Newspapers all around the state — including The Cincinnati Enquirer, which labelled its article an “Enquirer Exclusive” (both The Toledo Blade and Columbus Dispatch ran a story with the same angle as The Enquirer) — are really excited about a new poll that found Sen. Sherrod Brown leads Josh Mandel in the U.S. senatorial race for Ohio’s seat by 7 percent. But the poll only confirms what aggregate polling has been saying for a while now.  Mayor Mark Mallory fired back at Commissioner Greg Hartmann Friday. In a letter Tuesday, Hartmann accused Mallory of failing to stick to his promises in support of a city-council committee that would have established greater collaboration between Cincinnati and Hamilton County governments. But in his letter, Mallory said the committee was unnecessary and Hartmann was just playing politics by sending a letter to media instead of calling the mayor on his cell phone. Contrary to the claims of Mitt Romney’s campaign, President Barack Obama does care about the work requirements in welfare-to-work reform. In fact, Obama is disapproving of Ohio’s program, which his administration says has not enforced work requirements stringently enough. However, most of the blame is going to former Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, not Gov. John Kasich, a Republican. The University of Cincinnati received a $3.7 million grant to increase the participation of women in science, technology, engineering and math disciplines. The grant comes from the National Science Foundation, a federal entity that funds science. The grant could help current problems with science research. One recent study found scientists prefer to hire male students over female students, pay male students more and spend more time mentoring men over women. Local homeless groups managed to get a hold of a $600,000 grant to aid homeless military veterans. The grant will provide financial assistance and job training for the currently homeless and vets at risk of becoming homeless.The Cincinnati Enquirer is raising subscription costs by 43 percent — from $210 a year to $300 a year.City Council will host a special session today to get public feedback and work on the new deal meant to prevent further streetcar delays. The meeting will be at 10:30 a.m. at City Council Chambers, City Hall room 300, 801 Plum St. Ohio is a swing state, which means we get a lot of political ads during the campaign season. Are you tired of them? Well, politicians don’t seem to care. In 2008, both parties ran a combined total of 42,827 ads between April and September. In the same time period this year, the parties have run 114,840.Citizens for Common Sense was formed to support Issue 4 on the November ballot, which changes City Council terms from two to four years. The initiative would let political candidates worry more about policy and less about campaigning, but some critics say it would make it more difficult to hold council members accountable.Research shows random promotions may be better for business. The study verifies the Peter Principle, which says many people are eventually promoted to positions beyond their competence.

A federal judge announced Wednesday that the Milford-Miami Advertiser, a Gannett-owned suburban weekly newspaper, was guilty of defaming police officer James Young. Judge Michael Barrett affirmed the jury’s award for $100,000 in damages.In an article published on May 27, 2010, the Milford-Miami Advertiser wrote that “Young had sex with a woman while on the job.” The accusation was found to be incorrect.According to court documents, Young was initially fired from his job in 1997 after an internal investigation found semen in Marcey Phillips’s home after Phillips accused Young of forcing her to perform oral sex on him while Young was on duty. But a DNA investigation found that the semen found in Phillips’s home did not belong to Young, and Young was eventually given his job back.The court documents say the Milford-Miami Advertiser article was written by Theresa Herron, the newspaper’s editor, but online archives of the article “Cop’s suspension called best move for city” say the article was written by Kellie Geist. Update: Herron wrote the section of the article that went to trial, while Geist wrote the rest.Young testified that Herron never attempted to contact him before publishing the article, according to court documents. Herron testified that she did not fully read the documents for Young’s case, but she said she knew about the DNA testing and did not think it was important to the story.When contacted by CityBeat, Herron said she did not feel comfortable discussing the case. The story was first reported by Courthouse News Service. Gannett also owns the Cincinnati Enquirer. The Milford-Miami Advertiser covers community news in Miami Township and Milford, and it is part of the Cincinnati.com network.

Inhabitants at the 1100 block of Race Street will lose a neighbor beginning March 1, when Media Bridges moves a few blocks away to a new location inside the Crosley Telecommunications Center in Over-the-Rhine at 1223 Central Pkwy. The move, although minor, means some improvements are in store for the non-profit. Media Bridges provides diverse communities in Cincinnati with the opportunity to work with and produce forms of media. Although they've called their 1100 Race St. location home since 2002, the move means a larger production studio and purchase newer equipment and more up-to-date video editing software. The Crosley Telecommunications Center also houses CET and Cincinnati Public Radio. Because the facilities are shared, Media Bridges hopes to collaborate with the outlets and explore joint services, said CET Executive Vice President and Station Manager Jack Dominic in a news release.  The decision to stay in OTR was an obvious choice, according to Tom Bishop, Media Bridges' Executive Director. "This is our neighborhood. We love this place," he says. The change comes thanks to a dent in funding; the City of Cincinnati cut Media Bridges' funding by one-third in 2007, and a downsize has been brewing in their plans since then. Although the new facility will have a larger production facility, office space will be compressed to accommodate staff cuts. The new equipment and software will be purchased using reserved funds, but Bishop says it's worth the investment; "Some of our equipment was from 1989. You're driving dinosaurs if you're not updating your software and equipment every few years [in the media industry]." The new equipment will make way for some promising advances in the future, according to Bishop. Plans to teach courses on Wordpress web design, computer classes for A + certification and a certification program for Adobe Production Premiere are in the works. Media Bridges will begin its transition on March 1 while it continues to provide full services at its Race Street location. Its last day of operation will be on April 20, followed by an 11-day hiatus to complete the move to the new Central Parkway location, which is expected to open to the community on May 3.

It’s a good thing her last name begins with a “W.”The Enquirer on Sunday published a high-profile, above-the-fold list of the “20 Professional Women to Watch in 2012.” And, lo and behold, one of the people making the cut was Carolyn Washburn, the editor and vice president at the media company.

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