Andrew Warner

The Enquirer has reported Justin Boyer, the Ohio leader of the American National Socialist Workers party has announced that Cincinnati has granted a permit for the Nazi group to protest on April 20 in Over-the-Rhine. Boyer states that the purpose of the protest is, "To make the Over-the-Rhine ghetto safe for regular foot traffic by white people." Boyer hopes that a few uniformed members will attend and that smaller numbers will increase the nazi group's glory. The group protested in Toledo last October. The mayor of Toledo holds the nazi group responsible for the riots that broke out there with a counter protest group.

This will undoubtedly alarm many in Cincinnati who can easily remember the April 2001 riots. As someone who lived in Cincinnati at the time I saw the immediate and long term problems that resulted from the riots. Part of the reason Over-the-Rhine is so dangerous is because of the riots. Most people would love to see a safe Over-the-Rhine not for the "foot traffic by white people" but, for the people who live there. A revitalized Over-the-Rhine would be great for the city's economy and culture as well. The nazis are not going to be the group to bring safety to the city and, many will be really pissed off about their protest and, some will counter protest.

The First Amendment is a wonderful thing. It allows dialogue and change. Even though the protest will be inflammatory and racist, good could come of it. The City of Cincinnati needs to take this opportunity to show that violence does not have to break out. I think it would be a great showing for the city if the protest went on and nothing happened. It would give Cincinnatians confidence in the police department and city government if the protest went on without the violence and riots that happened in Toledo. If the protest goes on and there isn't an outbreak of violence maybe Cincinnati is capable of being safe.

Labels: Cincinnati, Downtown

Posted by Sam W. at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments

I'm on the verge of graduation and it's too late for me, but Metro and the University of Cincinnati are finally doing the right thing: Giving free rides to UC students.

This is one of the best ways to reduce traffic and move UC's thousands of students to areas of the city that could benefit from our disposable income.

Believe it or not, though, a lot of UC students are scared of the bus. It came up in a class last quarter and several students said they would never step foot on a Metro bus. Hopefully they'll get over that suburban fear quickly. Once they ride it to school a couple times, or downtown for a Reds game, I imagine they will.

Labels: Cincinnati, Downtown, UC

Posted by Andrew Warner at 7:32 AM | Permalink | Comments

The marijuana ordinance that does nothing but clog jails and waste police officers time is up for renewal. Luckily, being a concerned citizen who knows a stupid law when you see one, there is an easy link set up so that you can tell council how silly this law is.

Let 'em hear it.

Labels: Cincinnati, Downtown, Social Justice

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments

Yesterday marked the four-year anniversary of the Iraq War and, appropriately, war critics gathered to protest at Fountain Square.

The Enquirer, as expected, was there to cover the event. At least that's what you'd expect from a major newspaper like the Enquirer. But some how, Quan Truong and Howard Wilkinson ended up writing a story about Iraq War supporters instead of simply covering the event that they should have been assigned to cover.

Interesting.

Truong and Wilkinson should be familiar with the industry-standard "inverted pyramid" style of writing. For those who don't know, the "inverted pyramid" is a style of writing based on the assumption that people are only going to read the first couple of paragraphs (if not only the first paragraph) of a news story. Therefore, editors and teachers make you cram all of the key information into the lead and the next couple of paragraphs.

So why does the beginning of a local war protest story look like this?

The fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq was marked Monday with protest and prayer, and thoughts for local families of soldiers killed.

John Prazynski of Hamilton is one. In May, it will have been two years since his 20-year-old son, Lance Cpl. Taylor Prazynski, died.

As painful as that loss was, he supports the war that took the young Marine he was proud to call his son.

"When somebody comes up to me and wants to give me all the reasons why we shouldn't be there and why we should get out now, the first question I ask them is if they are getting all their information from the newspapers and the TV," said Prazynski. "If they say yes, I tell them to go talk to somebody who has been there, in uniform. They'll tell you why they believe in the cause."

On April 9, Keith and Carolyn Maupin of Union Township will mark the third anniversary of the capture of their son, Sgt. Matt Maupin, near Baghdad airport. Maupin remains the only U.S. soldier listed by the Pentagon as captured.

As you can see, the writers chose to skirt the actual event and dive right into parents who have sacrificed and want that sacrifice to mean something.

Might work for a companion feature (where you're supposed to buck the pyramid a little), but makes no sense as event coverage.

Eventually the writers did start talking about the actual protest, but long after most readers have flipped the page or clicked a new link.

Sloppy writing at best, clear bias at worst.

Labels: Cincinnati, Downtown, Fountain Square, Iraq, media

Posted by Andrew Warner at 7:09 AM | Permalink | Comments

From the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Hamilton County taxpayers are getting ready to pay the Bengals $900,000 for the turf at Paul Brown Stadium.

The team installed the synthetic turf before the 2004 season after complaints about the grass the stadium had since its 2000 opening.

Hamilton County owns the stadium but leases it to the team. A clause in the lease calls for the government to pay for stadium upgrades - technology, turf and others - if they are done in other stadiums home to National Football League teams.

I'm not sure who wrote the lease, or if the lease is standard for the NFL (it seems NFL teams hold local governments hostage pretty regularly), but it sure does stick it to the taxpayer. Team owners rake in all the profits while taxpayers pay for stadium upgrades? That's just crazy.

With how much the taxpayer has thrown in on this deal, tickets should be free to residents of Hamilton County.

That's not how it works, unfortunately. But good thing Phil Heimlich is there to save the day:

"This is another example of how unfair this (lease) is to the taxpayers of Hamilton County," said Commissioner Phil Heimlich, who supported a county lawsuit against the team and league seeking to get hundreds of millions of dollars returned to the government.

"There's no limit to the number of gadgets they can buy and charge to the taxpayer."

Let's see if Phil Heimlich can actually do something about it in the dwindling few weeks of his final term.

Labels: Cincinnati, Downtown, Sports

Posted by Andrew Warner at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments

Last night the brand new Fountain Square celebrated it's first Macy's Christmas celebration.

It was surprisingly crowded. Too crowded even. There was no room to skate, wanna-be carriage riders were forced to jockey for position in hopes they would be the lucky winners in the happy-cab sweepstakes, and even the now highly-priced garage was filled to capacity.

The fireworks show was alright and the explosions made strange echoes since they were trapped between high buildings instead of being in open fields. Not to mention how excited all the small children were to see "Santa" rappel down a skyscraper.

All in all, it was good to see people downtown having fun with their families.

Labels: Cincinnati, Downtown, Fountain Square

Posted by Andrew Warner at 8:32 AM | Permalink | Comments