Cygnus

I recall Cranley saying somewhere, maybe it was the east side candidates forum, that he was opposed to the bike lanes installed on Riverside Drive.

:clap:

Feds to Cincinnati: Streetcar money must be returned The federal government today notified Cincinnati that if the city doesn’t build the streetcar, the $44 million from the federal government must be returned. The letter offers no surprises. The only problem? The city has spent about $2.4 million of the money so it would have to find it elsewhere in the budget so the whole amount can be returned. Link To Letter

And council has to publicly read said motion three times before voting. This allows for public input. We've already seen many long Budget & Finance committees or Special Meetings.

What appears to be the final piece of the project, railing for the steps, arrived this morning. The lighting and railing for the landings were installed several weeks ago.

City Councilman: 'Parking deal is now dead' Mayor-elect John Cranley and the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority are expected to announce Tuesday afternoon the parking-lease deal has been stopped. Cranley and port authority President and CEO Laura Brunner will hold a joint press conference at 3 p.m. at the Downtown Westin Hotel. City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld said on Twitter: “The Parking Deal is now dead. Tremendously positive announcement for our city. Thanks to all who kept public pressure strong along the way.” Cont

^^ Tried to get into the 16 Bit Bar on Saturday and there was a line outside of about 25 people. Very windy night so we didn't wait the expected 30m. Could definitely see this working in OTR or at The Banks.

Pedestrian improvements and repairs to address water penetration into the transit center.

And yet they joined me at my polling location most of Election Day. Erik Nebergall (College Hill), who ran as a Republican in the 2010 OH 32 House District race, currently runs the group SaveCincinnati.com. They had people throughout the city passing out sample ballots, which they called "stop the streetcar platform", with Cranley's picture front and center. What I witnessed began with a woman from Maderia (Mrs. Lexus) who was later relieved by a woman from Indian Hill (Mrs. BMW) who was resupplied by a woman from Loveland (Mrs. Escalade). Plus there were the three students from Wyoming H.S. who were fulfilling a goverment class assignment by working a polling location for a candidate. They were assigned Amy Murray and Mrs. BMW was nice enough to supply them with her sample ballots which included a picture of Murray. Note Erik Nebergall was endorsed by Alex Triantafilou, COAST founder Tom Brinkman, and Cincinnati Tea Party Mike Wilson. The Tea Party definitely was in the city Tuesday.

City, contractors consider around-the-clock streetcar work: EXCLUSIVE Chris Wetterich - Staff reporter - Cincinnati Business Courier The city of Cincinnati and the contractor building the streetcar are considering whether to work on the project 24 hours a day for a two- to four-day period in the coming weeks because of potential disruptions as the project crosses Liberty Street and reaches Findlay Market. In an interview, the project’s executive manager, John Deatrick, said the temporary ramp up is not being considered because of political reasons. Mayor-elect John Cranley opposes the project and has vowed to stop it. “We’re stupid, but we’re not that stupid,” Deatrick joked. “Liberty is a major factor in east-west travel. Nothing’s been decided.” Cont

It looks like the Elm St. entrance to the Washington Park garage will open soon. They were putting in some temporary asphalt today and the cobblestone in that area is complete. I really like the look of the stones in between the tracks. Also, it's been 19 business days since the first rail went in and continues to about 200 feet from Liberty St. with concrete pours now north of 14th St. Trench digging is now underway north of Liberty St. Think rail will reach Findlay Market come December 1 (14 business days)? I seem to recall John Deatrick saying rail would reach Henry St. by end of year.

The Enquirer, with a new streetcar story on Cincinnati.com everyday, is laughing it's way to the bank. I wouldn't be surprised to see them remove their flimsy paywall from streetcar stories.

The owner of Zulu was just on with Scott Sloan (Friday 9AM) discussing the continued support for the streetcar. Not a great representative IMO; a person with strong debate skills is needed to go up against AM radio personalities. Sloan's main argument is that Tuesday's election was a streetcar referendum.

What's next for the Cincinnati streetcar project? Mayor-elect ran on anti-streetcar platform A day after mayor-elect John Cranley reiterated his biggest election promise, to stop the streetcar project, received a possible offer that might save it. Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to President Barack Obama invited Cranley to Washingon DC to discuss reprogramming $44M in streetcar grants, according WCPO's Kevin Osborne. Those grants were originally turned down by Ohio Gov. John Kasich in 2011. The city was able to recoup some of that grant money when it brokered a deal with the Obama administration. Cont

Wow... The day after he got his wish of an anti-streetcar Cincinnati city government.

Time to email Senator Brown. Hopefully the Mallory administration is also talking with Valerie Jarrett as well as Anthony Foxx's aides.

Broadway Lot opened Monday; $3 parking during the day. It was full by 8:30 this morning.

Broadway Lot opened Monday; $3 parking during the day. It was full by 8:30 this morning.

The Enquirer endorses John Cranley yet comes out in favor of the Parking Lease and now the new Trash Policy, two things he wants to undo. OPINION: Don’t throw away city’s new trash policy Julie Zimmerman of the Enquirer’s Editorial Board, offers this opinion: Many people want cost-cutting measures, as long as the cuts don’t affect them personally. Case in point: the City of Cincinnati’s new garbage cans. City workers were being injured from the old system of manually loading garbage into trucks, which led to workers’ compensation costs, and the trucks required two workers: one to drive and one to load. The new system uses 65-gallon cans distributed by the city that can be automatically loaded into the trucks. That makes it safer for workers and lowers costs from injuries. The trucks can also be operated by just one person, which will lower personnel costs. Savings are estimated at $2.5 million a year. There are trash amnesties around the holidays, and residents can arrange for a pickup of extra garbage by calling the Public Works Department. Cont

Cranley's bad week — will it matter? Chris Wetterich - Staff reporter - Cincinnati Business Courier John Cranley has not had a very good week, the last full one in the 2013 Cincinnati mayoral campaign. On Tuesday, the Cincinnati Enquirer broke a story about an unpaid, $75,000 loan by his former development company to the Local Initiatives Support Corporation. The loan was to help Cranley and his partner develop the Lower Price Hill Incline District property they purchased. The loan was due in 2011. LISC extended in to 2012, but it still wasn’t paid. Cranley and LISC worked out repayment terms the day the story came out, but WCPO wrote its own version of the story. The loan was forgivable, Cranley told the Enquirer, but he decided not to walk away from it. Cont

Odd, I'm getting that it's a Subscriber-Only Article

Sounds exactly like Whiskey Bar, which also closed.

Was at the Levee Saturday night to catch a movie and was surprised to see that this place was dark. Signs at the front door still advertised their November & December band line-up so I wasn't certain they had gone out of business. Checked their Facebook page today and it appears they closed with no notice around the middle of October; former employee still trying to get his final check.

Lost during the hard drive crash were these stories: Jefferson Hall to close; may be replaced by bourbon concept 04/18/13 by Shauna Steigerwald Jefferson Hall, the bar/live music venue at Newport on the Levee, is set to close by the end of this month. Its last night will be April 28, according to Tony Cafeo, who owns Jefferson Hall, as well as the Incline Public House in Price Hill, with his brother, Dominic Cafeo. Jefferson Hall has been in business for 18 years, seven of those at Newport on the Levee. (Before that, it was at 12th and Main in Over-the-Rhine.) “Newport on the Levee seems to be going in a family-friendly direction, and Jefferson Hall isn’t family friendly,” Tony Cafeo said. Harold Dull, the Levee’s general manager, said Levee management is in discussions with a potential replacement, a Kentucky bourbon-centric concept. He expects to make an announcement within the next 30 days. Cont Bourbon-themed bar/restaurant The Still open at the Levee 07/01/13 by Shauna Steigerwald The Still, the new bourbon-themed tavern and restaurant at Newport on the Levee, opened Monday. It’s located in the former Jefferson Hall location; that bar closed in April. More than 50 varieties of bourbon; 12 craft beers on tap; live music; and fifteen 50-inch HD TVs are among the bar’s highlights. Bourbon-centric recipes from Chef Vitor Abreu, owner of Vitor’s Bistro in Westwood, comprise an upscale bar and entree menu. Cont

John Cranley picked up another endorsement via his Facebook page: Sheila Guckenberger Horstman: "Congratulations John; you will be a great mayor. I only wish Barry Horstman, my lovely husband, could be here to see your success."