It’s all collective.

The band actually locked themselves away in a remote Kentucky cabin and, after just two weeks, emerged with Thank You, Happy Birthday, a set of songs that blasts through your speakers with ferocity.

CB: So you’re still friends.
Parish: Yeah for the most part.
Tichenor: I think my favorite song would be our first single that we’re going to release. It’s called Shake Me Down. The reason I like it is because I’m kind of glad it’s going to be our first single because when it comes out people are going to be really surprised.
Parish: It’s a lot of growth.

CB: So how is it different? I loved the first album In One Ear…
Parish: Maturity and growth.
Tichenor: It sounds a lot different. I mean you can still tell it’s us.

CB: Do you guys have any ballads?
Tichenor: There’s quite a few. It’s all singing harmonies and…
Parish: It’s singing, harmonies and reverb. I love reverb.
Tichenor: The first album was more talky. This one’s singier.
Parish: Well there are some songs on this new record that are a lot heavier than the first record. Then there are some songs that are a lot softer.
Tichenor: It’s a big mix.

Although Cage The Elephant has sold more records than most recent bands on their debuts, they have engaged in indulgences that took them off track and battled their share of demons and creative doubts. Their adversities forced them to take a fresh approach with their new album, and their lives.

CB: So when you guys are touring, what do you miss about home? You guys live in Kentucky when you’re not touring, right?
Parish: Nashville
Tichenor: I miss my bed.
Parish: It’s like the simple things.
Tichenor: Bed and some isolation. Sometimes you just want to do your own thing.
Parish: It’s kind of cool to have a little bit of stability for a little bit. Day to day kind of stuff.

CB: I hear that a lot from people. They just like doing their laundry and doing normal things they can do at home versus on the road where everything is hard. You have to find logistically where we are going to eat. Are we washing our clothes in the sink today?
Tichenor: You have to get in your car and drive with stuff like that.

CB: So how long have you guys lived in Nashville?
Parish: I’ve been there for about a year and half.
Tichenor: Two years.

CB: Which part of town do you live in?
Parish: I live in West End.
Tichenor: I’m in Germantown. It’s cool. It’s nice. It has that small town vibe.

CB: People are nice but there’s tons of music. Doesn’t it blow you away with all the talented musicians that are there that are never going to make it? It’s kind of depressing. They are super talented.
Parish: I have a friend who works at Trader Joe’s now on the side. He was in a band called Warrior Soul. After he quit Warrior Soul, he went on to write an album with the guy from Ministry and went on to do a lot of other stuff. But he’s working at Trader Joe’s now.

CB: Do you guys play locally there a lot?
Parish: We haven’t played Nashville in over a year.
Tichenor: Our booking agent is very selective of when we play. You don’t want to overdo it.
Parish: There was one point and time where we played Nashville like every weekend for a while.

CB: I think it depends on where you’re at and what you’re doing and promoting. If you weren’t playing music, what would you be doing?
Tichenor: I worked at Lowe’s. So I’d still probably be working at Lowe’s and hating life.
Parish: I don’t really know what I would be doing.
Tichenor: I think it’s cause we started so young. There’s no telling what we would do.
Parish: I don’t know. I really don’t

CB: This is all you ever wanted to do?
Parish: It’s hard to even like imagine not doing music. Even if the band was to break up now I still feel like I would do something in music.
Tichenor: At least try. There’s somebody you can always play with.
Parish: I think if you really love it, you’ll always do it no matter what.

CB: So how do you define success?
Tichenor: If you’re content with the happenings of your life then you could be considered a success. There’s stuff from the outside that could be considered success, but if you’re not happy at the end of the day then what’s the point of doing it. That’s the way I see it.

CB: Most people don’t say money, fame, or fortune. It’s usually about family or just being happy or love playing music.
Parish: If you’re happy and content with what you’re doing, that’s success to me.

CB: Obviously the record’s coming out…
Parish: January 11^th

CB: Are you going to support it with a tour? Do you have anything line up yet?
Tichenor: We don’t really know what we’re doing after it comes out. It’s kind of up in the air right now.
Parish: We’re definitely going to be promoting it.

CB: I’m hoping you guys come through Cincinnati and are at Rock on the Range next year?
Parish: Hopefully, we’ll get back over to Europe right when it comes out.

CB: You guys lived there for a while right?
Parish: Yeah

CB: Did you like it?
Tichenor: London… I liked it. It’s a different pace. It was all new to us.
Parish: At the time it was kind of weird. We didn’t really know what to think about it. But now looking back, I miss it a lot.

CB: It’s uncomfortable a little bit. You’re out of the country. But when you get back and you reflect on it…
Tichenor: It’s good life experience.
Parish: But then you miss the little stuff. The kebab shops.

CB: Exactly, I miss the accent from London. I think they have the best accent.
Parish: I have an English wife.

CB: So that was your souvenir from the trip?
Tichenor: It’s so weird. I had a girlfriend from England and you get so used to that accent.

CB: I don’t have a huge southern accent but a lot of people who aren’t from the U.S. think the southern accent is similar to the English accent.
Parish: Every time we go to Chicago, for some reason in Chicago everybody thinks we sound so southern but I guess we do have the accent maybe.

CB: A teeny bit. Any guilty pleasures?
Tichenor: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

CB: That’s not too guilty
Parish: I think he likes that Bulletproof song by LaRoux. I don’t mind that song either.
Tichenor: There you go. That’s our guilty pleasure, LaRoux.

CB: Is there anything else you guys want to say or promote? You talked about the first single. When’s it going to hit the radio?
Tichenor: Shake Me Down in a couple weeks around Thanksgiving time.

CB: I’ve been listening to your other stuff for so long. I’m ready. I’m sure you guys are ready to play something new right?
Parish: The first album was like four years ago.

CB: Are we going to hear new stuff today?
Parish: Yeah, we are actually going to play the new single tonight.

CB: I look forward to it. Thank you so much.

When the band played Voodoo Fest later that day after my interview on the main stage they proved to be one of the highlights of the day. Lead singer Matt Schultz was electric and did more stage diving than I had seen in a long time into their devoted legions of fans. At one point he even climbed up the scaffolding surrounding the sound booth and dove directly into the crowd. His Superman stunts and the band’s rebellious sing along lyrics got everyone excited for the second day of Voodoo Fest.

Don’t forget to checkout their new album, Thank You Happy Birthday, in stores January 11.

The Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners heard both sides Wednesday in an appeal that pits the Jehovah’s Witnesses against Harrison Township.

The dispute stems from a plot of land that, through some legal wrangling and a Joint Economic Development Agreement, Harrison Township officials say can only be used for industrial purposes that create jobs.

The Southwest Ohio Assembly Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses wants to build a massive assembly hall that they say would be a draw to the 28,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in the region and create jobs in surrounding service sector businesses. 

The Hamilton County Rural Zoning Commission denied permission to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, citing fear over the impact to local businesses and traffic, causing the religious group to appeal the decision to the Board of County Commissioners.

Board President Greg Hartmann said commissioners would set a date in the coming weeks to arrive at a decision. 

Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes lawyer Chris Finney represented the Witnesses before the board. 

Finney argued that the Zoning Commission was wrong to deny permission to build the assembly hall. He pointed to the positive economic impact such halls have had in other states and brought witnesses to testify about the potential impact it could have on Cincinnati.

According to a slide show presented before the board, the hall could result in $1.19 million in annual tax revenue and create 421 jobs in the service industry surrounding the site.

Being a religious institution, the hall would be tax-exempt and would be staffed by volunteers.

Harrison Township officials argued that the area was created under a special agreement that requires industrial use and that any businesses located there create jobs and enhance economic development. 

Mayor Joel McGuire said the township had offered up other locations for the assembly hall, but the Witnesses were fixated on the one.

“That’s why we’re in the all-or-nothing situation we’re in because they insist on this particular spot as opposed to the many other locations where there’d be no problems at all,” McGuire said.

A lot has changed since Charlie Sheen played that kind of do-able police station junkie in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. He was recently the highest paid television actor, has the highest risk of contracting a completely new strain of Hepatitis and is probably going to be the highest actor Andrea Canning has ever interviewed, on a special edition of "20/20" Tuesday night.

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Cintas Corp. sets unrealistic production quotas for laundry workers that cause dangerous conditions and it led to the death of one worker in March 2007, according to a motion filed in a lawsuit against the company.

The widow of Eleazar Torres-Gomez, an employee who died when he fell into a dryer at a Cintas facility near Tulsa, Okla., made the allegation in an application filed Tuesday that seeks to amend her lawsuit.

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