If the US Constitution doesn't reference a particular power of government, does that mean that such a power is allowed or is prohibited?  Liberals and conservatives have been battling that one out since the country was founded.

 

Well, technically the answer is "prohibited" per the 10th Amendment:

 

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

 

Of course things like the Commerce Clause and other legislation muddies things up, and there's no shortage of people out there to interpret and reinterpret the Constitution.  Still, is there really any argument that the Constitution, at least as initially intended, was meant only to grant specific powers to the Federal government, and that anything not specifically granted was therefore outside its purview?  That's where the whole "inalienable rights" notion comes from, that rights are not granted by some government, they're inherent.  That's why the Bill of Rights was so controversial, because while they're supposed to just be examples of rights that the people already have and simply need further clarification, the fear is that it would appear like the government is specifically granting those rights rather than just mentioning (or enumerating) them. 

 

Anyway, back on point, sort of, the way powers are delegated is quite complicated.  Powers not granted to the Federal government delegate down to the States or people, but powers not granted to municipal governments usually delegate UP to the state.  Counties seem to be in an even stranger position, and of course it's different in every state, plus there's townships and home rule and all that other stuff. 

^Agreed on all points.  It really is a very complicated issue that I was oversimplifying. 

 

Powers not granted to the Federal government delegate down to the States or people, but powers not granted to municipal governments usually delegate UP to the state.

 

If this part of your post is true, then I'd say the answer to whether Cincinnati's mayor could be recalled does indeed depend on state law.

Back to crime: shootings have been up across the country and Cincinnati is no different. I feel bad for Blackwell.

 

It's interesting that something like shootings, which seem like each would be an isolated incident, can ebb and flow in this manner.  It makes you wonder what really drives shootings, and human behavior in general for that matter.  How much of the blame for an increase in shootings in Cincinnati can realistically be attributed to Blackwell, when shootings have risen across the nation during the same period?

Shootings are up slightly in Cincy, but we have thankfully had a slight reduction in murders. Which goes against the trend in a lot of our peer cities. St. Louis and Baltimore have seen massive increases in murders this year. More than 50% increases over last year. I think there's something to be said about community engagement that Blackwell was known for in continuing the reduction in the murder rate in Cincinnati. When a disconnect forms (Baltimore) you wind up with rioting and increased murder/shootings which Cincinnati did not see after the Dubose killing.

 

There's very little as important as building a relationship between communities and the police department. And Blackwell was great at this. It's a shame that we might be replacing him with someone unqualified to continue that.

^Agreed about the chief being great with the community. Hopefully the new one (I can't imagine he won't be the newly appointed interim chief) will be able to continue that. The images of Chief Blackwell in the community talking to groups (university students, BLM protesters, etc) was really powerful and gave some legitimacy to the police that otherwise might be missing.

 

I would argue that shootings are more important statistics to follow than murders. Even though murders are down slightly, they could be up 30% like the shootings if the shooters were more successful.

^Agreed about the chief being great with the community. Hopefully the new one (I can't imagine he won't be the newly appointed interim chief) will be able to continue that. The images of Chief Blackwell in the community talking to groups (university students, BLM protesters, etc) was really powerful and gave some legitimacy to the police that otherwise might be missing.

 

I would argue that shootings are more important statistics to follow than murders. Even though murders are down slightly, they could be up 30% like the shootings if the shooters were more successful.

Isaac is a good guy, but he was a captain a few months ago. While I am surprised that Bailey wasn't named Chief, I'd be shocked if Isaac got the full time job with almost no experience at the assistant Chief level. Some may say he'll get it because he's black, but there are plenty of qualified people of color that could take the job from elsewhere.

 

Black hasn't hired many people from Cincinnati. I would be surprised if he bucked that trend.

Back to crime: shootings have been up across the country and Cincinnati is no different. I feel bad for Blackwell.

 

It's interesting that something like shootings, which seem like each would be an isolated incident, can ebb and flow in this manner.  It makes you wonder what really drives shootings, and human behavior in general for that matter.  How much of the blame for an increase in shootings in Cincinnati can realistically be attributed to Blackwell, when shootings have risen across the nation during the same period?

  My uneducated and non-statistically based guess would be that it's sociological.  By that I mean that they are typically peer groups of interconnected people with beef over turf over those seeking revenge.  It seems almost all shootings where there is a random victim is collateral to an assassination.

I have seen a number of comments from people saying things like, "Blackwell should let the cops get back to doing their jobs instead of making them play basketball with kids." So I'm guessing a lot of cops did not like the community building efforts and would prefer to go back to driving around in their cruisers. Which is a shame.

To go on somewhat of a tangent – UC released an independent report today regarding the Tensing shooting:

 

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Report: Dubose shooting entirely preventable, never should have occurred

 

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The headline is essentially click-bait, but some of the findings will make a murder conviction very difficult, notably this part:

 

“The report from Kroll Inc. states that while Officer Ray Tensing had cause to stop Sam Dubose and initiated the conversation with DuBose correctly, Tensing "thereafter made critical errors in judgment that created an elevated risk of a serious or fatal bodily injury. In particular, Tensing's decision to reach into an occupied vehicle in an attempt to stop the operator from driving away escalated the encounter into a potentially deadly situation for himself and for Dubose.”

 

If it was indeed a potentially deadly situation for Tensing, he did not commit murder. Whether his poor decisions lead to that situation or not isn’t as important a factor. If Tensing is convicted of a lesser charge, or if there’s a hung jury, the resulting protests would be a huge test for Cranley’s new chief - especially if there is already underlying unrest in the community because of the end of community outreach and the removal of a well liked black police chief.

 

Good grief.  The Dubose family hired Blake Maislin -- yes the guy with the boxing gloves -- to represent the family.  Now Maislin is attempting to have himself administer the payout -- so the Tensing payout will pay for his cigarette boat and a few thousand more commercials during Judge Judy.

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/courts/2015/09/16/battle-underway-over-samuel-dubose-estate/32495369/

That jingle is pretty catchy though.

 

♫4-4-4 ♪ 4-4-4-4♫

♫4-4-4 ♪ 4-4-4-4♫

♫4-4-4 ♪ 4!-4!-4!-4!♫

 

CALL Blake Maislin!

 

And Rothschild's jingle should sound like this:

 

Through September 12, there have been 48 homicides in the city.  There were 53 through the same period last year.  (All this according to the latest STARS report.) 

Through September 26, there have been 49 homicides in Cincinnati, compared to 54 last year through the same time.  That means the murder rate has dropped about 10% this year. I think there has definitely been an increase in shootings, but it doesn't seem to be translating into an increase in murders.  The 49 number is pretty much right at the 3-year average. 

Is Ray Tensing's shooting of Sam DeBose counted as a murder, since he's charged with it?  Other than that beat-down on Fountain Square a week or two before the All-Star Game, there have been no high profile crimes this year.

 

 

 

And the little girl shot in Avondale.

Is Ray Tensing's shooting of Sam DeBose counted as a murder, since he's charged with it?  Other than that beat-down on Fountain Square a week or two before the All-Star Game, there have been no high profile crimes this year.

 

 

 

 

They don't break it out by specific incident, but I am pretty sure it counts as a homicide.  (I was using "murder" colloquially there--not every one of these homicides would lead to a murder charge, I am sure.) 

^ Yeah I think whether or not Tensing is convicted has no bearing on the fact that Dubose's death was ruled a homicide. Even if a jury finds him not guilty on all charges, Dubose's death would theoretically be a "justifiable homicide."

What's behind the rise in Cincinnati shootings?

This year has been one of the bloodiest in recent memory in Cincinnati.

 

By early this month more than 320 people had been shot this year within the city limits, with nearly 50 dying from those wounds. And while the city's homicide rate has remained steady compared with 2014, the overall shooting totals are 30 percent higher than at this point last year.

 

The victims range in age from 4-year-old Martaisha Thomas, who was shot in the head but survived in late July, to Edward Rose, 87, who died at the hands of his son, who then shot and killed himself.

 

The surge has riled politicians in City Hall and is said to have been a factor in the firing of the city's police chief earlier this month.

 

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/09/17/behind-rise-cincinnati-shootings/32520965/

I guess we need more good guys with guns...

Anyone know what the total number of murders there are so far? Low 60's maybe? I have not heard of any lately(2-3 weeks)

There was one in Westwood this week, I think.

YTD there were 66 homicides as of November 28, compared to 60 for the same time span last year.  The homicide rate has unfortunately ticked up significantly in the last couple of months, it appears. 

Well the girls are back in a big way on McMicken, and have even turned back up in Walnut Hills after a 2-3 year hiatus. 

Well the girls are back in a big way on McMicken, and have even turned back up in Walnut Hills after a 2-3 year hiatus. 

 

This past Friday night I saw five in between Elm and Ravine St.  I didn't drive north of Ravine so I don't know if it's back to full strength all the way up to the D&D Mart. 

I just took a look at the latest District 1 police report: http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/police/linkservid/529FF445-44D6-4140-B29C1B1B08AAA248/showMeta/0/

 

YTD violent crime is down 15% compared to 3-year average. But property crimes are up 44% compared to the 3 year average (up 32% compared to 2015). The bulk of the growth is in the "theft from auto" category which has more than doubled from 97 last year to 210 this year (comparing YTD). 

4 people in Hamilton county were murdered yesterday 3 in Cincinnati. 2 more were shot in Covington. what is going on???

Cincinnati police officer shoots, kills suspect in downtown Cincinnati

 

 

CINCINNATI -- A Cincinnati police officer shot and killed a person matching the description of an aggravated robbery suspect Sunday morning in downtown Cincinnati.

 

Police Chief Eliot Isaac said preliminary information indicates the suspect was armed with a knife and struggled with the officer.  "We have recovered a knife here at the scene," Isaac said.The officer was not injured.  Video from Libby Freeborn, a witness, showed what appears to be the suspect covered with a sheet:

 

http://htl.li/zPKy503dCIK

 

^ Chief on fatal shooting: This was a vicious, violent attack on officer

 

The suspect, identified as 25-year-old Jawari Porter, was armed with a knife when he rushed an officer through the open door of a police cruiser, according to Isaac. The officers had been pursuing Porter in connection with a robbery at the Vine Street Kroger.

 

“Recognizing the threat, the officer immediately drew his firearm as the subject entered his car door and repeatedly attempted to stab him,” said Isaac.

People randomly shot but not seriously hurt at Elder's athletic facility off Quebec Rd.:

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2016/09/28/police-investigate-triple-shooting-elders-athletic-complex/91206730/

 

 

 

^There's a ton of apartment complexes near there. I wonder if the sports complex creates a lot more traffic on Westmont and someone wasn't too thrilled about it.

Somebody was shot tonight at the Shell gas station at McMillan & Calhoun, despite a huge police presence in the area.  Like literally police on the block or one block away when it happened.  The gas station simply needs to be demolished and replaced by something else.  The popularity of the gas station with motorcyclists and teenagers is a mystery.  It's a goddamn gas station, no different than any other, yet year after year it attracts massive amounts of obonoxious motorcyclists and teenagers to the UC area.  These people have zero affiliation with UC and many are not old enough to get into the bars.

 

Friday night at approximately 7pm I turned from Jefferson onto Calhoun and was passed by four teenagers riding motocross bikes with no license plates.  So they were riding motorcycles that were not street legal and had the knobby tires on them, making them unsafe on city streets.  One of the guys blew through the red light at Ohio Ave., charged down to U Square, then turned around an rode the wrong way on Calhoun.  As he approached the group of cars I was in, he rode up onto the sidewalk.  He then turned around and followed traffic and blew threw yet another red light.  I rolled down my window and cussed him out at which time we got into a back-and-forth in front of a bunch of UC students idling on the sidewalks with their cell phones.  He sped off once people started recording him with their phones. 

 

So all this crap is going on in that area all the time now despite a truly huge police presence.  I can't explain it. 

 

D-M-X!

"Club Shell." I wonder if the police, particularly the UCPD who is obviously on an extremely short leash right now, are just afraid of confrontation. The CUF Shell and Liberty Street Shell really need to adopt an "if you aren't buying anything get the hell out" policy.

Here is a photo of the Shell station I took last night with my phone.  No stories whatsoever have appeared in the news. 

I hated that whole area when I went to UC 2006-2008. Bums everywhere, asking for change. It drove me nuts. I don't remember that Shell station being particularly problematic, though. I'm guessing these days since the whole area is remodeled, the Shell station is the most lenient of all of the businesses when it comes to loitering, so they all gravitate there.

 

I remember getting called a cracker all the time, for not handing over change.

I saw this video posted elsewhere, it was not last night's shooting but a previous shooting. It is a pretty fair example of how nuts this Shell station is on a typical weekend night - I didn't see it last night but it was apparently a lot more crowded than it was in this video. I can't believe the franchise owners allow this to take place on a regular basis:

 

https://vid.me/VGhV

I hated that whole area when I went to UC 2006-2008. Bums everywhere, asking for change. It drove me nuts. I don't remember that Shell station being particularly problematic, though. I'm guessing these days since the whole area is remodeled, the Shell station is the most lenient of all of the businesses when it comes to loitering, so they all gravitate there.

 

I remember getting called a cracker all the time, for not handing over change.

 

I remember avoiding carrying coins when I lived there for a year around that time. Bums would hear the change rattling around in your pockets as you  walked. Of course,  if you start your trip with no coins, though,  as soon as you buy something you have 89 cents in your pocket. Then the next thing costs 2.95 and you wind up with even more coins. I wound up with $130 in change after one year from dumping all my coins in a drawer as soon as I got home.

Haha! I Remember that, too. Especially if I was wearing sweat pants or mesh or something like that. Once I heard it jingle as I walked past one of them, I thought "here we go..." I think it happened to a lesser extent with jeans.

 

Also, I lived on Warner St. nearby and used to smoke Hookah on my front porch. Next thing I knew, I had every crack head in Uptown walking right onto my porch asking me if they could hit it before even asking what it was that I was smoking (back then Hookahs were just becoming popular). There's no polite way to tell strangers that you don't want their herpes, tuberculosis or whatever else that would be transferred from the mouth piece and that you didn't invite them on your porch and want them to leave.

 

There's so many crazies in that area. At least, there were.

 

I'll never forget this developmental psychology class I took in a big lecture hall. This crazy homeless guy sat next to me in class and raised his hand. The professor said, "Yes." He goes, "What year is it?" The professor politely just told him and continued on with the lecture as if it were a normal question, lol!

 

 

 

I saw this video posted elsewhere, it was not last night's shooting but a previous shooting. It is a pretty fair example of how nuts this Shell station is on a typical weekend night - I didn't see it last night but it was apparently a lot more crowded than it was in this video. I can't believe the franchise owners allow this to take place on a regular basis:

 

https://vid.me/VGhV

 

Yeah that's one of the classic videos.  It's really unbelievable that it didn't turn into a broader viral sensation.  If it had, maybe we would have had the city crack down on it. 

 

What I really hate is that CHCRURAFF (or whatever it is) claims that the "community" wanted the Shell station to remain when all of the fast food restaurants and Acropolis Chili were torn down.  Who were these people?  there is hardly such thing as an owner-occupied home within 10 blocks of this gas station.  It was obviously a put-on.  And there are two other gas stations nearby (BP on Jefferson, Marathon on Clifton) nearby.  It's not as if Clifton Heights is some sort of gasoline desert.  And somehow those other two stations never have these kinds of problems. 

 

 

 

CHCURC surveyed the neighborhood and asked them what they wanted to keep, and residents wanted to Shell to remain. Of course, this was many years ago, before U Square existed and maybe even before University Park Apts. was built. If you did the survey again I'm sure many people would be happy for the Shell to go.

 

I think the reason Club Shell happens is because it's one of the few places where it's possible for large crowds to gather in the Clifton Heights NBD. Just look at how popular the little plaza in the middle of USquare has become. That's where people hang out and where rallies and protests are held. People gather at the Shell for the same reason.

I don't believe that that survey actually happened, and if renters were included, it would be a bunch of college students giving screwy answers. 

 

The bottom line is that UC totally screwed up with redevelopment of this area.  The original plan with underground parking and higher quality construction might have been better, but there is absolutely no justification for tearing down at least a dozen historic buildings, including several locally-owned businesses that did not stay in the area, while keeping a gas station.  There is also the baffling placement of "Market St." in disalignment with Morlein Ave., therefore undermining its utility, plus the assumption that Calhoun and McMillan would always be one-way and the demolition of the blocks was not used as an opportunity to create a wider ROW for wider sidewalks, a transit-only lane, bike lanes, etc.  All this before considering the insulting cheapness of U Square and and other newcomers like The Verge. 

^ I have always kind of wondered why that area wasn't re-aligned into a wide two way through street west of Vine after everything got demolished back when, instead of leaving it as a one-way pair with a relatively narrow block between the two.

^ I have always kind of wondered why that area wasn't re-aligned into a wide two way through street west of Vine after everything got demolished back when, instead of leaving it as a one-way pair with a relatively narrow block between the two.

 

I cannot image how a 7 or 8 lane street would be any better for the community. it would be like Liberty street in uptown.

They definitely should tear down that Shell. 

I think the canyon effect created by UPA + U Square + the long city blocks creates a weird "floating" character to the traffic on Calhoun + McMillan and people are compelled to speed or show off.  Switching each to 2-way would definitely slow things down.  Also, the current situation is pretty dangerous with the way people are constantly parallel parking on both sides of each road. 

 

 

I think the canyon effect created by UPA + U Square + the long city blocks creates a weird "floating" character to the traffic on Calhoun + McMillan and people are compelled to speed or show off.  Switching each to 2-way would definitely slow things down.  Also, the current situation is pretty dangerous with the way people are constantly parallel parking on both sides of each road. 

 

 

 

Every time I drive through there it makes me nervous. With the speed people are going, the crazy parking, and students crossing wherever they please... its a wonder more pedestrians are not hit.

UC police fail to apprehend this person despite the incident occurring in the middle of campus, with cameras all over the place:

http://www.wcpo.com/news/education/higher-education/uc-news/shots-fired-on-university-of-cincinnati-campus

 

Also, no follow-up at all to the shooting at the Shell station two Fridays ago, which did not prompt a lock-down, as it was a solid 50 feet off-campus. 

I think the canyon effect created by UPA + U Square + the long city blocks creates a weird "floating" character to the traffic on Calhoun + McMillan and people are compelled to speed or show off.  Switching each to 2-way would definitely slow things down.  Also, the current situation is pretty dangerous with the way people are constantly parallel parking on both sides of each road. 

 

 

Every time I drive through there it makes me nervous. With the speed people are going, the crazy parking, and students crossing wherever they please... its a wonder more pedestrians are not hit.

 

Is it really any different than much of downtown? 

Downtown is serious business. You can see the same thing on High St. through OSU campus. You'll be driving on High and as soon as you get a few blocks near campus the sportbikes and Supermotos turn up wheelieing and doing stoppies to impress girls.