Bus Riders: Merry Christmas! People who use the Metro bus system for transportation in Cincinnati and Hamilton County are going to have to dig deeper in their pockets beginning Dec. 27. Due to cuts in federal funding, Metro is raising its fares.  

SIMON LEIS JR.: Yes, you’re reading that right. We’re giving kudos to Sheriff Simon for having the cojones to publicly say what many politicians agree with privately: Local governments could save mounds of money and provide more efficient services if Hamilton County took over some functions that are duplicated by cities and townships.  

COAST: The Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST) usually has a sympathetic ear with The Cincinnati Enquirer’s editorial page. After all, the paper shares the group’s “less government is good” creed. Now, however, even The Enquirer is criticizing COAST’s latest ballot referendum.  

BLOGGERS: The Illinois-based Save-A-Life Foundation voluntarily dropped its lawsuit this month against local blogger Jason Haap, a.k.a. “The Dean of Cincinnati.” Haap wrote a well-sourced online article alleging the group taught a discredited technique to help drowning victims and misled donors about its finances.  

With Ohio’s 20 electoral votes — more than Nevada, Utah and Colorado combined — presidential candidates work hard to win over the state’s modest, workman-like and pragmatic voters. Last year both presidential campaigns spent so much time here their team could probably order at Skyline Chili without even glancing at the menu.  

Cincinnati Police officers were due to sweep a homeless camp on the riverfront, arguing the responsibility to guard public safety. But local attorney Jennifer Kinsley counter-argued First Amendment protections and won a restraining order, resulting in a conversation about how to approach homeless shelters here and across the U.S.  

1776, 1865, 1945, 1968 and now 2008. There are some years that stick out in American history as significant turning points, with events occurring that are so momentous even those living through them know they’re witnessing history.   

Like their national counterparts, Hamilton County Republicans often preach about how they dislike government and want to reduce its size. The truth about county government, however, is that it’s been rife with wasteful spending for decades, a period in which the local GOP had a lock on virtually all of its elected positions.  

Jeff Cappell isn’t afraid to piss off people in his own party. Last year Cappell filed a federal lawsuit against the local GOP’s big gun — Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis Jr. — alleging Leis broke state election laws when he included a letter in pay checks to his workers urging them to support a sales tax referendum on the November 2007 ballot.