FakeCinEnquirer

Why is Jay kincaid on the list? There seems to be a lot of cranley supporters

None of this is getting done in this current political climate. Were going to have to wait until 2017. All the swing votes are in a "wait and see" approach with phase 1 and there's no way council would have the necessary votes to overrule a cranley veto

Winburn to run for state senate? Looks like it

Ono is in a tough situation. 700wlw & Smitherman politicized the streetcar to such extremes that even taking a stand on one side or the other creates massive controversy. Imagine the news cycles(& AM radio) if Ono was to support the streetcar today. Imagine the amount of hate and vitriol would be spewed at him. I know I've said it before but its worth repeating. Ono tweeted, then quickly deleted, in 2011 for city council & leaders to 'have courage' regarding the streetcar vote. Im sure he knows the benefits the streetcar would have going through his campus. Thankfully the hostility is going down now since the election & since its being built. Cooler heads are starting to prevail. Now the argument isn't 'if the streetcar is built', its 'when will the streetcar reach my neighborhood'. This whole debate has never been solely about the streetcar. The streetcar is just the surface. Remember, the streetcar was a REPUBLICAN idea first and foremost before AM radio & traditional media muddied up the debate for revenue. This is Old Cincinnati(we've always done it this way) vs New Cincinnati(Washington Park, Fountain Square Renovation). This is New age media vs old traditional media & a lot of other pent up political battles. It comes down to what it has always comes down to in this region. Politics. Who's political will is stronger. Is it Cranley/Smitherman/Winburn/Murray/AM radio/COAST/Kuhl etc or is it Schneider/Simpson/Messer/Seelbach/Young/etc? I think we all are getting a clearer answer to that question as time progresses

If this was 1 year ago, i'd agree.. You'll be pleasantly surprised. 1 year ago, would you ever have thought: Pete Witte Westside leaders Dennis Janson Prominent GOPers like Triantifilou/Murray/Barrett(For GOP convention) and others would publicly support the streetcar? In my opinion, the hospitals are important but The key for the uptown extension is UC. Ono is close to Cranley. During the debate in 2009(maybe it was 2011 now that I think about it, Ono tweeted for Cincinnati to 'have courage'(in building the streetcar). That tweet was quickly deleted due to the political scene & the fact he didn't want to piss off the donors. There is more support privately at the moment...The problem has been getting them to publicly support it. But as more and more do, this shouldn't be a huge issue. Also listen to the narration shift of the local media. The new enquirer editorial team has seen the benefits of transit/rail from other cities. The other local media is still lagging but stories are becoming more and more positive. As the streetcar gets closer to opening, more minds will start to change(Just like fountain square, just like washington park) Obviously the biggest issues are the 1) political scene(Cranley/Murray/Winburn/Smitherman/Kasich/State legislation/even chabot to some extent), 2) AM Radio, & 3) the financials.

Big meeting tonight to discuss streetcar extension. Should be a big crowd

As opposed to where? It's a big city with a big crowd for this event. These things unfortunately happen. While no violence is good, in the grand scheme of things, this could have been much, much worse. Just this weekend Cleveland had something like 2 killed and six shot in a big crowd. I'd prefer that there was no crime at all, and people should be upset about it. But I hope we don't blow this out of proportion and give ammunition to people who are upset with the city's momentum. I would say as opposed to a lot of places. Large groups of teens roaming through a city's CBD causing chaos is NOT par for the course in urban areas. The scene I witnessed reminded me of this video of teens going crazy at a mall in Brooklyn. Only difference is, this crowd was much larger and they caused more random violence in their path. The fact that I can remember several of these type of situations happening in Cincinnati in recent years is ridiculous. This didn't happen in some neighborhood or around a night club or park...it was all through downtown. In fact, until AjKnee posted, I didn't even know the group made it up to OTR. http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/video-teens-brawl-kings-plaza-mall-brooklyn-article-1.1559582 This fall on 2 occasions I drove by the Clifton Heights Shell station fairly late in the evening only to find dozens if not hundreds of teens hanging out and being rowdy. So many people were there that a car literally could not have even turned in to get gas. On both occasions, by the time I was driving back the other direction the area was littered with cops, kids fleeing on foot...again, general chaos. I guess it comes down to kids having no where to be and nothing to do, but it's unfortunate they choose such high profile, public places to meet up. The shots weren't fired AT Taste. I think they were fired around 7th and Race? My group of friends had just split for the night and two of my friends were going back to their place at 9th and Race. 5 minutes after we left the Square my friend texted me that 3 shots had been fired and the crowd was either running towards where they were shot or away from it. One of the friends I was with checked some Twitter feed with up to the minute news (forget the account), and it confirmed that three shots had been fired. I'm not trying to say this is a reason to avoid coming downtown. I live very close to downtown and am down there all the time and I have no intentions of changing that. It does get tiresome to continually have to deal with these ghetto stories whenever it gets warm out and something's going on Downtown, though. Oh ok I misread your post. Apologies

As opposed to where? It's a big city with a big crowd for this event. These things unfortunately happen. While no violence is good, in the grand scheme of things, this could have been much, much worse. Just this weekend Cleveland had something like 2 killed and six shot in a big crowd. I'd prefer that there was no crime at all, and people should be upset about it. But I hope we don't blow this out of proportion and give ammunition to people who are upset with the city's momentum. 700wlw and the local TV news are running wild with it to sell fear for ratings. 700wlw spent over 4 hours talking about how unsafe the taste of Cincinnati was. People on 700wlw and Facebook commenters were encouraging everyone to bring CCW down there to 'take out the domestic terrorists' Approximately 550000 people were there. 99.991% were safe.

I'm not doubting some of the stuff you are saying but I highly doubt 3 shots were fired into the taste of Cincinnati crowd. That would have been national news

The bike debate is potentially not over There are still attempts to prevent the city staff from beginning exploratory work on on-street bike lanes unless council votes to approve the research, planning, and design work first along with extensive community input. If implemented as stated above, It would be extremely tough for any on street bike lane to survive all this scrutiny

Also I would recommend bringing reporters along too. They have often complained in the past about being 'left out' by mallory admin

TMZ reporting bill Cunningham is being sued for derogatory remarks against Muslims http://m.tmz.com/#Article/2014/05/21/tv-talk-show-host-bill-cunningham-lawsuit-muslims-religious-discrimination

Pete Witte has also been in support of those gondola's like aerial trams Portland has as well

Uptown better get their sh*t together or else Price Hill is going to have the extension before them... Uptown Businesses & prominent leaders need to publicly support the project's extension...Or else Price Hill and their leaders like Pete Witte will get their extension first

Pete Witte @petewitte @CincyComDev @PriceHillWill Next big unveiling the #PriceHillStreetcar map. Hope to see everyone there later in summer!

Enquirer says that this budget 'has Cranley's fingerprints all over it' Cranley's PR is spinning like a DJ. Notice the argument from Kevin Osborne is now 'Cranley didn't tell admin not to fund port authority' to take interest away from him/Kinkaid's earlier incorrect statements regarding the bike path 'policy' in the budget

Media is completely ignoring this. I expected wcpo and 700wlw to ignore it. Not enquirer

Oh, it gets better. There's also this gem in the Enquirer piece: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2014/05/15/tax-levy-support-port-authority/2140888/ So now the Mallory administration spent too much money on those neighborhoods he was so neglecting. Posted this on twitter

Its going to be tough with our current political makeup. Smitherman & winburn will never vote for any funds for an extension under any circumstances. Murray, Cranley, Mann & Flynn are all in the 'lets wait & see before doing anything' approach. On the positive side, Murray has state she would support light rail as has David Mann. Cranley of course is against it along with Smitherman & Winburn

Atlanta's streetcar has added over $700m of economic development along the route since it was announced in 2010. I hope Cincinnati is keeping track of their economic development along the route as well. It'd be nice to retort some of the naysayers with visuals & facts of how much development its brought

How long is the lease? I don't see why they refuse to move. The developer is even offering to pay to move them. I just don't get it. Its Cranley's way or the highway. Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems to me that all Paragon has to do is move and then the project can proceed. They were going to move until Cranley broke the previous deal from the Mallory admin & now is holding everything up.

How long is the lease? I don't see why they refuse to move. The developer is even offering to pay to move them. I just don't get it. Its Cranley's way or the highway.

To be fair, Cranley has been supportive of Washington Park, Fountain Square renovation, and 3cdc in the past. He has a legitimate case to make about the city progress....Granted lately he has been a tyrant on some issues & seems to be trying his best to hinder everything of the prior administration, but I can't knock him on his past support of projects that were 'controversial' Obviously his positions on the streetcar & bike paths are bizarre at best, and he seems hell bent on politically punishing anyone who supports those projects. Its frustrating to see that literally no facts will change his opinion but that's how he is now I have no idea about the former Duke spokeswoman People like Smitherman, 700wlw, COAST & others are the ones that are huge hypocrites. There would literally be nothing built if they had their way

You know this is the same Johnna Reeder that was VP of Duke Energy Ohio, got us into a lawsuit and jacked up the utility costs for the streetcar, and is president of the Build Our Bridge Now coalition using a fear tactic to shove the BSB down our throats, right? She absolutely disgusts me. I told her to her face once how despicable I thought she was and she shrugged and said, "That's business." Ugh. I thought her voice sounded familiar. Its amazing that after she left, The duke negotiations went much smoother. Unfortunately she & her bosses held up construction for a long long time...Nearly derailing the entire project. If I remember correctly, she was the spokesperson for the ridiculous manhole foot requirement.

Check out the updated article. Heimlich really goes after cranley on the Streetcar and Tim Burke