As CityBeat did in the 2007 election cycle, we’ve once again sent a questionnaire to various non-incumbent Cincinnati City Council candidates to get their reactions on a broad range of issues.

Seven of the 12 non-incumbents chose to answer our questions. Others either didn’t respond or couldn’t meet the deadline.

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Today is the deadline to register to vote in this year's elections on Nov. 3. Find details on the Hamilton County Board of Elections web site. 

Here are voter registration contacts for other local counties:

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Never one to mince words or hold back his opinions, Gore Vidal says he regrets voting for President Barack Obama last year and calls Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, "the stupidest man in the country" in a wide-ranging interview with The Times of London.

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Our friends at Pittsburgh City Paper have roundup stories and a comprehensive blog section of coverage from the recent G-20 summit in their town (with some video, including this shot of police roughing up a protester). Much of the coverage focuses on the arrest of more than 100 people at a demonstration last Friday in the Oakland neighborhood near the University of Pittsburgh.

A web site called What Happened at Pitt?!?! has been launched by students there to focus attention on alleged police misconduct during the protest. As the web site asks, certainly rhetorically, "Why were we beaten? Why were we shot at? Why were we arrested? Why were we treated as criminals in our own neighborhood?" Students are holding a rally tonight called "Oakland Unites for First Amendment Rights."

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State Rep. Tyrone Yates (D-Cincinnati), plans to introduce legislation in the Ohio House soon that he said would help shield bank customers from excessive fees.

Under his proposal, banks doing business in Ohio would be prohibited from automatically enrolling customers in debit card overdraft protection programs without first giving them the right to opt-out of the service.

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During its eight years in power, the Bush-Cheney Administration was a big supporter of privatizing services that traditionally were performed by government. The ostensible purpose was to save taxpayer money, although it often seemed like the real reason was to enrich the cronies of George Bush and Dick Cheney, including companies like Halliburton.

It’s odd, then, that Cheney is turning to taxpayers for a special favor.

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UPDATE: City Councilman Chris Bortz called Thursday morning to say that although Councilman Jeff Berding included Bortz's printed name as a co-sponsor on Berding's motion, Bortz won't sign the pledge. "I think it's premature to sign a pledge at this stage," Bortz said. "I support the thrust of it."

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The lead feature article in the new issue of The New Yorker focuses on the anti-gang program Cincinnati implemented two years ago. John Seabrook's "Don't Shoot" is a long, well-researched and well-written story about David Kennedy, who devised the "Ceasefire" crime-fighting model in Boston, and his experiences here implementing C.I.R.V. (Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Crime).

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Maybe the “spontaneous” Tea Party political movement already is running out of steam.

An estimated 3,000 people — mostly suburbanites — descended on downtown Cincinnati’s Fountain Square last month for a Tea Party protest on Tax Day, part of a series of events aimed at expressing anger over President Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus package and alleged out-of-control government spending.

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Plenty of politicians and pundits have expounded upon the intellectual arguments about why the Bush Administration was wrong in using torture techniques on detainees during interrogation. Often, though, plain-spoken language is more effective in crystallizing an idea for people.

The latest example is words uttered by Jesse Ventura, the former pro wrestler who was once the governor of Minnesota. Appearing Tuesday night on CNN’s Larry King Live, Ventura succinctly and effectively spoke about the torture issue.

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