It’s October. Tomorrow is the first day of in-person early voting in Ohio. Find your nearest polling booth at the secretary of state’s website here.

Michelle Obama will be in Cincinnati tomorrow to support an in-person early voting push in Ohio. The state is considered vital for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign against President Barack Obama, but while national polling is close, Ohio is looking very bad for Romney. The Romney team seems to be banking on the debates to regain momentum, but, historically, debates have little electoral impact. The first debate is Wednesday at 9 p.m. A full schedule of the debates can be found here. 

In more good news for Democrats, a recent poll by The Columbus Dispatch found Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio is leading Josh Mandel, state treasurer and Brown’s Republican opponent for the U.S. Senate seat, by 10 points. The last Dispatch poll found the two candidates tied. The poll shows a long-term trend seen in aggregate polling of Brown gaining momentum and Mandel falling behind.  

A former Republican Ohio state representative came out in support of Issue 2. Joan Lawrence came out for the initiative as part of Women for Issue 2, claiming the current system is rigged. If Issue 2 is approved by voters this election cycle, Ohio’s redistricting will be handled by an independent citizens committee. Currently, elected officials manage Ohio’s redistricting process, but the process normally leads to corruption in a process known as “gerrymandering” in which politicians redraw district borders in politically advantageous ways. In the First Congressional District, which includes Cincinnati, district boundaries were redrawn by Republicans to include less of Hamilton County’s urban population, which tends to vote Democrat, and instead include the more rural Warren County, which tends to vote Republican. CityBeat previously covered the issue and Republicans’ losses in court regarding Issue 2 here. 

Margaret Buchanan, The Cincinnati Enquirer’s publisher and president, left the University of Cincinnati Board of Trustees Friday to avoid a potential conflict of interest in the newspaper’s reporting on the UC Board of Trustees. CityBeat and other media critics mentioned the conflict of interest in the past, particularly when former UC President Greg Williams suddenly resigned and Buchanan refused to comment on speculation around the resignation. 

Cincinnati’s economic recovery is in full swing. For the second straight month, the area’s manufacturers expanded. The Cincinnati Purchasing Management Index, which measures manufacturing, went up from 54.6 in August to 58.8 in September. The index must be above 50 to signify growth; below 50 shows contraction.

Cincinnati’s women-owned businesses are doing a lot more than some may think. They are responsible for 3,500 local area jobs.

Ohio’s attorney general is devoting more money toward solving cold case homicides. Cold cases are old cases that have not been the subject of recent investigations but could be solved in light of new evidence.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier will be filmed in southern and northeast Ohio.

Nintendo’s Wii U is already looking like the top Christmas toy.

Artificially intelligent gamer bots convinced judges they’re human more often than actual humans.

There are only a few more weeks of political commercials, ads, promises and accusations flooding the TV and radio before the Nov. 6 presidential election. While many Americans are tired of political campaigning, Ohio — the most important swing state in the United States — has been showing a great response toward the campaign as it nears its end. 

On Thursday, 4,000 people lined up outside of Jet Machine in Bond Hill to hear Republican candidate Mitt Romney speak at 11 a.m. 

After flying in to Lunken Airport on Wednesday night, Romney had breakfast at First Watch in downtown Cincinnati on Thursday morning before proceeding to the rally in Bond Hill. 

His visit in Cincinnati was the first of a three-stop bus tour in Ohio — along with Worthington and Defiance, Ohio later that afternoon. 

At the Jet Machine warehouse, Romney criticized Barack Obama's campaign, foreign policies and plans for America's future. 

"The Obama campaign is slipping because he keeps talking about smaller and smaller things when America has such big problems," Romney said. 

Romney cheered on small businesses and promised that his businesses experience will help turn the economy around. 

In a response to the Cincinnati rally, the Obama campaign explained that Romney's visit was just another attempt to try and convince Ohio workers that he is on their side and will stand up to China, when in fact it's the opposite. 

"As a corporate buyout specialist, Romney invested in companies that pioneered the practice of shipping jobs to places like China, shutting down American plants and firing workers — all while he walked away with a profit," Jessica Kershaw, Obama for America — Ohio press secretary, explained. 

"These jobs are likely to come at the expense of American workers in cities like Cincinnati, and that’s why the people of Ohio will not be supporting Mitt Romney this November.” 

Romney ended the rally encouraging the Buckeye state to go to the polls and vote early. 

"We need to make sure Ohio is able to send a message loud and clear: We want real change. We want big change," Romney encouraged. 

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus held a conference call with Ohio reporters Wednesday morning in response to Tuesday comments by Democratic Vice President Joe Biden that the middle class had been “buried” in the last four years.

“Obama and Biden have buried the middle class, and now they want to bury them some more,” Priebus told reporters. 

“I mean, just imagine what Barack Obama would do. He buried us economically in this country knowing that he would have to face re-election. Just imagine what he would do with nothing but daylight in front of him. Just imagine where this economy would go.”

Biden made his comments before an audience of about 1,000 in Charlotte on Tuesday. He said Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s tax cuts for millionaires would raise taxes for the middle class.

“How can they justify raising classes on a middle class that has been buried the last four years?” Biden said.

Biden tried to clarify that he meant they had been buried by policies supported by Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan.

Republicans, however, jumped on the comment immediately, with Romney tweeting, “the middle class has been buried the last 4 years, which is why we need a change in November.”

Priebus said despite polling showing Obama pulling ahead of Romney in Ohio that the state would be very close. He said Republicans have a better ground game and would “crush” Democrats. 

“I think we’re going to crush the Democrats on the ground,” Priebus said. 

“I just don’t think they’ve got a very good ground game. I’ve looked through it, I’ve seen it. It’s all smoke and mirrors.”

Priebus said if Romney were to lose Ohio, he was still optimistic about Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado and Nevada.

“We’ve got it all on the table. Ohio is, of course, extremely important. It’s nothing new, but I also see avenues to 270 (electoral votes) opening up for Mitt Romney in places that weren’t there in ’08.”

In-person early voting is underway in Ohio. Find your nearest polling booth here.

Issue 2 is getting outraised quite badly. Protect Your Vote Ohio, the group opposing Issue 2, has raised $6.9 million, while Voters First Ohio, the group supporting Issue 2, has raised $3.6 million since July. If Issue 2 is approved by voters, it will put an independent citizens commission in charge of the redistricting process. Currently, the process is handled by elected officials, who have used the process in politically advantageous ways. Republicans redrew the First Congressional District, Cincinnati's district, to include Warren County. The move put more emphasis on rural and suburban voters, which tend to side with Republicans, and less on urbanites, which tend to side with Democrats.

Not only will Ohio play a pivotal role in the presidential election, but RealClearPolitics, a website that aggregates polling, says Hamilton County is among two Ohio counties that will play the biggest role. In light of that, President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will be in town this week. Obama will visit Oct. 31, and Romney will be here Nov. 2. Currently, Obama leads in Ohio by 2.1 points, while Romney leads nationally by 0.9 points.

A partnership between the University of Cincinnati and U.S. State Department is going to Iraq. For the third year, UC will be working with Salahaddin University in Iraq to help redesign the Iraqi school’s curriculum and establish a career center.

The Ohio Board of Regents and Ohio Department of Education (ODE) may merge soon, says Board of Regent Chancellor Jim Petro. The Board of Regents is already moving to ODE's building later this year. Petro said the building move will allow the Board of Regents, which focuses on higher education, to cooperate more with ODE, which focuses on elementary, middle and high school. 

The Ohio legislature could be getting a big ethics overhaul in the coming weeks. Specifics weren’t offered, but Senate President Tom Niehaus said disclosure and transparency will be priorities.

Cincinnati’s United Way beat its fundraising goal of $61 million in 2012. The goal was originally seen as “a stretch.”

The nationwide meningitis outbreak is forcing some Ohio officials to take a look at the state’s compounding pharmacies. Compounding is when pharmacists make custom preparations for patients under special circumstances. The Ohio State Board of Pharmacy has already taken action against the New England Compounding Center, whose compound was connected with starting the meningitis outbreak.

The FBI will join an investigation into fraudulent attendance data reporting in Ohio schools. Previously, state Auditor Dave Yost found five school districts were scrubbing data in his first interim report, but a second interim report cleared every other district checked so far, including Cincinnati Public Schools.

In-person early voting is underway in Ohio. Find your nearest polling booth here.

The first presidential debate took place last night. Most of the “liberal media” says Mitt Romney beat President Barack Obama, but the impact of the relatively dull debate is probably being overstated as the media tries to sensationalize some sort of comeback narrative for Romney. Although the debates are important for capturing a candidate’s policies and speaking ability, they don’t matter much in political terms. Policy-wise, it seems Romney ran to the center last night.  If last night’s debate wasn’t enough debate for you, here are the three most awkward presidential debate moments in history.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus held a conference call with Ohio reporters yesterday in response to Vice President Joe Biden’s comments that the middle class has been “buried” in the past four years. Priebus claimed the Republican ground game in Ohio will “crush” Democrats. But that’s going to require a lot of work. As it stands, Obama and Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown are beating their respective Republican opponents pretty badly in aggregate polling. 

PolitiFact says Republican claims that Issue 2 will create a redistricting commission that will “have a blank check to spend our money” are false. While there is no cap on spending designated in Issue 2, that does not mean the redistricting commission will get infinite funding. If Issue 2 is approved by voters, redistricting will be handled by an independent citizens commission. If Issue 2 is rejected by voters, redistricting will continue being handled by politicians that commonly use the system in politically advantageous ways. A Republican majority redistricted the First Congressional District, which includes Cincinnati, to also include Warren County. The new boundaries give Republicans an advantage by putting more emphasis on rural voters, which typically vote Republican, instead of urban voters, which typically vote Democrat. CityBeat previously covered the redistricting process and Issue 2 here.

An analysis by the Ohio Office of Budget and Management found Issue 2 would cost the state about $11-$15.2 million over eight years. That’s about $1.4-$1.9 million a year, or about 0.005-0.007 percent of Ohio’s budget for the 2013 fiscal year.

To put the cost of Issue 2 in further context, state tax revenues were $39 million above estimates in September.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) and the Cincinnati-based Ohio Justice and Policy Center (OJPC) have settled out of court in a case involving health care in prisons. OJPC brought the case forward with a lawsuit in 2003, arguing that inmates were not receiving adequate health care as required by the Ohio Constitution. Courts agreed in 2005, and they created an oversight committee to ensure medical standards rose. Today, health care in prisons is much better. With the settlement, OJPC and ODRC will continue watching over medical policies and procedures for the next two years, but courts no longer have an oversight mandate.

City Council unanimously approved six projects for historic tax credits yesterday.

Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank reclaimed its top spot for local bank deposits this year, although data released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) shows it might never have lost the top spot to U.S. Bank.

Ever curious about why politicians use similar body language in all their public appearances? The New York Times has an explanation.

A new, strange dinosaur was recently identified.

In-person early voting is underway in Ohio. Find your nearest polling booth here.

State Rep. Alicia Reece, a Democrat, is not happy with what she sees as another attempt at voter suppression. Reece claims a new billboard, which reads “Voter Fraud is a Felony,” is meant to intimidate voters — particularly voters in low-income and black neighborhoods. The company hosting the billboards says there are 30 billboards like it in Greater Cincinnati and the sponsor of the billboards, who chose to remain anonymous, did not ask to target any specific demographic.

The second presidential debate is tonight at 9 p.m. All eyes are on President Barack Obama to deliver a better performance than he did in the last debate against Mitt Romney. The media was quick to jump on the post-debate bounce in polls Romney experienced a mere week after the debate, but political scientists say debates typically don’t have much political significance in the long term. Still, the debate will be a good opportunity for Obama and Romney to flesh out their positions and show their abilities to reach out to the public. The full schedule of the remaining debates can be found here. The agreed-upon rules to the debates were leaked yesterday. One notable rule says the candidates may not ask each other any direct questions during any of the debates. Both the Romney and Obama campaigns made a fuss about tonight's debate moderator possibly asking follow-up questions.

But the debate isn’t the only important presidential test this week. While in Youngstown, Paul Ryan, Republican vice presidential nominee, tried to show he can pass the dish washing test, but little did he know that savvy media outlets were ready to call him out on his dishonesty. Brian Antal, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society, said Ryan was only at the group’s soup kitchen for the picture and didn’t do much work. The visit apparently angered Antal, who said his charity group is supposed to be nonpartisan.

Ohio is still weighing options regarding a Medicaid expansion. Critics of the expansion are worried the expansion would cost the state too much money. However, previous research shows Medicaid expansions can actually save states money by lowering the amount of uncompensated care. Medicaid expansions in other states also notably improved lives.

One analyst says Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble will see stronger growth in the future.

A controversial ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court is sparking some local debate. The ruling said juveniles are not entitled to an attorney during police interrogations preceding a charge or initial appearance at juvenile court. Under state law, juveniles are allowed to have attorneys during “proceedings,” and the Ohio Supreme Court interpreted “proceedings” to mean “court proceedings.”

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted announced 6,665 new entities filed to do business in Ohio in September. The number is up from September 2011, when 6,143 new entities filed to do business; but it’s down from August 2012, when 7,341 entities asked to do business in Ohio. The numbers show a steady economic recovery.

The Ohio Turnpike may get a few changes soon. A new Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) study shows a few options for Gov. John Kasich’s administration: lease the turnpike, give it over to ODOT or leave it alone. If the turnpike is leased or handed over to ODOT, tolls will likely rise to keep up with inflation and two maintenance facilities will shut down. However, the revenue generated could be used for new transportation projects — a goal for the Kasich administration. Kasich is set to make his decision in about a month.

In other Ohio Turnpike news, Turnpike Director Rick Hodges announced turnpike tow truck companies will soon be paid less but allowed to charge customers more.

Scientists want to measure human consciousness. The technology could gauge whether vegetative patients retain any awareness.

In-person early voting is underway in Ohio. Find your nearest polling booth here.

The final debate for Ohio’s U.S. Senate seat is tonight. Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown and Republican challenger Josh Mandel will meet in Cincinnati to continue a feisty exchange of ideas and sometimes insults. In the last debate, the candidates drew sharp contrasts on policy, which CityBeat covered in-depth here. The final debate will be tonight at 7 p.m. on all Ohio NBC news stations, including WLWT.com. In aggregate polling, Brown is currently up 5.2 points against Mandel.

Want to see what a biased headline from a local newspaper looks like? Here you go, from Business Courier: Romney win would boost economy, economist says. Strangely enough, the article says re-electing President Barack Obama could also lift the economy, which makes the misleading headline even worse. Unfortunately for the newspaper, Obama is currently leading by 2.1 points in Ohio against Mitt Romney, and the state will play a pivotal role in the election. Romney is leading by 0.6 points nationally.

A group is trying to convince Cincinnatians to vote no on Issue 4. The initiative, which is on 2012’s ballot, would extend City Council terms from two to four years. Supporters of Issue 4 say it lets City Council focus more on passing laws and less on campaigning, but opponents say it makes it more difficult to hold City Council accountable.

Ohio Supreme Court Justice Robert Cupp is distancing himself from a TV ad put out by the Ohio Republican Party that depicts his Democratic opponent, William O’Neill, as sympathetic to rapists. Liberal blog Plunderbund called the ad “tone deaf,” referencing recent instances of Republican senatorial candidates turning rape into a legitimate issue. The Republican Senate candidate for Indiana, Richard Mourdock, recently said during a debate, “I think that even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.” Previously, the Republican Senate candidate for Missouri, Todd Akin, told reporters when discussing pregnancy caused by rape, “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

CityBeat looked at some of the benefits and downsides of green water infrastructure yesterday. Basically, it’s going to produce more jobs and economic growth, but it’s going to require long-term commitment and education. Later today, CityBeat will be talking to some city officials of how that green infrastructure can be adopted in Cincinnati.

Hamilton County’s budget is tight, and that means no wage hike for county workers anytime soon, according to Hamilton County Commission President Greg Hartmann.

Gov. John Kasich is taking his time in filling an open Board of Education seat. Rob Nichols, Kasich’s spokesperson, says, “We just want to get the right person.” But state law requires the seat be filled within 30 days, and the seat has been vacant for a month.

An Ohio judge said provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct and polling location must still be counted.

Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble beat Wall Street expectations, easing concerns from skeptical investors.

Huntington National Bank is relaunching its credit card business in a move that will produce 250 new jobs, and Greater Cincinnati is expected to land some of those jobs.

Ohio is getting a little love from Airbus. The aerospace company will be getting more of its parts from Ohio manufacturers. Cincinnati-based GE Aviation is already Airbus’ biggest U.S. supplier.

A new health care report found health providers often cover up mistakes in fear of retaliation. The report also found health care has been slow at embracing the “culture of safety.”

Apparently, strict parents raise conservative kids.

The Republican head of Hamilton County’s governing board outlined his own alternative for a 2013 budget on Monday, proposing an austere path forward after rejecting other budgets that would raise some taxes.

Board of County Commissioners President Greg Hartmann said his proposed budget would reduce the size of county government by 30 percent, compared to five years ago. He said he wants the board to approve a budget before the Thanksgiving holiday.

“It is a budget of austerity and investment in growth,” Hartmann said. 

He added, “It is a structurally-balanced budget,” that doesn’t use one-time sources of cash to make up for shortfalls.

Hartmann’s proposed budget would cut the Sheriff’s Department by about $57,000  or 0.01 percent from 2012 levels; reduce the coroner’s appropriation by 3 percent or $99,000; cut economic development by 5 percent; cut 5 percent from adult criminal courts; and reduce subsidies to the Communications Center and Sheriff’s Department.

Hartmann stressed that it is important to fund public safety as fully as allowable in these tough economic times, as economic development is not possible without it.

Hartmann’s budget comes after commissioners rejected three proposals from County Administrator Christian Sigman.

Sigman proposed $18.7 million in cuts, which Hartmann’s budget maintained in addition to his own reductions.

Two of Sigman’s proposals involved increasing the sales tax to balance the budget.

Fellow Republican Commissioner Chris Monzel said he supports Hartmann’s efforts at austerity, but is working on his own budget proposal as well.

“An austerity budget is the way we’re going to go, and it’s going to be hard,” he said.

The board’s sole Democrat, Todd Portune, said he too is working on his own proposal that he had hoped to have prepared for the Nov. 5 meeting, but was still making tweaks and hoped to present it by the following week.

He hinted that the results of Election Day might impact how he crafts his budget proposal.

“Tomorrow’s results may have an impact as well on the budget that I present as it relates as well to those who are running for county seats,” Portune said. “We have in some cases two very different visions in terms of solutions.” 

Both he and Hartmann are up for re-election. Portune is running against Libertarian Bob Frey. Neither candidate has a major party challenger.

Hartmann, who has actively campaigned for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, had a joke in response to Portune’s waiting for the election results.

“I thought you were predicting Romney’s win would make the economy go on the right track,” Hartmann cracked. “I was thinking that’s what you were going to go with.”

Election Day is today. Find your correct polling booth here. Check out CityBeat’s endorsements here.

After a year of campaigns, the race between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney is almost over. All eyes are on Ohio to decide the presidential election. In aggregate polling, Obama leads Romney by 2.9 points in Ohio and 0.7 points nationally. FiveThirtyEight, The New York Times’ electoral forecast model, gives Obama a 91.4 percent chance to win Ohio and a 91.6 percent chance to win the election. The New York Times also has an interactive flowchart to gauge both Obama's and Romney's paths to victory.

In the U.S. Senate race, Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown leads Republican challenger Josh Mandel by 5 points in aggregate polling. CityBeat covered the policy and campaign differences between the two candidates in coverage of the first, second and third debate and a cover story.

Gov. John Kasich has taken a noticeable shift to the center and considered less divisive ideas in recent months, and some of that might be to help Romney’s electoral chances in Ohio. In the past two years, Kasich went from supporting SB 5, which would have limited collective bargaining for public employees, to focusing almost entirely on jobs.

While we focus on voting on Earth, astronauts in space also vote.

Hamilton County Commission President Greg Hartmann, a Republican, laid out his budget plan yesterday. Hartmann touted “austerity” as a prominent theme in the budget. Austerity measures actually led Europe into a second recession, according to prominent economist Robert Reich. This matches the opinion of other economists, such as Nobel-winning Paul Krugman, who argue governments should try to make up for shortfalls in the private sector through increased spending during recessions. Recently, the International Monetary Fund admitted it underestimated the bad economic impact of austerity measures. Still, Hamilton County is required to balance its budget, so the commissioners don’t have many options. Todd Portune, the lone Democratic commissioner, says he will unveil his plan later.

The new Jungle Jim’s at Eastgate is having a large, positive impact on its neighbors. The exotic grocery store has apparently brought a lot of new paying customers to the area.

Cincinnati’s Oakley neighborhood might soon put its traffic problems in the past. City Council is expected to vote on a plan Wednesday that would block three streets in the neighborhood. Residents have complained traffic is out of control because of development at the Rookwood Exchange in Norwood, and traffic could get worse due to the holiday shopping season.

Workers injured during the construction of Cincinnati’s Horseshoe Casino are looking for a way around workers comp rules. The exemption-seeking lawsuit filed by four workers against 13 defendants is typical in Ohio law, which generally prevents workers from suing employers over workplace injuries since Ohio’s compensation rules provide ways to obtain missing wages and other potential damages.

Time Warner Cable is hiring for more than 50 positions in Cincinnati.

A new partnership between the Memorial Hall Society, 3CDC and Hamilton County’s commissioners may revitalize Hamilton County’s Memorial Hall. The hall is one of Hamilton County’s architectural treasures, but a lack of renovations has left it behind modern developments, including air conditioning.

Some of Ohio’s exotic animal owners are not happy with a new law that requires registering and micro-chipping exotic animals, so they are suing the state.

A Cleveland woman that drove on a sidewalk to avoid a school bus that was unloading children will have to wear a sign that says, “Only an idiot drives on the sidewalk to avoid a school bus.” She will have to wear the sign at an intersection for one hour a day for two days next week.

An Ohio woman broke into a family’s house, cleaned the house and left a $75 bill.

On Sunday, an amputee climbed 103 stories using a mind-controlled bionic leg. Oh, science.