Mr. Anderson

NIOSH eyeing seven sites for new HQ Cincinnati Business Courier - 11:56 AM EST Monday The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health said Monday it is looking at seven area sites for a $70 million facility, including four in the city of Cincinnati and three in Clermont County. http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2006/12/11/daily4.html?surround=lfn

We sure could have used some mass transit this morning..

This is a disturbing trend. Freedom Center's funding opposed THE ENQUIRER Sycamore Township trustees are the latest to oppose state money being used to help sustain the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061206/NEWS01/612060370/-1/back01

I think the point of the award is recognition of Xavier's superb "maintenance" of their landscaping, open space, atheltic fields, etc. So in the eyes of PGMS they do a better job at maintaining these faciliteis than do Havard, Georgetown, etc.

The grandchildren of this guy will probably be millionaires...unless all the neighbors in the adjacent subdivsions object to the farm being developed in the future.

This just in... Judge says Citylink can proceed BY GREGORY KORTE | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER A Hamilton County judge has overturned two lower rulings and ordered the city of Cincinnati to issue a zoning permit to Citylink

Nordstrom Coming To Cincinnati Reported by: 9News Web produced by: Candice Terrell Photographed by: 9News First posted: 11/20/2006 4:32:02 PM 9News has learned Nordstrom is coming to Cincinnati. Nordstrom announced Monday that it has signed on to come to the Kenwood Towne Centre, where the Parisian store is currently located. The store will be one of three new locations, with the others planned to be in Missouri and Delaware. The Seattle-based company has plans to open the new 140,000 square foot Cincinnati store in 2009. Nordstrom, Inc. currently operates 157 stores in 27 states, and 35 boutiques throughout Europe. Nordstrom is one of the nation's leading fashion specialty retailers. http://wcpo.com/news/2006/local/11/20/nordstrom.html

Here's the body of an e-mail that's making the rounds on the subject: Date: November 15, 2006 To: The Cincinnati Board of Education From: Walnut Hills High School Local School Decision-Making Committee (LSDMC) Walnut Hills High School Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) Walnut Hills High School Alumni Foundation Walnut Hills High School Association (Parent Board) cc: Rosa Blackwell, Superintendent of Schools Re: Revised Facilities Master Plan proposal As devoted supporters of Walnut Hills High School and Cincinnati Public Schools, we are stunned with disbelief regarding recent developments affecting CPS and our school¯a center of excellence that is lauded as the top public high school by the Ohio Board of Education and is rated the 65th best one of the top 50 out of 24,000 public high schools in the nation by Newsweek magazine. It is appalling that our principal, Marvin Koenig,without previous consultation, received a phone call stating that our current enrollment base of 1800+ is to be reduced by 465 students. We are truly alarmed that the superintendent would submit to the school board a proposal that would school board would consider decimate this fine institution of learning and achievement. We understand the need to "right-size" the school district and the Facilities Master Plan (FMP) because of declining district enrollment. It is an egregious mistake not to back your winners versus applying a statistical base, which does not reflect the reality of our situation. Slashing Walnut Hills by 25 percent (465 students in a current enrollment of 1,800+) would not be logical or justified. Such cuts would represent, in reality, a declaration that the Board of Education has decided to terminate one of the most successful high schools in America. Please consider the following: 1) Walnut Hills has succeeded more than any other CPS school in attracting children into the district. We have fought the trend of the district's declining enrollment by spending our own money to market Walnut Hills, to attract more students and to help retain more of those students through graduation. Currently more than half of Walnut's students never attended another Cincinnati Public school prior to enrolling in Walnut Hills. Our long history of and current academic excellence has attracted almost 1,000 new parochial, private, charter, and out- of- district children. This translates to approximately $6.5 million in revenue for the district. We truly believe that with reasonable, equitable support and encouragement from the board and district administration, we can stabilize our numbers and maintain the academics that make Walnut Hills a stellar citywide school. 2) This newest FMP proposal would force the school to shrink its curriculum to a point where it would be virtually indistinguishable from other public high schools. For certain, Walnut Hills no longer could offer the acclaimed academic program that attracts students and their families. 3) We are told this revised proposal is meant to be equitable, to spread the pain evenly throughout the school system. The sacrifices spelled out for the secondary schools come nowhere close to the extreme reduction proposed for Walnut Hills. What is equitable about targeting only five secondary schools for enrollment cuts, and making the most successful one of all suffer 32 percent of the 1,465 total reduction for those five schools? Success should be applauded, not penalized. 4) Is this only about projected future enrollment for all Cincinnati Public Schools, or is it also about the costs of the total Facilities Master Plan? It appears that the schools that fell into Phases III and IV of the FMP are being made to suffer because of cost overruns in Phases I and II. We understand that higher costs in building materials were beyond the district's control. There is ample evidence that better management could have controlled some of those delays and project overruns. The answer to shortcomings in administration and oversight is not to devastate the system's best schools. 5) Remember the law of unintended consequences. In recent years, closing or downsizing schools has resulted in net enrollment losses that far exceeded the reduction targets that were sought. Just days after our successful November 5 open house, which attracted over 400 families, we were notified of this radical downsizing. Prospective families contact us on a daily basis as they waiver about their school choice for next year. This has become a marketing nightmare, causing more damage than one can imagine. Perceptions become reality. We understand that CPS wants to send a message to the community that the school board is being financially responsible. The community is hearing a different message: CPS penalizes success. This message will further erode the image of Cincinnati Public Schools. The board plans to meet this Friday, November 17, to discuss this revised FMP, and to take action on Nov. 27. We respectfully request that: The current plan be rejected. There is no justification in implementing this enrollment reduction. The board reconsiders the Superintendent's original recommendation that called for no reductions at Walnut Hills. The Walnut Hills community have ample opportunity to gather information and interact with both the administration and the board before action is taken. As evidence of good will for the public school system and our own Walnut Hills High School, alumni and parents have invested over $25 million in the past ten years dollars for various improvements and enhancements to maintain our program of excellence. An agreement was signed with CPS on November 16, 1994, which indicated "when and if the Cincinnati Public School District raised the needed capital improvement revenues, Walnut Hills would still get its fair share from those revenues." We are confident that CPS will uphold their end of the bargain. We believe the sound financial management of the school system and its FMP do not require dismantling the school that is commonly called the "crown jewel" of Cincinnati. Respectfully submitted, Trip Wolf, Chair LSDMC Paul Filio, Chair ILT Neil Bortz, President WHHS Alumni Foundation Marcia Scacchetti, President WHHS Association (Parent Board)

Sure...but...can you imagine what your mini pod would cost if it were made in the good'ole US of A?

I drove by the site two weeks ago at night too - huge flood lights everywhere - you're right URando - too bad Ohio missed out - plus this project will create a lot of development prressure on Greensburg so hopefully they'll be able to "plan" it accordingly - i.e. by not become a sprawling mess.

The city budget could sure use that housing rollback cash right now - the one that Cranley and Co. voted to give back to cincinnati homeowners last month - I think it amounted to a lunch at skyline to the average homeowner or somehting like that. :?

LOL - I like hitching rides on the golf carts that those old guys drive around their parking lot.

100 or so - but it seemed like less than last year.

LOL! You're right I hear its tied near the bottom with Phoenix & Vegas .

I like downtown Indy because it seems to have pretty vibrant street life. The Cons fieldhouse is right on the street and there are always plenty of folks milling around before and after games - it probably reinforces the retail/and restaurants in the area - the really wide sidewalks that accomodate a lot of outdoor dining. Not sure where it ranks on the "grit" meter, though.

Read the article from Governing magazine and it will shed some light on the absurdity of school construction and sprawl. http://www.governing.com/textbook/schools.htm

That is awesome - hopefully some of them will return to cincy to work/start businesses, etc.

Yeah - collectively their moves could be bad (financially) for cincinnati proper especially if the other agencies head for clermont county.

I'd be interested in knowing how a developer (of a carwash :wtf:) got enough signatures to stop this project? Petition stops overlay district in Liberty Twp. After being denied permit to build car wash, developer gathers enough signatures to halt overlay district By Eric Schwartzberg Staff Writer Thursday, October 19, 2006 A local developer this week submitted a petition to Liberty Twp. in an effort to squash an overlay district that would limit the type of development that can be built along part of Cincinnati-Dayton Road. The overlay district restrictions were scheduled to go into effect Oct. 19. However, Scott Phillips, the township's legal counsel, said the petition "stops everything." "The overlay district will not go into effect until there's a vote in May or until the (Butler County) Board of Elections refuses to accept the petitions," Phillips said. Steve Miller, manager of SPM Real Estate Georgesville, submitted signatures of 1,345 Liberty Twp. residents Tuesday to the township. The 415-acre Cincinnati-Dayton Road Overlay District places more stringent development guidelines on top of existing regulations. Trustees have 10 business days to certify the signatures before forwarding them to the Butler County Board of Elections. But township officials could take action before then, said Dina Minneci, the township's administrator. "We may have questions that we may want the board to address," she said. While Minneci declined to detail what those questions could be, trustees last week warned residents of several individuals who may be misrepresenting facts about the overlay district. The warning came after those residents said they were approached at home, area businesses and public events and asked to sign petitions. The petitions were described as stopping development along Cincinnati-Dayton Road, restricting an adult business purportedly coming to the township and making car washes a conditional use in the township. Miller is working with Procter & Gamble to bring a prototype car wash to the Liberty Commons shopping center. The township twice denied him a zoning permit for the site. He said he had no knowledge of petitioners misleading voters regarding the overlay district. During their Oct. 19 meeting, trustees plan to discuss what to do about a 120-day development moratorium for the district, Minneci said. Township trustees unanimously approved the Cincinnati-Dayton Road Corridor Overlay District at a Sept. 18 meeting. The township's zoning commission and the Butler County Planning Commission also signed off on it. Residents voiced support of the overlay district at public hearings but developers said it was unfair because it would limit building materials developers could use and would force existing businesses to rebuild according to new standards if more than half of their structure is destroyed by a storm or fire. Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5126 or [email protected]. http://www.journal-news.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2006/10/18/pj101906liberty.html

FAA moving from Lunken to Eastgate BY BARRETT J. BRUNSMAN | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER UNION TWP. – The Federal Aviation Administration plans to move its district headquarters from near Lunken Airport in Cincinnati to the Eastgate area of Clermont County. About 50 FAA safety inspectors, who are paid from $77,000 to $118,000 a year, will make the move to an office near Interstate 275 in Eastgate. E-mail [email protected] http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061018/NEWS01/310180035/-1/back01

Wow - nice pics - Providence looks great really nice architecture, building density and mass transit.

Cincinnati tops Ohio for manufacturing Tuesday, October 10, 2006 Business Courier of Cincinnati More than 34,000 jobs and 384 plants have left over the past 12 months, but Ohio remains among the top three states in the country for manufacturing jobs. Ohio accounts for 5.8 percent of U.S. industrial employment, according to the Ohio Manufacturers Directory, published annually by Evanston, Ill.-based Manufacturers' News Inc. The state's three largest cities account for more than 236,000 of Ohio's 1.1 million industrial jobs. Cincinnati tops the list, with 99,700 jobs and 1,589 plants; followed by Cleveland with 80,367 jobs and 1,977 plants; and Columbus with 56,282 jobs and 1,017 plants. Read More...

What's up with this guy? Sheriff's ad irks AK executive By Mary Lolli Staff Writer Tuesday, October 10, 2006 HAMILTON — Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones has raised the ire of AK Steel officials with a newspaper advertisement urging the company to put an end to the ongoing lockout of union employees at its Middletown Works. Now, the company is threatening to pull its sponsorship of the Buckeye Sheriff's Association's annual conference, Jones said. AK Vice President of Governmental and Public Relations Alan McCoy said the company had not yet committed funding to the conference, but would now have to reconsider that request given the sheriff's position blaming the company for the lockout, which began March 1. According to Jones, McCoy called his office "first thing Monday morning" to discuss the ad. "He was curt and was perturbed that I would run an ad that he believed was biased against the company," Jones said of his telephone conversation with McCoy. "The ad said everyone loses, and that includes the company. "But the fact is that the company does hold the keys to ending the lockout. That's why it's called a lockout and not a strike. The company locked out its workers. They didn't walk out on the job." Jones said his conversation with McCoy was cut short after McCoy threatened to withdraw corporate support for the Buckeye Sheriff's Association. Read more: http://www.journal-news.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2006/10/09/hjn101006sheriffad.html

GRASSCAT: On October 11, the Enquirer ran a lengthened version of the story that was originally posted here. So I went ahead and replaced it. Mr. Anderson's original comment remains. Some great news for Norwood. Norwood windfall a relief $3.5M received from loan payoff will pay bills BY STEVE KEMME | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER NORWOOD - After being stuck in a deep financial hole for more than three years, Norwood now has a way to climb out. Federal authorities have told city officials there are no restrictions on the $3.5 million payoff the city recently received from a loan to the developer of the Rookwood commercial projects. ... http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061011/NEWS01/610110383/1056/COL02

Maybe they want to be the first in the nation like they were the first town to have an exclamation point after their name!