Cygnus

As Omaha ponders a streetcar, Cincinnati looked at as example of how NOT to do it As the city of Omaha, Neb. ponders whether to build a streetcar line, city leaders and advocates are looking at other cities for lessons. The city that did it right? Kansas City. The city that did it wrong? Cincinnati, according to Omaha.com. Describing the Cincinnati Bell Connector as "the little engine that couldn't," Omaha.com notes the streetcar has fallen short of the ridership predicted, suffering service delays and other headaches. Cont

How many voters might want a do-over tomorrow? Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley to announce FC Cincinnati stadium finance package Friday Mayor John Cranley will unveil his plan Friday to for the city to help fund the FC Cincinnati soccer stadium. Cranley told The Enquirer he will pitch his stadium finance plan late Friday afternoon, but declined to reveal any details of it. Any plan the mayor develops must be approved by city council. Cont

How can this be if they’ve been wanting to develop Ovation for years? It's a very good question. Most likely it is WLW (Cunningham) misrepresenting the facts to spread FUD.

via radio/Redit: a Newport agreement would be 6-9 months away as no flood plain studies have been done. ???

A citizen group's work and plan could get a revamp of the ailing Metro system off the ground Better Bus Coalition hopes to influence SORTA CINCINNATI -- Fresh off his re-election, Mayor John Cranley has pledged to revamp the region's ailing bus system during his second term. How and when he plans to do so remains unclear, but a group of transit advocates are hoping their recently released plan will accelerate the timeline. "We're gonna force this conversation," said Cam Hardy, president of the Better Bus Coalition. "We do wish the mayor would embrace us a little bit more than he has, but hopefully he comes around and sees that we mean business and work together." Using detailed route maps and census data, the Hamilton County Better Bus Plan outlines the group's wishlist for Metro service in the region, including more neighborhood transit hubs, additional crosstown routes and several bus-rapid-transit lines. Cont

Streetcar divorce from the city? Some SORTA board members want to explore what it takes At least three members of the board that runs the local bus system and oversees operations of the Cincinnati Bell Connector want to look at how to sever the relationship with the city of Cincinnati when it comes to the streetcar. Attorney Gary Greenberg, a member of SORTA’s finance committee, asked the agency’s administration to outline what it would take for SORTA to withdraw from the operations and maintenance agreement with the city on the streetcar. Other members of that committee, including Ron Mosby, Daniel St. Charles, and Heidi Black concur with it. Under the agreement, the city owns the streetcar system, SORTA oversees its operations and a third-party contractor, Transdev, runs it on a daily basis. At the board’s regular meeting on Tuesday, the agency’s administration indicated it would prepare a report for the committee. The full SORTA board took no action. Subscribe to get the full story.

Berding again on WLW today and said FCC would now use all private money for the Oakley* stadium and are simply asking the city & county to provide the infrastructure much like they would for a new shopping center. *Oakley will be the site as West End has too many land owners to deal with. :-(

^Doesn't matter... there is a reason this started coming out a day or so after the election. Plus, he'll put it forward as an Emergency Ordinance so that groups like COAST (via No More Stadium Taxes) can't start a petition drive.

Conveniently a day after Cranley's re-election, the Enquirer gets this story about his hand-picked City Manager: FOP President Dan Hils says Cincinnati City Manager Harry Black threatened DOJ investigation Cincinnati police union President Dan Hils said City Manager Harry Black, in a late-night phone call, threatened to have him investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice and the ACLU. Hils said Black, who as city manager supervises all police officers, appeared to be angry about how Hils advocated for two officers accused of racial profiling and using excessive force. Among Black's accusations was that Hils had been "obstructing the process." Hils recorded the call, which he said was made late the night of Friday, Oct. 27. On Wednesday morning, Hils said he reported the 11:42 p.m. call as harassment to the Loveland Police Department. Hils said he was in Loveland when Black called. Cont Hils was seen at Cranley's party last night... "Hils said he waited to make the complaint until after Tuesday's mayoral election because he "feared it could affect the election unfairly.

Simpson has conceded... Cranley wins re-election in a surprising landslide of ~55% of the vote. :o

I seem to recall Mrs. Cranley calling up Dan Wright to complain about a hot dog he named for the mayor. And now this: Dena Cranley: Shedding light on my husband's true character Facebook user Marc Raab's comment: "When you have to write an op-ed to tell everyone your husband is not a prick....he is probably a prick. When you have your mom send out mailers on your behalf saying how sweet her son is.....he is probably not so sweet."

Kelsey Grammer is requesting a "Yes" vote on Issue 1 next week.

Less than a week until the election... any recent revelations on the council candidates come out while the forum was offline? I'm still leaning towards a slate of: 1 Derek Bauman 2 Tamaya Denard 3 Michelle Dillingham 4 Henry Frondorf 5 Brian Garry 6 Laure Quinlivan 7 Chris Seelbach 8 Wendell Young 9 Potentially Lesley Jones or Greg Landsman

Led by Cranley, 2017 mayor's race shatters fundraising records; see which execs have given the most Mayor John Cranley has topped $2.3 million in fundraising for his re-election, obliterating the record for most money ever raised by a candidate for the Cincinnati mayor's race. Fundraising in the 2017 mayor’s race likely will reach $3 million, which is also a new record. Cranley’s opponent, Yvette Simpson, has raised $576,408 for the race. The previous record was $1.2 million raised by David Pepper in his unsuccessful contest against Mark Mallory in 2005, when Mallory raised $380,000. The total cost of that race was about $1.9 million when the primary candidates' totals from that year are added in. In 2013, Cranley and then-Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls raised a combined $1.7 million. Cont Cranley Simpson Chavez family ,"$16,500" Members of the Congressional Black Caucus,"$5,750" Tom Williams,"$15,000" Uptown/Schimberg,"$5,500" SFA Architects,"$11,875" SFA Architects,"$4,400" Dan Neyer,"$11,000" Ulmer,"$3,760" Ron Joseph and family,"$10,700" Frost Brown Todd/PAC + members,"$3,765" Towne Properties and Construction,"$10,650" Cindy/Kyle/Matt Williams,"$3,300" Cushman Wakefield,"$10,050" Castellinis,"$3,300" Anchor Properties,"$10,000" Anchor/Hemberger,"$3,000" Michael Zicka,"$9,900" HamCo Dems,"$3,000" Dan Schimberg,"$9,400" Emily's List ,"$2,850" Bobby Maly/Model Group,"$8,800" Rumpke,"$2,200" Birkla,"$8,800" Prus,"$2,200" Medpace,"$7,900" Michael (Stough),"$2,200" Al. Neyer,"$7,800" BrandiCorp,"$2,200" Messer,"$7,500" Phillip Holloman (Cintas president and spouse),"$2,200" Jeff Woodward,"$6,600" Chinedum Ndukwe,"$2,000" Flaherty Collins,"$6,000" Thomas Hankinson,"$1,100" Ackermann Group,"$5,500" Michael Shuster,"$1,100" Michael Schweitzer (Longworth Hall),"$5,500" Matthew Korte,"$1,100" Wallick Hendry,"$5,500" Towne,"$1,100" Chinedum Ndukwe,"$5,500" Diane Rosenberg,"$1,100" Joe Mayermik,"$5,500" RCF/Carl Satterwhite,"$1,100" Axcess Financial,"$5,000" UC Health CEO Rick Lofgren,"$1,100" Peter Klekamp,"$5,000" Scott Nelson (comey),"$1,100" Milhaus Development,"$5,000" Smyjunas,"$1,100" Novare/Thompson,"$5,000" James Stapleton FRCH Design,"$1,100" Jonathan Holtzman,"$5,000" Milhaus,"$1,090" Prus Construction,"$4,900" Blackburn/Bengals,"$1,000" Kroger ,"$4,900" Taft,"$1,000" Taft,"$4,800" Rookwood Properties,$500 Incline Public House,"$4,440" Other congressional campaigns,$500 Wylers,"$4,400" Jake Warm,$500 Ben Klopp,"$4,400" Qualls,$250 Shree Kulkarni,"$4,400" North American Properties/Joseph Willaims,$250 Total Quality Logistics,"$4,400" Al. Neyer,$200 Jim Jurgensen,"$4,400" ,67915 Farmer Family,"$4,400" Graydon Head,"$4,200" Mosure Group,"$4,000" Core Redevelopment/John Watson,"$4,000" Bill Kreutzjans,"$4,000" Pure Romance,"$3,900" Stagnaro Distribution,"$3,300" NRD,"$3,300" TJ Ackermann,"$3,300" Urban Sites/Greg Olson,"$3,300" Bengals/Brown family,"$3,300" Barry Rosenberg,"$3,300" Peter Scantland,"$3,300" Bret Caller,"$3,300" Michael Cioffi,"$3,300" Larry Bergman,"$3,000" Tony Sansalone,"$3,000" Andrew and Amy DeWitt,"$2,200" JDL Warm,"$2,200" Lindner,"$2,200" Rumpke,"$2,200" Woda Homes,"$2,000" Cinti Works CEO Peggy Zink ,"$1,100" Jeff Ruby,"$1,100" David Falk,"$1,100" Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto,"$1,100" 84.51 CEO Stuart Aiken,"$1,100" Ohio Democratic Chairman David Pepper,"$1,100" Children's Hospital CEO Michael Fisher,"$1,100"

:o Ex-mobster left trail of tears at Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill restaurant at The Banks Former business associates were gobsmacked to learn the owner of Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill at The Banks was a former Mafia soldier who started the restaurant after joining the Federal Witness Protection Program. "Come on,'' said an astonished Mark Fallon, senior vice president of real estate for Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate Inc., which signed Toby Keith's as one of the first tenants at The Banks. "That's a new one on me. In 23 years of doing this, I've never heard that one before.'' Frank Capri, the man behind the restaurant chain, was a former soldier in New York's Lucchese Crime Family who was released from prison in 1999 after agreeing to testify against fellow mobsters, according to a years-long investigation by The Arizona Republic. His real name was Frank Gioia Jr. Cont or Read the full series, watch mini-documentaries and find an interactive map of Toby Keith restaurants across the U.S. at azcentral.com.

Subscriber content: Cincinnati's largest skyscraper to get new owner One of the largest real estate projects in recent Cincinnati history that includes the city's largest skyscraper is expected to change hands next month. The Greater Cincinnati Redevelopment Authority is expected to transfer ownership of Great American Tower at Queen City Square over to Eagle Realty, the Western & Southern Financial Group company that developed the 40-story tower. When the tower was completed at 301 E. Fourth St. in 2011, it was owned by the authority formerly known as the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority. The ownership structure allowed the $322 million project to be built without paying sales taxes on the construction materials and the authority also issued bonds backed by city tax-increment financing dollars and lease payments. Cont

P&G staves off activist investor in proxy battle Procter & Gamble Co. shareholders today voted against electing activist investor Nelson Peltz to a seat on the board of the company, which spent about $35 million in a successful effort to stave off his proxy challenge. Peltz, the CEO of Trian Fund Management, lost the election, according to preliminary results from IVS Associates, a Delaware-based firm that specializes in independent tabulation and certification of voting results. A final tally of votes will be released at a later date. Peltz said he won't concede and is awaiting the official results that could take weeks. "We should have won or lost by 1 percent," he said. Cont Others: CNBC - P&G says shareholders reject Peltz's bid for board seat by slim margin, activist says vote a dead heat Wall Street Journal - P&G Says Trian’s Nelson Peltz Has Lost Bid for Board Seat; He Disagrees

:cry: Gold Star Chili acquires Tom + Chee Tom + Chee, the Cincinnati-based grilled cheese restaurant chain, has been acquired by Gold Star Chili. The local chili company bought the assets of Tom + Chee from their lender, finalizing the deal on Sept. 20. The deal brings together two Cincinnati brands and is the first acquisition in Gold Star's growth strategy. Roger David, CEO of Gold Star, said he sees a lot of growth in the grilled cheese fast-casual chain. "I've been impressed at how much energy there is around the brand, from franchisees, customers, and from employees, too," he said. "That makes this exciting." Cont

And then there is this, also Subscriber content: ​Cincinnati, NKY, Dayton will bid jointly on Amazon’s HQ2 Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky plan to submit a joint bid for Amazon.com Inc.’s second North American headquarters that also will include Dayton in an attempt to encompass all of Southwest Ohio’s population and universities. Adding Dayton to the submission would mean the region enters a bid encompassing nearly 3 million people and six major higher education institutions – the University of Cincinnati, Xavier University, Northern Kentucky University, Miami University, the University of Dayton and Wright State University. Among Amazon’s preferences are a metropolitan area of 1 million or more plus a “highly educated labor pool” and a “strong ... Cont

Subscriber content: Where could Amazon's HQ2 go in Greater Cincinnati Amazon’s request for land for its second headquarters is so substantial, it will require submitting multiple sites in the city of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. And because of Amazon’s (Nasdaq: AMZN) requirement that public transportation be present onsite, that means land in the city of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky near the river, where public transportation is most concentrated, probably will be the most viable. The Transportation Authority of Northern Kentucky runs buses between Northern Kentucky and downtown Cincinnati, Cincy Red Bike has stations throughout the region’s basin and some activists in Northern Kentucky favor extending Cincinnati’s streetcar across the river. Amazon wants to be no more than 30 miles from a population center, within 45 minutes of an international airport, not more than 1 mile from major highways and arterial roads, and have access to mass transit at the site of HQ2. Local economic development officials would not comment on the sites they intend to submit, deferring to local elected officials. Among the sites that could go into a bid package: Cont

A year after opening, General Electric Co. lays off employees at The Banks Corporate review leads to "small number" of cuts CINCINNATI - General Electric Co. said “a small number” of jobs are being eliminated at GE’s Global Operations Center at The Banks. The cuts follow a WCPO report last week that GE might fall short of its job-creation goals on the Cincinnati riverfront, thanks to a “comprehensive review” of operations by new CEO John Flannery. “All aspects of the company are being evaluated for cost efficiencies, including Global Operations,” said GE spokeswoman Arti Johri. “While a small number of Cincinnati employees are expected to be impacted by this review, our commitment to Cincinnati remains strong.” Johri said the total number of employees at The Banks remains at “nearly 1,400,” down from the “1,400+” number she gave WCPO last week. Cont

^^"The restaurant will have 175 seats inside and about 60 seats on an outdoor patio that overlooks the Collection's retail plaza." They forgot to mention the monstrous parking lot directly next to this "plaza". :roll:

Dirty Sandpit[/member] was only here for the construction of Great American Tower at Queen City Square and then vanished. Kinda like Shadow Hare...

Two breweries in Concourse A... MadTree and Catch-A-Fire to Concourse B?

I've been getting mailers from each side since at least April-May... not to mention commercials flooding the local newscasts. Last figure I heard was ~$14M spent at the end of June.