Ram23

I'm seeing a parallel here between this thread and the panhandlers thread - if someone is trying to bother you for whatever reason, just tell them no and move on. I actually met a girl walking down a street in NYC once, and we dated for several months.

Do they mean Tuesday the 4th, or Thursday the 6th?

I take the approach I picked up living in NYC for a few years: pretend they don't exist. The more aggressive ones get a "no." I think the "No, sorry" approach is too apologetic. I sometimes find myself saying "no cash," which is almost always true, but dishonest because even if I did have cash I wouldn't give it to someone asking me for it on the street, so I try to stick to just a "no." Whatever the approach, I wish people would avoid giving them money on all occasions. You might think you can filter out who really needs help from who doesn't, or who is mentally ill vs. who is addicted, but you can't. Just try to remember that food and shelter can be found for the homeless, what is it they need cash for?

I still prefer the Serpentine Wall type construction because while the river doesn't flood very often, the stage does vary by 20-30 feet in any given year. Some sort of stepped concrete that will look good when the river is down below 25'-0" but won't wash away when it's 45'-0" is the way to go. Though it could work in collaboration with a faux beach so long as it was above at least the 55'-0" stage, which seems to happen every 4 or 5 years.

Yeah, that's what I meant, I was just talking about division records. It's nice to see the Ravens beating up on everyone else, while we beat up on the Ravens.

With the win over Baltimore, the Bengals are 2-0 against the second place team in the AFC North, which is a nice place to be seeing as everyone else in the division already has 2 losses.

It doesn't seem like the best angle of the place (at least, I hope not) but it does remind me of a Ponderosa Steakhouse or a takeout Chinese place that has the pictures overhead as the menu. The designer does most of the new/trendy bars and restaurants that open in Cincy, so I'm sure the overall place will look okay. That glass block though... that partition would have been better if it was just a solid wall, or a frosted or light diffusing glass if they wanted some light. They wouldn't have to sell that many $11 cocktails to pay the difference between a single pane of glass and some glass block.

This line from the justices decision is also important: "The assessment results in no direct service to the landowner … When the amount of the fee exceeds the cost and expense of the service, the fee constitutes a tax." So in Ohio, these parking permits will be considered a tax. What's interesting is that even raising the parking meter fees to pay for the streetcar could also be argued against based on this same logic. This is an example of a problem the parking deal with Xerox was attempting to sidestep.

There's a pretty large vacant lot across from the building, between it and I-75 that could probably be used for parking. It has some topography change, so I'm not sure if it'd be able to fit 200 spots. There is also a creepy basement floor that doesn't have windows and would seemingly work well for parking.

That was a vintage 1990’s Bengals throwback performance. Given that injuries are killing them at the moment, but that was honestly one of the worst performances I’ve seen in the entire Marvin Lewis era. The fact that AJ Green was out doesn’t excuse the rest of the offense from getting 20 some yards in the first half. The whole team looked completely unprepared on both sides of the ball.

I drive down Findlay every day, and basically come to a stop at both race and elm. They should just have it closed until they can finish the pavement.

I think college overtime is hands down better than the silliness that is NFL overtime. It's almost like a completely different game, but everyone gets a shot and you keep doing it until someone wins. The limited sudden death or however you want to describe it is just weird, and indicative of how over convoluted NFL rules have become.

Meh, that kind of stuff happens all the time, he only got caught this time because the Panthers are whiney. They wouldn't last a month in the AFC North.

Hopefully AJ Green gets healthy, and between him, Sanu, Tate, and Greshem, Little won't need to make many catches. Eifert is back in a couple weeks, too. Even Sanzenbacher was looking pretty good last week. The scariest thing on offense is that Dalton looked like he had matured some during the first 3 weeks. He was making throws that were either uncatchable or only catchable by a Bengal every attempt. The last two games he looked like the Dalton of the last few years with several bonehead throws. I don't know what the issue is on defense. They had given up the fewest amount of points through the first three games, and I'm not even going to look at where they are in the stats now. Though after this weeks game against the Colts, we're through the hardest part of the schedule. 4-1-1 would be a great record at that point. Everybody else in the division has some pretty easy games this week so a loss might shuffle things up a bit.

^ There is a very basic test of English language skills as a part of the naturalization test, but I would say it stops pretty far short of testing for fluency.

The problem is that no one is going to vote to raise the sales tax to balance the budget; the county has to come to the table with something enticing. The county has a 60% home ownership rate, so it makes sense to bring lower property taxes up as a benefit of the higher sales tax, especially because Hamilton County already has a property tax rate well above state average. A campaign to bring the sales tax up to state average, and bring the property tax down to state average, while balancing the budget has a very good chance to succeed. As for the county moving to Mt. Airy, that's another discussion but I think them selling their buildings is a good thing as they have facilities in high demand areas that will likely be put to better use. They've been thinning down for awhile, too, how many people will actually work in Mt. Airy?

The majority of counties in Ohio have set sales tax at 7.25%, so even if the Union Terminal issue passes, and this proposal goes through, Hamilton County would still be average. I don't buy the argument against it that it would be regressive, as it's what everyone else in the state is paying now, for the most part. Cincinnati would still be cheaper then Columbus and Cleveland, who have 7.5% and 8%, respectively. An ideal solution would be do create a system of property tax brackets, so cuts could be given to the first $100,000 or something of the overall valuation. Then no one could make the argument that it's a tax break for the rich, as it would mostly benefit the middle class.

They have their maps wrong in Cincy. I live in 45219 (CUF - area around UC) but it was showing my end of the street as 45214, which includes the West End and parts of South Fairmount. Both of them seem fairly accurate for the actual zip codes, though: 45219: 61% College Towns 23% Dorms to Diplomas 10% City Commons 45214: 33% City Commons 23% Modest Homes 17% Hardscrabble Road

It looks like the architect really liked the glass house concept that was popular amongst modernists but didn't like the idea of neighbors being able to see him all the time. The obvious solution? Glass block. Today, we'd just end up with a frosted glass house.

I'm pretty sure I did see the KY Barrel Aged pumpkin beer somewhere last weekend, but I can't recall where it was. I didn't try it, but I don't really like their standard Bourbon barrel ale, anyway. I usually only drink IPAs and Belgian styles, though I actually prefer the American (and Canadian) knockoff Belgian style beers over actual Belgian's, partly because of price and partly because of flavor.

So I emailed the Charter Review Task Force and asked for a copy of the revised charter, or better yet an annotated copy showing what was stricken and what was added. They said they are working on it and will send out an annotated version once they get it. I hope it will be a press release and the news outlets will summarize it, but if not I'll post a link here.

I would try the Flying Dog. I don’t think I’ve had that particular one, but I’m going to be looking for it around Cincy now that I know it exists. I drink maybe 2 pumpkin beers a year because I just don't like the pumpkin flavor that is in absolutely everything every fall.

From their FAQs, it looks like Uber and Lyft have (some) insurance coverages for riders in their drivers' cars (it's probably not enough if you have 4 people in your car and crash on the highway, but that's a Grand Canyon issue). But, do drivers have any premiums to pay if they are the cause of an accident? I know when I drove cars around between dealerships as a living in high school/college I was out $500 if I even put a scuff mark on a car.

^ Yeah, I saw that on my "sample ballot" and was surprised. I remember the news posted above regarding the committee being put together to review the charter for obsolete language back in June, but I didn’t think it would result in a charter revision so quickly. I’m going to vote no on this unless the city has a press release of some sort that lists the changes clearly. I could only find one brief article on Cincinnati.com and it only had 2 or 3 actual details.

NFL attendance has more to do with stadium capacity as basically every game is a sellout. Cleveland seats more, but they both have about 97% attendance. What surprises me is that Pittsburgh seems to have crappy attendance at 94% of the seats filled. They sell out, so I guess those Yinzers get drunk and pass out in the street and never make it to their seats?