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NEWS

Cincinnati Animal CARE is pushing back after the president of the Cincinnati police union claimed that they lied about how they handled testing a dead dog for rabies after an officer shot it on Thursday, Sept. 28. P H OTO : C H O N K N IT I K H O N G C H U M , P E X E LS

Cincinnati FOP Claims Animal Shelter is Lying About Rabies Testing Timeline to Cover Mistakes

CityBeat shared an email provided by Cincinnati Animal CARE that shows the start of the rabies testing process, but FOP President Dan Hils shrugged it off. BY M A D E L I N E F E N I N G

local animal shelter is pushing back after the president of the Cincinnati police union is claiming Cincinnati Animal CARE (CAC) is lying about how the shelter has handled testing a dead dog for rabies after an officer shot it on Thursday, Sept. 28. It all started on Sept. 28 when officer Meggie Bower responded to a call for a person bit by a loose dog near the Hartwell Recreation Center on Vine Street. According to police, the officer arrived to find a second person bitten by the dog. CPD said “several attempts” were made by the officer to isolate the dog before it charged at the officer and latched a bite onto her leg. Officer Bower then shot the dog twice, killing it. She was transported to UC Medical Center for non-life-threatening injuries. Fast forward to Oct. 4 when Dan Hils, president of the Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), said CAC has not made an effort to get the dog’s body tested for rabies. “It’s been 6 days since two citizens and Cincinnati police officer were attacked by a possibly rabid, stray dog,” Hils said in a press release. “Over the first four days, Cincinnati CARE

apparently took zero action to have the dog’s body tested for rabies. Multiple police officers and others called and were ignored. That kind of inaction is inexcusable.” CityBeat spoke with Ray Anderson, CAC’s community engagement manager, who said the press release came as a surprise considering the shelter has done everything by the book.

The timeline discrepancy “In a case like this, when a dog bites a human, or does anything that breaks skin, [...] the state of Ohio requires that dog be quarantined for ten days to be monitored for potential rabies,” Anderson said. “Now, in cases like this when an animal dies, is euthanized or is killed after a bite has happened, it must be sent to a laboratory for testing.” Editor’s note: The following medical description may disturb some readers. “The dog has to be decapitated and the head has to get sent to a laboratory,” Anderson said. “The dog was decapitated late Thursday night. There was a delay in our medical department Monday, and everything was scheduled yesterday. Pickup was first thing this

morning.” Anderson said pickup from the biohazard delivery service would not have been possible on Thursday based on the time the dog’s body arrived at the shelter. Hils told CityBeat he believes the shelter is lying about the rabies testing timeline to cover up a mistake. “I believe they dropped the ball on this and now they’re trying to cover up with medical emergencies and everything else. Somebody forgot to ship the dog,” Hils told CityBeat. “To me, that’s inexcusable when somebody’s waiting for a rabies result.” Monday was in fact a busy day for the CAC vets, according to Anderson, who said they were triaging dogs who needed life-saving care. For instance, a Monday Facebook post from the shelter details an emergency response for a dog suffering internal bleeding after being hit by a car. Hils said he doesn’t buy it. “I find it hard to believe there wasn’t time on Monday to send a specimen or head or whatever they want to call it,” he said. Hils goes on to claim that, when CPD officers went to CAC on Oct. 3 to get

answers, a CAC employee found the dog’s body in an “unlabeled box.” Hils said the employee promised to get test results but “joked to the officer who was bitten about just dealing with the painful rabies injections.” This is another claim CAC flatly denies. “The specimen was prepared,” Anderson said. “Any claims of an unmarked box are inaccurate. When these procedures take place in our organization, the body might remain here in an unmarked box or bag, but the head is at the laboratory.” The “joke,” Hils said a CAC staffer made towards CPD officers, was a suggestion to continue getting the rabies vaccines. “It was more in the way it was delivered,” Hils said. “That you’re just going to have to get over it and get the shots.” Anderson said it was not the intent of the CAC staffer to dismiss the officer’s concerns. “I think what our staff member was bringing, what sounded to me like calmness and reassurance, may have come across as not concerned enough,” he said. “If the officer left that conversation feeling dismissed, I can definitively say that was not the intent of the conversation. And I’m very upset they came away from it with that interpretation.”

What CAC told the officer directly That same day, Anderson said Officer Bower spoke with a high-ranking member of the medical team at CAC, who he said explained the timeline and process to the worried officer. But Hils said that vet told Officer Bower that the shelter hasn’t started any of the processes for getting the dog tested for rabies. “She was talking to a vet who said the dog had never been labeled, was still sitting there intact with a head yesterday,” Hils said. Again, Anderson said this is untrue. “I heard the conversation as it happened,” Anderson said. “I spoke to the person who spoke to the officer and can confirm they did not say the body was intact. They let them know the specimen was still here and scheduled for pick up.” To further his point, Anderson forwarded CityBeat an email confirming the dog was decapitated on Thursday evening. A timestamp on the email shows it was sent on Sept. 28 at 8:04 p.m. “ARN 6846 “FROG”, the recently deceased dog shot by PD after an officer was bit. Decap was placed in exam fridge at Colerain near kennel runs. Paperwork filled out and taped on the outside of box,” the email reads. CityBeat sent a screenshot of the

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email to Hils. “That’s contrary to what I heard,” Hils said in a text.

The rabies vaccine Anderson also said Officer Bower selfdisclosed to the vet that she had already started getting rabies vaccines, which Hils said the officer doesn’t want to continue doing if the dog tests negative. “Since they were going through that extra level of caution, I do know our medical team member tried to empathize, mentioning they had to go through that process as well and they still have titers, they still have immunity to rabies from getting vaccinated against it more than 20 years ago. So I think they were trying to be reassuring.” In Hils’ press release, he emphasizes just how “painful” the rabies shots are, saying, “She was told to await rabies testing results [...] to determine if she would need to undergo the painful rabies treatment that requires multiple injections.” Hils clarified to CityBeat that he should have said “continue” rather than “undergo,” since Bower had started the treatment she’d need to undergo should the dog test positive for rabies anyway. In the past, rabies vaccines could be very painful. They were commonly administered in the stomach over the course of 17 injections. Now, rabies vaccines are relatively painless and are given in the arm, like any flu or tetanus vaccine, though the initial injection may take place near the wound. Still, Hils said the officer doesn’t want any more vaccines. “Her shot right there where her bite was was painful,” he said. “And she’s anticipating a total of five and she’s already had three.” Given all the claims made about CAC in his press release, CityBeat asked Hils if he at any point made an attempt to contact the shelter and corroborate the information fed to him through Officer Bower. “No. Not my place,” Hils said. “Her bosses have done that.” CityBeat reached out to CPD for comment on the rabies testing process and Hils’ claims, but did not hear back by press time. But Anderson said CPD has been in communication with CAC about the testing timeline all along, just not Hils. “I can say for sure that there’s been contact between us and someone from CPD before Dan Hils got involved.” CAC provided confirmation to CityBeat on Oct. 5 that the specimen tested negative for rabies. Hils was still unimpressed with the time it took to hear those results. “It shouldn’t have taken a week but we thank God that it was negative,” Hils said.

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The contestants in Old Street Saloon's 27th annual Miss Old Street pageant on Sept. 30 P H OTO : A I DA N M A H O N E Y

Drag Pageants Can Launch a Queen’s Career, But Ohio Lawmakers are Threatening the Drag Economy BY M A D E L I N E F E N I N G

he last time CityBeat visited Old Street Saloon’s backstage area, the tone was carefree and jovial; this was not the same dressing room on Sept. 30. “We’re not ready yet,” one queen said firmly. “You’re blocking my fan,” another warned. No offense was taken in the slightest; these are athletes, rockstars, a royal court of shape-shifting magicians tightly squeezed into a temporary atelier between clothing racks and Halloween decorations. They are the drag queens competing for the coveted title of Miss Old Street 2023, and all five contestants came to win. But there’s another battle the queens may face down the line, and their opponents sit in the Ohio Statehouse.

Contestants and categories The programming feels more akin to the traditional (and deeply heterosexual) Miss America pageants rather than an episode of RuPaul. Presentation, Evening Gown, Question and Talent are the four categories each of Saturday’s five contestants need to nail. In Presentation, Jamona Fever set the tone by leaning into the pageant’s 2023 theme of “From Sunshine Days to Boogie Nights,” floating above and below rainbow lights with angel-like sleeves to “We are Family.” Amanda Punchfuk took a hard left and honored the theme

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by giving birth to a baby doll with a disco ball for a head, umbilical cord and all. “They say your child is a reflection of yourself. I took that a little literally,” she told the crowd. In the Evening Gown category, Tara Newone went art-deco glam, emerging from behind a giant selfportrait (a play on the “Mona Lisa”) to a cover of Sam Sparro’s “Black & Gold,” her shoulders draped with gilded paint drips that her team finished the night before. The Question category immediately followed Evening Gown, and Areone De Cardeza’s one-word (or, sound) answer stood out against the heartfelt answers of her competitors: “Should you win Miss Old Street, what will be the first thing you do?” De Cardeza paused, took a deep breath, and let out a long-winded shriek with all her might. “Thank you,” she calmly said after catching her breath, then walked off stage. The crowd went absolutely berserk. In Talent, Molly Mormen donned a shaggy ‘80s mullet and bedazzled NASCAR shirt, lip syncing the viral “McDonald’s on Dorsett” YouTube video where an indignant woman rages against a McDonald’s employee for judging her McRib order. The variety, production value and passion in Old Street’s annual drag pageant far outpaces the bar’s already electric weekend drag shows.

“Formers” Latoya Bacall, Miss Old Street 2002, was one of the night’s judges. She spoke to CityBeat in between sets. “It’s fierce,” she said. “The girls came to compete. It’s anybody’s game at this point.” Bacall said she looks for stage presence, personality and consistency when assigning points. Ashley West, Miss Old Street 1996, said she wants to see contestants who have clearly put in the work. “Stage presence is a huge factor, preparedness, just people who are really prepared,” West told CityBeat. As a former Miss Old Street, or “formers” as they’re commonly called, West can attest to how winning the Miss Old Street title can change the course of one queen’s life. “We have such a history of formers and all these girls have traveled throughout the country. I’ve traveled all over the country and Miss Old Street has truly helped that,” she said. “It gives you a home bar, it gives you a base, it gives you the freedom to express yourself and to travel to different places and show them what your hometown is about. I mean, we have entertainers coming from all over the country wanting to perform here!” Many former Miss Old Streets have gone on to secure lucrative TV contracts. Miss Old Street 2010,

India Ferrah, is one of several formers who have gone on to compete on RuPaul’s Drag Race. She was remorseful when turning down an interview with CityBeat, citing publicity rules in her current contract with MTV. West said such legacy and prestige with a “bar title,” especially in a small town dive, is rare anymore. “It’s almost impossible,” she said. “It’s probably the longest-running in the state. This is even long for a national. Not many bar titles last this long.” The legacy of Miss Old Street was on full display when formers took turns gliding across the stage, their perfectly preserved tiaras and sashes displayed with pride. One former was acknowledged in memoriam: Tyese Rainz, Miss Old Street 2017. Rainz died in May 2022 from a medical episode after a performance at the Fitton Center for Creative Arts in Hamilton. When it was Rainz’s turn to walk the stage on Saturday, her mother, Ava Griffin, stepped in her place. In a shimmering black gown, she too glided alongside the formers, glowing with grace, her baby’s winning sash draped across her heart. “I always supported her,” Griffin told CityBeat. “I still feel as though, when I’m here, I represent her.” At least three people paused our interview to greet “Mamma,” exchanging cheek kisses and compliments. “Hi sweetness!” Griffin would tell guests familiar and new. “Support one another,” Griffin told CityBeat. “Because some people don’t have support at home.”

Combating anti-drag policy When CityBeat last stopped by the self-described “friendliest little gay bar” in the neighborhood, we asked questions relating to the then-potential drag ban in Tennessee. This time, the questions about legislating drag in Ohio are no longer hypothetical. In July, Ohio Republican lawmakers introduced House Bill 245 to ban “adult cabaret performances,” defined as shows that feature “entertainers who exhibit a gender identity that is different from the performers’ or entertainers’ gender assigned at birth.” If passed, the law would prohibit drag shows everywhere except “adult cabarets.” That leaves typical bars and nightclubs that host drag shows, like Old Street, vulnerable under the bill. Reps. Josh Williams (R-Sylvania) and Angela King (R-Celina) proposed the bill with the support of the majority of Ohio House Republicans. Penalties for violating the proposed law would include: A misdemeanor of the first degree if

a performance occurs in the presence of a juvenile under the age of 18. A felony of the fifth degree if the performance is “obscene.” A felony of the fourth degree if the performance is “obscene” and occurs in the presence of a juvenile under the age of 13. “They may pass a few laws with certain limitations and stuff, but they’ll never be able to come into an establishment and tell people what to do, how they can live, how they can love. We’ve just come too far,” West told CityBeat with force. “This is our world and we’re inside four walls, so there’s no reason for them to be concerned about what’s going on here.” Bella Nicole Harlow was crowned Miss Old Street Diva 2023, a category for cis-gendered female entertainers who perform under the guise of a drag queen. Harlow pointed to the fact that, should HB 245 pass, it technically wouldn’t even apply to her. “Which is crazy. They can’t even define what we do,” Harlow said. “Old Street has always employed me as an entertainer because they didn’t care what was in my pants.” Proposed restrictions on drag have ignited a wave of drag hysteria across Ohio. In December, a “Holi-Drag Storytime’’ event organized by Red Oak Community School in Columbus was supposed to feature three fullyclothed drag queens reading to children and performing holiday music. Instead, the event was interrupted by far-right hate groups the Proud Boys and Patriot Front, whose members flashed nazi salutes and chants while touting guns and tactical gear. In March, a drag story hour in Wadsworth was shut down by agitators from these same neo-nazi groups, far outnumbering the event’s supporters. “I have been fortunate that I haven’t had any nazis show up at my shows like they’ve had in Columbus,” Mormen said. “To me, that’s terrifying that in 2023 we still have something like this happening.” As a comedy queen, Punchfuk knows irony when she sees it. She was recently booked by Sinclair Community College, her alma mater, to perform in drag for a student event, only to have a higher up halt the gig out of fear for backlash. “One person in the upper [office] said, ‘No, no, no. We can’t do drag. We can’t do drag here. It’s too dangerous,’” she said. “I went there. I had my first makeup classes from an adjunct professor who taught makeup. I learned my first drag faces there. To hear that the skills I learned and harnessed and finessed throughout the professional world were not welcome because they’re a ‘bad thing,’ it’s really

insulting.” The skill, art and craft of drag is big business in Ohio, especially for Fyre Storm, Mr. Old Street 2023. Storm stands to lose his livelihood as a drag king should such a ban go into effect. “It is a full-time job,” he said. “And I live a very fulfilled life. I get to do art full-time for a living.”

And the winner is… After a long night of sweat, sparkles and stiff shots, the winners of Miss Old Street 2023 were announced. Presentation: Areone De Cardeza & Tara Newone (Tie) Evening Gown: Areone De Cardeza On-Stage Question: Molly Mormen & Areone De Cardeza (tie) Talent: Amanda Sue Punchfuk The pageant’s 1st Alternate winner was Tara Newone, and Areone De Cardeza was crowned Miss Old Street 2023. A truly gracious queen, De Cardeza couldn’t stop gushing to CityBeat about how much time, resources and effort her team put into her victory. “The boys have put in so much energy, especially my partner,” she said. “All of our costumes cost a lot of money. You want to pay your people who come to help you. Props, evening gowns [...] probably 300-400 hours.” De Cardeza is looking forward to her new life as Miss Old Street, telling CityBeat that drag fans will have plenty of opportunities to watch her perform from her new home-base bar. “I’ll probably be here three or four weekends a month, which is great,” she said. “Come here! Hang out! Get to know everybody.” Getting to know everyone, customers and queens alike, is what De Cardeza said opponents of drag need during Ohio’s current drag satanic-panic. “People need to come watch the shows and be a part of what we do instead of taking somebody else’s word for what they think is going on,” she said. “[Drag queens] do brunches where kids are welcome to come because a lot of kids see the magic in drag. It’s not in a sexual way.” When asked if Old Street hosts such brunches, De Cardeza made one of her first royal proclamations as queen of Cincinnati’s “friendliest little gay bar.” “I’m going to work on that,” she said. “That would be a wonderful thing here.” Editor’s note: many drag performers use different pronouns in drag than they use in their day-to-day lives. CityBeat confirmed the preferred pronoun use with each performer and customer interviewed for this story.

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The Unity Council for the East Palestine Train Derailment released an open letter on Oct. 5, urging Cincinnatians to vote "No" on Issue 22. P H OTO : A P P H OTO / G E N E J. P U S K A R , F I L E

East Palestine Residents Urge Cincinnatians to Vote ‘No’ on Norfolk Southern Sale BY AS H L E Y M O O R A N D M A D E L I N E F E N I N G

council representing East Palestine residents is now urging Cincinnatians to vote “No” on Issue 22. On Oct. 5, the Unity Council for the East Palestine Train Derailment released an open letter, urging Cincinnati residents to vote no on the sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway to Norfolk Southern in the Nov. 7 election. According to the Council’s Facebook page, they represent the interests of East Palestine residents in addition to “residents of outlying areas that were impacted by the chemical bomb ignited over our village and miles beyond on Feb. 3, 2023.” In the open letter, the Council noted that it stood “in solidarity” with the local Derail the Sale campaign. The Derail the Sale campaign is an organized group of Cincinnati citizens campaigning for “No” votes on Nov. 7, when Cincinnati voters will be asked to approve the CSR sale. “There are no potential benefits from the sale of Cincinnati Southern Railway that outweigh the health of your families,” the Unity Council for the East Palestine Train Derailment said in the

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open letter. The Council continued on in the letter, highlighting issues in the railway industry concerning worker benefits, reduced inspections and staffing, gross negligence in covering up contaminations and more. The Council ended with the following plea to Cincinnati voters:

“

Do not make the same mistakes our community did and ignore the dangers associated with railways, the Council said. Open your eyes, look around you, research the facts to make an informed decision for your families health, your children’s health and the health of future generations. We never want another community to feel the earth shattering words of the CDC telling you that you all have had chemical exposure and they don’t know what to do about that BUT they do know how to treat the cancers it could cause in the future. No matter the benefits of the sale, your health and the health of your families is the most valuable thing you have. Once your health is gone, there are no second chances, so do the right thing now and vote “no” on issue 22 to protect your families and the families of your fellow Ohioans.

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Issue 22 in a nutshell This November, Cincinnati voters will decide whether or not to sell the CSR to Norfolk Southern in exchange for a $1.6 billion trust fund to shore up basic services for the city. The principal balance wouldn’t be touched, meaning the city estimates it would have an annual stream of cash ranging from $50 million to $70 million, which could only be spent on maintaining existing city facilities like roads, rec centers and fire stations. But the proposed sale of the CSR comes at a time of heightened public awareness of the sins of its buyer, Norfolk Southern. The push and pull between those who support and oppose the deal is largely rooted in safety concerns following the East Palestine train derailment caused by Norfolk Southern.

The East Palestine in the room A Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, a small Eastern Ohio village near the Pennsylvania border, on Feb. 3. The derailment ignited a chain of events that ended in a controlled burn of the train’s toxic load of

chemicals, including butyl acrylate, vinyl chloride, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether and ethylhexyl acrylate. The chemicals are used in industrial processes including the production of lacquers, enamels, inks, adhesives, paint thinners and industrial cleaners, and plastic manufacturing. The colorless vinyl chloride has been associated with an increased risk of liver cancer and other cancers, according to the federal government’s National Cancer Institute. A plume of thick black smoke from the burning chemicals soared above homes and waterways in East Palestine, painting a dark picture for the weeks to come. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) quickly took over managing the cleanup from Norfolk Southern, promising to hold the multibillion-dollar rail giant accountable for the disaster, but surveys have suggested most Americans don’t believe the government has handled the fallout in East Palestine to this day. Derail the Sale organizer Abby Friend told CityBeat in a previous interview that she visited East Palestine after the derailment, along with two other organizers. “A group of us went and visited East Palestine in hopes to talk to neighbors there, see how we could be helpful, and we ended up joining a community meeting there where there was standing room only,” she said. “It was just really eye opening and terrifying and shocking and heartbreaking to see the residents of East Palestine being impacted and not having answers.”

How to vote Registered voters may cast early ballots at their county board of elections office by Nov. 5 or by mail (absentee voting) through Nov. 6. On Nov. 7, polls will be open for in-person voting from 6:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. A controversial new law requires voters to present a valid ID to vote in person in Hamilton County. Acceptable forms of ID include: Ohio driver’s license State of Ohio ID card Interim ID form issued by the Ohio BMV U.S. passport or passport card U.S. military ID card Ohio National Guard ID card US Department of Veterans Affairs ID card All photo IDs must have the following: An expiration date that has not passed A photograph of the voter The voter’s name, which must substantially conform to the voter’s name as it appears in the poll list or in the poll book.

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OCTOBER 18-31, 2023

Into the Woods the death issue

Behind the quest to identify thousands of bodies buried beneath a West Price Hill park By Madeline Fening

or years, Barney Killingsworth’s family thought he’d walked out on them. A cold, silent goodbye with no warning, no note, no regard for the life he’d left behind. But all along, he was in an unmarked grave in West Price Hill. All because of one typo. “He was a DOA at General Hospital, they misspelled his name, so his body became a cadaver for the students,” says Sandy Rice, Killingsworth’s great-granddaughter. “They used him from 1944 to 1947 [when] his remains were cremated and interred at Potter’s Field. There’s over 5,000 who have stories like that.” The certificate of death shows the clear, infuriating misspelling that left Rice’s family heartbroken and confused for years: Barney “Killingswrogh” was laid to rest at Cincinnati’s Potter’s Field Cemetery. Rice fell down a genealogy rabbit hole when she discovered the fate of Killingsworth, and she’s been free falling ever since. “No one would take more than 10 years of their life identifying the burials of Potter’s Field,” Rice says, with wellearned certainty. Welcome to Guerley Road If the people of Potter’s Field were a neighborhood in Cincinnati, they’d be the third largest in the city, at 18,575

forever residents. Or at least that’s Rice’s most recent tally. It’s constantly in flux as she hovers over her iPad late into the night, filling out a spreadsheet with columns for names, place of death, causes of death — but if they’re on the spreadsheet, they’re in Potter’s. A “potter’s field” is a common historical term for a place where communities would bury the poor (otherwise called “indigent”), the unidentified, the incarcerated, infectious disease victims and others who were “unwanted.” In Cincinnati, the roughly 26-acre Potter’s Field stretches across the northwest side of Guerley Road into Rapid Run Park. We can glean that bodies were buried in straight lines from the few remaining grave markers; a small, flat stone with a metal plate, if they’re lucky, lists the deceased’s name and date of death. Some plates just display the plot number. Others were honored with a small wooden cross that nature would later swallow. Countless graves are completely unmarked, and many people are buried in stacks of three, one generation after the next, with the top burial resting a mere 18 inches beneath the surface: the height of an American Girl Doll. There are other potter’s fields in the city, but none this big. The city says

Photos and tintypes of people possibly buried in West Price Hill's Potter's Field lay scattered across a quilt on the cemetery's historic carriage path. Trees and Honeysuckle overgrowth, some containing the organic matter of those buried below, shade the mysterious faces not yet identified by Sandy Rice. P H OTO : A I DA N M A H O N E Y

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burials began here around 1852, but Rice has pinned a mother buried there with her baby in 1849. While time and place are important to Rice, the number of bodies beneath the surface, and who they are, is what keeps her up at night. “I don’t sleep much,” Rice texts at 10:30 p.m. after logging 15 hours of research that day. “This is my mission.” That mission has grown. These days, Rice, turning 57 in November, isn’t just attempting to document the burials in Potter’s Field. She’s also fighting for better conditions for the souls’ final resting place. It’s an effort that has earned her few friends at City Hall — spending years making countless calls, emails, records requests — and she can’t help but suspect that leaders have a secret plan for the site. But it all begins with research. Helping in that work is Lynn Bereman. “I met Sandy through Ancestry. com, she and my husband are distant cousins,” she says. “That’s how we connected.” The pair decided Bereman would handle the earliest burials, starting in the mid-1800s, through the turn of the century — they’re working to compile a complete spreadsheet of every Potter’s Field burial. “She knew how much I liked genealogy and asked me if I would want to help her with this project I’m working on,” Bereman says. “And I thought all I was going to be doing was compiling data and doing some research and helping her out; come to find out that it was much more intense and thoughtprovoking than I had anticipated.”

Gilded Age horror

Potter’s is in no short supply of shocking, well-documented tales, including those of notorious body-snatching resurrectionists who would unearth the dead for Cincinnati’s various medical colleges. But Bereman finds both thrill and comfort in the stories of average citizens who eventually found themselves in Potter’s. “I found all walks of life,” she says. “Some professions I encountered were shoemakers, tailors, cigar makers — lots of cigar makers! So I started thinking, these are the people who built Cincinnati.” Though Bereman lives in Indiana, she routinely visits Cincinnati through blurry records and documents, absorbing our local labor history like a thirsty sponge. “A lot of the people I found were laborers in Germany or another country,” she says. “Then they got to the United States and carried on with their trade. It would be like ship building, working in shipyards, building infrastructure. Because remember, this was roughly 1850-1900, so, as the city was growing and building, these types of

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reference today; the area is completely overgrown and impossible to navigate. Bereman is preserving a history that feels like it was designed to be forgotten. “I do feel a connection to them, very much so,” she says. “In the northern section alone there are 505 former slaves.”

New century, more records

Sandy Rice stands before an in-progress quit she's created to honor the thousands of lives forgotten in West Price Hill's Potter's Field Cemetery. Each coffin-shaped piece is made with a different pattern from the cemetery's 130-year history to represent the vast diversity of the interment site. P H OTO : A I DA N M A H O N E Y

people were integral in that.” With those Gilded Age jobs came injuries and fatalities. If your workplace hadn’t yet caught the union bug, you were likely risking your life with no safety net — physical or financial. “There were a lot of industrial accidents, people falling off of buildings, falling into the river, and of course back then, there was no worker’s comp, no benefits for people to bury their loved ones with,” Bereman says. “Of course, with all the transients that came down through there, finding relatives was very difficult. So, after so many days, they just buried them in Potter’s Field.” Bereman’s neat handwriting tracks just a handful of the deaths from her designated time frame. She’s assembled the varying pieces through death certificates, newspaper clippings, Ancestry. com — anything to match a name to a plot number: • August Alakan, age 40; he was born in France in 1846 and died 40 years later in a railroad accident near Eastern Avenue. His grave number is 466. • Agnes Archibald was only 22 when she died on Oct. 21, 1874, at City Hospital while giving birth. She was a seamstress. Her plot number is 320. • Augusta Brehm was born in Germany in 1852; 30 years later she died in City Hospital from septicemia following an abortion. Her grave number is 140. • A.F. Boch was murdered while performing an abortion in a bordello, also known as a “whorehouse.” He was just 31 when a blow to the head

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sent him to Potter’s. His grave marker is 153. • Mike Callahan is the oldest on this particular sheet; he lived to 48 before he was parboiled in a vat of glycerine at Thomas Emory & Son’s candle factory at the “foot of Vine Street” on May 7, 1892. He’s in plot 291. • George Williams, a Black man, was born in South Carolina in 1834. He was 40 when he died of tuberculosis at City Hospital. His grave number is 412. • Ben Warfield, a Black Civil War vet, was born in Ohio in 1847, dying 30 years later at Good Samaritan Hospital from cholera. His grave number was also 412. • Twins Annie and Eddie, age 5, and their siblings, Louisa, 12, and Willie, 11, all died of smallpox within days of one another in April 1882. None are buried together. “I did go in and do some research on [the children] for confirmation they were family members. Because they didn’t list that anywhere, just the last name and an address and that kind of tipped me off. I’ve since looked into census records,” Bereman says. “As one member got it then another member got it. It’s sad.” Bereman pores over birth and death certificates, historical news articles and online services like findagrave.com to match a person to a plot, a necessary measure thanks to a fire that burned the cemetery’s records around 1890. Nevermind that most people buried in Potter’s don’t have a visible gravemarker to

With the turn of the century comes a different historical caretaker: Sandy Rice. A reset in the records collected by the sextons who looked after Potter’s Field opened up opportunities for Rice. While she, too, is a digital recordfinding wiz, her real talent lies in cold calling. She recalls locating a stack of Potter’s records at the Cincinnati Public Library. “The records were at the county, they had to call an employee who retired to find out what happened to them,” Rice says. “The records were actually handed over to the library in 2009. The library did nothing with them, they stayed under a librarian’s desk for 11 years. According to what I heard, she propped her feet on them.” Records find a way of flowing toward Rice when she isn’t even asking for them, like when a descendant of a former sexton gave her a large stack of photos of Potter’s residents he’d come to collect over the years. Once Rice began inching closer to the present in her pursuit to identify those in Potter’s, she started a Facebook group where she would chronicle her findings. She says 11% of the group’s 470 members are direct descendants of someone buried in Potter’s Field. Everyone is looking for someone.

Fannie Landman

Steven Pastor’s grandparents immigrated to Cincinnati from Austria. They lived in a small tenement with no private bathroom and no electricity. He was used to hearing stories of this time, but what happened to his aunt Fannie remained a mystery until Rice stepped in. “As I’m growing up in the ’50s, I learned that, in between my mother, who is the youngest, to my uncle Israel, who is the third, there was another daughter that died named Fannie Landman,” Pastor says. “My grandparents didn’t have the money to bury her. It was what we call in Yiddish a ‘shonda’ that they could not afford a Jewish burial. And my mother I guess learned of this at some time but nobody ever talked about it, because my grandparents were ashamed.” Pastor’s aunts and uncles remember Fannie, but his mother was born long after Fannie’s death at age seven on Oct. 6, 1919. “Her official cause of death was scarlet fever,” he says. “Realizing they had no funds to do this, the death certificate

says she was buried in Lick Run Jewish and the undertaker was Weil-Schell Company at 1711 Race Street.” In an effort to locate their aunt’s grave, Pastor, now 76, and his uncle Israel called Lick Run Jewish and the Weil-Schell Company. “And for unbelievable reasons, they had no record of her. I tried numerous avenues but obviously Israel did everything I did and he couldn’t find any more information.” Eventually, one of the Jewish cemeteries told Pastor to contact Rice — as she says local cemeteries often will when someone is having a hard time locating a loved one. She has an encyclopedic knowledge of Cincinnati’s cemeteries, and she’s not afraid to make phone calls on someone’s behalf. “I checked all the cemeteries — not Catholic — just to make sure she wasn’t anywhere else: Baltimore Pike, Walnut Hills and Wesleyan Cemeteries I personally checked, all the Jewish cemeteries also,” she says. After research and phone calls to confirm what the death certificate implied, Rice told Pastor she believed his aunt was in Potter’s Field. “Remember, she was contagious and must be interred by nightfall,” Rice tells CityBeat. Pastor was grateful for her sleuthing. “I was just so impressed by her knowledge about Potter’s Field,” he says. “Her dedication to this is like God’s gift.” Even so, he says, he was heartbroken to learn of his aunt’s likely resting place. He told CityBeat he’d feel differently about his aunt being in Potter’s if it looked even close to respectable. “It made sense to me. It does,” he says. “But I’m certainly not satisfied with that because, well, have you been to Potter’s Field?” Half of Potter’s Field was transformed into what’s known today as Rapid Run Park. Formerly known as Lick Run Park, Cincinnati City Council released half of Potter’s Field to the parks department in 1934. Renovations in the 1940s included the addition of a large man-made pond. Rice says that workers encountered human bones during the dig. Playgrounds and walkways have continued to pop up in the park over the years, but sporadic grave markers make it hard to know where someone’s final resting place ends and a child’s play place begins. In stark contrast, The other half of Potter’s looks like something out of The Last of Us. Invasive plants like honeysuckle and non-native grape vines sprout thickly from the ivy-dense ground. A homeless encampment sits obscured by the dense overgrowth near where Rice says many veterans are buried. Trash dots varying sections of Potter’s, oftentimes left behind by curious wanderers or those seeking shelter. To find any

Eileen Vaughn Glancy hugs her father's leg on the beach in 1963. Glancy still struggles with the fact that her dad ended up in Potter’s Field after dying from bowel cancer in 1972. P H O T O P R OV I D E D BY E I L E E N VAU G H N G L A N CY

remaining grave markers, one would need to search on hand and knees, or wait for winter to thin the thicket. Pastor himself hasn’t been to Potter’s, but he’s heartbroken by the stories of the tangled vines and neglect. “It’s certainly not only insulting, it’s playing to people’s basic needs of their loved ones to be able to rest in peace and dignity. Of life. Life!”

Robert James Vaughn

Like in any cemetery, cancer sometimes got the best of the best. “My dad and I were very close,” Eileen Vaughn Glancy tells CityBeat. “We were best buddies. He was my rock.” Glancy shares a picture with CityBeat of her girlhood self clutching her dad’s leg on the beach, the widest smile stretching to touch either side of her beach scarf. “I love that picture,” Glancy says, now 68 years old, admiring the photo like it was her first time seeing it. “My dad was part owner of Tiffany Photography Studios,” she says. “Dad would set me up at my own table, I was only 12, and dad would be at this other table and he would say, ‘Oh, you gotta buy this package! Look at this baby! Look at this little — aww, he’s so great!’” Vaughn’s photography skills made him a valuable asset during multiple wars. “In the Coast Guard and Navy, I think he started out with just portraits, then he went to the Marines for a period of four months and I think it had to be because of his photography skills,” Glancy says. “By WWII he was actually using the TriMech camera. He knew how to operate a camera in the air.” It wasn’t until ‘72 that Vaughn needed to start thinking about how he’d prefer to use his body after his death. “We found out in April of ‘72, they took him in for what they thought was hepatitis,” she says. “He was at Good Sam. They discovered he actually had bowel cancer that had traveled

throughout his body. They closed him back up, said there was nothing they could do, and gave him three months to live.” Glancy calls the reason her dad ended up in Potter’s the “million dollar question.” “Dad’s brothers and I at the memorial service asked the attorney [...] for the return of dad’s ashes,” she says. “My dad’s brothers wanted to bury them in Paris, Illinois, the family plot. They had a grave for him.” But Vaughn had made other plans. He donated his body to science — according to his daughter, so that “no one else would go through this.” “Dad was keen on medical science,” she says. “He was a huge figure in his siblings’ life, in my life,” she says. “The brothers would call me about the situation with the ashes, and I would say, ‘I’ll call the attorney.’” While Glancy’s mother took on the task of dealing with the finances around her dad’s death, Glancy assumed the task of locating the ashes once his body was no longer being used to teach medical students. “This went on for about a year and four months,” she says. Glancy continued to press the family attorney for answers about her dad’s ashes — no one told her the medical college could use cadavers for more than two years. She says their attorney and the college were aware they wanted his ashes returned to the family for a proper burial at the family plot, but by the summer of ’73, Glancy says their attorney informed her the ashes had been lost. She had entered high school with her best friend, but by the time she was packing her bags for college in England to study archeology, he had disappeared. Like her dad had done so many times before in the service, she was bravely hopping on a plane for an adventure to uncover stories. But it would be decades before she came to know the end of his. After stumbling upon Rice’s Potter’s Field Facebook group, Glancy’s cousin Phillis confirmed her uncle’s ashes were buried in Potter’s Field with the help of records Rice obtained from the University of Cincinnati; these records are not normally available to the public. UC’s Department of Medical Education, like most anatomical departments, would bury the cremains of their cadavers in large groups in Potter’s, sometimes in paper bags or pine boxes, many with no marker in sight to this day. Starting in 1985, UC’s Body Donation Program began burying cremains in the beautiful and beloved Spring Grove Cemetery. There, families of lost loved ones can visit a monument identified by the inscription, “Through Their Thoughtfulness Knowledge Grows.” The college holds an annual

memorial service for those who gave over their body to science, complete with speakers of varying faiths; a choir sings angelically while a projector rolls through images of the deceased. Vaughn received no such honor reaching his final resting place. Nearly 50 years after Glancy clutched her dad’s leg on the beach, she finally knew where her dad was; she just couldn’t get through the thicket to find him. “I probably cried for months. I had a hard time communicating at all,” Glancy says. “I was totally devastated because of his service for his country, the person that he was.” The grief ate away at Glancy imagining her dad in a mass grave, one that is practically inaccessible due to overgrowth. She says Rice showed her compassion. “Sandy was very comforting to me,” she says. “I talked to her in tears, just totally broke up that after 50 years, that my dad, who was in every branch of the service, who was larger than life, was in Potter’s Field.” In the months following the news, Glancy slowly came to accept her dad’s final resting place. She theorizes that her dad wouldn’t necessarily mind being in Potter’s. It was a slight peace of mind that she says took four months to accept. “I had decided that dad, being religious as he was, would think, ‘I’m not there anymore, my spirit is with God, I don’t want my ashes found,’ you know? I had come to grips with that,” she says. “I thought well, dad was not one to be prejudiced or judge or think that he was any better than anyone else.”

Sue Stone

Like Rice, Sue Stone believes it was a misspelling (and a miscarriage of justice) that ended up putting her grandfather’s ashes in Potter’s. “None of my family knew he was there. My mother was three years old when he went into Longview (Insane Asylum). She never knew, she had four sisters,” she says. Stone’s mother, her four sisters and their father, Charles Agustus Wise, lived in an apartment behind Findlay Market when Stone says her grandfather was taken from his home and involuntarily committed at Longview Hospital in 1927. “He had come home one day and he told my grandmother that someone was chasing him, some guys were chasing him,” Stone says. “He was afraid, so he went to his apartment, got his gun and said he could hear their voices outside, so he shot out his window, out the bedroom window. Someone had called the police from a call box down the street, so the police said, ‘We have to take him for observation.’” Stone says her grandfather was given a choice: three days in jail or three days in Longview. Hindsight suggests he

OCTOBER 18-31, 2023

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would have fared better in jail. “They took him to Longview Hospital, and he never got out,” Stone says. While the family knew Wise was taken to Longview, there was confusion over his whereabouts after what was supposed to be his third and final day as a ward of the state. Stone says he died in Longview on Sept. 16, 1955. “Nobody knew where he was,” she says. “It was not just me by myself. My mother always wanted to know where her father was. After my mother passed away, we knew how much grief it caused our mother throughout the years. So, my brother, my sister and one of my cousins, we took it upon ourselves to look for our grandfather.” Letters, phone calls and scouring the internet eventually lead Stone to hire an attorney to help locate her grandfather’s remains. “She wrote letters to Longview, because that’s the only place we knew that he was supposed to have gone to,” Stone says. “They say yes, that they did have him out there, that they did send [his body] to the anatomical department, and that they did notify the family. They did not notify the family. My grandmother lived at the same location for 25 years before she moved from those apartments because she was getting old herself. She moved in with one of her daughters over in Sayler Park.” The failure to connect Wise with his family started with a clerical error, according to Stone. She says another Longview patient’s last name was spelled “Weisse.” That name, according to Stone, stuck with Wise, making it impossible for his family to get any answers from the hospital. After working with their attorney to find out Wise was always in Longview, Stone’s brother visited the hospital where he met a reverend who claimed to know Wise. “This reverend told my brother and my sister that he built all the furniture and tables in Longview,” Stone says. Wise, an educated carpenter, had never before displayed any signs of mental illness or distress, according to Sue. “When we questioned him,” Stone says. “‘Why did you keep him? What was wrong with him? Why did he stay so long?’ and he said that there’s nothing in the ledger.” At 73 years old, the anger in Stone’s voice cuts sharply through the phone lines that stretch from Ohio to her new home in Texas. “They diagnosed him with nothing,” she says.

What’s next for Potter’s?

As Rice’s efforts make more people aware of the loved ones and distant ancestors buried in Potter’s Field, many of them start to take the condition of the burial ground personally.

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Potter's Field Cemetery stretches beyond the small, dense woods off Guerley Road in West Price Hill. In the 1930s, Cincinnati built a park, then known as Lick Run Park, on the same side of Potter's that contained buried war veterans, including Black Civil War soldiers. The site is now called Rapid Run Park. P H O T O : A I D A N M A H O N E YA

As for Stone, she isn’t just passionate about Potter’s, she’s angry. “This is where my grandfather is buried, I should be able to walk up to his grave to pay my respects. I don’t ask anymore or any less than any of you that go to the cemetery to visit your loved one,” she says. Glancy wants to see something done to the area to give its forever residents the respect they deserve. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Cincinnati honored the Potter’s Field? Put some money in the budget for Potter’s,” she says. “It seems like the City of Cincinnati is like, ‘Um, we don’t really care,’ you know? Just kind of let it go.”

Granting hope

But taking care of long-neglected gravesites is seldom a municipal priority. Dead people, after all, don’t vote. And while the city has made some efforts in recent years, not everyone is happy about the pace of progress or the plans. After Potter’s stopped accepting bodies in 1981, the onus fell to the City of Cincinnati to handle landscape maintenance, but only the park that sits atop graves has received any attention. In 2022, more than 30 years after Potter’s last burial, Cincinnati Parks green-lit an archaeological assessment to start the process of determining the scope and density of bodies in Potter’s Field. Cincinnati Parks did not pay for the project — it was funded by a History of Equal Rights (HER) grant from the Historic Preservation Fund, administered by the National Parks Service. The $34,694 grant was secured in May 2022 by Mike Morgan, an adjunct horticulture instructor at University of Cincinnati, and local beer history expert. It was through Price Hill Will, a nonprofit community development corporation, that Morgan secured the grant. He tells CityBeat it’s rare for any city’s potter’s field to receive such a grant, let alone any federal dollars. “I mean, other cities have done things and struggled with [their own]

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potter’s fields,” Morgan says. “I’m not aware of anybody else getting one of those grants to work on a potter’s field.” The appeal for funds, according to Morgan, focused particularly on the economic disadvantages that led so many to end up in Cincinnati’s Potter’s Field, and the long-lasting, shameful treatment of their final resting place. “There are two pools of federal money, one dedicated to African American civil rights, [the other] dedicated to equal rights in a more broad sense,” Morgan says. “The nature of the grant application was the disparity of how people buried at the site have been treated, in comparison to how we as a society, treat our dead generally.”

Archaeological fact-finding

The HER grant project ended up looking like something between a conservation assessment and a crime scene being processed. Beginning the week of Oct. 18, 2022, the Archaeological Research Institute (ARI), a nonprofit based out of Lawrenceburg, Indiana, initiated three different types of search methods in varying zones of Potter’s to begin determining the approximate location of human remains. Pedestrian survey: This search assessed what could be observed on the surface, noting that “local lore” suggests human remains have been seen coming out of the ground’s surface due to years of erosion. This search didn’t find conclusive evidence of superficial bones, but it did note “sloughing” of some visible grave markers due to “natural gravitational pull.” Human Remains Detection (HRD) Dogs: In areas where ground cover was especially thick, K9 search dogs were brought in to help identify the presence of decomposed bodies. The report notes that HRD dogs are most commonly used in forensic cases to pinpoint the recently deceased, but says these dogs have shown “promising results” in recent archaeological searches. As

expected, the dogs made nearly 100 “hits” that indicated the presence of human remains. These hits were made in highly pared down areas that do not represent the entire scope of the park, in part because of the presence of “unsecured” dogs in the homeless encampment that often pops up in the sloped wooded area between the park and Guerley Road. According to the report, this presented a “concern for the safety of personnel and the HRD K9s.” The report noted this was “unfortunate” since the area is near where the former sexton’s house once stood. Geophysical Survey: Moving beyond what can be observed with human eyes or a canine’s nose, a geophysical survey used technology to identify variations in soil distribution to indicate a burial. But the report says findings from magnetometers, ground penetrating radars and electromagnetic induction meters supported the known history of Potter’s Field by what the technology couldn’t find. While not everyone who was interred in Potter’s was indigent, everyone got the poor man’s burial. The unceremonious discarding of bodies in simple pine boxes, coupled with the wild overgrowth in many parts of the park, meant people decomposed quickly along with their coffin. While the geographical search didn’t offer a detailed map of those buried in Potter’s, Morgan found beauty in the explanation. “You could look at it as green burial today,” Morgan says. “As a result of that, the dogs would always hit on the trees because the root system actually pulls up those scents that come from the erosion of the people buried there. It’s really kind of beautiful to walk there and think that those trees, you know, those are kind of the monument. Those trees are thousands of forgotten people.” Rice, along with Stone, expressed deep mistrust with both the ARI site survey and the intentions of everyone involved. “They penetrated the ground with rods! They know these burials are 18 inches deep, most of them, because the ground has been turned five times. But they’re jabbing rods into the ground? I’m sorry, that’s desecration,” Rice says. The survey was coined as ‘Phase 1’ because, at the time, Morgan and others hoped the preliminary results would be a starting point for a more just, respectful resting place for the forgotten people of Potter’s. “This project was entirely part of a first step to a better understanding so that then you could begin to have community conversations about what to do with the site,” Morgan says. “That was the entirety of that project.” But nearly a year after the study began, the city and Morgan tell CityBeat there are no plans for any continuation

of the project at this time. In an email sent to Rice after she lodged many complaints and records requests on the subject, Jason Barron, director of Cincinnati Parks, told Rice nothing whatsoever is planned for Potter’s Field. “The reality is that we do not have anything to provide beyond what has been provided. And the simple reason for that is that we have NO PLANS to develop Potter’s Field,” Barron says in the email. “There is no phase 2 or 3 or 4. And as such, we cannot produce something that does not exist. We also do not have anyone working on any plans.” While Morgan does not work for the city, he echoed these claims, saying, “The city’s not going to do anything now. They’re not going to spend a dime on Potter’s Field. They didn’t care about it before. They cared about it for about 10 minutes when all of this was very positive and then when they had to start dedicating staff time to constant phone calls and emails and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, they became hostile to the concept.” Morgan is referring to Rice. He says his academic experience in horticultural design and passion for Potter’s informed his desire to connect community members who wanted a more dignified Potter’s Field. He told CityBeat he found Rice’s ongoing research on those buried in the cemetery to be a highly valuable asset, but that conversations broke down when Rice demonstrated deep mistrust in many involved in the budding project. “The city has told me it wouldn’t matter if I showed up with a million dollars in federal funding, the number of FOIA requests that she files around Potter’s Field make doing anything to improve it untenable,” Morgan says. In an email Rice forwarded to CityBeat from Cincinnati City Manager Sheryl Long, Long tells Rice the two have reached an impasse. “While all citizens are permitted and encouraged to participate in the Park Board’s planning process, it has been noted that over the years city staff, in addition to the mayor, council members and my office, have received repeated phone calls and emails from you regarding the cemetery,” Long writes. “Staff has frequently spent up to an hour or more with you on a single phone call, often discussing previously addressed issues/concerns.” When asked if the city has any current or future plans for Potter’s Field, Long’s office told CityBeat in an email: “There are no plans to develop or change Potter’s Field.” Rice flatly disbelieves the city’s words. “Nothing right now from the city I trust. Nothing. They’ve hidden and lied,” Rice says. “They’ve already gone over and called Potter’s Field ‘Rapid

Run Park,’ you can go on the CAGIS system and see that.” Stone, who is in lockstep with Rice, also doesn’t buy it. “They are doing something, they are making improvements and they aren’t going to do it for no reason,” Stone says. “I don’t believe what he is stating, I think there’s a bigger picture here.” To Rice and Stone, that “bigger picture” comes in the form of an expanded Rapid Run Park, worries about commercial development and theories that those involved will line their pockets in the process. Morgan tells CityBeat that, technically, the city has every legal right to build what they want on top of Potter’s Field — not that he wants them to exercise that power. “There is no inherent protection for what you do to a non-active cemetery,” Morgan says. “Which means that the city could do whatever it wants, which is why this project was important to me to make sure that from a decency standpoint, that didn’t happen.”

Historical future

The results of the HER grant project have been used to apply for Potter’s to be included in the National Park Service’s Historical Register. The Register represents the nation’s areas of historical and cultural significance worthy of preservation. Morgan says historical designations are commonly assumed to protect historic buildings, but a cemetery in need of care is different. “When it comes to guidelines and standards, we’re going to have to see what that looks like, because it’s going to be a much looser standard than you would have for a perfectly intact 1820s building, because of the nature of the site and the history of the site,” Morgan says. “The state is not going to get in the way of restoring it, improving it, removing weeds from it, but the state would have a problem with doing things that are just clearly inappropriate and disrespectful to its use and history as a cemetery.” For now, Bereman and Rice are continuing their pursuit of identifying as many of the souls buried at Potter’s Field as possible. They look forward to having enough data to quantify and publish the demographics of those resting beneath West Price Hill’s feet. “Eventually, we will be able to tell how many died of a certain thing, how many came from a certain country, how many different races, other demographics like professions,” Bereman says. As for Rice, she will continue to connect families with their loved ones, fighting for answers about Potter’s and for respectful maintenance to the final resting place they now call home. “All of us want the same thing,” Rice says. “We’d like to see the cemetery put back into a state of respect.”

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What ID to Bring When You Vote *NEW 2023* There are several types of valid photo identification. • Ohio driver’s license • State of Ohio ID card • Interim ID form issued by the Ohio BMV • A US passport • A US passport card • US military ID card • Ohio National Guard ID card • US Department of Veterans Affairs ID card

All photo IDs must have the following: • An expiration date that has not passed • A photograph of the voter • The voter’s name, which must substantially conform to the voter’s name as it appears in the Poll List or in the Poll Book

NOTICE: An unexpired Ohio Driver License, State ID Card, or Interim Documentation with your former address IS an ACCEPTABLE form of ID when your current address is in the pollbook If you do not provide one of the above forms of photo ID, you will still be able to vote using a provisional ballot. However, for that ballot to be counted, you must return to the board of elections no later than November 13 to provide a qualifying form of identification.

Your ballot will be mailed to you after October 11 or when the application is processed. Use the BOE website or phone to check the status of your vote-by-mail ballot. Return your completed ballot – Place it in the BOE dropbox by November 7 at 7:30 pm OR use USPS with a postmark stamped at your post office by November 6, 2023. Postage is required if mailed.

IMPORTANT: Allow at least 5 days for each mailing or use the BOE

Voting Early In-Person dropbox if time is short. Ballots may need more than 1 stamp to return. Generally assumpe at least 1 stamp per page of your ballot. Registered voters may vote beginning on October 11 for the November 7, 2020 election. (Ohio has no online voting) Location for early voting in Hamilton County: Hamilton County Board of Elections 4700 Smith Rd. Norwood, OH 45212 513-632-7000

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Early voting days and hours: • Oct 11-13 W-F 8am-5pm • Oct 16-20 M-F 8am-5pm • Oct 23-27 M-F 8am-5pm • Oct 30 M 7:30am-7:30pm • Oct 31 T 7:30am-8:30pm • Nov 1-Nov 3 W-F 7:30am7:30pm • Nov 4 Saturday 8am-4pm • Nov 5 Sunday 1-5pm

https://votehamiltoncountyohio.gov/

2023 HAMILTON COUNTY VOTER GUIDE

HAMILTON COUNTY MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE

DISTRICT 1

DISTRICT 2 Janaya Trotter Bratton EDUCATION: JD, Salmon P.

TERM: 6 years

Chase College of Law and BA from The Ohio State University

SALARY: $114,100

RESPONSIBILITIES: Has original jurisdiction in civil cases (auto, neighborhood disputes etc.) involving claims of $15,000 or under, and in criminal cases involving misdemeanors in Hamilton County. Conducts preliminary hearings in felony cases. QUESTIONS:

Q1: What skills and characteristics do you bring to the role of judge? (500 character limit) Q2: What are your views as to whether the court as a whole deals effectively with racial, ethnic, and gender bias? What can individual judges do to prevent bias in the judicial system? (500 character limit) Q3: A 2020 citizen Court Watch report concluded Hamilton County Municipal Court was characterized by “inefficiency, long waits, and general confusion.” What suggestions do you have to improve Municipal Court efficiency? (500 character limit)

EXPERIENCE: Judge Janaya Trotter Bratton has served on the Hamilton County Municipal Court since November 2019. Prior to joining the bench, she was a civil rights litigator with the law firm of Gerhardstein & Branch. Judge Trotter Bratton started her career as an assistant prosecuting attorney in the City of Cincinnati Prosecutor’s Office. Judge Trotter Bratton also had a solo law practice for over 6 years practicing in the areas of criminal defense, family law, and general civil litigation. ENDORSEMENTS: Hamilton County Democratic Party, AFSCME Ohio Council 8, and Cincinnati Women’s Political Caucus CAMPAIGN WEBSITE: janayaforjudge.com FACEBOOK: www. facebook.com/janayaforjudge/ POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION: Democrat OCCUPATION: Judge CANDIDATE’S QUESTION RESPONSES: A1: I care about people and our community. I am fair. I treat everyone - regardless of the role they are appearing in front of me with the utmost respect. I have an extensive litigation background which helps with maintaining a busy municipal court docket. I am creative in finding solutions to recurring cases in my room, such as the social services program I created to recidivism among those with substance abuse or poverty related offenses. A2: Courts, like most systems, struggle with racial, ethnic and gender bias. Individual judges can be honest with themselves about their bias and take affirmative steps to correct it. Individual judges can also ensure that they are well rounded individuals inside and outside the court. I have found that exposure reduces biases that we all have. A3: I, like many of my colleagues, have adopted staggered dockets to reduce wait times and to reduce the burden on attorneys who have all of their cases set at 9:00am. I also have a pretrial email attorneys can “virtually appear” to set cases that are not trials for another setting. This frees up attorney time and reduces wait times for everyone by diverting cases that no action, other than scheduling, needs to be taken.

DISTRICT 3 Donte Johnson

William Mallory

ENDORSEMENTS:

EDUCATION:

Hamilton County Democratic Party, Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council, AFSMCE Local 232

AFFILIATIONS: American Judges Association, Ohio Black Judges Association, National Bar Association, Ohio Bar Association, Cincinnati Bar Association, Black Lawyers Association of Cincinnati, Cincinnati NAACP, League of United Latin American Citizens, Allen Temple AME Church POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: All people are entitled to equal access to justice regardless of what they look like, where they come from, who they know, or how much money they have. CAMPAIGN WEBSITE: www.dontejohnsonforjudge.com FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/ donteforjudge TWITTER: @donteforjudge EDUCATION: Howard University, BA; University of Cincinnati, College of Law, JD POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION: Democrat OCCUPATION: Judge EXPERIENCE: Attorney from 2010-2021; Judge since 2021 CANDIDATE’S QUESTION RESPONSES: A1: Prior to being elected Judge, I practiced law for over a decade as a Public Defender, Housing Attorney, and Private Defense Attorney. I fight to ensure equal access to justice for every person accused of a crime, every victim of a crime, and every civil litigant that enters my courtroom. I have a balanced demeanor at all times and I am compassionate, respectful, and open-minded. A2: Throughout history, courts across our country have not effectively dealt with racial, ethnic, and gender bias. In order to combat bias in the judicial system we must elect diverse judges and other officials who have roles within our judicial system. Each individual judge should surround themselves with diverse staff, be open-minded, and not be afraid to take steps to address both conscious and unconscious bias. A3: In my courtroom, I do not require defendants to appear in court for pre-trial hearings, I also allow virtual hearings and when appropriate, attorneys are permitted to call in to the court to schedule cases. I maintain two criminal dockets, starting at 9AM and 11AM, which gives people options for when they need to arrive in court. Additionally, I give parties the necessary time they need to prepare their cases but I only grant continuances for good cause shown.

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Batchelor of Arts- University of Cincinnati Juris Doctorate- Salmon P Chase College of Law

ENDORSEMENTS: Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police, Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council, Ohio AFSCME Power in Action OCCUPATION: Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge EXPERIENCE: Municipal Court Judge- Hamilton County, Ohio, Common Pleas Court Judge- Hamilton County, Ohio Court of Appeals Judge- First District of Ohio POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: Impartial, Competent & Diligent POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION: Endorsed by the Hamilton County Democratic Party CANDIDATE’S QUESTION RESPONSES: A1:I have 28 years of experience as a judge. A2: We must recognize that all persons have personal views and biases. In a court system, we should be aware of instances where biases may influence the administration of justice. Judges are required to engage in continuing judicial education. Included in our education requirements is mandatory judicial conduct training. In my training, I have specifically included training in recognizing and dealing with inherent bias that we all have. Racial, gender, and ethnic biases are not a part of justice A3: The Hamilton County Municipal Court hears a high number of cases daily. The process sometimes appears to be chaotic. It is not. Our courts would be better served if we had more staff who could direct people to the correct courtrooms. We could be more efficient with better staffed and more security checkpoints to get people through security. We keep a daily sign-in at my courtroom for parties and witnesses. It helps keep us organized.

Check Vote411.org for information candidates may have added after print deadline.

DISTRICT 4 Curt Kissinger TWITTER JudgeKissinger OCCUPATION: Municipal Court Judge POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: My judicial philosophy is focused on bringing confidence to the judicial system, ensuring justice, and protecting the community. Timely disposition of cases, transparency, affording all parties the opportunity to be heard, following the rule of law, maintaining a professional judicial temperament, and being firm, but fair, are the fundamental principals I have and will continue to adhere to. ENDORSEMENTS: Fraternal Order of Police, Queen City Lodge #69; Hamilton County Republican Party; Melissa Powers, Hamilton County Prosecutor; Rep. Brad Wenstrup, U.S. Congress FACEBOOK: facebook.com/ keepjudgecurtkissinger AFFILIATIONS: Ohio State Bar Association; Ohio Judicial Conference; Association of Municipal Court Judges; Cincinnati Bar Association; University of Cincinnati Alumni Association, St. Mary Hyde Park Catholic Church EDUCATION: University of Dayton School of Law, J.D. (1990); University of Cincinnati, Bachelor of Arts (1987).; Anderson High School (1983) CAMPAIGN WEBSITE: www. keepkissinger.com EXPERIENCE: Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge (2015-Present); Adjunct Instructor, University of Cincinnati Blue Ash (2013-Present); Hamilton County Juvenile Court, Court Administrator (2011-2015); Rendigs, Fry, Kiely and Dennis, LLC, Litigation Attorney (1995-2011); Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney (1990-1995); Ohio Organized Crime Commission, Special Prosecuting Attorney (1993-1995) ( POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION: Endorsed by the Hamilton County Republican Party CANDIDATE’S QUESTION RESPONSES: A1: I have 32 years experience in the justice system as a judge, court administrator, litigator, and prosecutor. I’ve been a Municipal Court Judge for 8 years and am the Administrative and Presiding Judge of the Court. I preside over a specialized Mental Health Court docket focused on treating individuals with serious mental illness. I’ve proven I’m dedicated to service and the safety of our community, a firm but fair jurist, and highly qualified to continue to serve as a Municipal Court Judge.

A2 “Equal and Exact Justice To All...” is inscribed on the exterior of the Courthouse. As a judge, our Court is dedicated to this principal. The results of the 2020 CourtWatch Report confirms this to be true. Every case has a unique set of facts and circumstances. Deciding cases based on the merits of the evidence presented, and following the rule of law, negates the intervention of bias. Being cognizant of the perception of possible bias serves as a reminder to continue to be fair and impartial. A3: I participated in the CourtWatch assessment and my courtroom was observed. As the report states, the observation was limited to certain courtrooms and non-court personnel, not the Court as a whole, and certainly not my courtroom. Our Court presides over more than 1,200 cases per day. We constantly evaluate improving efficiency, but not at the cost of denying due process. I’d note in 2018, Cuyahoga Co. officials observed our Court concluding HCMC “is a model for equal justice and efficiency.”

Samantha Silverstein OCCUPATION:

I currently serve as a director at the Law Office of the Public Defender and as a Law Professor at the University of Cincinnati.

POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: As a judicial candidate in a non-partisan race who upholds the importance of judicial neutrality, I cannot delve too deeply into my political philosophy. However, as an individual and as a seasoned attorney, I believe everyone should be treated fairly and have access to justice regardless of race, gender, or sex, and feel represented by their elected officials. ENDORSEMENTS: Cincinnati Federation of Teachers, AFL CIO of Greater Cincinnati, AFSCME Ohio Council 8, Iron Workers Local 44, Cincinnati Women’s Political Caucus, Hamilton County Democratic Party, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, National Association of Social Workers FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/ SilversteinforJudge/ AFFILIATIONS: As a judicial candidate in a non-partisan race who upholds the importance of judicial neutrality, I must refrain from disclosing my affiliations. EDUCATION: I graduated from Indiana University Bloomington with my BA and then went on to graduate from DePaul College of Law. CAMPAIGN WEBSITE: Www. ElectSamanthaForJudge.com

EXPERIENCE: My legal career in Ohio began at Legal Aid of Southwest Ohio where I represented low income tenants in housing court, children in school matters, and survivors of domestic violence. I currently serve as a director of the Law Office of the Hamilton County Public Defender. Under my leadership, the office has added social workers to help provide clients with housing, jobs, transportation, and child care. I lead the training initiatives at the Public Defender’s Office, which is recognized as one of the best legal organizations in the city for both lawyers and clients. I have also been a clinical professor at University of Cincinnati College of Law since 2017. POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION: As a judicial candidate in a non-partisan race who upholds the importance of judicial neutrality, I cannot disclose my personal political affiliation. I am endorsed by the Hamilton County Democratic Party.

CANDIDATE’S QUESTION RESPONSES: A1: Trial skills- As both a seasoned practitioner of dozens of jury trials and a law professor, I‘ve mastered trial skills. I will fairly and efficiently enforce the rules. Leadership skills- As a director at the Public Defender’s office I recruit, train, and manage dozens of new attorneys, and played the lead role in bringing the Bail Project to Cincinnati. Values- I live my values through my work by serving those most in need: children, survivors of domestic violence, and indigent people. A2: We can, should, and need to do better as a court system. I hope to prevent bias by keeping and releasing data that tracks my decisions based on race, gender, ethnicity, age, and charge. I will not shy away from learning and seeking training about my own biases and addressing systemic biases in my decisions. It is important to address these systemic issues openly so plaintiffs, defendants, and victims know they received justice and were not judged because of their race, ethnicity, or gender. A3: Access to lawyers- This will reduce missed court appearances and confusion. Public defenders should be assigned at or before the first court date. We should expand access to legal advice in eviction and small claims cases, so plaintiffs and defendants can make well informed decisions. Diversion- Revamp the License Intervention Program, so that it is accessible and takes advantage of new amnesty programs so more traffic cases can be diverted out of court and more people are licensed and insured

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DISTRICT 5

Brad Greenberg OCCUPATION: Municipal Court Judge

EXPERIENCE: 17 years as Hamilton County Municipal Court judge preceded by 12 years as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Hamilton County. ENDORSEMENTS: Fraternal Order of Police, Queen City Lodge No. 69. AFFILIATIONS: Wise Temple POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: Politics do not belong in the courtroom. FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/ JudgeGreenberg TWITTER: @JudgeGreenberg EDUCATION: J. D. University of Virginia School of Law; B. A. The Ohio State University Political Party Affiliation: Republican CANDIDATE’S QUESTION RESPONSES: A1: I strive to be fair, decisive, empathetic, consistent, transparent and a good listener. A2: I have zero tolerance for racial, ethnic or gender discrimination in the courtroom, by any courtroom staff or by court employees. I make decisions based solely on the facts of the case and the applicable law. A3: My courtroom operates efficiently because my bailiff and I work together to set cases quickly, limit continuances and reduce waiting times. In addition, I am an active participant in the settlement of criminal and civil cases.

AFTER YOU VOTE...

Voting is not the final step but a starting point for taking an active part in government. Hold your elected officials accountable by asking questions, attending meetings and speaking out about the issues important to you and your family. We don’t have to go to Washington, DC. We can be heard from here.

2023 HAMILTON COUNTY VOTER GUIDE

DISTRICT 6

Bernie Bouchard OCCUPATION: Judge Hamilton County Municipal Court

EXPERIENCE: 17 years as Municipal Court Judge, 4 years Juvenile Court Magistrate, 7 years Assistant Prosecutor ENDORSEMENTS: FOP Lodge #69, Hamilton County Republican Party POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: Conservative CAMPAIGN WEBSITE: Judgebernie.com EDUCATION: BSBA Xavier University, MBA Xavier University, JD Ohio Northern University CANDIDATE’S QUESTION RESPONSES: A1: Honesty, integrity and fairness. I have 28 years of experience as a lawyer and 17 years as a Judge, 4 years as a Juvenile Court Magistrate and

7 as an Assistant Prosecutor. Every day of my legal career I have been in court. This experience allows me to decide cases based on the law and the facts before me. Every person and every case deserves to be decided with fairness and without bias. A2: As a Judge, I took an oath to be impartiaI. I take that very seriously. I firmly believe that our judicial system has procedural safeguards that guarnatee fairness and impartiality for all parties involved. In my courtroom, I strive to eliminate any traces of racial, gender, or ethnic bias by approaching each case with objectivity. Upholding the principle that all individuals are equal under the law is my utmost commitment, and my decisions reflect this fundamental. A3: Municipal Court deals with misdemeanors and traffic tickets. It is high volume. Many things must be in order for criminal case to be heard. Witnesses and police officers most be present. Discovery for both sides must be complete. Plea bargaining occurs depending on what parties are present. This all take time and should not be rushed. Furthermore, all cases are set at 9:00 AM to allow third shift officers to get home and get some sleep and to get other shift officers back on the street.

How to find info on Judicial Candidates Voters often don’t have much information about judicial candidates. Because most citizens do not routinely interact with judges in their communities, they tend to know very little about how judges conduct themselves in the course of doing their jobs. In addition, state rules do not allow judicial candidates to discuss their views on controversial issues because judges must be impartial on the bench. It is important for voters to understand the role of the courts and the important qualities to consider when evaluating judicial candidates. To learn about candidates for judge in your area consider reading candidates’ campaign literature, visiting campaign websites, and talking with people who know the candidates, including practicing attorneys. The League of Women Voters of Ohio again this year joins the Ohio State Bar Association, the Bliss Institute for Applied Politics at the University of Akron, the Ohio Newspaper Association and Ohio Broadcasters Association in a statewide, nonpartisan, online judicial voter’s guide at www.judicialvotescount.org. In order to make a decision, when voting on judicial candidates, consider the answers to the following questions: •

To what extent has the candidate practiced in the area(s) of law the court handles?

•

What work or other experience has the candidate had that will particularly qualify the candidate to perform the duties of a judge on this court?

•

What is the candidate’s legal philosophy? Political philosophy?

•

Consider the candidate’s integrity, judicial temperament, and level of commitment to public service and the administration of justice.

•

Also, consider who is paying for any advertising about any particular judicial election. For our democracy to function, judges must carry out their tasks impartially and independently. Judges’ decisions should not follow public opinion or promote special interests or even reflect their personal beliefs.

Judges’ decisions should be based on facts and law. This judicial impartiality protects fair trials and upholds the rule of law.

DISTRICT 7

Jackie Ginocchio OCCUPATION: Hamilton County Municipal Judge

Q2: How important for the schools are diversity, equity and inclusion? Would you propose any changes in the schools’ policies on these issues? (500 character limit) Q3: What programs do you support to further a partnership among parents, teachers, students, and administrators? (500 character limit)

Fred Hunt

ENDORSEMENTS: FOP CAMPAIGN WEBSITE: keepjudgeginocchio.com FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/ judgejackieginocchio/

NOT PICTURED

CANDIDATE’S QUESTION RESPONSES: No response

EDUCATION: Indiana University BA. Ohio Northern University JD EXPERIENCE: 6 years judicial experience, 10 years litigating cases as a prosecutor

Melody StaudtDargis

CANDIDATE’S QUESTION RESPONSES: A1: I have 6 years of judicial experience. Prior to being on the bench, I litigated the same type of cases for 10 years as a prosecutor. A2: Judicial ethics require judges to decide cases based solely on the law and facts presented. I treat all parties, witnesses and attorneys with respect regardless of their circumstance. I am strictly prohibited from taking race, ethnicity or gender into account when deciding cases. A3: They reported long waits for attorneys and much time spent granting continuances or issuing warrants when the defendant is not present as the reason for inefficiency in Muni Court. It was found that attorneys had to be in up to 5 different courtrooms to represent up to 10 defendants. As judge, I can’t dictate the number of cases a defense attorney carries or when they schedule their cases. However, I do exercise grace with the parties and their attorneys knowing that everyone has busy lives.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFO: No response

POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: Board members of HCESC are non-partisan EDUCATION: Finneytown High School Graduated 1968 EXPERIENCE: Worked at HCESC for 35 years from processing report cards for 7 school districts to doing Payroll for over 900 employees. OCCUPATION: Retired CANDIDATE’S QUESTION RESPONSES: A1: I have served as an HCESC Governing Board Member in the past and would like to continue as a member for the next 4 years. I feel that I can bring my experience to the table after working at HCESC for 35 ye ars. I can evaluate the current issues, weigh the pros & cons and, with flexibility, try to do what is best for the schools and our children who attend them. I research current issues from all sides. I have an open mind which helps me respect every opinion and to come to logical decisions.

A2: Hamilton County Educational HAMILTON COUNTY Service Center has no students. EDUCATIONAL SERVICE As an HCESC Board member, I will support the excellent administration CENTER - GOVERNING and qualifications that our Special Education teachers have. HCESC has BOARD MEMBER expanded because our reputation

TERM: 4 years

2 CANDIDATES TO BE ELECTED

DESCRIPTION: Composed of seven

local school districts. Services are designed to strengthen the resources of school districts in those areas where it is economical, efficient, and effective to do so.

proves that we only hire excellent, wellqualified employees for the schools. A3: We have a reputation of sending Special Education teachers to the districts when they are in need. I will work with the Board to retain our educators for their outstanding performance.

QUESTIONS: Q1: What talents, skills, experience, and personal qualities do you have to contribute to make the school board effective? (500 character limit)

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CINCINNATI CITY COUNCIL MEMBER OF COUNCIL AT LARGE TERM: 4 years 9 CANDIDATES TO BE ELECTED QUESTIONS: Q1: What are your 3 priorities for Cincinnati City Council? If you are an incumbent, have your priorities changed since being a Council member? (500 character limit) Q2: Do you plan to return the city earnings tax to 2020 levels? If no, why not? If yes, how would you spend the income? (500 character limit) Q3: Some suggest that to improve public safety Cincinnati must address holistic issues such as housing, transportation, jobs, health care, youth programs, etc. Do you agree? What are your priorities for improving public safety? (500 character limit) Q4: Do you have ideas to increase the percentage of residents who participate in recycling? Would you consider expanding free collection to apartments with more than 4 units? (500 character limit)

Anna M. Albi Occupation: Senior Strategic

Communication Consultant Experience: Local group lead for Moms Demand Action; elected officer of Madisonville Community Council; Vice President of Hamilton County Young Democrats; Voter Registration Advocate for Ohio Young Democrats; Ward Chair and Precinct Executive for the Hamilton County Democratic Party; 2023 Fellow for the New Leaders Council for Southwest Ohio Endorsements: Hamilton County Democratic Party, AFL-CIO, Cincinnati Women’s Political Caucus, EverytownEndorsed Gun Sense Candidate, Matriots

A4: We should do everything we can to expand and increase recycling in the City of Cincinnati. I would be open to assessing the feasibility of including additional residential dwellings in the recycling program, as well as making recycling pickup weekly if the data supports such a need. I also believe we should look into increasing the number of recycling cans throughout the City like how we have public trash cans readily available.

Occupation: City of Cincinnati City Council

Political philosophy: Progressive Democrat Campaign website: www.albiforcincinnati.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile. php?id=100092159718234 Twitter: Anna_Albi Education: B.A. in Creative and Professional Writing and M.A. in Professional Writing from Carnegie Mellon University; Summit Country Day

A2: I anxiously await the report from the Cincinnati Futures Commission to help provide a roadmap for fostering a growing & equitable Cincinnati. The findings of the Futures Commission will help us lay the foundation for economic growth & fiscal sustainability over the next decade. In the face of a looming deficit & roughly $500 million in deferred maintenance costs, it’s clear that we must take action to ensure our City can continue to grow & thrive. A3: In addition to tackling gun violence, housing & healthcare, fostering safe communities means we should invest in: •Community Programs - Expand the

want to accomplish as a city. 2) Infrastructure 3) Working with the Mayor’s Housing Advisory Committee to come up with a housing playbook and providing the resources to increase the number of housing units. We need to grow our city’s population. A2: I would be open to returning the city’s if there was a specific and well thought proposal. A3: Housing is critically important and will solve a multitude of problems. We can do more to create youth jobs, especially green jobs, such as removing invasive species. Alternative Response Crisis Teams need to be expanded and our the best way to deal with homeless, mental health, addiction issues. This frees police up to deal with serious crime and traffic enforcement.

A4: A critical component of our recycling program is being able to accept Jeff food waste. These would increase Cramerding engagement and I would support.

Affiliations: Hamilton County Democratic Party

CANDIDATE’S QUESTION RESPONSES: A1: •Gun Violence - Pass gun safety ordinances; increase gun safety education; expand PIVOT & ARC; invest in violence interruption & survivor support; host a gun buy-back • Wages- Pay prevailing wages on City projects; invest in minority & womenowned businesses by providing access to capital; expand Career Pathways program & support apprenticeship programs •Housing - Change restrictive zoning for easier production; build more mixeduse & mixed-income developments; increase funding for Homebase

Boots on the Ground Fund & Safe & Clean Fund; increase funding for Invest in Neighborhoods to support community councils; increase youth programming through CRC •Fresh Food - Grow our partnership with Greater Cincinnati Regional Food Policy Council; expand Neighborhood (Food) Buying Clubs to make healthy, local choices available across the City

Experience: He was a legislative aide to Councilmember Todd Portune and has been involved in numerous candidate and issue campaigns. Jeff has also served as a volunteer and board member with the Multi- Neighborhood Housing Task Force, Kids Voting of Southwest Ohio, the United Way, the CCAT house (Center for Chemical and Alcohol Treatment), and the Parks Foundation. Endorsements: Hamilton County Democratic Party, Cincinnati AFL-CIO, Realtors PAC, Ironworkers 44, Laborers Local 265, Plumbers Pipe Fitters & M.E.S. Local 392 PAC, OEC Affiliations: Hamilton County Democratic Party Political Philosophy: Our country and our city face difficult times that require difficult decisions. As a proven advocate, Jeff is running to bring strong leadership to city council in order to tackle our cities toughest issues. He understands that in order to move Cincinnati forward and restore the pride in the city government, city council should be a civic duty. It should not be a stepping stone to higher office. Campaign Website: jeffcramerding. com Facebook: www.facebook.com/ CramerdingforCouncil Twitter: cramerding_jeff Education: University of Cincinnati Candidate’s Question Responses: A1: 1) Balancing the city budget. The city’s budget has been structurally unbalanced for approximately 10 years. I look forward to working with the Cincinnati’s Futures Commission to make this a reality. A sound budget is the foundation for everything we

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Reggie Harris Occupation: Consultant Experience: Senior Fellow, Children’s Funding Project; Consultant, EJP Consulting; Director of Community Life - OH/IN, The Community Builders; Lead Social Worker, Lighthouse Youth and Family Services; Therapist, Central Clinic Child and Adolescent Counseling Center Endorsements: Hamilton County Democratic Party, National Association of Social Workers, Ohio Environment Council, Sierra Club, AFSCME Ohio Council 8, AFL-CIO, The Realtors, Victory Fund, Moms Demand Action Affiliations: National Association of Social Workers Political Philosophy: Fundamentally, I am a progressive pragmatist. My office does what we can, with what we have, while continuing to push the boundaries for what is possible. We use creative, collaborative problem-solving to imagine Cincinnati’s potential, then roll up our sleeves, and do the tough work it takes to get there. Campaign Website: www. reggieforcincinnati.com/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/ ReggieForCincinnati Twitter: HeyReggieHarris Education: Bachelor of Liberal Studies, Roosevelt University; Master of Social Work, Boston University Candidate’s Question Responses: A1: 3 of my top priorities are and have remained: 1. Housing; 2. Increasing black and minority participation in economic development; 3. Expanding and Protecting lived and legal

2023 HAMILTON COUNTY VOTER GUIDE

Reggie Harris continued A2: This Council and Mayor tasked the Cincinnati Futures Commission to conduct an in-depth analysis of our revenues, expenses, and internal practices and make recommendations to return the City to a fiscally balanced budget. While I believe we should not make any commitments before these recommendations, we have an unfunded pension, $500MM in deferred maintenance, underfunded City departments, and are in the midst of a housing crisis. We must be ready to take bold action to address these problems. A3: I agree. This past budget, I championed funding for a Guaranteed Income Pilot, Child Savings Accounts, Medical Debt Relief, and youth programming because access to resources is a determiner of public safety outcomes. Additionally, we need to improve our built environment. This council has funded pedestrian safety funding in historic amounts, and the Connected Communities reform I am leading will end decades of discriminatory housing policy and put people closer to work, transit, and amenities. A4: We need to continue efforts to expand our recycling program and make recycling as accessible as possible to reduce the impact on our landfills. I would consider and support improved and accessible collection efforts for multi-family residences. I have also prioritized the renovation of existing buildings over teardowns in our housing incentives, which is vital because housing debris is one of the largest contributors to our landfills.

Mark Jeffreys Occupation: Mark is the Founder and CEO of 4Sight - a data analytics company & elected member of Cincinnati City Council. He also serves on the board of OKI Experience: Mark started out as a janitor. He had a union job to earn his way through college. After college he worked for 3 years on Capitol Hill before taking at job with USDEC working in Asia. After business school he spent 17 years at P&G managing brands like Pampers and Gillette before leaving 5 years ago to start his own company, 4Sight. Along the way he started a non-profit, go Vibrant, and serves as a Trustee on Clifton Town Meeting & the Cincinnati Parks Foundation Boards. In November 2021, Mark was elected to serve on Cincinnati City Council Endorsements: Hamilton County Democratic Party; Sierra Club; Ohio Environmental Action; Cincinnati AFL-

CIO; AFSCME; Moms Demand Action; Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police; Laborers Local 265; Realtor Alliance of Greater Cincinnati; Building Trades; Ironworkers Local 44; IBEW Local 212; IAFF Local 48 Affiliations: Hamilton County Democratic Party Political Philosophy: Mark grew up working poor and on food stamps, the son of an immigrant. HIs political philosophy is guided by his value that we all succeed through the help of others - a Network of Support. In Mark’s case that was a union that enabled him to earn money for his college tuition and his parents who gave Mark opportunity. The role of government is to help provide a network of support for those who don’t have it so they too have equal opportunity to live to their full potential Campaign Website: www.votejeffreys. com/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/settings ?tab=profile&section=username Twitter: jeffreysms Education: BA History, University of Chicago with Honors MBA, Georgetown Candidate’s Question Responses: A1: Safer, Cleaner, Greener. Everything starts with safety. Feeling safe walking without fear of being hit by a driver of a car or guns. Cleaner means cleaning up litter, removing lead paint & pipes, and ensuring clean water and air. Greener is not only about protecting our greenspace, but also about expanding public transit and trails for transportation and building more housing that is affordable & promoting greener jobs. These priorities are building blocks to a growing and thriving city. A2: With $500 million in deferred maintenance, less earnings tax from remote work & projected 8-figure deficits, we must have a structurally balanced budget. That starts by operating in the most efficient way possible without sacrificing service. The Cincinnati Future’s Commission is making recommendations on that in early 2024. That may not be enough though, in which case we may need to look to earnings tax to cover gaps at some point. But it is premature to consider until that work is done. A3: Definitely. Public safety needs a holistic approach. My priorities: (1) pedestrian safety - the #1 issue in all surveys in the city; (2) reduce gun violence especially among youth through a comprehensive approach including funding the gun intelligence unit, youth recreation & job training, targeted police presence in hot spots, etc. Third, addressing root causes by increasing public & active transit options, building more affordable housing & providing support needed to those in need. A4: This starts by building out an organics facility in the county so residents can separate their trash

by organics, recycled & garbage. Ultimately the best way to incentivize more recycling is to charge only for weight of garbage (and not recycling & organics). In the interim though, we need to educate people on recycling & consider expanding free collection to apt with more than 4 units. With 40% of Rumpke landfill waste being materials that could be recycled, these changes are imperative.

Scotty Johnson Occupation: City of Cincinnati City Council Experience: Cincinnati Police Department for 33 years Endorsements: OEC, Realtors PAC, Cincinnati FOP, Laborers Local 265, Cincinnati AFL-CIO, Hamilton County Democratic Party Affiliations: Hamilton County Democratic Party Political Philosophy: Scotty Johnson is a lifelong Cincinnatian who has spent his career in public service of the city that he loves. At a young age, Scotty’s father taught him to “always stand up for what you believe in, even if it means standing alone” Over the course of a 33-year career with the Cincinnati Police Department as a beat cop, school resource officer, SWAT negotiator, or public liaison, Scotty never wavered in his commitment to integrity. Scotty was one of the initial Community Oriented Policing (COPs) officers in 1989 and began a long career being a bridge builder between the police department and the community, including social services, schools, and housing resources. Campaign Website: www. scottyforcincinnati.com/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile. php?id=100090592426138 Twitter: ScottyJforCincy Education: Mr. Johnson graduated from Woodward High School and Bowling Green State University with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Law, minoring in Psychology. He also attained certification in Race Relations from Harvard University. Candidate’s Question Responses: A1: 1. Housing (affordable) yes, we have to put more money in the affordable housing trust, in history of the city 2. crimes and violence - violent crime is down 8% overall including homicides 8.5% reduction 3. employment - we are working on providing internships through city employment, police, fine cadets, building inspections! A2: We are exploring all options when it comes to the housing initiative on the ballot. That would force council to vote on possibility of using that money to fund the housing initiative.

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A3: I believe housing and crime are directly related. We must continue to provide housing (affordable) whenever possible. Crime is an ongoing initiative that must be addressed through education, employment and opportunities. A4: We want to continue to make Cincinnati as green as possible. Possibly providing incentives to neighborhoods that recycle the most. I am proud to support and promote any of these initiatives.

JanMichele Lemon Kearney Occupation: Vice Mayor of the City of Cincinnati, Business Owner, Attorney, Realtor Experience: President & CEO of Sesh Communications, a multi-media publishing company (owner of The Cincinnati Herald); partner in Kearney & Kearney LPA; Mom of two wonderful children Endorsements: Hamilton County Democratic Party, Matriots, Moms Demand Action, Cincinnati Women’s Political Caucus, Ohio Environmental Council, AFSCME 8, Realtor Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, AFL-CIO Cincinnati Council, FOP 69 Affiliations: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., The Cincinnati Chapter of the Links, Inc., NAACP, YWCA, Cincinnati Zoo Board Political Philosophy: It’s the job of public servants to take every step to continually improve their community, ensuring equitable outcomes for all they serve. Promoting a culture of community engagement so residents have a voice in decisions affecting them & their communities; increasing economic opportunity by making sure minority & women developers & contractors can participate in the large infrastructure projects; training/ workforce & career development so our young people have hope & a positive path forward; increasing affordable housing & homeownership to build generational wealth; promoting the housing first model to eradicate homelessness, & getting to the root causes of the gun violence epidemic are all measures that will create a more prosperous city. Campaign Website: www.kearneyforcincinnati.com/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/ KearneyForCincinnati Twitter: KearneyForCincy Education: B.A.- Dartmouth College, Masters in psychology and law degree - Harvard University

Jan-Michele Lemon Kearneycontinued Candidate’s Question Responses: A1: As Healthy Neighborhoods Chair, I continue to work for safe, healthy, thriving neighborhoods. Priorities: 1. Increasing affordable housing, including homeownership for low to moderate income families; 2. Equitable economic opportunities for women and minority owned businesses; 3. Attacking root causes of gun violence (economic, health, housing, and education disparities), and creating traumainformed policies. A2: Our Futures Commission of business leaders, labor leaders, and residents are studying how to increase revenue so that we can meet all of our City’s essential needs as we face a huge revenue gap. I will review their report, due at the end of the year, and other sources including community engagement before considering a change in tax rates. A3: Yes. We’re working to increase affordable housing (about $80 million in aff. hous. trust funds), jobs/careers for youth, mentorships, & access to physical and mental healthcare. Also need strategy that deals directly with the active shooters, and commonsense gun laws to close loopholes in background checks, for example. A4: We need funding to provide free access to recycling programs for residents of 5-plus unit buildings, and more recycle centers that are able to recycle many of the products currently rejected in the City’s program. We must correct the current problems we have with yard waste recycling, and provide better recycling education to decrease contamination from food or other products.

Liz Keating Occupation: Cincinnati City Council / Marketing Director - Jim Stengel Co Experience: I have been a member of Cincinnati City Council for nearly three years, serving on Budget, Public Safety, and Equitable Housing Committees. I also currently serve as the Marketing Director for The Jim Stengel Company, a consultancy and think tank. I serve as a volunteer lifeguard for Cincinnati Recreation Center pools. I am the only mother with young children in the City Council race.

volunteered for numerous organizations that serve our community - Cincinnati Cancer Center, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Cincinnati, Cincinnati USA Women’s Sports Association, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra Encore, and Read Aloud 15 Minutes Cincinnati. Political Philosophy: As a member of City Council, I am 100% committed to the local issues facing the City of Cincinnati. My work and my decisions are centered on my main objective: ensuring that every child in our city has a roof over their head, food on their table, a safe neighborhood to live, and equal opportunities for future success. Campaign Website: votelizkeating.com Facebook: facebook.com/votelizkeating Twitter: votelizkeating Education: UCLA - International Relations

Candidate’s Question Responses: A1: I am focused on Public Safety, Basic Services, and Housing. These priorities have remained the same throughout my nearly three years on Council. I will continue to work hard to ensure that every child in this city has a roof over their head, food on their table, a safe neighborhood to live, and equal opportunities for future success. A2: I do not believe that now is the time to raise taxes. The cost of basic needs has increased significantly post-Covid; housing costs have skyrocketed; and families are hurting. We need to ensure that more of our paychecks are going home and not towards higher tax payments. A3: I agree. As a member of council, I have been committed to fighting for smart gun legislation focused on keeping guns out of the hands of our youth. This is a key piece in protecting our kids and ensuring our neighborhoods are safe. I am a big advocate for our city rec centers and I serve as a volunteer lifeguard at our city pools. I have championed the expansion of childcare and youth programming so our kids have safe, healthy, fun, and productive A4: This year I led a hackathon project to drive innovation in the city’s recycling program called ReThink: Recycling. The city partnered with the startup community and corporate partners to find more ways to increase recycling in multi-family homes and apartment buildings. We are working to implement some of these new ideas to increase recycling participation, drive efficiencies, and create a healthier environment throughout all of our 52 neighborhoods.

Endorsements: Matriots, Fraternal Order of Police Queen City Lodge 69, Cincinnati Fire Fighters Union Local 48, Ohio AFSCME Power in Action, Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund, Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate Distinction

Greater Cincinnati Voter Collaborative offers community FREE RIDES TO THE POLLS to vote early, drop off an absentee ballot or vote on election day.

Affiliations: I’ve served on the boards of Honor Flight Tri-State, Cincinnati ParaSwim Open, and Talbert House. I have

visit cincyvotes.org or call 513-204-9743.

Meeka D. Owens Occupation: City Councilmember Experience: My background is in organizational development consulting, small business ownership, and community organizing. Endorsements: Pro-Choice Ohio, Sierra Club, Hamilton County Democratic Party, Mom’s Demand Action, Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund, Cincinnati Women’s Political Caucus, AFSCME, Cincinnati AFL-CIO, Plumbers/ Pipefitters Local 392, Realtor Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, Greater Cincinnati Northern Kentucky Apartment Association Affiliations: UMADAOP Board Member/ MUSE Women’s Choir/YWCA Rising Stars/ Past Board Member Women Helping Women, YWCA, MUSE, and Make-A-Wish Political Philosophy: Strong, progressive, data-driven, solutions-oriented Democrat Campaign Website: votemeeka.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/ votemeeka Twitter: meekaowens1 Education: Miami University (BS), Xavier (Masters) Candidate’s Question Responses: A1: 1. Increasing and expanding affordable housing access 2. Ensuring that infrastructure development is equitable and environmentally sustainable, including leading on the recommendations from the Green Cincinnati Plan 3. Curbing gun violence through effective humans services delivery, policies and legislation A2: Currently, 70% of the budget is from earnings tax and the pandemic disrupted our earnings tax revenue. If we want to see growth post pandemic we have to have a growth mindset. We need to make decisions that will help attract people to Cincinnati. These investments need to be around housing, investing in startups; particularly as it relates to tech, green tech and innovation, improving infrastructure and connectivity, and by achieving the lofty goals of the Green Cincinnati Plan. A3: I am proud to say that the first piece of legislation I introduced (and passed unanimously by council and supported by Mayor Aftab) in City Hall was to declare gun violence a public health crisis- because it is. When I think about improving public safety, I think in terms of systems approach. We need to get intentional about the communities where gun violence is occurring. How we provide resources to communities as it relates to making budget decisions is a part of that as well.

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A4: I would be in favor of free collection for apartments of more than 4 units. This is a core priority recommendation of the Green Cincinnati Plan: to reduce waste and make our waste streams more efficient. We have a huge opportunity in front of us to continue to decrease tonnage to the landfill, but it starts with behavior change. I believe we need to leverage partnerships and resources that will help residents understand the value of waste reduction through recycling.

WHAT ASSISTANCE IS AVAILABLE FOR VOTERS WITH DISABILITIES? State and federal law require election officials to provide the following types of assistance: • Curb-side voting – Voters who have mobility difficulties can request curb-side voting. A pair of poll workers will bring a paper ballot out to your car, so you can vote without having to go inside the polling location. • Assistance inside the polls – Who can help: - Voters are entitled to assistance from a person of their choice. But assistance is NOT permitted from the voter’s employer, the employer’s agent, the voter’s union representative, or a candidate who is on your ballot – because the law prohibits these individuals influencing your vote. - Voters can also receive assistance from two poll workers (one from each party). • Accessible voting machines - Every polling location is required to have a special accessible voting machine with options for audio ballots, Braille touch pads, large print/zoom features, and height and tilt adjustments on the screens. When you arrive at your polling location, please let the poll workers know you prefer to use the ADA accessible voting machine. • Absentee voting – All voters in Ohio are eligible to vote by mail-in absentee ballot. You will need to submit an absentee ballot request form to your county Board of Elections before the deadline, and they will mail you an absentee ballot so you can vote from home.

2023 HAMILTON COUNTY VOTER GUIDE

Victoria Parks Occupation: Cincinnati City Council member Experience: Chief of Staff to Commissioner Todd Portune, Hamilton County Commissioner, Cincinnati City Councilmember Endorsements: Hamilton County Democratic Party, Matriots, Cincinnati Women’s Political Caucus, AFL-CIO, Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund Political Philosophy: Democratic Campaign Website: voteparks.com Twitter: Victoria4Cincy Candidate’s Question Responses: A1: My top three priorities are increasing access to affordable housing, improving racial equity, and keeping communities safe. Being on Council has only reaffirmed my commitment to these priorities and while I am proud of the work I have done, I know there is still much more to do. A2: In a few months the Cincinnati Futures Commission is going to release their report on the city’s finances and how we are to address our deficit. Until we have a better idea of the financial state of the city I cannot give a definitive answer to this question. A3: I absolutely agree. One of the best ways to reduce violence is through helping people lead fulfilling lives. If they have stable housing, good jobs, and know that they have a future, they are much less likely to commit acts of violence. Improving people’s general welfare is one of my highest priorities. A4: Protecting the environment for our children is of the utmost importance. The Green Cincinnati Plan, passed by this Council, is a great plan for a cleaner future. I am interested in any ideas to expand recycling collection.

Seth Walsh Occupation: Cincinnati City Council Member Experience: I started my career as Executive Director of Sedamsville’s CDC. Sedamsville led me to College Hill, where I have served for seven year. Endorsements: Cincinnati Democratic Committee, Cincinnati AFL-CIO, Ohio AFSCME Power in Action, Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund, Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 392, Greater Cincinnati Northern Kentucky Apartment Association, Miami Group Sierra Club Executive Committee,

International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6 Affiliations: Democratic Party Political Philosophy: My mantra is “52 Thrive.” This is more than a catchy slogan-- it embodies the collective aspirations of communities everywhere. It signifies the belief that every Cincinnati neighborhood has the potential to thrive and realize its dreams, regardless or its size or location. Campaign Website: sethwalshforcincinnati. com Facebook: www.facebook.com/ SethWalshforCincinnati Twitter: SethTWalsh Education: I graduated from Xavier University in 2013 with a bachelors in political science. While at Xavier, I served as Student Body President. Candidate’s Question Responses: A1: Since I started on Council in December 2022, my top 3 priorities have been equitable community development, affordable housing, and small business support. I believe in truly centering community as we work together to build thriving neighborhoods. This includes finding ways to build new units of affordable housing and to maintain naturally occurring affordable units as neighborhoods develop. It is also critical that we support small businesses and ensure they have the opportunity to thrive. A2: No, I do not plan to return the city earnings tax to 2020 levels. I believe the Cincinnati Futures Commission report will lay the groundwork for whether a tax increase is needed in the immediate future or if more strategic decisions should be taken in the City. I would consider raising the City earnings tax only if it was part of a larger plan to create a long-term balanced budget for the City and allow for needed development to in our neighborhoods. A3: I completely agree, and affordable housing is one of my top priorities on City Council. Having affordable housing throughout the city improves public safety and allows our 52 neighborhoods to thrive. During my time at CHCURC, we led the production and preservation of 100+ units of muchneeded affordable housing in College Hill. Effective public transportation that connects affordable housing with good jobs and good schools goes hand-inhand with public safety and community development. A4: Yes, I would consider expanding free collection to apartments with more than 4 units. In collaboration with some of my colleagues, I have continuously supported the Green Cincinnati Plan which includes sweeping measures to increase recycling for multifamily buildings, public events, and neighborhood business districts. Increasing recycling participation moves Cincinnati towards becoming a greener, healthier, thriving city.

CINCINNATI CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBER TERM: 4 years

DESCRIPTION: The board is a policymaking body, but exercises only those powers delegated to it by state law. It chooses its own officers. QUESTIONS: Q1: What talents, skills, experience, and personal qualities do you have to contribute to make the school board effective? (500 character limit) Q2: How important for the schools are diversity, equity and inclusion? Would you propose any changes in the schools’ policies on these issues? (500 character limit) Q3: What programs do you support to further a partnership among parents, teachers, students, and administrators? (500 character limit)

Eve C. Bolton

Secondary Efucation

Education: BA in Political Science from the College of Wooster. Ohio Teaching License in

Campaign Website: www.facebook. com/EveBoltonCPS Affiliations: Democratic Party Political Philosophy: As my hero Representative Barbara Jordan said in 1974 “ My faith in the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total.” I also believe that in America, citizens are obligated to advocate for ever widening opportunities to make true the promise of America. But as Lincoln expressed; “ The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do at all, or cannot so well do, for themselves - in their separate, and individual capacities.” Endorsements: Democratic Party, Cincinnati Womens Political Caucus, Cincinnati Federation of Teachers, AFSCME, AFL CIO Experience: CPS School Board, Hamilton County Recorder and Mt. Healthy City Council Occupation: Retired Teacher

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Candidate’s Question Responses: A1: I care not who gets credit as long as things get done. Personally I have institutional knowledge of CPS and proven political skills in and beyond CPS. I understand how to find common ground, build consensus around ideas and make difficult choices. And there are hard choices ahead. I believe using our new Strategic Plan, our community’s values and the Boards vision, we can make the best decisions; worthy of our 200 years of history and relevant to an ever demanding and diversifying CPS future. A2: DIVERSITY is the District’s reality, dilemma and mightiest strength. INCLUSION is a fundamental right of our children and teens. It is also a positive and wholesome teaching strategy to be embraced in the urban setting with vigor and rigorous expectations in all of our schoolhouses. For 15 years the Board and our taxpayers have built the capacity to know and deliver needed resources to each of our students. In the simplest of terms, that is EQUITY and it has been adopted as Board Policy 2255. A3: There are already structures for site based collaborative participation and decision making at our schools. What we lack are fully developed PTAs at all schools. That must be priority one. Secondly improvement in technology for teachers and parents to communicate regarding their student’s ongoing status and possible obstacles ahead is needed. At the district level, I would like board meetings to be redesigned to be more interactive, informative, and transparent so board action is understandable.

Bryan Cannon Education: BS in Physical Education from The University of Rhode Island, MS In Eductional Leadership/ Human Resources Development from Towson University, ABD in Urban Educational Leadership, from Clark Atlanta University Facebook: www.facebook.com/ bryancannonforcps/ Campaign Website: www. bryancannonforcps.org/ Affiliations: Mt. Healthy Teacher Association, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., Ohio Superintendents License, Military Veteran Political Philosophy: Democracy Endorsements: None Experience: 32 years of educational experience, 22 as a school administrator, 11 as a teacher Occupation: Teacher

Bryan Cannon continued Candidate’s Question Responses: A1: Talent- School Turnaround Skills-Consensus Building, Collaborating with Stakeholders Conflict Resolution, Increase Student Achievement, Experience-33 year Ed Veteran 22 Years as a principal, 11 years Teaching PQ-Relational, Honest, Caring A2: Diversity, equity, and inclusion are crucial for schools as they promote a positive learning environment and prepare students for the diverse world they will navigate. CPS Board created an amazing policy regarding diversity and inclusion in 2016. I wouldn’t propose any changes to that policy; however, I would start by enforcing it in order to cultivate cultural competence, foster inclusion, distribute resources equitably so that students have what they need to be successful. A3: I support and encourage active LSDMC’s, parent education programs, student-led conferences, mentorship programs, collaborative decision-making forums, and regular communication channels such as newsletters, emails, and online platforms to keep parents, teachers, students, and administrators informed. It’s equally important to encourage ongoing dialogue, active participation, and mutual respect among all parties involved to foster a strong partnership in the best interest of the students.

Benjamin Lindy Twitter: BenjaminLindy

(JD)

Education: Yale College (BA), Yale Law School

Candidate’s Question Responses: A1: First, I bring 20 years of highly relevant professional experience in public education (e.g., as a teacher, administrator, board member, board president). Second, I have strong personal ties here (e.g., I am a CPS alum, CPS dad, and CPS tax-payer). A2: These are critical components of a strong education. We need to ensure that all students feel affirmed for who they are, even as we challenge them to learn how to work alongside people who are quite different. The future of our democracy depends on us getting this right! Because CPS already has strong policies in place here (e.g., our equity policy and our anti-racism policy), the best role that our board can play is to ensure that those policies are being followed. A3: The most important criterion for me in supporting or not supporting a program is whether it leads to measurable improvements for students. As our administration proposes investments for CPS, this is the criterion I use to drive my decisions. More specifically, I think there is strong research behind investments in early childhood education, high-quality curricula, mental health supports, and apprenticeship programs for high school students.

Education: Bachelor of Science Degree from University of Cincinnati, Master of Arts Degree from Xavier University Facebook: www.facebook.com/ KendraMappForSchoolBoard Campaign Website: www. mappforschoolboard.com

Political Philosophy: My political philosophy about education is, “When we ensure that students and staff feel Safe, Secure, and Valued, it yields expanded learning Opportunities, increased Academic Outcomes, and positive investments throughout our Community.” Schools are the heartbeat of the community and it is vital that there is collaboration and mutual respect among both entities to develop a healthy, thriving city. Endorsements: Hamilton County Democratic Party, Run for Something, Vote Mama, CFT/CFOP, AFSCME, AFL-

DEFINITIONS OF BALLOT TERMS

TAX LEVY: Taxes that are assessed to homeowners and businesses based on their property values. These monies are used to fund government functions, as well as special programs or activities determined to be of significant benefit to the citizens. Tax levies may be placed on the ballot for public vote by a government entity (County Commissioners, City Council, Township Trustees) or taxing authority (School Board, Vocational District, Park Board, Library Board). RENEWAL LEVY: A Renewal Levy is the CONTINUANCE OF AN EXISTING LEVY with the collection rate at the same dollar amount as when the levy was originally approved. COE: Current Operating Expenses

Campaign Website: www.benlindy. com

MILL: The property tax is measured in mills; a mill is one tenth of a cent. This translates to $1 for each $1,000 taxable value of the property.

Political Philosophy: Democrat Endorsements: Hamilton County Democratic Party Experience: I have served on the CPS Board since 2020 and as board president since 2022. I started my career as a public school teacher in North Carolina. I went on to serve as a central office administrator for the DC Public Schools and then as the executive director of Teach For America in Southwest Ohio (where I helped recruit, train, and support over 200 teachers for low-income public schools). Occupation: CPS Board Member and Consultant

Experience: Licensed Professional Counselor, Former Educator of eleven years, Director of Counseling Services for School Based Therapy, SocialEmotional Learning Group Facilitator, Instructor, Critical Incident Response Provider (Crisis Response Team), Certified Non-profit and Equity Board Leader, Guest Speaker/Panelist, Mentor, and Former Dance Coach Occupation: Licensed Professional Counselor

Affiliations: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Phi Psi Omega Chapter, School Board School, Ohio Counseling Association (OCA), Ohio Association for College Admissions Counseling (OACAC), CPS Parent and Student Advisory Council, YWCA Rising Star 2020

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ benlindy4schoolboard

Affiliations: Isaac M. Wise Temple

CIO, Matriots, Cincinnati Women’s Political Caucus

Kendra Mapp

CPT: Continued Period of Time

MARKET VALUE: The market value of property is determined by the County Auditor. The valuation considers regional and neighborhood economic conditions, building improvements and land value. By state law, there is a full reassessment to each parcel every six years, followed by a computerized update three years later. The last full reappraisal in Hamilton County was in 2017. ASSESSED VALUE: Assessed Value is 35% of the Market Value of a property. In Ohio, property taxes are determined by the Assessed Value.

Candidate’s Question Responses: A1: I am a supportive parent within the district, a community partner, and a proud graduate of Hughes High School. Also, I am Licensed Professional Counselor and former educator. These experiences aided me with the opportunity to cultivate trust within my community, to confidently and authentically work with individuals on their journey of self-discovery, empowerment, and healing. I recognize that my knowledge in the areas of mental health and education are needed to yield successful outcomes. A2: DEI is important because it helps to establish learning environments that are secure and affirming. These considerations honor the whole person, reduce implicit bias, equip individuals with the skills to engage in critical thinking, develop empathy, and acquire the creativity to address difficult conversations. DEI serves as the cornerstone to learn and celebrate the unique experiences of others in our ever-growing multicultural society. I do not propose any changes in the schools’ policies. A3: There are several programs that I support to further the partnership among parents, teachers, students, and administrators such as: The Local School Decision Making Committee (LSDMC), Parent Teacher Network (PTN), Parent Affinity Groups, Student Ambassadors, Community Learning Centers, Be Present/ Financial Town Hall meetings, board meetings, advisory councils, and focus groups that are inclusive of various constituents.

Paul Schiele Not Pictured

TAX RATE (mills): The Full Tax Rate is the total millage for the year, most of which is approved by voters in the taxing district. The Effective Tax Rate is the annual total millage reduced by state mandated reductions such as the rollback and the homestead exemption. This is stated in mills, not dollars. GAS/ELECTRIC AGGREGATION: Aggregation is the process in which energy is sold to consumers who have joined together as a group to buy electric or natural gas. Local governments may aggregate the energy used by their residents and arrange for the purchase of electricity or natural gas as “governmental aggregators.” Ohio law gives local governments the option to choose either an opt-in or opt-out form of aggregation. The “Opt-in” form requires that each consumer agrees to participate in the program before being included in the aggregation pool. It does not require voter approval at an election. The “Optout” form automatically includes each consumer in the aggregated pool unless the individual affirmatively decides not to participate. It requires approval by a majority of the voters at an election.

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Biographical Info: No response Candidate’s Question Responses: No response

2023 HAMILTON COUNTY VOTER GUIDE

BALLOT ISSUES

STATE ISSUES ISSUE 1

STATE OF OHIO SELF-EXECUTING AMENDMENT RELATING TO ABORTION AND OTHER REPRODUCTIVE DECISIONS PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT PROPOSED BY INITIATIVE PETITION TO ENACT SECTION 22 OF ARTICLE I OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF OHIO A majority yes vote is necessary for the amendment to pass. The proposed amendment would: • Establish in the Constitution of the State of Ohio an individual right to one’s own reproductive medical treatment, including but not limited to abortion; • Create legal protections for any person or entity that assists a person with receiving reproductive medical treatment, including but not limited to abortion; • Prohibit the State of Ohio from directly or indirectly burdening, penalizing, or prohibiting abortion before an unborn child is determined to be viable, unless the State demonstrates that it is using the least restrictive means; • Grant a pregnant woman’s treating physician the authority to determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether an unborn child is viable; • Only allow the citizens of the State of Ohio to prohibit an abortion after an unborn child is determined by a pregnant woman’s treating physician to be viable and only if the physician does not consider the abortion necessary to protect the pregnant woman’s life or health; and • Always allow an unborn child to be aborted at any stage of pregnancy, regardless of viability if, in the treating physician’s determination, the abortion is necessary to protect the pregnant woman ‘s life or health. If passed, the amendment will become effective 30 days after the election. Shall the Amendment be approved?

YES | NO

Explanation: A “yes” vote supports amending the Ohio Constitution to: • •establish a state constitutional right to “make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions,” including decisions about abortion, contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care, and continuing pregnancy; • prohibit the state of Ohio from interfering with this constitutional right, except when the state demonstrates “that it is using the least restrictive means to advance the individual’s health in accordance with widely accepted and evidence-based standards of care;” • allow the state to restrict abortion after fetal viability, defined as “the point in a pregnancy when, in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient’s treating physician, the fetus has a significant likelihood of survival outside the uterus with reasonable measures;” and • prohibit the state of Ohio from banning abortion when, in the professional judgment of a physician, an abortion “is necessary to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health.” A “no” vote opposes amending the Ohio Constitution to establish the constitutional right to “make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions.” This, then, allows the General Assembly to pass legislation banning or restricting abortion and other reproductive decisions. Pros: 1. This amendment would restore the rights and protections for Ohioans that were eliminated by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision (Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization) in which the court held that the U.S. Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. 2. The amendment would restore rights and protections for Ohioans that were guaranteed in 1973 by a U.S. Supreme Court decision (Roe v. Wade) that held the right to privacy under the 14th Amendment protected abortion as a fundamental right at least up until the time of fetal viability. 3. The amendment would establish that the doctor-patient relationship in Ohio ensures that individuals are empowered to make their own reproductive health decisions without interference from the government. 4. The amendment would establish that every individual in Ohio has the right to make reproductive decisions including but not limited to decisions on contraception, fertility treatment continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion. This is important for underserved populations, especially those with limited resources. 5. The amendment does not address gender affirming care issues. 6. The amendment does not address or change any laws involving parental rights over minors. Cons: 1. The amendment would prohibit

the Ohio General Assembly from regulating reproductive health decisions, including abortion, contraception, fertility treatment, continuation of pregnancies, and miscarriage care. 2. While the amendment says it allows a health exception for abortions after viability, it uses language that has been interpreted by the courts to include mental, financial, and social health—making it effectively impossible to enforce any protections for the fetus. 3. The amendment could only be changed by voters through a subsequent amendment. The policy on abortion should not be in the state constitution, but in state laws. 4. The amendment states that “every individual” has the right to carry out one’s own reproductive decisions. This language could be interpreted by courts to mean that “every individual” includes minors, threatening parental consent laws on the medical care of minors. 5. The amendment states that reproductive decisions are “not limited to” contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion. This “not limited” language could be interpreted to include gender affirming care. 6. The State of Ohio, through the elected members of the General Assembly, should be able to enact laws that attempt to protect fetal life as much as possible.

ISSUE 2

STATE OF OHIO TO COMMERCIALIZE, REGULATE, LEGALIZE, AND TAX THE ADULT USE OF CANNABIS PROPOSED LAW PROPOSED BY INITIATIVE PETITION TO ENACT CHAPTER 3780 OF THE OHIO REVISED CODE A majority yes vote is necessary for the law to pass To enact Chapter 3780 of the Ohio Revised Code, which would: • Define adult use cannabis to mean marijuana as defined in Section 3719.01 of the Revised • Code and establish the Division of Cannabis Control (the “Division”) within the • Department of Commerce; • Authorize the Division to regulate, investigate, and penalize adult use cannabis operators, adult use testing laboratories, and individuals required to be licensed; • Legalize and regulate the cultivation, processing, sale, purchase, possession, home grow, and use of cannabis by adults at least twentyone years of age; • Create additional protections for individuals who engage in permitted adult use cannabis conduct; • Establish the cannabis social equity and jobs program and require the Department of • Development to certify program applicants based on social and economic disadvantage;

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• Define “social disadvantage” to include membership in a racial or ethnic minority group, disability status, gender, or long-term residence in an area of high unemployment; • Shield certain confidential information from disclosure to the public, including but not limited to any information reported to or collected by the Division that identifies or would tend to identify any adult use cannabis consumer and prohibit the Department of Development from releasing certain application information as public records; • Require the Division to provide preferential treatment to applicants who have qualified for the cannabis social equity and jobs program based on social disadvantage when issuing level III adult use cannabis cultivator licenses and dispensary licenses; • Prohibit certain local government entities from limiting specific research, levying a tax, or charge on adult use operations, their owner, or their property not generally charged on other business, and prohibit certain local government entities from prohibiting or limiting adult use cannabis home grow or prohibiting or restricting an activity authorized by the proposed law; • Authorize a landlord or an employer to prohibit the adult use of cannabis in certain circumstances, and prohibit the operation of a motor vehicle while using or under the influence of adult use cannabis and from using any other combustible adult use cannabis while a passenger in a motor vehicle; • Limit criminal liability for certain financial institutions that provide financial services to any lawful adult use cannabis operator or testing laboratory licensed under the proposed law; • Require the Division to enter into an agreement with the Depa1tment of Mental Health and Addiction Services to create a program for cannabis addiction services; • Provide for the creation of five funds in the state treasury: the adult use tax fund; the cannabis social equity and jobs fund; the host community cannabis fund; the substance abuse and addiction fund; and the division of cannabis control and tax commissioner fund; and • Provide for taxation of 10 percent on the sale of adult use cannabis by dispensaries in addition to usual sales taxes and require that all monies collected from the I 0 percent tax levied to be deposited into the adult use tax fund and quarterly distributed as follows: 36 percent to the cannabis social equity and jobs fund; 36 percent to the host community cannabis facilities fund; 25 percent to the substance abuse and addiction fund; and three percent to the division of cannabis control and tax commission fund. If passed, the law will become effective 30 days after the election. Shall the proposed law be adopted?

YES | NO

ISSUE 2

Explanation: If approved by voters, the initiated statute, titled An Act to Control and Regulate Adult Use Cannabis (the “Act”), would legalize and regulate the cultivation, manufacturing, and sale of marijuana in Ohio for adults who are at least 21 years old. Pursuant to the Act, Ohio residents would be permitted to cultivate up to six marijuana plants at their primary residence, with a maximum of twelve plants per residence where two or more persons who are at least 21 reside, and marijuana sales would be subject to a 10% adult-use tax, in addition to the traditional sales tax. The Act also establishes a Division of Cannabis Control (“DCC”) within the Ohio Department of Commerce. The DCC would be responsible for overseeing the adult-use market with the authority to license, regulate, investigate, and penalize licensees and those required to be licensed under the Act. This centralization is meaningful because currently, under Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Control Program, dispensaries are regulated by the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy while cultivators, processors, and testing laboratories are regulated by the Ohio Department of Commerce. The establishment of the DCC is expected to alleviate certain headaches resulting from the inter-agency regulatory overlap. Another important impact of the An Act to Control and Regulate Adult Use Cannabis, and a result of adultuse legalization generally, is that the medical program’s burdensome advertising restrictions are expected to be relieved significantly. As many Ohio licensees are aware, Ohio currently has very restrictive, burdensome, and, at times vague, advertising rules related to medical marijuana that significantly reduce the impact and effectiveness of marketing and advertising. With the legalization of adult-use marijuana, Ohioans can expect to see more creative and targeted advertising through more traditional outlets. The Act also provides a significant boost to existing industry participants. Licensees who have either a certificate of operation or provisional license as of the effective date of the Act will be grandfathered into the adultuse program to expand into the recreational use area. Importantly, there will be an opportunity for new operators to enter the Ohio market through a cannabis social equity and jobs program. At the outset, the DCC is to issue 40 recreational cultivator licenses and 50 adult-use dispensary licenses “with a preference” to applicants who are participants under the cannabis social equity and jobs program. This is an Act (law) which could be amended or repealed by the General Assembly and is NOT an amendment to the Ohio Constitution. Pros: 1. Decriminalizes cannabis, reduces

incarcerations, and encourages sentencing reform. 2. Recreational cannabis is purported to have lower risks than alcohol. Cannabis will be regulated like alcohol (21 and up). 3. Unlike alcohol, cannabis has some health and medical benefits. Medical marijuana already is legal. 4. Would create jobs in cultivation and sales. Would establish a cannabis social equity and jobs program to help employ the social and economic disadvantaged. 5. Cannabis legalization would spur more research on health benefits and risk of usage. Cons: 1. Cannabis is addictive and could lead to more serious drug use. Today’s marijuana is much more potent than in the past. 2. Cannabis alters thinking and coordination, which could have dangerous consequences especially in relation to operating motor vehicles and job impairment. 3. Allowing home-grown cannabis will expose more youth to a psychoactive drug. 4. Legalization of recreational cannabis will require another state bureaucracy with increased government costs. 5. Legalization would require the Department of Mental Health and Addiction services to create a new program for cannabis addiction. Hamilton County Tax Levy Review Committee The Hamilton County Board of Commissioners proposes tax levies to support certain public services. The proposed levies go before the electorate for approval. If approved, the levies appear on the tax bill for Hamilton County property owners. The Commissioners appoint a citizen Tax Levy Review Committee (TLRC) to study levy requests and to advise the Commissioners whether a levy should appear on the ballot, the appropriate size and duration for each levy; and terms and conditions that should be inserted into contracts. Prior to the placement of each levy on the ballot, the TLRC engages a consultant to review finances and programs funded by the levy and holds public hearings. At the completion of its review, the TLRC sends a written report of findings and recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners. The Commissioners make the final decision regarding the levy that is placed before the voters. If a levy is approved by voters, the TLRC is responsible for conducting a midterm performance review to see that budget targets and contractual obligations are being met. For more information about TLRC, including membership, levy procedures and reviews, see www. hamiltoncountyohio.gov/government/ open_hamilton_county/projects/ tax_levy_review_committee

ISSUE 7

LOCAL ISSUES ISSUE 3

VILLAGE OF CLEVES PROPOSES TAX LEVY (ADDITIONAL) A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. An additional tax for the benefit of Village of Cleves for the purpose of current expenses that the county auditor estimates will collect $423,000 annually, at a rate not exceeding 7 mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $245 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value, for 5 years, commencing in 2023, first due in calendar year 2024.

FOR THE LEVY | AGAINST THE LEVY

ISSUE 4

VILLAGE OF FAIRFAX PROPOSED ORDINANCE GAS AGGREGATION

VILLAGE OF LINCOLN HEIGHTS PROPOSED ORDINANCE ELECTRIC AGGREGATION A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. Shall the Village of Lincoln Heights have the authority to aggregate the retail electric loads located in the Village of Lincoln Heights, and for that purpose, enter into service agreements to facilitate for those loads the sale and purchase of electricity, such aggregation to occur automatically except where any person elects to opt out?

YES | NO

ISSUE 8

VILLAGE OF MARIEMONT PROPOSED ORDINANCE GAS AGGREGATION A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage.

A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. Shall the Village of Fairfax have the authority to aggregate the retail natural gas loads located in the Village of Fairfax, and for that purpose, enter into service agreements to facilitate for those loads the sale and purchase of natural gas, such aggregation to occur automatically except where any person elects to opt out?

YES | NO

ISSUE 5

VILLAGE OF FAIRFAX PROPOSED ORDINANCE ELECTRIC AGGREGATION A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. Shall the Village of Fairfax have the authority to aggregate the retail electric loads located in the Village of Fairfax, and for that purpose, enter into service agreements to facilitate for those loads the sale and purchase of electricity, such aggregation to occur automatically except where any person elects to opt out?

YES | NO

Shall the Village of Mariemont have the authority to aggregate the retail natural gas loads located in the Village of Mariemont, and for that purpose, enter into service agreements to facilitate for those loads the sale and purchase of natural gas, such aggregation to occur automatically except where any person elects to opt out?

YES | NO

ISSUE 9

VILLAGE OF MARIEMONT PROPOSED ORDINANCE GAS AGGREGATION A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. Shall the Village of Mariemont have the authority to aggregate the retail electric loads located in the Village of Mariemont, and for that purpose, enter into service agreements to facilitate for those loads the sale and purchase of electricity, such aggregation to occur automatically except where any person elects to opt out?

YES | NO

ISSUE 10

ISSUE 6

VILLAGE OF GOLF MANOR PROPOSES TAX LEVY (ADDITIONAL) A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage.

A renewal of a tax for the benefit of Village of Golf Manor for the purpose of current operating expenses that the county auditor estimates will collect $83,000 annually, at a rate not exceeding 2 mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $51 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value, for 5 years, commencing in 2023, first due in calendar year 2024.

VILLAGE OF MARIEMONT PROPOSED TAX LEVY (RENEWAL)

A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage.

A renewal of a tax for the benefit of Village of Mariemont for the purpose of current expenses that the county auditor estimates will collect $89,000 annually, at a rate not exceeding 3.08 mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $11 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value, for 5 years, commencing in 2023, first due in calendar year 2024.

FOR THE LEVY | AGAINST THE LEVY

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2023 HAMILTON COUNTY VOTER GUIDE

LOCAL ISSUES

ISSUE 14

COLERAIN TOWNSHIP PROPOSED TAX LEVY (ADDITIONAL) A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage.

ISSUE 11

VILLAGE OF MARIEMONT PROPOSED TAX LEVY (RENEWAL) A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. A renewal of a tax for the benefit of Village of Mariemont for the purpose of providing funds for recreational purposes of the MariElders, Inc, that the county auditor estimates will collect $67,000 annually, at a rate not exceeding 1 mill for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $9 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value, for 5 years, commencing in 2023, first due in calendar year 2024.

FOR THE LEVY | AGAINST THE LEVY

ISSUE 12

VILLAGE OF TERRACE PARK PROPOSED TAX LEVY (RENEWAL) A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. A renewal of a tax for the benefit of Village of Terrace Park for the purpose of current operating expenses that the county auditor estimates will collect $313,000 annually, at a rate not exceeding 2.5 mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $76 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value, for 5 years, commencing in 2023, first due in calendar year 2024.

FOR THE LEVY | AGAINST THE LEVY

ISSUE 13

An additional tax for the benefit of Township of Colerain for the purpose of operating and maintaining a police department that the county auditor estimates will collect $6,313,000 annually, at a rate not exceeding 4.65 mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $163 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value, for a continuing period of time, commencing in 2023, first due in calendar year 2024.

FOR THE LEVY | AGAINST THE LEVY

MIAMI TOWNSHIP WASTE DISTRICT PROPOSED TAX LEVY (RENEWAL AND INCREASE) A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage.

Shall a levy be imposed by the Milford Exempted Village School District, Counties of Clermont and Hamilton, for the purpose of the emergency requirements of the school district in the sum of $7,158,000 and a levy of taxes to be made outside of the tenmill limitation estimated by the county auditor to average 5.99 mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $210 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value, for a period of 5 years, commencing in 2023, first due in calendar year 2024?

FOR THE LEVY | AGAINST THE LEVY

ISSUE 15

DELHI TOWNSHIP PROPOSED TAX LEVY (ADDITIONAL) A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. An additional tax for the benefit of Township of Delhi for the purpose of providing and maintaining fire and emergency medical services that the county auditor estimates will collect $1,055,000 annually, at a rate not exceeding 1.99 mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $70 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value, for a continuing period of time, commencing in 2023, first due in calendar year 2024.

FOR THE LEVY | AGAINST THE LEVY

ISSUE 16

MIAMI TOWNSHIP WASTE DISTRICT PROPOSED TAX LEVY (RENEWAL AND INCREASE)

VILLAGE OF WOODLAWN PROPOSED MUNICIPAL INCOME TAX

A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage.

A renewal of 2.25 mills and an increase of 0.5 mills for each $1 of taxable value to constitute a tax for the benefit of Township of Miami for the purpose of providing waste collection and disposal that the county auditor estimates will collect $776,000 annually, at a rate not exceeding 2.75 mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $79 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value, for 5 years, commencing in 2023, first due in calendar year 2024.

Shall the Ordinance providing for a 0.3 per cent levy increase on income, effective January 1, 2024 for a period of 5 years, for construction, repair, improvement, and maintenance of streets, roads, curbs, and sidewalks in the Village of Woodlawn, and appurtenances thereto including principal and interest on bonds or notes issued for any of these purposes be passed? FOR INCOME TAX | AGAINST INCOME TAX

ISSUE 17

FOR THE LEVY | AGAINST THE LEVY

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ISSUE 18

ANDERSON TOWNSHIP PARK DISTRICT-PROPOSED TAX LEVY (ADDITIONAL) A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. An additional tax for the benefit of Anderson Township Park District for the purpose of defraying expenses and purchasing, appropriating, operating, maintaining and improving lands for parks and recreational purposes, including payment of debt service on bonds issued by the Park District, that the county auditor estimates will collect $1,421,000 annually, at a rate not exceeding 1 mill for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $35 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value, for 25 years, commencing in 2023, first due in calendar year 2024.

FOR THE LEVY | AGAINST THE LEVY

ISSUE 19

HAMILTON COUNTY-PROPOSED TAX LEVY (RENEWAL)

A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. A renewal of a tax for the benefit of Hamilton County for the purpose of providing and maintaining zoological park services and facilities that the county auditor estimates will collect $7,542,000 annually, at a rate not exceeding 0.46 mill for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $9 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value, for 5 years, commencing in 2023, first due in calendar year 2024.

FOR THE LEVY | AGAINST THE LEVY

WHAT THE LEVY WILL DO: This proposed 5-year levy is a renewal of an existing 5-year levy that expires at the end of 2023. Under the Zoo’s contract for the ending 5-year cycle (2018), levy proceeds are exclusively designated for operating expenses in specific categories, dubbed “Qualifying Area Expenditures”: animal operations and health, environmental services, horticulture, and maintenance. Over the 2018-2022 period, these expenditures have been consistent, except for 2021

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when the pandemic drove down attendance. BACKGROUND: The Zoo opened in 1875 and was purchased by the City of Cincinnati in 1932. Also in 1932, the Zoo was incorporated as the Zoological Society of Cincinnati. The Zoo has enjoyed a contribution from the property tax revenue since 1982. The property on which the Zoo sits is owned by the City, and the Society operates and maintains the real property of the Zoo under a Director responsible to a Board of Trustees. As a City-owned property, the Zoo pays no property tax on its 80-acre parcel and does not pay for water. The Zoo is a major attraction that brings in visitors from outside the area and benefits Cincinnati’s national reputation and economy. In November of 2022, the Zoo asked that the County Board of Commissioners (“Board”) “place an issue on the November 7, 2023, General Election ballot to continue taxpayer support of the Zoo upon expiration of the levy approved by voters in 2018 [and] include an inflationary increase dating back to the last increase in 2008.” The County’s Tax Levy Review Committee hired a consultant to undertake a performance review of the Zoo. Among other things, the Consultant was tasked to evaluate the Zoo’s current operating efficiency, assess its compliance with its current contract with Hamilton County, suggest contract provisions if the County and Zoo if the levy is renewed, and recommend cost savings and enhancements. The Consultant issued its final report and recommendations in May. After reviewing the Consultant’s report, and hearing from the Zoo and the public, the Tax Levy Review Committee agreed that the Zoo levy should be renewed with an increase. However, in August, 2023, all three Hamilton County commissioners voted to continue the Zoo levy at its current rate beginning in 2024 for five years, citing the five countywide tax increases in the past six years as a reason to keep the zoo rate flat.

ISSUE 20

HAMILTON COUNTY-PROPOSED TAX LEVY (RENEWAL AND INCREASE) A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. A renewal of 1.0 mills and an increase of 0.5 mills for each $1 of taxable value to constitute a tax for the benefit of Hamilton County for the purpose of providing funds for operating expenses and capital improvements for the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library that the county auditor estimates will collect $30,878,000 annually, at a rate not exceeding 1.5 mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $43 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value, for 10 years, commencing in 2024, first due in calendar year 2025.

FOR THE LEVY | AGAINST THE LEVY

ISSUE 20 BACKGROUND: The Cincinnati and Hamilton County library serves over 800,000 Greater Cincinnati residents a year with over 500,000 card holders at its 40 branches and downtown site. It is highly rated nationally and has one of the largest circulations among public libraries in the country. The Board of Trustees consists of seven members. Four of the Board members are appointed by the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners and three by the judges of the Court of Common Pleas. The Library’s annual budget is funded by the State Public Library Fund (57%). The other funding comes from two local Hamilton county tax levies (43%). Other major library systems in the state receive a larger percentage of their revenue from local support, e.g. only 33% of Columbus’ library budget comes from the state fund. The steady decline in state funding necessitated the local tax support. Voters first approved a library levy in 2009, then renewed it for another 10 years in 2013. A separate, additional levy was approved in 2018 with funds primarily going toward a capital improvement plan. It runs through 2028. The Facilities Master Plan is well underway with major improvements at many of the 40 branches and the downtown library. Increasing the levy to 1.5 mills would bring in an estimated $30.9 million a year, about $11.2 million more than the current rate. The change is estimated to cost an extra $18 a year per $100,000 of home value, for a total $43 a year per $100,000 of value. It’s one of two active levies for the library, so property owners also pay on a 1 mill levy passed by voters in 2018 (about $31 a year per $100,000 of value).If the levy passes, the new 1.5 mill rate would go into effect in January 2024 (first payable in 2025). If the levy fails, the current 1 mill levy will expire at the end of 2023 (last payment with the levy in 2024). WHAT THE LEVY WILL DO: The levy will provide continued support for library programs at all its branches throughout Hamilton County. Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library (CHPL) services include: • Library Card: With a free CHPL card, you can check out books and materials from any of the 41 branch libraries or online. You can also access meeting and study rooms. • You can reserve a computer at any of the 41 locations. • Government Information. You can connect with information and resources for your city, county, and federal government. • The library offers free printing and faxing at its locations. • CHPL provides special needs services such as “talking books” and Braille to the visually impaired, blind, and physically handicapped in 33 Ohio counties.

• Its outreach services include booksby-mail, foreign language materials and bilingual programs, and passport application. • Its literacy services include GED classes and GED practice testing. • Checkouts include increased use of digital material such as e-books and e-audiobooks which are more expensive for the library to maintain than traditional volumes. Library officials say without the levy funding they would need to reduce programs and maintenance of the facilities, and possibly reduce hours and lay off staff.

ISSUE 21

CITY OF CHEVIOT-PROPOSED TAX LEVY (ADDITIONAL) A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. An additional tax for the benefit of City of Cheviot for the purpose of providing and maintaining firefighting and emergency medical services that the county auditor estimates will collect $383,000 annually, at a rate not exceeding 3 mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $105 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value, for 5 years, commencing in 2023, first due in calendar year 2024.

FOR THE LEVY | AGAINST THE LEVY

ISSUE 22

CITY OF CINCINNATIPROPOSED ORDINANCE A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. Shall the Cincinnati Southern Railway Board of Trustees be authorized to sell the Cincinnati Southern Railway to an entity, the ultimate parent company of which is Norfolk Southern Corporation, for a purchase price of $1,600,000,000, to be paid in a single installment during the year 2024, with the moneys received to be deposited into a trust fund operated by the Cincinnati Southern Railway Board of Trustees, with the City of Cincinnati as the sole beneficiary, the moneys to be annually disbursed to the municipal corporation in an amount no less than $26,500,000 per year, for the purpose of the rehabilitation, modernization, or replacement of existing streets, bridges, municipal buildings, parks and green spaces, site improvements, recreation facilities, improvements for parking purposes, and any other public facilities owned by the City of Cincinnati, and to pay for the costs of administering the trust fund?

YES | NO

BACKGROUND: Since the 1800s, Cincinnati has owned a railroad line to Chattanooga, called the Cincinnati Southern Railway. It was originally acquired to further economic development. The rail line is leased to Norfolk Southern with lease payments of about $25

million a year currently going to the City. The City has been negotiating a lease renewal with Norfolk Southern since 2020 and could not reach agreement on a lease amount. The proposed sale will end the lease arrangement. The sale amount of $1.6 billion would be placed in a separate fund and will likely generate much more in investment earnings than the $25 million lease amount. The current lease payment of $25 million is 1.6% of $1.6 billion. Norfolk Southern wants to buy the rail line because it would be able to shift the annual lease cost from its operating expenses into a capital investment, which improves its operating ratio. This ratio is a measure important to investors. No other purchasers would be interested in this asset as Norfolk Southern Railway Company owns all access. Cincinnati had to obtain a change in Ohio law to allow the sale. If voters oppose the measure, it could not put it on the ballot again without going back to state lawmakers for another state law change. WHAT WILL THE ORDINANCE DO? Under the terms of the sale agreement, Norfolk Southern Railway Company would purchase the 337mile railroad from the City of Cincinnati for $1.6 billion. Norfolk Southern would acquire all the physical railway assets as well as 9,500 acres of land the railway rests upon between southwest Ohio and Chattanooga, Tennessee. The City will set up a trust fund governed by the Board that currently oversees the Cincinnati Southern Railway. The Board consists of 5 trustees appointed by the mayor and approved by Cincinnati City Council. Requests for funds will be made by the mayor and City Council as a part of the annual budget process. The funds will be used for infrastructure needs of the City including streets, bridges, parks, recreation centers, and other buildings owned by the City. Pros: 1. Significantly increases City income for use on infrastructure repairs. 2. This is a way to pay for Cincinnati’s large backlog of maintenance and capital needs without raising taxes. Cons: 1. Some believe the asset is undervalued at $1.6 billion. 2. Citizens can’t trust the politicians not to raid the fund for other purposes and use up the principal.

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ISSUE 23

CITY OF CINCINNATIPROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. Shall the Charter of the City of Cincinnati be amended to clarify the process for citizens to initiate charter amendments, ordinances, and referenda by providing a process and timeline for submitting petitions for initiatives, referenda, and Charter amendments to the Clerk of Council to allow a reasonable time for verification of signatures and drafting necessary ordinances and an opportunity for citizens to collect additional signatures on petitions; requiring petition circulators to submit a certified copy of any initiative, referendum or Charter amendment petition to the Clerk of Council before collecting signatures on the petitions; permitting City Council to cast their votes by any method that publicly announces their vote, including voice, electronic, or other mechanical method; clarifying throughout the Charter that Council terms are two years; clarifying that candidate petition circulators must sign a statement rather than provide a notarized affidavit on candidate petitions; aligning the timeline for filing a nominating petition for an election to an unexpired term of office of mayor with state and federal requirements; and providing an opportunity for candidates for Council and Mayor to collect additional signatures on their petitions by amending existing Sections 3 and 5 of Article II, “Legislative Power,” and existing Sections 1, 2, and 4 of Article IX, “Nominations and Elections,” and by enacting new Section 8 of Article II, “Legislative Powers”?

YES | NO BACKGROUND: These changes to the Cincinnati City Charter were proposed by City Council Member Liz Keating and put on the ballot by City Council in September just before the deadline. They were described as a “cleanup” of the Charter, to mirror state law changes and add transparency. Issue 23 is a collection of miscellaneous Charter changes that are being voted on as a package. Voters can only vote Yes or No on the entire package. WHAT WILL THE CHARTER AMENDMENT DO? • A copy of any citizen-led ballot petition must be filed with the Clerk of Council before any signatures can be collected. This would mirror what is required for statewide petitions. • A cure period for ballot and candidate petitions would be added. People submitting petitions that lack the required number of verified signatures would have the opportunity to collect more signatures up until the filing deadline. • The amendment would also limit citizen-led ballot measures to one proposal, “which shall not address multiple or unrelated subject matters or questions of law.”

2023 HAMILTON COUNTY VOTER GUIDE

ISSUE 24

CITY OF CINCINNATIPROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. Shall the Charter of the City of Cincinnati be amended to require the City of Cincinnati to raise income and withholding taxes by three-tenths of one percent (0.3%), if subsequently approved by the electorate, annually beginning January 1, 2025, which new taxes shall be deposited into a non-lapsing special revenue fund restricted only to finance housing affordable to households with income up to 80 percent of the area median income as established by federal law with 65 percent of the fund restricted to support housing affordable only to households with incomes up to 30 percent of the area median income; which new taxes shall fund such housing throughout the City of Cincinnati through grants, subsidies, and loans, including to third party housing developers, which may be of low or no interest, and/or forgivable; which new taxes can be spent to increase, preserve, maintain, repair, improve, and pay off indebtedness related to privately owned homes and rental properties owned or rented by people with incomes up to 80 percent of the area median income as established by federal law; which new taxes can be spent to provide down payment assistance, mortgages, loans, financial counseling, and construction loans to people with incomes up to 80 percent of the area median income; and which up to five percent of annual revenues collected from the new tax may be used to support city staff and operations established for the purposes of administering the funds; and which imposes long-term restrictive covenants on property that receives funds from these taxes to maintain affordability and provide first right of refusal to purchase rental property funded through these taxes to tenants and the City, and shall be administered in consultation with an 11 member board of private citizens?

YES | NO

BACKGROUND: Advocacy groups concerned about homelessness and the lack of affordable housing lobbied Cincinnati for years to create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund. A fund was created in 2018, but no source of revenue was identified. Community advocates organized a coalition called Cincinnatians for Affordable Housing Now (CAHN) to push for stable funding for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. They gathered petition signatures to put a city charter amendment on the ballot in May 2021, but the initiative was not passed by voters. Labor unions lobbied against the initiative because it required funding, but did not identify a new revenue source and they feared it would require cut backs in city services and the layoff of employees. In the last couple of years, local elected officials have acknowledged the crisis in affordable housing and

have committed more funding, primarily from federal sources. These public funds are managed by the Cincinnati Development Fund, a private, nonprofit organization. The money is used primarily for loans to developers. Each funding source has different criteria, but many allow the developments to charge rents aimed at middle-income households (between 80-120% Average Medium Income). The advocacy coalition believes government funding should focus on lower income households, where the need is most urgent and homelessness is most likely. They also believe a stable source of revenue is needed, not just occasional allocations from federal dollars. The grassroots group again collected petition signatures and have placed a Cincinnati charter amendment on the 2023 ballot. The proposal is different from the 2021 ballot issue that failed, primarily because it identifies a new source of revenue, an increase in the city earnings tax by 0.3%. WHAT WILL THE CHARTER AMENDMENT DO? The Charter Amendment requires the city to raise the earnings tax by 0.3%. It is estimated the amendment will generate $40-$50 million annually toward affordable housing. The earnings tax is paid by people who live or work in Cincinnati. It was reduced in 2020 when funding for the public transit system was moved to the county. The proposed increase of 0.3% would bring the tax back to the 2020 level. The amendment specifies that 65% of the funds must be used to “increase the number of quality homes; preserve existing homes; and support the operations of homes that will be or are affordable, as defined herein, to households with incomes not more than 30 percent of the area median income (AMI).” Up to 5% of the funds may be used for administration. The remaining 30% of the funds may be used to provide housing for households up to 50% of AMI and homeownership opportunities and services for households up to 80% of AMI. The Fund will be managed by the city in consultation with a community advisory board. If the charter amendment passes, a second vote will be required in 2024 to actually implement the tax increase. ARGUMENTS FOR THE AMENDMENT: 1. Cincinnati is facing an affordable housing crisis. The shortage of affordable housing has been documented by numerous studies over the years. Now, with rents and housing costs rapidly increasing, more and more families are being priced out of the market and are facing homelessness. 2. Current city efforts are not enough and focus on middle income and market rate housing. We need a dedicated revenue stream to create truly affordable housing for all. 3. The earnings tax increase will bring it back to the 2020 level. Cincinnati’s earnings tax is lower than most Ohio large cities.

ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE AMENDMENT: 1. The tax increase is not needed because the City is already putting significant funding into affordable housing. 2. City funding priorities and programs need to be flexible and not imbedded in the City Charter. Elected officials need to be able to adjust priorities and funding as needs change. 3. Voters were told the earnings tax would be when they voted to move public transit funding to the county.

ISSUE 25

CITY OF MT HEALTHYPROPOSED TAX LEVY (ADDITIONAL)

ISSUE 28

CITY OF NORTH COLLEGE HILLPROPOSEDTAX LEVY (RENEWAL) A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. A renewal of a tax for the benefit of City of North College Hill for the purpose of providing and maintaining senior citizens services or facilities that the county auditor estimates will collect $55,000 annually, at a rate not exceeding 0.5 mill for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $13 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value, for 5 years, commencing in 2024, first due in calendar year 2025.

A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage.

FOR THE LEVY | AGAINST THE LEVY

An additional tax for the benefit of City of Mt. Healthy for the purpose of operating and maintaining a police department that the county auditor estimates will collect $131,000 annually, at a rate not exceeding 1.54 mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $54 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s appraised value, for a continuing period of time, commencing in 2023, first due in calendar year 2024.

ISSUE 29

FOR THE LEVY | AGAINST THE LEVY

ISSUE 26

CITY OF NORTH COLLEGE HILLPROPOSED ORDINANCE GAS AGGREGATION A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. Shall the City of North College Hill have the authority to aggregate the retail natural gas loads located in the City of North College Hill, and for that purpose, enter into service agreements to facilitate for those loads the sale and purchase of natural gas, such aggregation to occur automatically except where any person elects to opt out?

YES | NO

ISSUE 27

CITY OF NORTH COLLEGE HILLPROPOSED ORDINANCE ELECTRIC AGGREGATION A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. Shall the City of North College Hill have the authority to aggregate the retail electric loads located in the City of North College Hill, and for that purpose, enter into service agreements to facilitate for those loads the sale and purchase of electricity, such aggregation to occur automatically except where any person elects to opt out?

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YES | NO

NORWOOD 2-C-LOCAL LIQUOR OPTION FOR PARTICULAR USE AT BUSINESS LOCATION (BY PETITION) A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. Shall the sale of wine and mixed beverages be permitted for sale on Sunday by World Market, LLC., dba Cost Plus World Market, an applicant for a D6 liquor permit who is engaged in the business of operating a home goods merchandise store at 2692 Madison Rd., Suite D1, Norwood, Ohio 45208 in this precinct?

YES | NO

THEY REPRESENT US: TRU The League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area encourages everyone to stay engaged in our community by keeping in touch with your elected officials. Our members make a commitment to our community as we volunteer our time to research, edit and publish, in the spring of each year, They Represent Us (TRU): A Public Officials Guide for Hamilton County, Ohio. Online it can be found at https://my.lwv.org/ohio/ cincinnati-area/studies/ tru-they-represent-us Or you can call 513-281-8683 for printed copies.

VOTER CHECKLIST HAMILTON COUNTY MUNICIPAL COURT Vote for not more than 1 HAMILTON COUNTY MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE (DISTRICT 1)  Janaya Trotter Bratton HAMILTON COUNTY MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE (DISTRICT 2)  Donte Johnson HAMILTON COUNTY MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE (DISTRICT 3)  William Mallory HAMILTON COUNTY MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE (DISTRICT 4)  Curt Kissinger  Samantha Silverstein HAMILTON COUNTY MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE (DISTRICT 5)  Brad Greenberg HAMILTON COUNTY MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE (DISTRICT 6)  Bernie Bouchard HAMILTON COUNTY MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE (DISTRICT 7)  Jackie Ginocchio

THANK YOU

TO ALL THE VOLUNTEERS WHO PUT THIS GUIDE TOGETHER: League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area President: Mary Kate Genis Voter Service Vice President: Kimberly Jacobs Vote411.org: Liz Shockey LWVCA Staff: Hope Fountain LWVCA volunteers who assisted with this publication: Janet Smith, Elizabeth Brown, Shelly Bromberg, Joan Gilmore, Sandy Sommer, Rae Vuic, Lou Camblin, Glenda Bernstein, Sarah Gideonse. This publication would not be possible without the cooperation and assistance of the Hamilton County Board of Elections: Director of Elections and Deputy Director of Elections, Sherry Poland and Alex F. Linser and their staffs.

HAMILTON COUNTY EDUCATIONAL SERVICE CENTER - GOVERNING BOARD MEMBER Vote for not more than 2  Fred Hunt  Melody Staudt-Dargis CINCINNATI MEMBER OF COUNCIL AT LARGE Vote for not more than 9  Anna M. Albi  Jeff Cramerding  Reggie Harris  Mark Jeffreys  Scotty Johnson  Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney  Liz Keating  Meeka D. Owens  Victoria Parks  Seth Walsh CINCINNATI CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT - BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBER Vote for not more than 3  Eve C. Bolton  Bryan Cannon  Benjamin Lindy  Kendra Mapp  Paul Schiele

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STATE ISSUES A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage.

CITY OF CINCINNATI ISSUES A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage.

Issue 1: A Self-Executing Amendment Relating to Abortion and Other Reproductive Decisions Proposed Constitutional Amendment Proposed by Initiative Petition To enact Section 22 of Article I of the Constitution of the State of Ohio  YES  NO

Issue 22: PROPOSED ORDINANCE  YES  NO

Issue 2: To Commercialize, Regulate, Legalize, and Tax the Adult Use of Cannabis Proposed Law  YES  NO

Issue 23: PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT  YES  NO Issue 24: PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT  YES  NO YOUR LOCAL ISSUES

HAMILTON COUNTY ISSUES A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. Issue 19: PROPOSED TAX LEVY (RENEWAL)  For the Tax Levy  Against the Tax Levy Issue 20: PROPOSED TAX LEVY (RENEWAL AND INCREASE)  For the Tax Levy  Against the Tax Levy

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2023 HAMILTON COUNTY VOTER GUIDE

ONSTAGE ONSTAGE

The cast of Girl From The North Country on Broadway P H O T O : M AT T H E W M U R P H Y

The cast of Girl From The North Country on Broadway

Bob Dylan’s Songs Get a Theatrical Bob Dylan’s Songs a Theatrical Twist in ‘Girl From TheGet North Country,’ Twist in ‘Girl From Thein North Country,’ Heading to Broadway Cincinnati Heading to Broadway in Cincinnati P H O T O : M AT T H E W M U R P H Y

P R E V I E W BY R I C K P E N D E R P R E V I E W BY R I C K P E N D E R

Y Y

ou might think Bob Dylan’s songs are truly not the kind ou might think Bob of material to fill upDylan’s a jukesongs are truly not thewhat kind box musical. That’s precisely of material to fill up a jukeGirl From The North Country is not. box musical. precisely what Instead, it’s aThat’s serious but joyous play Girl From The North Country is not. with music, with a crowd of complex Instead, it’sina aserious but joyous play characters struggling boarding with music, with a crowd of complex house in 1930s Minnesota. It’s the characters in a struggling boarding work of Dublin-based Irish playwright house in 1930s Minnesota. It’s the Conor McPherson, whose prior plays work as of Dublin-based IrishCity playwright such The Weir, Shining and The Conor McPherson, plays Seafarer have been whose staged prior by Cincinsuch as The Weir, Shining City and The nati theater companies — not a musiSeafarer have been staged by Cincincal among them. But The Guardian nati theater companies — not a fusion musicalled this show a “remarkable cal among them. But The Guardian of text and music.” called this show a “remarkable fusion Actor John Schiappa plays the cenof text and music.” tral character of struggling boarding Actorowner John Schiappa plays cenhouse Nick Laine. In athe recent tral character of struggling boarding phone conversation with CityBeat, he house“Conor owner found Nick Laine. recent said, a wayIn to ause the phone conversation with CityBeat, he said, “Conor found a way to use the

music. It’s not a typical musical where the songs forward the narrative. They music. It’s not athe typical where might forward innermusical character the songs forward the narrative. They a bit or the moment a bit, somehow might forward the inner character giving you a deeper understanding of awhat bit or thehappened. moment aIt’s bit,not somehow just a typical giving you a deeper understanding musical in that sense — it’s truly a of what just happened. It’s not a typical play with music. There’s a saying we musical in that sense — it’s truly a talk about in the show: ‘vinegar and play withThe music. There’s a saying we honey.’ scenes can sometimes talk about in the show: ‘vinegar be the vinegar, and the music isand the honey.’ can sometimes honey. The It’s ascenes very different kind of be the vinegar, and the music is the show.” honey. It’s a verySimon different kind Orchestrator Hale wasof show.” adamant that the instruments used Hale was forOrchestrator the show beSimon from the 1930s, adamant that the instruments used since that’s when the story happens. for the show be from the 1930s, Hale’s Tony Award-winning musical since that’s when the story arrangements breathe newhappens. life into Hale’s Tony Award-winning musical 19 of Dylan’s songs, including “Like arrangements breathe new life into a Rolling Stone,” “Forever Young” 19 of Dylan’s songs, including “Like and, of course, “Girl from the North a Rolling Stone,” “Forever Young” and, of course, “Girl from the North

Country.” Schiappa, who graduated from Country.” University of Cincinnati’s CollegeSchiappa, who graduated fromplays Conservatory of Music in 1983, University of Cincinnati’s Collegethe owner of the boarding house. His Conservatory of Music in 1983, character is the linchpin of theplays story. the owner of the boarding His He came to the role by an house. unusual character is the linchpin of the story. path. “When I first read the show to He came toallthe role by an unusual audition, I could think of was ‘I path. “When I first read thebeshow to want to be in it, I want to in the audition, all I could think of was ‘I room with these creatives.’ I just loved want to be inItit, I want in the it so much. lived up to to be expectation.” room with these creatives.’ I loved After its successful debut just at Lonitdon’s so much. It lived up to expectation.” Old Vic in 2017, Girl From The AfterCountry its successful Lon-City, North came debut to NewatYork don’s Old Vic in 2017, Girl From where it was initially presented The at the North to New York City, PublicCountry Theatercame in 2018. Schiappa was where it wasofinitially presented at the a member that initial American Public Theater in 2018. Schiappa was ensemble, understudying an array of aroles. member of that initial American He continued as a cast memensemble, understudying an array ber when it moved to Broadway inof roles. He continued as a cast mem2020, a run that was interrupted by ber when it moved to Broadway in 2020, a run that was interrupted by

the COVID pandemic. When it reemerged post-pandemic, he remained the COVID pandemic. When tour, it re- he’s with it. Now in the national emerged post-pandemic, he remained filling a role he understudied through with in iterations. the national tour, he’s eachit.ofNow those filling a role he understudied through “One of the joys of being with it each of those iterations. from the beginning,” Schiappa told “One of the joys Iofsaw being it do CityBeat, “is that onewith actor from the beginning,” Schiappa told it downtown, a different actor do it CityBeat, “is that I sawup one actoritdo uptown and I ended doing on itBroadway downtown, a different actor several times. So I do gotitto uptown I ended doingAsitaon inhabitand the role for aup while. father Broadway several times. So I got myself with two kids in that age to range, inhabit forexperience a while. As to a father I have athe lotrole of life bring myself with two kids in that age range, to this. What Nick Laine is doing is just I trying have ato lotkeep of life towater. bring hisexperience head above toHe’s this.trying Whatto Nick Laine is doingmoving. is just keep everything trying to keep his head above water. He’s trying to get his kids successHe’s to keep fullytrying launched intoeverything the world moving. so they He’s trying to get his kids successdon’t rely on him anymore, so they fully into the world so they can launched be safe and secure and have a life don’t rely on him anymore, so beyond him and his wife. He’sthey taking can andrunning have a life carebeofsafe his and wife,secure and he’s his beyond him and his wife. He’s taking business. There’s a lot there that I can care of to. his Iwife, he’s runninginhis relate thinkand a lot of people the business. There’s a lot there that I can audience can relate to it, too.” relate to. I think a lot of in the Schiappa marvels atpeople McPherson’s audience can relate to it, too.” use of Dylan’s music. “How Conor Schiappatomarvels at Dylan’s McPherson’s managed weave in music use of Dylan’s music. “How in a way that is unique andConor surprismanaged to weave in Dylan’s ing and delightful and joyful music is still a inmystery a way that is unique and surpristo me. I didn’t realize how ing andof delightful and joyful is stillknew a much Dylan’s music I actually mystery to me. I didn’t realize how because other people had covered much Dylan’s music I actually knew it. Youoflook at these lyrics and these because other people had covered songs and you go, ‘Ohhh! That’s one of it.his You look atWhat’s these lyrics these songs!’” more,and Dylan is as songs and you go, ‘Ohhh! That’s one of recognized as a poet as a songwriter, his songs!’” What’s more, as having been awarded theDylan 2016 is Nobel recognized as a poet as a songwriter, Prize in Literature, recognizing him having been created awardednew the poetic 2016 Nobel “for having expresPrize in Literature, recognizing him sions within the great American song “for having created new poetic exprestradition.” sions within the greattour American The first national of Girl song From tradition.” The North Country is just under way. It The firstinnational tour ofand GirlCinFrom debuted Minneapolis, The North Country is just under way. It cinnati is its second stop. Schiappa debuted in Minneapolis, and Cinis eager to share the show’s stories cinnati is itswith second stop. Schiappa and music audiences across isAmerica. eager to “If share the stories you’re show’s somebody who and music with audiences across likes a good story, whether it’s around America. you’reasomebody who a the water“Ifcooler, movie, a song, likes a good story, whether it’s play — you’re gonna like this,”around he told the water cooler, a movie, a song, a CityBeat. “It’s a good story and that’s play — you’re gonna like this,” he told what theater is, when we all gather in CityBeat. “It’s a good story and that’s a room and hear a story that’s being what when we all gatherthat in told.theater This is ais,unique experience aisroom and hear a story that’s being worth having. Storytelling is the told. a unique that bestThis way is people canexperience connect with iseach worth having. Storytelling is the other, and theater has a way best way people can connect with of elevating that. If you like to have each other, and theater has a wayand a good time listening to a story ofbeing elevating that. like toreason have pulled intoIf ityou … that’s aenough. good time listening to a story and Come with an open heart, being pulled into it … that’s reason and you’ll be delighted.” enough. Come with an open heart, and you’ll delighted.” Girl be From The North Country is

OCTOBER 18-31, 2023

being presented now through Girl Northin Country is Oct. From 29 by The Broadway Cincinnati being presented now through at the Aronoff Center for the Oct. 29 by Broadway in Cincinnati Performing Arts. at the Aronoff Center for the Info: cincinnati.broadway.com. Performing Arts. Info: cincinnati.broadway.com.

C I T Y B E AT. C O M

FIRST-PERSON FIRST-PERSON

Life After Death Life Death How aAfter death doula class helped me process How a death doula my class stepdad’s helped mepassing process my stepdad’s passing

W W

hen I began research for a story about a death doula, hen I began research for a I set out to uncover and story about a death doula, deliver information much like any other I set out to uncover and story. Find an expert, dig into their deliver information much like any other experience and report what I found story. Find an expert, dig into their out. Although I’d never heard the term experience and report what I found death doula — sometimes called endout. Although I’d never heard the term of-life doula — before, I assumed it was death doula — sometimes called endlike a birth doula but reversed. of-life doula — before, I assumed it was I discovered a local death doula, like a birth doula but reversed. George Ziegler, and he verified my I discovered a local death doula, assumption. Ziegler has been providGeorge Ziegler, and he verified my ing end-of-life guidance and support assumption. Ziegler has been providto families and dying people through ing end-of-life guidance and support his business Essential Dignity for four to families and dying people through years. He was certified through the his business Essential Dignity for four National End-of-Life Doula Alliance, years. He was certified through the though life experience had provided National End-of-Life Doula Alliance, the best training, he says, after losing though life experience had provided 10 friends and family members over a the best training, he says, after losing three-year period and enduring a near10 friends and family members over a death experience of his own. three-year period and enduring a near“An end-of-life doula is simply a death experience of his own. support person,” Ziegler tells CityBeat. “An end-of-life doula is simply a “We provide non-medical, holistic, support person,” Ziegler tells CityBeat. nonjudgmental support to those near“We provide non-medical, holistic, ing the end of life. We typically offer nonjudgmental support to those nearsupport to the family and friends of the ing the end of life. We typically offer elderly, dying or recently dead. An endsupport to the family and friends of the of-life doula educates and empowers elderly, dying or recently dead. An endindividuals to make choices on their of-life doula educates and empowers own end-of-life care and final burial or individuals to make choices on their funeral.” own end-of-life care and final burial or You can find a death doula in funeral.” Cincinnati or elsewhere simply by You can find a death doula in Googling the phrase. Surprisingly, Cincinnati or elsewhere simply by there are options. Hospice of CincinGoogling the phrase. Surprisingly, nati launched a volunteer death doula there are options. Hospice of Cincinprogram this year and Jen Blalock owns nati launched a volunteer death doula and operates Death Doula Cincinprogram this year and Jen Blalock owns nati, LLC. There is also a Death Doula and operates Death Doula CincinCollective that provides a nationwide nati, LLC. There is also a Death Doula directory of death doulas, including Collective that provides a nationwide options in Ohio. directory of death doulas, including It’s up to a loved one or a dying options in Ohio. person to hire or request a doula It’s up to a loved one or a dying themselves. The prices for a death person to hire or request a doula doula service vary depending on the themselves. The prices for a death professional and some — like Ziegler — doula service vary depending on the offer services free of charge in certain professional and some — like Ziegler — circumstances. offer services free of charge in certain As an advocate for the dying, Ziegler circumstances. explains, a death doula’s responsibiliAs an advocate for the dying, Ziegler ties vary. They are a liaison between the explains, a death doula’s responsibilidying and family members, doctors, ties vary. They are a liaison between the nurses, etc. They provide company to dying and family members, doctors, those who don’t want to be alone and nurses, etc. They provide company to those who don’t want to be alone and

C I T Y B E AT. C O M

William VandenEynden, writer Katie Griffith’s stepfather P H O T O : P R O V I D E D BY K AT I E G R I F F I T H

advocate for the dying person’s needs, rights and options, whether that be advocate for the dying person’s needs, where the person wishes to have their rights and options, whether that be final moments or how to make them where the person wishes to have their most comfortable. A death doula can final moments or how to make them also be an aid to a family’s practical and most comfortable. A death doula can emotional needs at the time. also be an aid to a family’s practical and When I reached out to Ziegler, he was emotional needs at the time. instructing a class for the University of When I reached out to Ziegler, he was Cincinnati’s Professional and Continuinstructing a class for the University of ing Education program called “A Good Cincinnati’s Professional and ContinuDeath.” He invited me to join the final ing Education program called “A Good installment of the class, which was an Death.” He invited me to join the final installment of the class, which was an

OCTOBER 18-31, 2023

hour-and-a-half lecture/discussion that changed my mind about how I wanted hour-and-a-half lecture/discussion that to frame my findings. changed my mind about how I wanted In short, the class was gently trigto frame my findings. gering. The raw discussion and sincere In short, the class was gently trigquestions threw me into a reflective gering. The raw discussion and sincere state that urged me to allow a memory questions threw me into a reflective I’d been suppressing to resurface. The state that urged me to allow a memory open dialogue in the class felt more like I’d been suppressing to resurface. The a support group than a classroom and I open dialogue in the class felt more like realized that it was helping others heal a support group than a classroom and I or prepare or understand. I realized I realized that it was helping others heal was skipping a step on my own path to or prepare or understand. I realized I was skipping a step on my own path to

heal from losing my stepdad, the only dad I ever knew. heal from losing my stepdad, the only I realized during the class that shardad I ever knew. ing can be therapeutic and rememberI realized during the class that sharing is painful but helpful. Shared expeing can be therapeutic and rememberrience is powerful and necessary. And ing is painful but helpful. Shared expedeath, after all, is the most inevitable rience is powerful and necessary. And shared human experience that exists. death, after all, is the most inevitable My stepdad, William VandenEynden, shared human experience that exists. died in February 2022. My family had My stepdad, William VandenEynden, just celebrated his 70th birthday and a died in February 2022. My family had positive note from the doctor about his just celebrated his 70th birthday and a kidney health. We went to one of his positive note from the doctor about his kidney health. We went to one of his

favorite places, the casino, where he always won and knew exactly when to walk away. Everyone called him Bill. He served our country, loved golf, fishing, his dogs, sports and his family. He was a jokester, king of dad jokes and would quote Family Guy or one of our favorite movies, Bruce Almighty, constantly. He was a retired mailman and worked for the U.S. Postal Service for many years. On days when I would wake up early enough to catch him before he went to work, he’d rise from his beloved spot on the couch, scratch his stubbly chin and say, “Time to move America,” with pride. The thing that sticks with me about that statement, which I can still hear him say, is that America never stops moving. We lost the head of our family and during and after the fact, the phone still rang, emails still poured in, cars zoomed by and the responsibilities that burden a family after losing a loved one loomed. If I had known death doulas existed at the time, I would have suggested the resource to my mom, sisters and brother-in-law. “I am an aid to both [families and dying individuals],” Ziegler says, “The needs are different for the dying person and the loved ones. It is such a … stressful time. People can be overwhelmed with the circumstances. Each needs support in a completely different way — I provide the support to both.” We didn’t lose our father in an instant; it happened gradually, becoming more apparent yet more unbelievable each day. We were nearing “a new level of powerlessness,” as Ziegler puts it, explaining why it’s so impossible to deal with death. As I remember it, Bill was in the hospital for almost a month before he passed. Somewhere in that time, he nearly died from complications of an emergency surgery, which left him breathing through a ventilator in the intensive care unit. On top of it all, it was during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of pandemic restrictions, we didn’t get the chance to visit with him until his final few days, and that will never be okay with me. To have someone like a death doula, a clear-headed resource, to consult during these times might have made the experience more digestible. Looking back, it would have been helpful to know what to expect when we finally got to walk into that ICU room. What is he going to look like? Can he hear us? Should I bring him his favorite flannel? Favorite book? What should we not do or say? “The Bengals are going to win the Super Bowl! Can you believe it?” was the first thing we said to him (wishfully thinking) right after a million “I love you’s.” The news played in the

background and showed the Bengals getting off of a plane to compete in a playoff game. He raised his eyebrows in excitement. Most of the time, he wore soft expressions unbroken by sound or touch. I could tell he was happy we were there, but he couldn’t speak or open his eyes for more than a blink. “In the cases where I’ve been with people who are not verbal, I still talk to the person, even though they’re not responding, I still talk to them,” Ziegler says. “And so the communication is still flowing. And then also, maybe a little bit more like rubbing their head or rubbing their arm or just kind of loving on them. I really believe that when we do that with people who are dying, I think it goes much further than we realize.” Every beep of a machine and rustle in the hallway was unsettling. The room was dull and sterile. I was thankful that all six of us could fit in there without feeling claustrophobic. As Ziegler would put it, we were “emotionally whacked” and didn’t have time to think about ways to improve the atmosphere or create a sacred space for Bill’s final days. These are things doulas think of for you — they suggest it and communicate with the dying person and loved ones about how to make it an optimal experience. “I don’t like when I see sterile settings and environments,” Ziegler says. “I like to ask the dying person directly, what do you want regarding colors, smells, music, welcome visitors and visitors who may not be welcome? This may also include artwork, paintings and pictures. As simple as this sounds, it sometimes gets forgotten in the intensity of the circumstances.” Smells. Who thinks of that? Not a family trying to prepare themselves for the worst. Intense is an understatement. But when it comes to these situations, the right words don’t even seem to exist. It was so unbearably hot. We had to cover ourselves from head to toe in plastic hospital garb on account of COVID restrictions. If we stepped away for a phone call, fresh air or the bathroom, we had to re-do the whole process of dressing up in terrible plastic coverings, even gloves. And then it came time to unplug the machines. I didn’t think I’d wish for those random beeps to return. I wasn’t prepared for the silence — or a world without Bill in it. The doctor, who was very kind and comforting, sat with my family in the waiting room. She explained that from here on out, there was no telling if it would be hours, days or weeks. How is this going to play out? I worried. I tried not to cry. I tried to stay composed in the room with him. We held his hands, patted his cheeks with a cool, wet towel. We took turns telling

him that we loved him, recounting precious memories aloud. “If you’re ever with someone who seems like they are completely out of it, the hearing is usually the last thing to go,” Ziegler says. “So they are laying there hearing everything. They can totally hear you. Just know that. Assume they can hear everything you’re saying. The good in that is getting close to that person and being able to whisper in their ear, ‘I love you,’ or whatever you want them to hear.” How long do we have? The thought repeated. What do we say now? Do we still talk about the Bengals? Keep it light? It all seemed irrelevant and all I wanted to do was wake up to a world in which this wasn’t happening. I couldn’t think about anything else — everything was slow and felt like a trudge. A chore. Breathing, eating, sleeping, communicating with loved ones, friends and work. What I didn’t wonder was, how will dying look? What will it sound like? Which of us has the emotional strength to process all of this after the fact? How long does grief last? When will life feel light again? “All too often, people just don’t know. They’re not told what to expect,” Ziegler says of watching someone in their final moments. “And so what I try to tell people as delicately as I can, is here’s some of the different things that could happen. And sometimes it’s that the person will seem like they’re fighting; they’re struggling, maybe like they’re suffering or fighting. Sometimes people go very peacefully. But there’s other times where the body will kind of, it almost seems like they’re fighting it and it’s hard to watch. But it’s better to let people know that and also let them know sometimes why that’s happening. It might look like the person is suffering, but that’s not always the case. Maybe their muscles or their nerves are what’s causing the reaction that you’re seeing, so they’re not suffering. But it’s still, it’s just important to let people know, here’s what to kind of expect. Because when no one tells us that, it can be horrifying.” We only had hours. None of us would return to the hospital in shifts, like we planned, so he wouldn’t be alone. There isn’t a way the situation could have played out that would have felt like it was “the right way.” The weeks after, however, could have come easier. Everyone has to learn the shape of their own grief, the weight of it. We have to learn how to hold it, where to store it. If we don’t, it drags us; it gets to lead our lives and emotions. But no one should have to make funeral arrangements for their spouse or write their father’s obituary without guidance — or at all, though there’s no easy solution for the latter.

“In many cases we don’t deal with this until the circumstances of end of life are upon us,” Ziegler says. “At this point there is a bit of a scramble to find pertinent information. Along with the scramble, the loved ones may also be emotionally knocked off their feet. A part of them may have a hard time even staying present and able to stay in the moment.” In the delicate moments after death, doulas can remain with loved ones and family members should they request it, Ziegler says. This support can manifest however the person needs, whether it be advice on how to make arrangements, how to communicate with others on the very fresh topic, how to grieve and how to communicate with lawyers, doctors, funeral directors, etc., Ziegler says. “Absolutely after people die, I’m available,” he tells CityBeat. “A big part of what I want to do is help people with grieving and all the practical stuff that needs to happen. It’s like, I’m in your corner. So any tough conversations with doctors or attorneys, I’m right in there with them to help encourage them or help them if need be.” There is no cure for grief. In my experience, it’s something we can learn to live with rather than waste energy wishing away. There aren’t words or gestures that make losing a loved one easier but there is art and music and the sun and other people to ease the transition to normalcy. Most importantly, there’s human connection. Whether that kind of support comes from a loved one or a doula, it’s invaluable. Ziegler is working to hold more space for those who want to learn about death, caregiving or aging and how to approach it. Essential Dignity is one avenue for that work, as well as his class at UC. “I am constantly trying to create spaces where we can have dialogue on aging, caregiving and death,” Ziegler says. “They are such important topics and, in my opinion, we don’t talk about these topics enough. I had heard many positive things about UC and their Communiversity program. I thought this would be one more place to continue this dialogue and I’m so grateful for the opportunity.” It is a privilege to age. With time comes experience and wisdom. And sometimes the most wisdom is earned through the toughest experience. Death is a part of being alive and talking about it, while sensitive and difficult, should not be taboo. Collectively, we can only help each other through compassion, understanding and sharing our human experience. For more information about death doulas or upcoming classes and events by Ziegler, visit essentialdignity.com.

OCTOBER 18-31, 2023

C I T Y B E AT. C O M

CULTURE

14 Pumpkin Patches and Corn Mazes in Greater Cincinnati You Should Visit This Fall BY C I T Y B E AT STA F F

all is in the air and pumpkin spice is back at Starbucks so you know what that means...it’s time to visit some Cincinnati farms. Pick your own pumpkins, get lost in a corn maze, drink fresh apple cider and take a wagon ride at these family-friendly spots. Keep scrolling for some seasonal inspiration.

McGlasson Farms 5832 Hebron Road, Hebron, Kentucky. Open daily. This roadside farm has been familyowned for six generations, serving fresh-grown fruits and vegetables from the farm. The farm, which is open from July through November, offers produce such as berries, green beans and sweet corn. During the fall, the farm specializes in apples, apple cider, gourds, potatoes and classic pumpkins. During the fall season, the farm hosts an annual Fall Music Festival, with live bluegrass performances and fall festivities near the Ohio River.

Blooms & Berries Farm Market 9669 S. State Route 48, Loveland. Open daily until Oct. 31. The all-inclusive farm fest at Blooms & Berries features a five-acre corn maze, a pumpkin bounce pad, hayrides through the pumpkin patch, games, train rides and friendly farm animals. Snack on caramel apples or fresh apple cider or peruse fall decor. A weekend craft beer garden is open starting at noon Fridays through Sundays. Check the online calendar for special events.

Neltner’s Farm 6922 Four Mile Road, Melbourne, Kentucky. Open daily for Fall Fest until Oct. 31. Located in the rolling hills of Northern Kentucky, this family-owned farm has been offering seasonal, fresh produce and beautiful views for over a century. The farm hosts an annual Fall Fest that lasts until Halloween. In addition to their pick-your-own pumpkin patch, visitors can enjoy a petting zoo, horsedrawn wagon rides, corn mazes and more.

1737 State Route 131, Milford. Open daily until Oct. 31. This farm is family-friendly with things to do for all ages during Pumpkin

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P H O T O : B L O O M S & B E R R I E S FA R M M A R K E T ’ S FA C E B O O K

Times, which runs through the end of October. There are horse- and tractordrawn hayrides, a massive corn maze, two interactive playgrounds, pedal-kart races and more. Pick your own pumpkin from the pumpkin patch or head to the produce barn to enjoy apples — and fresh-pressed apple cider — straight from the orchard. Some activities require tickets, available for purchase online.

Brown’s Family Farm Market 11620 Hamilton Cleves Road, Hamilton. Open Saturdays and Sundays until Oct. 29. This family market is open daily, and on Saturdays and Sundays until Oct. 29, there are hayrides plus a pumpkin patch where you can pick your own gourds, as well as visit a corn maze and farm animals. There’s a barrel train, food trucks, picnic areas and apples — lots of apples: apple butter, apple cider and caramel apples. Mums, cornstalks, gourds, produce and a variety of snacks, cheeses, fudge and other goodies are available seven days a week in the market area.

Hidden Valley Orchards

Shaw Farms Market

Blooms & Berries Farm Market

5474 OH-48, Lebanon. Open Wednesday-Sunday weekly. This fruit farm (formerly Hidden Valley Fruit Farm) got a makeover in 2018 as Hidden Valley Orchards with taprooms

OCTOBER 18-31, 2023

Niederman Family Farm P H O T O : N I E D E R M A N FA M I LY FA R M ’ S FA C E B O O K

and the COOP Ice Cream barn. For more family fun, pick a pumpkin or take a hayride when the patch opens up. Check the website to plan for upcoming events and see the U-pick schedule.

Country Pumpkins 1835 Sherman Mt. Zion Road, Dry Ridge, Kentucky. Open WednesdaySunday until Oct. 30. Country Pumpkins began selling single pumpkins by the road back in 2000 on the Alpine Hills Dairy Farm. Now, the

business has turned into a fall destination, complete with a fall festival and tour. Open now through Oct. 30, Country Pumpkins boasts a weekend (Fridays-Sundays) festival with farm animals, a corn maze, hayrides, pumpkin picking and more.

Evans Orchard Cider Mill 198 Stone Road, Georgetown, Kentucky. Open Tuesday-Sunday until Oct. 29. This fifth-generation family farm and cider mill grows apples, pears,

Burger Farm & Garden Center P H O T O : B U R G E R FA R M & G A R D E N C E N T E R’ S FA C E B O O K

pumpkins and more — many of which you can pick yourself when they’re in season. U-pick pumpkin season starts in September and goes through the end of October. Other fall fun includes a petting zoo, wagon ride, corn maze and Megaslide. Visit the market and cafe for tasty treats.

Niederman Family Farm 5110 Lesourdsville West Chester Road, Liberty Township. Open Thursday-Sunday until Oct. 29. Find your way through a corn maze, go on a hayride, or let the little ones enjoy time with barnyard animals. Or, walk to the pumpkin paradise to select your own pumpkin (priced by size), or indulge in some cinnamon-sugar donuts, caramel apples or apple cider. Guests can also rent bonfire pits with benches. Niederman lights the bonfire, you provide the snacks to roast over the open flame.

Schappacher Farms 3068 W. State Route 73, Wilmington. Open Saturdays and Sundays until Oct. 29. This family-owned Wilmington farm is the ultimate one-stop-shop for fall fun. Situated on over 50 acres of land, the farm offers pick-your-own pumpkins, farm animal visits, free hayrides, a corn maze, apple cider, caramel apples and mini apple spice donuts.

Burwinkel Farms 4359 Hamilton Cleves Rd., Ross. Open daily until Oct. 31. Enjoy family fun days at the farm with two corn mazes, hayrides, Halloween scavenger hunts, U-pick pumpkin patch and seasonal sunflower walking paths.

Sunflowers are available only when in bloom.

Burger Farm & Garden Center 7849 Main St., Newtown. Open Saturdays and Sundays until Oct. 29. Head to the 50th annual Fall Fun at the Farm, held every weekend until Oct. 29, which features tons of family-friendly activities, including a puppet show, live music, mini zip lines, pony rides and a giant straw castle. Visitors can buy mums, gourds, apple cider, pumpkins and more at the garden center and take a hayride to the pumpkin patch to pick their own pumpkins.

Irons Fruit Farm 1640 Stubbs Mills Rd., Lebanon. Saturdays and Sundays until Oct. 29. Take a tractor-driven hayride to pick your own pumpkins at this fourthgeneration family farm — then feast on apple fritters, cinnamon-cider donuts, cookies, pies and more from the bakery. There is also a themed corn maze, pumpkin patch, apples available for purchase and friendly farm animals. Delicious donuts, apples and more are available at the market which is open daily through December.

A&M Farm Orchard 22141 State Route 251, Midland. Open daily. A&M Farm Orchard is a U-pick paradise, with an apple orchard, apple house and a pumpkin patch, as well as fall treats including jams, jellies, apple butter, fresh cider and squash. Check their Facebook page to see what’s in season.

OCTOBER 18-31, 2023

C I T Y B E AT. C O M

FOOD & DRINK Golden Hour

New Queen City Hospitality Group restaurant Golden State Tacos brings laid-back California vibes to Terrace Park. BY N ATA L I E C L A R E Golden State Tacos is located on Wooster Pike in Terrace Park.

hink fresh and juicy produce, laid-back vibes, “sensational” margaritas — and octopus. That’s just a dash of what you’ll find at Golden State Tacos, a new east side restaurant that’s serving CaliforniaMexican cuisine in an inviting, neighborhood atmosphere. The eatery, which opened in early September, is located on Wooster Pike in Terrace Park near the border of Indian Hill. Golden State Tacos is the latest establishment from restaurateur power couple Daniel and Lana Wright, owners of Queen City Hospitality Group. The restaurant joins the company’s roster of well-known Cincinnati spots like Senate Blue Ash, Abigail Street and Holiday Liquor Bar in Over-the-Rhine. Daniel Wright says Golden State Tacos is a casual, family-friendly restaurant with a “fun and bright” menu that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The menu features various takes on Southern California staples like fish tacos, fresh and crunchy salads, handsqueezed juice, esquites (street corn), nachos and carne asada. Wright calls the cuisine California-influenced Mexican food. “There’s really an emphasis on the freshness of the produce that’s coming in,” he says. Head chef Charlie Gerhardt says the menu offers seafood, seasonal food and lighter flavors. He adds, “The ensalada magnifico is just absolutely delicious and unlike pretty much anything I’ve had around here.” That salad includes mango, jicama, cucumber, torn herbs, carrot, jalapeno, toasted peanuts and salsa macha, according to the restaurant’s menu on their website. Gerhardt is a Cincinnati native who was previously head chef at Council Oak Steaks & Seafood at Hard Rock Casino and at Forty Thieves, another Queen City

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Hospitality Group restaurant (currently on a hiatus). With Golden State Tacos, he says he’s hyped to introduce new dishes to the city. “Most people think of Tex-Mex, but we’re doing something different,” Gerhardt says. Take, for example, the wood-grilled octopus taco. The octopus is artfully, carefully prepared through a rather intricate process. We can’t divulge the details here — Gerhardt holds those close to the vest — but let’s just say it’s a culinary labor of love. The octopus is assembled in a corn tortilla and complemented by habanero salsa, pico de gallo and chorizo. (This writer can attest: It’s delicious). Alongside the baja fish taco and the tuna tostada, Wright says the octopus taco has become a swift, and surprising, restaurant favorite. “The reason we did an octopus taco is we wanted to do a funny little riff, a kind of dedication to the octopus dish at Abigail Street. The octopus taco is becoming by far one of the top-sellers,” Wright says. “We always thought it would be an addition to the menu, but we never thought we would sell as much octopus as we do.” The octopus taco might be a wildcard menu item, but it’s revealed a lot about local foodie culture. “From my time in town, the palette of the diners in Cincinnati has changed,” Wright says. “It’s a very good thing that it’s changed in the way that it has because they’re far more adventurous eaters now and far more educated eaters than they have been in the past.” Wright arrived in Cincinnati in 2008. He relocated from his hometown of Chicago with his wife, Lana, and they

OCTOBER 18-31, 2023

Golden State Tacos is from the brains behind other Queen City restaurants like Abigail Street and Senate Blue Ash. PHOTO: CATIE VIOX

opened Senate in Over-the-Rhine. (Senate, by the way, has since moved from its original space into the pub at Holiday Liquor Bar. Its Blue Ash location is thriving). Wright says the Queen City back then was really a “steak-andpotato town,” with far fewer creative culinary options than there are today. “A night on the town, celebrating an event or any big milestone in life, you were going to Montgomery Inn or you were going to Jeff Ruby’s. Obviously Jean-Robert [de Cavel] had his hand on the pulse of the finer cuisine in town, but I think for the most part, those were the places that everybody went to,” Wright explains. “When we had opened places, when Jose Salazar had opened places, it became a little bit more casual. You didn’t have to dress to the nines to go out. You could still experience that same caliber of meal and not feel like you had to take out a second

mortgage to do it.” The way Wright sees it, the rise of casual restaurants with creatively inspired menus has given local diners a chance to expand their palettes and enjoy different cuisines in unique settings. At the same time, they can easily indulge in “foodie” content on social media, experiment with new recipes found online and binge-watch their favorite cooking shows. These influences have altogether changed the way people eat and have paved the way for diners to become more adventurous. It’s created a balance of casual vibes and serious food, Wright describes. That’s great news for Queen City Hospitality Group. Wright says personal creativity and community need drive the concept development of their restaurants. That approach seems to align organically with diners’ more adventurous culinary desires. It also gives Wright

The restaurant serves Southern California staples like fish tacos and crunchy salads. PHOTO: CATIE VIOX

The menu offers seafood, seasonal dishes and lighter flavors. PHOTO: CATIE VIOX

the chance to turn life experiences into various dining excursions. Abigail Street, which serves Mediterranean cuisine, grew out of Wright’s and his wife’s experiences working at a Mediterranean restaurant. Golden State Tacos is inspired by Wright’s first job as a head chef when he was 24 years old and living in Los Angeles. Reflective of Wright’s So-Cal chapter, the atmosphere of Golden State Tacos is warm, genial and easygoing. The space is decorated with natural elements and vibrant greenery. A garage door, when open, allows for seamless indoor-outdoor seating. Combined with effortlessly cool mid-century modern furniture, it’s certainly an environment where you’re welcome to relax and enjoy yourself. Patrons shouldn’t feel the need to dress up to be there, either; if you have any doubts about that, know that many of the restaurant’s closest patrons commute via golf cart, and there are parking spaces reserved specifically for them. Wright says Golden State Tacos is certainly family-friendly. The main menu satisfies adult tastes, and the kids’ menu

offers common favorites. There’s also a retro Spartanette camper on the patio that will soon offer s’more kits for kids (and perhaps nostalgic adults as well). A parent himself, Wright says they didn’t want to make parents choose between going out to dinner as a family and highquality food and cocktails with great service. Here, you can do both. Be advised, Wright says Friday has become their busiest day of the week so far, so parking in their corner lot might be a challenge. “We realized that Friday is evidently the night everyone in the town goes out. It’s by far become the craziest day we’ve had here.” And if you’re a fan of margaritas, you’re in luck (and in good company). Says Wright, “I’ve never seen a place that sells as much tequila in my life. The house margarita is absolutely insane here. They do them frozen and they do them shaken, on the rocks. They’re sensational.” Golden State Tacos, 704 Wooster Pike, Terrace Park. Info: goldenstatetacos.queencityhospitalitygroup.com.

OCTOBER 18-31, 2023

C I T Y B E AT. C O M

EATS EATS

G G

Kid-Friendly Restaurants in Greater Cincinnati Adults Will Love Too BY C I T Y B E AT STA F F Restaurants in Greater Cincinnati Adults Will Love Too Kid-Friendly BY C I T Y B E AT STA F F

reater Cincinnati is filled with kid-friendly restaurants reater Cincinnati is filled that will also appeal to their with kid-friendly restaurants caregivers. From places with added that will also appeal to their entertainment like circus performers, caregivers. From places with added games and music to ones with menus entertainment like circus performers, that will satisfy the pickiest eaters (and games and music to ones with menus others where parents can just get a that will satisfy the pickiest eaters (and damn drink), the Queen City’s dining others where parents can just get a scene has a lot to offer future foodies. damn drink), the Queen City’s dining scene has a lot to offer future foodies.

Bircus Brewing Co.

Bircus Brewing 322 Elm St., Ludlow Co. Ludlow, Kentucky’s nonexistent craft 322 Elm St., Ludlow beer scene sent in the clowns, leading Ludlow, Kentucky’s nonexistent craft to the launch of Bircus Brewing Co., beer scene sent in the clowns, leading a branch of an original concept from to the launch of Bircus Brewing Co., Ghent, Belgium. Pronounce it like a branch of an original concept from ‘beer-cuss,’ a hybrid of beer and circus, Ghent, Belgium. Pronounce it like as the brew shares the limelight with ‘beer-cuss,’ a hybrid of beer and circus, carnival performances at the taproom. as the brew shares the limelight with Performers can do everything from carnival performances at the taproom. breathing fire to flying on the trapeze. Performers can do everything from breathing fire to flying on the trapeze. Sugar n’ Spice

Sugar n’ Spice 4381 Reading Road, Paddock Hills (Temporarily Closed); 1203 Sycamore 4381 Reading Road, Paddock Hills St., Over-the-Rhine; 10275 Summit Park(Temporarily Closed); 1203 Sycamore way, Blue Ash St., Over-the-Rhine; 10275 Summit ParkOG ‘rents know that breakfast food is a way, Blue Ash reliable bet for kids, especially toddlers. OG ‘rents know that breakfast food is a The fluffiest eggs, “wispy-thin” panreliable bet for kids, especially toddlers. cakes and a long “tag-a-longs” menu The fluffiest eggs, “wispy-thin” panmake customizing your kids’ plate easy cakes and a long “tag-a-longs” menu and affordable. The original Paddock make customizing your kids’ plate easy Hills location got a sister spot in Overand affordable. The original Paddock the-Rhine when the owners renovated Hills location got a sister spot in Overan old diner with their signature colorthe-Rhine when the owners renovated ful and vintage flair. The breakfast diner an old diner with their signature coloralso opened its first suburban location ful and vintage flair. The breakfast diner in Blue Ash this past January at the also opened its first suburban location Approach at Summit Park. They are in Blue Ash this past January at the famous for giving patrons little rubber Approach at Summit Park. They are ducks as a souvenir – the perfect incenfamous for giving patrons little rubber tive for an embattled bath time. ducks as a souvenir – the perfect incentive for an embattled bath time. Dewey’s Pizza

Dewey’s Pizza Multiple locations Telling your kids “we’re having pizza Multiple locations tonight” makes you an instant celebTelling your kids “we’re having pizza rity in their eyes. Little do they know tonight” makes you an instant celebyou are the one who wants to dig into rity in their eyes. Little do they know Dewey’s slew of crafty pizzas. From you are the one who wants to dig into the Southwest BBQ Chicken (olive oil, Dewey’s slew of crafty pizzas. From smoked cheddar, mozzarella, black the Southwest BBQ Chicken (olive oil, bean-corn salsa, all-natural chicken, smoked cheddar, mozzarella, black roasted red peppers and BBQ sauce) to bean-corn salsa, all-natural chicken, the Killer Veggie (red sauce, mozzarella, roasted red peppers and BBQ sauce) to mushrooms, white onions, black olives the Killer Veggie (red sauce, mozzarella, and green bell peppers, with tomatoes mushrooms, white onions, black olives and parsley added after the bake) — and green bell peppers, with tomatoes everything is expertly paired with a nice and parsley added after the bake) — everything is expertly paired with a nice 24

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Sugar n’ Spice serves up delicious breakfast food for diners young and old. P H OTO : H A I L E Y B O L L I N G E R

selection of wine and local brews on tap. There’s even a big window at each selection of wine and local brews on location where kids are encouraged tap. There’s even a big window at each to watch as cooks roll and hand-toss location where kids are encouraged dough, add ingredients and put the to watch as cooks roll and hand-toss finished product in the oven; adults are dough, add ingredients and put the more than welcome to marvel, too. finished product in the oven; adults are more than welcome to marvel, too.

Fifty West Burger Bar

Fifty West Pike, Burger Bar Township 7605 Wooster Columbia Fifty West has tons of activities for kids 7605 Wooster Pike, Columbia Township to enjoy, like sand volleyball courts, Fifty West has tons of activities for kids cornhole and pickleball. Parents can to enjoy, like sand volleyball courts, watch on as kids safely play with new cornhole and pickleball. Parents can pals and tire themselves out for a sleepy watch on as kids safely play with new ride home. Plus, the brewery makes pals and tire themselves out for a sleepy seriously good burgers, flat-top hot dogs ride home. Plus, the brewery makes and loaded crinkle-cut fries. Don’t miss seriously good burgers, flat-top hot dogs the 12 specialty burgers named for the and loaded crinkle-cut fries. Don’t miss 12 states that US Route 50 runs through. the 12 specialty burgers named for the Grab a house-made root beer or shake 12 states that US Route 50 runs through. for the kids. As for parents, you can Grab a house-made root beer or shake choose from a wide range of Fifty West for the kids. As for parents, you can canned, bottled or draft beers. Make it a choose from a wide range of Fifty West whole family affair by bringing your dog canned, bottled or draft beers. Make it a to their ultra pet-friendly patio. whole family affair by bringing your dog to their ultra pet-friendly patio. Galactic Fried Chicken

Galactic Fried Chicken 624 Sixth Ave., Dayton, Kentucky Dayton, Kentucky’s retro sci-fi-themed 624 Sixth Ave., Dayton, Kentucky Galactic Fried Chicken serves up crispy Dayton, Kentucky’s retro sci-fi-themed Galactic Fried Chicken serves up crispy

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delights for carnivores and herbivores of all ages, all made using gluten-free delights for carnivores and herbivores batter. Owned by husband-and-wife of all ages, all made using gluten-free team Shane Coffey and Kathy McDonbatter. Owned by husband-and-wife ald, the menu features the titular fried team Shane Coffey and Kathy McDonchicken, plus chicken tenders, sandald, the menu features the titular fried wiches and classic sides like fries, devchicken, plus chicken tenders, sandiled eggs, Texas toast and fried pickles. wiches and classic sides like fries, devFor vegetarians, the jackfruit nugget iled eggs, Texas toast and fried pickles. meal comes with eight nugs, a side of For vegetarians, the jackfruit nugget Galactic Sauce, slaw and housemade meal comes with eight nugs, a side of pickles. Galactic also doesn’t skimp on Galactic Sauce, slaw and housemade servings — there’s enough to keep for pickles. Galactic also doesn’t skimp on leftovers. servings — there’s enough to keep for leftovers.

Tom + Chee

Tom +locations Chee Multiple What kid (or adult, for that matter) Multiple locations can resist the classic grilled-cheeseWhat kid (or adult, for that matter) tomato-soup combo? Tom + Chee can resist the classic grilled-cheeseexcels at the dynamic duo, with a tomato-soup combo? Tom + Chee variety of cheesy melts featuring differexcels at the dynamic duo, with a ent proteins like ham, bacon, chicken variety of cheesy melts featuring differand even goetta locally; toppings from ent proteins like ham, bacon, chicken veggies to chips and fig preserves; and and even goetta locally; toppings from cheeses ranging from classic chedveggies to chips and fig preserves; and dar to pepper jack and goat cheese. cheeses ranging from classic chedNo matter which melt you pick, they dar to pepper jack and goat cheese. all pair well with Tom + Chee’s classic No matter which melt you pick, they or creamy tomato soup. For a “Sweet all pair well with Tom + Chee’s classic Cheet,” try the melty S’more or Grilled or creamy tomato soup. For a “Sweet Chee donuts. Cheet,” try the melty S’more or Grilled Chee donuts.

Zip’s Cafe 1036 Delta Ave., Mt. Lookout Zip’s Cafe Zip’s Cafe has been open since 1926 and 1036 Delta Ave., Mt. Lookout is known for its Zip Burger, named the Zip’s Cafe has been open since 1926 and best in Ohio by Food & Wine. The kids is known for its Zip Burger, named the will love the menu, packed with a varibest in Ohio by Food & Wine. The kids ety of burgers and other child-approved will love the menu, packed with a varifavorites like grilled cheese, chicken ety of burgers and other child-approved tenders, hot dogs and coneys, and can favorites like grilled cheese, chicken be kept busy watching the model train tenders, hot dogs and coneys, and can circling the restaurant. The small space be kept busy watching the model train is separated into a dining area and a bar circling the restaurant. The small space by a saloon-style door. Head to the back is separated into a dining area and a bar bar for a local beer on draft while you by a saloon-style door. Head to the back wait for space at a booth or a seat at one bar for a local beer on draft while you of the shared family-style tables. wait for space at a booth or a seat at one of the shared family-style tables.

Saturday Morning Vibes Cereal Bar Saturday Morning Vibes

3539 Reading Cereal BarRoad, Suite 101, Avondale If you crave those memories of grabbing 3539 Reading Road, Suite 101, Avondale a bowl of cereal and plopping yourself If you crave those memories of grabbing in front of the TV to watch Saturday a bowl of cereal and plopping yourself morning cartoons and now want to in front of the TV to watch Saturday experience that with your kids, this morning cartoons and now want to Avondale cereal bar can help. The nosexperience that with your kids, this talgia is real at Saturday Morning Vibes Avondale cereal bar can help. The nosas it features cereals from around the talgia is real at Saturday Morning Vibes world, as well as toppings like strawberas it features cereals from around the ries, whipped cream and more to add to world, as well as toppings like strawberyour bowl. Their menu also has avocado ries, whipped cream and more to add to toast, waffles, muffins, bagels, fresh fruit your bowl. Their menu also has avocado toast, waffles, muffins, bagels, fresh fruit

that donates a portion of its proceeds to a local cause.

Hoppin’ Vines 8150 Montgomery Road, Kenwood A hub for beer, duckpin bowling and coal-fired pizza, Hoppin’ Vines is the perfect playground for kids and adults alike. Kids can play a few rounds of duckpin bowling (a blend of bowling and skee ball) while you enjoy their weekly rotating collection of craft beers from all over the country. Personal pizzas make it easy for picky kids to get exactly what they like, and the mac & cheese is so good, you’ll be stealing from your kids’ plates.

The Wicked Pickle

Fifty West Burger Bar offers numerous ways for the kiddos to stay entertained while you enjoy your burger and beer. P H O T O : S AVA N A W I L L H O I T E

vegetarian options.

Sleepy Bee Cafe

jalapenos, cilantro, pico de gallo and lime crema. ACES also serves a range of sandwiches, bowls and salads and has a dedicated kids’ menu.

8 E. Fourth St., Downtown; 3098 Madison Road, Oakley; 9514 Kenwood Road, Blue Ash; 5920 Hamilton Ave., College Hill Again, what kid doesn’t love breakfast food? The difference here is just how elevated (yet affordable) the basics can taste. Serving locally sourced food for breakfast, brunch and lunch, Sleepy Bee Cafe offers both dine-in and carry-out options at multiple locations. Popular items include the Queen City Bee, which is a breakfast sandwich with goetta, apple, arugula, broken yolk egg and “nectar” sauce on a milk bun, and The Worker Bee, which is two eggs of any style, your choice of bacon, sausage and goetta or vegan goetta. Other items include different salads, sandwiches and soups, plus delicious fluffy pancakes.

Dead Low Brewing

Nation Kitchen + Bar

5959 Kellogg Ave., California Dead Low Brewing is located within walking distance of Coney Island and Riverbend Music Center, making the massive taproom and beer garden an easy choice after a long day in the sun. Dead Low serves up beer, cider and seltzer brewed on-site, as well as madefrom-scratch burgers, sandwiches, pizza, wings and salads; there’s also a dedicated kids’ menu and several

1200 Broadway St., Pendleton; 3435 Epworth Ave., Westwood; 203 Mill St., Milford Nation’s Westwood location will have your kids mesmerized by the old fire station building, plus it’s located near a public playground for those post-dinner zoomies. The laid-back eatery and bar serves a variety of top-notch burgers and famous tots – perfect for any picky eater – with a specialty monthly burger

Nation Kitchen + Bar provides the perfect laidback atmosphere for a family night out. P H OTO : H A I L E Y B O L L I N G E R

and local coffee.

ACES Pickleball + Kitchen 2730 Maverick Drive, Norwood This new, state-of-the-art pickleball complex features 11 cushion-based courts designed for all skill levels – both indoor and outdoor. After a fun game of pickleball with the family, head over to the full-service restaurant and bar, where the menu features dishes crafted with local and seasonal ingredients from regional farmers, artisans and producers. You can try elevated bar-fare appetizers like their brown sugar- and citrus-brined wings or loaded nachos topped with white queso, pickled

123 Railroad Ave., Loveland If you tell your little one they’re going to a dollhouse for dinner, they just might believe you at The Wicked Pickle. Located along the Loveland Bike Trail, The Wicked Pickle is a charming spot to sip on a drink, eat some barbecue and watch bikers roll along the trail. The homey vibes stay strong with live music, a full bar and a menu stuffed with delicious items that feature their housesmoked pork. Of course, little ones can enjoy a kids’ menu with classics like grilled cheese, quesadillas and apple or pineapple fritters for dessert.

Agave & Rye Multiple locations Diners flock to Agave & Rye to enjoy its vibrant murals and funky decor while chowing down on unique tacos. Your brave little eaters may find taco options like kangaroo, duck and crab to be the event of a lifetime. Less outthere options include butter-poached lobster, crispy cauliflower and crispy chicken. Picky eaters are still honored with simple-yet-sublime favorites like ground beef, chicken and even mac & cheese.

Skyline Chili Multiple locations The children must be baptized by the chili. And if their palates aren’t developed enough to appreciate the saltysweet staple, there’s always a plain hotdog within reach. Kids born and raised here can’t remember a time before they tried Skyline — and for good reason. It has been one of the pioneers of Cincinnati culture since opening in 1949.

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coarse Belgian beet sugar, the dough caramelizes on the cast iron press for a sweet finish. Kids (and grown-ups) can even pick from toppings like strawberries and cream or Belgian chocolate. For a savory feel, the waffle is used as the bread in a McWaffle sandwich (egg, gruyère and maple syrup). Later in the day, kids could enjoy breakfast for dinner or an item off the L’il Gnomes menu, which features favorites like mac & cheese, chicken nuggets and grilled cheese.

Hofbrauhaus

beans. For parents on that gnarly child care budget, you can save by bringing in your own beer.

200 Third St., Newport Dining while parenting is all about strategy, and you can use the promise of doing the chicken dance on top of a table as plate-finishing leverage. This German bier hall is modeled after the original Hofbrauhaus in Munich and features house-brewed beer, German fare like soft-dough pretzels with bier cheese and wurst sausages, and servers in traditional dirndls. You’ll often find the sounds of German polka music, cheering and laughter drifting out into the streets — an atmosphere that will keep the kids entertained while you enjoy a bier (or two).

Taft’s Brewpourium

Milkman

4831 Spring Grove Ave., #1, Spring Grove Village Taft’s Brewpourium is in an old streetcar warehouse and serves New Haven “apizza” — a crispy and coal-fired version of Neapolitan pizza. The space is industrial, big and very family-friendly; you’ll see plenty of kids and parents camped out at the interior picnic tables any time you visit. There’s also a fun game area with options like Pop-A-Shot in the back, if you don’t trust your kids with the weighted table shuffleboard pucks.

1106 Race St., Over-the-Rhine Is there anything more nostalgic of being a kid than sipping on milkshakes and demolishing a big plate of hot, crispy fries at the local diner? Milkman serves up those nostalgic vibes for your now-children along with its unique take on diner food with smash burgers; fried chicken sandwiches that range from the classic (topped with dill pickles) to Thai (topped with spicy cucumber slaw and sweet chili sauce); and “not a burger” options like hot dogs, salads and Italian beef sandwiches. There are also options for non-meat eaters, including tofu nugs plus the meat for any of the chicken sandwiches can be switched out for fried tofu. You also can’t leave without trying one of their milkshakes (and parents can also add a little booze to theirs).

Taft’s Brewporium’s game area will keep the kids occupied all night long. P H OTO : H A I L E Y B O L L I N G E R

First founded by Greek immigrants, the chili parlor pours it over spaghetti or hot dogs and tops it with a mound of cheese, oyster crackers and — depending on your preference — onions and beans. Also available are chili burritos, fries and vegetarian chili, which is made with black beans and rice.

Camp Washington Chili 3005 Colerain Ave., Camp Washington You can’t talk about iconic chili without mentioning our ultra-local queen, Camp Washington Chili. Giving your kids something to look back on and adore with feelings of nostalgia is the gift that keeps on giving, and Camp Washington Chili already radiates history and prestige. Here you’ll find greasy-spoon breakfast offerings, double-decker sandwiches, Cincinnatistyle chili (which has won an “American Regional Classic” James Beard Foundation Award), coneys and even a few salads. This diner is the quintessential chili parlor of days gone by with its classic mid-century sign out front, dining counter inside and photos and newspaper clippings along the wall.

The Acres 9941 Reading Road, Evendale Hungry families who aren’t ready to commit to a junior golf schedule need to know about The Acres. Before it was recently overhauled and rebranded as The Acres, Etter’s Golf Center had offered a basic driving range and a small mini golf course since it opened in 1950. The Acres debuted in June 2022 and now features two mini golf courses,

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a Trackman interactive golf simulator and the golf center’s first full bar and restaurant. They also added space to just hang out. There are fire pits, cornhole boards and plenty of outdoor tables and seating. The food menu at The Acres’ restaurant is a short selection of what managing partner Todd Gailar calls “elevated American classics.”

Tickle Pickle 4176 Hamilton Ave., Northside; 915 N. Fort Thomas Ave., Ft. Thomas Building your own anything at a restaurant is essential for parents with kids who just can’t fathom taking the onion off themselves. Enter the Tickle Pickle. The Rock & Roll-inspired burgers cater to both adults and kids with a menu that features a variety of burgers, like Meatallica (mayo, cheese, bacon and egg) or the Red Hot Chili Peppers (spicy ketchup, mayo, pepper jack cheese, grilled peppers and onions and a jalapeño popper). For the picky eaters in your group, you can create your own burger, customizing it to your exact preference. Tickle Pickle is also known for its thick and creamy vegan milkshakes.

Eli’s BBQ - Riverside 3313 Riverside Drive, East End Eli’s has a great outdoor space with areas for kids to run around and have fun, plus picnic tables for dining, both in the sun and the shade. Celebrate a beautiful afternoon with a cold brew and some delicious barbecue like their pulled pork sandwich with a side of jalapeño cheddar grits and baked

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Cartridge Brewing 1411 Grandin Road, Maineville Head down to the banks of the Little Miami River where Cartridge Brewing sits inside the historic Peters Cartridge Factory. Their menu features shareables like nachos and pretzels with beer cheese, plus pizza, sandwiches and more. While you’re there, be sure to grab a house-made brew. The brewery sits right along the Loveland Bike Trail, making it the perfect stop during a bike ride with the family.

Taste of Belgium Multiple locations Your kids will feel like they’re getting away with something eating Taste of Belgium’s Belgian waffles. Made hot and fresh from a thick dough and

LaRosa’s Multiple locations Buddy LaRosa started in 1954 with only $400 dollars and his Aunt Dena’s pizza recipe. Now, LaRosa’s is arguably the best-known pizza joint in Cincinnati, with plenty of offerings beyond pizza to satisfy even the pickiest eater. Serving pizzas, calzones, hoagies, fries, garlic bread, fried cheese sticks, salads, ravioli, spaghetti and lasagna, there is no question as to why the business has thrived for so long and why families return generation after generation.

MUSIC

Over the centuries, the popularity and scope of Halloween music has only grown. P H OTO : K E N N Y E L I AS O N P E X E LS

From Graveyard Smash to Pumpkin King Bash Behind the fascinating and spooky history of popular Halloween music BY B R I A N BA K E R

s a holiday, Halloween has experienced an astonishing centuries-long evolution. It’s been linked to Samhain, an ancient Gaelic harvest festival rooted in pagan Ireland and purportedly reformed by Christians as All Hallows’ Eve, the night before All Saints’ Day, where the departed faithful are remembered and celebrated. Irish and Scottish immigrants introduced the religious traditions of Halloween (a Scottish contraction of All Hallows Evening originally spelled Halhalon) to North America in the 1800s, which may have inspired Washington Irving to set 1820’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in the holiday’s context. Thus began the trick-or-treat/costume party/haunted house/horror movie secularization of a holiday which generated $10.6 billion in revenue in 2022. Look around, there’s a Spirit Halloween store in an abandoned (and possibly haunted) strip mall store near you. Just as the actual holiday has evolved, so too has Halloween music, or perhaps more accurately, the definition of what constitutes Halloween music. The religious celebration of All Hallows’ Eve featured attendant music consisting of

liturgical hymns intended to create a reverent and somber atmosphere, but blues songs of the early 20th century began featuring the Devil, which were likely veiled references to the racist oppression directed at the Black community. In any event, certain aspects of “the Devil’s music” became associated with Halloween. Cultural shifts had a monumental impact on establishing a particular style that could be characterized as Halloween music. Religion had already clearly defined the parameters of Christmas music, but secular songwriters found inspiration in the holiday’s 20th century evolution and reverent hymns like “Silent Night” and “O Holy Night” were soon inextricably linked to Mel Tormé’s “The Christmas Song.” A similar paradigm developed around spooky music that was sometimes, at best, merely Halloween-adjacent. In the initial decades of the 20th century, there were any number of 78s featuring swing music with shadowy undertones, like the American Quartet’s “The Skeleton Rag” in 1912, Maurice Burkhart’s “At the Devil’s Ball” in 1913 and Jack Hylton’s “Bogey Wail” in 1929. Radio technology development in

the ‘20s and ‘30s made the presence of music almost universally available, which required the new stations to create a constant flow of content in the form of live and recorded music and radio plays, which, given the lack of visual cues, necessitated atmospheric soundtracks to telegraph the emotional arc of the story being presented. Ghost stories, particularly around Halloween, were popular radio fodder; ironically, the most infamous holiday radio play of all time, Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre presentation of The War of the Worlds in 1938, featured no music at all until the final two minutes of the broadcast. At any rate, the increasingly unsettling music that accompanied most horror radio plays set the stage for the films that were about to follow. Horror had been a popular subject since the dawn of filmmaking; based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu was released in 1922, and composer Hans Erdmann’s score was integral to the movie’s creeping impact. In 1919, Russian physicist Leon Theremin invented his eponymous sonic device, granting commercial production rights to RCA Victor in 1928, an event which would have repercussions

for science fiction and horror movies in the ‘50s and in rock music to the present day. In 1956, producer Dickie Goodman released his first “break-in” record, The Flying Saucer Parts 1 & II, which utilized fragments of popular songs as the responses to questions posed by a man-on-the-street reporter in the earliest (and legally contentious) example of sampling. Follow-up singles included several additional UFO-related parodies, and movie monster themed works like “Frankenstein of ‘59” and the topical “Frankenstein Meets the Beatles” in 1964. Because of their science fiction/ horror associations, many of Goodman’s novelty records became Halloween music by proximity. In 1962, Bobby “Boris” Pickett and a session band known as The Crypt Kickers (which initially featured legendary keyboardist Leon Russell) recorded the perennially popular “Monster Mash;” the song hit the #1 slot on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart the week before Halloween, two months after its release. Not only has the song become the single most played song at Halloween, it spawned the 1967 stage musical I’m Sorry the Bridge is Out, You’ll Have to

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Spend the Night, co-written by Pickett, and the 1995 film version, Monster Mash: The Movie, starring Pickett as Dr. Frankenstein. Two years ago, “Monster Mash” re-entered the Billboard Hot 100, cracking the Top 40, almost 60 years after its debut. Halloween music would not remain a novelty for long. Surf music became linked to “teenagers-in-peril” science fiction/horror films, which broadened the reach of the genre, ultimately spawning a couple of generations of horror punk bands, including the Misfits, who did their own version of “Monster Mash” in 1995. Another major turning point was the score work of composer Bernard Herrmann, who provided masterful musical accompaniment to The Day the Earth Stood Still, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Citizen Kane, and a number of Alfred Hitchcock films, including Psycho, Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much and North by Northwest. Herrmann’s work had a ripple effect on a broad range of artists, including a young musician in Los Angeles named Danny Elfman, who had provided the score to his brother Richard’s 1980 indie film Forbidden Zone, which was based on the mid-’70s performances of his musical troupe, the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. After Richard left the group for a film career, Danny took the helm,

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shortening the name to Oingo Boingo and crafting them into an amazing and eccentric eight-piece rock band, inspired in part by the ska revival and the frenetic energy of punk. Oingo Boingo’s Halloween shows were the stuff of legend, and their songs “Only a Lad,” “No One Lives Forever,” “Nothing to Fear (But Fear Itself ),” “Dead Man’s Party” and “Wild Sex (In the Working Class)” became staples of horror and teen angst film soundtracks in the ‘80s and beyond. Elfman has become the name at the top of short lists for film composition. He has scored nearly all of Tim Burton’s movies since his 1985 debut, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, including his astonishing and evocative work on the cross-holiday, stop-motion animation masterpiece The Nightmare Before Christmas (where Elfman sang the vocals for Pumpkin King Jack Skellington) and he famously provided one of the most iconic musical signatures in television history with the theme to The Simpsons. To date, Elfman has been responsible for well over 100 albums, including his most recent solo album, 2021’s Big Mess, and his spectacular work on the inaugural Netflix season of the Addams Family spinoff Wednesday. Halloween wouldn’t be the same without his incredible catalog. But if one rock figure of the past five decades

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could claim to have brought a certain legitimacy to the concept of Halloween music, Alice Cooper could easily accept that honor. From the beginning, Cooper and his original band became known for outrageous costuming — Cooper noted that his look was inspired by Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, Anita Pallenberg in Barbarella, and Diana Rigg’s Emma Peel on the ‘60s spy series The Avengers — and an intensely compelling stage show. Each successive touring cycle after their breakthrough third album, 1971’s Love It to Death, became more elaborate and viscerally shocking, with Cooper portraying himself as a villainous danger to decent society. Early Cooper shows ended with his anti-hero’s “execution” in an electric chair, which was ultimately switched out for his even more graphic demise in a stage guillotine. Given the garish costumes, unique special effects (some of the earliest were designed by magician James Randi) and violent stage antics that tipped a bloody top hat to the Grand Guignol performances of the same-named Parisian theater that lent its name to any brutally realistic fiction, every night for Alice Cooper was Halloween, and every show was an over-the-top trick and a screamingly original treat. At 75, Cooper remains an active

recording artist with a relatively busy touring schedule. He just completed a month-long tour for his recently released album, Road, which saw him co-headline shows with metal provocateur/horror filmmaker Rob Zombie, who has always cited Cooper as his primary influence. Zombie’s not alone; Sex Pistols/Public Image Ltd. frontman John Lydon claimed to know the words to every Alice Cooper song, and bands as disparate as the Flaming Lips, the Germs, the Ramones and even David Bowie have been steered by the king of shock rock. What can be gleaned from this truncated musical history lesson? It would seem to indicate that seminal artists from the earliest reaches of the previous century, standard bearers from its post-war years, novelty purveyors from the post-war period and rock icons in the prime of their creative lives have all guaranteed through their advances that generations of artists who have been influenced by any of the above have the freedom to decide for themselves how to define Halloween music. God bless dancing skeletons, ghouls, zombies, ghosts, witches, candy makers, the Ben Cooper costume company, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video and the throbbing, bloody heart of Halloween music, whatever that happens to be for each of us.

SOUND ADVICE

CupcakKe P H O T O : I N S TA G R A M . C O M / C U P C A K K E A F R E A K

Bob Dylan P H OTO : C O U RT E SY O F C O L U M B I A R E C O R D S

BOB DYLAN Oct. 20 • Andrew J Brady Music Center Cincinnati welcomes one of the most significant artists of the last century and a trailblazer of modern times, Bob Dylan. He’s been called the voice of a generation, performed at the 1963 March on Washington and has influenced The Beatles and many other musicians that came after. He’s the subject of countless books, documentaries and maybe the most studied artist in popular music. He defined a generation but always sidestepped definition. Dylan’s career began as a folk legend with era-defining songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” and “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” among others that entwined him with a growing counterculture part of the Civil Rights Movement and other social justice movements. He shocked the folk community when he famously went electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival and a new era was

born. His releases that year, Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited, which features “Like a Rolling Stone,” and Blonde on Blonde (1966) represent some of the most influential and revolutionary recordings of all time. He wrote some of the most recognizable titles of popular music, including “All Along the Watchtower” (1967), “Lay Lady Lay” (1969), “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” (1973) and “Forever Young” (1974). Dylan also collaborated with The Band, George Harrison and Johnny Cash among a long list of others. Another career-defining era came in the mid-’70s and some of his best songwriting on Blood on the Tracks (1975) and Desire (1976), which was followed by the famed Rolling Thunder Revue tour. The ‘80s saw another chapter with a move toward religion on Slow Train Coming (1979) and Saved (1980), along with the start of touring that many call the “Never Ending Tour” and the hit

supergroup with George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, The Traveling Wilburys. Dylan redefined himself yet again with 1997’s Time Out of Mind, which won the Grammy for Album of the Year and kicked off another run of some of the best music of his career, Love and Theft (2001), Modern Times (2006) and a string of recent releases. Dylan became the first musician awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016 for his influential, expansive, philosophical and often literature-referencing songwriting At the height of the early COVID pandemic, Dylan released the sprawling, referential 17-minute “Murder Most Foul,” followed by the album Rough and Rowdy Ways. Catch the 82-year-old living legend live with his band moving through some of the most significant songs in popular music. Bob Dylan plays the Andrew J Brady Music Center on Oct. 20 at 8 p.m. Info: bradymusiccenter.com. (Brent Stroud)

CUPCAKKE Oct. 22 • Legends Bar and Venue In 2012, rapper and songwriter CupcakKe went viral at only 15 years old for her song, “Gold Digger.” Born as Elizabeth Eden Harris, CupcakKe started

writing church poetry at 14 years old, then soon received the nickname CupcakKe as she began her rap career. From 2012 to 2016, CupcakKe put out raunchy and sexually empowering rap songs including hits like “Deepthroat” and “Vagina” until releasing her debut album, Cum Cake, in February of 2016. Born to a single mother in Chicago, CupcakKe’s upbringing was challenging, as she was in and out of homeless shelters throughout her childhood. When she got involved in the church at just 10 years old, she found her love for poetry and ran with it. CupcakKe’s four albums came soon after one another from 2016 to 2018. Since 2018, CupcakKe has only released singles, such as hits “Marge Simpson,” “Gum” and “Whoregasm.” Her discography is unapologetically explicit, filled with many sexual innuendos. While she took a step back from releasing albums, she has been releasing great singles pretty consistently since 2020. CupcakKe plays Legends Bar and Venue on Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. Info: legendscincy.com. (Hayley Garr)

BOB MOULD WITH JASON NARDUCY Oct. 22 • 20th Century Theater Bob Mould has written hundreds of songs over the last 40-plus years,

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Bob Mould P H OTO : G R A N A RY M U S I C

beginning in the 1980s as frontman for the iconic post-punk trio Hüsker Dü, followed by the last three decades as a solo artist and a brief but stellar early 1990s run as frontman of Sugar, another dynamic power trio. The exhaustive box set Distortion: 19892019, released in different variants over the last few years (including one that features 24 CDs and another with eight vinyl LPs), highlights Mould’s post-Hüsker Dü output. But it’s the live setting where the 63-year-old rock and roll lifer is most at home, conveying what moves him through ferocious guitar playing and a frayed vocal delivery. Mould’s recent tours in support of Distortion draw from across his voluminous catalog, as well as tunes from his most recent record, 2020’s Blue Hearts, which is as urgent and topical as anything in the upstate New York native’s output. (For proof, check out “Heart on My Sleeve,” which tackles climate change, and “American Crisis,” a no-holds-barred take on attacks by right-wing forces on those they consider as “other.”) The current tour is one of Mould’s solo electric outings, which means just Bob and his guitar. “I’m excited to be back in the Northeast and Midwest, especially during peak fall colors,” Mould wrote on his website when the current tour was

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announced. “I’m happy to have Jason (Narducy) supporting the tour — it’s been a while since we’ve done solo shows together. I’m nervous, too: I’ve got a handful of new songs to share with you!” If recent shows are any indication, expect a handful of Hüsker Dü classics like “Flip Your Wig,” “Makes No Sense at All” and “Something I Learned Today” sprinkled in as well. Think of it as a best of Bob show punctuated by new tunes, another intimate communal experience by a restless artist who continues to challenge both himself and his audience. Bob Mould plays 20th Century Theater on Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. Info: the20thcenturytheater.com. (Jason Gargano)

LIL UZI VERT Oct. 24 & 25 • Andrew J Brady Music Center In the present era of hip-hop, it’s getting harder to distinguish some rappers from rockstars. Lil Uzi Vert has hovered near the pinnacle of this identity collision since their emergence as one of hip-hop’s essential figures around 2016. Their most recent album, Pink Tape, cemented their rockstarrapper ethos with its genre-elastic approach to their playful and emo-trap sound, pouring in influences from

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Lil Uzi Vert P H OTO : F R A N K M O R A L E S

punk and hard rock. Lil Uzi Vert has a long list of hits and notable albums that resonated heavily with young rap fans in the latter half of the 2010s, when contemporary hiphop arrived at an generation-defining juncture. They were a prolific figure in catapulting “mumble rap” — a term coined by oldheads lamenting that they couldn’t understand what rappers were saying in their songs — into the mainstream. On the frontlines of this pop culture crusade, Lil Uzi Vert brushed off criticism predicting their fame would be short-lived. They succeeded in proving critics wrong — they’re still around, and Pink Tape debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 200 in June. Pink Tape is a monster of a project coming in at 26 songs. It’s a mixed bag given its length, and, naturally, it meanders in its sound. It starts off ablaze with a batch of forceful punkinspired tracks. Many of those tracks

are dripping with guttural and ghoulish ad libs that jump out the back of their throat. Other tracks on the album align more with the sound they’ve honed throughout their career, with highpitched vocals slathered in autotune, colorful trap instrumentals and dynamic, catchy flows. Emo-rap tracks are thrown in the mix as well, with Lil Uzi Vert crooning about struggles with drug addiction and mental health. Lil Uzi Vert’s “Pink Tape Tour” features back-to-back show dates in Cincinnati at the Andrew J Brady Music Center on Oct. 24 and 25. The second Cincinnati show was added after the initial tour announcement, giving Cincinnatians a second chance to experience what should be venuerattling nights. Lil Uzi Vert plays the Andrew J Brady Music Center on Oct. 24 and 25 at 8 p.m. Info: bradymusiccenter.com. (Killian Baarlaer)

CREATURES OF FOOTBALL CROSSWORD

BY B R EN DA N E M M E T T Q U I G L E Y W W W. B R E N DA N E M M E T TQ U I G L E Y.C O M

Across

39. #1 song, e.g.

69. Dictionary cross-reference phrase

1. They’re found in a brush

41. Late-summer bloomer

70. X messages, for short

6. Abbr. atop a Gmail window

42. Granite State sch.

9. Second-best effort

43. Not harpsichords, but not pianos either instruments

14. Reddish-black chili pepper

46. ___ Salvador

15. Musician’s gift

47. Nights when people watch balls drop: Abbr.

16. One of the noble gases 17. Unbelievable bargain

23. Strangling snakes 26. “Indeed! Indeed!” 27. “So much ___”

56. “Why you little!”

9. Animal house

32. Tops 34. UX designers degs. 36. One who takes things the wrong way 37. Frequent Ferrell costar on “SNL” 40. The “I” of “IPA”: Abbr. 44. Nutty candy 45. Warning signals 48. Certain camera, for short

11. Back in the day

50. Psaki of MSNBC

12. Losing sibling’s cry for help, maybe 13. Dinner centerpieces?

52. Where new products debut

67. Cartoon snarfing sound

21. Queen ___ (“Disenchantment” character)

53. Decluttering guru Marie

68. “We’re in trouble,” in code

22. Grp. for birdmen and flyboys

30. Boat parts

10. Picturesque caves

66. Like some highlight reel catches

38. One-named singer with the #1 song “Somebody That I Used to Know”

29. Trouser measurement

8. Filled pancake

65. Sick as a dog

37. See 35-Across

2. Word following pharaoh, carpenter, or fire

7. Cartoonist Guisewite

64. Link from an influencer

35. *With 37-Across, play where the running back lines up as a quarterback

28. Goes scavenging

54. Rideshare selection with a larger vehicle

60. *Football, colloquially

33. Invoice number?

1. Holds onto

6. Where to play Pro Kadmia

59. Actress Kravitz

31. Borrowing for the time being

25. Range of strong emotions

5. It’s always done alone

51. *Trick play where the running back tosses back to the quarterback

20. *Quick kick

Down

4. Free-flowing musical composition

50. Noodles with the group

19. Hotel accommodations

24. Like bialys

3. Shelf material?

49. Like platform shoes and tinted glasses

18. Polish off

23. Hybrid weapon that sometimes shoots arrows

54. Spraying weapons 55. Tex’s string tie 57. Gift tag word

58. Poor reception? 61. How about that

62. ___-Rock (first female rapper) 63. Big name in vitamins

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