Mr. Anderson

Macy's Shares Rise on Takeover Rumors Friday June 22, 7:28 pm ET Macy's Shares Up 9 Percent on Unconfirmed Rumor of a Buyout CINCINNATI (AP) -- Shares of Macy's Inc. jumped 9 percent Friday amid speculation that the department store operator was being targeted for a takeover. Macy's shares rose $3.52 to $42.39. Their 52-week range is $32.57 to $46.70. "The sheer movement of the stock and the volume of the calls would lead me to believe that people tend to think that there's something imminent coming out," said Andrew Wilkinson, senior market analyst at Interactive Brokers Group. ... http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070622/macy_s_speculation.html?.v=3

Nice pics URando. Look forward to many more interesting photo threads and insights into Atlanta's urbanism this summer.

Sycamore Twp. Trustees Pass Resolution On Illegal Workers Posted By: Neil Relyea Jun 21, 2007 11:21 PM Sycamore Township board of trustees are asking businesses in the township to sign a document agreeing not to hire illegal immigrants. If a business is found to have hired illegal workers, that business will be have to pay a fine of $5,000 or 10% of the contract's value, whichever is greater. The policy would also apply to outside businesses that have a contract with the township. The resolution passed unanimously with no arguments against what would be put into action. The board is planning to treat the resolution as an emergency order. MORE: http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=3b73f062-dc97-42dd-9b68-bbe2e0fe87dc

The place doubles as a taxi livery and includes gas pumps inside - it was too dark so the pic I took inside didn't come out - There were four pumps and the place was busy as you can see from the pic we were backed up on the street. I was downtown four a week and this was the only gas station I saw in the downtown area.

The current south terminus of the streetcar takes you to an Aerial Tram (like a ski-lift) that wisks you up to the hill-top where there is a cluster of hospitals - the base of the area near the riverfront is going vertical with offices and condos. Debit card friendly parking meters - awesome :clap: Urban designers take note - a drive-in drive-through gas station.

Here is round two: Portland State University - really an urban campus the street grid - and Portland Streetcar - runs right through it. Food trailers like this are located all over the place here. Yeah you guess it - some of these were taken from the streetcar. PSU's hand in mixed use. Hillside dev south of PSU Edge of the Pearl District - streetcar stops near Powells Used Books - this awesome bookstore takes up an entire city block :speech:! Now north to the Pearl District - It is underconstruction - mixed use projects all over. Incredible plants. A Whole Foods - yeah the Pearl District feels very yuppie - but at least they can walk or ride the street car to the grocery store and save the Land Rover for weekend excursions to the coast. Actually from what I hear, Portland is the 2nd "Greenest" city in the world - behind Lyon, France.

Here is the first series of pics from my recent visit to downtown Portland, OR - don't know if I've captured it here but IMO it is a really an awesome urban place - especially downtown. Salmon Street Springs Boardwalk along Willamette River New condo towers along south riverfront View to the south from my hotel Night shot Max Light Rail line Pioneer Square Lots of people playing chess in the square Look closely - you can see Mt. St. Helens on the horizon. Designated motorcyle/scooter parking. Flexcar - the alternative to owning a car in the city - of course it is a hybrid Awesome assortment of restarants located here Great tacos located here! Super-wide sidewalks A downtown grocery store :clap: More chess playing

Rage, Are those vacation homes or year-round homes? I'm impressed with the infill density because I keep hearing that a lot of these beach communities are becoming hot beds of ultra-NIMBYism - so hats off to the community for sticking to some urban design for a change.

Well put, the same can be said for the tacky work being done on Carew for Boi Na Braza. Sure it's not complimentary to the art-deco wonder that is Carew Tower...but if suburbanites gave a crap about architecture and character do you really think they would live where they live?? We haven't sold our soul to the devil quite yet, so I'm OK with it. If this becomes the norm with every future project...I'll become more hesitant with my approvals. So, URando - So you are the new "Approvalnator" *add german accent* of all things urban cincinnati. :wink:

From 06/06/07 Hamilton Journal News: Local leaders say no to immigration reform plan By Lauren Pack, Staff Writer Wednesday, June 06, 2007 HAMILTON — Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones and state Rep. Courtney Combs are proposing a state resolution to oppose an immigration reform plan, noting that immigrants should be required to speak English to gain citizenship. Jones and Combs said Tuesday they are proposing a "resolution of non-support" in the Ohio House to ensure the voice of state residents are heard on the federal bill. Their proposal also calls for no amnesty for those who sneaked across the border to the United States "I strongly believe the vast majority of my constituents do not favor any kind of amnesty for those immigrants who have simply sneaked into our country while the federal government turned a blind eye toward our borders," Jones said. "For the federal government to try to fix the mess they created by basically forgetting that millions of immigrants committed crimes by entering our country illegally is ridiculous." Combs, R-Hamilton, said the government should adopt strict requirements that immigrants be required to speak English before legally coming to the U.S. MORE: http://www.journal-news.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/06/06/hjn060607resolution.html

Proposed jail tax spurs alliance NAACP, anti-tax group COAST will plot petition drive today BY HOWARD WILKINSON | [email protected] Two groups that usually find themselves on opposite ends of the political spectrum - the NAACP and COAST, the area's most conservative and most vocal anti-tax group - are working together to prevent Hamilton County commissioners from increasing the sales tax for a new jail. Click on link for article. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070602/NEWS01/706020406

Humana selects Eden Park Drive for new facility Cincinnati Business Courier - 11:59 AM EDT Tuesday, May 1, 2007 by Laura Baverman Staff Reporter Humana Inc. announced Tuesday its plans to move into a $45 million, 250,000-square-foot facility Corporex Cos. will build across from the health insurer's current offices on Eden Park Drive. The announcement marks the end of the Louisville-based company's nine-month search for the new home of its expanded local work force. In September, it said it would consolidate 900 local employees from Corporex's Grand Baldwin building and One Riverfront Place in Newport, and add up to 300 new jobs over the next two years to reflect its growth in the health, dental and life insurance market. Click on link for article. http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2007/04/30/daily20.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Cemetery your baby, city told Court says city must care for Northside graveyard BY DAN HORN | [email protected] Cincinnati is still in the cemetery business. A state appeals court Friday ordered the city to continue to maintain Northside's Wesleyan Cemetery, a 25-acre burial ground that has suffered from neglect and mismanagement for years. The city reluctantly took responsibility for the property last year after previous caretakers bowed out because of legal or financial problems. ... http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20070421/NEWS01/704210385/

Ohio jobless rate, numbers working rose in March Cincinnati Business Courier - 3:03 PM EDT Friday, April 20, 2007 Ohio's unemployment rate increased in March, but so did the number of Ohioans working. The count of those seeking jobs across Ohio jumped 12,000 last month, sending the state unemployment rate up to 5.2 percent from 5 percent in February. But the tally of those in nonfarm jobs statewide reached more than 5.43 million, up 10,000 from February. The state Department of Job and Family Services, in its Friday report, noted weather may have played a part in the jobless rate increase. "Better weather in March than in mid-February brought more job seekers into the labor market, increasing the unemployment rate," department Director Helen Jones-Kelley said in a release. "The milder weather also boosted construction employment." The number of those employed in the construction industry increased a seasonally adjusted 3,900 from February to March. Full article at http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2007/04/16/daily66.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Clifton out as NIOSH lab site BY BARRETT J. BRUNSMAN | [email protected] A Clifton site that had appeared to be a front runner in the competition for a $70 million headquarters for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has been eliminated from consideration. Modifications to the proposal for that site by the Uptown Consortium Inc. prompted the federal government to strike it from the list of seven possible locations, a spokesman for the U.S. General Services Administration said Thursday. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070405/NEWS01/304050024

Banks Working Group adds two members Cincinnati Business Courier - 12:01 PM EDT Wednesday, April 4, 2007 Two more members have joined the Banks Working Group, which is planning the riverfront mixed-use development, after complaints that the group contained no minority representatives. The two new members are Steve Love, president of the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky African American Chamber of Commerce, and Robert Richardson, president of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council, Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Bortz said. Full story text is available at http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2007/04/02/daily32.html?jst=b_ln_hl

This is great news from the Midwest :clap:...ha ha...even if it is in Indiana. Maybe Ohio legislators will wake up and jump on board.

Ink, Not on warren co topic but the Route 63 extension could be a serious sprawl inducer for central and western Butler County in the future: Check this link: http://bceo.org/sr63.html

Maybe I'm just too cynical but this sounds like somebody caved in to some neighborhood NIMBYism...I mean surely all this money could have been put to a more productive use that would have a broader economic/environmental benefit. This story sounds all too familiar..developer buys land threatens to develop it...residents circle the wagons ask govt to do something...oh well at least the developer knew what they were doing and made a decent profit. :clap:

Urban Jungle plans dead Jungle Jim's might add on instead BY MIKE BOYER | [email protected] With long-delayed plans for a store in Oakley now history, Jungle Jim's International Market is focusing on developing its Fairfield location. Phill Adams, Jungle Jim's development director, said the eclectic, nearly 300,000-square-foot food store quietly dropped plans last summer to be an anchor for the proposed Millworks development on former Cincinnati Milling Machine property, southwest of Marburg and Ibsen avenues. "The project didn't seem to be going anywhere," said Adams. "It faces some tough competition from Rookwood Commons and Kenwood Towne Centre," which include a Wild Oats and a Trader Joe's, as well as new Fresh Market stores in Oakley and Kenwood. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070403/BIZ01/704030369/1076/BIZ

Neighborhoods can apply for mural Cincinnati's neighborhoods have until April 30 to apply for a mural. MuralWorks, a new year-round public art collaboration between the city and ArtWorks, has a goal of creating unique murals in every city neighborhood. They hope to complete at least a half dozen this year. They are hiring student apprentices to begin work on the murals this summer under the guidance of professional artists. Mural applications will be reviewed by a committee composed of ArtWorks staffers, artists, the public and Carla Walker, the mayor's chief of staff. Read full article here: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070402/NEWS01/704020396/1056/COL02

Great! A taste of Barcelona on Main Street. :clap: Neon's becoming tapas bar Style change in Over-the-Rhine BY LAUREN BISHOP | [email protected] Three Over-the-Rhine business owners plan to turn Neon's, the 20-year-old bar that pioneered the entertainment district around Main Street, into a wine and tapas bar. Roula David and Michael Spalding, owners of the 7-month-old Vinyl restaurant at 12th and Sycamore streets, and Neon's operating partner Maureen Odioso Godshall said Thursday they will spend $75,000 to renovate Neon's, 208 E. 12th St. http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070330/ENT04/703300348/0/CINCI

2+ acre lots are TERRIBLE in my opinion for several reasons: Larger lots mean more sprawl, actually more traffic (duh you have to drive virtually everywhere), longer travel times, more pollution i.e. vehicle exhaust *cough*cough*. Trees and plants flourish in city parks all over the world and can be enjoyed by all, especially children who should probably be in playgrounds or parks within walking distance of their homes – not in the street. If sprawl was not some rampant maybe wildlife wouldn’t end up as some much road-kill. Just some thoughts on the subject.

Is Portune a member of the Downtown Cincinnati Stakeholder Group ? or is he just a trying to fire up the COAST fanatics?