NEWS

YEAR IN REVIEW NEWS

Cincinnati’s Mayor-elect Aftab Pureval (left) and his vice mayor, Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney

PHOTO: ALLISON BABKA

20 Greater Cincinnati News Stories from 2021 That We’ll Never Forget

BY ALLISON BABKA

What can we say about 2021? Year two of the COVID-19 pandemic was slightly more interesting than 2020 was, since safe, e ective vaccines emerged and we could nally leave our homes and hug relatives again (unless they remained unvaccinated).

But there were plenty of other interesting happenings in Cincinnati that had nothing to do with a virus that continues to wipe out the country’s population at a pretty devastating clip. Below, read the Greater Cincinnati news stories that made 2021 memorable in both good and bad ways.

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley Finally Enters Ohio Governor Race, with Legal Weed as a Platform Centerpiece

After months of teasing that he’d make a run for a higher o ce, Cranley announced in August that he would o cially enter the race to become Ohio’s next governor in 2022. Cranley’s campaign largely is framed around Cincinnati’s population and civic “comeback,” as he calls it, with criminal justice reform, job creation and legal recreational marijuana as focuses.

Cincinnati Elects Aftab Pureval as Its First New Mayor in Eight Years

A changing of the guard is coming in 2022. By defeating opponent and longtime politician David Mann in November’s election, the 39-year-old Pureval cemented two important rsts: the rst new mayor since Cranley took o ce two terms ago, and Cincinnati’s rst Asian American mayor. Cincinnati City Council member and Cincinnati Herald publisher Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney will join Pureval’s administration as vice mayor.

Kentucky Sees Its Most Devastating Tornado Ever

upon the Midwest and mid-South on Dec. 10 and early Dec. 11, hitting Kentucky, Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee. At least four of them zipped through the Commonwealth during the multi-state blitz, including one that the National Weather Service says stayed on the ground for at 227 miles. e tornado cluster is considered to be one of the most devastating in history. At least 75 people were killed in Kentucky, ranging in ages from 2 months old to 97, and the death count still could rise as recovery e orts continue. U.S. President Joe Biden said the U.S. government will cover 100% of the disaster relief costs for the rst 30 days.

Cicadas Invade Cincinnati — and We Were Ready

Following a 17-year residency underground, billions of cicadas emerged throughout Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky this summer. Brood X, as this generation of insects

Cincinnati was obsessed with cicadas in 2021.

PHOTO: PHOTO: R.E. SNODGRASS, PUBLIC DOMAIN

is called, is the largest of all the cicada broods; we last saw them in 2004. Prior to their arrival, Gene Kritsky, the dean of behavioral and natural sciences at Mount St. Joseph University, and his team created the Cicada Safari app, which lets users search, photograph, record and map cicadas in their area. Users can submit their ndings to scientists, who then study the info to learn more about the health and habits of the creatures. And if you wanted to totally avoid the swarm instead of photographing it? Local company Under the Weather had you covered, literally, with their wearable mesh pod. e screened-in box came with shoulder straps to slip over your body and keep the bugs o of you.

The Brent Spence Bridge Is Finally Fully Open

What a glorious day Nov. 8 was! After more than eight months of lane closures, delays and unholy tra c jams, the Brent Spence Bridge connecting Cincinnati with Covington nally reopened to regular tra c. e nation’s No. 2 bottleneck for freight trucks was whole again.

CNN Crowns Cincinnati as Ohio’s New State Capital

We weren’t expecting to become the most important city in Ohio, but we’ll take it. During CNN’s liveblog session about the snowstorms that befuddled the Midwest in February, the cable news channel inadvertently declared Cincinnati to be the Buckeye State’s capital city instead of Columbus.

The Future of Roe v. Wade Actually Seems to Be in Jeopardy

Controversial legislation in Mason was aborted in December. After months of attempting to become a “sanctuary city for the unborn,” Mason nally gave up its mission to ban abortions when the city council voted 6-1 to repeal an anti-abortion ordinance that was supposed to have taken e ect in November. Had the abortion ban stood, it would have outlawed abortion at all gestational stages within Mason’s city limits and punished those who “aid and abet” abortions through funding, transportation and more. Violators could have been ned $2,500 and spent a year in prison. In May, nearby Lebanon council members unanimously passed a similar antiabortion ordinance; the ACLU of Ohio said Lebanon’s legislation was “blatantly unconstitutional” and ripe for legal challenge. ese acts line up with recent Supreme Court decisions regarding controversial abortion bans in Texas and Mississippi that pose a threat to other precedent-setting abortion cases.

The Brent Spence bridge nally fully reopened after months of construction.

PHOTO: ANTHONY 22/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Ohio Can’t Kick COVID-19

During year one of the pandemic, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine spurned his Republican colleagues and ordered a number of public safety protocols — mandatory masks, resident curfews, limited business hours, industry closures — to slow the spread of the coronavirus. For a while, it worked, and Ohio’s cases dropped in January after a horrible fall and winter spike. But once DeWine took all of those measures away during year two — even before hitting expert-recommended benchmarks — the virus came roaring

Community members protested outside of Crossroads church in Oakley after a sermon that denigrated transgender individuals.

PHOTO: MARY LEBUS

back in the form of much deadlier variants, including ones that harm kids more than ever before. Doctors and scientists continue to warn that the state’s — and the region’s — case numbers are rising toward last year’s numbers and are begging for relief, and the CDC labels every county in Ohio as having the highest level of community transmission.

Even Ohio’s White-Tailed Deer Are Infected with COVID

According to a report from NPR, scientists say white-tailed deer are increasingly carrying SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID19. e deer are picking up the virus and carrying it with them across the country, spreading it to other deer possibly “inde nitely.” But that’s not all — scientists say that the deer could pass the virus back to humans and create newer, more resistant strains. is is not good news for Ohio, where white-tailed deer are plentiful and serve as the state mammal. is means that COVID-19 could be here to stay for longer than we’d like, due both to humans’ refusal to mask up and get vaccinated and from deer being deer.

Former Bengal Chad Johnson Leaves $1,000 Tip at Cincinnati Restaurant

e second year of the COVID-19 pandemic kicked o with diners leaving massive surprise tips in bars and restaurants throughout the city. But then “Ochocinco” went and upped the game — dramatically. He left a $1,000 tip for a server at Redlands Grill. In a post on Twitter later, Johnson took a photo of the receipt and captioned it, “Proverbs 11:25 (Cincinnati edition).” e Bible verse reads, “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”

3CDC Reveals Historic Architecture Behind Brick Façade While Renovating Downtown Building

Cincinnati’s architectural elements always shine through. e former Chong Inc. building downtown was built in the late 1800s and several department and furniture stores inhabited the space, as well as a Kroger store from 1960-1969. In 1951, the building went through a massive renovation, removing the 5th and 6th oors and covering the exterior with a new brick façade. While 3CDC was renovating the structure at the start of this year, the Midcentury brick was removed, uncovering the original beauty underneath.

LGBTQ+ Community and Allies Raise Voices After Anti-Trans Speaker Addresses Crossroads Church in Oakley

is summer, members of Cincinnati’s LGBTQ+ community and their allies asked Crossroads to support everyone — or to stop pretending. In addition to welcoming a controversial speaker who denigrated transgender folks during a sermon, the megachurch has policies that prevent LGBTQ+ individuals from holding leadership positions. Community members protested outside Crossroads, pressing senior pastor Brian Tome to claim no prior knowledge of the contents of the speaker’s sermon and to profess supporting LGBTQ+ people despite Crossroads’ homophobic and transphobic policies.

Ohio Sees Multiple Lawsuits Around New Congressional Redistricting Maps

Some voters aren’t thrilled with the Ohio Redistricting Commission and the recently passed legislative district maps. e Ohio Supreme Court has heard arguments from the League of Women Voters, the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and a cohort of state residents claiming the new maps are unconstitutional for violating antigerrymandering requirements. e maps were approved 5-2 along party lines, and Republicans have said there is no evidence they’re unconstitutional. Plainti s have also accused the maps of “packing and cracking,” which denies fair representation to immigrant communities and communities of color by compressing minority votes into the fewest number of districts (packing) or diluting them across districts (cracking).

Eric Deters Celebrates Trump on 9/11 with a ‘Freedom Fest’

Ousted Greater Cincinnati attorney Eric Deters didn’t think there were enough pro-Donald Trump events

The Banks is now home to a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area, or DORA.

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY GAMEDAY PR

this year, so he planned one himself. Deters, who has been suspended from practicing law in Kentucky due to ethical violations, organized Freedom Fest, a “kid-friendly” event in Morning View, Kentucky, about 30 miles south of Cincinnati. e date? Sept. 11, the day nearly 3,000 people died in 2001 due to four al-Qaeda terrorist attacks in the United States and a day that conservatives typically hold sacred. Freedom Fest was described by Deters as being for those “who are frustrated with the masks and the mandates and the vaxx and the lousy president,” “people who support Trump, people who support the Constitution, the Bill of Rights” and those who “believe in God.”

Josh Mandel Does a Lot of Bad Things

What did U.S. Senate hopeful and Trumpy Ohio Republican Mandel accomplish this year? He was kicked o of Twitter for a poll with options for “Mexican gangbangers” and “Muslim terrorists.” He likened COVID-19 vaccine credentials to “Nazi Germany.” He set his face mask on re, because “freedom.” He reportedly had sta ers quit due to his toxic relationship with his campaign nance director. He got his ass handed to him after praising a waitress for going to work sick. Honestly, the better question is “What asinine thing has Mandel not done?”

Jim Jordan Also Does Bad Things

What’s with Ohio Republicans? Jordan, a House Representative for a ridiculously gerrymandered district, is another Trump supporter who lambasted COVID-19 safety protocols, ignored science from virus experts, wanted to use anti-Asian language freely, and falsely and repeatedly claimed that Trump would have another term as U.S. President if it weren’t for conniving Democrats. But a reckoning may be coming, as actor/ director/science believer George Clooney reportedly is working on a docuseries about the Ohio State sex abuse scandal, and Jordan’s alleged involvement in covering up those activities will surely get its due.

Cincinnati Councilman Chris Seelbach to Hamilton County Auditor Dusty Rhodes: “Fuck Off”

Rhodes is well known for his controversial takes. But when Rhodes — who supposedly is a Democrat — tweeted out anti-trans remarks in January, Seelbach wasn’t having it. “You are such a bigoted piece of trash. Fuck o , Dusty Ass Rhodes,” Seelbach tweeted back, igniting a spectacle that had Cincinnati’s full attention. Rhodes has since said that he will not seek reelection when his term is up.

Cincinnati Becomes a Flashpoint for the Conversation Around Ivermectin

Controversy was raised earlier this year when some doctors began prescribing ivermectin — an antiparasitic and livestock dewormer — to COVID-19 patients. While conservative commentators and politicians touted it as a treatment and preventative, the CDC, FDA, American Medical Association and even the drug’s manufacturer warned against its use in COVID cases. e national drama played out on a local stage when a woman sued West Chester Hospital for refusing to honor a prescription of ivermectin written for her husband, who was on a ventilator. e woman initially won an emergency judgement that in essence would force the hospital to give her husband the drug, but a Butler County judge reversed that ruling saying there wasn’t enough evidence to prove ivermectin’s e cacy. Her husband later died.

A West Chester Rep Makes the Magnetic Vaccine Lady Famous

Republican State Rep. Jennifer Gross of West Chester helped launch the claims of Dr. Sherri Tenpenny — a state-licensed doctor of osteopathic medicine — onto the late-night-comedy TV circuit when she invited the doctor to testify before the Ohio House Health Committee in support of the “Vaccine Choice and Anti-Discrimination Act.” Tenpenny spouted her claims that COVID-19 vaccines turn people magnetic and “interface” with 5G cell towers. is prompted a slew of videos across social media of vaccinated — and clearly not magnetized — humans trying to get spoons to stick to their noses. e Center for Countering Digital Hate said Tenpenny was one of the top 12 most proli c disseminators of COVID misinformation on social media.

Cincinnati Designates The Banks as an 85-Acre DORA

ere’s a new DORA in, and she’s a beauty. In March, an 85-acre DORA (designated outdoor refreshment area) opened downtown at e Banks, ready for all the walking and drinking Cincinnati’s can handle. e district spans from Paul Brown Stadium to Heritage Bank Center and to the south sidewalk of Second Street and north sidewalk of Mehring Way (Smale Riverfront Park isn’t included).