Mr. Anderson

Great. Keep them coming.

I went to an OKI open house on the regional 2030 transportation plan - it's mind blowing - the number of new roadway projects, expansions, capacity, removing on street parking, etc. etc. http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,5643.0.html

Nice pics.

lol, I fell out my chair.

I presume this is the natural spring water source for "Bridgewater Falls" located right across the street. :wink2: These names belong on bottled water.

Bill would require proof of citizenship By Josh Sweigart Thursday, April 24, 2008 HAMILTON — A proposed law to crack down on illegal immigration would require every Ohio resident to show proof of citizenship or valid travel papers next time they register a car. State Rep. Courtney Combs, R-Hamilton, introduced the bill Tuesday, April 22. He said he's responding to a March 14 raid on three Hamilton car dealerships that has left nine people charged with helping undocumented workers illegally purchase and register their cars with fake identification. In addition to a driver's license and social security card, the bill would require drivers to present a birth certificate or other proof of citizenship, or a green card, visa or other proof they're legally in the country, to register their vehicles. MORE: http://www.journal-news.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/04/24/hjn042508Combs.html

Gasoline could hit $7 a gallon in four years: CIBC Crude predicted to top $200 by 2012 on tight supplies, pushing gas higher By Moming Zhou, MarketWatch Last update: 3:59 p.m. EDT April 24, 2008 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Surging crude prices, which could surpass $200 a barrel in four years on tight supplies, could push gasoline prices to as high as $7 a gallon, CIBC World Markets analysts said Thursday. Crude supplies are actually lower than some official estimates indicate, while demand is unlikely to fall anytime soon, according to a statement by analysts led by Jeff Rubin at CIBC, an investment bank. They forecast that these tighter supplies and continued strong demand will drive oil and gasoline prices to roughly double their current levels by 2012. "It is increasingly clear that the outlook for oil supply signals a period of unprecedented scarcity," said Rubin. "Despite the recent record jump in oil prices, oil prices will continue to rise steadily over the next five years." CIBC says estimates by the International Energy Agency has overstated supplies because gains in production mostly come from natural-gas liquids. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/gasoline-could-hit-7-oil/story.aspx?guid=%7B824E895C%2DF649%2D4526%2D89F1%2D50C198A8A0D5%7D

Hmmm...can't seem to recall the last time I ate at either of these fine establishments. :wink:

Toyota to add 170 jobs Auto supplier expanding in Erlanger BY PATRICK CROWLEY | [email protected] ERLANGER - Toyota Boshoku America is adding 170 white-collar jobs here at an average annual salary of $60,000 to $70,000. The company, a supplier to the automotive industry with annual sales of $10 billion, Wednesday announced the expansion of its Erlanger headquarters, which opened in an office park along Interstate 275 last September. The new jobs will include finance, accounting, human resources, production control, purchasing, information technology, sales and corporate social responsibility. The expansion includes 23,000 square feet of new office space in Toyota Boshoku's building in the CirclePort Business Park, bringing the company's total Northern Kentucky footprint to nearly 50,000 square feet and 270 jobs. Read More...

Northwest drivers using less gas than national average Posted by Dylan Rivera, The Oregonian April 17, 2008 18:35PM Northwest motorists are individually buying 10 percent less gas than they did nine years ago, now consuming about a gallon a week less than the national average. But population growth means more drivers, and that has kept overall Northwest gasoline consumption about the same. More: http://blog.oregonlive.com/pdxgreen/2008/04/northwest_motorists_are_indivi.html

Mentor restaurant part of five-state raid Posted by Robert L. Smith April 16, 2008 11:54AM Categories: Breaking News, Impact Surprised employees arriving for work at a Mexican restaurant in Mentor this morning walked into federal custody. Agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, awaited inside Jalapeno Loco, a family-style restaurant in the Points East shopping plaza on Mentor Avenue. In four hours, the agents arrested six men and three women accused of being in the country illegally. Agents picked up the manager, Alvaro Soto, at his Willoughby home. He has not yet been charged. MORE: http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/04/mentor_restaurant_part_of_five.html

Ink, from your IKEA pics - it looks like they didn't even mulch the landscaped islands in the parking lot and just put down some low-maintenance stone - that's top shelf, really classy. Reminds me of a big Hollywood Videa store site. :wink:

Really nice pics.

Amberley loses Crest Hills appeal BY STEVE KEMME | [email protected] AMBERLEY VILLAGE – The Ohio Supreme Court today refused to hear Amberley Village’s appeal of a lower court ruling that Amberley illegally rejected a zoning request that would have permitted a housing development to be built on the site of the former Crest Hills Country Club. The decision ends a long legal battle over the development of the 133-acre site at Ridge and Galbraith roads between Amberley and the Ridge Club, the site’s owner. Click on link for article. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080409/NEWS01/304090042

CPS avoids financial oversight BY BEN FISCHER | [email protected] April 8, 2008 Along with new tax dollars, Cincinnati Public Schools won a temporary reprieve from state financial oversight in the March primary elections, and could avoid it altogether. We have basically taken a wait-and-see attitude, said Roger Hardin, a state education department official who oversees finances. Heading into the levy vote, experts said state oversight was virtually guaranteed if the levy didnt pass. Now, any decision will be delayed for two more months to better assess the impact of the new money, Hardin said. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080408/NEWS01/304080069

This sucks. $8 Traffic Fee for Manhattan Gets Nowhere By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE April 8, 2008 ALBANY — Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s far-reaching plan to ease traffic in Manhattan died here on Monday in a closed conference room on the third floor of the Capitol. Democratic members of the State Assembly held one final meeting to debate the merits of Mr. Bloomberg’s plan and found overwhelming and persistent opposition. The plan would have charged drivers $8 to enter a congestion zone in Manhattan south of 60th Street during peak hours. Mr. Bloomberg and his supporters, including civic, labor and environmental organizations, viewed the proposal as a bold and essential step to help manage the city’s inexorable growth. But the mayor’s plan was strongly opposed by a broad array of politicians from Queens, Brooklyn and New York’s suburbs, who viewed the proposed congestion fee as a regressive measure that overwhelmingly benefited affluent Manhattanites. “The congestion pricing bill did not have anywhere near a majority of the Democratic conference, and will not be on the floor of the Assembly,” Sheldon Silver, the Assembly speaker, said after the meeting. The plan’s collapse was a severe blow to Mr. Bloomberg’s environmental agenda and political legacy. The mayor introduced his plan a year ago as the signature proposal of a 127-item program for sustainable city growth that helped raise his national profile. Without approval from Albany, the city now stands to lose about $354 million worth of federal money that would have financed the system for collecting the fee and helped to pay for new bus routes and other traffic mitigation measures. After Mr. Silver announced the plan’s demise, a statement was released by Mary E. Peters, the federal transportation secretary, indicating that her department would now seek to distribute those funds to traffic-fighting proposals in other cities. New York also hoped to use revenues from congestion pricing to finance billions of dollars in subway expansion and other improvements by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, money that must now come from somewhere else. Assemblyman Mark S. Weprin, a Queens Democrat, said that in discussing the issue with his colleagues, “the word ‘elitist’ came up a number of times.” His constituents, Mr. Weprin said, almost uniformly opposed the measure, viewing it as a tax on their ability to move around their own city. Mr. Weprin estimated that opinion among Assembly Democrats ran four to one against the plan. No formal vote was taken at the closed meeting. Prospects for the bill returning any time soon appear dim. It was the latest defeat for Mr. Bloomberg from Albany, which in 2005 dashed the mayor’s dreams of building a football stadium on the West Side and bringing the 2012 Olympics to New York. The mayor has appeared increasingly frustrated with the situation in Albany in recent days and did not appear publicly after the measure’s defeat. He released an angry statement shortly after the rejection. “It takes a special type of cowardice for elected officials to refuse to stand up and vote their conscience on an issue that has been debated, and amended significantly to resolve many outstanding issues, for more than a year,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “Every New Yorker has a right to know if the person they send to Albany was for or against better transit and cleaner air.” But even in the Republican-controlled State Senate, the plan did not receive much consideration. Out of deference to Mr. Bloomberg, who has been an ally and financial patron of Senate Republicans, the Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, pushed for a floor vote on the legislation Monday afternoon. But Senate Democrats refused to take the floor, forestalling any vote. That move followed a year’s worth of cajoling and brinkmanship between opponents and supporters of the plan, which evolved significantly — but, it turned out, not significantly enough — from the version Mr. Bloomberg proposed last April. Supporters ultimately agreed to shrink the zone in which the fees would apply, to the area south of 60th Street in Manhattan, instead of south of 86th Street. They also added a small charge on taxicab and limousine trips through the zone, as well as a tax credit for low-income residents. But many issues remained unresolved. Critics also objected to the elimination of a sunset provision, which would have required the plan to win approval again after three years. City officials said that such a provision would have precluded long-term bond financing for capital improvement projects. Mr. Silver, a frequent antagonist of Mr. Bloomberg’s who in 2005 blocked the mayor’s plan to redevelop the West Side railyards, pre-empted criticism that he was personally to blame for the plan’s defeat, saying that he favored some kind of congestion proposal but that the mayor’s plan simply lacked enough support to pass. “Let me be clear: If I were making the decision alone, I might have made a different decision,” Mr. Silver said. Ultimately, the battle lines over the plan remained almost unchanged during the yearlong debate over the project, despite multiple rounds of public hearings, reams of studies and an aggressive lobbying campaign by Mr. Bloomberg and his allies. Indeed, many opponents said they resented the pressure and threats that they said emanated from Mr. Bloomberg’s side, including hints that the mayor would back primary candidates to run against politicians who opposed congestion pricing. The mayor’s allies recently formed a political action committee to finance those campaigns. Those efforts, supporters and opponents agreed, illustrated the gulf between Mr. Bloomberg and lawmakers in Albany, where the mayor sometimes seemed to miscalculate how far his power and prestige could carry him. Many Democrats in the Legislature felt that the mayor’s demeanor in private meetings was condescending. Some opponents wondered at Mr. Bloomberg’s political strategy, noting that they hardly expected to be punished by their constituents for siding with them. “I’d be very happy running for re-election letting everybody know that I was an advocate against congestion pricing,” said Assemblyman Rory I. Lancman, a Queens Democrat. Ultimately, some supporters said privately, the same qualities that liberated Mr. Bloomberg to propose such a far-reaching plan — his independence from established power-brokers and detachment from traditional politicking — are what doomed the plan to failure. “It doesn’t really work up here, and it didn’t help it at all,” said Assemblyman William F. Boyland, Jr., a Brooklyn Democrat who opposed the plan. Some Assembly Democrats said that by Monday, even many of the supporters of the plan had significant reservations about it. Debate had veered from the issues of traffic and pollution, they said, to advocates emphasizing the need to finance badly needed mass transit projects. That further alienated suburban officials, whose constituents would have borne much of the cost of the fees but reaped little benefit from those projects. Reporting was contributed by Diane Cardwell, Danny Hakim, Trymaine Lee and Jeremy W. Peters. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/nyregion/08congest.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin

High-tech employment growing THE ENQUIRER April 2, 2008 Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana all posted slight gains in high-tech jobs in 2006, a new report released today shows. Only Ohio has seen an increase in such jobs since 2000, however. Nationally, the high-tech industry continued growing in 2007, adding 91,400 net jobs for a total of 5.9 million in the United States, according to the report, “Cyberstates 2008: A Complete State-by-State Overview of the High-Technology Industry” made by AeA, the nation’s largest high-tech trade association... http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080402/BIZ01/304020059/1076/BIZ

Hamilton Co. pays $10K,to settle suit Money goes for attorney's fees from litigation over jail campaign BY JESSICA BROWN | [email protected] April 2, 2008 Hamilton County is shelling out $10,000 in taxpayer money to settle a federal lawsuit stemming from the unsuccessful jail tax campaign last year. Click on link for article. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080402/NEWS01/804020349/1056/COL02

Decision close on Northside school BY BEN FISCHER | [email protected] For months, Northside community leaders have tried convincing Cincinnati Public Schools to abandon plans to rebuild Chase School on its current location, a move they said would be a massive error in neighborhood planning. Theyll soon know whether they succeed. Demolition has begun at the old building, and school district officials say they wont put off further planning any longer than early June, after agreeing to a delay at the request of Mayor Mark Mallory. Id probably give it a one-third chance of making it, said Tim Jeckering, president of the Northside Community Council. That is a higher number than I would have given in the past. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080331/NEWS01/303310058

OK here's part two of my trip - went on to DC from Richmond via Amtrak for a campus visit to American University. Didn't have much time of sighting seeing but took these pictures when I had the chance. The Brookings Institution. Cafe' break. I just thought this was an interesting looking gas station. Last shots before sunset. Ulysses Grant on top of his horse - Cincinnati.

Hilarious. Leave it to politicians to make ridiculous comments like this. It reminds me of the time when I read Mike Fox quoted in the Enquirer saying something like "the SuperWalmart on Cincinnati-Dayton Road in West chester was going to attract shoppers from throughout the Tri-State."

Spent Easter weekend in Richmond, VA before traveling on to D.C. (pics to follow) Visited VCU campus and strolled around the Fan District - it was beautiful weather. Next stop Union Station. Richmond to D.C. was approx 2 hours.

Battle over; Citylink will be built BY SHARON COOLIDGE | [email protected] A two-year battle between the city of Cincinnati and several social services agencies over the development of a social services mall in the West End is over. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080326/NEWS01/303260035/1056/COL02

Duke Energy denies plot Asks that 'baseless' lawsuit be thrown out BY DAN HORN | [email protected] Duke Energy fought back against an antitrust lawsuit Friday with a strong denial that it schemed with big corporate customers to raise rates for everyone else. The utility's response, filed in U.S. District Court, described the lawsuit as "utterly baseless" and said its request for higher rates was thoroughly reviewed by state regulators and the Ohio Supreme Court. Duke officials said those reviews found no evidence that contracts the utility signed with about 20 corporate customers influenced approval of a rate increase Duke requested in 2004. The suit claims the contracts called for Duke to pay the companies kickbacks in exchange for their support of the rate increase. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approved the higher rates, which resulted in a 30-percent increase for residential customers. "Our rates have been upheld," Duke's chief legal officer, Marc Manly, said in a statement Friday. "There is no basis for the lawsuit and it should be dismissed at the outset." He said Duke did nothing wrong and the lawsuit should be thrown out because federal antitrust laws do not apply to state regulation of utilities. Stan Chesley, one of the lawyers who filed the lawsuit, said antitrust laws do apply to the case. Ultimately, Judge Edmund Sargus will make the call. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080322/BIZ01/803220348/-1/back01

Duke Energy asks for dismissal of 'kickback' lawsuit Business Courier of Cincinnati Friday, March 21, 2008 - 2:53 PM EDT Duke Energy Corp. has filed for the dismissal of a class-action complaint claiming that it has been overcharging tens of thousands of residential and business customers because of illegal kickbacks given to large corporate customers. The lawsuit was filed in January by Cincinnati attorneys Randy Freking and Stan Chesley. It outlines an alleged illegal scheme by Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke and its predecessor companies Cinergy Corp. and Cincinnati Gas & Electric Co. to funnel kickbacks to unidentified corporate customers in Greater Cincinnati in exchange for their withdrawal of opposition to rate increases that Duke sought from Ohio regulators. Duke, in its filing, said that "there is no basis for any claim under federal or state law" for the lawsuit. http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/03/17/daily61.html