City of Cincinnati —The Court of Common Please Judge Robert C. Winkler denied the request for an injunction by the City’s Fraternal Order of Police and CODE (Cincinnati Organized and Dedicated Employees) to prevent the layoff of city employees.

“Based upon the law of Ohio and the record before it, the Court cannot conclude that the Unions have proven by clear and convincing evidence that there is a substantial likelihood of success of the merits of the case,” he wrote in his opinion.

This decision does not prevent layoffs, currently scheduled to occur Sunday. The merits of the unions’ claims that the city’s projected $28 million deficit is not that large has yet to be proven at trial in the coming weeks at this time.

“No one is celebrating at City Hall,” said City Manager Milton Dohoney, Jr.  “Layoffs are still at play, and we are down to the last minute.”

###

Tom Brinkman & Joe Wessels host the "Tom & Joe Radio Show - Not on the Radio Yet," a Podcast for now.

Tom & Joe record their second “Tom & Joe Radio Show – Not on the Radio Yet” at the Coffee Emporium in downtown Cincinnati.

This week there were no guests, but Tom & Joe discussed everything from health care to The Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County’s budget issues. Plus, the City of Cincinnati’s budget issues.

We added a new feature this week: A live stream. That means that if you were watching at the time you could see and hear Tom & Joe live, chat with other viewers and send a live Tweet via Twitter. It’s not perfect (we are doing these early Podcasts as a test and to work out kinks), so expect more improvements in the future – like the ability to call into the show live and also get the actual audio from the show to go to the live feed.

But for now, check out this live video recording of (most of) the show. Or download us via this Web site, find us on iTunes or go to CityBeat’s Web site –>Media –> Podcast.

Special thanks to the great folks at Coffee Emporium – with locations in Over-the-Rhine (downtown Cincinnati), Hyde Park and on the campus of Xavier University – for allowing us to record in their roasting room. We hope you will join us at a future recording.

Tom Brinkman and Joe Wessels host the weekly "Tom & Joe Radio Show - Not on the Radio Yet." It's a Podcast only (hosted by CinDaily and CityBeat newspaper - for now.

Who said conservatives and liberals can’t get along? They can’t – except when it comes to getting together to debate each other.

That’s what former Ohio State Rep. Tom Brinkman, a staunch conservative and founder of the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (C.O.A.S.T.), and journalist Joe Wessels, a solid liberal and most recently the communications director for Democratic Congressman Steve Driehaus’s election campaign and a small business owner, thought when they formed the “Tom & Joe Radio Show – Not on the Radio Yet.”

Each week they will debate the issues important to Cincinnatians, especially local issues – but also national concerns.

Eventually, both Tom & Joe hope the show goes to the radio, but are honing their show on the Internet (and will always release the show and extra content online – even when the show goes to the radio).

Take a listen here. Our guests for our first show are Cincinnati City Councilman Greg Harris and Cheviot City Treasurer Charlie Norman. Be sure to subscribe by searching for “CinDaily” in iTunes, visiting CityBeat’s Web site and clicking on Media–>Podcasts.

Soon, we hope to include live streaming of our shows.

Special thanks to the great folks at Coffee Emporium – with locations in Over-the-Rhine (downtown Cincinnati), Hyde Park and on the campus of Xavier University – for allowing us to record in their roasting room. We hope you will join us at a future recording.

My good friend Mike O. is about to arrive in Cincinnati for, what is becoming, his annual trek here for chili, humidity and friendly people.

Having grown up in Orange County, Calif., Mike jokingly said he always looked at the Midwest as someplace “you flew over on your way to New York or London.”  But he got lucky, and found a friend in this gem of a town, came to visit and, voila, with a little hints, found out he actually kinda loves the place.

On our inaugural CinDaily podcast, Mike and I discuss many of the cool things (and a lot of cool places to eat) that he has grown to love over the past six or so years.

In this approximately 31-minute discussion, we touch on the following places and things:

• The YMCA of Greater Cincinnati
• Jungle Jim’s
• Trader’s World
• Creation Museum
• University of Cincinnati
• The Cincinnati Zoo and Botantical Garden
• The Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal
• The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
• Mercantile Library
• Ross Self Storage
• CinDaily
• Gold Star Chili
• Skyline Chili
• White Castle
• Cincinnati architecture (A Web site created by students at the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning at the University of Cincinnati)
  
• San Francisco, California

It’s my first Podcast, so please bear with me. It’s not a perfect work of art, but we will get there…

Posted using ShareThis

I’m sitting on Fountain Square right now, just about 20 feet from the flowing waters of the Tyler Davidson Fountain, arguably the centerpiece of the Greater Cincinnati region. It’s a funny place to be sitting as I begin to share more about the CinDaily project.

That’s because the fountain, the buildings around me – including two that house the region’s largest banks – the Carew Tower, Fountain Square West (now home to Macy’s and Palomino) and the Square itself all have stories that have fallen out of the collective consciousness of our community. Ask most people about the renovation of Fountain Square – that was effectively completed late last year, severely behind schedule – and they tell you the city paid $50 million to move the fountain 50 feet north – and out of every passing motorists clear line of sight.

And that’s sad. Because of some sloppy reporting and lack of follow-up coverage, the whole notion about Fountain Square is wrong. Nearly none of that is true, no matter what you think of the blinking lights that were installed on the facade of the shorter Fifth Third Bank building.

We’re missing some serious context around here. We are missing the in-depth news that gives residents the understanding to help them be better citizens.

All this started on April 11, 2007, or 4/11 – the number dialed on most telephones for information – inside a Cincinnati restaurant. I sat down with two friends and shared my idea for doing sustainable journalism in Cincinnati. I was not exactly sure how to do it (or how to pay for it), but I knew there must be a market out there for quality, in-depth journalism done by experienced journalists.

Since that first meeting much has happened. My idea for what eventually became CinDaily evolved and now is a much more concrete vision of how our region’s story can be told better.

I’m Joe Wessels and for the foreseeable future I will be the blogging voice of this Web site. This is just a temporary site designed to let you know a little about what the folks working to bring you CinDaily are actually doing and planning. You can learn a little bit about who we are on our “About CinDaily” page. Eventually this site will transform into the CinDaily site – which will be much more than a blog.

I’m a journalist. Have been since 1996, though I have taken a few diversions along the way. If you want to know more, feel free to check out my resume and read a biography. I’m also a co-founder of the Cincinnati Press Club and a former political and general assignment reporter (and sometimes photographer) at The Cincinnati Post, which closed on Dec. 31, 2007. So, that’s where I am coming from.

What’s your vantage point? What do you think about journalism in Cincinnati? Is there room for improvement? What would you like to see? I look forward to reading your comments in the coming weeks and months. Be sure to check back here for updates (or subscribe to our feed). I will be making regular posts about CinDaily’s progress. CinDaily…and often.