Ram23

This video is wild: The host of the gala, the developer George Herscu, would be bankrupt and in jail in Australia a year later. A sign of things to come.

The guy sure is making money off of political campaigns, but is he actually helping? Or was his timing just right? Most of the issues listed in the article would pass regardless - Cincinnati has turned almost completely blue now and is majority rental so these small property tax hikes for things like mental health services aren't even remotely difficult to pass. If you're a homeowner you look at $15/year for something like the library as pocket change and if you're a renter you typically don't even factor the cost as it applies to you because of the degree of separation. They could spend $0 on these campaigns and they'd probably still pass. Now this campaign, which on paper should be a slam dunk, is seemingly headed for failure - because people don't trust the city government and the campaign has done nothing to address that. They've probably dug themselves in deeper by parading out every big name politician from Cincinnati's past. They may as well have PG endorse it from a jail cell at this point.

Yes, the rear stair of the garage extended out into the footprint of the Convention Place building. Structurally, it must have been part of the building and had to come down with it. It previously opened up to a lobby on the second floor of the building, which connected to the Skywalk. I used to use it to go from this garage all the way over to the Mercantile Center as recently as 2018-ish. There was a seemingly still functioning karate studio in an otherwise remote corner of the last remaining bits of the Skywalk.

I don't think it's there's much more to it than money. Their current space isn't great inside and renovating would be expensive due to current construction costs. Meanwhile suburban Class A office space is dirt cheap. They're moving into a fully furnished, like-new Class A office building and it'll cost much less than updating their current space to a similar quality would.

I've been surprised the last few months at how many people don't realize that most of the property taxes collected are fixed amounts and that the millage is determined by the amount, not the other way around. The reappraisal just redistributes the tax burden, it doesn't increase it. I think a lot of people are going to be surprised they actually get a tax cut next year despite an increase in their value.

Yeah these older buildings were perfectly serviceable for their purposes with no need for AC about 98% of the time. Prior to AC, school buildings were designed to store thermal energy in thick brick walls to effectively "delay" heat transfer. The exterior walls would cool off at night, and stay cool throughout the day into the early afternoon. Even on a hot, 90F degree day the air inside those old schools wouldn't heat up until 3:00 or 4:00 At night the walls would quickly cool off because between September and May in Ohio nighttime lows are rarely above 60F. It was beautifully logical and efficient for a building type that is only/primarily occupied during the fall/winter/summer months from morning to early afternoon. Natural ventilation and mass walls can cool a school in Ohio but between energy code requirements and parents demands it will never happen.

I was curious about this also and did a little digging on LinkedIn; I think this LLC is tied to Decker Building Group which seems to now be IQ Custom Homes, or at least has the same ownership. I assume it will be developed as single family as that seems to be what they do. That said, I thought "Decker Building Group" sounded familiar - Googled and was instantly reminded that this apparent property owner is a key player in one of Cincinnati's most infamous unsolved mysteries: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2017/08/27/indian-hill-mansion-fire-mystery-heads-court-w-heading-court-settleillion-lawsuit-and-countersuit-to/601044001/ This was quietly settled out of court shortly after that article was published, so we'll never know - did they get away with arson? Did Chris Sabo burn the house down? Why did the owner of Stafford Jewelers, a witness for the insurer, commit suicide on the property later?

I think that article is rather intellectually dishonest, but it sounds like the author has made a career out of it so he has to keep doubling down. I think we need to reject the notion that different outcomes are de facto evidence of discrimination. Is the racial makeup of, say, NFL cornerbacks evidence of systematic racism? What about tight ends? Or are there other explanations? Anyways, as I said before - I think the bigger impact this will have is exposing teams that have seemingly paid bonuses to players and/or coaches for tanking. I saw this rumor alleging that the Browns did it in '16 and '17:

I think the "racist!" claims have no real tooth to them, I think the lawyers here just threw everything and the kitchen sink into the filing. The accusations about being offered a bonus to lose games is pretty rough, though. Especially because the owner is also invested in sports betting. Will be interesting to see if there's any truth to it. This should be the headline. And for an interesting thought exercise - had the Dolphins tanked more than the Bengals that year, they'd have gotten Joe Burrow, and maybe they'd be in the Super Bowl this year. Honestly, Belichick texting the wrong Brian is pretty hilarious. Never would have guessed he uses exclamation points. Somebody might have told him "we're hiring Brian" and he didn't realize they interviewed a different Brian. Or maybe he just texted the wrong contact? You also have to wonder - if he never sends those texts, does this lawsuit happen? Is there some sort of long con being masterminded by Belichick here?

I think you're looking at the dark blue, which I just noticed is not really close at all to the blue in the key. That is the 6-8" range. There is no purple, which would be 15-18. What's confusing to me is that the square below 1" is transparent, so it shows whatever color it happens to be on top of.

Once you get about this far out, I've found the maps I linked above to be pretty accurate most of the time. The 48 hour forecast maps that will come out tomorrow are usually spot on.

^ Accuweather is showing a prediction of up to 1" of ice in Cincinnati. They tend to wildly overestimate, though. For winter weather, I really only look at the National Weather Service. This map is typically pretty accurate: https://origin.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/pwpf/wwd_percentiles.php?ftype=percentiles&fpd=72&ptype=snow

This house has quite the home office: (keep going until picture 30) https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/8405-Sanctuary-Dr_Mentor_OH_44060_M31991-65100

Yeah that screw up on the final play of the first half was all on Mahomes (he tried to call a timeout after the tackle so he clearly just wasn't aware of the circumstances) and the guilt took a toll on him. And then the Bengals came out in the second half with different coverage (dropped 8 into coverage most passing downs, used a spy, etc.) and he never really adjusted to what they were doing. The spy almost ended the game on the last play in regulation - Mahomes inexplicably stood in the pocket for what seemed like 10 seconds, and then danced around and fumbled. Had that ball bounced differently, the Bengals would have won right there. My favorite stat of the game was Mahomes' QB rating: First half: 149.9 Second half: 0

👆 Opinions on mega churches aside, this is a good thing for the building. Crossroads invested heavily in Old St George - a building I thought would be torn down when I watched the steeples burn years ago.

This is an accurate take. I've lived in Cincinnati my entire life (sans a couple years elsewhere) and have watched exactly zero NBA games, ever. The last time I even watched a part of one, it was a Bulls game with Scottie Pippen and Jordan. I pretty routinely watch college basketball, and most every other professional sport.

^ Sounds like CPD was planning to have a press conference about the sex/prostitution/trafficking sting and the mayor got wind of it and stopped it. It's not clear if the vice squad is being allowed to continue patrolling parks, the denial by the chief isn't really all that clear about what the policy actually is. The mayor wants to write tickets instead of arresting people. I have actually stumbled upon this sort of thing twice - once in Burnet Woods when I was a student at DAAP, and once while jogging through Fairview Park about 5-6 years ago. I am somewhat suspicious of the cancelled press conference. It makes you wonder if one of those apprehended could be a recognizable name and/or otherwise has a friend at City Hall.

I think the Town Center Garage / Freestore blocks might be more likely than the Charles Substation block. If money was included to build a new police HQ elsewhere downtown, an arena development could effectively span from Charles all the way up to TQL Stadium. The two could share parking garages and other amenities in the space between. My gut tells me a new police headquarters building would be cheaper than relocating the Charles Substation, especially if you wanted to relocate it somewhere that wasn't in the immediate vicinity.

Tesla recently made headlines when they moved their HQ out of California to Texas. I wouldn't expect Intel or any other major moves any time soon because CA's politicians are actively playing prevent defense now. Silicon Valley isn't going to disappear over night, but between remote work and a renewed interest in domestic tech manufacturing (in the wake of COVID and supply chain issues) - I think and hope we'll see it wither, so that more tech profits can be spread to the rest of the country. And the articles posted earlier noted the average salary at this new plant is expected to be $125,000, so I don't think your "low wages" comment passes muster. Maybe that's "lower" than what they'd have to pay in California, but I'd argue someone making $125k in Ohio is going to have a significantly better quality of life than someone making $140k in the bay area.

Ohio's business-friendly policies, taxes, marketing, and lobbying are often lambasted on UrbanOhio because they are right out of the Republican playbook, but they seem to have been a very big factor for Intel. It shows that a political focus on attracting jobs first is the right approach for a place like Ohio, given that we don't have the climate, amenities, nor reputation to attract people first, and hope that jobs follow. And of course, the benefit of pursuing tech manufacturing jobs is that, unlike most other well paying tech jobs, they can't be done remotely.

There's some ambiguity about just what the owners mean when they say they want the building to "endure an earthquake." It's reasonable, albeit atypical, for them to want the tower to be retrofitted to meet the requirements a new building would have to meet, even though it isn't required by code. It isn't unheard of for people to want to go above and beyond code minimums in the name of safety. If they want it retrofitted to withstand an earthquake from the seventh bowl, though...

Is the desire to make it "earthquake proof" really the hold up? Per code, most new buildings in Cincinnati are designed to resist wind loads, which are stronger than any expected seismic loads (as determined by the USGS). While it's possible the New Madrid fault could cause significant shaking in Cincinnati (as it did in 1811/1812), that shaking would be weaker than the shaking caused by a severe thunderstorm. So if a building can survive the storm, it should be able to survive the earthquake. However, it's possible the plans to stabilized the tower stop short of bringing it up to what would be required for a new building built today. I don't think code would require it but I'd need to know more to confirm that. If that's the case, the retrofit would meet code, but it would do so by getting an exception to not comply with the seismic requirements of the code. I could at least understand the concerns the owner has. However, if they want to go above and beyond that baseline and build it to resist major earthquakes that are not a realistic possibility in Cincinnati, it's a bit much. The question gets complicated and nuanced quickly, as these sorts of things often do.

UP is getting pretty fed up with the woke policies and lack of justice in California - the letter they sent to the district attorney was pretty blunt: https://www.up.com/aboutup/community/inside_track/la-cargo-threats-aggressive-response-220116.htm Union Pacific underscored concerns in a letter sent to Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, on Dec. 20, 2021. It asked for help ensuring there are consequences for those who prevent the railroad from safely moving customer goods. “Criminals are caught and arrested, turned over to local authorities for booking, arraigned before the local courts, charges are reduced to a misdemeanor or petty offense, and the criminal is released after paying a nominal fine,” said the letter. “These individuals are generally caught and released back onto the streets in less than 24 hours. Even with all the arrests made, the no-cash bail policy and extended timeframe for suspects to appear in court is causing re-victimization to Union Pacific by these same criminals.” Also, there was a derailment in the same vicinity over the weekend - no word yet on the cause. In the image below, it looks like the engines and first few cars are on one track, the rest of the train is on the other - could enough garbage and debris screw up a switch? Could it have been sabotaged in order to stop the train and get easier access to containers?

I started watching this in December and am almost all the way caught up through the 4 seasons now. It is one of the best shows I've seen in a long time. The first season was a bit slow and took the longest to get through. From season 2 on, we have been watching a show or two almost every day.

I just checked the site, the 2 bedrooms still available are $3700/month. For comparison sake, $3700/month puts you in the ballpark of about a $600,000 home - depending upon the exact property taxes, insurance, down payment, etc. In Cincinnati, that's enough to live pretty much anywhere except Indian Hill.