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Here at CityBeat, we cover a lot of budget hearings, and they can very easily wear us down with their partisan squabbles and monotonous focus on details that everyone will forget about in a week or so.
Right now, we're watching the Ohio Senate budget hearings, which have so far involved Democrats repeatedly bringing up amendments only to get them shot down by the Republican majority. Very repetitive, very boring.
Thankfully, the Internet has given us the chance to take what we like to call "cat breaks." This video — arguably the greatest thing in the entire Internet — is the latest example:
We encourage you to do the same while you're at work. If your employer ever questions the practice, just point him or her to the study that found looking at cute animals actually boosts productivity.
Compared to the previous budget, the two-year state budget passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly Thursday increased school funding by $700 million. But the funding is still $515 million less than Ohio schools received in 2009.
The result: Cincinnati Public Schools will receive $15 million less in state funding than it did in 2009, joining three in four school districts who have a net loss to funding between 2009 and 2015.
Still, Republicans are calling the funding boost the largest increase to education spending in more than 10 years.
"No school district in the state of Ohio will receive less funding than current levels," says Michael Dittoe, spokesperson for Ohio House Republicans. "Eighty percent of Ohio's students … are in one of the school districts that is receiving an increase."
Stephen Dyer, former Democratic state representative and education policy fellow at left-leaning think tank Innovation Ohio, says the claim is dishonest because it ignores longer-term trends in funding.
"It's like they cut off both of your legs, give you back one of them and say, 'You should thank us,'" he says.
Republicans defend the cuts by citing an $8 billion deficit in 2011, which had to be eliminated under state law. Some of the cuts from that previous budget directly impacted school funding, but the decreases also eliminated subsidies that previously benefited schools, such as tangible personal property reimbursements.
Dyer says the state budget situation has changed since then. Instead of focusing on tax cuts, he argues state legislators should have prioritized education funding.
Another problem, according to Dyer, is how the increased funding is distributed. Although Dyer acknowledges the plan is more equitable than the governor's original proposal, he says some of the most impoverished schools districts, particularly the poor and rural, will get the smallest increases.
Even if there was full equity, Dyer claims there's not enough money going into education as a result of years of cuts. To illustrate his point, he gives an example: "If I'm going to go see Superman with three of my friends and it costs $10 each to get in, I've got $36 and I give everybody $9, none of us are getting in. Even though I perfectly distributed the money equally, … the fact is none of us are getting in."
The budget's tax changes could also impact future local funding to schools. As part of the changes, the state will not subsidize 12.5 percent of future property tax levies — something the state does for current levies. For local taxpayers, that means new school levies will be 12.5 percent more expensive.
That, Dyer argues, will make it more difficult to pass future school levies, and that could force schools to ask for less money if they want levies to get voter approval.
"The legislature and legislators are doing a real disservice to people to tell everybody that they're getting an increase and no one is getting cut," Dyer says. "They need to be honest with people."
The budget also increases funding to "school choice" options, including the addition of 2,000 vouchers for private schooling that will be available to kindergarten students in households making less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
Republicans argue the vouchers give lower-income children access to schools and options in education that would otherwise be unavailable to them.
But a January report from Policy Matters Ohio found the extra mobility enabled by school choice options hurts student performance and strains teachers and staff by forcing them to more often accommodate new students.
The $62 billion state budget for fiscal years 2014 and 2015 passed the Republican-controlled General Assembly on Thursday. It's expected Kasich will sign it this weekend.Check out all of CityBeat's state budget coverage:
Local public access media organization Media Bridges is shutting its doors for good by the end of the year, ending nearly 25 years of public service.
The organization's demise is a result of the city eliminating funding for Media Bridges in its latest budget, which was passed by City Council in May.
"It is with great sadness that I must announce that Media Bridges will close its doors by the end of 2013. The city has made it extremely clear that we will not be receiving any more funding from them. While we have tried many other avenues for revenue it has become clear that we will be unable to sustain operations beyond 2013," Media
Bridges Executive Director Tom Bishop announced Tuesday in the organization's newsletter.
The shutdown will be a steady process, with Media Bridges completely closing once its channels are transferred or Dec. 13 — whichever comes first.
The city's budget cuts were originally considered in December, but City Council managed to restore some funding to keep the organization afloat. Prior to the partial restoration, Bishop had called the cuts a "meteor" to his organization's budget.
City officials previously defended the cuts to Media Bridges, citing city surveys that ranked the program poorly in terms of budgetary importance. For the surveys, the city used meetings and mailed questionnaires to gauge public opinion.
But Bishop claims the surveys' demographics were lopsided against low-income Cincinnatians, the income group that benefits the most from public access programs like Media Bridges.
For both the meeting-based and mail-in surveys, Bishop's claim checks out. His concern is even directly acknowledged and backed in the documented survey results for the meetings: "Twenty-two percent of meeting participants earned less than $23,050 per year, compared to 40.8 percent of the population at large who earn less than $24,999 per year. While this is not representative of the population at large, the data does indicate strong participation from low income residents."
Meanwhile, wealthier Cincinnatians were much better represented, with 11 percent of meeting participants making $150,000 or more per year despite only 6 percent of the city at large belonging to that income group, according to the survey results.
The same issue can be found in the mail-in survey: Only 22 percent of respondents made less than $25,000, while 10 percent made $150,000 or more.
"It's ridiculous that they would call that representative of the city of Cincinnati," Bishop says.
Instead of using its skewed survey results, Bishop argues the city should have looked at the 2010 Spring Greater Cincinnati Survey from the University of Cincinnati's Institute for Policy Research. In that survey, Cincinnati respondents were asked how important it was to provide recording equipment to citizens and neighborhoods so they can "produce educational and public access programs for cable television." About 54.3 percent called it "very important," 33.9 percent labeled it "somewhat important" and 11.7 percent said it was "not too important."
City officials also defended the cuts by claiming that funding was only provided as a "one-year reprieve" after Media Bridges lost state funding that came through Time Warner Cable, which successfully lobbied to end its required contributions in 2011.
Bishop disputes the city's claim, saying Media Bridges and its staff weren't informed that the city funding was meant to be temporary — at least until it was too late.
Media Bridges is a public access media organization founded in 1988 that
allows anyone in Cincinnati to record video and sound for publicly
broadcasted television and radio. It also provides educational programs for people new to the process.
Although Media Bridges is closing down, the city is still funding CitiCable, which, among other programming, broadcasts City Council and county commissioner meetings, through franchise fees from Cincinnati Bell and Time Warner.
It's nearly budget season in Cincinnati again. In a bit of a head start, City Manager Milton Dohoney has unveiled his plan to look into privatizing the city's parking services.In a memo to city employees, Dohoney claimed leasing could provide a few benefits to the city: "For example, a third party can invest in technology across the entire system more efficiently, can conduct enforcement and bill scofflaws, and can assume maintenance and facility upgrades to the system. ... Further, leasing the system could allow the City government to focus current staff on other services, and provide a pool of funding that could be paid immediately to support neighborhood investment among other priorities."
Dohoney also wrote he had met with American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) workers that would be affected by the change. He assured any new parking operator would have to interview AFSCME parking workers for jobs.
Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld responded to the proposal critically in a statement: "I'll await more details, but it seems penny-wise and pound-foolish to forgo a steady revenue stream for a lump-sum payment. Cincinnati needs a structurally balanced budget, and can't keep relying on one-time sources. Places like Chicago and Indianapolis have seen their parking rates more than double following privatization — that's a bad deal for citizens, and something we don't need while were experiencing an urban renaissance."
Some have cited the experience in Chicago as a failure of privatization. When New York City moved to privatize its parking meters, Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone criticized New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg for his plan: "These deals involve a sitting executive selling off a valuable piece of city property at a steep discount to private financial interests (often, to friends or campaign contributors), in order to solve a current cash flow problem that, surprise, surprise, will still be there the year after you finish spending the proceeds of your sale."
But New York City's plan for privatized parking meters kept pricing in public
hands. It's possible Cincinnati could take a similar approach and keep meter rates at the same level.
The full budget proposal typically comes out in late November. Mayor Mark Mallory and City Council will have to approve the proposal.
Pro-choice groups are criticizing Ohio House Republicans' budget plan for pulling money from Planned Parenthood and shifting federal dollars to "anti-choice" crisis pregnancy centers.
The Ohio House Republicans' budget plan would redirect federal funding for family planning services in a way that would strip funding for Planned Parenthood and family planning providers.
During hearings at the Ohio House Finance and Appropriations Committee today, multiple women's health advocates, ranging from health experts to members of Planned Parenthood, said these services mostly benefit low-income women, particularly in rural areas. On the other side, representatives from anti-abortion groups spoke in support of the Ohio House Republicans' measures, citing health care options, family values, abstinence and chastity.
Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, says the defunding measure has become a recurring trend for Ohio Republicans, who have taken up the Planned Parenthood measure multiple times in the past couple years. But she says the threat could have more weight this time around.
"This feels different," Copeland says. "They've always kind of tried to hide it before. This time they were a lot more upfront about it. It seems like they may be willing to put political capital into this fight this time."
A separate section of the Ohio House Republicans' budget plan redirects federal funding to a program that will fund crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs), which provide abstinence-only family planning services.
Some researchers have found abstinence-only programs to be ineffective. A 2007 study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health
found abstinence-only programs have no impact on rates for teenage
pregnancy or vaginal intercourse, while comprehensive programs that
include birth control education reduce rates.
A 2011 study from researchers at the University of Georgia that looked at data from 48 states concurred abstinence-only programs do not reduce the rate of teenage pregnancy. The study indicated states with the lowest teenage pregnancy rates tend to have the most comprehensive sex and HIV education programs.
Still, a 2010 study from a University of Pennsylvania researcher found abstinence-only education programs may delay sexual activity. The study, which tracked black middle school students over two years, found students in an abstinence-only program had lower rates of sexual activity than students in the comprehensive program.
Some supporters say the Ohio House Republicans' budget measures aren't specifically about Planned Parenthood, abortion or birth control. Instead, they argue they're trying to establish more health care options for women.
But the providers that would be able to get more funding already apply for it; they just lose out to Planned Parenthood's services, which are deemed superior by state officials who distribute the funds during the competitive distribution process.
Copeland says "no thinking person" should fall for the reasoning given by Republicans and supporters who say abortion is not one of their concerns.
"They're trying to impose their morals on you," Copeland says. "These are not health care experts. These are not people who are trying to find real solutions for the problems that real people face. These are people who want to impose their personal views, their personal morality on you."
Some anti-abortion supporters, including Denise Leipold of Right to Life of Northeast Ohio, say abortion and broader cultural issues are absolutely part of the reason they support the Ohio House Republicans' budget plan.
"Our mission is to support the right to life from conception to natural death," Leipold says. "Abortion happens to be a big problem right now because in the past 40 years it's become part of the culture."
She adds, "Now kids are learning that responsible sex means that you can have sex but just use birth control. That's not supposed to be the attitude. The attitude is supposed to be that sex is for a committed relationship between a man and a woman in a marital relationship."
During testimony today, Stephanie Kight, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, asked state legislators to support the organization's numerous medical services, including women's health, family planning and sexually transmitted infection (STI) treatment.
Kight also said state and federal funds do not go to abortions. Planned Parenthood's abortion services are instead funded by private donations.
At the hearings, Republican State Rep. Ron Maag asked Kight why Planned Parenthood doesn't shut down its three abortion clinics in Ohio if those clinics are potentially threatening the "good work" Planned Parenthood does elsewhere. Kight said Planned Parenthood believes its abortion services are "good work."
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) claimed in a 2011 lawsuit that the city government isn't meeting funding requirements. A Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas motion filed Jan. 4 and accepted Jan. 23 gives the city and AFSCME until April to settle the case out of court.
By law, Cincinnati is required to heed to the Cincinnati Retirement System (CRS) Board of Trustees when setting the percent of payroll the city must contribute to retirees. But the AFSCME lawsuit argues the city hasn't been making contributions dictated by the board.
The lawsuit, which dates back to June 2011, cites minutes from a CRS Board of Trustees meeting on July 20, 2010 to show the board accepted a report from Cavanaugh Macdonald Consulting, LLC. The report asked the city to contribute 46.22 percent of payroll to retiree benefits — 12.32 percent to retiree health benefits and 33.9 percent to other CRS benefits — during the 2011 fiscal year.
Instead, the city biennial budget for 2011 and 2012 established a contribution rate of 17 percent — way below the recommended sum.
The AFSCME lawsuit alleges the low contributions reflect a
"longstanding pattern" from city government. It points to a 2002
report from the CRS Board of Trustees that found the city was not meeting requirements set by the board then, either.
The lawsuit asks for a court mandate requiring city government to find out how much it needs to contribute, establish a mechanism for collecting the amounts required and appropriate and contribute the required amounts.
City Solicitor John Curp says the debate is between long-term and short-term interests. On AFSCME's side, the union wants to get as much from payroll contributions as possible for represented retirees, even if it means a short-term economic and budget shock for the city. On the city's side, City Council is more interested in meeting long-term requirements for the pension fund, instead of keeping up with shifting annual numbers that could negatively impact the city economy and budget.
City government's approach attempts to balance short-term and long-term needs with a long-term goal. It means the city pension is underfunded during some years, particularly when the economy is in a bad state. But it keeps rates steady, letting the city avoid sudden funding changes that would require spending cuts or tax hikes to keep the budget balanced.
By adopting a large short-term contribution rate, the city would likely hurt its budget in ways that would negatively affect city employees represented by AFSCME. If the city was forced to contribute 46.22 percent of payroll to CRS — up from 17 percent — it would probably be forced to cut spending elsewhere, which would lead to layoffs.
This story was updated on Jan. 25 at 12:40 p.m. to reflect comments from City Solicitor John Curp.
In the first of three debates for Ohio's seat in the U.S.
Senate, Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown and Republican challenger Josh
Mandel agreed on little and clashed on a lot. Each candidate mostly focused on the opposing candidate's record, but the debate today did move to substantial differences in policy at some
The debate started with opening statements from a noticeably feisty Brown, who criticized Mandel for calling his vote for the auto bailout "un-American." On the other side of the aisle, Mandel began his opening statement with a joke about shaving before he turns 36. The joke was the last time either of the men spoke with a light heart.
The candidates blasted each other mostly for their records. Mandel touted Ohio's and the nation's higher unemployment rate since Brown took office in 2006, energy prices and the U.S. debt. He also said the Senate had not passed a budget in three years, although Congress has actually passed budget resolutions in that time.
Brown fired back with claims Mandel had filled the state treasurer's office with cronies. He also criticized Mandel for running for four different political offices in seven years. In his closing statement, Brown said Mandel is "too concerned about running for his next job" to be trusted.
On substance, Brown and Mandel criticized just about everything about each other. Brown claimed Mandel signed away his "right to think" by agreeing to lobbyist Grover Norquist's pledge to not raise taxes while in office. He said the pledge makes it so if Mandel does take office, he'll never be able to close tax loopholes for big corporations.
Mandel defended the pledge by saying, "I'm proud to stand
for lower taxes in our state and lower taxes in our country." He added, "I will
do everything I can to advocate for lower taxes across the board for the middle
class and job creators as well."
The term "job creators" is typically used in politics to reference wealthy Americans, who Republicans claim create jobs through the theory of trickle-down economics. The economic theory states that wealthy Americans will hire more lower-class Americans if they have more money and freedom, essentially creating a trickle-down effect on wealth from the rich to the poor. Although Republicans still tout the theory, some economists, including Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman, say the financial crisis of 2008 and the deregulation that led to it prove trickle-down economics do not work.
The candidates also debated their positions on the auto bailout. Mandel said he would not have voted for the auto bailout if he was in the Senate in 2009. In his defense, he cited the experience of Delphi workers, who lost part of their pensions as part of the deal auto companies made with workers after the federal bailout. Mandel then said, "I'm not a bailout senator. He's the bailout senator."
Brown responded by saying, "These are real jobs and real people." He then cited examples of people helped by the growing auto industry. Brown's arguments are backed by economic data, which has repeatedly credited the growing auto industry for the nation's growing economy. In the first quarter of 2012, the auto industry was credited for half of the nation's economic growth.
When he was asked about higher education, Brown established the key difference between the candidates in terms of economic policy. Brown said his policies in favor of government investment in higher education are about supporting the middle class to create growth that starts in the middle and spreads out, while Mandel supports tax cuts that emphasize a trickle-down approach. Mandel did not deny the claims, and instead blamed Brown's policies for the high unemployment rate and debt issues.
The men continued to show similar contrasts on the budget, taxes and economy throughout the entire debate, but there seemed to be some common ground regarding energy independence. When the topic came to hydraulic fracturing — or "fracking" — Brown said becoming energy independent would have to involve all possible energy sources. In substance, Mandel agreed, although he also praised fracking regulations recently passed by the Ohio legislature and Gov. John Kasich.
As far as energy issues go, the agreement stopped there. When Brown was asked about President Barack Obama's alleged "war on coal," Brown said there was no war on coal and claimed there are more coal jobs and coal produced in Ohio than there were five years ago. Mandel disagreed and claimed there is a war on coal. He added if Obama is the general in the war on coal, Brown is Obama's "lieutenant." Brown previously supported federal regulations on mercury that some in the coal industry, including the Ohio Coal Association, claim will force coal-fired power plants to shut down. The regulations go into effect in 2015.
On abortion, Mandel proudly claimed he was pro-life, while Brown said, "Unlike Josh Mandel, I trust Ohio women to make their own health care decisions." Brown also criticized Mandel for not establishing exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the mother in his anti-abortion stance.
Many more issues, from term limits to Middle Eastern culture, were covered in the debate. The candidates drew sharp contrasts in all these areas with Brown typically holding the liberal position and Mandel typically holding the conservative position. But despite the feisty language and deep policy contrasts, when the debate ended, the candidates smiled, shook hands and patted each other on the back. They will meet again in Columbus on Thursday and Cincinnati on Oct. 25.
It was the first opportunity council members had to publicly question the budget's architects. The proposed budget would cover the first half of 2013. The city is switching over to a fiscal year starting in July.
Many council members expressed concern over the plan to use $21 million from a proposed 30-year lease of the city's parking meters, garages and lots to help close a $34 million budget deficit.
"It seems like … the city budget wins, but the citizens are losing," said Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld.
City Manager Milton Dohoney said the parking facilities net Cincinnati about $7 million a year. That would equal out to about $210 million over 30 years.
Sittenfeld called into question the wisdom of leasing the facilities for an estimated $50 million and taking half of the profit, for an earnings of about $150 million over 30 years.
Other council members expressed concern that whoever leased the parking would hike rates, something Councilman Cecil Thomas dismissed.
"The market would dictate the rates that are charged," he said.
Dohoney said a combination of cuts, savings, revenue, projected growth and one-time funding sources helped eliminate the $34 million deficit. He said a budget containing only cuts would result in the layoff of 344 city workers.
A slide show provided by the city showed that 802 positions had been cut since 2000.
Dohoney advocated eliminating the property tax rollback promised as part of the deal to build two new sports stadiums in 1996. He said it would bring in about $9 million a year. However council has had little appetite to allow any increase in taxes as the city recovers from the Great Recession. Property taxes make up about 6 percent of the budget fund used to pay most of the city's operating expenses.
The cuts proposed in the 2013 budget include eliminating
support for public access company Media Bridges, the Downtown and
Neighborhood Gateways Program, Juvenile Firesetter Program and Arts
It would also eliminate the Cincinnati Police Department's Mounted Patrol, which covers downtown on horseback. Dohoney said that would allow Cincinnati Police Chief James Craig to redeploy those nine officers elsewhere. Dohoney said Craig had asked for a new recruit class of 50, but Dohoney requested 30. He said the additional nine from the horse patrol would bring that closer to 40.
Dohoney said he was also allowing 10 additional recruits to cover patrols of University Hospital, which is no longer going to use University of Cincinnati police starting Jan. 1.
He said the police department would also look for ways to save money by increasing the involvement of civilian members who could do things like take reports of non-injury car accidents.
Councilwoman Laure Quinlivan asked if the budgeteers had considered restructuring the police force to save money. She has long been a proponent of "right-sizing" the police and fire forces, saying staffing levels remain at a high while the city's population is shrinking.
The proposed budget also includes investments in business groups that promote economic development, like the Port Authority, Greater Cincinnati Partnership, Film Commission and African American Chamber of Commerce.
Councilman Chris Seelbach praised Dohoney and his budget team, saying he saw Cincinnati as being better off than it had been six years ago. But he also said he'd like to see the administration focus on people who are barely getting by instead of businesses and developers.
"There is a focus on helping people make more money that are already making a lot of money," Seelbach said. "Helping people that aren't paying a lot of taxes still pay very little."
Cincinnatians can weigh in on the budget in a public hearing Thursday evening at 6 p.m.
Mitt Romney was criticized for wanting to "kill Big Bird" due to his proposed cuts to publicly funded media, and now City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. could face similar criticism. In his 2013 budget proposal, Dohoney suggested eliminating $300,000 in support to Media Bridges, an organization that provides public access TV and radio stations in Cincinnati.
Tom Bishop, executive director of Media Bridges, called the cuts a "meteor" to his organization's budget. He described dire circumstances in which Ohio originally cut funding to Media Bridges in June 2011, leaving the organization with $198,000 from remaining money in the state fund and $300,000 from Cincinnati's general fund. The state fund was provided by Time Warner Cable, and lobbying from the cable company is what eventually led to the fund's elimination. The end of the Time Warner fund cut Media Bridges' budget by one-third, forcing the organization to change facilities to make ends meet with less space.
With the city manager proposing to cut the city's $300,000 in funding, Media Bridges is essentially losing $498,000 in 2013. Bishop says that's about 85 percent of the organization's budget — a financial gap that would be practically impossible to overcome. "If it's a complete cut, we're looking at liquidation," says Bishop.
When it was notified of the changes a few months ago, Media Bridges gave an alternative plan to the mayor's office that keeps $300,000 in funding every year after a six-month transition period. But even that plan isn't ideal, according to Bishop. It would force Media Bridges to cut four staff members, become more dependent on automation and charge $200 a year for memberships with a sliding scale for low-income members.
Media Bridges will be reaching out to the public, mayor and
council members in the coming weeks to draw support in fighting the cuts.
At the government meetings, Bishop will make the plea that public access outlets are important for low-income families. He says it's true that the Internet and cable television have expanded media options for the public, but, according to the 2010 Greater Cincinnati Survey, more than 40 percent of people in Cincinnati don't have access to broadband. That's a large amount of the population that will be left without a way to easily speak out in media if Media Bridges funding is dissolved.
In a world of saturated media, Bishop rhetorically asked why four TV channels that do a public service would need to be targeted: "Does it seem so ridiculous that the people should have a tiny bit of that bandwidth so that they can communicate with the community, share cultural events, share what's going on in the community and participate politically?"
He added the organization also provides educational access, which allows institutions like the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Public Schools and various private schools to reach out to the community.
Media Bridges also sees the cuts as a bit unfair relative to other budget items. Bishop acknowledges "fiscal times are hard," but he pointed out CitiCable, which broadcasts City Council meetings and other educational services, is getting more than $750,000 in the proposed budget to run one TV channel, while Media Bridges isn't getting $300,000 to run four TV channels and a radio station. He praised CitiCable — "Those guys do a great job over there; they provide a great service" — but he also says the disproportionate cuts are "just not right."
The cuts to Media Bridges are some of many adjustments in the budget proposal by Dohoney. To balance Cincinnati's estimated $34 million deficit, Dohoney suggested pursuing privatizing parking services and other cuts, including the elimination of the Cincinnati Police Department's mounted patrol unit and a $610,770 reduction to human services funding.
Update (Nov. 30, 3:45 p.m.): Meg Olberding, spokesperson for the city manager's office, called back CityBeat after this story was published. She explained Media Bridges was a target for cuts for two reasons: The program was ranked low in importance in public feedback gathered during the priority-driven budget process, and Media Bridges isn't seen as a core city service.
Olberding also said that while some funding does flow through the city to CitiCable, that money has always come from franchise fees from Cincinnati Bell and Time Warner. In the case of Media Bridges, the city was not funding the program until it picked up the tab in 2011. Until that point, Media Bridges was funded through the now-gone Time Warner fund. Only after funding was lost did the city government provide a "one-year reprieve" in the general fund to keep Media Bridges afloat, according to Olberding.
City Council approved an operating budget Thursday that raises taxes and cuts several city services in fiscal year 2014, but the plan avoids laying off cops and firefighters.
Democratic council members Roxanne Qualls, Chris Seelbach, Yvette Simpson, Pam Thomas and Wendell Young supported the budget, and Democrats P.G. Sittenfeld and Laure Quinlivan, independent Chris Smitherman and Republican Charlie Winburn voted in opposition.
As a result of the budget, 67 city employees will lose their jobs.
Human services funding, which goes toward programs that aid the city's homeless and poor, is hit particularly hard with a cut of $515,000 in the final budget plan. The reduced funding leaves about $1.1 million for human services agencies.
Josh Spring, executive director of the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition, says the latest cuts add to what's been a decade of cuts for human services funding. Originally, human services funding made up about 1.5 percent of the city's operating budget. With the latest changes, human services funding makes up about 0.3 percent of the budget.
"The additional cuts are deep and will negatively affect many lives now and in the future," Spring says. "It's important City Council work to reduce these cuts and citizens support that in ensuing months."
The budget also cuts parks funding by $1 million — about $200,000 lower than originally proposed by City Manager Milton Dohoney.
The budget further trims several city services, including the city's health department, law department and recreation department.
Arts funding and subsidies for "heritage" events, such as parades, are completely eliminated.
Funding for several outside agencies is also being reduced or eliminated: the Port Authority, the African-American Chamber of Commerce, the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Center for Closing the Health Gap, the Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance and the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Film Commission.
The budget is partly balanced with higher revenues. The property tax is being hiked from 4.6 mills to 5.7 mills in fiscal year 2014, or about $94 for every $100,000 in property value. Water rates will also increase by 5.5 percent starting in 2014.
The budget also invokes fees for several city services: a $75 fee for accepted Community Reinvestment Area residential tax abatement applications, a $25 late fee for late income tax filers, a $100 fee for fire plan reviews, an unspecified hazardous material cleanup fee, a 50-cent hike for admission into the Krohn Conservatory and an unspecified special events fee for city resources used for special events.
At a council meeting Thursday, Quinlivan, who voted against the budget, criticized other council members for not pursuing changes that would structurally balance the budget.
"I don't believe anybody's going to really address this problem," she said.
Quinlivan has long been an advocate for "rightsizing" the city's police and fire departments, which she says have scaled "out of control."
Seelbach defended the plan, claiming it will keep the city's books balanced while the city government waits for higher revenues from a growing local economy.
Still, the city has not passed a structurally balanced budget since 2001, which critics like Quinlivan say is irresponsible.
The public safety layoffs were avoided despite months
of threats from city officials that cops and firefighters would have to
be laid off if the city didn't semi-privatize its parking assets for $92 million upfront and annual payments afterward. That plan is now held up in court, and public safety layoffs were avoided anyway.
But the layoffs were avoided with steeper cuts in other areas of the budget, including reduced funding for outside agencies and a requirement of 10 furlough days for some city employees and council members. The changes also increased estimates for incoming revenues with $1 million that is supposed to be paid back to the city's tax increment financing fund.
Multiple council members blamed the budget problems on the state government, which has cut local government funding by about 50 percent during Gov. John Kasich's time in office ("Enemy of the State," issue of March 20). For Cincinnati, the cuts resulted in $21 million less for fiscal year 2014, or 60 percent of the $35 million budget gap originally estimated for the year.
Cincinnati City Council today passed its FY 2016-2017 budget, a $1 billion spending plan that hews closely to the one drawn up by Mayor John Cranley and City Manager Harry Black, but with boosted human services funding originally left out of the plan.
The budget boosts police officers and will spend $110 million on road repair and fleet maintenance, big priorities for Cranley. Cranley called the budget "great" today as it passed, saying it is structurally balanced and forward-looking.
But not everyone got what they wanted from the process, and heightened tensions between the mayor and council may have left some hard feelings. Cranley and council have been fighting back and forth during the budget process. This morning, Cranley compared Democratic council members to children on a WLW talk show. Democrats have fired back with their own harsh words.
Despite the political wrangling, the final budget resulted from a deal cut this morning between the mayor and members of council, including council conservatives and Democrat Vice Mayor David Mann. The compromise provided an extra $500,000 in funding for traditional human services vetted by the United Way, an amount above the $2.5 million in the city administration's previous budget proposal.
That brings human services up to the $3 million for United Way-chosen human services organizations council unanimously requested last November, an amount initially left out of Black's budget. The city aims to fund human services at 1.5 of its capital budget, a goal it hasn't hit in a decade. Today's deal brings the city to .8 percent of the capital budget.
But the deal also left the council's five Democrats facing a mayoral veto on other spending priorities: individual ordinances calling for a $400,000 grant to co-op Clifton Market, $150,000 for bike lanes, $24,000 for new bus stops in Bond Hill and more money for community organizations.
"If the trade-off is we don't get bus shelters in Bond Hill or work on
bike trails or public support for Clifton Market I think it is worth the
trade-off," Mann, the Democrat who helped broker the deal, said during today's council meeting.
Those individual ordinances were the result of a move by Cranley to split up Democrats' original omnibus budget counter-proposal. That put the individual pieces at the mercy of Cranley's veto. Each measure received only five votes on council. Six are needed to override a mayoral veto. True to his word, Cranley vetoed all four of the ordinances he took issue with. Cranley says the move increases transparency and keeps extra pork out of the budget. Democrats, however, have accused the mayor of playing politics, noting that the city administration's $375 million operating budget still came in omnibus form. Several, including Democratic Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld, have said that amounts to ignoring the majority of council.
A standoff over Cranley's capital budget and Democrats' unfunded priorities led to speculation that Cincinnati might undergo a partial government shutdown, but today's deal and subsequent vote effectively funds the city's government when the current budget expires June 30.
City Hall was less successful in making a decision about streetcar operations today, however. City Council couldn't agree on either of the two operating bids presented by the Southern Ohio Regional Transit Authority, meaning that SORTA itself will now make the call. That means the agency will probably select the cheaper turnkey solution, in which a management company will be able to hire outside employees instead of using SORTA's union workers. That bid came in at $4 million for the first year of operations, under the city's maximum of $4.2 million. A union-friendly management bid came to $4.7 million. SORTA says it legally cannot enter into a contract for which it does not have funding.
Cincinnati City Council's Budget and Finance Committee today wrangled over the city's upcoming, $1 billion budget, passing the operating portion of that financial plan but leaving a fight over capital spending for another day.
Basic services like police and fire aren't under threat in the budget battle — those are paid for from the city's $375 million operating budget, which council looks poised to pass. But other services could be temporarily shelved and the city could face legal action or state oversight if it doesn't pass a complete budget before its June 30 deadline.
A complex dance for power between council Democrats and Mayor John Cranley has left the capital part of the budget, which funds everything from road improvement to economic development to bike lanes, at an impasse.
The majority coalition of council members say Cranley is trying to block their will, but Cranley says the group is trying to force a shutdown.
"A majority of City Council seems poised to vote down the City's Capital Budget and threaten a government shutdown because members couldn't get their pet projects funded," Cranley said in a harshly-worded statement June 15. "Because some councilmembers were upset that their pet projects weren't included, the City will not be able to repave our roads or replace our aging police cruisers, fire trucks and ambulances."
The five Democratic council members — Yvette Simpson, Chris Seelbach, P.G. Sittenfeld, Wendell Young and David Mann — have prioritized six expenditures in the budget that Cranley opposes. Those priorities were by and large left out of City Manager Harry Black's initial budget, so Democrats drew up their own omnibus budget proposal, which Cranley looked likely to veto wholesale, since he can't line-item veto things. At least, not officially.
Cranley says the budget Democrats on council have presented is structurally unbalanced because it uses one-time sources of money to pay for some of council members' spending priorities.
Cranley takes issue with six spending priorities Democrats on council have promoted, calling them wasteful. Those priorities include $400,000 for Clifton Market, a co-op looking to fill the vacant former Keller's IGA in Clifton, $24,000 for high-tech bus shelters in Bond Hill, $150,000 for repairing and building new bike lanes, an extra $500,000 for the city's human services fund, bringing it up to a level council unanimously voted to fund last year, and extra funds for the health department. Those extra expenditures would be paid for in part by pausing some of the city manager's proposed extensive $100 million in road repairs.
"I cannot support these items and hope that City Council won't either, but I am referring these items as stand-alone ordinances to the Budget Committee so that council will have the opportunity to have an up-or-down vote on all of the City Council requests," Cranley said in a statement this morning. "The people of Cincinnati created a Charter in which six votes are required to overcome a mayoral veto. We should not try to subvert the Charter we took an oath to uphold."
Council Democrats met with Budget and Finance Chairman Charlie Winburn late last week to hammer out a compromise, and it looked as though things would be O.K. In the meantime, however, Cranley moved to have council's budget priorities broken down into 19 individual ordinances, giving him the ability to veto them on what amounts to a line-item basis.
"We worked with his budget chair. We sat down with Charlie Winburn and worked out a budget that his budget chair supported," Young says. "And then we get, 'you're trying to bankrupt the city.' If we're working with Charlie and something Charlie says he supports, and suddenly Cranley's having a hissy fit, we don't even know what it's all about. That's where we are."
Winburn said Cranley didn't take up the compromise budget because he wasn't "in the loop" about it.
Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld called presenting the operational budget as an omnibus document and council's captial budget as a series of ordinances "weird" and "overtly political." Sittenfeld said he felt like a majority of council's wishes were being disregarded by the move.
"Treating different items so differently raises suspicion I think for any member of the public," Sittenfeld said. "I don't see why funding for the health department or human services or Clifton Market would be separate. Some things are protected behind the veil of an omnibus, and some things aren't. I'd say put it all together, and if the city administration or the mayor doesn't want to do that, it's kind of on them whether or not they want to shut down the city government."
The maneuvering has caused the current impasse as the four Democrats in today's budget and finance committee meeting balked at voting for the administration's capital budget. That raised alarms from council conservatives, including Charlie Winburn and Christopher Smitherman, who both cautioned against going down the road toward "a government shutdown."
That language echoes statements Cranley made in a news conference this morning when he accused council Democrats of attempting to shut down city government over their priorities and compared them to Republicans in Congress. Councilmembers Yvette Simpson and Wendell Young shot back.
"I defy anybody to look at the budget we've proposed and see how that shuts the city down," Young said. "That's just not what we're trying to do. I'm really offended that he'd even say that about us."
"The concern that we as members of council have is that a budget was prepared by the city manager, and then the mayor had the opportunity to weigh in on it, and then it got to us," Simpson said. "It's our turn as policy makers to say, 'here's where we would make adjustments.' "
Council was scheduled to vote on the budget June 17, but it's unclear whether it will pass at that meeting. The city has until June 30 to pass a budget. If it does not, Cincinnati's city government could be subject to legal action, or even state oversight, as it is required by state law to have a full budget passed. The city's current budget expires July 1.
Mayor John Cranley could dismantle a deal that would produce a grocery store, 300 luxury apartments and a new parking garage downtown. Cranley says he doesn't want millions put toward the deal, even though the developer involved plans to invest another $60 million. Councilman Chris Seelbach says the deal isn't dead just because of the mayor's opposition, and City Council could act to bypass the mayor, just like the legislative body did with the streetcar project and responsible bidder. To Seelbach, the deal is necessary to bring much-needed residential space and an accessible grocery store downtown.
Cincinnati officials and startup executives will try to bring Google Fiber, which provides Internet speeds 100 times faster than normal broadband, to Cincinnati. Google plans to hold a national competition to see which cities are most deserving of its fiber services. "Over the last several years, Cincinnati's innovation ecosystem has made tremendous strides," Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld said in a statement. "We're increasingly becoming a magnet for talented entrepreneurs across the country who want to come here to bring their big ideas to life. We need to ensure that we have the modern technological infrastructure to make Cincinnati nationally competitive."
Cincinnati's operating budget gap for fiscal 2015 now stands at $22 million, up from an earlier forecast of $18.5 million, largely because of extra spending on police pushed by Cranley and a majority of City Council. The city must balance its operating budget each year, which means the large gap will likely lead to layoffs and service cuts.
Commentary: "Budget Promises Spur Fears of Cuts."
Cranley won't re-appoint the chair of Cincinnati's Board of Health. When asked why, Chairwoman Joyce Kinley told City Council's Budget and Finance Committee that Cranley told her "he had to fulfill a campaign promise." Some city officials say they worry Cranley is putting politics over the city's needs.
Troubled restaurant Mahogany's needs to pay back rent or move out, The Banks' landlord declared Monday. The deciding moment for Mahogany's comes after months of struggles, which restaurant owner Liz Rogers blames on the slow development of the riverfront.
Kathy Wilson: "Mahogany's: Turn Out the Lights."
Cincinnati's Horseshoe Casino supports 1,700 workers, making it the largest of Ohio's four voter-approved casinos.
At least one airline, Allegiant Air, plans to add flights from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
Headline: "Man wakes up in body bag at funeral home."
"A 30,000-year-old giant virus has been revived from the frozen Siberian tundra," the Los Angeles Times reports.
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About 1 in 20 Cincinnatians, many of them in the wealthiest neighborhoods, pay less in taxes because their home renovations and constructions are subsidized by a local tax program. While the program benefits the wealthy, it also hits Cincinnati Public Schools and other local services through lost revenue. The tax abatement program aims to keep and attract residents and businesses by lowering the costs of moving and living in Cincinnati. Anastasia Mileham, spokeswoman for 3CDC, says the tax abatements helped revitalize Over-the-Rhine, for example. Others say the government is picking winners and losers and the abatement qualifications should be narrowed.
With hotel room bookings back to pre-recession levels, Source Cincinnati aims to sell Cincinnati's offerings in arts, health care, entrepreneurism and anything else to attract new businesses and residents. The Cincinnati USA Convention and Visitors Bureau established the organization to reach out to national journalists and continue the local economic momentum built up in the past few years. "Successful cities are those that have good reputations," Julie Calvert, interim executive director at Source Cincinnati, told The Cincinnati Enquirer. "Without reputation it's difficult to get businesses to expand or relocate or get more conventions or draw young diverse talent to work for companies based here."
The harsh winter weather this year pushed Cincinnati's budget $5 million over, with nearly $3 million spent on salt, sand and chemicals alone. . The rest of the costs come through increased snow plowing shifts and other expenses to try to keep the roads clean. The extra costs just compound the city's structurally imbalanced budget problems. The need for more road salt also comes despite Councilman Charlie Winburn's attempts to undermine the city's plans to stockpile and buy salt when it's cheap.
Mayor John Cranley says the success of The Incline Public House in East Price Hill, which he helped develop, speaks to the pent-up demand for similar local businesses in neglected Cincinnati neighborhoods.
Less than a month remains to sign up for health insurance plans on HealthCare.gov.
The estimated 24,000 students who drop out of Ohio schools each year might cost themselves and the public hundreds of millions a year, according to the Alliance for Excellent Education.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine says meth abuse has reached "epidemic" levels in the state.
Ohio gas prices continued to rise this week.
Developers say they have funding for the first phase of a Noah's Ark replica coming to Williamstown, Ky.
There's a Netflix hack that pauses a movie or TV show when the viewer falls asleep.
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Bill Moller is a city retiree who will be eligible to "double dip" into his pension and a city salary ($147,000 a year) when the city rehires him in February to fill an opening for assistant city manager, city spokesperson Meg Olberding confirmed in an email to CityBeat. Whether he does is entirely up to the interim city manager, Olberding wrote.
The possibility could draw criticism from city officials looking to balance Cincinnati's structurally imbalanced operating budget. Last year, City Council drew opposition for its decision to hire Streetcar Project Executive John Deatrick and allow him to double dip on his pension and a city salary.
Update: Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld said on Twitter that City Council will discuss the personnel changes at Wednesday's full council meeting, instead of a special session on Thursday as originally planned.
Moller will eventually replace Assistant City Manager David Holmes, who helped oversee efforts for The Banks and 2012 World Choir Games and filed to retire on April 1, Interim City Manager Scott Stiles wrote in a memo to City Council and the mayor.
"At this point in time, Cincinnati needs not only someone who is proficient in all aspects of municipal finance, but in the aspects of the city of Cincinnati's finances in particular. Mr. Moller has that experience," Stiles wrote, noting Moller's budget and finance experience in Cincinnati, Hamilton and Covington.
City Solicitor John Curp will also leave his current position to instead act as chief counsel for the city's two utilities, the Metropolitan Sewer District and Water Works.
"The utility has been undergoing a merger of back office functions to save ratepayers money, and also has been expanding services and service areas to decrease costs," Stiles wrote. "John (Curp) has the private sector experience to assist the utilities with a market-oriented approach, and is uniquely positioned to understand both the particulars of MSD and GCWW as well as the areas in which they can expand."
The move should save ratepayers money by allowing both utilities to rely on Curp instead of outside legal counsel when legal issues arise, according to Stiles.
Although widely praised by city officials, Curp's move is unsurprising given the politics surrounding Mayor John Cranley's election. Curp offered legal guidance for the parking privatization plan and streetcar project, both of which Cranley opposes.
Terrence Nestor, currently the city's chief litigator, will replace Curp as city solicitor until a permanent appointment is made.
Stiles announced other changes as well:
• Markiea Carter, currently a development officer, will move to the city manager's office to act as assistant to the city manager.
• Karen Alder, currently risk manager for the city, will begin assisting Finance Director Reginald Zeno as the city's deputy finance director.
Stiles is currently filling as interim city manager while the city conducts a nationwide search for a permanent replacement to former City Manager Milton Dohoney. Stiles could apply for the permanent role, but his application would need City Council support to win out over other potential candidates.
The city expects the city manager search to last through June, at which point further administrative changes could be expected if the city hires a new permanent city manager.
Councilman Charlie Winburn, City Council's new budget and finance chair, suggested selling the Cincinnati Southern Railroad to help pay for the city's $870 million unfunded pension liability. But other city officials, including Mayor John Cranley, Councilman Chris Seelbach and Councilwoman Amy Murray, voiced doubts about the idea, saying it would cost the city annual revenue when there are other options for fixing the pension problem. Meanwhile, the city and state's retirement boards appear to be looking into what it would take to merge Cincinnati's pension system into the state system, although that solution could face political and legal hurdles.
A new report from The Imagine Foundation found sex trafficking in the Cincinnati area follows the region's spine on I-75 from Florency, Ky., to Sharonville, I-275 through Springfield and Fairfield and I-74 to Batesville, Ind. "This is real," foundation Executive Director Jesse Bach told The Cincinnati Enquirer. "There are women and girls who are being bought and sold for sex in the Cincinnati area. The average person needs to take responsibility for what they might see. To use a sports adage, the average citizen has to be willing to say, 'Not in our house.' "Gov. John Kasich and other state officials yesterday launched a public awareness campaign to combat human trafficking in Ohio at HumanTrafficking.Ohio.gov. "We may not want to admit it — it's almost too horrific to imagine — but the fact is that human trafficking is real and is happening across Ohio. Over the past two years we've improved our laws to fight trafficking and begin getting victims the help they need, but we must do more," Kasich said in a statement.
In light of the public awareness campaign, some activists say human trafficking should be addressed by going after the source of demand: men.
The head of the Ohio Department of Youth Services told a federal panel that his agency responded quickly and aggressively to reports of high sexual assault rates at the state's juvenile-detention facilities. A June report found three of Ohio's facilities had sexual assault rates of 19 percent or above, with the Circleville Juvenile Correctional Facility estimated at 30.3 percent — the second highest rate in the nation. Since the report, the agency increased training, hired a full-time employee devoted to the Prison Rape Elimination Act and installed a tip line for prisoners, their families and staffers, according to Director Harvey Reed.
A northern Kentucky man was the first flu death of the season, prompting some tips from the Northern Kentucky Health Department.
Some national Democrats see Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld as a potential congressional candidate in 2022, assuming the next round of redistricting makes the First Congressional District more competitive for Democrats. The district used to be fairly moderate, but state Republicans redrew it to include Republican stronghold Warren County in the last round of redistricting.
Billions of health-care dollars helped sustain Cincinnati's economy during the latest economic downturn, a new study found.
Downtown traffic came to a crawl this morning after burst pipes sent water gushing out of the former Terrace Plaza Hotel.
The U.S. economy added a measly 74,000 jobs in December in a particularly weak end to 2013.Dayton Daily News: "Five things you need to know about butt selfies."
If the law catches up, robot ships could soon become reality.
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A federal judge halted a controversial election law that limited minor political parties' access to the ballot and ruled that the state must allow minor parties to participate in the primary and general elections in 2014. But by merely agreeing that only the retroactive restrictions for 2014 are too burdensome for minor parties, the judge left room to keep the law intact for elections in 2015 and beyond. Still, the ruling comes as a major victory for the Libertarian Party of Ohio and other minor parties who took to calling the Republican-backed law the "John Kasich Re-election Protection Act" because it conveniently limited minor parties that are upset with Republican Gov. John Kasich's support for the Obamacare-funded Medicaid expansion.
Ohio Sen. Rob Portman broke with most of his fellow Republicans yesterday to help advance federal legislation that would extend emergency benefits for the long-term unemployed. Still, he hinted that he would not support the three-month extension if the $6.4 billion cost isn't covered by federal spending cuts elsewhere. Without the extension, 128,600 Ohioans could lose unemployment benefits through 2014 even as the state economy shows signs of weakening.Cincinnati Budget Director Lea Eriksen yesterday confirmed she is leaving her high-level city job to take the same job in Long Beach, Calif. Peggy Sandman will fill in for Eriksen while a search for a permanent replacement is held. Eriksen's announcement comes as a blow to the city but little surprise to political watchers. Shortly before taking office, Mayor John Cranley called Eriksen and other administration officials "incompetent" because of how they handled the $132.8 million streetcar project, even though their estimates for cancellation costs turned out to be mostly on point.
Newsflash: Global warming didn't stop just because we're cold now.The worst of the deep freeze should be over for Ohio.
Cincinnati's 2013 homicide rate of 25 per 100,000 residents compares to Cleveland at 22, Indianapolis at 14.85, Columbus at 11.24 and Louisville at 8.43.An Ohio appeals court ruled Cincinnati can change medical benefits for retirees after all.
Construction for the uptown interchange could begin in July and finish in late 2016.The city announced yesterday that it's extending its Winter Holiday Trash Amnesty through Jan. 17, which means residents have until then to set out extra trash next to their city-provided trash carts.
Gov. Kasich is asking parents to tell their children about the dangers of drug abuse, as the state works to combat problems with prescription painkillers and heroin.A Fairfield, Ohio, teacher who was fired for allegedly telling a black student, "We don't need another black president," will fight for his job.
Dozens of inmates at the Lebanon Correctional Honor Camp endured frigid conditions Monday evening after one of three furnaces broke, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.A Cincinnati-area medical device firm is in a race with some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world to get a painless drug injector on the market.
People are stealing English ferrets used to hunt rabbits.
A survey of brown dwarfs found they're racked by planet-sized storms of molten iron.
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If it were not for Republican-approved cuts to state aid for local governments, Cincinnati might not face an operating budget gap in 2015. The city has lost roughly $26 million in annual state aid since 2010, according to city officials, while the budget gap for 2015 is estimated at nearly $21 million. The reduction in state aid helps explain why Cincinnati continues dealing with budget gaps after years of council-approved spending cuts and tax hikes. Still, some council members argue Democratic council members should stop blaming Republican Gov. John Kasich and the Republican-controlled Ohio legislature for the city's problems and face the reality of reduced revenues.
Heads of the Cincinnati Police Department yesterday explained the local increase in homicides to City Council's Law and Public Safety Committee. Police officials said gang-related activity, particularly activity related to the Mexican drug cartel that controls the heroin trade, is to blame for the spike in crime in Over-the-Rhine, downtown and the west side of Cincinnati. In particular, it appears disruptions in criminal organizations and their territories led to turf wars and other violent acts. Police also cautioned, "Most of the homicides are personal crimes between two known victims. Very rarely are they random in nature."
The Democratic primary election for governor heated up yesterday after Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune called Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald's commitment to blacks "appalling" in an email obtained by The Cincinnati Enquirer. Prominent Democrats at the state and local level responded to the criticisms as more evidence Portune shouldn't continue to run and threaten Democrats' chances of a clean gubernatorial campaign. Portune announced his intention to run last week, despite calls from top Democrats to stay out of the race.
Cold weather led many area schools to close for another day. For developing weather information, follow #cincywx on Twitter.
The weather also slowed down streetcar construction.
Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld: "Five Lessons From Cincinnati's Little Engine That Could."
The Cincinnati Board of Education chose its veteran members to head the school board in 2014.
Cincinnati-based Citigroup, Procter & Gamble, General Electric, Humana and U.S. Bank gained perfect scores in the Human Rights Campaign's index for gay-friendly companies.
About 34 percent of Ohio third-graders could be held back if they do not improve their scores on the state's reading assessments. The chairs of the Ohio House and Senate's education committees argue the aggressive approach is necessary to improve the state's education outcomes. But the National Association of School Psychologists found grade retention has "deleterious long-term effects" both academically and socially.
Kentucky is spending $32 million for substance abuse treatment to tackle the heroin epidemic.
Ohio Democrats named a new executive director for the state party: Liz Walters. The Silver Lake, Ohio, native began her political career with the Girl Scouts when she worked for the organization as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C.
Typically allies on other issues, liberals and the scientific community disagree on genetically modified crops.
A pill normally taken as a mood stabilizer could help people acquire perfect pitch.
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Cincinnati might not be facing an operating budget gap in 2015 if it were not for Republican-approved cuts to state aid for local governments.
Following cuts approved by Republican Gov. John Kasich and the Republican-controlled Ohio legislature, Cincinnati officials estimate the city is getting $26 million less in state funding in 2015 than the city did in 2010.
At the same time, the city is facing a $21 million operating budget gap in 2015.
The reduction in state aid helps explain why the local budget gap remains after several years of council-approved spending cuts and tax hikes.
"It sounds like the city is doing a good job," said Democratic Councilman Chris Seelbach at Monday's Budget and Finance Committee meeting. "Where we're seeing these obstacles is these outside sources."
Independent Councilman Christopher Smitherman countered that the cuts to the local government fund and the elimination of the estate tax, both of which drove the reduction in state aid, have been known since 2011 and 2012.
"Public policy makers have, in my opinion, continued to make decisions as if those public policy decisions from the governor's chair or from the state … weren't in play," Smitherman said. "This is not new information."
Republican Councilman Charlie Winburn agreed. He said it's time to stop blaming the governor for the city's problems and face the reality of reduced revenues.
Still, Winburn acknowledged he would be willing to meet with state officials to bring more revenue back to Cincinnati.
"Maybe Republicans will be willing to meet with a Republican like me and see if we can bring some money back to Cincinnati," Winburn said.
Republicans at the state level passed cuts to the local government fund as a way to balance the 2012-2013 budget, which faced a projected gap of nearly $8 billion in 2011. They then approved the elimination of the estate tax — often labeled the "death tax" by opponents — in 2012.
But with Ohio's economy slowly recovering from the Great Recession, the state budget looks to be in much better shape. The 2012-2013 budget ended with a $2 billion surplus because of higher-than-expected revenues.
Ohio Democrats point to the surplus as evidence the Republican-controlled state government could undo the $1 billion in cuts to local government funding. They argue the cuts have hurt local governments and forced cities to slash basic services, including public safety.


text:
Hobbit sketchbook 6 by SceithAilmWatch
©2014-2016 SceithAilm
I will have war!
Great work!
This is beautiful, simply stunning! The details, oh my GOD, the details...wonderful work!
looks good!
Brilliant, I love your interpretations of the characters in The Hobbit
Great detail!
Wow, love the detail!
That's super.
So beautiful!
great job!
Gorgeous Thorin, wow.
Absolutely fantastic, of course. I do so love your work.
Fantastic shading! I adore the headgear in the upper left one, too.
Oh I love the shading on this drawing. The expression is wonderful too. I also love your attention to detail. Amazing drawing, thank you for sharing. Impressed to say the least.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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Marc Gordon Keynote Presentation
The Common Credentials Dilemma
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Using Analytics to Thrive in the New Reality
The Role of the CIO at ING DIRECT Canada


text:
Skull & Crossbones Red and Black Striped Beanie
(approx. $5.86 or €5.21)
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text:
Tuesday, May 07, 2013
9 Comments | Copyright: IANS
Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor, who will be seen dancing some Indian moves in her next film "Raanjhnaa", says that she wants to do a full fledged Indian dance number in one of her films soon.
"I guess our films lack good Indian dances. I want to do a Indian dance soon in one of my films," the 27-year-old told IANS.
Sonam also says that she hardly gets to see Indian dances in Bollywood films and the last one which she liked was Deepika Padukone's performance in "Om Shanti Om" and Katrina Kaif in the song "Chikni chameli".
"The last one which I liked was Deepika's dance in 'Om shanti Om' and Katrina in 'Chikni Chameli' song was also amazing...there is nothing which I remember after that," she said.
Talking about her background in dancing, Sonam said she is a trained classical dancer and has been studying dance for a while now.
"I started studying classical dance when I was four-year-old. I have been studying it for a while," she said.
Sonam has been busy shooting films for the last couple of years and has not been able to practice her dance. She hopes that she will get the chance to use her dance training someday in her work.
"I want to do Indian dance in films. I have not been dancing at all for the last three- four years as I have been working so much. But I love dancing and hopefully I will be able to start working for it again," said Kapoor who has been a part of films like "Aisha", "Delhi-6", "Mausam" among others.
I was a Mukherjee but longed to be part of cinema industry: Ayan
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Snapchat is slowly starting to gain traction in Bollywood as well.
Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan and veteran British actor Ian McKellen ...
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I am working on porting an application to 64-bit on Linux platform. The application is currently supported on Linux, Windows, Mac 32-bit and Windows 64-bit. One of the issues we are frequently encountering is the usage of long for int and vice versa. This wasn't a problem till now since long and int are interchangeable (both are 4 bytes) in the platforms the application is currently supported on. The codebase being a huge one, with lots of legacy code with #defines for many data types, makes it cumbersome to search all usage of long and replace appropriately with int.
- As a short term solution, is there a way to make GCC use 4 bytes instead of 8 for 'long'?
- If it has, what are issues that we might face? If not, is there an easier way to fix the long and int problem?


text:
Centre-back Cahill has been struck down by a virus ahead of the trip to the Riverside, while right-back Azpilicueta is sidelined with discomfort in his leg.
Interim manager Rafael Benitez plans to rotate his squad in a bid to deal with the busy fixture list, meaning captain John Terry may be rested. Long-term absentee Oriol Romeu continues to miss out with a knee injury.
- Soccer
- Sports & Recreation
- Rafael Benitez


text:
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NYC's Shakespeare in the Park
New York City's FREE beloved summertime tradition at Central Park's Delacorte Theater is back for another exciting season.
Shakespeare in the Park 2015 Season
: performance schedule, details, and FAQs for
The Tempest
Central Park History and Attractions
including Central Park sightseeing tours, horse drawn carriage rides, bicycle tours, and Central Park movie sites tours
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including hotel accommodations and Central Park sightseeing tours
Shakespeare in the Park 2015 Season Performances (stay tuned for details on Shakespeare in the Park 2016 Season)
The Tempest
May 27-July 5, 2015
Directed by Michael Greif
Academy Award nominee Sam Waterston (
Newsroom, Law & Order, The Public's King Lear
) returns in
, Shakespeare's classic about young love, old enemies and the eternal magic of storytelling. Exiled to a fantastical island, Prospero unleashes a churning storm to shipwreck the traitor brother who stole his throne and settle the score once and for all. But bitter revenge is upended by newfound love in this sublime masterpiece that proves we are all "such stuff as dreams are made on." Tony Award nominee Michael Greif (
Romeo and Juliet, Our Lady of Kibeho, If/Then, Next to Normal
) directs.
July 27-August 23, 2015
Directed by Daniel Sullivan
In the Shakespearean fairytale CYMBELINE, Princess Imogen's fidelity is put to the royal test when her disapproving father banishes her soul mate. Cross-dressing girls and cross-dressing boys, poisons and swordfights and dastardly villains all take the stage in this enchanting romp about the conquering power of love.
Tickets to Shakespeare in the Park are Free!
Free tickets to the 2015 season will once again be distributed in the Park, online via the Virtual Ticketing lottery, and in the five boroughs of New York City. More details will be available in the coming months.
Become a Summer Supporter today and help keep the tradition of Free Shakespeare in the Park alive. Your generosity will make it possible for us to continue distributing thousands of free tickets year after year. In thanks for your contribution, you will receive reserved seating for Shakespeare in the Park, as well as discount tickets to other Public Theater productions throughout the season!
Support free Shakespeare in the Park. Call 212-967-7555 to make a contribution today!
More information at:
Frequently Asked Questions About Shakespeare in the Park:
What is Shakespeare in the Park?
Shakespeare in the Park is The Public Theater's annual season of free plays at the Delacorte Theater in New York City's Central Park.
Where is Shakespeare in the Park?
Shakespeare in the Park takes place at t
he Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Enter at 81st Street and Central Park West or at 79th Street and Fifth Avenue.
What plays are being performed at Shakespeare in the Park this year?
This year, Shakespeare in the Park will feature
The Tempest
What is the schedule of the two Shakespeare in the Park productions this summer?
The Tempest
May 27-July 5, 2015
July 27-August 23, 2015
How many tickets can I get by waiting in line?
Each person waiting in line can receive up to two tickets, subject to availability.
Why are the lines for Shakespeare in the Park so long?
Over 100,000 free tickets are made available to Shakespeare in the Park each summer. While we do our best to accommodate everyone who would like to attend a performance, the demand for tickets is always greater than the number of seats we have available. We appreciate your patience and are working very hard to ensure that the process remains as smooth and equitable as possible.
Why can't I be in the Park before 6am?
Central Park is closed between the hours of 1am and 6am. NYPD will patrol the Delacorte area and issue summons to anyone in the Park before its official open time. If you choose to line up before 6am, please do so along the east side of Central Park West starting at 81st Street. A Public Theater line monitor will escort the line in at 6am. The Public Theater neither suggests nor condones lining up before the park opens at 6am.
Can I reserve seats to Shakespeare in the Park in advance?
In gratitude of their generosity, we are able to offer our Partners reserved seats to Shakespeare in the Park.
Are there group tickets to Shakespeare in the Park?
Free tickets to Shakespeare in the Park are not available for group reservations. If you would like to attend a performance as a group, the group can wait in the line at the Delacorte Theater.
What happens if it rains?
In the event of rain, the start of the performance may be delayed. However, the production will be performed if and when it is possible to do so. If a performance is canceled due to rain or any other reason, tickets obtained via the line at the Delacorte Theater or through Virtual Ticketing are not valid for re-issue or exchange.
What time do performances begin?
All performances begin at 8pm.
Are there any separate policies for senior citizens or people with disabilities?
There are separate ticket lines at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park for senior citizens and for people with disabilities. In addition, there are separate daily drawings for senior citizens and people with disabilities in our Virtual Ticketing system.
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text:
Enchantment Overload
|Successfully enchant one item 10 times
In the main town there is an enchanter. He has a staff icon above his head and is on the right side in the middle of the area. Interact with him and you'll see a price to the left in yellow. You can enchant various items and that yellow number is how much gold it will cost you. If you look below, it shows a disenchant chance. That percent is showing you the chance it has to fail. This achievement will have you enchanting the same item 10 times. It does not have to be in a row, you can just spam until you receive the achievement. Afterwards, dashboard so you get all of your money back. It would be a good idea to have around 25,000 gold or more at minimum when attempting this. Pick the cheapest item as well. You can also feel free to dashboard on failure. Just enchant a few times, then go through a portal, come back, enchant more and if you fail just dashboard. Every time you go through a portal your game will save. This way you can have a really good item.
There are also a couple Enchantment Shrines in the game. They do not cost anything but are extremely rare. They look like the Health or Mana Shrines, except they are yellow.
|Rate this achievement
|Average Rating (Based on 3 votes)
|You need to register before being able to post comments.
Runic Games
Microsoft Studios
March 09, 2011
|HDD Space Required : 196.64 MB
|Backward compatible on Xbox One: Yes
|Price: $14.99USD
|You need to log in or register to use MyAchievements.
|You need to log in or register to rate games.
User Score is based on 317 user ratings.


text:
Aberdeen Caledonian Thistle Celtic Dundee Dundee United Hamilton Academical Hearts Kilmarnock Motherwell Ross County St Johnstone
Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Brentford Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol City Burnley Cardiff City Charlton Athletic Derby County Fulham Huddersfield Town Hull City Ipswich Town Leeds United Middlesbrough MK Dons Nottingham Forest Preston North End Queens Park Rangers Reading Rotherham United Sheffield Wednesday Wolverhampton
Liverpool ace Lucas hails fellow samba star Philippe Coutinho
LIVERPOOL new-boy Philippe Coutinho is on course to become the Kop's new samba star after an impressive full debut.
Every young player that comes to the Premier League finds it difficult when they first come and it is going to be the same for him. But we have already seen a lot of positive things from him.
And Lucas has nothing but praise for the way in which the 20-year-old attacking midfielder has settled in following his £8.5m January move from Inter Milan.
Coutinho scored against Swansea and Lucas said: "We could see good things from him. He will be a great player.
"He will need time to settle in but scoring that goal will give him confidence. He is still adapting.
"I've been talking to him about the pace of the Premier League. Even in training, he can feel it is much quicker than Italy."
Coutinho found first-team chances scarce at Inter Milan, playing just 21 senior games in three years.
He moved to Espanyol on loan this season, playing 16 times before the move to Liverpool.
Lucas said: "At Inter, he didn't get the opportunities he thought he would get. Here this is a new challenge for him.
"He has settled very well and it will help him that there are a few South American players here.
"But he will definitely need time. Every young player that comes to the Premier League finds it difficult when they first come and it is going to be the same for him.
"But we have already seen a lot of positive things from him."
Lucas, believes the emphatic victory over Swansea will give Liverpool a lift for their Europa League second leg with Zenit St Petersburg on Thursday.
The Reds are trailing 2-0 from last week's first leg – a result that came just three days after a shock home Premier League defeat at the hands of West Brom.
Lucas said: "We started last week thinking it could be very good for us but we had the defeats against West Brom and then in the Europa League.
"But we finished it well, scoring five goals and having a clean sheet. We know that we need to improve a lot.
"It just gives us a bit of confidence to go into Thursday, so we can try to get through. The way we played in Zenit, we created a lot of chances.
"If we can take those chances, we will have an opportunity."


text:
The divergent set of reporting numbers and varied commentary by industry players has only puzzled many on the current status of the Indian IT sector, with some outperforming the market, while others not meeting the expectations. At the end of the July-September quarter results for FY13, TCS and HCL Technologies continued with their strong performance registered during the first quarter, while Infosys remained cautious as before, dampening the sentiment of the market
Though it is still early to say whether the second quarter numbers offer a glimpse into things to come in terms of separation among the top four Indian companies but some signs are very visible. TCS, Indias largest IT service exporter is certainly racing away from the pack with its revenues more than $3 billion from its nearest competitor Infosys.
After the quarterly results of Infosys, Partha Iyengar, head of researchGartner, India said, Infosys continues its relatively weak and underperforming trend and year-end outlook, with the view that the market continues to be weak. It will be interesting to see what the other providers results are in the coming few days, but it is likely that the trend of performance gaps widening between various Indian service providers will continue this quarter as well and could be a trend for quite a few quarters to come.
In an economic environment, which is not upbeat and signs of recovery still being very weak, the response of the large Indian IT companies has been very divergent. Added to this the three-month period from June to September is traditionally understood as a strong quarter and hopes were raised of a better performance from the top tier Indian companies.
TCS has always maintained the stance that the overall outsourcing and offshoring environment has remained stable with no cause to panic. But on the other end, Infosys has consistently maintained the stand that the global economic environment still remains volatile with full recovery nowhere in sight. HCL Technologies in its commentary is finding opportunities in the unstable economic environment with the ability to poach on the many IT deals which are coming up for renewal.
The performance and responses of these Indian IT companies has partly to do with the internal structure of these organisations. TCS has represented a very stable management with the ability to proactively respond to the current economic situation and the confidence level has kept growing.
Infosys still seems to be grappling


text:
- BoliviaArtsFunding via Emprender
Maria RitaBoliviaClothingFunding via CIDRE
ConcepcionBoliviaClothingFunding via CIDRE
16 De Abril Group
Constancia says that this is her first time being part of an association. For some years now she has had a business selling crafts, a trade that she learned from her brother-in-law. The loan this cycle is to increase her merchandise by purchasing wool in the city of El Alto and later selling it in her stall. This form of work allows her to support her family - she is single and has 7 children.
She asked what she likes about Pro Mujer, she says that she likes the meetings.
La señora Constancia, indica que es la primera ves que conforma una asociación y que en la actualidad ella cuenta con un negocio de venta de artesanías que viene trabajando hace años, aprendiendo el mismo de su cuñado. El crédito de este ciclo es para ampliación de su mercadería (compra de lana) que adquiere de la ciudad de El Alto y posteriormente lo comercializará en su puesto fijo. Esta forma de trabajo le permite apoyar a su familia pues ella es soltera y tiene siete hijos.
Cuando se le consulta qué le gusta de Pro Mujer, ella responde que le gusta las reuniones.
Additional Information
This is a Group Loan
In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a larger group of individuals. The group is there to provide support to the members and to provide a system of peer pressure, but groups may or may not be formally bound by a group guarantee. In cases where there is a group guarantee, members of the group are responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members in the case of delinquency or default.
Kiva's Field Partners typically feature one borrower from a group. The loan description, sector, and other attributes for a group loan profile are determined by the featured borrower's loan. The other members of the group are not required to use their loans for the same purpose.
About Bolivia
126View loans »
Success!! The loan was 100% repaid
- Repayment Term
- 7 months (Additional Information)
- Repayment Schedule
- Monthly
- Pre-Disbursed:
- Mar 6, 2012
- Listed
- Mar 24, 2012
- Currency Exchange Loss:
- Covered
- Ended:
- Sep 15, 2012


text: Hey! Come on, someone help me out here. I am completely clueless what should be done. Either there is something wrong with the Apple remote I am having or the problem is lying within my laptop. I have a macbook pro running mac os x 10.7.3 version, on this laptop I have tried my best to connect and pair it with the apple TV remote that I have at my place. The reason I am trying to pair the macbook with the remote is because many a times I have seen my Apple TV remote keeps on contradicting and messing up with the laptop that I have. So therefore I believe that if I try to pair my laptop with its own remote then at least the problem will somewhat improve. As far as I know there is nothing wrong with the remote as I have checked all its keys working well and fine without any issue. Now its everything on you people about how you suggest me or help me in pairing the remote to the macbook pro laptop. I would expect at least one single better answer for my question.