May 16, 2021 Enquirer

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City’s history inescapable at parks on riverfront ARTS & LIFE, 1AA

$162 IN COUPON SAVINGS

SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021 | CINCINNATI.COM | PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK

SUNDAY+ We promised you more local news and in today’s edition we’re delivering.

Highlights include:

FULFILLING A VISION

+ More puzzles. This is the third and fi nal week of our comics and puzzle trial in Arts & Life. Check ‘em out and tell us what you think. 14AA + More pages of local news, including more space for our coverage of the opening of TQL Stadium and FC Cincinnati’s fi rst match in their new West End home. 8-9A + She’s a lot country. In her “About us” column, The Enquirer’s Kathrine Nero talks about growing up on country music and her affinity for B105. Our history expert Jeff Suess takes you aboard the Floating Palace, a massive circus showboat that entertained crowds in the 1850s. 10A + More coverage from around the state, provided by the Enquirer’s Columbus bureau and our sister publications in the USA TODAY Network. 12-13A

After TQL Stadium comes new ‘pocket’ neighborhood

+ The Arts & Entertainment section’s occasional series of profi les of area parks stops at some of the popular riverfront parks. Section AA

Sharon Coolidge Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

When Carl Lindner III and Jeff Berding set out to build a soccer stadium in West End, they wanted it to be more than a place for FC Cincinnati to play.

They saw it as a destination neighborhood, where people would live, work and go to have fun.

Think Wrigleyville in Chicago near the Cubs’ Wrigley Field. Downtown Commons near Golden 1 Center where the NBA’s Sacramento Kings play. Titletown near the Green Bay Packers’ Lambeau Field in Wisconsin. And The Wharf in Washington, D.C. As TQL Stadium readies to open, Lindner and Berding are turning their attention to that vision – developing the area north of the stadium between West End and Overthe-Rhine, essentially turning the space into its own tiny pocket neighborhood.

“This is a generational vision,” Berding said. “It’s not something to be done hastily.

Neighborhoods are forever. We are trying to create a new pocket between Over-theRhine and West End, building off the See NEIGHBORHOOD, Page 8A

GARAGES | BASEMENTS | DRIVEWAYS | POOLS | PATIOS | DECKS

A NEW GENERATION OF COATING SYSTEMS

+ Sunday Forum has expanded space for a full page of your letters to the editor and more. Section D

INSIDE: SUBSCRIBER-EXCLUSIVE SPECIAL SECTION

SUMMER OF TRAVEL

A FAN’S GUIDE TO THE STADIUM Ten cool features of FC Cincinnati’s new stadium and hot spots to visit before the match begins.

12-page special section: 1G

x A view of the West End from the Tri-State Wholesale building located near the north end of TQL Stadium in the West End on May 10.

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Israeli missiles destroy a Gaza media building in hunt for Hamas fighters. 1B

Minorities, women, vets benefit

Weather

American Rescue Plan’s grants a lifeline for some restaurants. Business, 17A

High 71° ❚ Low 51° Light rain possible.

Forecast, 2A

Volume 181st | No. 37 Home delivery pricing inside Subscribe 800-876-4500 ©2021 $3.00 The Cincinnati Enquirer

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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THE ENQUIRER

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

YOUR FORECAST The weather is warming up this week. Sunday morning starts off a bit cool with temperatures around 50 degrees. Some portions of the Tri-State could see some light rain at times today. There is an opportunity for a few early morning showers, mainly north and east, but the showers come to an end before noon. The weather looks pleasant for FC Cincinnati’s home opener at the brand new TQL Stadium today with temperatures near 70 degrees during the match. Better chance for more widespread rain comes tonight. Many areas will remain dry until Monday morning. Temperatures will warm into the 80s by mid-week.

The Enquirer is committed to accuracy and will correct all errors of substance. To reach us, contact reader representative Robin Buchanan at 513-768-8308 or email her at accuracy@enquirer.com. Please include whether you are responding to content online, in social media or in the newspaper.

LOTTERIES OHIO

THE NATION

U.S. FORECAST Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation.

Temperature bands are highs for the day

w- weather: s- sunny, pc- partly cloudy, sh- showers, t- thunderstorms, r- rain, sf- snow flurries, sn- snow, i- ice.

CITY

TODAY HI LO W

MON HI LO W

CITY

TODAY HI LO W

MON HI LO W

Akron Albany, N.Y. Albuquerque Amarillo Anchorage Asheville Atlanta Atlantic City Austin Baltimore Baton Rouge Birmingham Bismarck Boise Boston Buffalo Burlington, Vt. Charleston, S.C. Charleston, W.Va. Charlotte, N.C. Cheyenne Chicago Cleveland Columbia, S.C. Columbus Concord, N.H. Dallas-Ft. Worth Daytona Beach Denver Des Moines Detroit El Paso Evansville Fairbanks Fort Lauderdale Fort Myers Fort Wayne Grand Rapids Great Falls Hartford Honolulu Houston Indianapolis Jackson, Miss.

Jacksonville Kansas City Key West Knoxville Las Vegas

69 71 83 79 52 71 80 72 78 72 85 82 81 84 74 70 73 79 69 77 61 74 67 82 72 75 74 79 64 69 68 90 67 62 82 89 71 70 77 74 84 82 69 84 79 71 85 75 80

71 71 77 78 52 74 80 71 85 70 85 82 81 87 67 71 75 80 68 79 58 74 68 83 68 73 83 80 60 73 71 87 72 61 84 90 68 74 84 76 85 84 66 81 81 73 85 78 88

Lexington Little Rock Los Angeles Louisville Madison Memphis Miami Milwaukee Minneapolis Mobile Naples Nashville New Orleans New York City Norfolk, Va. Oklahoma City Omaha Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix Pittsburgh Portland, Maine Portland, Ore. Providence Raleigh Reno Richmond Sacramento St. Louis Salt Lake City San Antonio San Diego San Francisco San Jose Santa Fe St. Ste. Marie Seattle Sioux Falls South Bend Springfield, Ill. Syracuse Tampa Toledo Traverse City Tucson Tulsa Washington, D.C. Wichita Wilmington, N.C.

64 83 64 68 72 83 83 66 74 81 89 79 84 73 72 69 69 81 74 90 68 69 81 74 74 72 74 78 70 77 82 65 65 68 80 65 75 72 72 67 74 89 70 64 91 73 71 71 77

71 74 68 75 74 78 84 64 76 81 90 78 86 72 70 77 74 84 72 88 69 64 76 72 70 80 70 78 68 76 88 68 62 66 75 72 68 71 72 67 74 90 72 72 86 79 70 77 77

52 pc 46 t 55 s 57 t 42 pc 52 pc 59 s 50 pc 70 t 52 pc 69 pc 60 pc 50 s 55 s 56 pc 50 pc 51 t 58 s 52 c 58 pc 46 t 55 pc 52 pc 55 s 54 c 46 t 68 t 67 s 51 t 58 r 53 pc 66 s 60 t 45 c 74 pc 67 pc 54 c 52 pc 47 s 49 t 73 pc 72 t 58 c 65 pc 59 s 61 r 76 pc 55 pc 64 s

51 c 48 pc 52 s 56 t 43 pc 54 pc 63 c 50 pc 72 t 52 sh 71 t 64 c 53 s 54 s 53 pc 51 s 53 pc 64 pc 53 r 60 pc 45 t 56 c 52 c 60 pc 55 r 46 sh 70 t 68 pc 48 t 57 r 53 pc 62 s 61 r 40 c 76 pc 69 pc 55 c 54 pc 48 s 49 pc 73 pc 74 t 58 r 68 t 64 pc 61 sh 78 pc 61 pc 69 s

57 t 65 pc 59 sh 61 t 52 c 67 pc 73 pc 51 pc 54 pc 63 c 69 pc 61 pc 73 pc 55 pc 56 pc 63 t 59 t 64 s 52 pc 66 s 49 pc 49 pc 53 s 52 t 55 c 52 pc 53 c 51 pc 61 t 55 pc 73 t 62 sh 53 pc 52 pc 45 s 44 pc 52 s 54 c 53 c 58 r 48 pc 68 s 54 pc 47 pc 59 s 65 t 56 pc 61 t 56 pc

58 r 66 r 60 pc 62 r 56 pc 66 t 75 pc 51 pc 58 pc 64 c 70 pc 63 pc 74 t 56 pc 58 c 62 t 57 pc 67 pc 53 c 70 s 51 c 47 pc 51 pc 52 pc 57 c 53 pc 54 sh 51 s 63 r 56 t 73 t 63 pc 52 pc 51 pc 43 pc 47 pc 50 pc 56 s 56 c 60 r 51 pc 70 s 54 c 49 s 61 s 64 r 55 sh 61 r 60 pc

IN THE SKY Today

FIRST May 19

FULL May 26

LAST June 2

(Drawings: May 15) Pick 3 (early): 4 4 8 Pick 4 (early): 6 0 5 0 Pick 5 (early): 6 3 3 4 9 (Drawings: May 14) Pick 3 (late): 2 8 6 Pick 4 (late): 9 7 9 3 Pick 5 (late): 9 4 1 5 8 Rolling Cash 5: 5 9 13 20 39 Classic Lotto: Saturday’s jackpot was an estimated $8.3 million.

NEW June 10

Sunrise Sunset Moonrise Moonset

Tomorrow

6:24 a.m. 6:23 a.m.

8:45 p.m. 8:46 p.m.

9:51 a.m. 10:49 a.m.

12:33 a.m. 1:20 a.m.

KENTUCKY (Drawings: May 15) Pick 3 (early): 2 0 6 Pick 4 (early): 1 3 5 2 (Drawings: May 14) Pick 3 (late): 1 9 2 Pick 4 (late): 6 9 2 2 Cash Ball: 6 9 12 17, 7

INDIANA Cold

Warm Stationary Showers T-storms

RIVER LEVELS RIVER

Snow

Ice

Levels as of 7 a.m. Saturday. Sunday’s forecast is for 7 a.m. Pool levels reflect the normal river level.

Previous level

Flood Stage

25.4 12.0 33.5 12.0 12.0

32.50 26.50 35.40 26.50 25.30

52.0 51.0 50.0 51.0 55.0

Pool Level

Previous level

Flood Stage

Forecast

3.30 6.30 7.50 3.80

28 17 18 20

2.90 6.00 6.90 3.90

Licking (Falmouth) Little Miami (Milford) Great Miami (Hamilton) Whitewater (Brookville)

12.0 12.0 12.0 12.0

ALMANAC

Rising

From Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport through 3 p.m. Sat.

TEMPERATURE High/low ............................ 70/45 Normal high/low ................ 73/53 Record high .................. 89 (2018) Record low ................... 34 (1973) HUMIDITY High ..................................... 68% Low ...................................... 25% PRECIPITATION Last 24 hours ....................... 0.00” Month to date ..................... 2.53” Normal month to date ......... 2.39” Year to date ....................... 15.84” Normal year to date .......... 16.05”

Falling

Forecast

29.80 22.50 34.30 21.60 21.70

Unchanged

AIR QUALITY Pollution....................70/Moderate Main pollutant......................Ozone Mold................................. 189/Low Pollen..............................181/High Main pollen.........Mulberry, Walnut Source: Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services

EXTREMES Saturday for the 48 contiguous states.

Highest .................... Needles, CA 93 Lowest ....... Bodie State Park, CA 23 Forecasts and graphics provided

by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021

THE LOCAL BUZZ

COVID-19 VACCINE DASHBOARD

Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden will be lifting mask requirements Beginning Monday, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden will lift mask requirements in outdoor areas where standard social distancing can be maintained.

Guests age six or older will still be required to wear masks in certain areas, including indoors, during human-animal interactions and in congested areas.

The zoo advises visitors still pack a mask to participate in activities and enter buildings that require them.

On June 2, the day Ohio will lift the state mask mandate, the Cincinnati Zoo will only require masks in areas where humans and animals are in close proximity.

Safety measures such as hand sanitizing stations across zoo grounds, plexiglass between seats on the train and touchless entry will remain in place.

In a statement, Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard said they are changing their policy in line with recent guidelines from the CDC and the state.

Flurries

Pool Level

Cincinnati Markland Dam Maysville Meldahl Dam Portsmouth

OTHER RIVERS

Rain

LATEST IN ROLLOUT OHIO Doses received: 10,947,945 The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden will lift mask requirements in outdoor areas starting Monday.

LIZ DUFOUR/THE ENQUIRER

“During the past year and a half, the Cincinnati Zoo has gone above and beyond to protect guests, staff , and animals, and we will continue to follow guidelines from health offi cials to help prevent the spread of COVID-19,” Maynard said.

Also on June 2, members will no longer need to make reservations to visit the zoo. Capacity will be controlled by keeping the reservation system in place for non-members.

Brook Endale, The Enquirer

Adults with one dose: 4,901,021 or 53.8% Adults fully vaccinated: 4,287,940 or 47.1% Who is eligible now? Ages 12 and up.

How do I get registered? Go online to gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov to check eligibility and book an appointment or get a link to vaccine providers. Or call 833-427-5634.

KENTUCKY Doses received: 4,082,135 Adults with one dose: 1,903,112 or 54.9% Adults fully vaccinated: 1,577,208 or 45.5% Who is eligible now? Ages 12 and up.

Download the app Want to keep up with the local buzz? Download the Cincinnati.com smartphone app for all the latest news, sports and information you need to stay informed.

How do I get registered? Go online to vaccine.ky.gov, or call 855-5982246 (hearing impaired 855-3264654).

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Meet the newsroom. Share your stories. Visit The Enquirer at connect.cincinnati.com.

(Drawings: May 15) Daily 3 (early): 6 5 4 (SB: 9) Daily 4 (early): 8 6 8 2 (SB: 9) (Drawings: May 14) Daily 3 (late): 5 7 8 (SB: 9) Daily 4 (late): 3 6 5 9 (SB: 9) Hoosier Lottery: Saturday’s jackpot was an estimated $10.6 million.

MEGA MILLIONS (Drawings: May 14) 3 18 41 44 68 Megaball: 3 Megaplier: 2x Tuesday’s jackpot is an estimated $468 million.

POWERBALL Saturday’s jackpot was an estimated $183 million.

TODAY IN HISTORY Today is May 16. On this date in: 1868: At the U.S. Senate impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, 35 of 54 senators voted to find Johnson guilty of “high crimes and misdemeanors” over his attempted dismissal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, falling one vote short of the twothirds majority needed to convict; the trial ended 10 days later after two other articles of impeachment went down to defeat as well.

1939: The federal government began its first food stamp program – in Rochester, New York.

1943: The nearly monthlong Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ended as German forces crushed the Jewish resistance and blew up the Great Synagogue.

1960: The first working laser was demonstrated at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California, by physicist Theodore Maiman.

1966: China launched the Cultural Revolution, a radical and deadly reform movement aimed at purging the nation of “counter-revolutionaries.”

1975: Japanese climber Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

1988: Surgeon General C. Everett Koop released a report declaring nicotine was addictive in ways similar to heroin and cocaine.

1997: President Bill Clinton publicly apologized for the notorious Tuskegee experiment, in which government scientists deliberately allowed Black men to weaken and die of treatable syphilis.

Corrections and clarifications

Our goal is to promptly correct errors. Email us at accuracy@ enquirer.com to report a mistake or call 513-768-8308. Describe the error, where you saw it, the date, page number, or the URL.

Contact us

Customer Service .......................................................................... 1-800-876-4500 Editor and Vice President ........................................Beryl Love | 513-768-8551 Advertising ................................................ Brandie B. Davisson | 513-768-8182 Obituaries ............................................................................................. 513-768-8400

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Former Bethel Police Chief Steve Teague says that Mayor Jay Noble made Teague the scapegoat for a violent counterprotest last year. AMANDA ROSSMANN/THE ENQUIRER

Former police chief sues Bethel over BLM protest Dan Horn Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

The former police chief of Bethel, Ohio, accused the mayor and village offi cials in a lawsuit Wednesday of violating his civil rights, defaming his character and attempting to blame him for a violent counterprotest during a Black Lives Matter demonstration last year.

The lawsuit, fi led in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, claims Bethel Mayor Jay Noble made former Chief Steve Teague a scapegoat for an incident that drew national attention to the tiny village in June.

Teague said in the lawsuit that Noble was embarrassed by the incident and decided to blame the former chief to turn attention away from his own mistakes.

He said his relationship with Noble already was strained before the protests and counterprotests because Noble had resisted Teague’s attempts to improve the police department, and because Teague and his wife support the Black Lives Matter movement.

“Mayor Noble did not like to be told ‘no’ by Chief Teague, and did not like his political views,” the lawsuit states. “Mayor Noble needed a scapegoat for the negative press received by the village as a result of the BLM demonstration and counterprotests.”

In his lawsuit, Teague said his wife stood with the small group of Black Lives Matter demonstrators when the protests began, while Noble stood with counterprotesters. He said Noble, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, is a motorcycle enthusiast who knew some of the counterprotesters and may have told them about the upcoming Black Lives Matter demonstration.

Hundreds of motorcyclists and other counterprotesters, some armed with guns and bats, descended on Bethel when the demonstration began. Some shouted racial slurs at the demonstrators and pushed and shoved them Several people were injured and police arrested about a half dozen counterprotesters.

Before the protests, Teague said in the lawsuit, village offi cials, including Noble,

had resisted his eff orts to prepare for possible unrest. He said he was told he could not erect barriers, such as fences and rope lines, to keep the protesters and counterprotesters apart.

Teague also said Noble refused to enact a curfew until the second day of the protests.

“For unknown reasons, the Mayor did not undertake any executive action to protect the village prior to the protests,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit says the relationship between Teague and Noble had become strained in the months leading up to the protests because Teague had refused Noble’s request for police offi cers to write more traffi c tickets so the village could collect more money. Teague said he also refused Noble’s attempts to turn police into “private security” for apartment complexes owned by the mayor.

Noble previously has said Teague was the real problem, accusing him of lying, bullying and incompetence on the job. In February, Noble fi led administrative charges against Teague in an eff ort to fi re him, but he later dropped those charges and reprimanded Teague instead.

The accusations against Teague included poor record-keeping, an improperly maintained police evidence room and an incident in which Teague and other offi cers euthanized two runaway cows by shooting them multiple times.

Teague, who had been with the police department 17 years, has said Noble mischaracterized the cow shootings and lied about many of the other claims. He said problems with police records, evidence and training had existed long before he became chief in 2019.

The lawsuit says Teague had never been disciplined before Noble fi led the administrative charges against him.

Teague said Noble and the village council held secret meetings about the administrative charges before they were fi led, in violation of Ohio’s open meetings law.

Teague’s lawsuit, which includes nine counts of alleged wrongdoing, seeks an unspecifi ed amount of money in damages from Noble and the Village of Bethel.

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Riverbend, other venues to return to full capacity Emily DeLetter Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

This summer, some venues in Cincinnati will reopen to shows and events at full capacity with no mask requirement for guests or staff .

This includes Riverbend Music Center and PNC Pavilion, the Taft Theatre and Ballroom and the new Andrew J. Brady Icon Music Center, all owned by Cincinnati-based Music and Event Management Inc. (MEMI).

Masks will be a “personal choice” for any venue-goers and staff , said Rosemarie Moehring, director of marketing at MEMI. The fi rst event will be a Jimmy Buff ett concert at Riverbend, planned for July 13.

On Wednesday, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Ohio will lift the state mask mandate and all remaining coronavirus health orders except those for nursing homes and assisted living facilities on June 2.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed COVID-19 guidelines Thursday, recommending that fully vac-

BRONZE SPONSORS Conners & Co. Inc. Beth & Dan Dugan

Fans dance between performances by the Goo Goo Dolls and Train on July 24, 2019, at Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati. ALBERT CESARE/THE ENQUIRER

Graphic Village Jaguar Land Rover Cincinnati Kissel Landscaping Lindhorst & Dreidame Co., LPA London Computer Systems, Inc. Mary Ran Gallery

cinated individuals can safely stop wearing masks inside most locations.

The rules will still call for wearing masks in crowded indoor settings such as buses, planes, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters but could ease restrictions for reopening workplaces and schools.

In addition, the agency will no longer recommend that fully vaccinated people wear masks outdoors in crowds, possibly allowing for bigger capacities at sporting events.

MCF Advisors, LLC Nottinghill Investment Advisers, Ltd Siemers Insurance Agency – Barry & Gretchen Schmidt

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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THE ENQUIRER

Use stimulus to pay back land owners for stadiums?

Scott Wartman Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

A judge closed the Drake Motel on Reading Road in Sycamore Township after the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office declared it a nuisance in 2013, citing prostitution and drug activity there. LIZ DUFOUR/THE ENQUIRER

2 former Sycamore Twp. motels fall into disrepair Jeanne Houck Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

The Port may be interested in redeveloping the property where two shuttered motels in Sycamore Township have fallen into disrepair with fi res, garbage and vagrants.

The Drake Motel and the Carrousel Inn & Suites, both on Reading Road, are in foreclosure with a court-appointed receiver handling the sites, Skylor Miller, the township’s planning and zoning administrator, said.

“While there has been some discussion that The Port may be interested in this site, I am not aware of any formal proposal from The Port regarding the sites,” he said in an email.

A spokesman for The Port, a governmental entity involved in community and economic development, said he would check into reports of the agency’s interest in the motel properties.

Pandemic changed plans Representatives of Blue Tide Partners Hamilton of Covington, Kentucky, said when the partnership bought the properties in May 2018 that they wanted to develop housing for veterans at the sites.

But Tom Miller, managing member of Blue Tide, told The Enquirer in January that the partnership wants to sell the properties now because they no longer fi t into the group’s plans, which have been aff ected by the pandemic. He said in April that some parties had expressed interest in the sites, but Blue Tide offi cials had yet to meet with them.

Asked Monday about parties interested in buying the properties, Miller said he was “not really at liberty to talk

about this right now, however I do expect a good update within the next three weeks.”

“As for The Port being interested in the properties, I have no information on that,” he said in an email.

Skylor Miller, Sycamore Township’s planning and zoning administrator, said the township hopes to set up a meeting this week with the court-appointed receiver in the foreclosure proceedings.

That’s when fi re and zoning code citations involving the motel properties will be discussed, he said.

Fire at the Carrousel Inn & Suites on Easter Sunday Miller said the two most recent fi res at the sites were on Easter Sunday and the following Tuesday inside units of the Carrousel Inn. “Every unit in these buildings has been broken into,” he said.

“There is evidence of recent food boxes, cigarettes and beverage containers. A lot of trash and debris has accumulated on the site.

“There is even a room that has been fi lled with used car tires,” he said.

Miller said the motels were slated for demolition until Blue Tide bought the properties.

“Now that the properties have fallen into such disrepair, we need to coordinate with the receiver and determine the best path forward to clean up these properties,” he said.

A Hamilton County judge closed the Drake Motel at 8109 Reading Road after the Hamilton County Sheriff ’s Offi ce declared it a nuisance in 2013, citing prostitution and drug activity there.

The Carrousel Inn at 8001 Reading Road did not reopen after a fi re last October.

Could the American Rescue Plan help Hamilton County make good on a promise made two decades ago to property owners when Cincinnati’s riverfront stadiums were built?

At least two county leaders, including one county commissioner, hope so.

In the next few weeks, Hamilton County will start debate on where to spend the $158 million in federal aid to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, a debate well underway for the city of Cincinnati.

One of the fi rst suggestions two county leaders have backed for the American Rescue Plan dollars: Use a portion to pay the 30% of the stadium sales tax revenue county leaders promised when voters in 1996 approved the half-cent sales tax to build the stadiums for the Reds and Bengals.

Hamilton County Auditor Dusty Rhodes on Wednesday urged county leaders to use some of the stimulus money for this.

At least one commissioner, Alicia Reece, said she supports this plan so long as the federal rules permit it.

“I sent it to them yesterday in an email to commissioners, also the administrators,” Rhodes told The Enquirer.

“I said that could be something to do to spread the wealth more or less, to directly aff ect people in a positive way.”

One problem: County administration, currently combing through the 150 pages of rules sent Monday night from the U.S. Treasury, couldn’t say whether the money could be used for that.

Federal rules for the stimulus money prohibit using it to off set a tax decrease.

But Rhodes said the original legislation for the 0.5% sales tax classifi es the property tax rollback as a “housing assistance program.”

County administration couldn’t confi rm that when asked by The Enquirer.

Hamilton County Board of Commissioners President Stephanie Summerow Dumas and Commissioner Denise

Paul Brown Stadium and Great American Ball Park from 2015. LIZ DUFOUR/THE ENQUIRER

Driehaus wouldn’t take a position on the proposal, saying they’re still reviewing the requirements.

Only twice in the past decade have property owners received the full rebate commissioners in the 1990s promised from the stadium sales tax fund. If the full promised rebate was paid last year, it would have cost the county about $25 million of the $82 million the stadium sales tax brought in during 2020. For the homeowner, that would have equaled $92 per $100,000 of property value.

Instead, due to uncertainty in the sales tax revenue sparked by the pandemic, homeowners for a $100,000 home only received $19 back.

The 21% return was the lowest return Hamilton County property owners have received from the stadium fund.

Reece and Rhodes said they met to discuss the possibility of using it to pay for the property tax rollback from the stadium money. Reece said they’ve provided money in previous rounds of federal stimulus to help renters.

“Now let’s help people stay in their homes,” Reece said. “I think this rollback can help that.”

The Board of Commissioners will schedule public meetings in late May and early June to get citizens’ input on how to spend the stimulus, Dumas said.

County administration has met with community groups and business leaders, such as chambers of commerce, Health Collaborative, United Way, township leaders and others to get suggestions.

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Ohio

Weekly Mass resumes for Cincinnati Catholics in June

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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JOSEPH CHEVROLET

Terry DeMio Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

Weekly Mass inside Catholic churches will return soon for Catholics in Ohio, including Cincinnati, as COVID-19 pandemic restrictions are lifted across the state.

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati released a statement Friday saying that the Catholic Conference Bishops of Ohio have decided to reinstate the obligation beginning the weekend of June 5-6.

Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr also removed the dispensation for Sunday and Holy Day Masses.

When you go, you will not be required to wear a mask in churches across the 20-county archdiocese, offi cials said in a news release. The change is in line Gov. Mike DeWine’s announcement Wednesday to lift masking restrictions across the state beginning June 2.

The bishops said pastors may off er “at least one section of socially distanced seating” in one Sunday Mass for parishioners who prefer that and make it known to the parish when and where the seating will be available.

The bishops reminded church members that, as always, those who have a

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serious reason (for example, an illness or other signifi cant health risk factors) are still exempt, the bishops’ statement says.

“Masses that are broadcast through various media are not intended as a substitute nor do they fulfi ll the obligation for the persons who are able to gather for a Sunday celebration and other Holy Days of Obligation,” the statement reminds.

In the Diocese of Covington, the dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass was most recently extended on April 12.

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The age of those eligible for the Pfi zer vaccine in Ohio was lowered from 16 this week following a review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Brook Endale Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

Cincinnati Children’s is now off ering COVID-19 vaccines for those 12 to15 years old and appointments for this age group are quickly fi lling up. Since Gov. Mike DeWine’s Thursday announcement that the vaccine age eligibility now includes children who are 12 or older, Cincinnati Children’s has received more than 1,300 requests for appointments.

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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THE ENQUIRER

COMMENTARY

Do you forgive candidate for old comments?

Microscoops

Politics Extra Jason Williams Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

The issue of old tweets and cancel culture has surfaced in this year’s Cincinnati City Council race, and good luck to voters on fi guring out what to do about this complex and nuanced matter.

Google “old tweets” and “cancel culture,” and there are more than 38 million results to make your head spin.

Do you forgive? Should a candidate be punished for derogatory comments made 8, 9, 10 years ago? Do you trust that someone has changed over time?

Has the person changed enough?

Should anyone who’s ever made homophobic or racial slurs even bother to run for public offi ce?

These questions have stumped me and many others in the week since Over-the-Rhine Democrat Derek Bauman announced that he was essentially dropping out of the council race after decade-old tweets of him making homophobic, misogynistic and racially charged comments had come to light.

Bauman decided to take the easy route for himself and voters by stepping away from the campaign.

But Democrat Cam Hardy has pushed forward with his council campaign in the wake of old tweets surfacing in which he repeatedly made homophobic remarks. The tweets were made in 2013. Hardy was in his early 20s then.

Is he a changed man now? The Charter Committee thinks so. It has offi cially endorsed Hardy in the race.

“Our platform is about transparency,” said Matt Woods, Charter Committee president. “Do you bring mistakes to light and seek amends with the people who were hurt? Cam has been on our board for three years, and I know he’s worked really hard with groups that he off ended. He has owned his mistake and apologized. We think that Cam has chosen a path of learning how his words hurt others.”

Hardy, now 31, has done some good

Democrat Derek Bauman records the opening ceremonies for the Cincinnati Bell Connector at Washington Park. Bauman is stepping out of the Cincinnati City Council race after decades-old tweets of him making homophobic, misogynistic and racially charged comments came to light. LIZ DUFOUR/THE ENQUIRER

things for the community. As an everyday Metro bus rider, his citizen activism played a huge role in getting the attention of political, business and transportation leaders to do something about a woeful public transit system. He was part of a robust campaign that helped to pass the fi rst countywide bus levy last year.

His work on public transportation alone doesn’t necessarily mean that Hardy is a diff erent person. But his willingness to own his past Twitter transgressions and involvement in a major civic issue could show voters he’s matured.

It’s unfair to knee-jerk cancel someone based solely on old social media posts. Voters should look at what Hardy has done since he made the hurtful comments, ask questions, review his policy ideas and then make a decision.

I called local public relations and marketing expert Dan O’Keeff e to ask how he advises clients about past social media comments. His Madisonvillebased fi rm, O’Keeff e PR and Marketing Solutions, helps off er crisis communications and reputation management

guidance to individuals and companies.

O’Keeff e does not represent any elected offi cials or political candidates, and he did not speak specifi cally about Hardy and Bauman. Generally, though, O’Keeff e advises clients to be open and honest about their social media history.

“The comments are out there,” O’Keeff e said. “You can’t make it go away. So let’s focus on how you will respond when asked about that comment. Let’s focus on who you are now.

It’s important to own the comments you made and demonstrate examples of how you’ve learned since then and evolved.”

In the age of cancel culture, however, a person can be truly changed and it still doesn’t mean he or she will be forgiven by a company or special-interest group or, in this case, voters.

“We can react too quickly without thought for what we’ve said in our own past,” O’Keeff e said. “People can change a lot over 10 years. Yes, people need to be held responsible for their actions and words, but there’s a broad spectrum for how you should react and judge someone.”

SMALL WORLD: White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki referenced Cincinnati in a briefi ng this week. It’s a place that’s special to her and her family. Psaki’s husband, Greg Mecher, grew up in Delhi Township and graduated from Elder High School. Psaki and Mecher met while working for congressional Democrats several years ago, Northern Kentucky mover and shaker Nathan Smith told me.

Smith and Mecher were Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity brothers at Northern Kentucky University and have remained close. Smith was a groomsman in Psaki and Mecher’s wedding and has hosted the couple at his Fort Mitchell home many times.

“Top of the line guy,” Smith said.

“Great political mind.”

Mecher has worked as an aide on Capitol Hill for several lawmakers, including fellow West Sider and former Congressman Steve Driehaus.

GETTING CLOSE: U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown has narrowed the list of candidates to replace former federal prosecutor David DeVillers in Ohio’s southern district. Expect Brown to make a recommendation to the White House soon.

I’m hearing the focus has been on recommending a career prosecutor, critically important because DeVillers’ successor must continue to focus on rooting out public corruption without regard for political affi liation.

COUNTYWIDE CAMPAIGN: Cincinnati Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman has opened a campaign account to run for Hamilton County commissioner.

Smitherman, who is termed out of City Hall this year, plans to move forward with running as an independent in 2022. That means he’ll have to gather nearly 3,400 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. A party-affi liated commissioner candidate has to gather 50.

Contact political columnist Jason Williams by email at jwilliams@ enquirer.com and on Twitter @jwilliamscincy. Jason co-hosts The Enquirer’s That’s So Cincinnati podcast, available on Cincinnati.com, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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7A

BACKSTORY

Detective hopes testing brings answers on 1999 slaying of Wells III Amber Hunt Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

For the families of victims killed in unsolved murders, life is at a standstill.

The Enquirer is highlighting a series of cold cases, summarized and analyzed by the journalists whose careers largely focus on unsolved murders: the creators of Cincinnati.com’s Accused podcast. If you have any information on any unsolved case, please reach out to the appropriate law enforcement agency. Suggestions for cases to highlight can be sent to accused@ enquirer.com.

The crime: When Sharonville Police fi elded a call about a man struggling to stand up near the entrance of Sharon Woods park, they thought they would fi nd someone stumbling around drunk.

What they found instead was the dead body of 18-year-old Raymond Wells III. Wells had been stabbed to death, hit by a car and dragged several feet on June 28, 1999. Police at fi rst zeroed in on a 16-year-old suspect, but Sharonville Detective Chris Wilson said this week that the charges were quickly dismissed for lack of evidence.

Twenty-two years later, Wilson is working with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations’ Cold Case Unit in hopes of fi nally solving the slaying.

The ripple eff ects: How Wells’ case came to be “un-cold,” as Wilson put it, speaks to the lingering eff ects unsolved homicides can have. That is: One of Wells’ nephews – a young man who hadn’t even been born when Wells was killed – came to Wilson with some questions. The nephew had grown interested in unsolved homicides and was writing a college paper about them. One of the cases he used to bolster his paper’s thesis involved the death of his mother’s brother, a man he’d never met but whose unsolved slaying cast a shadow over the family.

“He came in to ask questions about his uncle’s case, and I said, ‘Let me look at the fi le. I’m happy to help,’ ” Wilson said.

Wilson had worked with the department in 1999 but wasn’t yet a detective and hadn’t played a role in the investigation. Once he familiarized himself with the evidence, he grew hopeful the case could yet be solved.

It so happened that Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost was launching a new Cold Case Unit at around this time. The next thing Wilson knew, the BCI was off ering to help.

The family: Wells’ family was always tight-knit. After his death, The Enquirer reported that relatives gathered at his Roselawn home to console one another.

“He was a good child, and I loved him,” his tearful mother, Hazel Harris, said at the time. “They didn’t have to do this to him.”

More than two decades later, the loss is still too raw for Wells’ mother to talk much about it, Wilson said. Because of that, she’s the only close relative the detective hasn’t yet spoken with.

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Sharonville Police and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations are taking another look at the June 28, 1999, slaying of Raymond Wells III. PROVIDED

He’s met with several other relatives, though, including the mother of the nephew who helped thaw the case.

On the whole, Wilson said the family remembers Wells as “a typical kid.”

“The last time his sister saw him, he was playing video games with a friend,” Wilson said.

Wells had been working toward a GED, paperwork for which arrived in the mail after his death, Wilson said.

Forensic advances: At the time of Wells’ death, police were fl ummoxed.

Then-Chief Mike Schappa told an Enquirer reporter that his only hope was for someone to step forward and explain what the teenager might have been doing on Sharonwoods Court, and who he might have known in the area.

That’d still be helpful today, but Wilson said the answers could lie in the evidence that remains. Several items were sent to the state BCI for testing about six months ago. Wilson declined to describe the items but said there’s a decent chance that the killer’s DNA could be on some of them.

Wilson’s still awaiting the test results.

Beyond the physical evidence, Wilson said he’s digitizing hours of police interviews originally recorded on microcassette tapes.

Got tips? As optimistic as Wilson is about the potential of fresh testing bringing to light new evidence, he’d love to hear from anyone with information about the case. Tips can be left online through the Attorney General’s website or called in to the Sharonville Police Department at (513) 563-1147.

Accused, reported by Enquirer journalists Amber Hunt and Amanda Rossmann, is an award-winning podcast investigating cold cases with three seasons available on all mainstream platforms such as Apple Podcasts and also at www.accusedpodcast.com.

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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THE ENQUIRER

A view of FC Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium from the third floor of the Tri-State Wholesale building on May 10. FC Cincinnati owns land north of the stadium up to Liberty Street and envisions creating a small, new area between the West End and Over-the-Rhine where people work, live and play. PHOTOS BY ALBERT CESARE/THE ENQUIRER

shoulders of the enormous history of those neighborhoods.”

Berding knows something about development. Back in 2006, he and Chris Bortz were Cincinnati City Council members when they created The Banks Working Group, which created The Banks riverfront development between Great American Ball Park and Paul Brown Stadium.

Berding left council in 2011 as the riverfront development was being built.

“I’ve had the benefi t of learning from The Banks – what has worked well and what hasn’t, from process to product,” he said. “We don’t want something that could be plopped down in any city in America. We want something that is distinctly Cincinnati and captures the character of the city. The aesthetic appeal matters a lot, how it looks, how it feels, how it fi ts in.”

Zoning, city records hint at plans A look at stadium plans and zoning approvals fi led with the city of Cincinnati show FC Cincinnati is already working on that vision, which will stretch from the north entrance of the stadium to Liberty Street.

FC Cincinnati is actively marketing the former Tri-State Wholesale building. In the 1960s, the building was home to the Burger Brewing Company. Now it’s being envisioned as 100,000 square feet of offi ce space with fl oor-to-ceiling windows.

That building is attached to the Cin-

A

B Could have some combination of restaurants, office space, a bank, a community learning center, a daycare, a food market and multi-family living units.

Bau er S t.

New parking garage

Libe

rty S

t.

B D

C The Tri-State building will be renovated into office space, but there are no specific plans yet for the ballet site.

D Current Ballet surface parking lot, which is located on top of an underground beer cellar.

A hotel could be built here, with a restaurant/ bar in the beer cellar.

C Ballet and Tri-State Wholesale

TQL Stadium

Taft Information Technology High School

SOURCE: City of Cincinnati, planned development submission

cinnati Ballet, which is moving to a new space in Walnut Hills in September, a move that could pave the way for development there. Across the street from the ballet is a parking lot, land that could be built on – or under. Underneath is an old beer cavern, which has the po-

Central Pky.

Continued from Page 1A

A Future development envisioned as office space or residential.

John St.

Neighborhood

Hamilton County Parking Garage, which could be apartments or offi ce space, with fi rst-fl oor bars and restaurants. And there’s also a potential fi vestory building at John Street and Bauer Avenue that could be offi ce and residential space.

Property records show the team owns all the property.

“The goal is to make it pedestrianfriendly, similar to what’s happening elsewhere in the urban core with the outdoor dining streateries and the Court Street pedestrian plaza,” Parsons said.

Plans also show a narrower Central Parkway to the east of the stadium with a wider median, meant to bridge the divide between Over-the-Rhine and the new development. City approval would be necessary for any such street changes.

Creating an ‘upward spiral’ CPD

Music Hall THE ENQUIRER

tential to become a restaurant or bar, said Cody Parsons, FC Cincinnati chief of staff . Above it could be a hotel, plans show.

There is also zoning approval for an 11-story building at Wade Street and Central Avenue, just east of the new

“We don’t want something that could be plopped down in any city in America. We want something that is distinctly Cincinnati and captures the character of the city.”

Jeff Berding, developer

Carl Lindner III, FC Cincinnati controlling owner, stands with Nick Johnson at TQL Stadium in the West End on April 28.

Lindner III is Co-CEO of American Financial Group, Inc. Johnson has scheduled his wedding for TQL Stadium.

There had been talk of building the team’s stadium in Newport, Kentucky, where there would be views of downtown Cincinnati. Or in Oakley, which is still in the city limits but has a more suburban feel. But Major League Soccer offi cials want stadiums in urban cores, having found the energy downtowns bring to be crucial.

“There was the romance of the riverfront when we were looking at Kentucky. ... There was the great potential site farther north,” Lindner said. “But the West End, that’s exactly where it should be. And I realize that more every time I come down and see the transformational impact that we’re having. ...

There really was nothing much going on in this part of the city and this community. That was very exciting.”

Chris Leinberger, a development expert and author of “The Option of Urbanism: Investing in a New American Dream,” said a Major League Soccer stadium and development around it can benefi t each other if done right.

So much of it has to do with the management of the stadium and fi lling it as many days and nights as possible,” said Leinberger, who is familiar with Cincinnati’s downtown and Over-the-Rhine development. “Events and games will bring people there, which will then support retail. If you have that, offi ces and residential wants to be there. It creates an upward spiral of everything working together.”

Being next to the urban core is key, he added. Leinberger pointed to Over-theRhine’s renaissance under Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. Steve Leeper’s leadership as an example.

“What Steve benefi ted from, what this stadium will benefi t from, is downtown adjacency,” Leinberger said. “It’s a 360 eff ect, which is why Covington is doing well, too.”

But like OTR, the new development will need to be branded and have its own character, Leinberger said.

“The great thing about walkable urbanism, each of these places, is that they have the potential to be a ‘this can only be here’ place.”

“Good ownership is thinking about Continued on next page

cincinnati.com

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Continued from previous page

what’s around their stadium and doing all of this.”

West End residents ‘hopeful’ Cincinnati is a city of 52 neighborhoods, including West End, a historic Black neighborhood located just west of Downtown. The neighborhood was once vibrant and bustling.

Highway construction ravaged West End in the 1950s and 1960s, displacing 20,000 to 30,000 residents. Years of neglect followed, with little investment.

Just before FC Cincinnati leaders determined they wanted to build the stadium in West End, close to the urban core, the neighborhood put together the “West End Speaks Plan.”

Residents sought a racially and economically diverse neighborhood, where people could fi nd a job, raise a family and have access to thriving businesses, arts and culture.

That plan is being refreshed now that the stadium is built, but West End Community Council President Robert Killins said the vision of a place where people want to live remains.

“We understood development around the stadium that was going to happen, that it would be a second or third phase,” Killins said. “We are hopeful it will be a positive for the community. And that there will be opportunity within that for people who live in the community to work in what’s going to be developed.”

The threat of rising prices displacing people is real. Killins said the vision is still possible, but “will only be optimal if we have a partnership with FC Cincinnati and the city and they prioritize that vision. If we leave it to business-as-usual, then our vision won’t be preserved.”

FC Cincinnati is actively marketing the former Tri-State Wholesale building, seen May 10. It’s being envisioned as 100,000 square feet of office space with floor-to-ceiling windows. PHOTOS BY ALBERT CESARE/THE ENQUIRER

Will other development follow?

While FC Cincinnati is looking north, other developers are already seeking to capitalize on TQL Stadium’s construction. Ohm Patel, of Lewis Center, Ohiobased Moment Development, recently built The Pitch, at 1430 Central Parkway, east of the stadium in Over-the-Rhine.

Now Patel, in a joint venture with Downtown Property Management Inc., is pitching a 90-room boutique hotel at the corner of Central Parkway and Magnolia Street and a nearby beer garden.

There are no city approvals yet, but Patel brought the idea to the Over-theRhine Community Council, which opposes the hotel because it would sit where there are now two pre-Civil Warera buildings. The community council has also expressed concerns about height and the impact of a beer garden on the neighborhood. Patel did not return a call for comment.

‘This should not be Blue Ash’ Ted Leavitt lives on Race Street in Over-the-Rhine, not far from the stadium, and has closely watched the construction.

Development nearby is expected, said Leavitt, who lived in London for 16 years.

“There are multiple Premier League

A look inside the third floor of the Tri-State Wholesale building on May 10. In the 1960s, the building was home to the Burger Brewing Company.

stadiums that are in the middle of residential to hybrid residential areas – Chelsea FC CC, Arsenal FC – all right there in the city,” Leavitt said. “We would expect that Cincinnati does the same thing and makes it vibrant and exciting.

This should not be Blue Ash.”

“There really was nothing much going on in this part of the city and this community. That was very exciting.”

Carl Lindner III

FC Cincinnati controlling owner

Workers hang a sign outside TQL Stadium on May 10. Chris Leinberger, a development expert, said a soccer stadium and development around it can benefi t each other if done right. “Events and games will bring people there, which will then support retail. If you have that, offices and residential wants to be there,” he said.

10A

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THE ENQUIRER

SUNDAY+

Growin’ up on country and lovin’ some B105 About Us Kathrine Nero Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

I was country when country wasn’t cool.

That’s not just a Barbara Mandrell song. It could be the title of my autobiography, if I didn’t already decide it would be “Never Shake a Goalie’s Hand.” (Do it once and you’ll understand. Leather gloves and excessive sweating? The stink ... the stink, I tell you.)

I grew up on country music. My mom saw Larry Gatlin one time at a Shoney’s salad bar in Nashville and darn near passed out on the sneeze guard. Our love for country music runs deep.

So listening to B105 was a natural fi t, and despite my teenager’s insistence to change the station when she gets in the car, my radio fi nds it way back there time and time again.

I’m not alone. B105 has enjoyed some crazy success lately. It earned station of the year honors with the Academy of Country Music, and the morning show, The Big Dave Show, won both the ACM and Country Music Association large market personality of the year awards in 2020. Locally, the show ranks in the top three in the coveted adults 25-54 demographic.

Sure, we listen for the music. But we also listen for the people bringing us the music. Ever wonder how all those phone hacks and trivia games and quick-witted conversation come to be?

I visited B105 during morning drive

The Big Dave Show and B105 program director Grover Collins pick up their trophies from the Academy of Country Music. The Big Dave Show won large market personality of the year and B105 won station of the year. PROVIDED BY B105

one morning. Let’s set the stage here.

This is the prime time of radio: the most listeners, the most important time slot.

Big Dave (who is more tall than big, BTW) and Chelsie started working together in the afternoons in 2010. Statt has been on mornings through various casts of characters since 2003. Ashley is the newbie to the group, and the foursome has been together since 2019.

Today, the group works together seamlessly, one picking up where the other leaves off , with a glance here, a fi nger point there. But this unspoken body language hit a hiccup during COVID-19, when Dave was the only person in the

studio. “We couldn’t even see each other,” he said. It’s a tough way to navigate a 41⁄ 2 hour morning show that relies on rhythm and timing.

These days, everyone’s back in the studio behind Plexiglas barriers, chatting and kidding each other nonstop – even off the air.

Ashley ribs Dave for his three-DietDew-a-day habit. Chelsie laughs when she remembers training Statt to be on air in the late ‘90s. This group works, Statt says, because “before we started working together, we were friends.”

It shows. And they say the listener is at the heart of it all. “We’re looking at it

like – you’ve got them for 20 minutes in the morning,” Dave says, referring to the average commute time in Cincinnati.

They make those 20 minutes count.

“We get really good feedback on our Good Vibes segment.” Ashley says this nugget of good news gives listeners a break from heavy headlines.

The quartet also busted some myths.

They work more than four hours a day.

They prepare after the show to get ready for the next day and continuously check headlines to know what they might cover the next day.

Yes, Chelsie really does have a ridiculous knowledge of pop culture. She’s lost only a handful of times at the “College of Hollywood Knowledge.”

“We have zero say in the music,” Statt explains. “We’ve left it all to surveys, polling the audience.”

And no, they can’t pick up the phone and chat with Luke Bryan. “We’ve interviewed (country stars), but they’re not on speed dial,” says Chelsie.

Being in someone’s earbuds on their morning walk, or on their car radio during school drop-off – is a pretty intimate relationship, and these guys know that.

As I left, I passed by their awards case, chock full of gold and crystal statues. Industry honors are one thing; but their focus is the audience. “It’s nice we can provide that for them,” Ashley says. “Make them smile every day.”

When she’s not singing Sam Hunt songs (badly) in her car, Kathrine can be seen on Coff ee Break with Kathrine, weekday mornings at 10 a.m. on The Enquirer’s Facebook page. You can also sign up to receive her weekly e-newsletter at cincinnati.com/newsletters.

Floating circus boat talk of Midwest in 1850s Our History Jeff Suess Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

In July 1852, Cincinnatians crowded along the river to see the circus. There were no circus tents erected along the banks as in years past when Spalding & Rogers’s circus came to town. This time the show was on a boat – a circus showboat – the fi rst and grandest of its kind.

Spalding & Rogers’s Floating Palace was the talk of the town. Folks all over the Midwest knew of their circus, one of the most popular in the country in the previous decade, though having a circus on a boat was a new innovation.

The fl oating amphitheater had been built for their circus the year before in Cincinnati. This was a return visit to where the Floating Palace had been launched, and the people came out to catch a glimpse of the boat and the “incomparable circus.”

The Enquirer wrote that receipts from the four shows held on the boat July 5 “must have exceeded the aggregate receipts of all the amusements in the city.”

Gilbert Reynolds Spalding (sometimes spelled Spaulding) had been touring Spalding’s North American Circus since 1843. He was known as “Dr.” Spalding because he had operated a pharmacy in Albany, New York. He formed a partnership with Charles J. Rogers, one of the circus riders, in 1848.

Spalding introduced several new ideas to the circus: the fi rst to use quarter-poles in the big top to form larger tents, the fi rst to use gas-jet limelights for the arena rather than candles and the fi rst to transport his circus by train.

‘A curious ship’ In 1851, the partners commissioned the fi rst fl oating palace at a reported cost of $42,000 (that’s $1.3 million in 2020

An illustration of Spalding & Rogers’s Floating Palace circus showboat that appeared in “Gleason’s Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion” magazine on Feb. 19, 1852. The Floating Palace was built in Cincinnati in 1851. FILE

dollars) in a city known for its shipyards.

The Floating Palace was enormous for its day – two stories, 200 feet long and 60 feet wide – but rather plain in appearance. On the outside, it resembled a large box on a barge with rows of windows and fl ags waving above it. It didn’t move upon its own power but was towed, or rather pushed, by a side-wheeler steamboat named James Raymond.

The Floating Palace was celebrated near and far. “Gleason’s Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion” magazine published a feature on “such a curious ship” in February 1852 that included an illustration. “It is not a sham built aff air, but it is really very fi nely fi tted, and perfect in every respect,” they wrote.

The “commodious amphitheater” fi tted 1,000 cane-seated armchairs in the main “dress circle,” 1,500 cushioned settees in the “family circle” gallery and 900 seats in the gallery for Black spectators.

Tickets for standing room outside the windows sold for half price once the seats were fi lled.

The performers included clowns, acrobatic stunts and an equestrian act featuring 40 trained horses in the arena at one time and mares that could dance the waltz, as detailed by Philip Graham in “Showboats: The History of an American

Institution.”

Nearly a hundred people – crew, business staff , trainers and performers – worked and lived on board, along with a large stable and a press to publish its own newspaper, the Palace Journal.

The boat also included a museum of oddities and curiosities with more than 100,000 pieces, such as taxidermied animals, puppets and wax fi gures, that required separate admission.

The towboat James Raymond had its own concert saloon called the Ridotto that put on theatrical performances, vaudeville acts and minstrel shows. This was just before the Civil War and race shows with clowns wearing burnt-cork blackface were extremely popular.

Cities all along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, in the North and the South, knew the Floating Palace. An advance man went ahead to each town to advertise the show and settle the license fees.

Bells from the Floating Palace rang along the river, calling out to patrons miles away that the circus was coming.

Spalding and Rogers were the fi rst to install bell chimes on a showboat. An array of 20 bells, weighing between 50 and 700 pounds each, were installed on an arch on the hurricane deck. They were forged by the Buckeye Bell & Brass Foundry of Cincinnati.

The boat was a unique sight when illuminated at night that it drew crowds just to see it lit up.

Legendary circus feud Circus life was a tough life. Two former prizefi ghters served as bouncers and everyone on board was armed to protect the boat. There were intense rivalries with other circuses, though the feud between Spalding and the famous clown Dan Rice was legendary in the industry.

Rice had been a partner with Spalding in the North American Circus, but they had a falling out. Spalding’s brother-inlaw, Wessel T.B. Van Orden, had been the manager of the circus run by Rice and

handled the fi nances. According to Rice, Van Orden had persuaded him to invest in a farm in Albany and have Spalding hold the mortgage. According to Rice, while he was off performing, Spalding foreclosed on the mortgage, turning Rice’s family out of their home.

Thus began the feud. Rice accused Spalding of trying to ruin the circus he started in competition with the Floating Palace. He claimed Van Orden moved some buoys so that Rice’s boat ran aground while they watched. Van Orden accused Rice of slander and Rice spent a week in jail.

Rice composed and performed songs about their feud, including one with references to “this fl oating scow from Cincinnati” along with this verse: “Some New York sharps, I’d have you know, They struck upon a plan They built a boat on the river to fl oat To ruin this old fool Dan. And as they failed in previous attempts, And found it was no go, They surely thought the palace would prevent Success to the one-horse show.”

For a decade, the Floating Palace was the cream of the crop for circus showboats. The circus made frequent stops in Cincinnati and wintered in New Orleans.

The show came to an end in the early months of the Civil War. In 1861, the newly created Confederate government confi scated the Floating Palace and converted it into a hospital ship stationed in New Orleans for the rest of the war.

“The rivers had never seen such an effi cient and well-staff ed showboat before,” Graham wrote, “and they were to wait years after the Civil War before anything comparable to it again appeared.”

Additional sources: Circus Historical Society, New Orleans Nostalgia by Ned Hémard, “Dan Rice, the Circus Clown” by Dorothy Dengler, “Ringing and Ringling: Showmens’ Bells, Chimes and Related Novelty Instruments” by Fred Dahlinger Jr.

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SUNDAY+ STATE NEWS

$300 extra jobless benefi t is going away State offi cials trying to get workers back on jobs Laura A. Bischoff Columbus Dispatch USA TODAY NETWORK

Out of work Ohioans will no longer be given an extra $300 a week in federal pandemic unemployment benefi ts starting June 26, Gov. Mike DeWine announced Thursday.

The additional assistance in some cases is discouraging workers from returning to the job, he said.

Facing a tight labor market, business groups have complained that workers would rather stay home and collect enhanced unemployment checks than return to the workforce. The additional $300 nearly doubles the average weekly jobless benefi t paid in Ohio.

Ohio’s unemployment rate was 4.7% in March 2021, down from 5.0% in February.

The state, however, has nearly 300,000 fewer jobs than it did before the pandemic started, and job gains have slowed in recent months. About 150,000 workers have dropped out of the labor force, as well.

The reduction applies to all unemployment programs, including traditional unemployment benefi ts from the state and federal pandemic assistance programs.

DeWine said ending the additional benefi t in late June allows time for Ohioans to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Several other states have opted out of the enhanced jobless benefi ts, including Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina and

The Grainery co-owner Alyssa Mitchell, center, takes a food order from customers Michele Nichols, left, and Vicky Dilley at lunch time on April 14 in Plain City. FRED SQUILLANTE/COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Tennessee.

The federal CARES Act expanded and boosted unemployment insurance. Initially, the act featured $600 weekly checks, which was set to expire in December. The Biden administration extended it through the American Rescue Plan, but trimmed the benefi ts to $300.

The announcement drew praise from the Buckeye Institute, a conservative think tank, which said it would “encourage workers to return to the labor market and fi ll the tens of thousands of job vacancies we have across the state.”

The Ohio Chamber of Commerce also said it was time to end the benefi t.

“The timing is right. The situation is right. We’ve got hundreds of thousands of unfi lled positions,” said Andrew

Doehrel, the chamber’s chairman and chief executive. “We need to make this next step in moving forward.’’

The shortage of workers is critical right now, Doehrel said.

Workers are raising pay, providing bonuses and other benefi ts to try and lure people back to work, he said. Without workers, employers could be forced to shut down or move, he said.

Removing the $300 can be especially important in getting child-care workers back, and that in turn can free up parents to return to work, he said. Ending the state’s health orders also will be a big help in getting workers back to their jobs, he said.

Policy Matters Ohio disagreed with the governor’s decision, saying it will

harm families who need this money to survive the pandemic.

“The goal should be to keep money fl owing into local communities, to family pocketbooks while we’re still in the pandemic recession,” said Hannah Halbert, executive director of the liberal-leaning group.

Elimination of the benefi t will be especially tough on single mothers who haven’t been able to work because of child-care issues who disproportionally fi ll low-wage service jobs, she said.

“Families need this money to make basic needs happen,” she said.

Halbert also noted that the state is using $1.4 billion of its federal relief money to repay money it borrowed from the federal government to make unemployment payments. That is, in essence, giving businesses a tax break since they would otherwise have to pay higher unemployment taxes, she said.

The state should be helping workers as well by continuing the payment, she said.

Ron Jordan, owner of the Hen Quarter in the Bridge Park development in Dublin, said he too feels like it is time to end the extra $300 benefi t.

“Now we can get back to hiring quite a bit of staff and provide the services we need,” he said.

He raised wages to try and attract more works. Dishwashers, for example, now make $16 per hour, up from $12.

“Wage increase determined by the market, they should stay the way they are for awhile,” he said. “Coming off those unemployment benefi ts, it’s tough for people to get back to work for a lower wage.”

Dispatch Business Reporter Patrick Cooley contributed to this report.

Experts say Ohio’s $1M vaccine prize holds potential Laura A. Bischoff

Columbus Dispatch

USA TODAY NETWORK

While Maine is off ering an LL Bean gift card and West Virginia is dangling the promise of a $100 savings bond, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is going big – very big – in the vaccination incentive game.

DeWine’s Ohio Vax-a-Million promises $1 million prizes to fi ve lucky Ohioans and full-ride college scholarships to fi ve lucky Ohio teens. The hitch: winners must be vaccinated against COVID-19 before the drawing.

The goal is to push people to get the shot.

We asked two experts their take on it.

Zoe McLaren is a health economist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Dr. David A. Asch leads the Center for Health Care Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania.

Here’s what they said.

Will a chance at $1 million motivate people to get vaccinated?

Asch: “Yes it will. It’s a human psychological foible that we tend to focus more on the prize and less on the chance of winning that prize. That explains why state lotteries are so popular, even though they return pennies on the dollar.”

McLaren: “The lottery motivation leverages people’s ability to imagine winning the outcome even if their own chance of winning is relatively small. It will motivate some people for sure, but it’s hard to know how many since no one has tried this approach with vaccinations before.”

Is this sweepstakes more eff ective than smaller incentives?

McLaren: “Some people aren’t motivated by $100, but have a hard time re-

sisting the chance at a big price. If their name was drawn as a winner and they hadn’t gotten vaccinated they might feel a lot of regret.”

Asch: “The Ohio design is really quite good. Not only are people attracted to the magnitude of the prize, they can anticipate the regret they will feel if they don’t get vaccinated and then see other people win. ‘That winner could have been me, if only I had been vaccinated.’ That sense of regret – that fear of missing out – is a hugely powerful motivator of behavior.

People can easily anticipate feeling regret and they take steps to avoid that feeling. The transactional incentives like direct cash payments or a free hunting or fi shing license can be motivating, but they aren’t supercharged with all that we know from human psychology.”

Is it fair to include people who were vaccinated before the lottery

announcement?

McLaren: “Allowing previously vaccinated people to be included makes it more fair and also rewards those who chose to vaccinate earlier.”

Asch: “The idea of entering the previously vaccinated just makes sense to me on fairness grounds.”

Is $5 million a good investment?

McLaren: “$5 million might seem like a lot but if you look at all the social and economic benefi ts we gain from ending the pandemic it seems like a much wiser investment in getting back to normal.”

Asch: “You could give each person $100 to get the vaccine or you could off er up fi ve $1 million prizes and another fi ve scholarships at a total cost of less than $6 million. I’d bet on the sweepstakes for getting more people vaccinated and at a lower cost. I can’t wait to fi nd out what happens.”

Ex-Ohio utility regulator sells holdings after FBI search Laura A. Bischoff Columbus Dispatch USA TODAY NETWORK

COLUMBUS – After FBI agents searched his Columbus condo in November, attorney Samuel Randazzo began off loading real estate holdings worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In February, he transferred ownership of a house in the Columbus suburb of Grandview that he bought in 2013 for $346,000 to Samuel Brewster Randazzo for no money. In March, he sold a house in nearby Marble Cliff for $615,950, less than fi ve months after buying it for $600,000.

Randazzo is in contract to sell his 2,836-square-foot waterfront home in Naples, Florida, for an estimated $3.9 million, according to Redfi n.

Randazzo resigned as chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio in November, following the FBI raid and a disclosure by FirstEnergy Corp. that it paid $4.3 million in January 2019 to an unnamed individual who subsequently was appointed as a state utility regulator.

Randazzo and his consulting fi rm, Sustainability Alliance of Ohio, continue to own Ohio properties valued at $2.16 million, auditor records show.

Randazzo and his attorney did not return messages seeking comment.

Former PUCO chairman Sam Randazzo is selling his condo in Florida. SCREENSHOT

Randazzo, Householder and FirstEnergy exec owned Florida homes near each other Randazzo’s condo in Naples is a mile from ocean-front condos owned the now former chief executive of Akronbased FirstEnergy Corp, public records show.

Chuck and Kimberly Jones purchased a condo for $6.35 million in September – just a month before FirstEnergy fi red Chuck Jones and two senior vice presidents. The company

said the three failed to tell the board of directors about the $4.3 million payment. The Joneses also own another condo in the same complex that they bought in 2008, Collier County property records show.

Lobbyist Neil Clark owned a condo 5 miles north of Jones’ properties. Clark sold his place for $750,000 on July 15, just a week before his arrest on federal racketeering charges in the House Bill 6 case. The IRS had placed a lien against the property for unpaid taxes and fees.

Clark died by suicide in Florida on

March 15.

Clark was among fi ve Republicans charged in U.S. District Court in what prosecutors call the biggest public corruption case in Ohio history. FirstEnergy lobbyist Juan Cespedes and political operator Jeff Longstreth pleaded guilty in October. State Rep. Larry Householder, the former House speaker, and former Ohio GOP chairman Matt Borges have pleaded not guilty.

Householder owns a Naples condo, which records show he purchased in 2009. His place is less than 10 miles from the Randazzo and Jones properties.

Jones and Randazzo have not been charged in the House Bill 6 case.

Federal prosecutors allege that an Ohio-based utility company, identifi ed as FirstEnergy and its former subsidiary, funneled more than $60 million through undisclosed political groups to Householder so that he could become speaker and in turn pass HB6, which promised to deliver a $1.3 billion bailout to utilities.

FirstEnergy disclosed last week that it is in early talks with the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio to get a deferred prosecution agreement. In such deals, a party agrees to pay fi nes, change behaviors and cooperate with prosecutors. In exchange, the government agrees not to pursue a criminal conviction.

Ohio

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Some shoppers may have to wear masks Businesses can continue to set their own rules Jim Weiker and Sarah Donaldson Columbus Dispatch

Even though the state is lifting its COVID mask requirements on June 2, shoppers and others better hold onto their face coverings for a while.

Stores, fi tness centers, grocers, fastfood operators and others said Thursday they don’t know yet how – or if – they will change their mask and other COVID rules in light of Gov. Mike DeWine’s decision to lift the state mask requirement.

DeWine said Wednesday he would lift the restrictions June 2 for all establishments except nursing homes and assisted living facilities. But, he said businesses and schools can continue to set their own rules.

Meanwhile, new guidance Thursday from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that vaccinated people can safely visit most indoor places without masks.

Retailers and others contacted by The Dispatch said they were still reviewing the policies.

“We didn’t know this was coming,” said Ohio Grocers Association President Kristin Mullins. “We’re still in the deciding and planning stages of what we’re going to be recommending and what members are going to be adjusting.”

Mullins said that while the Grocers Association likely will eventually provide guidelines for members, it will be up to stores to adjust their policies.

No immediate decisions Most establishments reached by The Dispatch said they had no plans to immediately change.

“We serve millions of Americans every week and believe our policy of requiring associates and customers to wear masks in our stores has helped protect them during the pandemic, and we’re not lifting those measures at this time,”

Sarah Guinther picks up yogurt while shopping on May 8, 2020, at Giant Eagle in Columbus. Guinther's boss, Nick Wolack, owner of Evolved Body Art, has been buying groceries for employees since the pandemic. JOSHUA A. BICKEL/DISPATCH

Walmart said in a statement, while leaving room for a change down the road.

“We are constantly evaluating our COVID-related health and safety protocols, including state executive orders and other mandate changes. We will continue to do so, keeping CDC guidance and local COVID statistics in mind.”

Late Thursday afternoon, Walmart updated its statement to say it was reconsidering its mask policies after the federal Centers for Disease Control issued relaxed guidelines.

“Based on the new information from the CDC this afternoon, Walmart is reevaluating its mask position,” the statement read.

Other retailers and consumer businesses said they expect to discuss the policies before the June 2 state change.

“It’s going to be on the list to discuss the next week or so,” said Julie Wells, general manager of the Bowling Place at Columbus Square on the Northeast Side.

“For now, we’ll continue to mask up and clean just as we’ve been doing.”

Bronson Bach, operations manager at

the Esporta Fitness in Graceland Shopping Center, also said he expects Esporta to discuss its policies.

“I’m sure there will be an adjustment when the change takes place June 2, but we’re not sure yet what that will be,” Bach said. “Nothing has changed in our policies as of yet, but there are a lot of conversations about DeWine’s ruling.”

Mullins, with the Grocers Association, said some grocery stores are considering keeping mask requirements for employees, while others were considering taking the approach of “once it’s lifted, it’s lifted.”

Stores know that some customers won’t be pleased no matter what they do.

“We will have people unhappy if we continue to enforce it after June 2, we will have people unhappy if we don’t enforce it,” said Jennifer Williams, owner of the Clintonville grocery store Weiland’s Market.

The state and city health orders gave Williams’ local business “air cover,” she said, in enforcing COVID precautions, such as requiring shoppers to wear

masks. With those state-level health orders expiring soon, she said she feels uncomfortable.

In terms of lifting other restrictions, she said time will tell what Weiland’s will decide to do. She said she wants to make the decisions based on data and facts.

“Will we leave the social distancing signs up on the fl oor? Yeah. Will the plexiglass shields come down at the cash registers? Maybe. Will we continue to sanitize a lot? Sure,” she said. “I think we’re just going to see.”

Some fast food restaurants are working on their own timeline, rather than the state’s date. Donatos said it will review its processes and determine if it will open more dining spaces but has not yet made that decision.

“We owe it to our associates and customers to develop the best course of action in regards to all aspects of the lifting of the COVID-19 health order and will be taking our time to make thoughtful decisions over the coming days,” said Nikki Stead, vice president of People Services at Donatos. White Castle will also evaluation its policies, said Jamie Richardson, a vice president at Columbus-based restaurant chain.

“Over time, I’m sure we’ll see diff erent changes and modifi cations that will move us back toward where we were prepandemic,” Richardson said. “We don’t have an exact timeline at this moment.”

He added that Gov. DeWine’s announcement gives more fl exibility to the company, which closed dine-in options at the start of the pandemic.

Richardson said employees said they prefer to focus on drive-thru or carryout, rather than having the “added anxiety” that comes with face-to-face interactions in the dining room.

“That’s been the model that’s helped us get through these past many, many diffi cult months,” he said.”

Many retail operations including Kroger, Giant Eagle, Wendy’s, Easton Town Center and Polaris Fashion Place, said they did have any information yet on the policy change or did not respond to Dispatch queries for this article.

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Ohio Senate approves bill for small businesses

Ohio OKs 3 new medical marijuana conditions

Jessie Balmert

Jackie Borchardt

Ohio lawmakers passed changes to ensure if Kroger is allowed to sell fl owers during a pandemic, the local fl orist can, too.

Senate Bill 134, also known as the Business Fairness Act, passed the Ohio Senate 31-0 on Wednesday. The bill would prevent Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration from closing small businesses while their larger competitors remain open, assuming everyone can follow the same safety guidelines.

“I would argue you are safer in a small business where you may be the only customer in that business at that time,” Sen. George Lang, R-West Chester, said on the fl oor Wednesday.

This disparity came to light in March 2020 when DeWine’s state health department closed a slew of businesses to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but allowed groceries, pharmacies and other businesses to remain open. The result: Wal-Mart and Kroger remained open while the local jeweler had to close.

“The playing fi eld must be level,” said Chris Ferruso, a lobbyist for Ohio’s National Federation of Independent Business. “The government should not be picking winners and losers.”

And small businesses were among the losers last year. A survey of NFIB members found 1 in 3 closed because of COVID-19 orders. Of those businesses, 54% remained closed for between one and three months. Another 75% have taken a federal Paycheck Protection Loan to make ends meet.

Will this set up another fi ght with DeWine? The Ohio House passed a

Three proposed additions to Ohio’s medical marijuana condition list were quietly OK’d by the Ohio State Medical Board earlier this year.

The board’s medical marijuana committee in February determined that three conditions were already covered by the existing qualifi cation of pain that is chronic and severe or intractable.

Those conditions are: arthritis, chronic migraines and complex regional pain syndrome.

The medical board issued a memo two weeks ago confi rming the conditions qualify under the existing list but hasn’t yet sent it to physicians. The memo will be shared in the monthly newsletter for physicians who have registered to recommend medical marijuana, a board spokeswoman said. Committee members drew a distinction between occasional migraines and migraines that happen several days a month.

“It’s not like someone has a migraine once a year and it self-resolves and would be a candidate,” board member Dr. Amol Soin said in February. “I don’t think that’s the intention here.”

Every year, the medical board accepts submissions for new qualifying conditions to add to Ohio’s list of 22.

Submissions must include evidence cannabis can be used to treat or alleviate the disease or condition and letters of support from physicians. The board has added just one condition through the process so far, approving cachexia, or wasting syndrome, in 2020.

This year, the board received 30 petitions to add new conditions.

The board’s medical marijuana committee this week advanced three conditions for the full board to approve at a future meeting: Huntington’s disease, spasticity or persistent muscle spasms and terminal illness. With spasticity, a person’s muscles stiff en or tighten and can’t be stretched. This can aff ect movement and speech.

The committee rejected petitions for panic disorder with agoraphobia, restless leg syndrome and autism spectrum

Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

Ohio lawmakers passed a bill to prevent the governor from closing small businesses if larger competitors stayed open. COLUMBUS DISPATCH

similar bill last year, but it stalled in the fi nal months of rapid-fi re legislating and never became law. DeWine initially said he would veto that bill if it reached his desk, but softened to the proposal when he was facing a veto override on other health department restrictions.

“The administration is willing to engage in a discussion with the General Assembly on these issues and willing to work on compromise language,” DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said last week.

If passed by the House and signed

by DeWine, the changes would take effect immediately because of an emergency clause on the bill. A similar bill, House Bill 215, passed the House 77-17 last week. Lawmakers will need to pick one version to advance to DeWine.

In March, lawmakers voted to override DeWine’s veto of Senate Bill 22, which allows legislators to end health orders, including the state’s mask mandate. That law takes eff ect June 23.

USA Today Network Ohio reporter Anna Staver contributed to this story.

How Ohio renters hit by pandemic can apply for federal assistance Laura A. Bischoff Columbus Dispatch USA TODAY NETWORK

A new wave of cash is fl ooding into Ohio to help renters hit by the COVID-19 pandemic pay their rent and utilities.

The federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program is sending $775 million to Ohio, with $565 million earmarked for the state and the remainder being doled out to large cities and counties. Gov. Mike DeWine has signed House Bill 167 into law, which spells out how the state will administer its chunk.

To be eligible, households must fall below 80% of an area median income levels and a member qualifi es for unemployment or has experienced fi nancial hardship due to COVID-19 and can demonstrate they’re at risk of homelessness.

The grants can cover up to 15 months of rent and utilities incurred between March 2020 and September 2022.

Bill Faith, director of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, recommends eligible renters: h File an application for funds through their local Community Action Agency as soon as possible. h Contact their landlords to notify

Eviction hearings at the temporary Franklin County Municipal Court in the Convention Center on Jan. 26.

COURTNEY HERGESHEIMER/COLUMBUS DISPATCH

them that they’ve applied for assistance. h If an eviction notice has been fi led, show up in court to explain that they’ve applied for assistance.

The new money is in addition to $110 million in COVID-19 relief funds allocated by the state for eviction prevention eff orts late last year, Faith said.

“The level of demand out there is very, very high.”

He added that Ohio is estimated to receive another $614 million in rental assistance through the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion package which became law in March.

A customer completing a transaction in a Verilife store, a medical marijuana dispensary in Cincinnati. PROVIDED

disorder. Earlier in 2021, lawmakers introduced a bill to add autism to the list.

In order to get a medical marijuana card, patients must meet one of the qualifying medical conditions and have a recommendation from a state-certifi ed doctor. Doctors are required to have a “bona fi de” physician-patient relationship with the patient and are expected to provide care to the patient on an ongoing basis.

Medical marijuana conditions Ohio has 22 medical conditions that qualify someone for medical marijuana: h AIDS. h amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. h Alzheimer’s disease. h cachexia. h cancer. h chronic traumatic encephalopathy. h Crohn’s disease. h epilepsy or another seizure disorder. h fi bromyalgia. h glaucoma. h hepatitis C. h infl ammatory bowel disease. h multiple sclerosis. h pain that is either chronic and severe or intractable. h Parkinson’s disease. h positive status for HIV. h post-traumatic stress disorder. h sickle cell anemia. h spinal cord disease or injury. h Tourette’s syndrome. h traumatic brain injury. h ulcerative colitis.

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43 notorious lifers to get another shot at parole Kentucky Parole Board rules for Craven, others Andrew Wolfson and Cameron Knight Louisville Courier Journal USA TODAY NETWORK

Forty-three criminals serving life sentences for some of Kentucky’s most notorious murders will now get a second chance at parole.

Last month, the Kentucky Parole Board created a new rule prohibiting inmates serving life sentences from receiving what are known as “serveouts” the fi rst time they see the board.

This is when the board decides at a person’s fi rst parole hearing that the inmate is not eligible for another hearing.

The new directive states those inmates must be seen again in no more than 10 years. The rule also applies retroactively to off enders given serveouts decades ago.

Among those who will get another chance at parole is Adele Craven.

Craven, of Kenton County, hired a hitman to kill her husband in 2000 so she could collect his life insurance policies. Prosecutors said the hired killer beat Stephen Craven with a crowbar while his wife watched.

When the beating didn’t prove to lethal, she gave the hitman a gun and ordered him to shoot, but the fi rst shot still did not kill her husband, prosecutors said. They said Craven then reloaded the gun herself and handed it back to the hitman to fi nish the job.

Craven’s fi rst trial ended in a hung jury. Weeks into her second trial, Craven confessed and pleaded guilty. She will be eligible for parole in May 2030.

A Boone County man, Carlos Faulkner, will also be able to take advantage of the new rule.

In 1992, Faulkner bludgeoned 26year-old Lesly Briede in her Fort Wright home with a weight and stabbed her more than 40 times with a knife and a pair of scissors then left her body to be found by her mother, prosecutors said.

Briede’s family called for the death penalty after Faulkner’s conviction, but Kenton County Judge Douglas called the death penalty an illusion due to the decades-long appeals process.

Adele Craven and Ronald Pryor sit in court in 2001. Craven admitted she hired Pryor to kill her husband and was sentenced to life in prison. FILE

“These crimes are so heinous. These people do not deserve the hope of getting out. All of these people were eligible for the death penalty.”

Rob Sanders

Kenton County Commonwealth’s attorney, disagreeing with the Kentucky Parole Board’s new parole rule

Only three people have been executed in the state since 1976. Faulkner was denied parole in 2017 and will be eligible for another parole hearing in 2027.

Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders disagrees with the new rule, saying after 30 years the families and friends of the victims have moved on or died.

“Who knows if we’ll have people around to fi ght for the victims and to fi ght for justice if we’re delaying a fi nal decision for 30 years,” Sanders told The Enquirer Friday.

“It is a gut punch for victims who

thought they had closure and now will have old wounds ripped open again,” he said.

Tim Arnold, the Department of Public Advocacy’s Post-Trial Division Director, hailed the change as “step in the right direction.”

He said life without parole should be reserved for the “worst of the worst” – only for off enders who could have gotten the death penalty.

Sanders said most, if not all, of the off enders aff ected by this new rule could have been sentenced to death, but were spared by a plea agreement or

the mercy of a judge.

“These are the worst of the worst,” Sanders said.

Arnold said serve-outs on life sentences remove the discretion to release a person “precisely at the moment society would most like that discretion to be used – when the inmate is old, infi rm, costly, and a risk to nobody.”

The Corrections Department said the parole board made the change in response to litigation but did not specify the case.

Sanders said he is concerned that the parole board is more motivated by money than litigation. He said elderly inmates are expensive and releasing them early would save the state money.

Arnold said the off enders aff ected by the new rule have been given “a burst of hope and a possibility of a future outside of prison walls — an opportunity that they thought was over for them.

We are very pleased for those inmates who are getting this opportunity, and are doing what we can to help them make the most of it.”

Sanders argued that eff ective deterrence and justice demand these individuals are held.

“These crimes are so heinous,” Sanders said. “These people do not deserve the hope of getting out. All of these people were eligible for the death penalty.”

Parole board chairwoman Lelia A. VanHoose did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chris Cohron, the elected prosecutor in Warren County, Kentucky, where fi ve off enders could be freed, said: “These are some of the most infamous crimes the commonwealth has ever seen.”

In a statement, the commonwealth’s attorney’s association called the change “an aff ront to crime victims” and said it “should be stopped.”

The commission also said the new rule violates the spirit of Marsy’s Law, which gives victims certain rights.

Cohron said commonwealth’s attorneys received no notice of the proposed rule, which was adopted without public comment. He said they found out only because a former prosecutor was notifi ed this week about a parole hearing for an off ender who had received a serve-out years ago.

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THE ENQUIRER

Behind Kroger’s switch on Cincinnati plastic bag ban Alexander Coolidge Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

Kroger offi cials have declined to explain what led to the company’s fl ip-fl op on implementing a local plastic bag ban in Cincinnati.

Early this month, the Downtownbased grocer put the word out to customers it would stop using plastic bags at 10 stores located in the city limits on June 1.

Then on Wednesday Kroger did an abrupt about-face, stating their ban wouldn’t begin until January 2022.

Kroger offi cials said they “understood” an Ohio law passed last fall delayed Cincinnati enacting its plastic bag ban for 12 months, but didn’t off er any details about how – or when – they learned about it.

“We look forward to continue working with the city as we take a meaningful step forward in creating a community free from waste,” Kroger offi cials said, declining further comment on the apparent disconnect.

It was an unusual misstep for Kroger, which had worked closely with city offi cials developing the city ban, including suggesting legal language.

But city offi cials said the Ohio measure stopped their ban in its tracks when it was signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine last October.

“The City’s position has been consistent since passage of H.B. 242 (Ohio’s temporary hold on local plastic bag legislation)... the Ordinance will not go into eff ect until January 16, 2022,” said Kelly Carr, chief of staff in the City Manager’s offi ce.

In September, the Cincinnati council passed the ordinance that banned the distribution of single-use plastic bags for food service establishments such as grocery stores and restaurants.

Originally, the ban was set to take effect on Jan. 1 – but wouldn’t be enforced until July 1. Then in October, DeWine signed the one-year ban on plastic bans after months of debate among Ohio lawmakers. Business-friendly legislators

A customer carries their items from Kroger to their car in plastic bags in Newport on Aug. 22, 2018. ALBERT CESARE/THE ENQUIRER,

wanted to strip local governments of the power to ban plastic bags with such measures being debated by cities across the country and in Ohio.

DeWine had previously been inclined to let local government impose their own rules. But in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was some early concern that reusable bags might help spread the new coronavirus. He signed on when lawmakers made it a temporary 12-month measure.

The Ohio law expires on Jan 15, 2021.

The Cincinnati ordinance explicitly states it take eff ect immediately upon the expiration of an Ohio law that blocked its initial implementation.

Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Seelbach, the local ban’s sponsor, asked the city solicitor last fall if the city might challenge the Ohio law. It quickly said no.

Months later, Seelbach said he’s spent years trying to get the plastic bag measure passed, but has learned to accept delays. “I was disappointed by the solicitor’s opinion, but accepted their position,” Seelbach said. “It’s disappointing that Kroger reversed itself, but I’m used to hurdles.”

Kroger said it remained committed with a 2018 pledge to scrap single-use plastic bags nationwide by 2025.

For the latest on Kroger, P&G, Fifth Third Bank and Cincinnati business, follow @alexcoolidge on Twitter.

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More new retail, restaurants coming to Newport on the Levee Randy Tucker Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

Nine new retailers and restaurants have been added to the growing list of of new tenants set to open Memorial Day Weekend in the renovated Gallery Building at Newport on the Levee, North American Properties, the mall’s owner, announced Thursday. North American is transforming the 113,000-square-foot Gallery Building, which houses AMC Theaters, into a large mixed-use space with a revolving, pop-up retail market and several new storefronts.

The nine newly announced local businesses opening in retail market include: Leaf & Limb; J Saladino; Celestial Scents Candles; Lucky Kat; Ten Thousand Villages; Anew Clothing; JWK Juicery; Artifact; Wild Ivy Apothecary.

NATIVE, an interactive, handmade clothing store; Wooden Cask, a bike-up tap room; and Pizzazz Interiors, a high-

end antique, decor and artwork store, also plan to open new storefronts inside or adjacent to the remodeled Gallery Building.

They will join previously announced tenants Little Spoon Bakery; Bon Mi Street; Bluegrass and Sass; and Colonel De Spices, all of which will open storefronts at the Gallery Building and previously occupied space at Bridgeview Box Park or The Exchange Market – the mall’s new open-air dining and shopping areas.

North American bought the mall in 2018 and said it would invest $100 million, including the purchase price, to redevelop the 360,000-square-foot, towncenter-style shopping center on the banks of the Ohio River.

Construction began in 2019, and the Levee’s grand re-opening celebration is set to begin May 27. The Levee’s Memorial Day weekend celebration also will include live music, family activities and mural painting.

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The Enquirer

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17A

BUSINESS

What Cincinnati needs h Forum: Former councilman says city should demand real leadership. 1D

Apple puts $45M more into Ky. plant Harrodsburg site makes all the glass for iPhones Ben Tobin Louisville Courier Journal USA TODAY NETWORK

New grants a lifeline for some restaurants Applications from women, minorities, vets prioritized Keith Pandolfi Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

For Andre Hopwood, owner of Conscious Kitchen, a popular restaurant in Corryville, a new grant program administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) might just be the godsend he’s looking for.

The $28.6 billion federal program, which was established under the American Rescue Plan signed into law by President Joe Biden in March, will provide grants to restaurants, bars, caterers and other eligible establishments equal to their pandemic-related revenue losses up to $10 million, but no more than $5 million per physical location.

As of Thursday, the SBA had already received more than 186,000 applications from restaurants, bars and other eligible businesses nationwide.

What’s appealing to Hopwood – and thousands of other small business owners – is that, for the fi rst 21 days, the fund will prioritize applications from women-, veteran- and minority-owned businesses, the type of smaller, mom-andpop-style places that have suff ered the most throughout the pandemic.

“To get the money we lost back in the form of a grant is life-changing,” said Hopwood, who is Black. “Especially if you are a small business owner.”

Unlike the federal government’s Payment Protection Program (PPP) off ered earlier in the pandemic, Hopwood says the SBA grants are far more useful and intuitive. The application process is easier, allowing restaurants to use their own point of sale (POS) system providers to gather and provide revenue information for them.

And unlike the PPP grants, the SBA doesn’t require recipients to spend the money they receive specifi cally on payroll or place strict limits on the time

“To get the money we lost back in the form of a grant is life-changing.

Especially if you are a small business owner.”

See APPLE, Page 19A

Andre Hopwood

owner of Conscious Kitchen in Corryville

Andre Hopwood is the owner of Conscious Kitchen in Corryville.

KEITH PANDOLFI/THE

See GRANTS, Page 18A

Apple is investing an additional $45 million into a Kentucky plant that makes the scratch-resistant glass for its iPhones and other products, the tech giant announced.

The money will be used to “drive research and development into innovative new technologies that support durability and long-lasting product life” at Corning Inc.’s glass innovation center in Harrodsburg, according to a news release.

The award comes from Apple’s Advanced Manufacturing Fund, a $5 billion pot of money launched in 2017 to promote innovation in various sectors.

The Harrodsburg plant has already received $450 million from the fund – one $200 million investment announced in 2017 and another award announced in 2019.

Apple said its investments help support more than 1,000 jobs across Corning’s U.S. operations, including roughly 400 high-paying positions in Harrodsburg.

Every generation of iPhone glass has been produced at the Harrodsburg facility. Recently, the companies worked together to develop a new glass-ceramic derived from nano-ceramic crystals.

Apple Chief Operating Offi cer Jeff Williams said in a statement that “Apple and Corning have a long history of

ENQUIRER

Corning’s plant in Harrodsburg, Ky., makes the scratch-resistant glass for the Apple iPhones. The plant has already received $450 million from an Apple fund. MATT STONE/COURIER-JOURNAL

Gamers lining up outside stores for graphics cards Sam Raudins Columbus Dispatch USA TODAY NETWORK

Pandemic supply chain issues have been no game, and the latest issue has come for gamers themselves.

Video gamers and cryptocurrency miners are struggling to come by graphics cards, a piece of computer hardware that renders images on a monitor.

The cards usually retail between $300 and $800 depending on the model, but with limited supply and high demand, the cards are selling online for more than $2,000, leading some locals to line up outside of retailers before they open for a chance to get one.

The problem in stocking graphics cards stems from the dearth of semiconductors, which conduct electricity at a level between metals and insulators like ceramics, said Keely Croxton, professor of logistics at Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business whose research focuses on supply chain resilience.

Semiconductors can be made from materials like silicon and also are used in the auto and defense industries.

COVID-19 sparked unpredictable demand spikes, Croxton said – gaming increased by 50%, and home electronics

purchases surged. Supply issues during this time included disruptions in manufacturing and transport due to the pandemic, limited production capacity and the use of semiconductors by other industries.

The global shortage has even garnered attention from the Biden administration, which hosted a virtual summit on the issue recently.

Croxton said the demand and variety of supply issues created “the perfect storm.”

“I’d say it’s kind of a supply chain executive’s worst nightmare in that demand seems to have skyrocketed, and I think that’s both coming from traditional industries, like the auto industry. And the cryptocurrency and the gaming industries are growing,” Croxton said.

Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia, a designer of graphics processing units, acknowledged the issues in its Feb. 24 earnings call. The company had a record year, reporting 2020 revenue of $16.68 billion, up 53 percent over 2019.

The company said cards in the 30 series line, its newest addition, were hard to keep in stock as the fourth quarter began with a lower inventory and they were popular over the holidays. That includes the popular GeForce RTX 3070.

Nvidia’s supply is expected to remain

George Hinton, 21, stands in line to purchase a 3070 graphics card at Micro Center on April 14. About 24 people waited in line overnight. COURTNEY HERGESHEIMER/COLUMBUS DISPATCH

low through the fi rst part of the year, the company said on the call, amid a record fourth quarter for gaming revenue at $2.5 billion – a 67% increase over last year.

Recovery from supply chain disruptions like this one isn’t “quick and easy,” Croxton said, as manufacturing can’t just double overnight.

“I think the other thing that impacted recovery was something that these kinds of events like COVID and any large disruption of the supply chain have started to make companies realize.

Being lean and effi cient also means be-

ing brittle, and so lean is great when things are running smoothly, not having much inventory and being effi cient and just having just-in-time processes,” Croxton said. “But as soon as there’s a disruption, then you’re brittle, you break down more quickly when there’s a disruption.”

Matthew Brewer, an Ohio State student in engineering physics, said he wants to build his own computer and has been looking for a graphics card. But after watching his roommate try to buy one months ago and witnessing people line up at the Bethel Road Micro Center, a Columbus-based electronics retailer that specializes in computer parts, he said he is taking a diff erent approach.

“If you can go to the (Facebook) marketplace, you can fi nd a pretty decent one. Not the newer ones, but you can fi nd a 1080 for like $250, which is probably the most I’m willing to spend,” he said.

Brewer said for his purposes, he is able to work with an older model of graphics card, as he is only looking to play games. He said people looking for newer versions often stream gameplay online or mine cryptocurrency.

“If you’re willing to wait in the wee wee hours of the morning? Sure. For me, it’s not worth it,” Brewer said.

18A

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THE ENQUIRER

BUSINESS

Phil Everly’s heirs must say bye to royalties Strictly Legal Jack Greiner Guest columnist

The estate of Phil Everly recently lost a copyright battle with Don Everly. The dispute centered on the authorship of the song “Cathy’s Clown.” Phil’s estate wound up on the losing end ultimately due to a timing problem.

Don Everly fi led the case as a declaratory judgment action. In such an action, the plaintiff asks the court to issue a declaration on a point of law. In this case Don Everly asked the court to declare that he was the sole author of “Cathy’s Clown” such that Phil’s estate had no right to royalties or other benefi ts afforded a co-author.

The Everly Brothers released “Cathy’s Clown” in 1960. At the time, the song, like the other Everly Brothers songs, was purportedly co-authored by the

Grants Continued from Page 17A

allotted to use the money before it has to be returned. (During the fi rst round of PPP off ered up in June 2020, business owners were required to spend the money within eight weeks, though it was eventually extended to 24.)

With the SBA grants, recipients are not required to repay the funding as long as funds are spent on eligible uses no later than March 11, 2023.

“This isn’t like the PPP,” Hopwood said. “They’ve done a lot of things to make this a lot more streamlined.”

That’s exactly what Terry Bolden, who directs the SBA’s Columbus district offi ce, wants to hear.

“The idea of working with women-,

brothers. And in the 60’s, while they enjoyed success and each other, there was apparently no problem.

By 1973, however, the Brothers had a falling out and didn’t speak for 10 years.

During that period, Don Everly decided to “set the record straight” and reclaim his rights to songs he claimed to have written alone. Within certain limits, an author is entitled to repudiate another’s co-authorship under the Copyright Act. Once a co-author issues a repudiation, the co-author has three years to fi le a suit challenging the repudiation.

According to Don, he repudiated Phil’s co-authorship on two occasions.

Once in a letter he wrote in 1980, where he wrote “you can give me my songs back.” According to his testimony, by this, Don meant to “correct the record legally that [he was] the sole writer” on “Cathy’s Clown” and “some other songs.”

There were two problems with the letter. First, from Don’s description, it didn’t sound all that clear exactly what

he was repudiating. And second, no copy of the letter existed.

The second communication was a follow-up telephone call, to which several parties testifi ed. Those parties testifi ed that on the call, Don demanded the rights to “Cathy’s Clown” and Phil agreed. Indeed, following the call, Phil signed fi ve documents, each titled “Release and Assignment,” pertaining to “Cathy’s Clown” and sixteen other musical compositions whose original copyright registrations indicated that they had been written by both Don and Phil.

The documents provided “Phil Everly desires to release, and transfer, to the said Don Everly all of his rights, interests and claim in and to [‘Cathy’s Clown’], including rights to royalties and his claim as co-composer, eff ective June 1, 1980.”

This document was damning evidence for several reasons. First, it undercut the argument by Phil’s heirs that Don never repudiated Phil’s co-authorship, but only demanded the royalties.

The explicit reference to the release of his claim as a co-author eff ectively dashed that position.

The other problem for Phil was that the documents started the three-year clock ticking. And Phil failed to fi le the suit in that window. The court concluded that this barred the suit. No doubt this ruling was frustrating for a host of reasons, not the least of which was the fact that in at least one interview after the documents were signed, (they reconciled for a period in the 80s) Don described how the two of them “hashed out” “Cathy’s Clown” together. But based on the court’s conclusion that the statute of limitations ran before Phil or his heirs fi led suit, that evidence simply didn’t matter.

There’s no clowning around when it comes to the statute of limitations.

Jack Greiner is managing partner of Graydon law fi rm in Cincinnati. He represents Enquirer Media in First Amendment and media issues; He can be reached at jgreiner@graydon.law.

veteran- and minority-owned businesses fi rst is to help give them a seat at the table and help them get over the hump they have historically faced due to their limited lending relationships,” he said.

While much of the PPP money was gobbled up by large restaurant chains and restaurant and bar owners with strong relationships with lending institutions, the SBA program focuses on restaurants and bars that have historically lacked those relationships.

To get the word out about the grants, the SBA reached out to African American and Hispanic chamber of commerce groups, as well as women’s business centers and, more locally, the Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce and the Cincinnati Urban League.

Even so, Hopwood knows that getting the word out about the SBA grants to the entire small business community still

poses a challenge. On Wednesday, he spoke with two minority business owners in Corryville who had no idea about it. He wishes the SBA could work with retailers such as Restaurant Depot or Costco to have them put information about the program in their stores or, better yet, on their receipts, but is thankful they’ve done what they can.

Either way, he says the program is exactly what businesses like his need right now if they want to survive; a sentiment he shares with John Barker, president and CEO of the Ohio Restaurant Association, which is working with the SBA and the National Restaurant Association to get the word out.

“The Restaurant Revitalization Fund will have an immediate impact on the hardest hit restaurants and bars and will help boost the recovery of our national, state and local economies,” said John

Barker in a press release. “Between March 2020 and April 2021, restaurant and food service sales are down $280 billion. Nationally, restaurants are still down 1.7 million jobs, or 15%, below precoronavirus levels. Nearly 100,000 restaurants are closed permanently or longterm.

While $28.6 billion dollars sounds like a lot of money, Barker warns the need for the grants is tremendous and the money will likely go fast. In the meantime, those who haven’t applied for the grants should do so now.

Luckily, another benefi t of the SBA loans is that restaurants can apply through SBA-recognized Point of Sale (POS) vendors, including Square, Toast, Clover and NCR, the systems many restaurants already have in use. They can also apply or by visiting the SBA’s website at restaurants.sba.gov.

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cincinnati.com

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19A

BUSINESS

Can you still contribute to an IRA in your 70s?

Allworth Advice Amy Wagner & Steve Sprovach Guest columnists

Question: Clyde in Oxford: I just turned 71 and work part time so I have some extra “fun money.” Even though I’m older than 70 1⁄ 2, can I still continue to contribute to an IRA? And will I get a tax break?

A: The answer to the fi rst part of your question is ‘yes’ thanks to the 2019 SECURE Act. Prior to this law’s passage, anyone age 70 1⁄ 2 or older could not contribute to a traditional IRA (since this was the age Required Minimum Distributions, or RMDs, kicked-in). However, the SECURE Act not only bumped up the start age of RMDs to 72, it also now allows anyone who is 72 or older to continue contributing to an IRA – as long as they have ‘earned income.’

And this change makes sense on a practical level. According to Morningstar, 20% of folks age 65 or older were working (or looking for work) in 2019.

Apple Continued from Page 17A

working together to accomplish the impossible.

“From the very fi rst iPhone glass, to the revolutionary Ceramic Shield on the iPhone 12 lineup, our collaboration has changed the landscape of smartphone cover design and durability,” Williams said. “Ceramic Shield is a prime example of the technologies that are possible when deep innovation

This is nearly double the amount back in 1985. So, as people are working longer, it’s only fair they’re allowed more fl exibility with their retirement accounts.

In 2021, you can contribute up to $7,000 to an IRA ($6,000 for anyone younger than 50) as long as you have at least $7,000 of earned income. (If your income is less than this, you can contribute up to however much you’ve earned.)

As for if you’ll get a tax break, that depends on whether or not you currently participate in a qualifi ed retirement account (like a 401(k)). If you don’t participate, you can deduct your full IRA contribution amount. If you do, your Modifi ed Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) needs to be $66,000 or less to deduct your full contribution (assuming you’re a single tax fi ler). Deductions then start phasing out and are not deductible at all once an individual’s MAGI hits $76,000.

Here’s the Allworth Advice: The rules have changed for older workers, so feel free to take advantage! But also keep in mind that there could be other types of accounts better suited for your needs – such as taxable brokerage accounts or even a Roth IRA. Q: Tracy in Warren County: My

meets the power of American manufacturing.”

Wendell Weeks, the chairman and CEO of the glassmaker that has been around for more than 165 years, said in a statement Monday that the company thanks Apple “for our longstanding product-development partnership and for their continued commitment to supporting the American workforce.”

“The deep investment they’ve provided for new manufacturing technology in our Harrodsburg, Kentucky, facility is not only fueling life-changing innovation, it’s also helping us sustain

husband and I are trying to decide who to name as our executor. We have a few family members in mind, and even a few friends. Any suggestions for how to make this decision?

A: As the joke goes, “Very carefully.”

Being an executor of an estate is a huge task – and the role only gets more complicated as the estate size increases.

This person is going to be dealing with everything from settling accounts, to paying off your debts, to fi ling your will, to communicating with your benefi ciaries. So, to start, take a look at your list of candidates. If someone isn’t organized and detail-oriented, they should come off that list. Ditto if you don’t consider them honest and responsible.

Similarly, consider the temperament of the people you have in mind. It’s best if whomever you choose is patient since the probate process can be long, and, at times, challenging. You also want someone who won’t hesitate to put in any extra work if needed – and use ‘tough love’ if necessary. Age is an important factor as well. Consider choosing someone younger than you and your husband (since they obviously need to outlive you).

The Allworth Advice is that once you decide who you would like to pick, make sure you have a formal conversa-

tion with them. Ask if they’re willing to serve in this role, and if they are, discuss your expectations. And, because they could turn you down, have a backup in mind as well.

Every week, Allworth Financial’s Amy Wagner and Steve Sprovach answer your questions. If you, a friend or someone in your family has a money issue or problem, feel free to send those questions to yourmoney@ enquirer.com.

Responses are for informational purposes only, and individuals should consider whether any general recommendation in these responses is suitable for their particular circumstances based on investment objectives, fi nancial situation and needs. To the extent that a reader has any questions regarding the applicability of any specifi c issue discussed above to his/her individual situation, he/she is encouraged to consult with the professional adviser of his/her choosing, including a tax adviser and/or attorney. Retirement planning services off ered through Allworth Financial, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Securities off ered through AW Securities, a Registered Broker/Dealer, member FINRA/SIPC. Call 513-469-7500 or visit allworthfi nancial.com

ing a world-class workforce, engaging them in new technologies, and creating opportunities for learning and training.”

Apple said it now supports 2.7 million jobs across all states and recently announced plans to add 20,000 jobs nationwide while contributing more than $430 billion to the US economy over the next fi ve years. That investment includes collaborating with more than 9,000 suppliers and companies across dozens of sectors, like 5G and manufacturing.

“Apple and Corning have a long history of working together to accomplish the impossible.”

Jeff Williams

Apple chief operating officer

vital communities where we live and work – a fundamental objective at both of our companies,” Weeks said.

He added: “Together, we’re develop-

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NATION & WORLD

Israeli strike destroys Gaza media building

Pro-Gaza marches rise in Europe

Rocket response includes attacks on politicians Fares Akram and Lee Keath

Elaine Ganley and Boubkar Benzabat

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israel slammed the Gaza Strip with airstrikes on Saturday, in a dramatic escalation that included bombing the home of a senior Hamas leader, killing a family of 10 in a refugee camp – most of them children – and pulverizing a high-rise that housed The Associated Press and other media.

The Hamas militant group continued a stream of rocket volleys into Israel, and one man was killed when a rocket hit his home in a suburb of Tel Aviv.

With a U.S. envoy on the ground, calls increased for a cease-fi re after fi ve days of mayhem that have left at least 145 Palestinians dead in Gaza – including 41 children and 23 women – and eight dead on the Israeli side, all but one of them civilians, including a 6-year-old child.

U.S. President Joe Biden, who has called for a de-escalation but has backed Israel’s campaign, spoke separately by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Still, Israel stepped up its assault, vowing to shatter the capabilities of Gaza’s Hamas rulers. The week of deadly violence, set off by a Hamas rocket Monday, came after weeks of mounting tensions and heavy-handed Israeli measures in contested Jerusalem.

On Saturday, Israel bombed the home of Khalil al-Hayeh, a senior fi gure in Hamas’ political branch, saying the building served as part of the group’s “terrorist infrastructure.” There was no

PARIS – French riot police fi red tear gas and used water cannons Saturday as protesters supporting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip defi ed a ban on marching in the French capital.

Thousands of people marched peacefully in cities in France and elsewhere in Europe – including in London, Rome, Brussels and Madrid – to highlight the plight of the Palestinians.

In Paris, protesters scattered and played cat-and-mouse with security forces in the city’s northern neighborhoods after their starting point for a planned march was blocked.

Paris Police Chief Didier Lallement had ordered 4,200 security forces into the streets and closed shops around the kick-off point for the march after an administrative court confi rmed the ban because of fears of violence. Authorities noted that a banned July 2014 pro-Palestinian protest in Paris against an Israeli off ensive in Gaza degenerated into violence to justify the order against Saturday’s march.

Protesters shifted from neighborhood to neighborhood in Paris as police closed in on them, sometimes with tear gas and water cannons, and police said 44 people were arrested. In a lengthy standoff , protesters pelted a line of security forces with projectiles before police pushed them to the edge of northern Paris.

“We don’t want scenes of violence.

We don’t want a confl ict imported to French soil,” government spokesman Gabriel Attal said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Saturday. More lives were lost as clashes also swept the West Bank. MAHMUD HAMS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

immediate report on al-Hayeh’s fate or on any casualties.

The bombing of al-Hayeh’s home showed Israel was expanding its campaign beyond just the group’s military commanders. Israel says it has killed dozens in Hamas’ military branch, including senior commanders and fi ghters in the fi eld, though Hamas and the smaller group Islamic Jihad have only acknowledged 20 dead members.

Since the confl ict began, Israel has leveled a number of Gaza City’s tallest offi ce and residential buildings, alleging they house elements of the Hamas military infrastructure. On Saturday, it turned to the 12-story al-Jalaa Building, where the offi ces of the AP, the TV network Al-Jazeera and other media outlets are located, along with several fl oors of apartments.

“The campaign will continue as long as it is required,” Netanyahu said in a

televised speech Saturday evening. He alleged that Hamas military intelligence was operating inside the building. The military has accused the militant group of using journalists as human shields, but provided no evidence to back up the claims.

The AP has operated from the building for 15 years, including through three previous wars between Israel and Hamas, without being targeted directly. During those confl icts as well as the current one, the news agency’s cameras from its top fl oor offi ce and roof terrace off ered 24-hour live shots as militants’ rockets arched toward Israel and Israeli airstrikes hammered the city and its surroundings.

In the afternoon, the military called the building’s owner and warned a strike would come within an hour. AP staff ers and other occupants evacuated safely.

China lands its 1st spacecraft on Mars Ken Moritsugu

ASSOCIATED PRESS

BEIJING – China landed a spacecraft on Mars for the fi rst time on Saturday, a technically challenging feat more diffi cult than a moon landing, in the latest step forward for its ambitious goals in space.

Plans call for a rover to stay in the lander for a few days of diagnostic tests before rolling down a ramp to explore an area of Mars known as Utopia Planitia. It joins an American rover that arrived at the red planet in February.

China’s fi rst Mars landing follows its launch last month of the main section of what will be a permanent space station and a mission that brought back rocks from the moon late last year.

“China has left a footprint on Mars for the fi rst time, an important step for our country’s space exploration,” the offi cial Xinhua News Agency said in announcing the landing on one of its social media accounts.

The U.S. has had nine successful

Technicians work at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing on Saturday, when China landed a spacecraft on Mars for the fi rst time.

JIN LIWANG/XINHUA VIA AP

landings on Mars since 1976. The Soviet Union landed on the planet in 1971, but the mission failed after the craft stopped transmitting information soon after touchdown.

A rover and a tiny helicopter from the American landing in February are exploring Mars. NASA said the rover

should collect its fi rst sample in July for return to Earth in a decade.

China has landed on the moon, but landing on Mars is a more diffi cult undertaking. Spacecraft use shields for protection from the searing heat of entering the Martian atmosphere, and use retro-rockets and parachutes to slow enough to prevent a crash landing.

The parachutes and rockets must be deployed at precise times to land at the designated spot. Only mini-retro-rockets are required for a moon landing, and parachutes alone are suffi cient for returning to Earth.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a congratulatory letter to the mission team, called the landing “an important step in our country’s interplanetary exploration journey, realizing the leap from Earth-moon to the planetary system and leaving the mark of the Chinese on Mars for the fi rst time. ... The motherland and people will always remember your outstanding feats!”

NASA Associate Administrator Thomas Zurbuchen tweeted his con-

gratulations, saying, “Together with the global science community, I look forward to the important contributions this mission will make to humanity’s understanding of the Red Planet.”

The Tianwen-1 spacecraft has been orbiting Mars since February, when it arrived after a 61⁄ 3-month journey from Earth. Xinhua described the mission as China’s fi rst planetary exploration.

The rover, named after the Chinese god of fi re Zhurong, was expected to be deployed for 90 days to search for evidence of life. About the size of a small car, it has ground-penetrating radar, a laser, and sensors to gauge the atmosphere and magnetic sphere.

China’s space program has proceeded in a more cautious manner than the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the height of their space race.

China has said it wants to land people on the moon and possibly build a scientifi c base there. No timeline has been released for these projects. A space plane is also reportedly under development.

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Heart study: Low aspirin dose works Marilynn Marchione ASSOCIATED PRESS

Ebrahim Raisi, head of Iran’s judiciary, registers for the June 18 presidential elections at the Interior Ministry in Tehran on Saturday. EBRAHIM NOROOZI/AP

Iran’s judiciary chief starts presidential run Had been mentioned to succeed supreme leader Jon Gambrell

ASSOCIATED PRESS

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Iran’s judiciary chief, a hard-line cleric linked to mass executions in 1988, registered on Saturday to run in the Islamic Republic’s presidential election next month, a vote that comes as negotiators struggle to resuscitate Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

The cleric, Ebrahim Raisi, is among the more prominent hopefuls – he garnered nearly 16 million votes in the 2017 election. He lost that race to Iran’s relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani, whose administration struck the atomic accord.

Raisi’s close ties to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his popularity – due partly to his televised anti-corruption campaign – could make him a favorite in the election. Analysts already believe that hard-liners enjoy an edge as Rouhani is term limited from running again. The public has widely grown disenchanted with Rouhani’s administration since thenPresident Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the nuclear deal in 2018.

Raisi, wearing a black turban that identifi es him in Shiite tradition as a direct descendant of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, off ered fi ery remarks to journalists at the Interior Ministry as he registered. He vowed that if he wins the June 18 vote, corruption will be “dried up.”

“Those who founded and partnered with the current situation can’t claim they can change it,” Raisi said.

“People are complaining about the current situation.

They are upset. Their disappointment is on the rise.

This should be stopped.”

The 60-year-old sought to strike a populist note, urging the public to donate to his campaign and “turn their homes into election headquarters,” as he’s not wealthy.

“We need individuals who believe in change,” he said.

Raisi had been named as a possible successor to Iran’s 82-year-old supreme leader, leading some to suggest he wouldn’t run in the race. His entry immediately prompted some hard-liners to withdraw, raising Raisi’s prominence further among the candidates.

Activists hold a jaded view of Raisi. As the head of the judiciary, he oversees a justice system in Iran that remains one of the world’s top executioners. United Nations experts and others have criticized Iran for detaining dual nationals and those with ties abroad to be used as bargaining chips in talks with the West.

Then there’s the 1988 mass executions that came at the end of Iran’s long war with Iraq. After Iran’s thenSupreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini accepted a U.N.brokered cease-fi re, members of the Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, heavily armed by Saddam Hussein, stormed across the border in a surprise attack.

Iran ultimately blunted the assault, but the attack set the stage for the sham retrials of political prisoners, militants and others that would become known as “death commissions.”

International rights groups estimate that as many as 5,000 people were executed, while the Mujahedeen-eKhalq puts the number at 30,000.

An unusual study that had thousands of heart disease patients enroll themselves and track their health online as they took low- or regular-strength aspirin concludes that both doses seem equally safe and eff ective for preventing additional heart problems and strokes.

But there’s a big caveat: People had such a strong preference for the lower dose that it’s unknown if the results can establish that the treatments are equivalent, some independent experts said. Half who were told to take the higher dose took the lower one instead or quit using aspirin altogether.

“Patients basically decided for themselves” what they wanted to take because they bought the aspirin on their own, said Dr. Salim Virani, a cardiologist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston who had no role in the study.

Still, the results showed there’s little reason to take the higher dose, 325 milligrams, which many doctors assumed would work better than 81 milligram “baby aspirin,” he said.

Results were published Saturday by the New England Journal of Medicine and discussed at an American College of Cardiology conference.

Aspirin helps prevent blood clots, but it’s not recommended for healthy people who have not developed heart disease because it carries a risk of bleeding. Its benefi ts are clear, though, for those who have had a heart attack, bypass surgery or clogged arteries requiring a stent.

But the best dose isn’t known, and the study aimed to compare them in a real-world setting.

NATION & WORLD WATCH FROM WIRE REPORTS

Ex-Border agent admits illegally bringing woman into US LAREDO, Texas – A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent in Texas has pleaded guilty to illegally bringing a Mexican woman into the U.S. to work as her nanny, according to federal court documents. Rhonda Lee Walker, 40, of Laredo, admitted in a signed plea agreement Friday in U.S. District Court in Laredo to conspiring to bring the woman into the country. Walker was a Customs and Border Protection offi cer on Jan. 2 when she used another offi cer’s computer login information to help the woman enter the United States.

Rocket Lab’s satellite launch from New Zealand site fails LONG BEACH, Calif. – California-based Rocket Lab said a launch of satellites from its facility in New Zealand failed Saturday. The problem occurred during ignition of the Electron rocket’s second stage, the company said. The rocket was carrying two Earthobservation satellites for BlackSky, a global monitoring company. The rocket’s fi rst stage successfully parachuted into the ocean and crews were working to recover it. “Today’s anomaly occurred after 17 successful orbital launches of the Electron launch vehicle, the company said.

Masks off, Poles cheer reopening of bars and restaurants WARSAW, Poland – Poles pulled off their masks, hugged their friends and made toasts to their regained freedom as restaurants, bars and pubs reopened for the fi rst time in seven months and the government dropped a requirement for people to cover their faces outdoors. The reopening, for now limited now to the outdoor consumption of food and drinks, offi cially took place on Saturday. Yet many could not wait for midnight to strike and were out on the streets of Warsaw and other cities hours earlier on Friday evening to celebrate.

US climate envoy Kerry meets with pope on climate crisis

Emergency vehicles patrol Saturday after a tornado hit Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province. AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Rare twisters kill 12, injure 300 in China ASSOCIATED PRESS

BEIJING – Back-to-back tornadoes killed 12 people in central and eastern China and left more than 300 others injured, authorities said Saturday.

Eight people died in the inland city of Wuhan on Friday night and four others in the town of Shengze, about 250 miles east in Jiangsu province, local governments said.

The fi rst tornado struck Shengze about 7 p.m., damaging homes and factories and knocking out power, the offi cial Xinhua News Agency reported. The Suzhou city

government said in a social media post that four people had died and 149 others had minor injuries. Shengze is near Shanghai on China’s east coast.

Another tornado hit Wuhan about 8:40 p.m., destroying more than two dozen homes and triggering a power outage aff ecting 26,600 households, Xinhua said. Offi cials in Wuhan said at a news conference Saturday that eight had died and 230 were injured.

Tornados are rare in China. In July 2019, a tornado killed six people in the northeastern Liaoning province, and another tornado the following month killed eight on the southern resort island of Hainan.

VATICAN CITY – John Kerry, President Joe Biden’s climate envoy, met privately with Pope Francis on Saturday, afterward calling the pope a “compelling moral authority on the subject of the climate crisis” who has been “ahead of the curve.” The former U.S. secretary of state told Vatican News that the pope’s embrace of climate issues “hopefully can push people to greater ambition to get the job done.” Kerry is visiting European capitals to strengthen cooperation on climate change ahead of the next round of U.N. climate talks in November.

Due to the current conditions, our office hours and obituary placement times may vary.

Please contact us at 855-288-3511 or obits@enquirer.com for further details.

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ETC. CAROLYN HAX

Her vaccinated friends still don’t feel safe Hi, Carolyn: Friends who “believe in science” got vaccinated and are still terrifi ed of being “safe.” Won’t work with a masked person inside if they are not vaccinated, won’t eat inside socially distanced from others she doesn’t know are vaccinated and just in general is hard to deal with.

I get it, COVID is a scary disease, but really try to get past it.

– Trying to Get Past It Trying to Get Past It: Yes, take precautions and live your life.

Not someone else’s.

When your friends are ready, they will emerge. The extent might not be to your liking, and the timing might not be to your liking, but they’re not here to be-

have to your liking.

Our behavior does aff ect others’ wellbeing, though; there’s no getting around that. So if someone is overcorrecting in a way that’s mindful of public health vs. carelessly or stubbornly endangering it, then a little leeway is apt, plus a lot of patience.

Whenever you fi nd yourself getting frustrated with people or the pandemic or the way people deal with the pandemic, try sorting it all out by the following guidelines: Precautions are about the virus.

Feelings are about feelings.

Precautions are public.

Feelings are private.

Let’s not confl ate, confuse or com-

mingle these in any way that makes this nightmare any longer for everyone else Dear Carolyn: My daughter is in love with a man who is divorcing an abusive wife. The man is kind. He still lives with his wife while their attorneys work out who gets the house. The man recently posted to Facebook, “We went to our daughter’s house,” and just few days ago, posted a picture of a garden he made and one his wife made. My daughter was hurt by these public statements that seemed, to her, to show a partnering between the man and his wife. The man assured her the divorce is still on track, he is just trying to keep things calm at home and sees no issue with posting such things. Please provide us

with your take on this situation.

– Concerned Mother Concerned Mother: Oh, Honey. All the wives being slo-mo-divorced by husbands with new girlfriends are “abusive.”

But let’s say it’s true in this case – and that he’s kind and decent and the divorce is on track. That means she can, with utter confi dence and peace of mind, step away from the relationship fully till he signs on the line. If she won’t, then please ask her why not.

Email Carolyn at tellme@ washpost.com, follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/carolyn.hax or chat with her online at noon Eastern time each Friday at washingtonpost.com.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

PEOPLE

Actor Danny Trejo is 77. Actor Pierce Brosnan is 68. Actor Debra Winger is 66. Actor Mare Winningham is 62.

Violinist Boyd Tinsley of The Dave Matthews Band is 57. Bassist Krist Novoselic (Nirvana) is 56. Singer Janet Jackson is 55. Actor-singer Scott Reeves (“Nashville”) is 55. Actor Brian F. O’Byrne (“Million Dollar Baby”) is 54.

Jackson Actor David Boreanaz (“Bones”) is 52. Political commentator Tucker Carlson is 52.

Actor Tracey Gold (“Growing Pains”) is 52. TV personality Bill Rancic (“America Now”) is 50. Country singer Rick Trevino is 50. Actor Khary Payton (“The Walking Dead”) is 49. Actor Tori Spelling is 48. Actor Sean Carrigan (“The Young and the Restless”) is 47.

Actor Melanie Lynskey (“Two and a Half Men”) is 44. Actor Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries”) is 40. Actor Megan Fox (“Transformers”) is 35.

Prince Harry and Meghan wax fi gures moved away from royals

Legend to headline Tulsa Race Massacre remembrance ceremony

No more royal court for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, as far as Madame Tussauds in London is concerned.

The famous wax museum revealed that fi gures of the runaway royals were moved away from Queen Elizabeth and the rest of Britain’s royal family following their decision to step down from offi cial duties.

Like their real-life counterparts, the waxworks are beginning a new chapter among the Hollywood elite.

When the museum reopens Monday, following a lengthy pandemic shutdown, visitors will fi nd the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in the “Awards Party” zone.

Grammy-award winning singer and songwriter John Legend will headline a nationally televised ceremony in remembrance of the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre.

“When we sat back and asked ourselves who could really elevate this, who could take it to the next level, John Legend was obviously a great fi t,” 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission director Phil Armstrong told the Tulsa World.

Legend will headline the Remember & Rise event on May 31 at ONEOK Field.

The commission was created to educate people about the attack by a white mob that killed an estimated 300 people, most of them Black.

Legend is scheduled to speak and perform during the event that Armstrong said will include other, yet to be announced speakers and performers.

Bongino, Gowdy getting weekend shows on Fox News Channel Fox News Channel is creating weekend shows for commentator Dan Bon-

Trey Gowdy, left, and Dan Bongino.

gino and former U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy early next month.

Bongino, who has become a popular online personality and commentator, will host a show on Saturdays at 10 p.m.

Eastern starting June 5. As part of a new deal with Fox, the Fox Nation streaming site will also stream Bongino’s weekday radio show, which airs at noon, Fox News Media said on Wednesday.

Gowdy, the former South Carolina congressman and Fox contributor, will host a show on Sundays at 7 p.m. Eastern, starting June 6.

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‘They told us to run, to keep going’ Parents make painful choice to send children across border alone Adriana Gomez Licon ASSOCIATED PRESS

LA JOYA, Texas – Marely had traveled for 13 days, trekking with her mother from Central America to the busiest corridor for illegal U.S.-Mexico border crossings. Then, as the 12-year-old Salvadoran girl got on an infl atable raft to cross the Rio Grande in Texas in the middle of the night, she discovered her mother wasn’t coming with her.

Her mother told her that she loved her very much right before the boat got pushed into the water.

“I thought she had already gotten on, but she hadn’t,” Marely told the Associated Press this week, tears rolling down her cheeks.

But she didn’t scream or ask the smugglers to go back and get her mother.

“I knew she was on the other side.

There was no going back. They told us to run, to keep going,” said Marely, who surrendered to Border Patrol agents in La Joya.

The AP is not using the girl’s last name. It does not usually name children without permission from their parents, and the identity of her parents could not be obtained.

Growing numbers of migrant families are making the heart-wrenching decision to separate from their children and send them into America alone.

Many families with children older than 6 have been quickly expelled from the country under federal pandemic-related powers that don’t allow migrants to seek asylum. But they know that President Joe Biden’s administration is allowing unaccompanied children to stay in the U.S. while their cases are decided.

Forced out of the country, they are sending their older children, like Marely, back to cross alone. These self-separations mean children arrive in the United States confused and in distress. Many have traveled hundreds of miles with their parents without understanding

Marely, 12, of El Salvador cries as she awaits processing by border authorities in La Joya, Texas. GREGORY BULL/AP

why they can’t cross the last stretch together.

Once in the U.S., Marely joined two teenagers traveling without their parents and a larger group of families fl eeing poverty, storm devastation and violence in their homelands. For two hours, the girl from a village south of San Salvador walked as a thunderstorm brewed overhead in the vast Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, a busy stretch for river crossings.

Marely’s mother had her memorize the full name and number for her grandmother in Washington, who told the AP she was expecting her granddaughter.

As more families decide to send their children alone, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has been pressed by lawmakers about the possibility that expulsions could be a “new source of family separation.” It follows widespread outrage over former President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy that forced apart families on the border, some of whom still haven’t been reunited.

Mayorkas has defended speedy family expulsions, saying they protect the American public and migrants. He said offi cials are “hearing anecdotally” of families who self-separate and added

that about 40% of unaccompanied children have a parent or legal guardian in the U.S. and 50% have other relatives who can take care of them after they are released from government custody.

April was the second-busiest month on record for unaccompanied children encountered at the border – 17,171 were stopped – following March’s record high of 18,960, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

This week, Border Patrol agents found fi ve unaccompanied migrant girls, ranging from 7 years to 11 months old, near the border town of Eagle Pass, Texas. Agents about 250 miles south in La Joya late Wednesday came across an 8-year-old Honduran girl named Emely, who had been walking in the brush for 6 hours with a group of strangers and had lost a shoe in the mud. She was sobbing uncontrollably because she lost the number of her mother who she says was expecting her in the U.S. and didn’t know where she lived.

Emely had lost sight of a fellow migrant who had her contact information, but the mother saw an AP photograph of her arrival on the Spanish-language broadcast Univision and contacted the network.

In an encampment in the Mexican border city of Reynosa, near where Marely last saw her mother, the numbers of expelled migrant families are growing. And they are making desperate decisions.

Jose Rodriguez, 41, of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, has been staying under a gray tarp with a group of Hondurans, but he hasn’t been able to sleep since he sent his 8-year-old son in mid-April with a distant cousin to cross the river into Roma, Texas.

Rodriguez had tried to cross the border with his son Jordyn, but the two were expelled in early March. They had no money and no way to return home.

His wife, who stayed behind in Honduras with their 1-year-old, initially opposed sending Jordyn to cross the border alone, but Rodriguez persuaded her.

He told her their lives in Honduras would only get worse, with the threat of gangs and the economy hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic and two tropical storms.

To pay the smugglers’ fees for his son’s solo attempt, Rodriguez washed dishes at a taco stand near the encampment for a month and a half. It also took some convincing to get Jordyn to go.

“You have to keep going. You will have the best clothes, the best computer and tennis shoes, and toy cars that light up,” Rodriguez said he told his son when they said goodbye.

For four days, Rodriguez said he walked around the plaza, stopping every couple of steps to cry, until he received a recorded audio message from a cousin in the U.S. whose number he had written on Jordyn’s birth certifi cate.

“I have good news for you. They have the boy in a home for children his age,” the cousin said.

Social workers now call Rodriguez from a shelter in Chicago twice a week to see if there is anyone Jordyn can stay with in the U.S. Relatives said they could not take care of Jordyn because they also were recent immigrants and had their own children to support.

“To this day I do not sleep. The food doesn’t taste of anything, because I think of this every single moment,” Rodriguez said. “What I want is to be with him.”

Pipeline operator says it’s Israel accused of using back to normal operations media to lure out Hamas Matthew Daly

Josef Federman

ATLANTA – The operator of the nation’s largest gasoline pipeline – hit last week by a ransomware attack – announced Saturday it has resumed “normal operations,” delivering fuel to its markets, including a large swath of the East Coast.

Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline had begun the process of restarting the pipeline’s operations on Wednesday night, warning it could take several days for the supply chain to return to normal.

“Since that time, we have returned the system to normal operations, delivering millions of gallons per hour to the markets we serve,” Colonial Pipeline said in a tweet Saturday. Those markets include Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, South and North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

“All of these markets are now receiving product from our pipeline,” the company said, adding its employees across the pipeline “worked safely and tirelessly around the clock to get our lines up and running.”

Gas shortages, which spread from the South, all but emptying stations in D.C., have been improving since a peak on Thursday night. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told The Associated Press on Friday that the nation is “over the hump” on gas shortages, with about 200 stations returning to service every hour.

“It’s still going to work its way through the system over the next few days, but we should be back to normal fairly soon,” she said.

Multiple sources confi rmed to the AP that Colonial Pipeline had paid the criminals who committed the cyberattack a ransom of nearly $5 million in cryptocurrency for the software decryption key required to unscramble their data network.

The ransom – 75 Bitcoin – was paid May 8, a day after the criminals locked

JERUSALEM – Early Friday, just after midnight, the Israeli military put out an ominous statement to the media: “IDF air and ground troops are currently attacking in the Gaza Strip.”

The vaguely worded statement set off frenzied speculation that Israel had launched a ground invasion of Gaza – a much-feared scenario that would mark a bloody escalation of this week’s operation against Hamas militants. Some reporters were even told outright the incursion had begun.

Hours later, the military issued a “clarifi cation.” There were no troops inside Gaza. But by then, several major news outlets had erroneously reported the ground off ensive was under way.

Although the army attempted to play down the incident as a misunderstanding, well-placed Israeli military commentators said the media had been used as part of an elaborate ruse to lure Hamas militants into a deadly trap that might have killed dozens of fi ghters.

“They didn’t lie,” said Or Heller, a veteran military correspondent on Israel’s Channel 13 TV. “It was a manipulation. It was smart and it was successful.”

According to Heller, Israel began scrambling forces along the border in what appeared to be fi nal preparations for an invasion. Then came the announcement to the media, issued simultaneously in Hebrew and Arabic on Twitter.

Alerts followed in major outlets, including the New York Times, that the invasion was under way.

The Israeli moves sent Hamas fi ghters rushing into defensive positions in an underground network of tunnels known as “the Metro,” according to Heller and other Israeli reports.

Israel called in 160 warplanes and bombarded the tunnels for 40 minutes, the military said.

Heller said it was his understanding that scores of militants had been killed, though he said it was impossible to confi rm.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ASSOCIATED PRESS

“Everybody should know that it’s going to be OK in the next few days,” says Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. EVAN VUCCI/AP

up Colonial’s corporate network, according to Tom Robinson, co-founder of the cryptocurrency-tracking fi rm Elliptic. Before Robinson’s blog post, two people briefed on the case had confi rmed the payment amount to the Associated Press.

The pipeline system delivers about 45% of the gasoline consumed on the East Coast.

President Joe Biden said U.S. offi cials do not believe the Russian government was involved, but said “we do have strong reason to believe that the criminals who did the attack are living in Russia.”

Biden signed an executive order on cybersecurity earlier this month, and the Energy Department and other agencies are working to protect critical infrastructure, she said.

Much of the U.S. pipeline infrastructure, like Colonial, is privately owned.

The chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees interstate pipelines, said the U.S. should establish mandatory cybersecurity standards for pipelines similar to those in the electricity sector.

“Simply encouraging pipelines to voluntarily adopt best practices is an inadequate response to the ever-increasing number and sophistication of malevolent cyber actors,” said FERC Chairman Richard Glick.

Fire erupts from a Gaza City building housing various international media after an Israeli airstrike Saturday.

MAHMUD HAMS /POOL PHOTO VIA AP

“What we saw tonight was a very sophisticated operation that had a media aspect to it,” Heller said.

Hamas has not commented on the incident.

The Associated Press, based on its analysis of the army’s statement, phone calls to military offi cials and on the ground reporting in Gaza, concluded there was no ground incursion and did not report there was one.

But others said the military had misled them or even lied when asked to clarify the initial statement and its ambiguous use of the word “in.” Some felt the foreign media had been turned into an accessory of sorts.

Friday’s statement further strained what has often been a rocky relationship between the IDF and the foreign media.

Peter Lerner, a former military spokesman to the foreign media, said the Israeli public in general has long felt the international media focus too heavily on the Palestinian side of the story while minimizing Israeli concerns and suff ering – and the army is similarly inclined.

Lerner said he felt it was unlikely the military intentionally lied, but damage was done regardless.

“Your currency is credibility,” he said. “I think this is a crisis of that credibility in the way it’s being portrayed.”

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Audits eyed for infrastructure cash Tax chief guesses US cheating hits $1T yearly Kevin Freking and Marcy Gordon ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON – Republicans said they won’t raise taxes on corporations.

Democrats said they won’t raise taxes on people making less than $400,000 a year. So who is going to pay for the big public works boost that lawmakers and President Joe Biden said is necessary for the country?

Enter the IRS. Biden is proposing that Congress build up the depleted and often-maligned agency, saying that a more aggressive collection of unpaid taxes could help cover the cost of his multitrillion-dollar plan to boost infrastructure, families and education. More resources to boost audits of businesses, estates and the wealthy would raise $700 billion over 10 years, the White House estimated.

It’s just the latest idea emerging in the bipartisan talks over an infrastructure bill, which saw Biden huddle at the White House this week with congressional leaders and a group of Republican senators. The GOP senators, touting a $568 billion infrastructure plan of their own, said they were “encouraged” by the discussion with Biden, but all sides acknowledged that how to pay for the public works plan remains a diffi cult problem.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Biden brought up his IRS proposal as he met Wednesday with the top four congressional leaders.

“My understanding is it’s at least $1 trillion, it could be a trillion-andquarter, a trillion-and-a-half dollars of illegally, unpaid taxes in the country,” Pelosi said. “Part of the answer is to beef up the IRS so they could take in those taxes, and that’s a big chunk. That could go a long way.”

She was referring to the tax gap, which is the diff erence between taxes paid and taxes owed. In a politically charged climate, there isn’t agreement on how big the tax gap is, let alone how much of it could be captured. But it’s a

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles Rettig stunned a House Committee on Wednesday by suggesting Americans underpay their taxes by about $1 trillion annually. TASOS KATOPODIS/POOL VIA AP

tantalizing target for lawmakers, raising the potential to raise hundreds of billions in revenue without needing to raise taxes at all.

The question is how big the tax gap really is – and how much it can realistically be closed.

The Internal Revenue Service has estimated the tax gap is $440 billion a year. But IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig stunned his audience at a recent Senate hearing when he off ered a new number: about $1 trillion annually.

The old estimates don’t take into account the recent boom in income made by self-employed “gig” workers, which can be underreported, concealed off shore income and the rising use of cryptocurrency, which makes it hard for the IRS to identify taxpayers in third-party transactions, experts said.

The $1 trillion fi gure “is not crazy.

That’s totally possible,” said Steve Wamhoff , director of federal tax policy at the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

But Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, called it “speculation.” And he’s worried it could push the IRS toward overzealous enforcement.

The IRS has been on the losing end of congressional funding fi ghts in recent

“Instead of promising a chicken in every pot, Biden’s plan promises an auditor at every kitchen table.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa

Senator reminds he is not opposed to closing the tax gap

years, taking a cut of about 20% since 2010, adjusting for infl ation, even as its responsibilities have grown. Biden’s new spending proposals include an extra $80 billion over 10 years to bolster IRS audits of upper-income individuals and corporations.

But some experts said bolstered audits could fall far short of a $700 billion windfall. The Penn Wharton Budget Model, a research organization associated with the University of Pennsylvania, projected the proposed spending on IRS collection eff orts would bring in about $480 billion from 2022 to 2031.

In selling its plan, the White House has emphasized what it described as fi xing a “two-tiered system of tax administration” in the U.S. While regular workers pay taxes on the wages they earn, some wealthy taxpayers fi nd ways

to maneuver around them.

Those with annual incomes under $25,000 are audited at a higher rate (0.69%) than those with incomes up to $500,000 (0.53%), according to IRS data. Taxpayers who receive the earnedincome tax credit, which applies mainly to low-income workers with children, are audited at a higher rate than all but the wealthiest fi lers. The audit rate for millionaires plunged from 8.4% in 2010 to 2.4% in 2019.

The IRS rejected the notion of unfair audit treatment, saying that critics have misinterpreted the data. Rettig bristled at the suggestion at the Senate hearing.

High-income taxpayers “are audited more than any other taxpayer,” he said, at a rate over 8% for those earning more than $10 million.

So far, Republicans are only ruling out revisiting the 2017 tax cuts that they passed without any Democratic support. How much they are willing to boost the IRS as part of an infrastructure bill remains to be seen. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Republicans would rather fi nance infrastructure through user fees such as tolls and gasoline taxes.

But after pushing the agency’s steep budget cuts over the past decade, it would be a remarkable shift for the GOP to back the kind of sustained investment in the IRS that Biden is talking about – and that experts said is necessary to narrow the tax gap.

Republican lawmakers with control over funding for the IRS have long accused it of overreaching into ordinary taxpayers’ lives. Their hostility toward the IRS erupted into outrage in 2013 during the Obama administration, when the agency admitted targeting conservative tea party groups with heightened, often burdensome scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, wrote in his home state newspaper, the Des Moines Register, that he’s not opposed to closing the tax gap, but he has concerns about the scope of the White House’s eff orts.

“Instead of promising a chicken in every pot, Biden’s plan promises an auditor at every kitchen table,” Grassley wrote.

Tiger search continues; alleged owner back in jail Juan A. Lozano ASSOCIATED PRESS

RICHMOND, Texas – While a Texas man police alleged is the owner of a tiger that frightened residents after it was seen briefl y wandering around a Houston neighborhood was ordered back behind bars on Friday, the animal’s whereabouts remain a mystery.

An all-day court hearing Friday didn’t reveal any new information on the tiger’s whereabouts as Houston police said about 300 tips they have so far received haven’t produced results.

Police alleged Victor Hugo Cuevas is the owner of the tiger, a 9-month old male named India, and he is facing a charge of evading arrest after authorities allege he fl ed from Houston offi cers who responded to a call about a dangerous animal Sunday night.

After a court hearing in a separate case Cuevas, 26, is facing in neighboring Fort Bend County, his attorney, Michael W. Elliott, reiterated his client doesn’t own the tiger. Elliott said he only knew the fi rst name of the owner, that he has been working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to fi nd India and that Cuevas only wants the animal to be safe.

“We want to fi nd India. Somebody knows where India is at. Hopefully the cat is still doing well,” Elliott said.

At a separate news conference in Houston earlier Friday, police Cmdr.

Ron Borza said some of the tips offi cers have received on the tiger’s possible location have been “a little bit crazy.”

“We know the group of people that are involved in the exotic animal trade here in Houston. ... We have visited all of them and no luck so far,” Borza said.

Investigators believe the tiger has likely been passed around between six and eight locations in Houston to hide it, but that the animal is probably still in the city, Borza said.

Carole Baskin, from the Netfl ix’s docuseries “Tiger King,” has off ered a $5,000 reward for the tiger’s safe return.

At the time of his arrest on Monday for allegedly evading Houston police,

Cuevas was free on bail for a murder charge in a 2017 fatal shooting in Fort Bend County. Cuevas has maintained the shooting was self-defense, Elliott said. Cuevas had been released on a separate bail for the evading arrest charge Wednesday.

During a court hearing Friday, Fort Bend County prosecutor Christopher Baugh asked that Cuevas be held without bail for the murder charge, alleging the incident with the tiger showed Cuevas “has a total disregard for the Cuevas public safety.”

State District Judge Frank J. Fraley did not grant the request, but instead revoked Cuevas’ current $125,000 bail and reset it at $300,000. It was the fi fth time that Cuevas’ bond had been revoked in the murder case.

During Friday’s court hearing, Waller County Sheriff ’s Offi ce Deputy Wes Manion testifi ed he lives in the Houston neighborhood and was alerted about the tiger by a neighbor.

Manion testifi ed he interacted with the tiger for about 10 minutes to make sure it didn’t go after someone else and that Cuevas came out of his house yelling, “Don’t kill it” and that it was his tiger.

“He approached the tiger, grabbed it by the collar, kissed its forehead,” Manion said.

The deputy said he identifi ed himself to Cuevas and told him not to leave after he loaded the animal in the back of a white Jeep Cherokee but that Cuevas fl ed the scene just as Houston police arrived.

During the court hearing, Elliott argued Cuevas was not aware that Houston police wanted to question him and that he only left because he feared for the tiger’s safety because Manion had been aggressive. Elliott said the tiger’s release was an accident as it likely jumped a fence.

Elliott also said Cuevas did nothing illegal as Texas has no statewide law forbidding private ownership of tigers and other exotic animals.

A police light shines on a demonstrator in Brooklyn Center, Minn., after the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright in April. JOHN MINCHILLO/AP

Minneapolis to vote on structure of police Liz Navratil

Minneapolis Star Tribune TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

MINNEAPOLIS – Minneapolis residents will likely vote in November on replacing the city’s Police Department, off ering their most signifi cant chance to weigh in on public safety issues since George Floyd’s death.

The city clerk’s offi ce announced Friday that a new political committee called Yes 4 Minneapolis gathered enough signatures to place a proposal on the November ballot.

The group wants voters to approve a plan to create a new public safety department that could include police “if necessary to fulfi ll the responsibilities of the department.”

The plan would also eliminate the requirement to keep a minimum number of offi cers based on the city’s population and eliminate the mayor’s “complete power” over police operations, granting the City Council more sway over offi cers.

For the changes to take eff ect, 51% of voters would need to approve the plan in the election this fall, when they will also vote for mayor and City Council.

Earlier this year, Yes 4 Minneapolis launched a campaign to gather signatures supporting its proposal and seeking to have it placed on the ballot. The group collected roughly 20,000 signatures, and the clerk’s offi ce – after cross referencing the names with voter records held by the Minnesota secretary of state’s offi ce – determined that 14,101 were valid. The group needed to collect 11,906 signatures to place the question on the ballot.

The city attorney’s offi ce will now conduct a review to determine if the proposal is constitutional and if it’s relevant to the city charter, which serves as its constitution. If it meets those legal tests, the city council and mayor will determine the wording that appears on the ballot. They are not permitted to change the substance of the proposal.

In the days after Floyd’s death, protesters, including some from local activist group Black Visions, called on local offi cials to abolish the city’s Police Department. Other residents organized to push the city to boost police staffi ng amid an increase in violent crime and a wave of offi cer resignations and PTSD claims.

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Biden’s relations with Mexico rocky Migrant crisis could hurt both presidencies Courtney Subramanian, Lauren Villagran, Rafael Carranza and David Agren USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – When President Joe Biden tapped Vice President Kamala Harris in March to address the surge of migrants seeking to enter the United States, he also enlisted her help to solve a thorny diplomatic problem: improving relations with Mexico.

A smoother relationship with Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador could be a game changer for eff orts to stem the fl ow of migrants. But López Obrador, a populist leader also known by his initials AMLO, has been slow to warm up to Biden and his team.

Harris had a virtual meeting on May 7 and will have another chance to make inroads during a planned visit June 7-8.

It probably won’t be easy.

López Obrador’s lack of enthusiasm for close ties with Biden was evident months before the Democratic president took offi ce. Last summer, López Obrador, who had forged an unlikely friendship with President Donald Trump, traveled to Washington to mark the enactment of the United StatesMexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

He lavished praise on Trump for “respecting” Mexico but snubbed senior Democrats and skipped the chance to meet then-candidate Biden.

In a more pointed diplomatic jab, López Obrador was one of the last foreign leaders to congratulate Biden on his election win and even as he did so, he issued a chilly salvo making clear he wanted the incoming president to stay out of Mexico’s aff airs.

More recently, López Obrador piled on as Republicans blamed Biden for an infl ux of migrants, particularly unaccompanied minors, showing up at the southern border, undercutting the Biden administration’s defense that the increase was the result of a seasonal surge compounded by the coronavirus pandemic and a series of natural disasters.

“Expectations were created that with the government of President Biden there would be a better treatment of migrants,” López Obrador said in a March 23 press conference. “And this has caused Central American migrants, and also (migrants) from our country, wanting to cross the border thinking that it is easier to do so.”

But the Biden administration has a huge stake in better ties as he and López Obrador look to resolve a migration problem that could damage both of their presidencies.

Harris takes on diplomatic negotiations with Mexico and the so-called Northern Triangle countries – Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador – to address the root causes of migration. It is a role Biden similarly played under former President Barack Obama.

Harris is seeking Mexico’s continued cooperation on immigration enforcement amid a surge of illegal border crossings after Biden reversed Trumpera, hardline immigration policies, some of which were brokered with López Obrador.

The vice president also pitched Mex-

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador established a rapport with President Donald Trump despite the Republican’s promise to build a “big, beautiful wall.” ELLIOT SPAGAT/AP

ico on a regional approach to limit migration by investing in anti-corruption and economic programs in Central American countries as well as look for commitments on climate change and labor protections.

“We must continue to do our work in a way that is both bilateral and multilateral. It is our intention and it has been a guiding principle of us that we are going to do this work in a way that internationalizes our approach,” Harris told López Obrador. “That reaches out to our allies, to our friends around the globe in the mutual interest that we all should have to address the root causes in the Northern Triangle.”

He acknowledged that “relations were not completely positive between our countries” when he fi rst met with Biden in March, but he assured Harris the U.S. could count on Mexico when it comes to migration policy.

‘America is back’ Biden has promised a sharp break from his predecessor’s foreign policy, trumpeting the message “America is back.”

That pledge has done little to win over López Obrador, who established a rapport with Trump despite the Republican president’s 2016 campaign rhetoric attacking Mexican immigrants as “rapists and murderers” and his promise to build a “big, beautiful wall” along the southern border – which he said Mexico should pay for.

While Trump and López Obrador made strange bedfellows, the pair found a balance in a transactional approach on immigration. López Obrador would help stem the tide of Central American migrants, including allowing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico border towns for U.S. court appearances, and Trump would turn a blind eye to Mexican domestic issues.

The number of migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border climbed 71% in March, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, making it the busiest month in nearly two decades. As the numbers swelled, Democrats and Republicans alike criticized overcrowded facilities as offi cials scrambled to house migrants in sites large enough to accommodate corona-

virus restrictions.

In March, the U.S. struck a deal with Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala to tighten their borders and provide more troops to curb the tide of migrants.

Mexico doubled the number of its detentions and has maintained a deployment of 10,000 security personnel at the border.

Mexico also agreed to close its northern and and southern borders to non-essential travel – a step the country had never taken in the year since the coronavirus spiraled out of control.

Barely an hour later, Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard confi rmed the U.S. agreed to “loan” Mexico 2.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has yet to be approved for federal emergency authorization.

Biden has also revived a strategy he pursued as vice president: emphasizing a diplomatic approach by addressing root causes driving migrants to head north. In remarks to the Conference on Americas, Harris outlined root causes as corruption, violence, poverty as well as a lack of economic opportunity, climate resilience and good governance.

Biden is seeking $4 billion in aid to Central American countries over the next four years, funneling a majority of the money to community organizations rather than government offi cials to avoid concerns over endemic corruption. Harris announced $310 million in humanitarian relief and food aid for Northern Triangle countries during a virtual meeting with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei in April. Trump cut all foreign assistance to Northern Triangle countries in 2019.

A game of ‘high-level chess’ Joe Heyman, director of the Center for Inter-American and Border Studies at the University of Texas at El Paso, described diplomatic moves between the U.S. and Mexico as “high-level chess between one side that has a bunch of queens and the other side that has a bunch of pawns.”

“A pawn can take down a queen, and Mexico has some power,” Heyman said.

“But the United States has this incredible economic threat. There isn’t a place in Mexico that is not completely tied to

the U.S. economy.”

The countries’ economies are deeply intertwined. In 2019, Mexico surpassed China as the United States’ top trading partner. More than $677 billion in goods and services fl ow back and forth annually – roughly $1.8 billion per day, according to the Offi ce of the United States Trade Representative.

Immigration, which has emerged as an Achilles heel for Biden in his fi rst months, gives Mexico leverage as López Obrador looks to court the U.S. on foreign investment, more vaccines and funding for the Mexican president’s reforestation program in exchange for an eventual six-month U.S. work visa.

López Obrador is known for his populist style – though unlike Trump, he ran as a leftist politician. Both men consider the media an enemy and lash out at opponents using unfl attering names, which often stick. Within Mexico, the populism has come to defi ne López Obrador’s political brand.

But his populist moves have been more than tinsel: Analysts say López Obrador has been systematically weakening institutions key to Mexico’s hard-won democracy.

Heading into the June 6 midterm elections, López Obrador has sought to discredit the country’s electoral institute known as the INE. In April he backed a decision by the Senate, where his party holds more seats than any other, to extend the Supreme Court chief justice’s term for two more years – a move that critics say could position López Obrador to propose reelection for presidents, who can now serve one sixyear term.

Increases in migrant fl ows have resulted in another attempted crackdown

by Mexican immigration offi cials, especially in the country’s south, according to Sergio Martin, the head of mission for Doctors Without Borders in Mexico.

“These actions will not stop migration on the other side,” he said. “They are aff ecting and they are exposing more violence to the most vulnerable population among the migrant population.”

Mexico has already been under the microscope for its treatment of migrants. Local police offi cers were implicated in the massacre of 19 people, most of them Guatemalan migrants, in January just south of the Texas-Mexico border. The killing of a Salvadoran woman in the resort city of Tulum on March 27 unleashed protests nationwide.

López Obrador’s supporters are increasingly wary of U.S. intervention under Biden, particularly on human rights concerns and climate change.

Some supporters openly backed Trump in the 2020 U.S. election. The Mexican president’s allies often see any support for Biden as a plea for U.S. meddling in Mexican matters.

Harris, for her part, convened a Cabinet secretaries meeting to discuss how each agency can play a part and has weekly lunches with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a White House offi cial said. Harris also regularly consults Biden on his own experience, the offi cial said.

Harris is “realistic” and understands that “if it were a problem that could’ve been solved overnight, it would’ve been solved a long time ago,” according to the offi cial.

Biden nixes Trump’s ‘heroes’ monument Zeke Miller

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden on Friday put the kibosh on his predecessor’s planned “National Garden of American Heroes” and revoked former President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at social media companies’ moderation policies and branding American foreign aid.

In an executive order, Biden abolished the Trump-formed task force to create the new monument, which the former president proposed last year. It was to have featured sculptures of dozens of American historical fi gures, including presidents, athletes and pop culture icons, envisioned by Trump as “a vast outdoor park that will feature the statues of the greatest Americans to ever live.”

Trump curated the list of who was to be included – Davy Crockett, Billy Graham, Whitney Houston, Harriet Tubman and Antonin Scalia, among others – but no site was selected and the garden was never funded by Congress.

President Joe Biden took aim at his predecessor’s plans for a new monument and orders aimed at social media companies. ANGELA WEISS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Biden’s order also revoked Trump’s May 2020 order calling for the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade

Commission to investigate social media companies for labeling or removing posts or entire accounts in

what Trump claimed was a restriction on free speech. That order came before Trump himself was removed from platforms like Twitter and Facebook after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

The president also ended Trump’s December 2020 order to brand all U.S. foreign aid with a single “logo that embodies the values and generosity of the American people.”

Also revoked was Trump’s June 2020 order that called for the federal government to “prosecute to the fullest extent permitted under Federal law” acts of vandalism and destruction to statues on federal property. That order came in response to the defacement of statues – particularly those honoring the Confederacy – during nationwide protests over racial injustice following the killing of George Floyd while in police custody.

Biden also took aim at a Trump proclamation that required immigrants to prove they would be covered by certain health insurance plans within 30 days of entering the U.S. or prove they could cover medical costs.

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Public service increasingly thankless Workers reported feeling stretched before COVID-19 Martha Irvine ASSOCIATED PRESS

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. – Teaching high school was Bill Mathis’ dream job, the one he referenced in a childhood journal he still keeps: “I would love to be a teacher,” he scrawled in pencil as a third grader.

Now Mathis has taken a new job, in Michigan’s newly legalized cannabis industry. The pay is better, the hours more regular, the stress less, he says. No longer does he worry that he’ll catch COVID-19. “What about us and our families?” he asked his school board in Romeo, Michigan, last August after it unveiled a plan to off er in-person classes.

Ultimately, the 29-year-old teacher felt few in the rural suburb north of Detroit understood. “Good riddance,” one resident said.

His is but one story of the plight of the American public servant. Historically, jobs like teaching, fi refi ghting, policing, government and social work have offered opportunities to give back to communities while earning solid benefi ts, maybe even a pension. Surveys still show public admiration for nurses and teachers and, after the terror attacks of 9/11, fi refi ghters.

But many public servants no longer feel the love.

They’re battered and burned out.

They’re stretched by systems where shortages are common – for teachers in Michigan and several other states, for instance, and for police in many cities, from New York and Cincinnati to Seattle.

Colleagues are retiring early or resigning, as Mathis did. There are mental breakdowns, substance abuse and even suicide, especially among fi rst responders.

Even before the coronavirus arrived, researchers have found in 2018 that about half of American public servants said they were burned out, compared with 20% over workers overall.

Some wonder who will pick up the slack, as more young people avoid public service careers. In the federal govern-

Former teacher Bill Mathis has taken a new job in Michigan’s newly legalized cannabis industry. He says he earns more, stresses less and no longer worries that he’ll catch COVID-19. PAUL SANCYA/AP

ment, just 6% of the workforce is younger than age 30, while about 45% is older than 50, according to the nonprofi t Partnership for Public Service.

The pandemic has only made matters worse. In addition to the risk COVID-19 poses for those on the front lines, “The workload is up. Financial security is down,” said Elizabeth Linos, a behavioral scientist and public management scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies public workers.

Linos, whose research has included 911 operators, physician moms and others, says surveys during the pandemic have found that anxiety rates for frontline workers are 20 times higher than usual.

Long before the pandemic, mistrust of the government and its workers was building. By the time the 2008 Great Recession arrived, anti-union sentiment also was more prevalent – a big deal in the Detroit area, known as a union stronghold because of the auto industry.

That bashing has grown to include unions that represent public servants, teachers included.

“They protect bad behavior, and they punish good behavior,” said Tim Deegan, a dad from Waterford, Michigan, who manages a pizza parlor. He notes that he

has no such protections for a job that often fi nds him working 60 hours a week.

Earlier this year, Deegan took part in a rambunctious social media discussion about the large numbers of Michigan teachers who are retiring early, even more during the pandemic. Educators certainly had their supporters in the online thread. But others, including Deegan, were angry. He told the story of his girlfriend’s son – how they’d switched him to another school district because he felt the online teaching was so poor.

Some teachers, he said, have “phoned it in” for years, with few repercussions.

Bill Mathis, not shy to speak his mind, jumped into the discussion. He posted about leaving teaching because of the health risks to himself and his girlfriend, Annie, who has lupus, and how his salary made it hard to pay his bills.

“So you weren’t in it for the kids?” another commenter asked, drawing dozens of emoticon reactions, from anger to laughter.

Derek Lies, a dad of two boys in Romeo, said he felt for teachers – at fi rst.

But as the union pushed back on returning to the classroom, “my sympathy went away,” he said.

Years ago, Lies was a fi refi ghter. If there’s one group of public servants who

have reason to gripe, he added, it’s police, who’ve faced heightened scrutiny over the killings of George Floyd and others.

“I can’t imagine anyone wanting that job right now,” Lies said.

Increasingly, fi rst responders across the country are acknowledging the diffi culties of the job and addressing mental health, addiction and the occasional suicide. In Sterling Heights, where Mathis lives, fi re chief Kevin Edmond gives time off to crews who’ve responded to fatal fi res and other trauma.

Attracting young people to public service fi elds can be a challenge. But Linos, the UC Berkeley researcher, says it’s not necessarily the diffi culty that scares them off .

In fact, in the case of policing, her research has found that more people apply when told the job is challenging. Her research has found that a sense of belonging and feeling supported by a supervisor also helps soothe burnout.

In Romeo, sixth grade geography teacher and union leader Sue Ziel recalls starting to feel more resentment from the public when the recession began in 2008. A Gallup poll then found that public approval of unions dropped to a low of 48%, compared with 72% when the poll began in 1936, though it has been creeping up.

Ziel, who left a job in advertising 24 years ago to teach, said the demands of the job had increased. There are more required certifi cations, more focus on standardized testing, while pay freezes diminished teacher wages across the state of Michigan.

As the pandemic hit, she initially felt “paralyzed” at the thought of having to teach kids online and in person at the same time. She also got the virus.

“I remember sitting in tears and telling my husband ‘I don’t know if I can do this,’ ” she said, “and those words have never come out of my mouth.”

As a veteran with experience on which she could draw, Ziel pushed through. But she said younger staff ers were more likely to struggle with less support in a stressful time, as Bill Mathis did.

Mathis’ departure “breaks my heart,” she said. “I really think the world of Bill.”

Why is Gaza almost always mired in confl ict?

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Walmart is the nation’s largest employer with roughly 1.5 million workers in the U.S. CHARLES KRUPA/AP FILE

Walmart, others ease mask regulations Lila Seidman

Los Angeles Times TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Will you have to keep masking up at your favorite retailers? It depends.

Trader Joe’s, Walmart and Costco will no longer require fully vaccinated shoppers to don masks, where allowed under state and local rules, making them some of fi rst major businesses to change their face-covering policies after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidelines Thursday.

Trader Joe’s supermarket updated the COVID-19 guidance on its website Friday to say it continues to review federal, state and local health advisories and where it makes sense, to adjust efforts.

“In accordance with CDC guidelines, customers who are fully vaccinated are no longer required to wear masks while shopping in our stores,” Kenya FriendDaniel, a Trader Joe’s spokesperson, said in an email.

The national chain headquartered in Monrovia, California, will not be requiring proof of vaccination. “We trust our customers to follow CDC guide-

lines,” Friend-Daniel said.

Employees will still be required to mask up for the time being, she said.

Walmart and Costco on Friday also dropped their in-store mask requirements for fully vaccinated customers.

Beginning Tuesday, fully vaccinated Walmart employees also will have the option of working without a mask, according to a memo sent to U.S. associates that has been made public.

The company is giving $75 to U.S. employees who get their shots “as a thank you for getting vaccinated,” the memo states.

Costco President and CEO Craig Jelinek said the retailer still recommends mask wearing for all visitors, “especially those who are at higher risk.”

Costco will still require masks in health care settings, including its pharmacy, optical and hearing aid departments. Stores will not require proof of vaccination, “but we ask for members’ responsible and respectful cooperation with this revised policy,” Jelinek wrote in an open letter to customers.

Several other national retailers, including Home Depot, announced Friday that they would be keeping their mask policies.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – The Gaza Strip was pounded last week by hundreds of Israeli strikes from sea, land and air, while the enclave’s militant Hamas rulers fi red hundreds of rockets into Israel.

It’s the fourth round of major confl ict between Israel and Hamas since 2008, with the tiny enclave’s more than 2 million Palestinian residents bearing the brunt of the deaths and the destruction.

The latest eruption of violence has raised the specter of another devastating war and once again drawn international attention to the impoverished, densely populated strip.

Here’s a look at the Gaza Strip and its place in the Middle East confl ict.

A narrow coastal strip Gaza, sandwiched between Israel and Egypt, is just 25 miles long and six miles wide. It was part of the Britishruled Palestine Mandate before the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation, when it came under Egypt’s control.

Large numbers of Palestinians who fl ed or were driven from what is now Israel ended up in Gaza, and the refugees and their descendants now number 1.4 million, accounting for more than half of Gaza’s population.

Israel captured Gaza, along with the West Bank and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories to form their future state. The fi rst Palestinian intifada, or uprising, erupted in Gaza in 1987 – the same year Hamas was founded – and later spread to the other occupied territories. The Oslo peace process in the 1990s established the Palestinian Authority and gave it limited autonomy in Gaza and parts of the occupied West Bank.

The Hamas takeover Israel withdrew its troops and Jewish settlements from Gaza in 2005, after a second and far more violent intifada.

The following year, Hamas won a

landslide victory in Palestinian elections. That triggered a power struggle with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, culminating in a week of clashes in 2007 that left Hamas in control of Gaza.

Hamas has done little in the way of imposing Islamic law on Gaza, which was already very conservative. But it has shown no tolerance for dissent, arresting political opponents and violently suppressing rare protests against its rule. The militant group has remained fi rmly in power through three wars and a 14-year blockade.

The blockade Israel and Egypt imposed the crippling blockade after the Hamas takeover. Israel says it’s needed to keep Hamas and other militant groups from importing arms. Rights groups say the blockade is a form of collective punishment. The closures, along with years of misrule and Hamas’ long-running feud with the Palestinian Authority, have devastated Gaza’s economy. Unemployment hovers at around 50%, power outages are frequent and the tap water is badly polluted.

Palestinians face heavy movement restrictions that make it diffi cult to travel abroad for work, study or to visit family, and often refer to Gaza as the world’s largest open-air prison.

The wars Hamas and Israel have fought three wars and several smaller battles. The worst so far was the 2014 war, which lasted for 50 days and killed some 2,200 Palestinians, more than half of them civilians. Seventy-three people were killed on the Israeli side.

Israel’s airstrikes and incursions into Gaza have left vast swaths of destruction, with entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble and thousands forced to shelter in U.N. schools and other facilities. Israel says it makes every eff ort to avoid civilian casualties and accuses Hamas of using Gazans as human shields.

Ohio

cincinnati.com

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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Obituaries Pamela B. Anderson Pamela B. Anderson retired her swimsuit and her coffee pot on May 5th, 2021. Pam is survived by her three children: Jack Vanbrocklin, Gaea (Maximo) Nunez, and Sarah Vanbrocklin.

Though her children often would compete for favorite, Pamela favored her grandchildren above all. She had eleven in total: Zachary, Alexander, Natalie, Abigail, Maria, Thomas, Maickel, Jacob, Damien, Maxwell, and Sylar. Pam went by many names: Graham, Eikens, Vanbrocklin, and Anderson. She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on April 19th, 1945 to the late Harry and Virginia Graham.

The first of ten children, Pam became known as “P the Elder” to her siblings: Ginger (late Bob) Brezinski, Jan Graham (Jack Hastings), Jill (Rich) Godfroy, Gaea (Terry) Morris, Hank (Violet) Graham, Sara (Steve) Graham-Rodgers, and the late Rick Graham, Paula Posival, and Patrick Graham.

She was an alumna of Ursuline Academy where she studied the classics as well as how to sneak a cigarette in the bathroom without the nuns catching her. Pamela was an accountant by trade, book lover by choice, and community activist by DNA. She was a lifelong advocate for children and for the past ten years, Luminaria Chair of Relay for Life. Pam wasn’t shy about sharing her opinion through written word, frequently submitting oped pieces to her local newspapers.

A celebration of Pam’s life will take place beachside on June 18th, at the Canaveral National Seashore. Details forthcoming. In lieu of flowers, the family invites you to contribute to the placement of a memorial bench in her favorite park. Contributions can be sent to via her memorial fund on EverLoved.com or sent C/O Gaea Nunez, 1515 Brendon Lake Drive #111, Orange City, FL 32763.

TODAY’S OBITUARIES AND DEATH NOTICES

Name *Albers, James Kenneth *Anderson, Pamela B. *Baker, Donald Jesse Bankston, Samuel *Berenfield, Leonard H. Brant, Jeffrey Allyn Brown, Ora “Naomi” Bruner, James E. *Buechner, Donald F Burch, Beatrice *Cushing, June Hensler *DeLuca, Rita Delaney, Eugene *Delisle, Raymond Emery *Deters, James R. *Early, Marjorie Simpson Edwards, Monti W. *Esterman, Patricia (Pat) Albers *Federle, Tom Fehrenbach, Carol Jean *Foster , Leroy (Lee) F. *Hacker, Janice Hamby, Nancy Mae *Harmon (nee Gilday), Mary Lou Harris, Thomas *Healy, Raymond J. Hill Sr., William Vaughn Holmes, Bernard A. “Pooh” James, Harry Kilgore,Jr., Gary Kohake, Dave Kroner, David *Lail, Jean M. *Lutz, Martha Ann *Lysaght, Robert Marshall - Thomas, Donna Lee Miracle, Victor *Penick , Alisha Reynolds, Mark A. Robinson, Jerome “Jerry” Allen *Salyers, Curt *Sander, Gary Schobert, Nelda *Secrist Sr., Ronald C. *Sillies, Helen M. *Smithmeyer, Kimberlee *Stein, Joseph C. Stevens, Josephine *Stoffregen, Richard L. *Strome, James A. Talmadge, George *Tenkotte, Harry V. Tribble, Garvin R. *Wahlert , Mildred Wallen, Lewis *Werdmann, John *Westerkamp, Joyce *Wilke, Elaine M. Wilt, Harold

Age 84 76 84 61 77 65 76 73 78 94 69 58 84 95 90 99 48 89 64 76 81 78 88 70 86 86 41 89 37 82 71 52 93 57 69 73 31 71 57 70 67 70 78 94 59 90 72 77 73 55 89 65 88 88 97 84 69 91

Town, State Death Date Arrangements Loveland 08-May Vorhis and Ryan, Springdale 05-May Avalon Direct Crematorium Foster, KY 03-Apr Cincinnati 08-May Walker Funeral Home 13-May Weil Kahn Funeral Home Cincinnati 12-May Fares J. Radel Funeral Home Waynesville 13-May Stubbs-Conner Funeral Home Maineville 12-May Tufts Schildmeyer - Loveland Cincinnati 10-May Spring Grove Funeral Homes - Elden Good Cincinnati 14-May Meyer & Geiser Funeral Home Sayler Park 11-May Brater Winter Funeral Home (Sayler Park) Norwood 13-May Naegele Kleb & Ihlendorf Funeral Home Cincinnati 13-May Walker Funeral Home Union Township 10-May E.C. Nurre Funeral Homes Edgewood 13-May Middendorf Funeral Home Palm City, FL 11-May Forest Hills Palm City, FL Cincinnati 08-May Preston Charles Funeral Home 10-May West Chester 11-May Paul R. Young Funeral Home (Mt. Healthy) Maineville 13-May Tufts Schildmeyer Family Funeral Homes 20-Oct Covington 28-Apr Swindler & Currin Funeral Home Cincinnati 10-May Walker Funeral Home Cincinnati 09-May Ralph Meyer & Deters Funeral Home Cincinnati 04-May Preston Charles Funeral Home 10-May Cincinnati 08-May Walker Funeral Home Hamilton 30-Apr Preston Charles Funeral Home Butler 13-May Peoples Funeral Homes Georgetown 13-May Cahall Funeral Home-Georgetown Milford 09-May Evans Funeral Home Batavia 12-May E.C. Nurre - Amelia Fairfield 07-May Vorhis and Ryan, Norwood Cincinnati 10-May Spring Grove Funeral Homes Cincinnati 01-May Hodapp Funeral Home Cincinnati 05-May Walker Funeral Home Cincinnati 12-May W. E. Lusain Funeral Home Union 12-May Ronald B. Jones Funeral Home Milford 12-May Evans Funeral Home Latonia, KY 14-May Connley Brothers Funeral Home Covington 12-May Swindler & Currin Funeral Home 27-Apr Destin, FL 11-May Dennis George Funeral Home 13-May T. P. White & Sons Funeral Home Green Twp. 08-May Frederick Funeral Home Cincinnati 11-May Meyer & Geiser Funeral Home Erlanger 12-May Linnemann Funeral Homes Felicity 13-May Cahall Funeral Home-Georgetown 07-May ) Wallace Funeral Home 11-May Vorhis and Ryan Funeral Home Goshen Township 08-May Advantage Cremation Care Park Hills 13-May Middendorf Funeral Home Cincinnati 11-May Walker Funeral Home Cincinnati 12-May Hodapp Funeral Home 12-May Vorhis and Ryan Funeral Home Cincinnati 10-May Hodapp Funeral Home Cincinnati 05-May Meyer & Geiser Funeral Home Green Township 13-May Meyer Funeral Home & Crematory Liberty Twp 13-May Mueller Funeral Home

* Additional information in display obituaries

Obituaries appear in print and online at www.legacy.com/obituaries/Cincinnati

James Kenneth Albers LOVELAND - Age

84. Passed away on May 8, 2021. Devoted father of Christina (Bill) Thomas. Loving grandfather of Hanna & Molly Thomas. Beloved husband of the late Rita Albers. Dear brother of Joyce Sewell and the late, Pat (Harry) Esterman, Roger (Carol) Albers & Myra Albers. Also survived by many nieces and nephews. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Our Lady of The Rosary Church, 17 Farragut Rd., Greenhills, OH 45218 on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 at 10 AM. See vorhisandryan.com

Donald F Buechner CINCINNATI - Donald F. Buechner, Jr., an entrepreneur and long-time resident of Cincinnati, Ohio, died on May 10, 2021 at the age of 78 in Ft. Myers, FL after a courageous battle with COVID-19.

Don is survived by his loving companion, Wanda Bishop; his children, Tara (Jon) Robinson and Brett (Tamara) Buechner; his grandchildren, Kaylyn Robinson, Nicki Robinson, Matthaus Buechner, Lexi Buechner, and Alex Robinson; his brothers, Northrup, Bruce and Robert. Don was born on April 21, 1943 in Syracuse, NY to Donald F and Barbara (nee Northrup) Buechner. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in Business and worked as the President of Suburban Federal Savings and Loan. He was the small business owner of several endeavors, of which Snookers Billiard Hall and Bar was his greatest pride and success. On April 1, 1975 and March 5, 1978 respectively, he joyously welcomed his daughter and son, who were the most precious part of his life. Don was a devoted father and avid golfer. He enjoyed playing billiards, tennis, darts, fishing and loved riding his Harley Davidson. He liked working on projects around the house and was a very skilled handyman. He was extremely active and very healthy. Don enjoyed all social activities and getting together with friends. He desired to never retire and worked as a Medicare Representative for United Healthcare up until his passing. He was a savvy investor and maintained a strong interest in participating in the stock market throughout his life from the time he was only 17 years old. One of his favorite pastimes was watching his children, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren play sports. He spent countless hours coaching his son’s club soccer team, Milford Stampede, and maintained a close relationship with all the players throughout his whole life, known affectionately as Coach Buechner. He was a resident of Ft. Myers, FL for the past 12 years where he spent time doing all of his favorite activities in sunny, warm weather. He will be deeply missed by his family, friends, and all who knew him. Due to Covid restrictions, services will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The BeEx Foundation, 221 E. Fourth Street, Suite 2300, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45202.

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Leonard H. Berenfield Leonard H. Berenfield, age 77, passed away Thursday, May 13, 2021, loving husband of Ann Berenfield and the late Barbara Gelman Berenfield, beloved father of Joy Berenfield, Gregory (Rebecca) Berenfield and step-father of Giuliana Centurion and Alessandro Gelke, dear grandfather of Benjamin, Samuel, Daniel and Jackson Berenfield and Luca Centurion.

Private Services will be held at the convenience of the family.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to American Heart Association, Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation or Fernside Center for Grieving Children would be appreciated. www.weilkahnfuneralhome.com

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THE ENQUIRER

OHIO

June Hensler Cushing SAYLER PARK - Lov-

ing wife of the late Robert “Cush” Cushing; mom of Doug (Karen) Hensler; bonus mom of Robert, Ryan (Beth), Ron (Fran) Cushing, Connie (Chris) Carrion, Chris (Joe) Cauley; sister of: Jane (Jack) Watkins, the late: Paul Hensler, Jr. & Darlene Stevens. Also survived by many nieces, nephews & brother-in-law: Jim (Karen) Cushing.

Services were held at Brater Winter Funeral Home on Sat. May 15, 2021. Memorials may be made to American Cancer Society. Full obit www.braterfh.com

Marjorie Simpson Early PALM CITY, FL - EARLY, Marjorie Simpson, 99, of Palm City, FL died Tuesday, May 11, 2021.

Born in New Haven, CT on March 30, 1922, Midge was a graduate of Dana Hall and attended Smith College, her education interrupted by World War II. She lived most of their married life in Cincinnati, OH and retired to Stuart, FL. Recently, she has lived Sandhill Cove, Palm City,FL. In her younger days she was a wonderful seamstress who made many of her three daughters’ clothes herself; she was also an avid golfer, tennis player, and bridge enthusiast. Her happiest times were spent with family in Cedarville, MI where she and her beloved husband Donn built a summer home in 1958. She was well-known for jumping in and out of boats into her 80s, and will be remembered every time her family members make her top-secret Caesar salad recipe.

She is survived by two of her daughters, Ann E. Morgan and her husband Frank of Palm City, FL, Jinnie E. Adams of Dallas, GA, four granddaughters Sara M. Truog (Oliver), Lindsay M. Sirak (Jeff), Amy E. Adams, and Robin M. Ruch (Jason), and five great-grandchildren. She is predeceased by her loving husband of 57 years, Donn D. Early, and her daughter Margaret E. Gallagher.

There will be no local services. The entire family will gather in Michigan this summer to Celebrate her life.

Memorials may be sent to the Little Traverse Conservancy, 3264 Powell Road, Harbor Springs, MI 49740.

Raymond Emery Delisle UNION TOWNSHIP Raymond Emery Delisle, age 95, of Withamsville, Ohio, passed away on May 10, 2021. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He was married to his late wife of 75 years: Mary Jane (Spinks) Delisle, Father to his son: Gary (Gladys) Delisle of Amelia, Ohio, son: Robert (Vrindy) Delisle of Penrose, North Carolina, son: Albert (Susan) Delisle of Aberdeen, Ohio, daughter: Carol (Joey) Menzel of Amelia, Ohio, son: Daniel (Shellie Rice) Delisle of Amelia, Ohio, son: Douglas (Kathrine) Delisle of New Richmond, Ohio, daughter: Gail (Jerry) Menzel of Anderson Township, Ohio. 15 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren. He proudly served in the United States Navy during WWII. Visitation and funeral service is private, per family request.

Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Cincinnati East or Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Cincinnati.

Rita DeLuca

Raymond J. Healy

NORWOOD - Please see www.naegelefuneralhome.com

(March 3, 1935 – May 10, 2021) Raymond J. Healy, age 86, passed away Monday, May 10, 2021 at his home in Roswell, Georgia, with his daughter Susan by his side. The cause of death was old age after a life well lived.

He was born March 3, 1935 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of the late Cornelius and Florence Healy.

Ray graduated from Loyola Academy in Chicago, IL. He was inducted into the US Army on July 17, 1958 and honorably discharged (PFC (T) E-3) on July 7, 1960. A resident of Cincinnati for his entire adult life, he retired from Proctor and Gamble Company in 1994. On May 26, 2001, he married Emogene Harvey, and they were together until her death on December 11, 2017.

Ray is survived by two brothers, James (Harriet) of Cedar Falls, Iowa, and Cornelius (Mary Lou) of Carmel, Indiana, and his four children: daughters Kathryn (Dennis) Easterday of Beavercreek, Ohio, and Susan (Mitch) Werner of Roswell, Georgia; sons Raymond (Mary Jane) Healy and Sean (Mia) Healy, both of Cincinnati. He is also survived by his grandchildren: Molly (Tyler) Edrington; Marisa and Max Werner; Harley and Shelby Healy; and Conor and McKenzie Healy; and his many grand-dogs and grand-kitties.

A Mass of Christian Burial will held on Thursday, May 20, 2021 at St. Vivian’s Catholic Church with interment immediately following. The family will receive friends at the church prior to the Mass. Spring Grove Funeral Homes in charge of arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Ray’s memory to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; or to Mutt Madness of Marietta, GA, the shelter from which Ray’s last doggy pal Gus was adopted. http://www.muttmaddness. org/contact-us/

Tom Federle

Patricia (Pat) Albers Esterman Patricia Albers Esterman, age 89, formerly of Cincinnati, died Monday, May 10, 2021.

Pat’s husband of 65 years, Harry Esterman, passed away in 2016.

They will be missed by children Sue (Mike) Thaler, Sally (Paul) Lukez, Joyce (Wes) Culbertson, Bob Esterman, and Greg (Michelle) Esterman, as well as six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. A celebration of Pat’s life is planned for September 5th in Cincinnati; contact the family for details. Memorial donations may be sent to the Indiana Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at https://medicine. iu.edu/research-centers/alzheimers/giving or Briny Breezes Library Angels, 5000 N. Ocean Blvd, Briny Breezes, FL 33435.

WEST CHESTER Tom Federle. Beloved husband of Pam Federle (nee Berger) for 37 years. Devoted father of Tom Jr., Liz, and Fran (Shawn) Elam.

Cherished grandfather of Chloe Favors, Hazel Reddington, Sophia and Scarlett Elam. Brother of Jerry and Dan Federle. Dear son of the late Harry & Nora Federle. Tom passed away on May 11, 2021 at the age of 64 years. Tom was a Master Instructor and owner of the US Tae Kwon Do Association for many years. Memorial visitation will be held on Wednesday, May 19th from 5 PM until time of the Memorial Service at 7 PM at the Paul R. Young Funeral Home, 7345 Hamilton Ave., Mt. Healthy, OH 45231. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association. Online condolences can be made at www.paulyoungfuneralhome.com .

Leroy (Lee) F. Foster Leroy (Lee) F. Foster was born on Pearl Harbor Day to Ada and Aaron Foster in Parsons, Kansas. This did not stop him from being a gregarious and well-liked individual. He played football in high school and went on to graduate with a degree in Business from University of Kansas (Go Jayhawks!) His college days were interrupted by a stint in the army as an artillery Sergeant First Class, leaving him with an appreciation for big guns and a hearing loss in an ear from standing next to the guns. By then he had met and married Suzanne Cramer and soon had two kids. His outgoing nature suited him to sales and he joined IBM for a lifelong career. Love came around a second time for Lee when he met and married Yvonne Ebner and got two stepsons. Lee and Yvonne moved to Georgia for retirement but eventually moved back to the Cincinnati area to be close to family. He was the ultimate storyteller with endless adventures to tell. Any family member can quote some of his tales and his recounting made you wish you could have joined in. He has entered the last big adventure in which we cannot come along but will perhaps meet again and he will have new tales to share. He is survived by his wife Yvonne, daughter Lee Ann McAlpine, son Stuart (Gib) Foster, Shaun Smith and John (Duke) Smith.

Lee’s ashes will reside at Spring Grove cemetery in Cincinnati, OH. You may honor Lee by sharing a story of your own with your family to reconnect in this pandemic year.

Memorial service May 29, 11am at Oak Hills United Methodist Church 6069 Bridgetown Rd. Cincinnati OH 45248

Mary Lou Harmon (nee Gilday) CINCINNATI - Mary

Lou Harmon (nee Gilday), beloved wife for 59 years of the late Stanley S. Harmon.

Devoted mother of Linda (Tracy) Ehlman and Chris (Tom) Harmon, both of Cincinnati, Donna (Ron) Georgyi of Harrison, OH, Ron Harmon of Dry Ridge, KY, Leonard (Becke) Harmon of Bright, IN and the late Stanley S. Harmon Jr. Loving grandmother of 8 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.

Dear sister of the late Edward, Paul, Robert and Helen Gilday. Also preceded in death by her parents, Edward and Myrtle Gilday.

During her working years, Mary Lou was an Employment Specialist for the State of Ohio, retiring in 1995. Mary Lou passed away at her residence on Sunday, May 9, 2021; she was 88 years old.

Special thanks to Kate, Annie, and Lori for the great care they gave to mom. Visitation Friday, May 21, 10AM-11:30AM at Ralph Meyer & Deters Funeral Home, 4164 W. 8th St., Price Hill, followed by a Catholic Funeral Blessing at 11:30AM.

Jean M. Lail FAIRFIELD - (nee Bahret). Passed away 7 May 2021 in Cincinnati Ohio. Jean was born on 11 July 1968 in Dayton Ohio, where she attended Our Lady of the Rosary grade school, John Carroll High, and University of Dayton graduating with degrees in History and English graduating Suma Cum Laude.

Daughter of Mary Jo Bahret (Grote), deceased, Jean is survived by father William Bahret, sister Virginia Rae, and brothers William Bahret Jr., Robert Bahret, and Edward Bahret. Having a devotion to and love of dogs, Jean never wavered in the decades of care she provided to numerous dogs in need, whom she took in as family. Jean left our lives far too early for us. Jean, thank you for being a part of our lives – you will eternally live in our hearts and never be forgotten!

Services are private. See vorhisandryan.com

Ohio

Martha Ann Lutz

Helen M. Sillies

CINCINNATI - Martha Ann Lutz passed away on May 10, 2021 at the age of 93. She is survived by her children, John Lutz, Beth Storer, Grace Davenport and 6 grandchildren; and 4 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband Robert Lutz. A memorial Mass of Christian burial will be held at 11:00 AM; May 22, 2021 at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church,17 Farragut Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45218.

For full obituary and to leave online condolences please go to www. springgrove.org

GREEN TWP. - Helen M. Sillies (nee Pellman), beloved wife of the late Paul J. Sillies. Devoted mother of Terry (late Susan) Sillis, late Tom (Melony) Sillies, Pauline (Randy) Jester, John (Mary) Sillies, Beth (Michael) Brotherton, Barbara Tinker, Nancy (Bruce) Brown and David (Christina) Sillies. Dear sister of Barney (Joellen) Pellman, Bill (Marilyn) Pellman, Claire (late Jagjeet ) Ahluwalia, Mary (John) Menkhaus, late Betty (late Bill) O’Conner and late Lois (late Paul) Jacob. Loving grandmother of 29 grandchildren and loving great-grandmother of 41 great-grandchildren. Helen passed away May 8, 2021 at the age of 94. Private services. Mass of Christian Burial will be livestreamed (sainti.org) at 11 am on Friday, May 21, 2021. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati.

Special condolences may be expressed at frederickfh.com

Robert Lysaght CINCINNATI - beloved son of the late Gerald and Jane Lysaght. Brother of Laura (the late Jim) Langland, Tim Lysaght and the late Amy Rice. Uncle of Bryan Grieve, Jeremy Rice, Kelly (Langland) Hague, Patrick Langland and Vincent Lysaght. Great uncle of Addie and Averi Hague.

Robert passed away Saturday, May 1, 2021 at the age of 57. Visitation at Hodapp Funeral Home, 6041 Hamilton Avenue, College Hill, 45224 on Saturday, May 22 from 10-11 AM. Condolences at hodappfuneralhome. com

Gary Sander Age 67 Father of Jackie and John Sander Brother of Greg(Vicki), Terry Feldhaus, Lynn Cope (Dave), and Jill Frick (Eric).

Passed away on April 27 after battling colon cancer.

No services will be held.

Memorial donations can be made to Hospice of Cinti or The American Cancer Society.

Ronald C. Secrist Sr. Ronald C. Secrist Sr., beloved husband of Sandy Secrist (nee Miller), devoted father of Kerry Hartnett, Kimberly Secrist, Robert (Vicki) King, Erica King, Michelle (Logan Lamb), the late Christopher Secrist and Ronald Secrist Jr., dear grandfather of Drew, Kyle, Kelsey, Madison, Jayden, Nate, Ben, Oliver, Parker, Elena, and Naomi. Died May 13, 2021 at age 78. Residence Eastgate.

Service at T P WHITE & SONS Funeral Home 2050 Beechmont Ave. Mt. Washington on Thur. May 20, at 1 PM. Friends may visit on Thur. from 12 Noon to 1 PM. Memorials to Child Focus of Clermont County.

Kimberlee Smithmeyer CINCINNATI Smithmeyer, Kimberlee (nee Coriell) devoted wife of August “Gus” Smithmeyer, loving mother of August (Kristina), Karlee, Philip (Alexandrea) Smithmeyer, cherished Nona of August Everett Smithmeyer, MacKenzee, Aubreella, Elenore, Finley Brinck, Oliver and Charlotte Smithmeyer. Daughter of Bill and the late Mary Ann Coriell. Sister of Cheryl (Mike) Kordes. Aunt of Adam and the late Jacob Kordes. Passed away suddenly May 11, 2021 at the age of 59.

Visitation Monday May 17, 2021, 5 to 8 PM at Meyer & Geiser Funeral Home, 4989 Glenway Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45238. Services will be held privately for the family the following day. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to Parental Hope Infertility Foundation, https://parentalhope. org/, P.O. Box 42570, Cincinnati, OH 45242. www.meyergeiser.com.

James A. Strome James A. Strome, 73, passed away on May 11, 2021. dear bother of Daniel (Therese) Strome. Visitation is Tuesday, May 18, 2021 from 11 AM until 12 Noon at Vorhis & Ryan Funeral Home, 5501 Montgomery Rd., Norwood, Ohio 45212. Services and burial will be private.

Joseph C. Stein ERLANGER - Joseph

C. Stein, 90, passed away on Wednesday, May 12, 2021, at his Erlanger, KY residence. Joe was born in Cincinnati, OH on May 24, 1930 to the late Joseph L. and Frances H. (Gallagher) Stein.

He proudly served his country in the U.S. Army and was a Korean War Veteran. Joe worked 28 years as a purchasing manager for the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and was a member of Mary Queen of Heaven Church, Knights of Columbus, and Catholic Order of Foresters. In addition to his parents, Joe was preceded in his death by his first wife Dolores Stein (nee Doyle), second wife Frieda Stein (nee Kramer), sister Margaret Brosey, brother Donald Stein, and brother Kenneth Stein. He is survived by his children Frederick Stein, Barbara Kaelin (Jim), and Donna Schaffer, grandchildren Scott Kaelin (Jamie), Kyle Stein (Holly), Mallory Stein, and Connor Stein, great granddaughters Krista Kaelin and Sadie Stein, brother Jerome Stein, sister Charlene Stein, and numerous nieces and nephews. A visitation will be held on Wednesday, May 19, 2021 from 10am until 11:30am at Mary Queen of Heaven Church.

Mass of Christian Burial will immediately follow the visitation. Interment will be at St. Mary Cemetery in Ft. Mitchell, KY. Memorial contributions can be made to Mary Queen of Heaven Church 1150 Donaldson Rd. Erlanger, KY 41018 or Roger Bacon High School 4320 Vine St. Cincinnati, OH 45217. Online condolences can be made at www.

Linnemannfuneralhomes.com

Richard L. Stoffregen Richard L. Stoffregen, beloved husband of Jill (nee Fowler) Lutz. Devoted father of Rick (Kerry) Stoffregen and Jill (Jeff) Eichhorn, and stepfather of Greg (Tammy) Jones.

Loving grandpa of Jessica (Zack) Davis, Sara (Mike) Williams, Robert Stoffregen, Jakob Eichhorn, Caroline Eichhorn, Maya Readnower, Morgan Stoffregen, Courtney (Brandon) Smith, and Whitney (Drew) Maxey.

Great-grandfather of 11. Preceded in death by his parents Robert and Glenna Stoffregen. Rick passed away Friday, May 7, 2021 in Huntington, WV, at the age of 77. He had been a lifelong Cincinnati resident until he moved to Huntington. A visitation will be held Saturday, June 19 at 10 a.m. at Shiloh United Methodist Church, 5261 Foley Road, followed by a memorial service. Burial at Arlington Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Oak Hills Alumni and Educational Foundation (ohaef.org) or the SPCA (spcacincinnati.org).

Harry V. Tenkotte PARK HILLS - Harry V. Tenkotte, age 89, of Park Hills, KY passed away peacefully on May 13, 2021. He was predeceased by his loving wife, Mary Meier Tenkotte, in 2019.

He is survived by children Peggy Engelman (Greg), Tom Tenkotte, and Paul Tenkotte (John Schlipp); grandchildren Mark and Brenda Engelman, Melissa and Alex Foltz and 8 great-grandchildren; brother-in-law August “Gus” Meier and sister-in-law Helen Topmiller.Visitation will be held on Wednesday, May 19, 2021 from 9:30 AM until Mass of Christian Burial begins at 10:30 AM at Mother of God Church (Covington, KY). Entombment will follow at St. John Cemetery (Ft. Mitchell, KY). In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to St. Ann Christian Service, c/o St. John Church, 627 Pike St., Covington, KY 41011. Online condolences can be made at www.middendorf-funeralhome.com

cincinnati.com

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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11B

Mildred Wahlert C I N C I N NAT I WAHLERT, Mildred (nee Dolan). Beloved wife of 59 years to Stanley Wahlert. Dear mother of Judith (Michael) Stanton, Jane Wahlert, Raymond Wahlert and Janet (Brian Hogg) Taulbee. Grandmother of Thomas Stamey, Mallory and Christian (Marcela) Stanton, Hannah and Brooke Wahlert, Samantha (Evan Lawhead), Loyd (SheaLynn Allen) and Andrew (Elisha Adams) Taulbee and the late Alicia Krehbiel. Also survived by 7 great grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins. Sister of Margaret, Francis, Grace, Charles and William. Passed away May 12, 2021 at the age of 88. Visitation will take place at the Hodapp Funeral Home 7401 Vine St., Carthage, Thursday from 10AM until Blessing at 12 Noon. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made the Alzheimer’s Association or to the Lake Wales Care Center. Condolences to hodappfuneralhome.com

Joyce Westerkamp CINCINNATI - Westerkamp, Joyce (nee Hasselman) devoted wife of the late Robert “Bob” Westerkamp, loving mother of Robert (Carol) Westerkamp Jr, Harry (Traci) Westerkamp, Joan (Karey) Witty, Christiane (the late Greg) Wolf, the late Susan (Robert, living) Plageman, cherished grandmother of Christine Mayhaus, Robert Jr Plageman, Katie Marshall, Kelly Eisenhauer, Jenna, Julia, Mitchell, Robby, Jake Westerkamp, Lydia, Evie, Sarah, Daniel Witty, Joe, Kevin Wolf, great grandmother of Henry, Lily, Wes Mayhaus and Benjamin Plageman. Dear sister of Joan Biermann and Richard Hasselman. Joyce was a school teacher at St. Martin, St. John the Baptist and St. Ignatius. Passed away May 5, 2021 at the age of 84. No Visitation. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday, May 22, 2021, 10 AM at Our Lady of the Visitation Church, 3172 South Road, Cincinnati, OH 45248. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to JDRF of Middle Tennessee, 105 Westpark Drive, #415 Brentwood, TN 37027, ( www.midtennessee@jdrf.org) or Sarcoma Foundation of America, 9899 Main Street, #204 Damascus, MD 20872 ( www.curesarcoma. org ) www.meyergeiser.com.

John Werdmann

Elaine M. Wilke

CINCINNATI - beloved husband of 67 years to the late Jane (nee Haar), loving father of Michael (Anita) Werdmann, Mary Ann Werdmann (Michael Berkemeier), Carol (Gary) Enzweiler, Nancy Werdmann (David Carson), Tim Werdmann (Laura W. Wilson). Cherished grandfather of Stephanie, Jessica, Lauren; Chris, Kelly, Eric, Amy; Sarah and Ben; great grandfather of 13. Brother of the late Sr. Marie, OSF, Anne and Louie. John passed away on Monday May 10, 2021 at age 97. Mass of Christian Burial on Tuesday May 18, 2021 at St. Clare Church, 1443 Cedar Ave, College Hill, 45224 at 11 AM. Service will be live streamed at www.saintclareparish.org Donations may be made to St. Vincent De Paul of St. Clare or Sisters of St. Francis - Oldenberg.

Condolences at hodappfuneralhome.com

GREEN TOWNSHIP (Nee Bielefeld) Beloved husband of Theodore F. Wilke for 25 years.

Loving mother of Bridget (Aaron) Lane and Gina (Andy) Bucher.

Devoted grandmother of Christopher Lane, Kaitlin and Anna Bucher. Dear sister of Don (Caroline) Bielefeld, Jim (Angie) Beilefeld , Janet (Terry) Ferguson, Marie (Robert) Spitzer, Xavier Amador, John Amador, Carmen (Tom)Horn and sister in law of Barbara (Russel) Hessler. Cherished daughter in law of Werner and Doris Wilke.

Also survived by her many nieces, nephews, other family and friends. Passed away surrounded by her family on Thursday, May 13, 2021 at 69 years of age. Visitation at MEYER FUNERAL HOME, 5864 Bridgetown Rd., on WEDNESDAY from 5:00 PM until time of Kolping Prayers at 7:00 PM. Mass of Christian Burial at Church of the Assumption, 7711 Joseph St., on THURSDAY at 10:00 AM. Memorials may be made to the National Kidney Foundation, 615 Elsinore Pl #400, Cincinnati, OH 45202or to the Ronald McDonald House, 341 Erkenbrecher Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45229. www.bjmeyer.com

12B

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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The Enquirer

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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1C

SPORTS

Bengals Xtra The team is building a bigger connection to LSU than just Joe Burrow, 6C

It will be a match like no other for FC Cincinnati Pat Brennan Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

The excitement around the opening of FC Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium is for the fans.

The atmosphere and emotion of FCC’s long-awaited soccer-specifi c home is for the supporters that helped push the club’s bid for Major League Soccer expansion over the top, and for the owners that funded the construc-

tion of the venue.

It’s for the players that donned Orange and Blue throughout the club’s previous fi ve seasons and others that played a role in the meteoric rise of the club.

However, Sunday’s fi rst-ever match at TQL Stadium against Inter Miami CF (4 p.m.) is less for the FC Cincinnati players and coaches to focus on. Amid the hype and celebration around the opening of TQL Stadium, FCC head coach Jaap Stam has attempted to insu-

late his team from the pomp and circumstance of the day as much as possible.

The team altered is practice schedule in recent days, training three times at TQL Stadium in an attempt to make the players feel settled and to test out the new playing surface.

Beyond that, though, Stam wants his players focused on getting a result against Miami and little else.

“We’re preparing in the best way we can,” Stam said during a Wednesday

PART ONE OF A SIX-PART SERIES

UNDER THE RADAR

evening video-interview session conducted at TQL Stadium. “We know it’s going to be our fi rst home game. So, that’s going to be very interesting. It’s going to be good to be in a new stadium.

The main focus, of course, is for us not to be to be thinking only about that.

“The main focus for us is to play against Miami and to do well, to get a result, because that’s the thing that we’re we’re looking for. Everybody’s working See FC CINCINNATI, Page 7C

Potential off season shortstops not big hits From Galvis to Lindor, production not stellar Bobby Nightengale Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

Deer Park senior guard Kenzie Schneeman, left, and Mount Healthy senior guard Namaray McCalley, right, are among the under-the-radar basketball players. PHOTOS BY KAREEM ELGAZZAR/THE ENQUIRER; ILLUSTRATION BY EM POERTNER/USA TODAY NETWORK

Many athletes aren’t highly acclaimed, but have much to off er Shelby Dermer and Sierra Newton

Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY NETWORK

Cincinnati boasts some of the best basketball — both boys and girls — in the state. h Moeller, led by longtime head coach Carl Kremer, has built a dynasty along Montgomery Road with fi ve state championships, including back-to-back Division I crowns in 2018 and 2019. Dr. Scott Rogers’ Mount Notre Dame Cougars recently captured the program’s eighth state championship and third since 2017. They were favorites to win in 2020 before the Final Four was canceled due to COVID-19. h However, in the shadow of these Division I basketball programs are Greater Cincinnati players who lack the recognition, accolades and collegiate opportunities that come along with it. h That changes now. h The pandemic brought a shift in recruiting, leaving players from smaller, rural and urban schools on the outside looking in as the world shifted to a primarily virtual setting. h It was hard enough for college coaches to get to games of traditional powerhouse leagues such as the Greater Catholic League, much less the Cincinnati Hills League, Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference or Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference.

“We haven’t been able to go out and actually see anybody,” Northern Kentucky head coach Darrin Horn said. “As it relates to guys that are seniors or juniors now, you can’t do anything in person and there’s so much stuff in recruiting from our estimation that you pick up from being their live — nuances, intangibles, interactions and all of those things make a big diff erence and we’re not getting any of that just going off video.”

Despite the challenges, collegiate coaches are still trying to fi nd the best fi t for their programs.

“Whether you’re a DI guy or a DIII guy, it’s always about fi t,” Wilmington College head coach K.C. Hunt said. “The fi t of how you’re gonna get coached, what your environment is academically and socially.

We recruit guys that fi t into our program and make sure they’re gonna be successful on and off the court.

See RADAR, Page 9C

DENVER – The Cincinnati Reds haven’t ruled out returning Eugenio Suárez to shortstop, but Kyle Farmer has started all seven games at the position since Joey Votto broke his thumb and the Reds shuffl ed their infi eld.

The Reds knew the defensive limitations with Suárez at shortstop but moving him there gave the Reds their best lineup. They were willing to trade defense for off ense, but Suárez has slumped all season. Suárez entered Saturday with a .154 batting average and .232 on-base percentage.

Suárez has a 50 OPS+ (adjusted onbase plus slugging), which accounts for ballpark factors and normalizes the number to where 100 is league average.

That means Suárez’s .577 OPS is 50% worse than league average.

Votto is expected to miss around a month, so Farmer will have a few weeks to try to prove that he’s the best option to start at shortstop. He’s a better defender than Suárez, but he has a much lower off ensive ceiling.

It’s a position that the Reds didn’t address during the off season. As they lowered their player payroll, the front offi ce didn’t sign a starting shortstop in free agency, and they couldn’t fi nd a trade partner.

But not every shortstop who was linked to the Reds during the winter would have provided much of an upgrade to their current situation. Here’s a look at how some of the Reds’ off season targets are performing through the See REDS XTRA, Page 2C

Didi Gregorius was linked to the Reds in each of the past two offseasons.

This year he's batting .229 and his defense has slipped considerably. AP

2C

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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THE ENQUIRER

REDS NOTEBOOK

Akiyama ‘relieved’ to fi nally contribute Bobby Nightengale Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

DENVER – Shogo Akiyama made his second start of the season Friday after coming off the bench in fi ve straight games.

Reds manager David Bell said it’s been a challenge fi nding him playing time with the way the other outfi elders are hitting. Akiyama was hitless in his fi rst 10 at-bats this season before he hit a line drive single into left fi eld in the eighth inning Thursday.

“Last night (Thursday), somebody asked about him getting a hit,” Bell said.

“We need to get him playing time. We need to get him in there. It’s been tough just because the other guys were in a groove and playing well. It’s made it tough for Shogo, but he’s handling it great. Any opportunity we get him into the lineup is going to help him a lot.”

Akiyama replaced Nick Senzel in the third inning Thursday after Senzel exited with a left heel contusion. Senzel remained out of the lineup Friday and Nick Castellanos received a scheduled off day from Bell.

“I really can’t help the situation,” Akiyama said, according to interpreter Luke Shinoda. “Now, obviously, I was hoping for that fi rst hit. With the situation with Senzel (Thursday), I was able to have closer to more normalcy and have a few at-bats in the game and fi nally have that fi rst hit. I’m relieved.”

Akiyama went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles Friday and now has three hits in 16 at-bats and three strikeouts.

FUNNY MEMORIES: When Art Warren was asked how he watched Wade Miley’s no-hitter last weekend, he immediately became suspicious.

“Did anybody tell you about this?”

Warren said. “Is that why you’re asking?”

Warren was the Reds’ only player on the taxi squad during the fi rst part of the Cincinnati Reds’ road trip in Cleveland.

He works out with the team pre-game, throwing bullpen sessions to keep his arm in shape, but he’s not on the active 26-man roster. The league allowed teams to carry players on the taxi squad

Shogo Akiyama had gone 0-for-10 off the bench before getting his fi rst hit of the season Thursday night and added a pair of singles Friday. USA TODAY SPORTS

so they wouldn’t be shorthanded because of COVID-19 protocols.

The Reds brought just two players on the taxi squad in Colorado – Warren was promoted to the big-league roster Friday – because they want minor-leaguers to play in games.

When Warren was the lone man on the taxi squad in Cleveland, he walked back to the team hotel during the game.

He was paying attention to it and he was on the phone with his fi ancée.

“Seventh inning kind of rolled around and I was telling some of the guys on the team I saw Wade Miley shake to a cutter inside,” Warren said. “And he dotted it.

Struck out José Ramírez. At that moment I was like, ‘all right, Wade’s on tonight and he’s gonna throw it tonight.’”

When the Reds scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning, giving Miley a 3-0 lead for his chance at history, Warren knew he didn’t want to miss the celebration.

“I was trying to get a Lime scooter, but they turned off at 10 p.m.,” Warren said. “So, I ran back to the stadium. As soon as I got within a block, I heard everybody started cheering and I was like,

Reds Xtra

Freddy Galvis lost his job with the Reds last season and is trying to rebuild his brand with the Orioles.

He’s batting .269 with four homers, seven doubles and 12 RBI in 108 at-bats.

Continued from Page 1C

fi rst month-and-a-half of the season: Didi Gregorius, Phillies .229/.266/.364 with four homers, four doubles, 22 RBI and 10 runs in 118 at-bats (74 OPS+).

The Reds were interested in Gregorius throughout the last two off seasons, knowing his pull power could play well at Great American Ball Park. He was the last starting shortstop available on the free-agent market this past winter, but the Reds opted to explore cheaper options.

Defensive metrics say Gregorius has been one of the worst defenders in the league. He’s rated at negative-six runs saved by Sports Info Solutions (secondlowest among shortstops) and six outs below average by Statcast (third-lowest).

Marcus Semien, Blue Jays .265/.331/.463 with eight homers, fi ve doubles, 20 RBI and 21 runs in 147 atbats (123 OPS+).

The Blue Jays outbid other teams to sign Semien and shift him to second base. He was regarded as the top freeagent shortstop last winter, showing his potential with a breakout 2019 season when he fi nished third in the American League MVP voting.

Andrelton Simmons, Twins .241/.337/.325 with one homer, four doubles, eight RBI and 10 runs in 83 atbats (96 OPS+).

Simmons was one of the league’s best defenders throughout the last decade, winning four Gold Gloves. There were some concerns that he was taking a step back defensively when he was a free agent this winter, but he’s played strong defense this year.

He’s drawing more walks this season (11 walks in 95 plate appearances compared to 24 walks in 424 plate appearances in 2019), which has been a good sign for him off ensively.

Ha-Seong Kim, Padres .195/.238/.260 with one homer, two doubles, seven RBI and seven runs in 77 at-bats (44 OPS+).

Kim dominated for six seasons in Korea before becoming an MLB free agent.

He’s been a utility player for the Padres, starting games at shortstop, third base and second base. He’s been a solid defender at shortstop, ranking seventh in

‘man, I hope that they didn’t break up the no-hitter.’

“I was watching on the phone and talking to my fi ancée at the time. She told me that the ball was in play with two outs. I heard the cheering, so I put two and two together and I was like, ‘oh no.’ Then I was watching on my phone and the seven-second delay came through and it was Farmer throwing the ball over to fi rst, so I was ecstatic. I picked up my jog a little bit more and ran in and made it just in time for the celebration. It was really cool.”

WHO’S AT FIRST? Catcher Tyler Stephenson takes ground balls at fi rst base before the fi rst game of each series with Joey Votto sidelined with a broken left thumb.

Stephenson played one inning at fi rst base this season, but as he gains experience there, he’s at least an option if Mike Moustakas isn’t playing the position.

“It’s going well,” Stephenson said.

“I’ve actually never played fi rst base in my professional career except when we were at home. It’s pretty funny, in the minor leagues, I never played. Growing

ASSOCIATED PRESS

the league with three runs saved by Sports Info Solutions and one out above average by Statcast.

There were questions about how Kim would adjust to Major League pitching.

The KBO is viewed as a tier lower than Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.

He’s struck out in 25% of his plate appearances with only three walks this year.

Willy Adames, Rays .183/.222/.333 with four homers, four doubles, 11 RBI and 11 runs in 120 at-bats (62 OPS+).

The Reds talked to the Rays about Adames’ availability during the off season. Adames hit well in the regular season but really struggled in the playoff s (25 strikeouts and eight hits in 59 atbats). The Rays have enough depth to consider trading their starting shortstop, especially with the league’s No. 1 prospect, Wander Franco, at Triple-A. Adames has been striking out in 36.5% of his plate appearances, one of the worst strikeout rates in the league.

He’s rated as a plus defender by Sports Info Solutions and a below-average defender by Statcast.

Amed Rosario, Cleveland .214/.277/.340 with two homers, three doubles, nine RBI and 15 runs in 103 atbats (72 OPS+).

The Reds inquired about Rosario after he was traded to Cleveland in the Francisco Lindor deal. Rosario is splitting time between shortstop and center fi eld this season. He’s played well defensively at shortstop, making a big jump from when he was rated as one of the league’s worst defenders at the posi-

tion a couple of years ago.

Jonathan Villar, Mets .233/.333/.384 with two homers, three doubles, nine RBI and nine runs in 73 at-bats (103 OPS+).

There were talks between the Reds and Villar in early February. The Reds were looking at Villar on a minorleague deal, but he received a guaranteed MLB contract with the Mets. He’s played only nine innings at shortstop this season, making most of his starts at third base.

Francisco Lindor, Mets .195/.311/.265 with two homers, two doubles, seven RBI and 16 runs in 113 atbats (66 OPS+).

The Reds didn’t have any serious trade interest in Lindor this past winter with their payroll situation, but they tried to work out a deal with Cleveland before the 2020 season.

There was some cautious optimism at some points during that winter, especially after the Dodgers traded for Mookie Betts instead of Lindor, but the two sides couldn’t complete a deal.

Lindor was set to become a free agent at the end of this season before he signed a 10-year, $341 million contract extension.

Freddy Galvis, Orioles .269/.328/.463 with four homers, seven doubles, 12 RBI and 15 runs in 108 at-bats (123 OPS+).

Galvis is looking to rebuild his value in Baltimore. He lost his starting spot with the Reds last season, showing limited range at shortstop, which led to Jose Garcia’s fi rst taste of the big leagues.

up, I pitched, played fi rst and caught.

I’m very familiar with it and just kind of learning it again. They’ve been great.

Obviously, it’s not a bad thing to learn just because you never know. It’s been fun.”

DIFFERENT GAME: Bell knows how quickly things can shift at Coors Field, probably the most hitter-friendly ballpark in the Majors. His dad, Buddy, managed the Rockies from 2000-02.

Not that Bell needed another reminder – he’s talked to his dad about managing in Coors Field – but the Reds nearly erased a 10-run defi cit in the top of the eighth inning Thursday when they scored eight runs on eight hits.

“You’re never out of a game,” Bell said of Coors Field. “It’s a little bit diff erent managing your pitching staff and the bullpen. You have to be careful not to run through guys too quick. I don’t think there’s any exact way to do it, but we have had a lot of discussions about it. I think that helps. He did spend quite a bit of time here.”

REDS STATISTICS (Not including Saturday’s game) BATTERS

AVG OBA

AB

R

H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS E

Winker Castellanos Stephenson Barnhart Blandino Senzel Naquin Moustakas India Aquino Votto Farmer Akiyama Suárez Payton Schrock Team Totals

.364 .421 121 25 44 10 .315 .364 130 26 41 9 .305 .359 59 10 18 2 .299 .371 87 17 26 8 .263 .404 38 7 10 3 .260 .336 100 17 26 4 .257 .339 101 15 26 4 .244 .333 86 15 21 5 .235 .320 85 12 20 2 .231 .286 13 2 3 1 .226 .305 106 9 24 6 .218 .322 78 10 17 2 .188 .188 16 2 3 0 .154 .232 136 17 21 5 .143 .250 7 1 1 0 .111 .111 9 1 1 0 .252 .326 1232 192 310 62

1 7 21 11 27 1 9 22 9 28 0 2 8 3 14 0 3 14 8 35 0 0 5 8 15 0 1 8 12 14 0 8 24 10 26 0 4 13 11 17 2 3 19 7 25 0 2 3 1 5 0 5 17 11 25 0 1 7 8 15 0 0 0 0 3 0 7 18 12 53 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 5 4 52 182 117 328

Hembree Blandino Warren Antone Mahle Gray Miley Doolittle Hoffman Fulmer Romano Sims Hendrix Pérez Castillo De León Garrett Bedrosian Team Totals

0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 2 4 3 2 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 0 1 2 1 5 0 1 0 1 0 0 17 19

1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 5 5 27 13 12 25 10 10 30 16 16 13 7 7 30 17 16 19 12 11 20 14 12 5 9 8 5 4 4 10 13 11 55 38 32 22 17 17 11 10 10 10 7 7 289 192 178

PITCHERS

W L ERA G GS SV

0.00 8 0 0.00 2 0 0.00 1 0 2.41 11 0 3.00 7 7 3.55 5 5 3.69 7 7 4.50 16 0 4.70 7 7 4.79 17 0 5.23 14 0 5.54 13 0 5.68 9 0 7.62 14 0 7.71 8 8 8.35 9 2 8.71 12 0 11.12 6 0 5.01 36 36

0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 5

IP

8.2 1.1 1.0 18.2 36.0 25.1 39.0 14.0 30.2 20.2 20.2 13.0 6.1 13.0 37.1 18.1 10.1 5.2 320.0

H

0 1 0 0 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 7

0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 3 1 2 0 0 1 3 0 1 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 8 24

R ER HR BB SO

0 2 11 0 1 0 0 2 1 2 9 26 6 15 48 3 12 36 3 11 32 3 6 20 4 15 27 1 11 20 4 9 12 2 8 20 0 7 8 2 12 11 6 12 29 4 11 33 4 9 10 2 6 7 46 158 351

REDS SPOTLIGHT

Hoff man knows Coors challenge Bobby Nightengale Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

DENVER – When Jeff Hoff man stepped out of the Coors Field visitor’s dugout to play catch before Thursday’s series opener, Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black turned to him to give him a fi st bump.

Hoff man, who spent the fi rst fi ve years of his career with the Rockies, was a popular guy throughout pregame batting practice. Former teammates hugged him. Former coaches came over to talk with him.

“I’ve got a lot of friends here,” Hoff man said. “A lot of people I’ve spent a lot of time with over the past fi ve years of my life. I got to catch up with some of guys on the fi eld earlier. Nothing has really changed with those guys.

They’re a great group of guys and I had a lot of fun while I was here.”

The Reds acquired Hoff man in November, along with pitching prospect Case Williams, in a trade for reliever Robert Stephenson and outfi eld prospect Jameson Hannah.

Hoff man will make his fi rst start against his former team when he starts Sunday’s game. Some former teammates texted him after his fi rst start with the Reds went well, happy to see him having success.

He’s struggled in his last three starts, yielding 10 hits, 10 runs and eight walks in his last 102⁄ 3 innings. He’s been falling behind in counts and giving up too much hard contact.

His challenge will be trying to have a bounce-back start at Coors Field, a place that he knows is diffi cult to pitch.

He owns a career 7.58 ERA in 40 appearances (22 starts) in that ballpark.

“At the end of the day, we’re just focused on executing what we can do and not really worrying about the environment around us,” Hoff man said.

“Doing the best job we can to keep our team in the game.”

cincinnati.com

|

SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

|

3C

FRIDAY’S GAME: ROCKIES 9, REDS 6

Why Miley struggled in no-hit follow-up UP NEXT

Bobby Nightengale Cincinnati Enquirer

REDS

USA TODAY NETWORK

DENVER – One start after everything went Wade Miley’s way on a historic night, everything turned against him.

Remember all that weak contact that turned into ground ball after ground ball in his no-hitter? That accounted for a lot of the damage against him Friday at Coors Field.

“I felt better tonight than I felt seven days ago, 100%,” said Miley, who had a tick up in velocity.

Whether Miley made mistakes over the heart of the plate or executed pitches that he wanted, they all led to hits. He was chased out of the game by the third inning and the Cincinnati Reds lost for the second straight night to the Colorado Rockies, 9-6.

“The big thing for me was the changeup wasn’t there,” Miley said.

“Never really got a feel for it. Threw it in stupid counts and just didn’t locate it well. Tried to force the issue a little bit and it wasn’t a good pitch for me.”

The results were ugly. Miley surrendered eight runs in three innings. He had allowed only eight runs in his fi rst six starts this year, which spanned 36 innings. He recorded nine outs Friday while permitting 11 hits and three walks.

He didn’t pitch well, but it seemed like every bounce that went his way in his no-hitter went against him Friday.

The third inning was a good example when the fi rst fi ve batters reached base against him.

Miley issued a leadoff walk and then there was a ground ball through the right side of the infi eld. Josh Fuentes hit an RBI bloop single to right fi eld and Fuentes appeared frustrated with his swing when he made contact.

There was an RBI ground ball single up the middle that was out of Miley’s reach. Miley bent at the waist and put his hands on his knees as he watched the ball roll into the outfi eld.

“I got a little bit frustrated that was happening as opposed to putting it on the back burner and moving to the next guy,” Miley said. “Maybe there were some what-ifs in my head. That can’t

AT COLORADO ROCKIES Game 4 of a 4-game series When: 3:10 p.m. Sunday Where: Coors Field TV/Radio: Bally Sports Ohio/WLW-AM (700) The Skinny: Jeff Hoffman will make his fi rst start against his former team since he was traded to the Reds in November.

He had a 6.40 ERA in 68 career appearances (38 starts) with the Rockies, which includes a career 7.58 ERA at Coors Field. Rockies righty Antonio Senzatela has allowed at least four runs in four of his seven starts.

Pitching matchups Reds: Jeff Hoffman Throws: Right Wade Miley surrendered eight runs in three innings Friday night after having allowed eight runs in his fi rst six starts this year, which spanned 36 innings. AP

happen. You have to move on. You can’t dwell on what happened in the past.

Like 20 seconds, three days ago, it doesn’t matter. I did not do a very good job of that.”

The third inning snowballed with a line-drive RBI single to left fi eld. Then opposing pitcher Germán Márquez laid down a successful safety squeeze bunt along the fi rst-base line. Miley fumbled the ball as he attempted a barehanded play for an error.

Miley knew Márquez was attempting a squeeze bunt. He saw the runner at third charging a little harder than usual when the fi rst pitch was out of the strike zone.

“I wanted to get that cutter way in there, maybe get (Tucker Barnhart) a chance to grab it and throw him out at third,” Miley said. “My mind was racing way too much and I just backed one up, gave him the perfect opportunity to lay a bunt down, then I made an error.”

“That can be frustrating,” Reds manager David Bell said. “It’s one thing when you just don’t have your stuff and just don’t feel good. Sometimes that’s a

little easier to accept.”

The fi rst three batters of the fourth inning reached base against Miley, which included a hard-hit ground ball that shot past third baseman Eugenio Suárez’s glove.

Miley’s last batter, Fuentes, ended a seven-pitch at-bat with an RBI double down the left-fi eld line. He threw 89 pitches and couldn’t record an out in the fourth inning. Even a couple of his strikeouts, called third strikes on changeups, were “complete accidents.”

“I didn’t execute pitches when I needed to,” Miley said. “It’s that simple.”

Heath Hembree, who inherited two of Miley’s runners, gave up a two-run double to Yonathan Daza on his fi rst pitch. It was the fi rst hit Hembree had allowed in 7 2/3 innings this season.

Yes, it was that kind of night.

There were early signs of it. Johnny Vander Meer’s record of two consecutive no-hitters was safe after only two pitches when Miley gave up a leadoff triple to Garrett Hampson in the left-center gap. Hampson later scored when Miley made an errant pickoff throw to fi rst

Record: 2-3 ERA: 4.70 Rockies: Antonio Senzatela Throws: Right Record: 1-4 ERA: 5.97

base.

“It was a tough one,” Miley said.

The Reds held a 2-1 lead in the third inning – both runs scored on balls that didn’t leave the infi eld – but they had some missed off ensive opportunities.

Jonathan India opened the third inning with a double. Miley, the next batter, showed bunt, but the fi rst two pitches were out of the strike zone. India took too large of a secondary lead and was picked off .

India made up for his mistake when he demolished a 95-mph fastball over the heart of the plate for a 451-foot homer to dead center in the seventh inning, cutting the score to 8-4. The next batter, Alex Blandino, drew a walk, but the rally fi zzled with a fl yout and a double play.

The Reds grounded into three double plays as they lost consecutive games for the fi rst time since their seven-game losing streak from April 18-25.

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4C

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

|

THE ENQUIRER

MLB SATURDAY’S GAMES

TODAY’S PROBABLE PITCHERS

HOME team in caps

All times Eastern

Yankees at ORIOLES, late: Baltimore has a collective batting average of .229 this season, led by Cedric Mullins with an average of .313. The Yankees are 10-13 against teams from the AL East.

New York has a team on-base percentage of .313.

Rangers at ASTROS, late: Houston’s team on-base percentage of .326 is third in the MLB. Yuli Gurriel leads the lineup with an OBP of .417. The Rangers are 5-6 against the rest of their division.

Civale, L, 5-1

New York ......031 000 010 — 5 Tampa Bay ..100 500 06x — 12

Maton Stephan

New York

AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Flexen, W, 4-1

Pillar cf b-Hager ph Lindor ss Conforto rf Alonso 1b Do.Smith lf McCann dh Villar 3b Nido c Peraza 2b Totals Tampa Bay

4 1 4 4 4 3 3 4 4 4 35 AB

0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 5 R

0 0 1 1 1 2 1 1 0 1 8 H

0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 1 5 2 12 BI BB SO

.253 .000 .197 .232 .250 .252 .207 .234 .192 .300

Arozarena dh 5 Lowe lf-2b 3 Y.Diaz 1b 4 Padlo 1b 0 Wendle 3b 5 Margot rf 5 Adames ss 3 Zunino c 4 Phillips cf 5 Brosseau 2b 1 a-Meadows ph-lf 4 Totals 39

1 1 3 0 2 1 2 0 0 0 2 12

3 0 3 0 4 1 1 0 1 0 2 15

1 0 2 0 2 1 2 0 2 0 1 11

.264 .194 .273 .091 .289 .229 .187 .207 .219 .155 .210

0 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 5

1 1 0 0 1 0 2 1 2 1 1 10

Avg.

a-doubled for Brosseau in the 4th. b-lined out for Pillar in the 9th.

E: Nido (1). LOB: New York 5, Tampa Bay 9. 2B: Y.Diaz 2 (7), Wendle 3 (13), Adames (5), Meadows (11), Phillips (5). HR: Peraza (1), off McClanahan; Alonso (6), off McClanahan; Lindor (3), off Springs. RBI: Peraza 3 (5), Alonso (18), Lindor (8), Margot (19), Adames 2 (13), Meadows (22), Arozarena (16), Y.Diaz 2 (13), Wendle 2 (18), Phillips 2 (8). SB: Wendle (3), Villar (3).

Runners left in scoring position: New York 1 (Villar); Tampa Bay 5 (Margot, Y.Diaz, Phillips, Meadows). RISP: New York 1 for 4; Tampa Bay 8 for 18.

Pitching ip h r er bb so era

New York

Dr.Smith Lucchesi, L, z Reid-Foley Hunter Barnes Familia

Tampa Bay

McClanahan, W, 1-0 Kittredge, H, 2 Springs, H, 5 Reed

2 1 Z 1 z 2 0 1

2 1 0 3 4 4

0 3 0.00 1 2 9.19

3 1 1

0 2 1.42

2 0 0 2 3 3 3 3 3

2 1 0.00 1 0 7.84 1 2 3.09

5 6 4 4 z 1 0 0 0 Z 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0

1 7 4.67 0 3 1.50 1 2 2.55 0 0 4.50

Seattle

Graveman, H, 4 Swanson Chargois Montero, S, 5-10

6 7 5 5 Z z 2 2 2 1 1 0 0 5 5 1 1 Z 1 1 0 0 z 1 1 0 0 Z 2 2 2 z 0 0 0

1 0 3.46 0 0 0.00 0 1 1.04 0 1 5.40 0 0 5.40

Inherited runners-scored: Maton 1-1, Graveman 1-0, Montero 2-0. HBP: Chargois (E.Rosario).

WP: Flexen.

Umpires: HP: Angel Hernandez; 1B: Stu Scheuwater; 2B: Lance Barksdale; 3B: Ted Barrett.

T: 3:06. A: 10,014 (47,929).

Padres 5, Cardinals 4 STL.................000 010 021 — 4 SD ...................102 001 10x — 5 St. Louis

AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Edman ss-2b Carlson rf Goldschmidt 1b Arenado 3b Molina c Carpenter 2b Webb p Sosa ss O'Neill lf Bader cf Oviedo p Woodford p Moroff 2b Elledge p b-Williams ph Whitley p Totals San Diego

5 3 3 5 4 3 0 0 4 3 1 1 1 0 1 0 34 AB

1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 R

2 0 1 3 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 H

Grisham cf Machado 3b Cronenworth 1b Pham lf Melancon p O'Grady rf Nola c Marcano 2b Stammen p Adams p a-Kivlehan ph Pagan p Andreoli lf H.Kim ss Musgrove p Castillo 2b Totals

2 3 4 3 0 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 2 24

2 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5

1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4

0 0 1 0 1 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 4 10 BI BB SO

.281 .278 .248 .294 .294 .115 --.167 .242 .261 .167 .000 .000 --.179 ---

0 3 2 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 5 12

.292 .236 .276 .186 --.143 .167 .167 .333 --.000 --.000 .195 .077 .000

0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 4

Avg.

Cleveland

AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

St. Louis

Hernandez 2b A.Rosario ss Ramirez 3b E.Rosario lf 1-Gimenez pr Reyes dh Naylor rf Luplow cf Bauers 1b Hedges c a-Ramirez ph Totals Seattle

5 4 4 3 0 3 4 4 4 3 1 35 AB

0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 R

2 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 1 0 9 H

Kelenic lf Haniger dh Seager 3b Lewis cf Crawford ss Moore 2b Marmolejos 1b Torrens c Haggerty rf Totals

4 4 4 3 3 4 4 3 3 32

2 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 7

3 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 2 10

Mariners 7, Cleveland 3

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 1 2 BI BB SO

.217 .214 .244 .208 .171 .258 .274 .197 .185 .146 .222

3 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 7

.375 .252 .233 .230 .248 .174 .152 .190 .205

0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2

1 0 2 0 0 1 2 1 1 8

Avg.

a-reached on error for Hedges in the 9th.

1-ran for E.Rosario in the 9th.

E: Marmolejos (2). LOB: Cleveland 7, Seattle 4.

2B: Luplow 2 (5), Kelenic 2 (2), Moore 2 (7), Haggerty (2). HR: Naylor (3), off Chargois; Seager (8), off Civale; Kelenic (1), off Civale; Haniger (11), off Maton. RBI: Luplow (17), Naylor 2 (10), Seager (27), Kelenic 3 (3), Torrens (6), Haniger 2 (29). SB: Moore (7). SF_Torrens.

Runners left in scoring position: Cleveland 4 (A.Rosario, Ramirez, Hernandez); Seattle 3 (Haniger, Torrens). RISP: Cleveland 2 for 9; Seattle 2 for 6.

Runners moved up: A.Rosario. GIDP: Hedges, Naylor, Moore.

DP: Cleveland 1 (A.Rosario, Hernandez, Bauers); Seattle 2 (Crawford, Marmolejos; Moore, Crawford, Marmolejos).

Pitching ip h r er bb so era

Cleveland

Oviedo, L, 0-2 Woodford Webb

2 2 3 3 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 z 1 1 1 1 Z 1 0 0 0

5 0 5.74 1 1 2.25 2 2 11.81

5 5 1 1 1 2 0 0 z Adams, H, 4 Z 1 0 0 Pagan 1 1 2 2 Melancon, S, 13-13 1 1 1 1

4 5 2.86 0 1 1.88

Elledge Whitley

San Diego

Musgrove, W, 3-4 Stammen, H, 2

2 1 2.25 2 0 1.86

0 1 3.65 0 2 3.38 0 1 1.02

Inherited runners-scored: Woodford 3-2, Elledge 1-1. IBB: off Musgrove (Bader). HBP: Musgrove (Carlson), Oviedo (Nola), Woodford (Nola), Elledge (Kivlehan), Pagan (Sosa). WP: Woodford, Elledge.

Umpires: HP: Dan Merzel; 1B: Will Little; 2B: Greg Gibson; 3B: Rob Drake.

T: 4:08. A: 15,250 (40,209).

Dodgers 9, Marlins 6 Miami ............004 010 010 — 6 Los Angeles..080 000 10x — 9 Miami Rojas ss f-Dickerson ph Aguilar 1b Cooper rf Duvall lf Anderson 3b Diaz 2b Wallach c Sierra cf Curtiss p a-Poteet ph Cimber p Detwiler p e-Leon ph 2-Brinson pr Bender p

AB R H BI BB SO Avg. 3 1 4 5 4 4 4 3 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

2 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

2 0 0 2 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Chicago Cubs (Hendricks 2-4) at Detroit (Boyd 2-3), 1:10 p.m.

San Francisco (Wood 4-0) at Pittsburgh (Keller 2-4), 1:05 p.m.

0 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0

0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 1 1 2 1 3 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

.292 .303 .294 .204 .222 .206 .158 .240 .250 .000 .000 --.000 .204 .224 ---

Alcantara p Pop p Berti cf Totals Los Angeles

0 0 3 34 AB

0 0 0 6 R

0 0 0 8 H

0 0 0 .063 0 0 0 --0 0 2 .170 6 2 14 BI BB SO Avg.

Betts rf-cf-rf Seager ss Turner 3b Muncy 1b Taylor cf-lf Lux 2b Pollock lf 1-Beaty pr-rf c-Peters ph-cf Barnes c Kershaw p b-Neuse ph Treinen p d-Raley ph Santana p Gonzalez p Jansen p Totals

4 5 5 4 3 4 1 2 1 3 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 36

1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 9

1 2 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 12

1 1 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 8

1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3

0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6

.258 .267 .311 .243 .287 .235 .277 .304 .111 .218 .308 .189 --.194 .000 -----

a-lined out for Curtiss in the 6th. b-flied out for Kershaw in the 6th. c-struck out for Beaty in the 7th. d-grounded out for Treinen in the 7th. e-hit by pitch for Detwiler in the 8th. f-pinch hit for Rojas in the 9th.

1-ran for Pollock in the 2nd. 2-ran for Leon in the 8th.

E: Detwiler (1). LOB: Miami 6, Los Angeles 6. 2B: Rojas (12), Cooper (4), Lux (2), Barnes (2), Betts (12). HR: Duvall (7), off Kershaw; Muncy (8), off Alcantara. RBI: Cooper 2 (12), Duvall 3 (25), Leon (2), Pollock (17), Barnes (7), Kershaw (2), Betts (12), Seager (22), Muncy 3 (22). SB: Betts (5). S_Pop. Runners left in scoring position: Miami 4 (Anderson, Berti); Los Angeles 4 (Muncy, Taylor, Raley). RISP: Miami 4 for 8; Los Angeles 7 for 16.

Runners moved up: Seager, Lux. Pitching ip h r er bb so era

Miami

Alcantara, L, 1-3 Pop Curtiss Cimber Detwiler Bender

Los Angeles

Kershaw, W, 6-3 Treinen, H, 9 Santana Gonzalez, H, 10 Jansen, S, 7-9

1 1-3 1 Z 2 1 1 1 6 1 Z z 1

7 8 8

2 3 4.06

0 0 0

0 1 4.61

2 3 0 0

0 1 0 0

0 1 0 0

0 0 1 0

1 0 1 0

2.33 2.95 2.57 0.00

6 0 2 0 0

5 0 1 0 0

5 0 1 0 0

1 0 1 0 0

11 0 0 1 2

3.20 2.20 7.71 1.38 1.65

Inherited runners-scored: Detwiler 3-1, Gonzalez 3-1. HBP: Kershaw (Rojas), Gonzalez (Leon).

Umpires: HP: Adam Hamari; 1B: Chad Fairchild; 2B: CB Bucknor; 3B: Lewis Williams III. T: 3:18. A: 15,915 (56,000).

Yankees 5, Orioles 4

New York ......100 100 300 — 5 Baltimore .....100 030 000 — 4 New York

AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

LeMahieu 2b Voit 1b Judge rf Sanchez dh Frazier lf Gardner cf Andujar 3b Higashioka c Wade ss a-Urshela ph-ss Totals Baltimore

4 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 2 1 33 AB

0 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 5 R

2 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 7 H

0 0 1 0 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 5 2 9 BI BB SO

.271 .000 .282 .188 .146 .171 .059 .196 .200 .298

TEXAS RANGERS VS. HOUSTON ASTROS KYLE GIBSON VS. LANCE MCCULLERS JR. Pitcher K. Gibson L. McCullers Jr.

W-L 3-0 3-1

TEAM TEX HOU

Mullins cf Hays lf Mancini 1b Galvis ss Mountcastle dh Stewart rf 1-McKenna pr Franco 3b Severino c Valaika 2b Totals

4 3 4 4 4 3 0 4 4 3 33

0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 4

2 1 1 0 0 3 0 0 1 1 9

0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4

.313 .250 .252 .269 .212 .215 .211 .196 .247 .200

0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2

1 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 7

Avg.

a-homered for Wade in the 7th.

1-ran for Stewart in the 9th.

LOB: New York 3, Baltimore 4. 2B: Stewart (3), Severino (4), Mancini (8). HR: Judge 2 (10), off Kremer; Urshela (5), off Lakins Sr.; Hays (5), off Kluber. RBI: Judge 2 (21), Urshela 3 (19), Hays (13), Severino (3), Valaika (3), Mancini (30). SB: Valaika (1). CS_Mullins (3).

Runners left in scoring position: New York 0; Baltimore 1 (Hays). RISP: New York 1 for 1; Baltimore 3 for 5.

Runners moved up: Franco. GIDP: Sanchez, Franco.

DP: New York 1 (Andujar, LeMahieu, Voit); Baltimore 1 (Franco, Valaika, Mancini).

Pitching ip h r er bb so era

New York

Kluber, W, 3-2 Green, H, 4 Peralta, H, 1 Loaisiga, S, 2-2

Baltimore

Kremer Plutko, H, 5 Sulser, H, 1 Lakins Sr., L, 1-4, BS, 0-1 Scott

6 7 4 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0

2 0 0 0

6 0 1 0

3.48 2.21 0.00 2.49

5 5 2 2 1 0 0 0 z 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 Z 1 0 0 0

0 1 1 0

4 0 1 2

5.81 1.27 2.77 4.38

0 2 2.20

Inherited runners-scored: Loaisiga 1-0, Lakins

BATTING AVG R .241 168 .264 204

RANGERS DATE 5/14/21 5/13/21 5/11/21 5/10/21 5/9/21

ERA 2.28 3.10

H 322 351

OPP @ HOU @ HOU @ SF @ SF vs SEA

HR 49 46

(Phillips, Meadows). RISP: New York 0 for 4; Tampa Bay 2 for 9.

Pitching ip h r er bb so era

Pirates 3, Giants 2

Peterson

SF ............000 000 010 01 — 2 Pitt. ........000 000 001 02 — 3 San Francisco

AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Tauchman lf Yastrzemski rf Posey c Belt 1b Longoria 3b Crawford ss Flores 2b Dubon 2b Duggar cf a-Slater ph-cf Gausman p McGee p Rogers p f-Ruf ph Baragar p Totals Pittsburgh

5 5 4 3 4 4 3 1 1 3 3 0 0 0 0 36 AB

0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 R

0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 4 H

0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 12 BI BB SO

.208 .216 .365 .235 .252 .235 .186 .225 .257 .227 .133 ----.213 ---

Frazier 2b-lf 5 Newman ss 5 Reynolds cf 4 Craig 1b 4 Polanco rf 4 Tom lf 3 d-Gonzalez ph-3b 1 Difo 3b-2b 4 Perez c 4 Yajure p 1 Howard p 0 b-Gamel ph 1 Underwood Jr. p 0 c-Stokes Jr. ph 1 Bednar p 0 Rodriguez p 0 e-Stallings ph 1 Oviedo p 0 Totals 38

2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3

4 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7

1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3

.315 .202 .287 .143 .204 .176 .207 .246 .103 .000 --.100 --.143 ----.237 ---

0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2

0 0 2 3 2 1 1 2 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 17

Avg.

Two outs when winning run scored. a-struck out for Duggar in the 6th. b-struck out for Howard in the 6th. c-grounded out for Underwood Jr. in the 8th. d-struck out for Tom in the 9th. e-struck out for Rodriguez in the 10th. f-walked for Rogers in the 11th.

LOB: San Francisco 5, Pittsburgh 8. 2B: Polanco (4), Frazier (12). 3B: Frazier (3). HR: Crawford (8), off Underwood Jr.. RBI: Crawford (19), Slater (12), Reynolds (15), Frazier (13), Polanco (7). SF: Polanco.

Runners left in scoring position: San Francisco 3 (Crawford, Yastrzemski); Pittsburgh 4 (Perez, Reynolds, Gonzalez, Stallings). RISP: San Francisco 1 for 7; Pittsburgh 2 for 14.

Runners moved up: Longoria, Dubon, Tauchman, Difo. GIDP: Crawford.

DP: Pittsburgh 1 (Frazier, Newman, Craig).

Pitching ip h r er bb so era

San Francisco

Gausman 8 5 1 1 McGee, BS, 10-12 1 1 0 0 Rogers 1 0 0 0 Baragar, L, 2-1, BS, Z 1 2 1 0-1

0 0 0 2

12 3 2 0

1.84 4.24 0.79 0.77

Yajure Howard Underwood Jr. Bednar Rodriguez Oviedo, W, 1-1

1 0 0 0 0 1

4 3 2 2 1 0

3.86 3.38 4.79 2.35 0.56 7.82

5 1 2 1 1 1

1 0 2 0 0 1

0 0 1 0 0 1

0 0 1 0 0 0

Inherited runners-scored: McGee 2-1. IBB: off Baragar (Reynolds), off Baragar (Craig).

Umpires: HP: Tom Hallion; 1B: Mark Ripperger; 2B: Cory Blaser; 3B: Erich Bacchus.

T: 3:20. A: 6,743 (38,747).

Rays 3, Mets 2 New York .....000 020 000 — 2 Tampa Bay....000 000 021 — 3 New York

AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

McNeil dh Lindor ss Conforto rf Alonso 1b Do.Smith lf Pillar cf Villar 3b McCann c Peraza 2b Totals Tampa Bay

4 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 3 34 AB

0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 R

1 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 1 6 H

0 0 1 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 11 BI BB SO

Arozarena lf Margot rf Meadows dh Y.Diaz 1b Brosseau 2b a-Lowe ph Adames ss Zunino c Padlo 3b b-Wendle ph Phillips cf Totals

4 4 4 4 3 0 3 2 3 1 4 32

0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 3

0 2 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 7

0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 3

0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 4

0 0 2 1 2 0 0 0 2 1 3 11

.235 .195 .231 .250 .241 .268 .233 .202 .313

Avg. .252 .230 .201 .258 .157 .198 .183 .218 .091 .267 .221

Two outs when winning run scored. a-walked for Brosseau in the 9th. b-struck out for Padlo in the 9th.

E: Y.Diaz (1), Adames (3). LOB: New York 6, Tampa Bay 7. 2B: McNeil (4), Y.Diaz (5), Padlo (1), Margot (6). HR: Villar (2), off Glasnow; Zunino (8), off Peterson. RBI: Villar 2 (9), Zunino (16), Margot (18), Phillips (6). CS: Margot (3).

Runners left in scoring position: New York 3 (McNeil, Conforto, McCann); Tampa Bay 3

New York May, BS, 1-2 Castro, L, 0-1 Loup

Tampa Bay

Glasnow Fairbanks, W, 1-0

7 4 2 2 z Z 1 0 0 z 1 1 1 z 1 0 0

0 1 1.93 2 0 3.38 0 1 0.93

2 9 4.86

8 5 2 2 1 1 0 0

1 10 2.35 0 1 1.59

Inherited runners-scored: May 1-1, Loup 3-1.

Umpires: HP: Brian Knight; 1B: Gabe Morales; 2B: Bill Miller; 3B: Doug Eddings.

T: 2:54. A: 7,123 (25,000).

Astros 10, Rangers 4 Texas ..............001 100 110 — 4 Houston ......034 030 00x — 10 Texas

AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Calhoun lf Solak 2b Lowe 1b A.Garcia cf Davis dh Dahl rf Kiner-Falefa ss Ibanez 3b Trevino c Totals Houston

4 4 4 3 3 4 4 4 3 33 AB

0 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 4 R

0 1 0 2 0 1 3 0 2 9 H

R.Garcia 2b Brantley lf a-McCormick ph-lf Bregman 3b Alvarez dh b-Diaz ph-dh Gurriel 1b Correa ss Tucker rf Straw cf Maldonado c Totals

5 3 1 4 4 1 3 2 4 3 3 33

0 0 0 0 1 0 2 3 2 1 1 10

1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 2 2 2 10

0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 4 1 5 BI BB SO

0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 3 8

0 0 0 1 0 0 2 3 0 1 1 8

2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3

.294 .263 .275 .298 .231 .216 .296 .154 .258

Avg. .190 .299 .161 .298 .346 .276 .333 .250 .222 .220 .144

a-flied out for Brantley in the 7th. b-grounded out for Alvarez in the 8th.

E: A.Garcia (2), Ibanez (1). LOB: Texas 4, Houston 8. 2B: Kiner-Falefa 2 (7), Solak (6). HR: A.Garcia (10), off Emanuel; Maldonado (2), off Yang. RBI: Trevino 2 (6), Davis (1), A.Garcia (27), Tucker 2 (25), Straw 2 (15), Brantley (11), Maldonado 3 (5). SF: Davis, Brantley.

Runners left in scoring position: Texas 1 (Solak); Houston 5 (Bregman, Brantley, Straw). RISP: Texas 1 for 7; Houston 5 for 11.

Runners moved up: Ibanez 2, Lowe, Trevino, R.Garcia. GIDP: Ibanez, Calhoun, R.Garcia.

DP: Texas 1 (Kiner-Falefa, Solak, Lowe); Houston 2 (Correa, Gurriel; Bregman, R.Garcia, Gurriel).

Pitching ip h r er bb so era

Texas

Benjamin, L, 0-2 de Geus Yang Hearn

Houston

Greinke, W, 3-1 Emanuel Smith

1 3 3 3 Z z 3 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 1 0 0

3 2 7.36 2 0 6.75 3 0 3.38 0 1 4.19

7 7 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0

1 5 4.18 0 0 2.81 0 0 6.23

Inherited runners-scored: de Geus 2-0, Yang 3-2.

Umpires: HP: Alan Porter; 1B: Mark Wegner; 2B: Chris Guccione; 3B: Ramon De Jesus.

T: 3:01. A: 24,495 (41,168).

Braves 6, Brewers 3 Atlanta ..........002 020 110 — 6 Milwaukee....010 000 002 — 3 Atlanta

AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Adrianza rf Freeman 1b Ozuna lf Albies 2b Swanson ss Riley 3b Contreras c Inciarte cf Smyly p Webb p Newcomb p c-Sandoval ph Matzek p Tomlin p Smith p Totals Milwaukee

4 5 3 5 3 4 2 4 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 34 AB

1 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 R

0 1 2 1 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 H

0 1 2 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 0 0 1 1 2 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 5 9 BI BB SO

.259 .213 .216 .231 .209 .289 .226 .286 .000 .000 --.281 --.000 ---

5 4 4 3 4 4 3 2 2

0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0

2 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0

0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0

1 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0

.257 .190 .230 .267 .224 .216 .211 .207 .200

1 0 0 1 0 1 34

0 0 0 0 0 0 3

0 0 0 0 0 0 8

0 0 0 0 0 0 3

0 0 0 0 0 0 2

1 0 0 0 0 1 6

.231 .000 --.213 .000 .347

Wong 2b Cain cf Taylor lf Garcia rf Shaw 1b-3b Urias ss Pina c Reyes 3b a-Vogelbach ph-1b Houser p Lauer p Boxberger p b-McKinney ph Lindblom p d-Narvaez ph Totals

WHIP 1.04 1.06

OBP .310 .330

Avg.

a-flied out for Reyes in the 7th. b-grounded out for Boxberger in the 7th. c-struck out for Newcomb in the 8th. d-struck out for Lindblom in the 9th.

IP 47.1 40.2

H 34 23

OPP vs TEX vs TEX vs LAA vs LAA vs LAA

E: Swanson (3). LOB: Atlanta 8, Milwaukee 8.

2B: Garcia (4). 3B: Contreras (1). HR: Ozuna (6), off Lauer; Albies (6), off Lauer; Urias (4), off Tomlin; Pina (3), off Tomlin. RBI: Riley 2 (10), Ozuna (22), Albies (17), Swanson (13), Inciarte (1), Urias 2 (17), Pina (6). CS: Wong (2).

S_Swanson, Lauer.

Runners left in scoring position: Atlanta 4 (Smyly, Inciarte, Riley); Milwaukee 4 (Houser, Wong, Shaw, Cain). RISP: Atlanta 2 for 8; Milwaukee 1 for 9.

Runners moved up: Shaw. GIDP: Shaw.

DP: Atlanta 1 (Albies, Swanson, Freeman).

Pitching ip h r er bb so era

Atlanta

Smyly, W, 2-2 Webb Newcomb Matzek Tomlin Smith

6 Z z 1 z Z

4 1 0 0 2 1

1 0 0 0 2 0

1 0 0 0 2 0

1 0 0 1 0 0

4 0 0 1 0 1

5.23 5.14 7.04 3.18 6.10 4.80

Houser, L, 3-4 Lauer Boxberger Lindblom

3 3 1 2

2 4 0 2

2 3 0 1

2 3 0 1

5 0 0 0

3 4 0 2

3.63 2.81 3.86 9.95

Milwaukee

K 41 47

PITCHING ERA WHIP 4.33 1.33 3.77 1.17

SLG .392 .432

ASTROS DATE 5/14/21 5/13/21 5/12/21 5/11/21 5/10/21

SCORE L 10-4 L 4-3 (11) L 4-2 L 3-1 W 10-2

Sr. 2-2. WP: Green.

Umpires: HP: Alfonso Marquez; 1B: Roberto Ortiz; 2B: Tim Timmons; 3B: Carlos Torres.

T: 2:55. A: 10,809 (45,971).

Pittsburgh

N.Y. Mets (Stroman 3-3) at Tampa Bay (Yarbrough 2-3), 1:10 p.m.

SUNDAY’S GAME TO WATCH

LAST FIVE GAMES

CLE................000 010 002 — 3 SEA ................102 000 40x — 7

LATE FRIDAY

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Cleveland at MARINERS, late: Seattle ranks last in the American League in hitting with a .203 batting average.

Mitch Haniger leads the team with an average of .252

a-hit by pitch for Adams in the 7th. b-struck out for Elledge in the 8th.

LOB: St. Louis 10, San Diego 12. 2B: Molina (8), Arenado (13), Machado (4). HR: O'Neill (8), off Pagan; Arenado (7), off Melancon. RBI: Molina (19), O'Neill 2 (18), Arenado (25), Machado 2 (24), O'Grady (1), Marcano (2), H.Kim (7). CS: Machado (2). SF_Molina, O'Grady, H.Kim. Runners left in scoring position: St. Louis 4 (Molina 2, Woodford, Carpenter); San Diego 6 (Grisham, H.Kim, Pham, Castillo, O'Grady).

RISP: St. Louis 1 for 11; San Diego 1 for 11.

Runners moved up: Cronenworth. GIDP: Edman, Arenado, O'Grady.

DP: St. Louis 1 (Goldschmidt, Edman, Goldschmidt); San Diego 2 (Marcano, H.Kim, Cronenworth; H.Kim, Cronenworth).

Pitching ip h r er bb so era

Barnes pitched to 3 batters in the 8th Inherited runners-scored: Reid-Foley 1-1, Familia 3-3. HBP: Hunter (Lowe). WP: Reid-Foley, Hunter.

Umpires: HP: Gabe Morales; 1B: Bill Miller; 2B: Doug Eddings; 3B: Brian Knight.

T: 3:01. A: 7,536 (25,000).

Philadelphia (Anderson 2-3) at Toronto (Ray 1-1), 1:07 p.m.

TEAM STATS

1 6 3.40

INTERLEAGUE

Cleveland (Bieber 4-2) at Seattle (TBD), 4:10 p.m.

Cardinals at PADRES, late: San Diego has hit 36 home runs as a team this season. Fernando Tatis Jr. leads the team with nine, averaging one every 10.7 at-bats. The Cardinals have gone 11-7 away from home.

0 0 5.56 1 2 5.40

St. Louis (Kim 1-0) at San Diego (Weathers 2-1), 7:08 p.m.

Texas (Gibson 3-0) at Houston (McCullers Jr. 3-1), 2:10 p.m.

Marlins at DODGERS, late: Los Angeles’ team on-base percentage of .342 leads the National League. Max Muncy leads the lineup with an OBP of .424.

The Marlins have gone 9-12 away from home.

Royals at WHITE SOX, late: The Chicago offense has compiled a .260 bat-

Washington (Fedde 2-4) at Arizona (Weaver 2-3), 4:10 p.m.

Oakland (Bassitt 3-2) at Minnesota (Maeda 2-2), 2:10 p.m.

Nationals at DIAMONDBACKS, late: Arizona has a team on-base percentage of .314, led by Carson Kelly with a mark of .486. The Washington offense has compiled a .254 batting average as a team this season.

Giants at PIRATES, late: Pittsburgh has slugged .341, last in the league.

Colin Moran leads the team with a .468 slugging percentage. San Francisco has hit 49 home runs this season, sixth in the National League.

Miami (López 0-3) at L.A. Dodgers (Buehler 1-0), 4:10 p.m.

Kansas City (Singer 1-3) at Chicago White Sox (Cease 2-0), 2:10 p.m.

Reds at ROCKIES, late: Colorado has slugged .406, good for fourth in the National League. C.J. Cron leads the team with a .495 slugging percentage.

The Reds have gone 7-12 away from home.

Cubs at TIGERS, late: Detroit has a collective batting average of .217 this season, led by Jeimer Candelario with an average of .283. The Cubs are 5-11 on the road. Chicago has a collective .228 this season.

Cincinnati (Hoffman 2-3) at Colorado (Senzatela 1-4), 3:10 p.m.

L.A. Angels (Quintana 0-3) at Boston (Eovaldi 4-2), 1:10 p.m.

Phillies at BLUE JAYS, late: Toronto has hit 52 home runs this season, second in the MLB. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leads them with nine, averaging one every 14.3 at-bats. The Phillies are 8-12 on the road.

Angels at RED SOX, late: Boston’s team on-base percentage of .323 is third in the American League. J.D. Martinez leads the club with an OBP of .415. The Angels have gone 8-12 away from home.

Atlanta (Ynoa 4-1) at Milwaukee (Peralta 3-1), 2:10 p.m.

N.Y. Yankees (Montgomery 2-1) at Baltimore (Means 4-0), 1:05 p.m.

Braves at BREWERS, late: Milwaukee has a team on-base percentage of .294, last in the National League. Avisail Garcia leads the club with a mark of .341. The Braves are 9-9 on the road.

Athletics at TWINS, late: The Twins are 6-12 in home games in 2020. Minnesota has slugged .417, good for third in the American League. Oakland has hit 51 home runs this season.

Rays 12, Mets 5

AMERICAN LEAGUE

ting average as a team this season, good for third in the MLB. Yermin Mercedes leads the team with an average of .365.

RAYS 12, Mets 5: Joey Wendle hit three doubles and a single, keying two big innings for Tampa Bay. Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso and Jose Peraza each homered for the Mets, who have lost two in a row at Tropicana Field.

Inherited runners-scored: Newcomb 1-0, Boxberger 2-1. HBP: Houser (Contreras), Smyly (Garcia). WP: Matzek, Houser.

Umpires: HP: James Hoye; 1B: Chris Segal; 2B: Jeremy Riggs; 3B: Mark Carlson.

T: 3:23. A: 12,130 (41,900).

Athletics 6, Twins 1 Oakland .........001 022 010 — 6 Minnesota.....000 001 000 — 1

BB 15 20

HR 3 4

BB 122 121

K 341 346

SCORE W 10-4 W 4-3 (11) W 9-1 W 5-1 L 5-4

1-McMahon pr-3b 2 Fuentes 3b-1b 4 Daza lf-rf 4 Diaz c 5 Trejo 2b 4 Marquez p 2 Almonte p 1 Bard p 0 Totals 36

1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 9

0 2 3 1 0 1 0 0 15

0 2 3 1 0 1 0 0 8

0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 6

1 1 1 1 3 1 1 0 14

.265 .234 .337 .117 .235 .143 .000 ---

a-struck out for Hembree in the 5th. b-hit by pitch for Doolittle in the 8th.

1-ran for Blackmon in the 4th.

E: Miley 2 (2), Fuentes (5). LOB: Cincinnati 5, Colorado 10. 2B: India (2), Naquin (4), Marquez (1), Fuentes (2), Daza (5). 3B: Hampson (2). HR: India (3), off Marquez; Suarez (7), off Almonte; Hampson (5), off Doolittle. RBI: Winker (21), Moustakas (13), India 2 (19), Suarez 2 (18), Fuentes 2 (19), Daza 3 (9), Diaz (3), Marquez (1), Hampson (13). SB: Story (6). CS_India (1), Story (3). S_Marquez.

Runners left in scoring position: Cincinnati 2 (Suarez, India); Colorado 5 (Daza, Joe, Marquez, Diaz). RISP: Cincinnati 1 for 4; Colorado 6 for 16.

Runners moved up: Winker, Akiyama, Fuentes.

GIDP: Farmer, Naquin, Winker, Joe, Diaz.

DP: Cincinnati 2 (Suarez, India, Moustakas; India, Farmer, Blandino); Colorado 3 (Trejo, Fuentes; McMahon, Trejo, Fuentes; Trejo, Story, Fuentes).

Pitching ip h r er bb so era

Cincinnati Miley, L, 4-3 Hembree Hendrix Perez Doolittle Warren

3 11 8 8 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0

3 0 0 1 0 2

5 3 2 1 2 1

3.69 0.00 5.68 7.62 4.50 0.00

Marquez, W, 2-4 Almonte Bard, S, 4-7

6 8 4 4 2 2 2 2 1 0 0 0

3 8 5.56 0 0 9.95 1 0 6.59

Oakland

AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Laureano cf Moreland dh b-Canha ph-dh Lowrie 2b Olson 1b Chapman 3b Piscotty rf Brown lf c-Pinder ph-lf Murphy c Andrus ss Totals Minnesota

5 3 2 4 4 2 4 2 0 4 4 34 AB

1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 6 R

1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 7 H

1 0 3 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 6 4 9 BI BB SO

.239 .237 .241 .261 .252 .216 .217 .217 .300 .196 .180

Colorado

Avg.

Arraez lf Donaldson 3b Polanco 2b Cruz dh Larnach rf Astudillo 1b-c Kepler cf Simmons ss Rortvedt c a-Sano ph-1b Totals

4 4 4 4 4 4 2 4 2 1 33

0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 6

0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

.282 .279 .244 .286 .133 .316 .207 .241 .111 .119

Washington ..611 030 123 — 17 Arizona..........000 001 001 — 2

0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2

0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 5

a-struck out for Rortvedt in the 7th. b-homered for Moreland in the 8th. c-walked for Brown in the 9th.

E: Andrus (5). LOB: Oakland 5, Minnesota 7. 2B: Moreland (4), Astudillo (4). HR: Laureano (8), off Shoemaker; Murphy (5), off Shoemaker; Piscotty (4), off Shoemaker; Canha (6), off Law; Donaldson (4), off Montas. RBI: Laureano (16), Murphy 2 (16), Piscotty 2 (10), Canha (10), Donaldson (14).

Runners left in scoring position: Oakland 2 (Olson, Canha); Minnesota 3 (Polanco, Arraez).

RISP: Oakland 0 for 4; Minnesota 1 for 6.

Runners moved up: Donaldson, Simmons.

GIDP: Donaldson.

DP: Oakland 1 (Chapman, Olson).

Pitching ip h r er bb so era

Oakland

Montas, W, 5-2 Smith Petit Trivino

6 1 1 1

Shoemaker, L, 2-4 Law Thielbar

6 5 5 5 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 0

Minnesota

4 2 0 0

1 0 0 0

1 0 0 0

1 0 0 1

4 4.93 1 1.12 0 0.79 0 3.48

2 4 6.62 1 4 3.60 1 1 5.02

Umpires: HP: Jim Reynolds; 1B: Tony Randazzo; 2B: John Libka; 3B: Todd Tichenor.

T: 3:00. A: 9,778 (38,544).

Rockies 9, Reds 6 Cincinnati.....002 000 220 — 6 Colorado........104 300 10x — 9 Cincinnati Naquin cf Winker rf Moustakas 1b Hendrix p Perez p Doolittle p b-T.Stephenson ph-1b Suarez 3b Barnhart c Farmer ss Akiyama lf India 2b Warren p Miley p Hembree p a-Blandino ph-1b-2b Totals Colorado

Hampson cf Joe 1b-lf Story ss Blackmon rf

AB R H BI BB SO Avg. 5 5 3 0 0 0 0

1 0 0 0 0 0 1

1 1 1 0 0 0 0

0 1 1 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 1 1 0 0 0 0

.257 .364 .244 --.000 --.305

4 3 4 4 4 0 0 0 1

1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0

1 2 0 2 2 0 0 0 0

2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0

0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2

2 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1

.154 .299 .218 .188 .235 --.167 .000 .263

33 6 10 6 4 8 AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

4 4 3 3

2 0 2 1

3 1 0 0 2 0 3 0

1 1 2 0

1 3 1 0

.258 .316 .287 .244

Inherited runners-scored: Hembree 2-2, Almonte 1-0. HBP: Almonte (T.Stephenson).

Umpires: HP: Bruce Dreckman; 1B: Nic Lentz; 2B: Ryan Additon; 3B: Joe West.

T: 3:20. A: 20,232 (50,445).

Nationals 17, D-Backs 2 Washington

AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Turner ss 5 1 Harris p 0 0 Suero p 0 0 a-Hernandez 2 1 ph-rf Harrison 2b 7 1 Soto rf 5 1 Espino p 1 0 Schwarber lf 4 2 Castro 3b 6 1 Bell 1b 5 2 Gomes c 6 4 Scherzer p 3 0 Mercer ss 2 1 Robles cf 2 0 1-Stevenson pr-cf 3 3 Totals 51 17 Arizona AB R

P.Smith rf-1b-rf Rojas ss Escobar 3b Ginkel p Bukauskas p Locastro lf Peralta lf-p An.Young 2b Vogt c-1b VanMeter 1b-3b Varsho cf-rf-c R.Smith p C.Smith p Heath cf Totals

4 4 3 0 0 1 3 4 4 3 3 1 1 1 32

1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2

2 0 0 1 3 1 0 3 0 2 5 0 1 2 2 22 H

1 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 6

3 0 0 0

0 0 0 0

0 .312 0 --0 --1 .280

1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 2 2 1 0 1 0 3 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 17 5 5 BI BB SO

.287 .263 .000 .223 .295 .154 .288 .000 .300 .232 .246

0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2

.269 .275 .200 ----.232 .276 .353 .211 .148 .172 .000 .000 .185

0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 9

Avg.

a-singled for Suero in the 8th.

1-ran for Robles in the 5th.

E: An.Young (2), Rojas (4), VanMeter (3). LOB: Washington 15, Arizona 4. 2B: Bell (5), Gomes (3), Robles 2 (4), Turner (6), Mercer (2), P.Smith (9), An.Young (1). 3B: Gomes (1). HR: Turner (9), off R.Smith; Schwarber (5), off R.Smith; Stevenson (2), off Peralta. RBI: Turner 3 (18), Bell 3 (15), Gomes 2 (13), Robles 2 (3), Schwarber 2 (14), Harrison (13), Soto (12), Stevenson 3 (8), Escobar (20), An.Young (8). S: Scherzer.

Runners left in scoring position: Washington 10 (Turner 2, Bell, Harrison, Castro 3, Gomes); Arizona 2 (Vogt 2). RISP: Washington 9 for 26; Arizona 0 for 5.

Runners moved up: Scherzer, Stevenson, Rojas, Escobar. GIDP: Vogt.

DP: Washington 1 (Suero, Castro, Bell).

Pitching ip h r er bb so era

Washington

Scherzer, W, 3-2 Harris Suero Espino

5 2 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 2 2 1 1

1 0 0 0

7 0 1 1

2.10 4.91 1.23 2.08

Peralta R.Smith, L, z C.Smith Ginkel Bukauskas

1 3 3 1 1

0 2 2 1 0

1 0 2 1 1

27.00 6.83 4.01 5.65 8.31

Arizona

4 8 5 1 4

3 8 3 1 2

3 8 3 0 2

HBP: C.Smith (Robles), Peralta (Schwarber).

WP: Ginkel.

Umpires: HP: Manny Gonzalez; 1B: Laz Diaz; 2B: Nick Mahrley; 3B: Jeff Nelson.

T: 3:14. A: 11,907 (48,686).

cincinnati.com

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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5C

NBA

It will be dramatic fi nal day

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LeBron James may be one game away from the playoff s. Or he may be one game away from the play-in tournament, and a possible high-stakes showdown against Stephen Curry.

Either way, the NBA wins Sunday – with what’s certain to be a dramatic end to the regular season.

The Lakers kept their hopes of escaping the play-in round alive Saturday by beating Indiana, a game where James played for just the third time in his team’s last 29 contests because of an ankle injury.

If the Lakers beat New Orleans on Sunday, and Portland loses to Denver, the defending champions – still the favorites to win the Western Conference, according to FanDuel – are going straight to the playoff s as a top-six seed.

But if they lose to the Pelicans, or if Portland wins, James will be in a play-in game against Golden State or Memphis on Wednesday – a couple weeks after he shared his displeasure about the notion of the play-in tournament.

A breakdown of what’s at stake Sunday:

Eastern Conference No. 1: Philadelphia has clinched.

No. 2 and No. 3: Brooklyn can clinch No. 2 with a win Sunday against Cleveland, or with a Milwaukee loss on Saturday night against Miami, or a Bucks loss on Sunday night against Chicago.

Milwaukee needs two wins and a Brooklyn loss; if all that doesn’t happen, the Bucks will be the No. 3 seed.

No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6: Atlanta would be no worse than No. 5 if it beats Houston on Sunday, and Miami would be no worse than No. 5 if it beats Milwaukee on Saturday night and Detroit on Sunday night. New York could beat Boston in its fi nale and still fi nish as low as No. 6, depending on what the Hawks and Heat do.

Lakers forward LeBron James goes up for a dunk against the Pacers on Saturday in Indianapolis. AP

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No. 8: Sunday’s Charlotte-Washington winner will be the No. 8 seed.

No. 9 and No. 10: Indiana will be the No. 9 seed if it beats Toronto on Sunday and the Charlotte-Washington loser will be the No. 10 seed. If the Pacers lose, they will be the No. 10 seed and the Charlotte-Washington loser will be the No. 9 seed.

Eliminated: Chicago, Toronto, Cleveland, Orlando, Detroit.

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Western Conference No. 1 and No. 2: Phoenix will be the No. 1 seed with a win at San Antonio and a Utah loss in Sacramento. If the Spurs or Jazz win, the Jazz are the No. 1 seed and the Suns will fi nish in the No. 2 slot.

No. 3 and No. 4: Denver will be the No. 3 seed with a win in Portland, or a Los Angeles Clippers loss at Oklahoma City.

If the Clippers win and the Nuggets lose, the Clippers will be No. 3, the Nuggets No. 4.

No. 5: Portland gets the No. 5 seed with a win over Denver and a Dallas loss to Minnesota. Unless both of those things happen, Dallas will be the No. 5 seed. If the Blazers win and the Mavs lose, Dallas will be the No. 6 seed.

No. 6 and No. 7: The only way the Lakers get to No. 6 is if they beat New Orleans and Portland loses to Denver. Otherwise, the Lakers fi nish No. 7.

No. 8 and No. 9: The winner of the Memphis at Golden State game is the No. 8 seed for the play-in, and the loser is the No. 9 seed.

No. 10: San Antonio is the No. 10 seed for the play-in.

Eliminated: New Orleans, Sacramento, Minnesota, Oklahoma City, Houston.

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Flathead Catfish:

Riverbank Angling at Night with Live or Cut Bait Within this Amazon Kindle eBook I share the secrets of how I catch trophy flathead catfish such as these. I purposely set the price on the low side, $3.40 (U.S.) to be exact. I am a supervisory fishery biologist by profession, and I encountered a lot of vague, conflicting and even contradictory information along my own way to becoming a successful trophy flathead angler. I decided this write this eBook to provide a clearer path for others by sharing what has worked so very well for me.

Please note that you do not have to have a Kindle device to read this eBook – one can download an app and read it on a tablet, laptop ,PC – whatever you happen to have. (And yes, the methods described work just as well when fishing from a boat!) Thank You In Advance! Sincerely, Dan Magneson Flathead catfish are native to the network of river systems eventually draining into the Gulf of Mexico, from the Mobile River on west to the Rio Grande River, and from the western lowlands of the Appalachian Mountain Chain to nearly the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. In the northerly part of its range, it is found from western Pennsylvania over to Ohio, Indiana, southwest Michigan, Wisconsin, southern Minnesota and southeastern South Dakota.

From there, its natural range runs ever more southwesterly across Nebraska, Kansas and eastern Colorado down to nearly the central part of New Mexico. Introduced outside of its original range into many, many rivers ultimately discharging eastward into the ocean along the Atlantic Seaboard, from Pennsylvania’s Delaware, Susquehanna and Schuylkill Rivers in the north down to Georgia’s Altamaha and Satilla Rivers in the south. Originally planted into the lower Colorado River in 1962 and also present in its adjacent tributary streams such as Arizona’s Gila River system. It is also common in the network of irrigation canals and drains in the Yuma, Arizona area and also throughout southern California’s Imperial Valley as well as in freshwater streams draining into the Salton Sea. In the Pacific Northwest, the flathead catfish was stocked during the 1940’s into the shared Idaho-Oregon border waters of the Snake River’s “Treasure Valley” region, with today’s best fishing occurring from immediately downstream of Swan Falls Dam to the flowing currents just upstream of Brownlee Reservoir. Over the last few decades, the flathead catfish has also become established within numerous rivers across the Florida Panhandle.

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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THE ENQUIRER

BENGALS XTRA

Bayou Bengals? Burrow, Chase not alone Tyler Dragon Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

Whether it’s the Bayou Bengals or LSU North, there hasn’t been a shortage of humorous nicknames for the 2021 version of the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Bengals watched every snap from Joe Burrow at LSU prior to last year’s draft. While watching footage of Burrow a bit of osmosis transpired.

A little over a year later, three of Burrow’s LSU teammates who were on the Tigers’ 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship squad are now on the Bengals roster.

It all began when the Bengals selected Burrow No. 1 overall in the 2020 draft.

Since then, tight end Thaddeus Moss was signed off waivers on April 12, wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase was drafted by the team fi fth overall and defensive tackle Tyler Shelvin was selected in the fourth round of this year’s draft. All of whom were teammates on LSU’s national title team.

“I feel like I’ve seen the 2019 LSU season more than I’ve watched our own stuff , considering the amount of prospects they’ve had come through two years in a row now,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said.

A total of 21 LSU Tigers have been drafted in the past two NFL drafts. The Bengals have drafted three, include the school’s top prospect in each of the last two drafts, and acquired one off waivers.

One game tape that really stood out

Quarterback Joe Burrow and fi rst-round pick Ja’Marr Chase are joined by two more members of the 2019 LSU national championship team. USA TODAY SPORTS

to Taylor, off ensive coordinator Brian Callahan and the Bengals, was the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship. Burrow had a record-breaking MVP performance, but Chase was also stellar. He had a game-high 221 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the 42-25 win.

“We watched so much of that team over the last two years now, with the amount of prospects they’ve had on offense. That Clemson game was a really impressive game he had,” Callahan said of Chase. “He was a monster in that game on the biggest stage. That’s always exciting to see a guy do that, and perform at that stage on that level against really two good players that

Clemson had on the outside.”

Moss tallied fi ve catches for 36 yards and two touchdowns in the victory.

Since that game and the arrival of Burrow, the Bengals have adopted many concepts from LSU’s 2019-2020 off ense, which was designed by then LSU off ensive coordinator Joe Brady who now occupies the same position with the Carolina Panthers.

Taylor and the Bengals run a west coast-style off ense that utilizes a lot of short and intermediate throws.

The Bengals will likely incorporate more from LSU’s national championship-winning off ense now that more Tigers have turned into Bengals. That is certainly expected to be the case if the

off ensive play involves Chase. They want to maximize his ability and expedite the receiver’s learning curve.

“They did a good job there at LSU in their passing game. A lot of it is a derivative of the New Orleans Saints’ system.

It’s kind of ‘West Coast’ in nature, and some of the terminology was similar.

They did a great job fi nding ways to get guys matched up and give them chances to succeed,” Callahan said. “I think there will probably be some learning curve verbiage-wise and learning a little bit of a new language. But at the end of the day, everything that we’ll ask (Chase) to do, he has demonstrated on tape in big spots.”

Chase is slated to be Cincinnati’s primary X receiver and Moss is expected to compete for a spot at tight end. Both players have established chemistry with Burrow.

On defense, Shelvin could be the Bengals’ top reserve nose tackle.

Four former LSU Tigers. The pipeline from Baton Rouge to Cincinnati is strong.

“There were a lot of good players on that tape, and a lot of those guys are playing in the league,” Taylor said.

“We’re happy to have champions — guys who have competed and won championships. They know what the standard is.”

Burrow and Chase will garner most of the attention, but all four former Tigers could have an integral role in the team’s quest to becoming a winner. Now Bengals nation just has to fi gure out a nickname for the four that sticks.

ADVICE FOR FANS

Could you reinvent yourself as referee after COVID-19?

Mike Bass mbass@mikebasscoaching.com

Editor’s note: This is a weekly column from former sports reporter and editor Mike Bass. Bass will be contributing to The Enquirer by off ering advice for sports fans, athletes and youth sports parents and coaches through a weekly Q&A. You can reach him at mbass@mikebasscoaching.com or on Twitter @SportsFanCoach1.

You are coming back to a world unlike any you have ever known, and a world you know very well.

You are a high school soccer referee approaching reentry.

Restrictions are easing while COVID-19 lingers. The games are about to resume after roughly a year. You are anxious. Unless you were around for the Spanish fl u pandemic a century ago, you never dealt with anything like this. You don’t know exactly what awaits you, besides the usual challenges with coaches, parents and balance.

How do you want to show up?

You have choices, I told referees in a pair of keynote addresses for the Roanoke (Virginia) Valley Soccer Offi cials Association last month. Sure, you could wing it. What if you could design ways to enhance your experience and maybe even reinvent yourself in your role?

Using the Virbela virtual-reality platform, my avatar (yes, my avatar) started by asking the referees in the auditorium what most worried them about returning. There was no right answer, only what was right for each of them. Among

the answers they wrote in the chat box: “Making the right call.”

“Fitness.”

“Outbreaks.”

“Staying current with the rules.”

Whatever they felt, they felt. The important part was seeing they were not the only ones feeling some angst.

I then asked, “What has you most excited about returning?” They posted answers such as: “Sense of normalcy.”

“Watching kids play.”

“See the other refs.”

“Honoring the game.”

All great answers. All important.

That, I said, is how you can start easing the stress over returning: Gratitude. Enthusiasm. Reminding yourself why you do this.

Here is another: Remember how you felt when COVID fi rst shut down everything? You eventually fi gured out how to get through that, and you can fi gure out this, too. A little confi dence can help. So can some game-planning.

First, step back and see the world as it really is today. What are the givens?

The game. The rules. Your role, with set parameters. What is the X Factor? We are. People are.

Players, coaches, parents and you all are back after a long layoff . COVID has eased but not left, and it has aff ected us, directly or indirectly. We have not been at our best the last year or so. I hear it all the time. Our routines, jobs, families, schools, recreation – our lives – have been disrupted. COVID fatigue is real.

Everyone might not be in the same place

physically, mentally and emotionally.

Everyone might react diff erently. That reality awaits you.

Want more reality? Everyone might not be in the same place in every … single … soccer match. People see through their own eyes, with their own agendas.

As the referee, you can see choose to see the whole picture and accept that others might not have your neutrality or your command of the rules. You can choose how to show up, in your role. How will doing that help you? These were some comments: “Puts everything in the right context.”

“Empathy, explaining rules.”

“Teachable moments.”

“Adjusting to age level.”

Terrifi c. Next, think about what you value most in yourself as a referee.

Which are your top two or three values?

These were some of the answers posted: “Communicativeness, Honesty, Safety.”

“Mindfulness.

“Fairness, enjoyment, serving.”

“Understanding, enjoyment, sensitivity.”

“Integrity.

“Helping the kids have a good experience.”

Excellent. Now it is time to press reset.

Returning after a long layoff seems an opportune time to display your makeover or begin a do-over, but you can do this anytime. All you need is motivation and a game plan.

You can start with your healthy

boundaries. These are the parameters you can set, within the parameters set for you. (In other words, if you have to use a whistle, don’t substitute an air horn just because you value humor.)

Think of actions that align with your values and boundaries and how you want to show up.

Here were some examples of what the referees posted: “I will take a deep breath when the parents begin to complain.”

“If an (argument) happens, I will stay calm.”

“Laugh when the coach gets angry.”

“If I start feeling stressed, I will remember why I like to referee.”

“Breathe, acknowledge, respond to every situation.”

A few mentioned balancing refereeing and the rest of their lives. Powerful goal. Next, break down what balance will look like for each of you and your steps to achieve it.

No matter what you choose, let go of being perfect. You are learning and practicing new skills. Think in small steps. Start with something meaningful and easily attainable, give yourself credit for doing it, and then move on. Let me know if I can help.

Or you can wing it.

You make the call.

You are the referee.

Remember to email Bass at mbass@mikebasscoaching.com or reach out to him @SportsFanCoach1 on Twitter if you want to be included next week.

His website is MikeBassCoaching.com.

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XAVIER XTRA

Another athletic opportunity being off ered Xavier is adding women’s lacrosse as its 19th Division I sport beginning with the 2022-23 academic year.

Adam Baum Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

There’s a bit of a sea change happening at Xavier University right now.

From the opening of the Heidt Family Champions Center to the announcement of the Klekamp Family Training Center and the technological upgrades inside Cintas Center, Xavier’s campus is evolving.

Another one of those changes, the university announced Sunday, is the addition of a new sport: women’s lacrosse.

At a time when many colleges and universities have been cutting sports because of the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, Xavier’s gone the other route with the addition of its 19th Division I varsity sport, the fi rst new varsity sport at the university since men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and fi eld were added 16 years ago.

The new program, Xavier’s 10th women’s sport, will play its inaugural season in the 2022-23 academic year as an independent program, then will compete as a Big East Conference member beginning in 2024.

“Lacrosse is the fastest growing team sport in the United States both at the high school level and the collegiate level,” said Greg Christopher, Xavier’s Vice President and Director of Athletics. “As we looked, and we looked at all opportunities that are out there on the women’s side for NCAA sports, we narrowed in on women’s lacrosse pretty quickly.”

And it’s a sport that made sense geo-

FC Cincinnati Continued from Page 1C

very hard in the training sessions to achieve that. Throughout the last couple of weeks, you have meetings individually with a group of units. Also, in the training sessions, we put a lot of attention, of course, again to certain things to improve. So, that’s the thing that we need to work on and focus on.”

Attendance for Saturday’s game will be reduced to about 6,000 attendees while pandemic-related health orders remain in place in Ohio through June 2.

The second home match – a May 29 date with the New England Revolution – could see increased capacity, team President Jeff Berding said on Friday.

By June 19, FC Cincinnati expects to have at least close to full attendance in the 26,000-capacity venue.

As attendance numbers climb upward, FCC’s home-fi eld advantage should become increasingly pronounced.

Creating a truly hostile environment with lessened attendance fi gures on Sunday won’t be easy but the team itself will need to have a major say in the environment within the stadium based on its play.

“Every time you play a game, I think you want to make a statement,” Stam said. “It’s diffi cult to say ‘OK, in this particular game, we’re going to set the standards for how it’s always going to be. Of course, every game you want to do very well. That’s what we’re aiming for.

That’s what we’re going to do as well.

Everybody is going to work very hard, show their ability and also showing how it feels for us to play at home and what

THANKS TO HAYLEY SCHLETKER/ XAVIER ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

graphically in Ohio, the Midwest, and along the Eastern seaboard, all primary locations that populate Xavier’s student body.

When Christopher arrived at Xavier in the summer of 2013, he said the fi rst thing Father Michael Graham, whose tenure as Xavier’s President will come to an end on June 30, wanted was a strategic long-term plan. A couple of years ago, they refreshed that plan, and one of the primary pillars of that plan within the athletic department was a look at where the Musketeers stood from a Title IX standpoint.

Xavier’s current undergraduate enrollment is 5,300, 57% of which is female. The addition of lacrosse will add approximately 35 undergraduate student-athletes to Xavier’s roster of 300

we can do.

“That’s what you want to continue on building from toward the rest of the season in your home games. So, that’s of course a thing (that) we want to do is performing. Showing your quality.

Showing your ability. Making a statement for ourselves as well in how we want to play and what we can deliver, and what individuals can do as well to get that result. The main focus is – it’s diffi cult to say ‘OK, you know, we’re gonna set a statement for the rest of our season for our home games.’”

The Game Kickoff : 4 p.m., TQL Stadium TV/Radio/stream: FOX/ESPN1530AM/fccincinnati.com Series info: Miami won the only match the two clubs played against one another.

Odds: Inter Miami (-105) is favored over Cincinnati (+260), BETMGM.com.

FC Cincinnati Record: 0-2-1, 1 point, last in Eastern Conference Goals for: 2 Goals against: 10 Coach: Jaap Stam – second season as FC Cincinnati coach (4-17-5) Projected starting lineup: Przemysaw Tytoń (GK) Ronald Matarrita, left back Geoff Cameron, center back Gustavo Vallecilla, center back Joseph-Claude Gyau, right back Yuya Kubo, midfi elder Luciano Acosta, central midfi elder Kamohelo Mokotjo, midfi elder Calvin Harris, left winger Brenner, striker Alvaro Barreal, right winger

student-athletes.

“As we examined that,” Christopher said, “campus has changed over the last several years and Title IX has three basic prongs, the most commonly used prong is called proportionality and the short version of that is the percentage of athletes – male and female – should match the gender percentages of your student body.”

Christopher explained that with the addition and growth of Xavier’s College of Nursing, “our percentage of females has increased incrementally so that led us to the conversation of should we add a women’s sport or should we look at reducing a men’s sport.”

Christopher said women’s lacrosse will be a self-sustaining program for Xavier.

Jaap Stam has tried to keep his team focused on Sunday’s match, not the hoopla around the opening of TQL Stadium. KAREEM ELGAZZAR/THE ENQUIRER

Inter Miami CF Record: 1-2-2, 5 points, tied for eighth place in Eastern Conference Goals for: 5 Goals against: 7 Coach: Phil Neville – fi rst season at Miami Projected starting lineup: John McCarthy, goalkeeper Victor Ulloa, right back Ryan Shawcross, center back Leandro González Pírez, center back Brek Shea, left back Gregore de Magalhães da Silva, midfi elder Blaise Matuidi, midfi elder Lewis Morgan, winger Jon Chapman, midfi elder Rodolfo Pizarro, winger Gonzalo Higuain, forward Players to watch: Geoff Cameron and Kenneth Vermeer – While FC Cincinnati has several players rostered at Cameron’s center back position as well as at goalkeeper where Vermeer plays, it’s possible both players make their FC

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Cincinnati debuts in the fi rst-ever match at TQL Stadium.

Cameron, who played in the seasonfi nale for Queens Park Rangers last week, is healthy, fi t, an immediate upgrade for FCC at his position and would likely play if he clears health and safety protocols in time for the match.

Meanwhile, the competition for minutes is a little more congested for Vermeer, especially if Przemysaw Tytoń is back to full health after experiencing back tightness that made him a late scratch in the April 24 match at New York City FC. But FC Cincinnati didn’t extend a multi-year deal and spend an international roster spot on Vermeer just to have him serve as a backup. FC Cincinnati’s coaching staff knows Vermeer well and it seems entirely possible he could win the starting job at some point in the near future.

Noteworthy: FC Cincinnati is short on center backs heading into the weekend as Friday’s availability report indicated that the starting center back duo from the fi rst three matches of 2021 – Nick Hagglund and Tom Pettersson – were both listed as questionable for the Miami game. Considering Cameron is also questionable is he needs to clear health and safety protocols, FCC is left with one natural center back in 21-yearold Gustavo Vallecilla.

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Franko Kovacevic (hamstring) and Maikel van der Werff (sports hernia) are both out for FCC.

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“The manner in which we fund our Olympic sports, at least some of our Olympic sports, is our sports break even or they’re net revenue positive to the university,” said Christopher. “Yes, we have an operating budget for each sport but when you add back in the NCAA funds we receive for each sport, coupled with tuition, housing, board revenue from the partial scholarship and the walk-on student-athletes, that’s where we fi nd that a vast majority of our sports are net revenue positive to the university.”

There will be a bit of a start-up cost because Xavier will have to hire a head coach a year before it has the team, but long term, like Xavier’s other sports, lacrosse will break even or be net revenue positive for the university, said Christopher.

While it will require some coordination, women’s lacrosse, which plays its championship season in the spring, will not require new facilities. The existing Corcoran Field, home to men’s and women’s soccer, will be used for practices and matches, and the team will be housed in the new Heidt Center.

Xavier will join Butler, Connecticut, Georgetown, Marquette, Villanova and affi liate member Denver as women’s lacrosse-playing members of the Big East.

There are currently 524 NCAA women’s lacrosse programs, including 117 in NCAA Division I. The Ohio High School Athletic Association sponsored women’s lacrosse beginning in 2017 and now there are more than 130 programs statewide.

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8C

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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THE ENQUIRER

HIGH SCHOOL TRACK AND FIELD

Turpin’s Hickman breaks new ground Scott Springer Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

Based on recent events at the Eastern Cincinnati Conference Championships, the shot put pit at Anderson High School will be extended according to athletic director Chris Newton.

Spurring that decision was Turpin Spartan senior Gabe Hickman and his ability to send a 12-pound weighted ball into orbit. Hickman several times put the shot out of the designated boundary, in some cases twice as far as some of his competition.

It’s similar to a home run being hit not just over the fence, but also on an adjacent building. One of his metal meteors actually exploded into the ground with a crater-like divot, then rolled into the woods. Meet workers and curious onlookers then went looking for the fl ying object like it was a Titleist Pro VI off the fairway of Augusta.

“There are a couple of places where I throw out of the pit,” Hickman admitted. “It’s pretty cool when you throw it out.”

Similarly, when competing in the discus, Hickman hurls the saucer as far as some might fl ip a Frisbee. Had there been a girls softball game on the nearby fi eld, the center fi elder might be advised to wear a helmet.

Now 18, Hickman has been launching missiles and dropping jaws since he was in the seventh grade.

“I loved it a lot,” he said. “Eighth grade was when I really stepped it up and it’s gone on from there. I did a lot of fi lm study by myself in middle school, studying myself and professional throwers. My high school coach, Andy Walker is the best in Ohio. By freshman year I was spinning.”

Hickman is a favorite to win the Ohio Division I shot put event, having recently won the indoor version a second time over the winter season at 61’ 3”, making him Turpin’s fi rst male track and fi eld champion. He threw 62’ 11” to win the ECC championship and has a season-best of 63’ 5.5” outdoors thus far.

In the discus, twisting and contorting like the Tazmanian Devil, Hickman fl ung one seemingly headed toward Beechmont Avenue for those looking from behind. It sailed 167’ for his bestever throw and nearly 30 feet beyond his competitors.

Turpin junior Gabriel Asbury and Loveland senior Gabe Ogden are also having awesome seasons throwing, outside of having to battle for secondplace most days behind a guy that throws like a Marvel Superhero.

In 12 years coaching Turpin throwers, Andy Walker has had nobody that could be picked up on Air Traffi c Control like Hickman.

Gabe Hickman would appear to be a good bet to give Turpin a state title in the shot put based on his recent performances. ENQUIRER FILE

“Right now he’s a quarter-inch off the city record,” Walker said. “There’s not been many people in Cincinnati history that have thrown anywhere near him. He broke the school record as a sophomore and I think he’s added 10 feet to what the shot put record was before he got here.”

Hickman placed third in the shot at the state meet at Ohio State’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium as a 2019 sophomore. The coronavirus pandemic took out his junior season and now he’s pointed toward Hilliard Darby High School, one of three venues in the Columbus area that will host the 2021 state track and fi eld meet.

Over the years he’s increased his distance in the shot put more than 15 feet since he was a freshman ECC AllLeague performer and his discus throws are soaring more than 30 feet since 2018.

“I kept practicing and working on my form,” Hickman said.

Also an ECC two-time First Team football center for coach Kent McCullough, Hickman will throw the shot, discus, weight throw and hammer at Boston University where he’ll be an engineering major.

“Academics are really high at Boston,” Hickman said. “My relationship with the coaches was the best.”

The future Boston Terrier is a shade under 6-feet and about 260 pounds.

There may be heavier and taller throwers, but few get quicker torque and energy than Hickman. His father, Keith Hickman, is a school administrator who’s a bit bigger, but his expertise came in leaping, where he made the state meet twice for Lucasville Valley in the high jump.

“Last year he was the No. 1 thrower in Ohio but the season was canceled,” Walker said. “I think we have a good chance of getting that state title.”

Hickman has district and regional meets ahead but is eyeing June 4-5 at Hilliard Darby. The shot put will be held June 4, with discus June 5.

HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL

Dixie Heights zeroing in on another regional title James Weber Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

Sarah Osborne, the head coach of the Dixie Heights softball team, said her team has a chip on its shoulder.

The Colonels have a lot of determination on the diamond, particularly sophomore shortstop Ella Steczynski.

Steczynski was a starting guard for the Dixie Heights basketball team, which lost in the fi rst round of the Sweet 16 April 8. That was a Thursday night in Rupp Arena.

The next day, she showed up at softball practice, and that Saturday morning, roughly 36 hours after the fi nal buzzer of her basketball season, she was helping Dixie beat Pendleton County with two hits and four RBI. “She texted me Friday morning and said ‘Can I come to practice?’ ” Osborne said. “I said ‘You don’t want to take a break?’ and she said ‘Nope, I’m ready.’

She pulled into the parking lot at 1 o’clock and she was on the fi eld at 3 o’clock. She was itching and ready to go, and we were ready to get her back.”

Steczynski and junior second baseman Bri Patsel turned three double plays in a win over Simon Kenton May 11. Steczynski was a returning starter from 2019. Patsel was on the team in 2020 and this is her fi rst season in ac-

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tion with the Colonels. The middle infi elders have taken turns in the leadoff spot this year.

Osborne loves that combo in the middle.

“Those two look like they’ve been playing together for years and this is their fi rst year playing together,” Osborne said. “I’m not going to be humble about this, they’re the best middle infi elders in Northern Kentucky, if not Kentucky.”

The Colonels are reigning Ninth Region champions after winning the title in 2019. Dixie lost fi ve seniors from that team and some other contributors, but return several veterans who want to prove that title wasn’t a fl uke.

“We’re hungry for another one,’ Osborne said. “There were a lot of seniors on that team and they were fun to watch, fun to coach. The younger girls want to prove that this is their team and they can do it without them.”

Dixie is 14-6 so far this season and has won four in a row.

The Colonels are 7-0 against Ninth Region teams, including two wins over Boone County and a 9-5 win over Highlands, which is 21-5 this season. Dixie has the highest RPI in the region at .600, just .001 points ahead of Cooper.

Dixie also has two wins over reigning 10th Region champion Pendleton County.

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cincinnati.com

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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9C

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Kings lacrosse, Taylor softball are on a roll Melanie Laughman Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

In a vote that ended May 14, Cincinnati.com readers selected winners for the Cincinnati Enquirer Athlete of the Week, presented by Mercy Health, for the May 3-9 voting period.

Winners will receive a certifi cate sent through the school’s athletic department. They are sent one month at a time.

You do not have to be a subscriber to vote, a period that lasts Monday evenings to 5 p.m. each Friday during the season. Please submit any nominees by Sunday evening for the previous week’s performances to mlaughman@enquirer.com.

This week’s winners are: Ohio boys team: Kings lacrosse – Kings topped Turpin 15-6 on May 3, improving the team to .500 overall with a 5-1 mark in ECC play.

Ohio girls team: Taylor softball – A perfect 12-0 in CHL competition, Taylor beat Finneytown 16-0 on May 5 before edging Wyoming 3-0 the following day.

Northern Kentucky/Indiana boys team: Covington Catholic bass fi shing – The Colonels qualifi ed a boat to the KHSAA state championship for the fi rst time, and did very well as brothers Jordan and Joe Bezold fi nished in fi fth place out of 88 boats in the state meet,

catching 10 fi sh totaling 24 pounds, zero ounces.

Northern Kentucky/Indiana girls team: Notre Dame tennis – The Pandas won their team sectional championship, avenging an earlier loss to Lexington Catholic to win the fi nal match, and will advance to the semifi nals of the KHSAA team championships.

Ohio baseball, big school: Wyatt Fisher, Oak Hills – The senior tossed fi ve no-hit innings, striking out fi ve with just one walk, in Oak Hills’ 4-0 win over Hamilton.

Ohio baseball, small school: Dougie Zang, Indian Hill – The senior went 2for-4 with two doubles, one run scored and two RBI including a walk-off double to beat Division I Franklin on Senior Night 4-3.

Northern Kentucky/Indiana baseball: Kiernan Geraci, Dixie Heights – He had three hits and two RBI in a win over Cooper, and pitched a fi ve-inning shutout, allowing only two hits and striking out seven.

Boys lacrosse: Alex Deutsch, Kings – In the last three match, Alex had 17 goals and 4 assists. He’s currently ranked No. 1 in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference in scoring going into the last game of the season.

Girls lacrosse: Gabby Nelson, Walnut Hills – In four games this week, the sophomore midfi elder was a standout leading the Eagles with 16 ground balls and contributing 12 draw controls, 5 goals and 2 assists.

Ohio softball, big school: Audrey Renaud, Mason – The freshman hit .600 with a home run, triple, double and three singles. She batted in seven runs, scored four runs, walked and stole a base. In the fi eld, she started 3 games at shortstop and one game at third base and had four assists, three putouts and zero errors. She had a big game in Mason’s win versus Sycamore, going 2for-2 with a home run, 4 RBI and two runs scored.

Ohio softball, small school: Rylyn Dyer, Georgetown – The junior homered twice and knocked in three runs in Georgetown’s 9-5 win over Clermont Northeastern. She also struck out nine over seven innings to get the win.

Northern Kentucky softball: Brooke Shewmaker, Bishop Brossart – She had four hits and four stolen bases in a 10-0 win over Villa Madonna.

Tennis, singles: Jimmy Janszen, Elder – Beating Badin on May 3, Janszen

Radar

anyone.

Bradley also added that Elmore was Taft’s best on-ball defender this season and that he’s the epitome of a leader.

“He elevates the level of play of his teammates in practice and in games.

Mekhi’s selfl essness and Mamba-like attitude have been contagious for our program and serve as a great example for his wingman, Rayvon (Griffi th). We are looking forward to him leading us to a state championship as a senior.”

Continued from Page 1C

Our goal is to obviously put a winning product on the fl oor, but most importantly to watch these guys grow as basketball players and as human beings.”

Over the past two months, The Enquirer peeled back the curtain to discover 21 boys and 21 girls high school players from the 2021 basketball scene who may have been overlooked. The Northern Kentucky and Indiana list will come next month.

In the fi rst of fi ve parts this week, here are under-the-radar boys and girls basketball players from the Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference. Tomorrow’s conference will be the Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference:

BOYS BASKETBALL

GIRLS BASKETBALL Keylayasia Pouncy, Taft

Aiken guard Jakada Stone is a four-year starter and helped lead Aiken to a district championship in 2019. He was a two-time fi rst-team CMAC selection. FILE

Gi’Marrion Jones, CCPA Analysis: Named the CMAC Blue athlete of the year after he was third in the CMAC in scoring (23.2 PPG) and rebounding (10.9). The senior also led the league in fi eld goal percentage at 59.1%, helping lead the Lions to a 12-2 record and the No. 1 seed in the sectional tournament. Jones was second-team CHL and honorable mention all-district at Taylor in 2019 as a sophomore. He was honorable mention CHL at Deer Park in 2020. Last season, in addition to athlete of the year honors, he was fi rst-team alldistrict and second-team all-Ohio.

Intangibles: “(Gi’Marrion) is a big, strong athletic two guard who can attack the basket and score and he is a very good free-throw shooter,” Revels said.

De’Antre (Tre) Griffin, Western Hills Analysis: An honorable mention CMAC selection, the junior averaged nearly a double-double per game at 9.1 points and 11.2 rebounds (second in CMAC). Griffi n shot 39% from beyond the arc and led the team in blocks.

Intangibles: Stokes: “Some of De’Antre’s strengths are rebounding, defense and he does a great job knocking down jump shots to stretch the defense. His ball-handling has also improved so much, so he will be playing a lot more on the wing for us next season.

Tre is a very hard worker and over the last year has become a gym rat.”

Aboubacar Cisse, Western Hills Analysis: The junior guard led Western Hills to a 15-9 record, its most wins since before 2008. Cisse averaged a double-double per game at 18.4 points and 10 rebounds. He had 11 double-doubles on the year. Cisse was twice named second-team CMAC and jumped up to fi rst team last season.

Intangibles: Stokes: “He is a really good shooter from deep – he shot 44% from three in back-to-back seasons. He is a 6-foot-5 guard with a college-ready body, he attacks the rim very well and

won the third singles match 6-0, 6-3.

Tennis, doubles: Joey Case and Matthew Marlette, Villa Madonna -The doubles team is 8-1 on the season and recently defeated previously unbeaten Holy Cross 6-3, 2-6, (10-7). The sophomore duo has been playing varsity tennis together for Villa Madonna Academy since the seventh grade and has compiled an overall record of 26-5 as a doubles team.

Northern Kentucky boys track: Mick Clines, Bishop Brossart – The senior was part of four winning relays at the NKAC Division II championship.

Northern Kentucky girls track: Mackenzie Kessans, Villa Madonna – The junior won four events at the NKAC Division III championship: Both hurdles events, the 200 and 4x400 relay.

Ohio boys track: James Schmidt, Oak Hills – Schmidt dominated the 800-meter run at the Best of the West, running it in 1:53.61 to take fi rst by more than 12 seconds. The run also broke his own school record for the event.

Ohio girls track: Elena Horn, Turpin – At the Lebanon Invitational, the sophomore Horn won the 800-meter hurdle race with a 2:19.31.

Boys volleyball: Anthony Fago, Mason – Sweeping Oak Hills May 4, Fago led Mason in both kills and assists. The Junior put down 21 kills while assisting on 30 successful attacks.

Hughes guard Tamira Scott was the second-leading scorer in the CMAC at 18 points. She was also fourth in assists (3.1) and fi fth in steals (3.7). FILE

can fi nish with the best of them, either with a monster dunk or a graceful layup.”

Cam McKenzie, Hughes Analysis: He was the CMAC Red player of the year in 2020 and a fi rstteam all-district selection last season after averaging 23 points, eight rebounds and three assists per game.

McKenzie was fi rst-team CMAC three times and two-time fi rst-team all-district and third-team all-Ohio.

Intangibles: “Cam’s greatest strength is being able to score at all three levels,” Black said. “He can get to the rim with ease, shoot the three at a high rate, but his mid-range game is one of the best I’ve seen in my 10 seasons of coaching high school basketball.

“He has the ability to sky for rebounds. He is big time on the glass from the guard position and has even won big-time games on timely rebound-andscore situations. Most nights, he was asked to score the ball, but in a few games this year, he racked up some good assist numbers and loves getting his teammates involved.”

Tre Munson, CCPA Analysis: The guard averaged 13.6 points per game as a junior at Deer Park in 2020, helping lead the Wildcats to a

regional championship berth. At CCPA, he averaged 21.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Munson was fi rstteam CHL in 2020 at Deer Park and was honorable mention all-district. With the Lions, he was honorable mention CMAC, second-team all-district and third-team all-Ohio.

Intangibles: “Tre is a combo guard.

He can play the two or the point. He shoots the ball with very good range, has a strong body, is a good passer and is really athletic,” Revels said.

Revels added of both Munson and Jones: “With the strength and conditioning and staying in the gym over the summer, they both improved their games immensely. Two really great kids that were a pleasure to coach.”

Jakada Stone, Aiken Analysis: A four-year starter for the Falcons, Stone helped lead Aiken to a district championship in 2019. He was a two-time fi rst-team CMAC selection and was second-team last season.

Stone scored double fi gures all four years, including a 20.5 eff ort last season to go with 5.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists.

Stone is a three-time fi rst-team CMAC selection and was all-district three times (honorable mention, third team and second team, respectively). He was also honorable mention All-Ohio last year.

Intangibles: “Jakada improved on his game every year by doing what we preach every day, which is hard work and extra work,” Cass said. “He understood early on that doing what was required was not enough. He is a true gym rat and loves the game of basketball.”

Mekhi Elmore, Taft Analysis: In eight games, the junior averaged 21.8 points per game and he was a second-team CMAC and fi rstteam all-district.

Intangibles: Bradley added: “He’s the best three-level scorer in the state.

His ability to shoot the ball from three and mid-range at a high clip coupled with an uncanny ability to fi nish around the rim, render him a tough matchup for

Analysis: Pouncy was top-5 in the CMAC in scoring at 15.1 points to go with 4.8 rebounds and 2.8 steals. She shot 41.2% from downtown and was named fi rst-team CMAC after helping lead the Senators to a share of the league title.

Intangibles: Pouncy is known for her quiet leadership. On the team, she’s been dubbed the nickname Kawhi Leonard, after the NBA star who is also known for his quiet demeanor.

While known for her silence, Pouncy also performed on the biggest stages for Taft. Against Hughes for a shot at a share of the conference crown, she scored a game-high 26 points with three rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks to lead the team to a win.

Tatiyana Canady, Oyler Analysis: Canady was the CMAC’s leading scorer at 23.4 points-per-game and she was third in blocks to go with 4.3 rebounds. She was named the CMAC Blue Co-Athlete of the Year.

Intangibles: Oyler head coach Alexis Swisher said Canady is a raw talent, a scorer and a player who can hit the game-winning shot, if need be. Swisher also pointed out Canady’s ball-handling skills and her ability to get open, along with taking on whatever role is needed. “(Canady is) always trying to get them to be better. She’s way more vocal this year and defi nitely a leader on the team, on the court and in practice,” Swisher said.

Navia Smith, Shroder Analysis: Smith averaged 15.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists (3rd CMAC) per game last season for the Jaguars. She was a second-team CMAC selection.

Intangibles: “She (Smith) is our defensive stopper. She’s the goal (of) our off ense. She’s our end-of-the-quarter closer,” Johnson said.

Tamira Scott, Hughes Analysis: Scott was the second-leading scorer in the CMAC at 18 points per game. She was also fourth in assists (3.1) and fi fth in steals (3.7) to go with 5.1 rebounds. Scott was named the CMAC Red athlete of the year after leading the Big Red to a share of the CMAC title.

Intangibles: Through four years together, Scott bought into Davis’ system and eclipsed 1,000 career points in the process.

10C

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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THE ENQUIRER

LOCAL SCOREBOARD MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL Cincinnati

FRIDAY Colorado 9, REDS 6

Naquin cf Winker rf Moustakas 1b Hendrix p Pérez p Doolittle p b-T.Stephenson ph-1b Suárez 3b Barnhart c Farmer ss Akiyama lf India 2b Warren p Miley p Hembree p a-Blandino ph-1b-2b Totals Colorado

Hampson cf Joe 1b-lf Story ss Blackmon rf 1-McMahon pr-3b Fuentes 3b-1b Daza lf-rf Díaz c Trejo 2b Márquez p Almonte p Bard p Totals

AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

5 5 3 0 0 0 0

1 0 0 0 0 0 1

1 1 1 0 0 0 0

0 1 1 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 .257 1 .364 1 .244 0 --0 .000 0 --0 .305

4 3 4 4 4 0 0 0 1

1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0

1 2 0 2 2 0 0 0 0

2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0

0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2

2 .154 0 .299 1 .218 1 .188 1 .235 0 --0 .167 0 .000 1 .263

33 6 10 6 4 8 AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

4 4 3 3 2

2 0 2 1 1

3 0 2 3 0

1 0 0 0 0

1 1 2 0 0

1 .258 3 .316 1 .287 0 .244 1 .265

4 4 5 4 2 1 0

2 1 0 0 0 0 0

2 3 1 0 1 0 0

2 3 1 0 1 0 0

1 1 0 0 0 0 0

1 .234 1 .337 1 .117 3 .235 1 .143 1 .000 0 ---

36 9 15 8 6 14

Cincinnati 002 000 220—6 10 2 Colorado 104 300 10x—9 15 1 a-struck out for Hembree in the 5th. b-hit by pitch for Doolittle in the 8th.

1-ran for Blackmon in the 4th.

E—Miley 2 (2), Fuentes (5).

LOB—Cincinnati 5, Colorado 10. 2B—India (2), Naquin (4), Márquez (1), Fuentes (2), Daza (5). 3B—Hampson (2). HR—India (3), off Márquez; Suárez (7), off Almonte; Hampson (5), off Doolittle. RBIs—Winker (21), Moustakas (13), India 2 (19), Suárez 2 (18), Fuentes 2 (19), Daza 3 (9), Díaz (3), Márquez (1), Hampson (13). SB—Story (6).

CS—India (1), Story (3). S—Márquez.

Runners left in scoring position—Cincinnati 2 (Suárez, India); Colorado 5 (Daza, Joe, Márquez, Díaz).

RISP—Cincinnati 1 for 4; Colorado 6 for 16.

Runners moved up—Winker, Akiyama, Fuentes. GIDP—Farmer, Naquin, Winker, Joe, Díaz.

DP—Cincinnati 2 (Suárez, India, Moustakas; India, Farmer, Blandino); Colorado 3 (Trejo, Fuentes; McMahon, Trejo, Fuentes; Trejo, Story, Fuentes).

Cincinnati

Miley, L, 4-3 Hembree Hendrix Pérez Doolittle Warren Colorado

IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

3 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0

8 0 0 0 1 0

8 0 0 0 1 0

3 0 0 1 0 2

5 3 2 1 2 1

89 3.69 17 0.00 14 5.68 16 7.62 18 4.50 21 0.00

IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Márquez, W, 6 8 4 4 3 8 93 5.56 2-4 Almonte 2 2 2 2 0 0 30 9.95 Bard, S, 4-7 1 0 0 0 1 0 12 6.59 Inherited runners-scored—Hembree 2-2, Almonte 1-0.

HBP—Almonte (T.Stephenson).

Time—3:20. Attendance—20,232 (50,445).

Cincinnati-Colorado Runs Rockies first. Garrett Hampson triples to deep left center field. Connor Joe walks.

Throwing error by Wade Miley. Garrett Hampson scores. Trevor Story strikes out swinging. Charlie Blackmon singles to shallow center field. Connor Joe to second. Josh Fuentes grounds out to shallow infield, Kyle Farmer to Mike Moustakas. Charlie Blackmon to second.

Connor Joe to third. Yonathan Daza called out on strikes.

1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 2 left on.

Rockies 1, Reds 0.

Reds third. Jonathan India doubles to deep center field. Wade Miley walks.

Tyler Naquin doubles to deep right field.

Wade Miley to third. Jesse Winker grounds out to shallow infield, German Marquez to Connor Joe. Tyler Naquin to third. Wade Miley scores. Mike Moustakas singles to shallow infield, advances to 2nd. Tyler Naquin scores. Throwing error

by Josh Fuentes. Eugenio Suarez strikes out swinging.

2 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1 left on.

Reds 2, Rockies 1.

Rockies third. Trevor Story walks. Charlie Blackmon singles to right field. Trevor Story to third. Josh Fuentes singles to shallow right field. Charlie Blackmon to second. Trevor Story scores. Yonathan Daza singles to shortstop. Josh Fuentes to third. Charlie Blackmon scores. Elias Diaz singles to deep left field. Yonathan Daza to third. Josh Fuentes scores. Alan Trejo strikes out swinging. German Marquez reaches on a sacrifice bunt to shallow infield. Elias Diaz to second.

Yonathan Daza scores. Fielding error by Wade Miley. Garrett Hampson singles to shallow infield. German Marquez to second. Elias Diaz to third. Connor Joe grounds out to third base. Garrett Hampson out at second.

4 runs, 5 hits, 1 error, 2 left on.

Rockies 5, Reds 2.

Rockies fourth. Trevor Story singles to shallow left field. Charlie Blackmon singles to left field. Trevor Story to second. Josh Fuentes doubles to deep left field. Charlie Blackmon to third.

Trevor Story scores. Yonathan Daza doubles to center field. Josh Fuentes scores. Ryan McMahon scores. Elias Diaz strikes out swinging. Alan Trejo strikes out swinging. German Marquez called out on strikes.

3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on.

Rockies 8, Reds 2.

Reds seventh. Shogo Akiyama singles to second base. Jonathan India homers to center field. Shogo Akiyama scores. Alex Blandino walks. Tyler Naquin flies out to left field to Connor Joe. Jesse Winker grounds out to shortstop. Alex Blandino out at second.

2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on.

Rockies 8, Reds 4.

Rockies seventh. Alan Trejo lines out to deep left field to Shogo Akiyama. Yency Almonte called out on strikes. Garrett Hampson homers to left field. Connor Joe called out on strikes.

1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on.

Rockies 9, Reds 4.

Reds eighth.

Tyler Stephenson pinch-hitting for Sean Doolittle. Tyler Stephenson hit by pitch. Eugenio Suarez homers to left field. Tyler Stephenson scores. Tucker Barnhart grounds out to shallow infield, Alan Trejo to Josh Fuentes. Kyle Farmer grounds out to shallow left field, Ryan McMahon to Josh Fuentes. Shogo Akiyama singles to center field. Jonathan India reaches on a fielder’s choice to shortstop. Shogo Akiyama out at second.

2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on.

Rockies 9, Reds 6.

Reds Schedule May 16 at Colorado, 3:10 p.m.

May 17 vs. San Francisco, 6:40 p.m.

May 18 vs. San Francisco, 6:40 p.m.

May 19 vs. San Francisco, 6:40 p.m.

May 20 vs. San Francisco, 12:35 p.m.

RUNS—Martinez, Boston, 32; Bichette, Toronto, 31; Canha, Oakland, 29; Kiner-Falefa, Texas, 27; Ohtani, Los Angeles, 27; Solak, Texas, 27; Guerrero Jr., Toronto, 26; Haniger, Seattle, 26; Alvarez, Houston, 25; Tucker, Houston, 25; Verdugo, Boston, 25.

RBI—Martinez, Boston, 33; J.Abreu, Chicago, 32; Gurriel, Houston, 30; Devers, Boston, 30; Mancini, Baltimore, 30; Walsh, Los Angeles, 29; Haniger, Seattle, 29; Grichuk, Toronto, 28.

HITS—Bogaerts, Boston, 50; Martinez, Boston, 49; Kiner-Falefa, Texas, 47; Mullins, Baltimore, 47; Gurriel, Houston, 45; Alvarez, Houston, 44; Mercedes, Chicago, 43; Perez, Kansas City, 42; Walsh, Los Angeles, 42.

DOUBLES—Brantley, Houston, 13; Bogaerts, Boston, 12; Devers, Boston, 11; Gurriel, Houston, 11; Lowrie, Oakland, 11; Mullins, Baltimore, 11; Soler, Kansas City, 11; Alvarez, Houston, 10; Buxton, Minnesota, 10; Martinez, Boston, 10; Meadows, Tampa Bay, 10; Ohtani, Los Angeles, 10; Wendle, Tampa Bay, 10.

TRIPLES—Baddoo, Detroit, 3; Lopez, Kansas City, 3; 12 tied at 2.

HOME RUNS—Ramírez, Cleveland, 11; Ohtani, Los Angeles, 11; Haniger, Seattle, 11; A.García, Texas, 10; Judge, New York, 10; Martinez, Boston, 10; Buxton, Minnesota, 9; F.Reyes, Cleveland, 9; Cruz, Minnesota, 9; Guerrero Jr., Toronto, 9; Stanton, New York, 9; Devers, Boston, 9.

STOLEN BASES—Merrifield, Kansas City, 11; Laureano, Oakland, 8; Bichette, Toronto, 7; Grossman, Detroit, 7; Kiner-Falefa, Texas, 7; Moore, Seattle, 7; Semien, Toronto, 7; T.Anderson, Chicago, 6; Canha, Oakland, 6; Goodrum, Detroit, 6; Ohtani, Los Angeles, 6.

PITCHING—Pivetta, Boston, 5-0; Rodón, Chicago, 5-0; Civale, Cleveland, 5-1; G.Cole, New York, 5-1; E.Rodríguez, Boston, 5-1; Matz, Toronto, 5-2; Montas, Oakland, 5-2; Means, Baltimore, 4-0; Petit, Oakland, 4-0; Flexen, Seattle, 4-1; Lynn, Chicago, 4-1.

ERA—Means, Baltimore, 1.21; G.Cole, New York, 1.37; Boyd, Detroit, 1.94; Duffy, Kansas City, 1.94; Gibson, Texas, 2.28; Glasnow, Tampa Bay, 2.36; Pineda, Minnesota, 2.79; Cease, Chicago, 2.80; Bieber, Cleveland, 2.95; Ryu, Toronto, 2.95.

STRIKEOUTS—Bieber, Cleveland, 85; Glasnow, Tampa Bay, 85; G.Cole, New York, 78; Bassitt, Oakland, 53; Means, Baltimore, 53; Giolito, Chicago, 50; Heaney, Los Angeles, 49; Duffy, Kansas City, 48; Cease, Chicago, 47; McCullers Jr., Houston, 47.

NATIONAL LEAGUE BATTING—Winker, Cincinnati, .364; B.Harper, Philadelphia, .318; Castellanos, Cincinnati, .315; A.Frazier, Pittsburgh, .315; T.Turner, Washington, .312; J.Turner, Los Angeles, .311; Bryant, Chicago, .309; Hosmer, San Diego, .305; C.Dickerson, Miami, .303; Acuña Jr., Atlanta, .302; Realmuto, Philadelphia, .302.

RUNS—Acuña Jr., Atlanta, 33; C.Taylor, Los Angeles, 31; Bryant, Chicago, 28; Hampson, Colorado, 27; M.Rojas, Miami, 27; Castellanos, Cincinnati, 26; B.Harper, Philadelphia, 25; Hoskins, Philadelphia, 25; McMahon, Colorado, 25; J.Turner, Los Angeles, 25; Winker, Cincinnati, 25.

RBI—Aguilar, Miami, 32; D.Peralta, Arizona, 27; Báez, Chicago, 26; Duvall, Miami, 25; Arenado, St. Louis, 25; Naquin, Cincinnati, 24; Bryant, Chicago, 24; Shaw, Milwaukee, 24; Acuña Jr., Atlanta, 24; Machado, San Diego, 24; McMahon, Colorado, 24.

HITS—A.Frazier, Pittsburgh, 47; Arenado, St. Louis, 45; Edman, St. Louis, 45; Winker, Cincinnati, 44; T.Turner, Washington, 43; Castellanos, Cincinnati, 41; Tapia, Colorado, 41; J.Turner, Los Angeles, 41; Cronenworth, San Diego, 40; Hosmer, San Diego, 40.

LEADERS PRIOR TO SATURDAY’S GAMES AMERICAN LEAGUE BATTING—Mercedes, Chicago, .374; Alvarez, Houston, .346; Bogaerts, Boston, .345; Trout, Los Angeles, .342; Martinez, Boston, .340; Gurriel, Houston, .333; Walsh, Los Angeles, .326; T.Anderson, Chicago, .316; Mullins, Baltimore, .313; Guerrero Jr., Toronto, .310.

TYLER

DOUBLES—Bryant, Chicago, 14; Reynolds, Pittsburgh, 14; Arenado, St. Louis, 13; Betts, Los Angeles, 12; A.Frazier, Pittsburgh, 12; M.Rojas, Miami, 12; Albies, Atlanta, 10; Hoskins, Philadelphia, 10; Story, Colorado, 10; Winker, Cincinnati, 10.

TRIPLES—D.Peralta, Arizona, 5; A.Frazier, Pittsburgh, 3; Owings, Colorado, 3; C.Taylor, Los Angeles, 3; 18 tied at 2.

HOME RUNS—Acuña Jr., Atlanta, 12; Bryant, Chicago, 10; Tatis Jr., San Diego, 9; Aguilar, Miami, 9; Castellanos, Cincinnati, 9; Freeman, Atlanta, 9; T.Turner, Washington, 9; 9 tied at 8.

STOLEN BASES—Chisholm Jr., Miami, 7; Edman, St. Louis, 7; Hampson, Colorado, 7; Tatis Jr., San Diego, 7; T.Turner, Washington, 7; Acuña Jr., Atlanta, 6; Báez, Chicago, 6; Grisham, San Diego, 6; Machado, San Diego, 6; Slater, San Francisco, 6; Story, Colorado, 6.

PITCHING—Flaherty, St. Louis, 7-0; Kershaw, Los Angeles, 6-3; J.Urías, Los Angeles, 5-1; Tr.Rogers, Miami, 5-2; Wood, San Francisco, 4-0; Ynoa, Atlanta, 4-1; Brogdon, Philadelphia, 4-1; Bumgarner, Arizona, 4-2; J.Gray, Colorado, 4-3; Miley, Cincinnati, 4-3; Arrieta, Chicago, 4-3.

ERA—deGrom, New York, 0.68; Woodruff, Milwaukee, 1.64; Tr.Rogers, Miami, 1.84; Gausman, San Francisco, 1.85; Stroman, New York, 2.01; Darvish, San Diego, 2.08; Scherzer, Washington, 2.10; DeSclafani, San Francisco, 2.14; T.Walker, New York, 2.19; Ynoa, Atlanta, 2.23.

STRIKEOUTS—Scherzer, Washington, 68; Bauer, Los Angeles, 67; deGrom, New York, 65; F.Peralta, Milwaukee, 61; Woodruff, Milwaukee, 61; Darvish, San Diego, 59; Gausman, San Francisco, 59; Musgrove, San Diego, 59; Burnes, Milwaukee, 58; Kershaw, Los Angeles, 57; Tr.Rogers, Miami, 57.

HORSE RACING Belterra Park Entries Post time: Monday, 12:35 p.m.

1st—$8,200, 3YO up, 6f.

Starship Mrcry 123 ElectricAvnue 123 Run This Town 123 IndpndentIndy 123 Waldorf 123 Got the Notion 123 2nd—$11,200, 3YO up, 1mi.

Wind Twist 121 Estilo Plgrso 121 Mike Is Rdy 123 Zacapa Run 121 Nod to Persia 121 Dncngintodrk 121 3rd—$13,300, 3YO up F&M, 1mi 70yd. a-Lady Breanna 121 No Interest 121 Narrows Bridge 121 Honey Brbon 121 War Eagle’s Lve 123 a-Clrinclonel 121 a-Coupled.

4th—$24,400, 3YO up (NW2 L), 6f.

Wht a Rmor 117 Mymnstrsfrreal 117 Mcdoooo Kid 123 Blanda 123 Scooby Drew 119 Master Vlme 123 5th—$8,200, 3YO up, 1mi.

Runmaliburun 125 CmeOnVnzla 125 Blue Mesa 125 St. Ronans 125 Perfect Comic 125 TopHatVyger 125 6th—$8,200, 3YO up, 1mi.

Alvarado 125 MonrchsMusic 125 S S Smarty 125 Terrible Towel 125 With It Wlter 119 Cavu Cmmnd 125 Mutadarrib 125 RprtheWrld 125 O’Haire 125 Niagara Gold 125 Makbule 125 7th—$16,800, 3YO up F&M (NW3 L), 1mi.

Kertara 121 Fiona Power 121 Charge It All 115 Trust in Me 121 Drmng of Pris 121 Prncess Athna 121 Stylish Ash 121 MissImprfctn 121 8th—$8,200, 3YO up F&M, 1mi.

Shesdiamonte 123 General Gnny 119 Five O’Clock 123 West Burke 123 Joplin 123 MissPacoLmn 123 Whatarocket 123 Rhoda’s Jwll 123 Belterra Park Entries Post time: Tuesday, 12:35 p.m.

1st—$20,100, 3YO up F&M, 6f.

Tapjen 122 Check Out Line 120 Congrats Jnsn 117 Power Banker 120 Status Symbol 120 Shza Fine Jstce 120 2nd—$8,200, 3YO up F&M, 1mi.

Dixie Moll 120 Tactical Edge 120 Maliced 120 Samis Car 120 Three Birds 120

3rd—$16,200, 3YO up, 61/2f.

Da Dude 121 Rsco P. Cltrne Little Blaker 121 Sir Leonidas Send Me On 121 Often Enough 4th—$8,200, 3YO up, 1mi 70yd.

Accoustical 120 Emprors Gold Honey Dont 120 Moon Launch Long On Luck 120 Lizzy's Lure 5th—$12,200, 3YO up, 6f.

Call Papa 119 Lve Twnty Six Mndtory Msk 119 Just Plunge RdeOnCmnche 119 Ndabetterjock El Boricua 124 6th—$8,200, 3YO up F&M, 6f.

Kiss Me Prado 124 Mariah's Girl Magestal Btida 119 Momma Crbbd Jokingly 124 Kitten Express Miss Sky Cat 119 7th—$16,400, 3YO up F&M, 1mi.

Holly Go Lightly 121 Momenta Kat Redhot Katie 121 Positive Vibes C C My Sis 123 My Wyntr Rse Itsallabtmeme 121 8th—$13,300, 3YO up F&M, 6f.

Trickizar 122 Jazz Brunch Dlghtfl Dmond 120 Sunset Empire Margaret Drive 115 Jima's Gold Robotron 120 Dichotomy

120 122 120 119 119 119 119 124 119 121 121 121 122 120 120 120

Churchill Downs Entries Post time: Sunday, 12:45 p.m.

1st—$29,400, 4YO up F&M, 61/2f.

Isabelle's Joy 118 Diva Banker 118 Bonnet 120 Fleeta Belle 118 Lady Kaza 118 2nd—$35,000, 3YO up, 1 1/16mi.

Smtimes Always118 Beocca 118 Western Phroah 118 High Tone 125 Mr. Thndrstrck 118 G for Gerry 118 Of the Moment 118 Bckts of Rain 118 Mrvlsmndance 118 Bolu 118 Ames Mister 118 Harpn Harry 118 Parrot Head 118 Boone's Spirit 118 Boss Is a Pal 118 Niagra Skyline 118 3rd—$44,100, 4YO up, 7f.

Irish Hokie 118 FireMrshllBill 118 Yankee Seven 118 Cove Blue 118 Chmpgneonme 118 4th—$100,000, 3YO up F&M, 7f.

Liberty M D 124 Priddis 118 Perhaps 118 Front Strt 118 Poetic Honor 118 5th—$100,000, 3YO up, 1mi.

Find New Rds 118 Defied 125 Fortified 118 Rustler 118 Prfrmng Arts 118 Prairie 118 Cool Rags 118 Pregame 118 Burrow 118 Project Thndr 118 Reserve 118 LoottheMoon 118 Beduin Fghtr 118 Centrifuge 125 In Effect 118 6th—$47,500, 3YO up, 7f.

Island Boy 124 Savoy 118 Kolsch 118 Tenth of Gold 118 Junesandra 118 Amrcn Union 124 Elvirus 118 MjstcSummer 118 7th—$104,000, 3YO up, 51/2f.

Straight Shot 121 AmrcnMndate 121 Bad Beat Brn 121 Oceanic 123 Payne 121 Pico d'Oro 116 AmrcnBtterfly 121 Chaps 121 Souper Dormy 121 Coltonator 121 Donnels Creek 121 Dean Martini 121 Gray Attempt 121 8th—$37,300, 4YO up, 1mi.

Tres Equis 118 Gigging 118 Kadesh 118 Subdued 118 Exulting 123 Wagon Boss 120 Lghing Fox 118 Don't Forget 118 I Will Stand 120 Candy Carlos 118 9th—$100,000, 3YO up, 1mi.

Charger 118 Dogwds Csby 118 Holdtheflight 125 El Kabong 118 Modern Scnce 118 SliabhAughty 125 Emphasize 118 Tariff War 118 Purple Drm 118 Shaldag 118 Our Integrity 118 Nilsby 118 City Tavern 118 Tango Tango 118 Lvsh McTvish 118 Churchill Downs Results Saturday 1st—$33,900, 3YO up, 1 1/16mi.

6 BdMnstr(HernandezJr) 5.20 3.40 2.60 4 Dejohn (F.Arrieta) 6.20 3.80 3 Musk (C.Lanerie) 2.80

&

CAMERON

121 121 121

MATT JAMES

Off 12:46. Time 1:44.94. Fast.

Scratched—Southern Rags.

Also Ran—Eagle Cap, Tiz the Journey, Draft Capital. Exacta (6-4) paid $32.60. $0.1 Superfecta (6-4-3-5) paid $42.57. $0.5 Trifecta (6-4-3) paid $25.95.

2nd—$40,500, 3YO up, 61/2f.

4 All Eyes West (Arrieta) 9.60 5.20 3.40 2 Mr. Walsh (Saez) 5.80 3.60 3 Fast Bob (Corrales) 3.20 Off 1:16. Time 1:16.45. Fast. Also Ran—Wicked Indeed, Hooperdrivesthboat, Drop Anchor. $1 Daily Double (6-4) paid $16.80. Exacta (4-2) paid $46.60. $0.1 Superfecta (4-2-3-6) paid $24.19. $0.5 Trifecta (4-2-3) paid $40.30.

3rd—$100,000, 3YO up F&M, 1mi, tf.

1 Dmdog (Landeros) 45.415.20 9.40 5 SptstnShrl(Van Dyke) 4.20 3.20 9 NrmaJnB (Beschizza) 6.80 Off 1:48.

Time 1:36.21.

Firm.

Scratched—Candy Anne, Mummy Dearest, Incessant, Admaa. Also Ran—Semble Juste, Flippant, Prominently, Natalies Charm, Shush, Nota Bene, Evidence Based, Picasso Collection, Suchada. $0.5 Pick 3 (6-4-1) 3 Correct Paid $86.00. $1 Daily Double (4-1) paid $73.90.

Exacta (1-5) paid $218.60. $0.1 Superfecta (1-5-9-3) paid $707.80. $0.5 Trifecta (1-5-9) paid $434.85.

4th—$33,900, 3YO up F&M, 1mi.

8 WlkMeHm(Graham) 6.40 4.20 3.00 3 PrncssDr(Lanerie) 8.20 4.20 1 Nrtrng(Gaffalione) 2.80 Off 2:19. Time 1:37.76. Fast. Also Ran—Winze, Simply Beguiled, I'm Stylin, Bertrada, Clearly Smashing. $0.5 Pick 3 (4-1-8) 3 Correct Paid $89.95. $1 Daily Double (1-8) paid $77.40. Exacta (8-3) paid $42.60. $0.1 Superfecta (8-3-1-4) paid $23.87. $0.5 Trifecta (8-3-1) paid $33.35.

5th—$50,900, 3YO F, 6f.

4 LdyFstd(HernandezJr) 11.4 3.00 2.40 7 KlysSstr (Gaffalione) 2.20 2.10 1 To a T (Geroux) 2.60 Off 2:48.

Time 1:09.80.

Fast.

Scratched—Wild Combo.

Also Ran—Caught Looking, Stylish Rags, Chakra. $0.5 Pick 5 (1/6-4-1-8-4) 5 Correct Paid $3,256.15. $0.5 Pick 4 (4-1-8-4) 4 Correct Paid $950.30. $0.5 Pick 3 (1-8-4) 3 Correct Paid $227.50. $0.5 Consolation Pick 3 (1-8-5) 3 Correct Paid $24.90. $1 Consolation Double (8-5) paid $3.30. $0.5 Trifecta (4-7-1) paid $18.00. $1 Daily Double (8-4) paid $22.10. Exacta (4-7) paid $24.60. $0.1 Superfecta (4-7-1-2) paid $10.57.

NOTE: NOT COMPLETE AT TIME OF PRINT

PRO BASKETBALL LEADERS THROUGH MAY 14 Scoring G FG FT Curry, GS 62 642 357 Beal, WAS 59 662 402 Lillard, POR 66 595 446 Embiid, PHI 51 461 471 Antknmpo, MIL 60 620 396 Doncic, DAL 65 641 340 LaVine, CHI 58 569 253 Irving, BKN 52 533 200 Williamson, NO 61 634 369 Tatum, BOS 63 597 289 Mitchell, UTA 53 478 267 Jokic, DEN 71 723 339 Young, ATL 62 484 481 Booker, PHO 66 613 336 Fox, SAC 58 529 300 Leonard, LAC 52 465 261 Brown, BOS 58 538 191 Sexton, CLE 59 520 307

PTS 1969 1853 1906 1451 1702 1812 1591 1412 1647 1666 1401 1877 1584 1685 1461 1292 1430 1444

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TELEVISION PERSONALITIES & FORMER D1 ATHLETES

CELEBRATING

IN HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS The Cincinnati High School Sports Awards will feature some of the biggest names in professional sports, including ABC’s The Bachelor stars Matt James and Tyler Cameron as your Red Carpet Hosts and more! The show will honor the accomplishments of high school athletes, coaches and teams both on and off the field. Watch it all on the show website through a free broadcast, thanks to area sponsors. See the full list of guest presenters and student honorees online.

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S P O R T S A W A R D S . U S A T O D AY. C O M / C I N C I N N A T I WATCH IT 6.30.21 #CINCIHSSA

AVG 31.8 31.4 28.9 28.5 28.4 27.9 27.4 27.2 27.0 26.4 26.4 26.4 25.5 25.5 25.2 24.8 24.7 24.5

cincinnati.com

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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11C

THE BACKSTOP NATIONAL SCOREBOARD SCOREBOARD All times EDT

MLB American League Glance East Division W

L

W

L

Boston New York Toronto Tampa Bay Baltimore

24 16 21 17 20 17 22 19 16 22 Central Division

Chicago Cleveland Kansas City Detroit Minnesota

23 14 21 15 17 21 13 25 12 24 West Division W

Oakland Houston Seattle Texas Los Angeles

Pct

.600 — .553 2 .541 2½ .537 2½ .421 7 Pct

.622 .583 .447 .342 .333 L

GB

Pct

GB

— 1½ 6½ 10½ 10½

GB

24 16 .600 — 22 17 .564 1½ 19 20 .487 4½ 18 22 .450 6 16 21 .432 6½ Friday’s Games Kansas City 6, Chicago White Sox 2, 7 innings, 1st game Chicago Cubs 4, Detroit 2 Boston 4, L.A. Angels 3 N.Y. Yankees 5, Baltimore 4 Tampa Bay 3, N.Y. Mets 2 Chicago White Sox 3, Kansas City 1, 7 innings, 2nd game Oakland 6, Minnesota 1 Houston 10, Texas 4 Philadelphia 5, Toronto 1 Seattle 7, Cleveland 3 Saturday’s Games Tampa Bay 12, N.Y. Mets 5 Oakland at Minnesota, late Chicago Cubs at Detroit, late L.A. Angels at Boston, late N.Y. Yankees at Baltimore, late Kansas City at Chicago White Sox, late Texas at Houston, late Philadelphia at Toronto, late Cleveland at Seattle, late Sunday’s Games N.Y. Yankees (Montgomery 2-1) at Baltimore (Means 4-0), 1:05 p.m.

Philadelphia (Anderson 2-3) at Toronto (Ray 1-1), 1:07 p.m.

Chicago Cubs (Hendricks 2-4) at Detroit (Boyd 2-3), 1:10 p.m.

L.A. Angels (Quintana 0-3) at Boston (Eovaldi 4-2), 1:10 p.m.

N.Y. Mets (Stroman 3-3) at Tampa Bay (Yarbrough 2-3), 1:10 p.m.

Kansas City (Singer 1-3) at Chicago White Sox (Cease 2-0), 2:10 p.m.

Oakland (Bassitt 3-2) at Minnesota (Maeda 2-2), 2:10 p.m.

Texas (Gibson 3-0) at Houston (McCullers Jr. 3-1), 2:10 p.m.

Cleveland (Bieber 4-2) at Seattle (TBD), 4:10 p.m.

National League Glance East Division New York Philadelphia Atlanta Miami Washington

W

L

Pct

GB

18 15 21 18 18 20 17 21 15 19 Central Division

.545 — .538 — .474 2½ .447 3½ .441 3½

23 16 20 19 18 19 17 19 16 22 West Division

.590 — .513 3 .486 4 .472 4½ .421 6½

St. Louis Milwaukee Chicago Cincinnati Pittsburgh

W

L

W

L

Pct

Pct

GB

GB

San Francisco 23 15 .605 — San Diego 22 17 .564 1½ Los Angeles 21 17 .553 2 Arizona 17 22 .436 6½ Colorado 15 24 .385 8½ Friday’s Games

Chicago Cubs 4, Detroit 2 Pittsburgh 3, San Francisco 2, 11 innings Tampa Bay 3, N.Y. Mets 2 Philadelphia 5, Toronto 1 Atlanta 6, Milwaukee 3 Colorado 9, Cincinnati 6 Washington 17, Arizona 2 L.A. Dodgers 9, Miami 6 San Diego 5, St. Louis 4 Saturday’s Games Tampa Bay 12, N.Y. Mets 5 Chicago Cubs at Detroit, late San Francisco at Pittsburgh, late Atlanta at Milwaukee, late Philadelphia at Toronto, late Cincinnati at Colorado, late Washington at Arizona, late St. Louis at San Diego, late Miami at L.A. Dodgers, late Sunday’s Games San Francisco (Wood 4-0) at Pittsburgh (Keller 2-4), 1:05 p.m.

Philadelphia (Anderson 2-3) at Toronto (Ray 1-1), 1:07 p.m.

Chicago Cubs (Hendricks 2-4) at Detroit (Boyd 2-3), 1:10 p.m.

N.Y. Mets (Stroman 3-3) at Tampa Bay (Yarbrough 2-3), 1:10 p.m.

Atlanta (Ynoa 4-1) at Milwaukee (Peralta 3-1), 2:10 p.m.

Cincinnati (Hoffman 2-3) at Colorado (Senzatela 1-4), 3:10 p.m.

Miami (López 0-3) at L.A. Dodgers (Buehler 1-0), 4:10 p.m.

Washington (Fedde 2-4) at Arizona (Weaver 2-3), 4:10 p.m.

St. Louis (Kim 1-0) at San Diego (Weathers 2-1), 7:08 p.m.

NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE W L Pct z-Philadelphia 48 23 .676 x-Brooklyn 47 24 .662 y-Milwaukee 45 25 .643 x-New York 40 31 .563 x-Atlanta 40 31 .563 x-Miami 39 31 .557 Boston 36 35 .507 Charlotte 33 38 .465 Washington 33 38 .465 Indiana 33 38 .465 Chicago 30 41 .423 Toronto 27 44 .380 Cleveland 22 49 .310 Orlando 21 50 .296 Detroit 20 51 .282 WESTERN CONFERENCE W L Pct y-Utah 51 20 .718 y-Phoenix 50 21 .704 x-Denver 47 24 .662 x-L.A. Clippers 47 24 .662 y-Dallas 42 29 .592 Portland 41 30 .577 L.A. Lakers 41 30 .577 Memphis 38 33 .535 Golden State 38 33 .535 San Antonio 33 38 .465 New Orleans 31 40 .437 Sacramento 31 40 .437 Minnesota 22 49 .310 Oklahoma City 21 50 .296 Houston 17 54 .239 x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division z-clinched conference Friday’s Games Washington 120, Cleveland 105 Denver 104, Detroit 91 Utah 109, Oklahoma City 93 Philadelphia 122, Orlando 97 Houston 122, L.A. Clippers 115 Memphis 107, Sacramento 106 Dallas 114, Toronto 110 Golden State 125, New Orleans 122 Saturday’s Games Brooklyn 105, Chicago 91 New York 118, Charlotte 109, OT L.A. Lakers 122, Indiana 115 Boston 124, Minnesota 108 Phoenix 140, San Antonio 103 Miami at Milwaukee, late

GB — 1 2½ 8 8 8½ 12 15 15 15 18 21 26 27 28 GB — 1 4 4 9 10 10 13 13 18 20 20 29 30 34

Sunday’s Games Boston at New York, 1 p.m.

Charlotte at Washington, 1 p.m.

Indiana at Toronto, 1 p.m.

Phoenix at San Antonio, 2 p.m.

Memphis at Golden State, 3:30 p.m.

Cleveland at Brooklyn, 7 p.m.

Houston at Atlanta, 7 p.m.

Orlando at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.

Miami at Detroit, 8 p.m.

Dallas at Minnesota, 9 p.m.

Denver at Portland, 9 p.m.

L.A. Clippers at Oklahoma City, 9 p.m.

L.A. Lakers at New Orleans, 9 p.m.

Milwaukee at Chicago, 9 p.m.

Utah at Sacramento, 9 p.m.

WNBA Friday’s Games New York 90, Indiana 87 Connecticut 78, Atlanta 67 Phoenix 77, Minnesota 75 Dallas 94, Los Angeles 71 Saturday’s Games Chicago 70, Washington 56 Seattle 97, Las Vegas 83 Sunday’s Games New York at Indiana, 2 p.m.

Phoenix at Connecticut, 7 p.m.

MLS EASTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts GF GA

NY City FC Montreal New England New York D.C. United Orlando City Nashville Atlanta Columbus Philadelphia Toronto FC Inter Miami Chicago Cincinnati

2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0

1 1 1 2 3 0 0 1 1 2 2 2 4 2

2 2 2 0 0 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1

8 8 8 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 1 1

10 4 8 6 6 6 7 5 5 9 5 2 6 4 5 4 3 3 4 5 7 9 5 7 3 10 2 10

WESTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts GF GA

Seattle San Jose LA Galaxy Houston Vancouver Colorado Sporting KC Real Salt Lake Austin FC FC Dallas LA FC Portland Minnesota

NHL East Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA y-Pittsburgh 56 37 16 3 77 196 156 x-Washington 56 36 15 5 77 191 163 x-Boston 56 33 16 7 73 168 136 x-NY Islanders 56 32 17 7 71 156 128 NY Rangers 56 27 23 6 60 177 157 Philadelphia 56 25 23 8 58 163 201 New Jersey 56 19 30 7 45 145 194 Buffalo 56 15 34 7 37 138 199 Central Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA y-Carolina 56 36 12 8 80 179 136 x-Florida 56 37 14 5 79 189 153 x-Tampa Bay 56 36 17 3 75 181 147 x-Nashville 56 31 23 2 64 156 154 Dallas 56 23 19 14 60 158 154 Chicago 56 24 25 7 55 161 186 Detroit 56 19 27 10 48 127 171 Columbus 56 18 26 12 48 137 187 West Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA z-Colorado 56 39 13 4 82 197 133 x-Vegas 56 40 14 2 82 191 124 x-Minnesota 56 35 16 5 75 181 160 x-St. Louis 56 27 20 9 63 169 170 Arizona 56 24 26 6 54 153 176 Los Angeles 56 21 28 7 49 143 170 San Jose 56 21 28 7 49 151 199 Anaheim 56 17 30 9 43 126 179 North Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA y-Toronto 56 35 14 7 77 187 148 x-Edmonton 55 35 18 2 72 182 150 x-Winnipeg 56 30 23 3 63 170 154 x-Montreal 56 24 21 11 59 159 168 Calgary 53 24 26 3 51 142 150 Ottawa 56 23 28 5 51 157 190 Vancouver 52 21 28 3 45 136 173 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. The top four teams in each division will qualify for playoffs under this season’s temporary realignment. x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division Friday’s Games Winnipeg 4, Toronto 2 Saturday’s Games Vancouver at Edmonton, late Sunday’s Games Calgary at Vancouver, 10:30 p.m.

Playoff schedule Saturday, May 15 Boston at Washington, late Sunday, May 16 N.Y. Islanders at Pittsburgh, 12 p.m.

Minnesota at Vegas, 3 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Florida, 7:30 p.m.

ON THE AIR

4 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1

0 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 3 4

1 13 11 2 0 9 10 6 0 9 8 8 2 8 6 5 1 7 5 4 1 7 5 5 1 7 6 7 0 6 6 4 0 6 5 5 2 5 6 5 2 5 5 4 0 3 4 8 0 3 4 10

Saturday, May 15 Toronto FC 1, NY City FC 1, tie Austin FC at LA Galaxy, late Montreal at Atlanta, late New York at Philadelphia, late FC Dallas at Minnesota, late Houston at Colorado, late Nashville at Real Salt Lake, late Portland at San Jose, late Sunday, May 16 Vancouver at Sporting KC, 2 p.m.

Miami at Cincinnati, 4 p.m.

Columbus at New England, 6 p.m.

Orlando City at D.C. United, 8 p.m.

Los Angeles FC at Seattle, 9:30 p.m.

NWSL W L T Pts GF GA Chicago 000 0 0 0 Gotham FC 000 0 0 0 N. Carolina 000 0 0 0 Portland 000 0 0 0 Washington 000 0 0 0 Reign FC 000 0 0 0 Houston 000 0 0 0 Orlando 000 0 0 0 Louisville 000 0 0 0 Kansas City 000 0 0 0 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie.

Saturday, May 15 Kansas City at Louisville, late Houston at Gotham FC, late North Carolina at Reign FC, late Sunday, May 16 Washington at Orlando, 6 p.m.

Chicago at Portland, 7 p.m.

GOLF PGA Tour AT&T Byron Nelson Friday Second Round Top 20 And Ties Sam Burns .......................65-62—127 (-17) Alex Noren ......................65-64—129 (-15) K.H. Lee ..........................65-65—130 (-14) Doc Redman ....................64-67—131 (-13) J.J. Spaun ........................63-69—132 (-12) Jordan Spieth ..................63-70—133 (-11) Matt Kuchar .....................67-66—133 (-11) Patton Kizzire ..................69-64—133 (-11) Seamus Power ................65-68—133 (-11) Charl Schwartzel .............65-68—133 (-11) Carlos Ortiz ......................67-66—133 (-11) Wyndham Clark ..............66-68—134 (-10) Ted Potter, Jr. .................66-68—134 (-10) Joseph Bramlett .............64-70—134 (-10) Vincent Whaley ..............69-65—134 (-10)

Ben Martin .....................65-69—134 (-10) Sebastián Muñoz ...........66-68—134 (-10) Brandt Snedeker ............66-68—134 (-10) Bronson Burgoon ...........68-66—134 (-10) Hank Lebioda ..................67-67—134 (-10) Roger Sloan ....................66-68—134 (-10) PGA Tour Champions Mitsubishi Electric Classic First Round Top 10 And Ties Stephen Ames ...................34-32—66 (-6) Paul Goydos .......................36-31—67 (-5) Gene Sauers ......................34-34—68 (-4) John Huston .......................37-32—69 (-3) Billy Andrade .....................33-36—69 (-3) Jim Furyk ............................34-36—70 (-2) Robert Karlsson .................34-36—70 (-2) Scott McCarron ..................35-35—70 (-2) M. A. Jimenez ....................34-36—70 (-2) Scott Dunlap ......................35-35—70 (-2) Doug Barron ......................34-36—70 (-2) Kirk Triplett ........................35-35—70 (-2) Ken Tanigawa .....................36-34—70 (-2) Kenny Perry .......................35-35—70 (-2) European Tour Betfred British Masters Saturday Final Round Top 10 And Ties (x-won on 1st playoff hole) x-Richard Bland....68-69-72-66—275 (-13) Guido Migliozzi .....68-72-67-68—275 (-13) Mikko Korhonen ....70-71-68-67—276 (-12) Dave Coupland .....71-69-68-68—276 (-12) Adrian Meronk......70-72-65-69—276 (-12) Andy Sullivan.........69-71-68-69—277 (-11) Dean Burmester....69-73-65-70—277 (-11) Robert Macintyre ..71-66-70-71—278 (-10) Calum Hill...............67-70-70-71—278 (-10) Edoardo Molinari ...71-72-64-71—278 (-10)

AUTO RACING NASCAR Cup Series Schedule May 16 — Drydene 400, Dover, Del. May 23 — NASCAR Cup Series Race at COTA, Austin, Texas May 30 — Coca-Cola 600, Concord, N.C. June 6 — Toyota / Save Mart 350, Sonoma, Calif.

June 13 — x-NASCAR All-Star Open, Fort Worth, Texas June 13 — NASCAR All-Star Race, Fort Worth, Texas June 20 — NASCAR Cup Series Race at Nashville, Nashville, Tenn.

June 26 — NASCAR Cup Series Race at Pocono, Long Pond, Pa. June 27 — NASCAR Cup Series Race at Pocono, Long Pond, Pa. July 4 — NASCAR Cup Series Race at Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis. July 11 — NASCAR Cup Series Race at Atlanta, Hampton, Ga. July 18 — Foxwoods Resort Casino 301, Loudon, N.H. IndyCar Schedule May 15 — GMR Grand Prix, Indianapolis, late May 30 — Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis.

June 12 — Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix 1, Detroit.

June 13 — Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix 2, Detroit.

June 20 — REV Group Grand Prix at Road America, Plymouth, Wis. July 4 — Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, Lexington, Ohio.

July 11 — Honda Indy Toronto, Toronto.

TRANSACTIONS Saturday’s Transactions BASEBALL Major League Baseball American League BOSTON RED SOX — Placed RHP Garrett Whitlock on the COVID-19 IL. Recalled RHP Colten Brewer from Worcester (Triple-A East). Sent CF Enrique Hernandez to Worcester for a rehab

assignment.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Optioned RHP Alex McRae to Charlotte (Triple-A East).

KANSAS CITY ROYALS — Optioned RHP Ronald Bolanos to Omaha (Triple-A East).

LOS ANGELES ANGELS — Acquired RHP Hunter Strickland from Tampa Bay for a player to be named and cash considerations.

MINNESOTA TWINS — Placed OF Jake Cave on the 60-day IL. Selected the contract of OF Rob Refsnyder from St. Paul (Triple-A East).

TAMPA BAY RAYS — Traded RHP Hunter Strickland to Los Angeles Angels for cash.

Activated 1B Ji-Man Choi from the 10-day IL. TEXAS RANGERS — Selected the contract of RHP Hunter Wood from Round Rock (Triple-A West). Optioned LHP Wes Benjamin to Round Rock. Designated C Jack Kruger for assignment.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS — Selected the contract of LHP Nick Allgeyer from Buffalo (Triple-A East). Transferred RHP David Phelphs from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL. National League ATLANTA BRAVES — Activated CF Guillermo Heredia from the 10-day IL. Optioned 2B Johan Camargo to Gwinnett (Triple-A East).

CHICAGO CUBS — Activated OF Ian Happ from the 10-day injured list. Designated INF Ildemaro Vargas for assignment.

COLORADO ROCKIES — Sent LHP Kyle Freeland to Albuquerque (Triple-A West) on a rehab assignment. Recalled RHP Antonio Santos from Albuquerque.

Optioned LHP Lucas Gilbreath to Albuquerque.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS — Selected the contract of LHP Hoby Milner from Nashville (Triple-A East). Optioned LHP Eric Lauer to Nashville.

NEW YORK METS — Selected the contract of INF Jake Hager from Syracuse (Triple-A East). Optioned OF Khalil Lee to Syracuse.

Designated RHP Trevor Hildenberger for assignment.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES — Recalled RHP Kyle Keller from Indianapolis (Triple-A East). Optioned RHP Miguel Yajure to Indianapolis. Sent OF/INF Hunter Owen outright to Indianapolis.

BASKETBALL National Basketball Association OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER — Signed G Charlie Brown Jr. to a rest-of-season contract.

FOOTBALL National Football League MINNESOTA VIKINGS — Signed RB Kene Nwangwu to a rookie contract.

SOCCER National Women’s Soccer League WASHINGTON SPIRIT — Signed 2021 F Tara McKeown to a two-year contract with an option for the third year.

ON THIS DATE May 16 1884 – Isaac Murphy, a black jockey and one of the greatest American riders, wins the Kentucky Derby aboard Buchanan. He will win the showcase race two more times.

1916 – Damrosch, ridden by Linus McAtee, takes the early lead, gives it up in the stretch, and comes back to beat Greenwood by 1½ lengths in the Preakness Stakes.

1925 – Flying Ebony, ridden by Earl Sande, becomes the fourth field horse to win the Kentucky Derby, a 1½-length victory over Captain Hal. 1976 – The Montreal Canadiens win their 19th Stanley Cup with a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers, capping a four-game sweep.

UPCOMING

AUTO RACING

NASCAR Cup Series: The Drydene 400, Dover International Speedway WeatherTech Sports Car Championship: The Acura Sports Car Challenge, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course MotoGP: The Grand Prix of France, Circuit of Le Mans (taped) NHRA: The NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, zMAX Dragway (taped)

SOCCER

2 p.m.

2:30 p.m.

FS1 NBCSN

5:30 p.m.

6 p.m.

NBCSN FS1

2 p.m.

FOX

12 p.m.

12 p.m.

1 p.m.

3 p.m.

ACCN SECN ESPN2 SECN

2 p.m.

ABC

12 p.m.

2:30 p.m.

5 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

ESPNU ESPNU ESPNU ESPNU

12 p.m.

2 p.m.

4 p.m.

9 p.m.

BTN BTN BTN ESPN2

1 p.m.

3 p.m.

3 p.m.

GOLF CBS GOLF

12:30 p.m.

FS2

1 p.m.

3:10 p.m.

7 p.m.

MLBN BSOH (FSO); 700-AM ESPN

1:15 p.m.

3:35 p.m.

ESPN ESPN

12 p.m.

3 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

NBC NBC NBCSN

1 p.m.

4 p.m.

CBS CBSSN

12 p.m.

CBSSN

6:25 a.m.

7 a.m.

9 a.m.

11:25 a.m.

4 p.m.

4 p.m.

6 p.m.

7 p.m.

9:30 p.m.

ESPN2 NBCSN NBCSN NBCSN ESPN2 FOX; 1530-AM ESPN2 FS2 FS1

9 p.m.

FS2

8:30 a.m.

TENNIS

2 p.m.

7 p.m.

CBSSN CBSSN

Sun. at Colorado, 3:10 p.m.

Mon. vs. San Francisco, 6:40 p.m.

Tues. vs. San Francisco, 6:40 p.m.

Sun. vs. Inter Miami CF, 4 p.m.

May 22 at CF Montreal, 1 p.m.

May 29 vs. New England, 3 p.m.

BOWLING

PBA Playoffs: Final COLLEGE BASEBALL

Wake Forest at Virginia Georgia at Florida Indiana at Michigan Vanderbilt at Mississippi COLLEGE FOOTBALL

FCS Tournament: S. Daktoa St. vs. Sam Houston St., Championship COLLEGE LACROSSE (MEN)

NCAA Tournament: Bryant at Virginia NCAA Tournament: Vermont at Maryland NCAA Tournament: High Point vs. Duke NCAA Tournament: Loyola (Md.) at Denver COLLEGE SOFTBALL

Michigan St. at Ohio St. Nebraska at Northwestern Illinois at Iowa NCAA Softball Championship Selection Special GOLF

PGA Tour: The AT&T Byron Nelson PGA Tour: The AT&T Byron Nelson PGA Tour Champions: The Mitsubishi Electric Classic HORSE RACING

NYRA: America’s Day at the Races MLB BASEBALL

LA Angels at Boston Reds at Colorado St. Louis at San Diego NBA BASKETBALL

Boston at New York Memphis at Golden State NHL HOCKEY

Stanley Cup East Division Playoff: NY Islanders at Pittsburgh Stanley Cup West Division Playoff: Minnesota at Vegas Stanley Cup Central Division Playoff: Tampa Bay at Florida RODEO

PBR: The Wrangler Invitational, 15⁄ 15 Bucking Battle (taped) PBR: The Wrangler Invitational, Championship Round RUGBY

MLR: Seattle at Old Glory DC SOCCER (MEN)

Serie A: Napoli at Fiorentina Premier League: Aston Villa at Crystal Palace Premier League: Wolverhampton at Tottenham Hotspur Premier League: Liverpool at West Bromwich Albion USL League One: Union Omaha at Greenville SC MLS: Inter Miami CF at FC Cincinnati MLS: Columbus SC at New England Liga MX: Santos Laguna at CF Monterrey, Quarterfinal Leg 2 MLS: LA FC at Seattle SURFER

WSL Championship Tour: The Rip Curl Rottnest Search, Rottnest Island TENNIS

Rome-ATP/WTA, ATP Singles & Doubles Final, WTA Singles Final WNBA BASKETBALL

New York at Indiana Phoenix at Connecticut

SPORTS VeeKay is third fi rst-time winner in IndyCar, at IMS Saturday INDIANAPOLIS – Rinus VeeKay continued IndyCar’s youth movement Saturday by scoring his fi rst career victory with a win on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The Dutchman became the third fi rst-time winner through fi ve races this season – the most at this point in the season since 2013.

The 20-year-old is the fourth winner 24 or younger to reach victory lane this season, joining Alex Palou, Colton Herta, and Pato O’Ward in what is quickly becoming a changing of the guard in IndyCar. Only six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon has been to victory lane so far this year for the veterans as the series heads next week into preparations for the Indianapolis 500.

VeeKay sliced through the center of Palou and Jimmie Johnson on a gutsy three-wide pass to show early how aggressive he was at Indy and then chased down pole-sitter Romain Grosjean to take his fi rst lead of the race on Lap 45.

Grosjean reclaimed the lead when VeeKay pitted, setting up a potential second showdown. But this time Grosjean was not able to beat VeeKay off pit road and VeeKay was easily past Grosjean before Grosjean got back onto track.

VeeKay beat him to the fi nish line by nearly 5 seconds.

“I knew we had the car, we were so fast,” VeeKay said after leading 33 laps.

VeeKay won for Ed Carpenter Racing, the fi rst victory for the team since Josef Newgarden won for them in 2016.

Newgarden has since moved to Team Penske and won two IndyCar champi-

onships.

Grosjean led a race-high 44 laps and fi nished second for his fi rst podium fi nish since 2015 in Formula One. The Frenchman survived a fi ery crash in Bahrain last November that left him with severe scarring on his hands and marked the end of his F1 career.

It took some work, but Djokovic reaches Rome fi nal against Nadal ROME – Maybe the new generation of tennis players isn’t quite so ready to end the eras of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

Titles for Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev in the Monte Carlo Masters and Madrid Open, respectively, raised speculation again that the Big Three – including Roger Federer – was expiring. Well, again, not yet.

Djokovic and Nadal won a total of three matches over younger players on Saturday and will renew their recordsetting rivalry in the Italian Open fi nal on Sunday – exactly two weeks before Roland Garros starts.

Djokovic regained his cool after throwing his racket off the court to beat Tsitsipas 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in a grueling, rain-delayed quarterfi nal that began on Friday.

Then the top-ranked Serb returned a few hours later against local favorite Lorenzo Sonego and won 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2 victory in his second match of the day. . “Hopefully I’ll have fresh legs, because that’s what I’ll need to play against Rafa,” Djokovic said Nadal kept his time on court to a minimum, beating big-serving American Reilly Opelka by 6-4, 6-4.

Associated Press

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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FORUM Your Turn Reggie Harris Guest columnist

We need to make life, as well as housing, aff ordable Even though Issue 3 did not pass – and I voted against it – I am grateful to the people who organized the eff ort.

Their tenacity pushed aff ordable housing into the center of conversation in Cincinnati.

A critical piece, however, has been missing from this conversation.

While having enough aff ordable units and accessing aff ordable housing is certainly the fi rst step, we need to ensure people can stay in their homes, pay their rent and easily access neighborhood amenities that create vibrant, safe and inclusive communities.

We need to make life aff ordable.

Working in aff ordable housing development I see fi rsthand that it is not enough to just put a roof over people’s heads, we have to also be responsive to people’s needs.

For example, when one of the communities I work in expressed a need for early childhood education and child care, we provided support for an early child care center to open onsite.

Not only that, but we also facilitated talent pipelines for workforce development programs and worked closely with health clinics, behavioral health institutions, hospitals and insurance companies to provide holistic programming and remove job barriers.

The goal is never just to build affordable housing. The goal is to ensure that people living in communities achieve their health, wealth and personal goals. My work has shown me that it is possible to create and implement equitable development that centers people over profi t. This approach shouldn’t just exist in a few companies and organizations, it needs to be adopted by city and county governments and woven into the development process.

Funding the Aff ordable Housing Trust with $50 million annually is a great goal. The recent decision made

by City Hall to fund $35 million is a strong step in the right direction. If elected to City Council, one of my top

Authentic leaders to serve only city needed Your Turn Charlie Winburn Guest columnist

Our city is facing a real leadership vacuum, and we are at a major crossroad choosing a new mayor and City Council that will not fail us again. The real question is this: What does Cincinnati really need right now in our future leaders other than programs, initiatives and campaign slogans?

I attended Harvard Business School and received my certifi cate in authentic leadership development. This leadership training helped me to reexamine my heart, character and motivation for desiring to lead in public service. What Cincinnati really needs is leaders who are authentic and who will take the time to reexamine or thoroughly check their personal lives and heart. They must ask the right question of why they really want to serve the public and lead the city.

Passing a corruption law is just not enough.

Simply passing laws will not stop a “culture of corruption” at City Hall. x Cincinnati mayoral candidates David Mann, left, and Aftab Pureval. PROVIDED

There is a demand from the citizenry for our new city leaders in Cincinnati to embrace a motivation to serve the city and not themselves. Right now, Cincinnati needs real leadership. We need leaders to recommit to honest principles of character, integrity and servant leadership.

Passing a corruption law is just not enough. Simply passing laws will not stop a “culture of corruption” at City Hall. This culture of corruption is a matter of a person’s heart which cannot be legislated.

We have well-intentioned political leaders running for mayor and City Council, thinking and saying that they are going to fi ght against corruption at City Hall. All of these wonderful slogans and catchphrases sound good but will not stop the culture of corruption at Cincinnati City Hall.

For each person running for mayor or City Council, a good place to start addressing this corruption issue is to make certain that there is zero See WINBURN, Page 3D

See HARRIS, Page 3D

IT’S NECESSARY

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Businesses within their rights to require masks I agree with former Republican state Rep. Candice Keller of Butler County that we are all tired of wearing a mask, but I’m not sure how Keller thinks it is a form of unlawful discrimination for a business to make a customer wear a mask (“Butler County says no to Keller request for mask sanctuary” May 9).

Ever heard of “no shirt, no shoes, no service”? Same thing. Get over it.

Laura White, Fairfi eld

Republican Party cannot let go of a pathetic loser In response to Jason Williams’ Politics Extra and Gary Gardella’s letter, I say, amen (“Ohio Republican Party has abandoned its moral and ethical foundation” May 9)! The Republican Party, whether of Ohio or the national level, has indeed “abandoned its moral and ethical foundation.” Like Mr. Gardella, I left the Republican Party because it “now accepts sedition and lies as its primary party line.” Both writers declare the truth: The Republican Party cannot let go of a pathetic loser.

Jan Garbett, Milan

SUNDAY+ A FULL PAGE OF YOUR LETTERS. 4D

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Now is not the time to reduce library funding Your Turn Paula Brehm-Heeger Guest columnist

Funding for the 251 public library systems across Ohio, including the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library, is currently in jeopardy of being reduced. About half of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library’s funding comes from tax levies, generously supported by Hamilton County voters, while the other half comes from the state of Ohio through the Public Library Fund (PLF). The House version of the current budget bill negatively impacts Ohio’s public libraries in several diff erent ways. As the proposed state budget stands, the Public Library Fund – the state fund that provides essential support to all public libraries across the state, including ours – will see a percentage reduction from 1.7% to 1.66% of the General Revenue Fund.

Now is not the time to reduce library funding. Throughout this past year, the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library has found new ways to continue doing what we do best, and that is serving our community. During the pandemic, we responded to our community members’ evolving needs, as we always do.

We continue to serve as a free COVID-19 testing site with thousands of tests being administered in connec-

In 2020, the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library checked out more than 14.4 million items, including 4.8 million digital items. THE ENQUIRER

tion with our community health partners, ensuring equitable access to residents across the county to this vital service. Our drive-thru locations are serving as a distribution point for athome rapid COVID test kits. We have helped thousands of residents with their vaccine appointments and have an information page on our website dedicated to fact-based COVID-19 vaccine information.

In 2020, we supplied TriHealth with over 700 masks that were sewn in our

MakerSpaces. We also attended to the needs of our young people, whose lives have been so disrupted by the pandemic, by not only providing hundreds of virtual storytimes and kid-focused online programs, but also serving over 230,000 meals and snacks to youth.

And we continued to focus on our longstanding role as an information and reading resource, checking out more than 14.4 million items, including 4.8 million digital items.

We worked on behalf of our commu-

nity partners to help those in great need during 2020, including scanning and faxing documents for free for residents needing to send required paperwork to Hamilton County Jobs and Family services – paperwork that serves as a lifeline to many who struggled during the pandemic in particular.

Now is clearly not the time to reduce public library funding. Additionally, unlike in other states with diff erent state organizational structures, in Ohio our public libraries are not eligible to directly receive many of the dollars that will become available through the federal American Rescue Plan Act. While we appreciate that the federal government has provided some increased funding to the Institute of Museum and Library Services to support public libraries, museums and school and university libraries, those funds are one-time dollars issued through a competitive grant process. There is no guarantee our local library, or any libraries in Ohio for that matter, will receive any of these dollars.

I urge you to contact your state senator and ask them to maintain the Public Library Fund at 1.7% of the General Revenue Fund and to hold public libraries harmless from tax cuts. It is a modest request for institutions that contribute so much to our local communities here in Hamilton County and across the great state of Ohio.

Paula Brehm-Heeger is the Eva Jane Romain Coombe director of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library.

There is help for 1 in 5 adults who have a mental illness Your Turn Erika Clark Jones Guest columnist

We live in extraordinary times, and the emotional costs of the dual pandemic – COVID-19 and systemic racism – have ongoing repercussions on the well-being of many in our community.

May's Mental Health Awareness Month is particularly relevant this year for reasons that go well beyond the initial purpose to educate and reduce stigma surrounding mental illness.

We have seen the headlines warning of the pending mental health crisis, but in many ways the pandemic just served

to shine a light on and exacerbate what was already there.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 1 in 5 adults in the United States have a mental illness – and that was before the pandemic began.

The isolation, loss and health concerns for individuals and families because of the COVID-19 outbreak has caused even more stress and anxiety.

Recently, Mental Health America reported that nationally there has been a 93% increase in anxiety screenings and a 62% increase in depression screenings as compared to 2019.

While the pandemic is aff ecting everyone in our communities, it is hitting hardest those who already struggle with mental illness or addiction.

For people of color, there is the added physical and emotional toll of systemic racism.

There is a clear intersection between physical health and mental health. Underlying trauma from facing racism as a person of color has longterm impacts on both physical and mental health. Mental Health America has defi ned racism itself is a mental health issue.

There is a tremendous need for support right now. But there is still a stigma that asking for help is a sign of weakness.

It is up to all of us to change that perception. Taking care of our mental health makes us stronger.

During diffi cult times, it is important to maintain the stamina to con-

tinue the journey.

The challenge is knowing when to seek out help. I hear so many stories of personal struggle not only in my professional life, but through family members and friends.

It is OK not to be OK – especially now, during this most challenging time. Talking to someone can help.

In addition, there are steps we all can take to help build resiliency.

Find safe ways to stay connected with family and friends. Explore what brings you joy – that connection to a higher purpose, and fi nally, and most importantly, give yourself permission to grieve.

Erika Clark Jones is CEO of the Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board of Franklin County in Columbus.

ENQUIRER EDITORIAL

Big Tech profi ts from local news. It’s time they pay Quality local journalism is essential to creating an informed and engaged public and ensuring a thriving democracy. But local journalism has been a victim of Big Tech’s dominant practices for years. Google and Facebook use – and benefi t from – our news content and audiences, but they don’t return value to news publishers. That’s why we’re asking Congress to support the “Journalism Competition and Preservation Act.” Over the past 14 months, local journalism has been more important than ever. From COVID-19’s devastating blows to cities and towns of all sizes, to the reignited social justice movement and the explosive 2020 U.S. presidential election and its tumultuous aftermath, people have been turning to news publishers to keep them up to date on how the changes happening around the world – and in their own backyards – aff ect their daily lives.

News has been more in-demand than at any other time in recent history. But the local news publishers that provide this invaluable information are struggling in an online environment dominated by a few big tech platforms.

The tech platforms have been allowed to get bigger and bigger, exerting their power and infl uence in ways that stifl e competition and eat into news publishers’ revenue. The term “Big Media” is thrown around but, as of 2018, Google and Facebook had nearly four times as much revenue as the entirety of the U.S. news media (TV, print and digital), and those companies have

A look at The Enquirer’s home at 312 Elm Street in Downtown Cincinnati.

Local news publishers are urging Congress to pass the “Journalism Competition and Fairness Act.” GLENN HARTONG/THE ENQUIRER

grown tremendously since. Those two companies alone currently attract about 80 percent of digital ad spending and 45 percent of all ad spending in the United States.

The harm to local news The system is stacked against news publishers. Google and Facebook pay to license music and many types of content, but they have refused to fairly compensate the creators of critical journalism. Because of this, in the last two years, we have seen at least 300 news publications close, with more than 6,000 journalists laid off . A few of the big, national news outlets may be doing okay, but local news publishers, who provide the information that sustains communities, are getting pushed out. If we don’t fi nd a solution for local

journalism soon, there won’t be any left.

We have already seen what happened in Australia earlier this year when Facebook removed news from their feed in response to proposed legislation there that would require them to pay publishers for their content. In just two days, the void where news once appeared was quickly fi lled with misinformation and fake news. We cannot aff ord to learn what a world without quality journalism would look like. Fortunately, Facebook reinstated news and the legislation passed in Australia. Now, the rest of the world is following in its footsteps and moving toward a new and more equitable compensation system for publishers. After all, the platforms compensate music publishers and other creators. It’s now past time for them to compensate those who deliver real local journalism.

The government cannot regulate news under the First Amendment, but Facebook and Google are de facto regulators, deciding what content people see and when. They have undervalued quality news content and, as a result, the information ecosystem has become increasingly confusing and unhealthy. We have the solution that will give all forms of news media a decent shot at getting a fair return for their work and checking the power of government and Big Tech.

Local news publishers just want the ability to band together to fi ght for their future. Ironically, however, current antitrust laws actually protect Big Tech

from publishers taking any organized action.

Congress must take action To help resolve this crisis, we are asking U.S. senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman to support the “Journalism Competition and Preservation Act” (also known as the Safe Harbor Bill), which would give news publishers the ability to seek fair compensation for use of their content, and which would allow them to continue to invest in the critical newsgathering and reporting on which Americans depend.

With the passage of this bill, all news publishers, especially small and local publishers, would fi nally be able to ask the tech platforms for the compensation they need, and deserve.

We applaud those members of Congress across the country and on both sides of the aisle who have already shown their commitment to local journalism by co-sponsoring the “Journalism Competition and Preservation Act.” But we need support from every member of Congress. We hope our state representatives will agree that the quality reporting we provide for our community – and the future of all local journalism – is worth fi ghting for and will co-sponsor the Safe Harbor Bill today.

The Enquirer’s editorial board adapted and endorsed this opinion from the News Media Alliance, of which The Enquirer’s parent company, Gannett, is a member. What do you think? Send us a letter to the editor to share your thoughts.

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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FORUM

Electric world will shift how to pay for roads Your Turn Bonnie Jean Feldkamp Guest columnist

Orange barrels in a construction zone or a pothole in the street are my only road maintenance reminders. I usually curse the bump in the road and go about my day. My car gets more brain space. I’m directly responsible for its insurance and maintenance, and I buy gas to make it go. Maybe my next car I’ll plug in to keep it charged.

President Biden’s American Jobs Plan includes establishing an infrastructure for electric vehicles. Biden’s proposed actions will “accelerate deployment to make driving an electric vehicle convenient in every part of the country.”

However, Devon McAslan, Ph.D. researcher at the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University says, “One of the big concerns is as the transportation system electrifi es, any revenue from the gas tax to help fund roads will go away.”

President Biden foresees a nationwide network of 500,000 charging stations as well as incentives like rebates and tax breaks for purchasing electric vehicles. His plan talks a lot about infrastructure, but no one seems to agree on what infrastructure includes or who’s going to pay for it.

The Highway Trust Fund – which is

President Joe Biden speaks during an event on the American Jobs Plan in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus April 7 in Washington. Vice President Kamala Harris is at left. EVAN VUCCI, AP

funded through gas taxes and things like sales tax on heavy truck purchases, accounts for one-quarter of public spending on roads and highways. State and local governments foot the rest of the bill, and Dr. McAslan says, “At some point we’re going to be forced to think of new ways to fund transportation.”

Some states already charge annual fees for zero emissions vehicles in an attempt to recoup lost gas taxes. How-

ever, roadway pricing is also a possible solution. This doesn’t mean more toll roads. Roadway pricing means drivers literally pay per mile their car travels.

Dr. McAslan thinks a transition to a system like this would be good because it might “make people realize how much as a society that we subsidize driving.”

Both driving and public transportation are heavily subsidized, but drivers

either aren’t aware of that or they are OK with government support of personal transport. People get upset when states start talking about toll roads and bridges. Ironically, these tend to be the same people who think public transit should be self-sustaining. It’s not and never has been.

If drivers become more directly responsible for the roads they travel, it’s possible they will be more likely to use public transportation. If I could pay $2 to ride a bus or light rail and keep the mileage down on my personal vehicle, which then keeps my travel tax low, I see how it could be a win-win situation.

The biggest complaint against public transportation is that it struggles to compete with the door-to-door time effi ciency of a personal vehicle, but that’s a logistics problem that good city planning can address.

Dr. McAslan is also quick to point out that “driving is the largest contributor to greenhouse gasses in the U.S. right now.” An infrastructure that supports electric vehicles and shifts how we pay for our roads and bridges may be just the thing that inspires more people to consolidate trips, limit their driving, and opt for mass transit.

It’s a real opportunity to reduce our collective carbon footprints.

Bonnie Jean Feldkamp is a member of the Enquirer editorial board and media director for the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Find her on social media @WriterBonnie or email her at Bonnie@WriterBonnie.com.

Several reasons to pump the brakes on electric vehicles

Let’s talk about some other major problems associated with battery-operated vehicles. First, the signifi cant cost diff erential between gas-powered and electric vehicles will eliminate the electric automobile option for many Americans. What about the cost of installation of power outlets in homes that will be necessary to charge the ve-

hicle? Will the existing electric amperage service to the homes be able handle the additional power drain or will the electric service need to be updated at an additional cost? What about individuals that do not have garages and/or park their vehicles on the street? Will there be extension cords running from the residences to their EV parked on the

street?

Owning an electric vehicle may not be as cost eff ective and effi cient as our government would like us to believe!

Another major problem is the limited driving range associated with the electric vehicles and the problem of locating a charging station, the cost and time with recharging electric vehicles.

I’m also really concerned about the reliance on the electricity from the electric power grid and what happens if that power grid is hacked or destroyed by our enemies? Every day we hear stories about our government agencies, businesses, and individuals being hacked. It is obvious that our government leaders are not capable of protecting our data infrastructure from our enemies. And how are the old unusable batteries from these EVs disposed of, or will we have another environmental waste problem to address?

Don’t misunderstand, I’m not against this type of conversion. However, there are too many steps in the planning process that need to be addressed in a long-range plan for such a conversion or we will be faced with a much bigger problem. I think we need to “apply the brakes” on totally electric vehicles and transition to hybrid vehicles until the above issues can be eff ectively eliminated!

Dennis M. Luken lives in Pierce Township.

ership can be found in the book “The Leadership Challenge” by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner, Ph.D. As listed below, I have integrated their fi ve exemplary leadership practices into my fi ve major leadership challenges for the candidates for mayor and City Council. Cincinnati needs to elect these fi ve types of leaders: h Leaders who “model the way.” We need great-to-great leaders for this gen-

eration and the next in Cincinnati. h Leaders who will “inspire a shared vision” for Cincinnati and leave no one behind. h Leaders who “challenge the process” with kindness, civility and without violence or promoting city division. h Leaders who enable citizens to act as one Cincinnati by building trust, good will and collaboration across the city. h Leaders who “encourage the

hearts” of all Cincinnatians to aspire to greatness and improve the quality of life for all 52 neighborhoods.

It is evident that Cincinnati needs a new mayor and a new City Council that will move the city forward. Let’s make it happen!

Charlie Winburn is the Hamilton County treasurer, former Cincinnati city councilman and resident of Mt. Airy.

lic-private partnerships, create commercial taxes, off er mixed-income housing density bonuses and more.

Second, even as the trust is funded, we must restructure our housing system to promote mixed-income communities or risk continuing to isolate and perpetuate generational poverty.

I would not be here today without a single piece of legislation: a federal affordable homeownership loan that allowed my grandmother to purchase a home on the south side of Chicago, thus providing my family with generations of housing security. Having access to equitable pathways to homeownership

was life-changing. I carry this lesson with me to this day.

We do not have to reinvent the wheel. Members of our community, like LISC, and other cities have already done much of this work. These issues are systemic and will undoubtedly be met with pushback. Now, more than ever, we must be bold in our commitment to a more equitable Cincinnati.

This includes, but is not limited to: h Exclusionary zoning reform to increase housing supply and locations h Tax abatement reform h Aggressive homeownership initiatives

h Fair wages for Cincinnati workers h Transportation reform We’ve got a long road ahead of us, and there is a lot of uncertainty around the future of Cincinnati leadership. I can assure you that, if chosen to represent you, nobody will work harder or provide more expertise than I will to realize our vision for safety, stability and equity for all of Cincinnati.

Reggie Harris is a licensed clinical social worker and works in aff ordable housing development. He is also a candidate for Cincinnati City Council.

Your Turn Dennis Luken Guest columnist

I have a number of concerns about “putting the pedal to the metal” in converting to totally electric vehicles. I am no electrical engineer, however, I believe there are a number of issues that will need to be addressed as part of the long-range plans for such a conversion.

First and foremost, can the electrical power grid handle such a drain while pursuing this conversion to the “Green Machine?” The electrical energy needed to keep the batteries charged has to come from the grid and that means more power generation and a huge increase in the distribution infrastructure.

I understand we are currently trying to eliminate traditional power sources of fossil fuel and convert to solar, wind and water as a method of generating electric. Well, that did not work out to well for Texas during the extreme weather conditions in February, did it?

A month later, some residents were still without power and water.

The truth is, America will always have to rely on fossil fuels, natural gas or nuclear power to operate the equipment to provide electric to the grid.

Winburn Continued from Page 1D

corruption in their own heart. This is the challenge. Stopping the culture of corruption in one’s own heart is the greatest and best law that anyone can pass for themselves as political leaders.

The fi ve practices of exemplary lead-

Harris Continued from Page 1D

priorities will be to ensure that aff ordable housing is funded by sustainable private and public revenue sources – sources that complement and don’t interrupt job programs, mental health services or other essential city programs.

If elected, I will work tirelessly to incorporate proven strategies from cities like Columbus, Boston and Philadelphia – strategies that encourage pub-

A Cincinnati startup called Electrada installed an electric vehicle charging station at Findlay Market. HANNAH SPARLING/THE ENQUIRER

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OPINION

WRITING LETTERS OR OP-EDS: Letters of up to 200 words may be submitted by fi lling out the form at static.cincinnati.com/letter/ or emailing letters@enquirer.com. Include name, address, community and daytime phone number. Op-eds are submitted the same way except they should be 500-600 words and also include a one-sentence bio and head shot. Submissions may be edited for space and clarity.

SUNDAY+ LETTERS TO THE EDITOR What’s the big deal with Kentucky Derby horse?

I really don’t understand all the furor over the Kentucky Derby winner and the banned substance found in his system (“Derby winner test results, Medina Spirit and drugs” May 10).

Major League Baseball has allowed players who not only used banned substances but also provided them to other players to be listed on the Hall of Fame ballot every year.

Maybe we should suggest that the commissioner of baseball be allowed to make the fi nal call on Medina Spirit.

Mike Hauer, Villa Hills

Column by pediatrician on vaccination authoritative I really liked Erin McCann’s op-ed on how Ohio House Bill 248 is dangerous for young children with parents who could refuse to get them vaccinated, therefore leaving them susceptible to disease (“Vaccine refusal bill is an attack on the safety of children” May 9).

The column being written by a pediatrician, someone with experience in the fi eld, added a level of certainty and trust in the column. I really agreed with the point McCann was making, and I think she supported her claim really well. She used pathos a lot to reinforce her point, and I think it worked.

I think it would have been better if she outright explained what HB 248 was, because I could not fi nd a lot about it online. Overall, I thought it was a really good column that reinforced the point well.

Zachary Shultz, Liberty Township

Old, reactionary white men are being rendered obsolete Timothy Taylor’s op-ed, if nothing else, serves as a representative sample for the identity politics of old white men (“Guns, poverty kill more Blacks than police” May 9).

When faced with the issue of paid public servants killing unarmed Blacks, Taylor resorts to probability and statistics, as if hard numbers somehow off er a response to a social injustice. If he had delved into the pandemic issue, Taylor no doubt would have resorted to cost-benefi t analysis.

These are the markings of the white male identity etched in the image of some hard logic that provides us with stability and solidarity. The tribulations of Blacks then are due to their failure to fall into place and reinforce the image that white males hold of themselves.

Taylor then identifi es fatherless households as the ultimate cause of Black suff ering, again a reinforcement of his own identity. The productive household trade between husbands and wives disappeared over two generations ago. Aside from the Amish, there are no functional family households in this country. Instead, we have job holders negotiating the choices made with their discretionary wages. “What are we going to do this weekend? At what restaurant shall we eat? Where shall we take our vacation this year? What sports shall our children play?”

In those sectors of our society where there is no discretionary income, where these choices are not available, the two-parent household has largely disappeared. They have disappeared because they have no function, they are just an expensive bundle of social conceits and personal sentiments. If Taylor ever saw a real functional household, he would be annoyed and dismayed and would speak of good-paying jobs to lift these people out of their poverty and ignorance.

Why Mr. Taylor should even speak out on Black killings and poverty reveals the threat to his own identity. Old white men are being rendered obsolete, if not reactionary, as the world ceases to refl ect their image of themselves.

Thus in an era of unrelenting gun violence and climate change, the political right chooses instead to fi xate on identity politics as new identities rush in to fi ll the void of the fading white male identity.

Ronald Hischak, Evanston

Guest columnist proposed no worthwhile solutions whatsoever Timothy Taylor’s guest column brought to mind Josef Stalin’s famous

John Velazquez, riding Medina Spirit, throws a rose after his victory in the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby at Louisville’s Churchill Downs on May 1. JEFF ROBERSON/AP

quote, “One death is a tragedy; 1,000 deaths is a statistic.”

Black Lives Matter has focused on individual deaths by police executions one at a time, and now corrective action is being taken that we all hope will be eff ective to prevent these from occurring as frequently in the future.

The columnist raised many societal issues that result in Black deaths in great numbers, including fatherless children with no family life and Blackon-Black violence. While the questions raised were certainly valid, the author proposed no worthwhile solutions whatsoever.

For example, telling struggling single mothers to have better family values and pull yourselves up by your bootstraps is useless at best.

On the issue of violence resulting from the easy availability of guns on the street, there certainly is a solution.

However, implementing it would be quite a challenge in today’s contentious climate, and the writer chose not to discuss it.

Focusing in a serious way on how we do policing in this country can reduce the individual “tragedies,” and action at last is being taken. For the questions concerning the larger “statistics,” eventual solutions can be found, but doing so will require the involvement of all of us.

Steve Applegate, Cleves

Put all this lunacy of a stolen election behind us A lie is any statement that can be proven to be false. An unsubstantiated statement is something that may or may not be true. An unsubstantiated statement becomes a lie once it has been proven to be false.

If those in the media would be truthful and stop using the phrase “the Big Lie,” then maybe those who need the Big Lie to be true would feel the impotence to prove their point of view and put this lunacy behind us.

If the Democrats are so sure of the legitimacy of the total vote count, why not launch a bipartisan investigation to put this issue to rest once and for all?

The original statement from the press was that there was no voter fraud. This quickly turned to not enough voter fraud to make a diff erence to the outcome.

People need to be subpoenaed and put under oath and given a chance to

back up their statements of fraud.

I know of no one who wants to overturn the election. We only want proof that all of the votes that were counted were legit and that all of the legit votes were counted and that all the fraudulent votes were not counted. Everyone I have spoken to that questions the election has concerns about the offi cial outcome of the election.

Millions of people believe that there are just too many unanswered question about some of the things that happened during this election. Hundreds if not thousands of people that were closer to the election than the ordinary citizen have reported many instances of improper actions that they have observed fi rsthand. There appears to be videotape of some of these actions that have been seen by national audiences.

Too many respected national fi gures have their doubts. These questions need to be put to rest and not just move on with this cloud hanging over this election.

I have never heard former President Donald Trump say that the outcome needs to be overturned, only that it needs to be truly and fairly verifi ed. So no, don’t just overturn the election, but yes, do prove its legitimacy or lack thereof.

If the waters have been so muddied due to time and post-election antics, then the only true answer is a do-over, this time with proper bipartisan oversight. It may be late in the game, but not too late if the powers to be really want the true picture.

Tom OBrien, Colerain Township

Congress leaders with a conscience can’t thrive as a Republican Apparently U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney’s position as Republican conference chair was jeopardized due to her unwillingness to support Donald Trump, his big lie and, presumably, other cockamamie theories proff ered by the wingnut right.

Wait a minute. You mean to say that a clear-thinking U.S. congressperson with a conscience can’t thrive as a Republican? Who would have guessed?

Steve Hennessy, Westwood

No Jason Williams, AOC is nothing like those lunatics Regarding the May 9 Jason Williams opinion column, “Ohio Republican Par-

ty, you’re a disgrace.”

I take issue with Jason Williams’ disingenuous comparison of Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with Republican Reps. Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Obviously, he disagrees with AOC’s stances on a plethora of political issues, but she is no lunatic. She is clearly much brighter and does much more to further the interests of the people whom she serves than any of the performative politicians with whom Mr. Williams compares her.

What many of today’s Trumpian Republicans characterize as “far left radical” ideas are par for the course in many democracies around the world – including Canada. Supporting climate change policies, increasing the minimum wage, fi ghting for collective bargaining rights, providing universal health care, boosting public education, decreasing prescription costs and improving our aging infrastructure are all acceptable policies that deserve debate within our democratic system.

I am tired of media personalities who know better than to compare radical fascists to leftist politicians who have never advocated for the overthrow of a free and fair election or spewed conspiracy theories and disinformation as freely as if they were documented facts.

Please compare bananas to bananas, Mr. Williams, and leave the apples out of the equation. Our democracy depends upon it.

Christina Conover, Covington

Country will be in serious trouble if we don’t get more tradesmen Has anyone had a tradesman in their home recently (a plumber, electrician or other kind of handyman)?

Have you noticed how few of them are under age 50? As one such tradesman told me recently: “There’s no one coming behind me because today’s young people are afraid of hard work.”

Despite the fact that most of these jobs pay a very decent living, this country will be in serious trouble in a few years unless high school students are made aware of the fact that (a) trade schools are a viable option to going to college and (b) that a good work ethic is the key to a successful career.

Fred Nelson, Mason

cincinnati.com

SUNDAY+ FORUM

For Republicans, the only acceptable truth is a lie Kathleen Parker Columnist

As Liz Cheney’s fall from grace among her House Republican colleagues has unfolded these past few months, it has been tempting to compare the drama to the Salem witch trials.

Normally, I would never use the Wword in the context of a modern female.

But then I turned to the trusty Internet and came across the following explanation of those trials: “The Salem witch trials and executions came about as the result of a combination of church politics, family feuds, and hysterical children, all of which unfolded in a vacuum of political authority.”

Well. Substitute Republican politics for “church,” intraparty squabbling for “family feuds,” and Trumplicans for “hysterical children,” and, voilà, you have yourself a GOP conference meeting called to terminate Cheney from her job as House Republican conference chair.

Most people in the politics business said good riddance for her stubborn refusal to be a team player. As one Republican said to me recently: “She forgot who she works for.”

Even Cheney’s supporters acknowledge that she’s a bull when it comes to standing fi rm on principle. She’ll even break a few plates to make her point. And that point would be?

Several, really. First, she has the audacity to insist that Republicans accept the outcome of the 2020 election. She has called for the party to disavow Donald Trump as the GOP’s leader. She has urged that the GOP appoint a committee to investigate the Jan. 6 riot for which many Americans blame Trump. And, of course, she voted to impeach Trump, for

which there is no forgiveness, as Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, will confi rm.

After she survived a fi rst no-confi dence vote in February, Cheney dug her heels in even deeper. She criticized some of her fellow Republicans and promised to defend her impeachment vote “every day of the week.”

She also said that any lawmaker in Congress who tried to invalidate Biden’s victory should be disqualifi ed from seeking the presidency. Just a hunch, but I think she was talking to you, Josh Hawley. The brash, young senator from Missouri famously saluted the Jan. 6 protesters with a raised fi st just before the insurrection. I’m mesmerized by this image of him, which is so familiar to mothers of little boys. It conveys the triumphant “bad boy” vibe of a 10-year-old trying to act tough around the cool dudes.

Such as Liz Cheney, who doesn’t need to raise a fi st. She IS the fi st.

By now, the GOP probably has heard enough about its lack of courage, lack of diversity and its allegiance to the exurban myth that Trump won last November. Even McCarthy surely knows that his party isn’t growing in the ways it must if it is to endure.

To think that McCarthy once shared Cheney’s views and blamed Trump’s rhetoric for the riot that left six people dead. Like other hysterics who live in the GOP’s modern-day version of Salem, there is only one acceptable truth now. Even though it is false.

There are worse things than losing a job in defense of principle. If telling the truth reduces the number of one’s friends, it also exposes the depth of the cowards. Gutsy leaders like Cheney will always be outnumbered by the latter.

Kathleen Parker is a columnist for The Washington Post. Contact her at kathleenparker@washpost.com.

Pennsylvanians can take on executive overreach George Will Columnist

PHILADELPHIA – In 1789, at the Constitutional Convention here, Virginia’s Edmund Randolph warned that the presidency would be a “foetus of monarchy.” Today, something akin to monarchy is enthroned in Pennsylvania. On May 18, however, Pennsylvanians can prune its pretensions by amending their state’s constitution.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, most Americans had a high tolerance for combating the infectious disease with executive fi ats curtailing normal freedoms and fundamental rights – to work, travel and associate freely. Inevitably, capriciousness diminished this tolerance, particularly in Pennsylvania.

Here “non-life-sustaining businesses” were closed, and myriad other arbitrary distinctions were enforced – or exempted from enforcement through waivers secretively dispensed – by Gov. Tom Wolf, issuing edicts under powers he acquired by declaring a disaster emergency.

The legislature, after unavailing attempts to make Wolf more collaborative (he has vetoed many measures), proposed the constitutional amendments that Pennsylvanians will affi rm or reject on May 18. One would prevent the governor from vetoing the legislature’s resolution ending a disaster declaration.

The other would stipulate that a governor’s declaration of a disaster emergency shall expire after 21 days unless extended by the legislature.

But choosing the wording of Pennsylvania ballot questions is a prerogative of the governor’s administration – the Department of State. Wolf’s department has produced a meretricious wording. The actual amendment would prevent what is now possible – a governor ruling unilaterally, in perpetuity, under emergency declarations that he can renew indefi nitely. But the wording concocted by Wolf’s administration audaciously depicts this as “removing the existing check and balance.” All it removes is the necessity of submitting the termi-

nation of a governor’s emergency powers for approval by ... the governor.

Proponents of the amendment include Republican Bryan Cutler, Pennsylvania House speaker, and Martina White, the only Republican representing Philadelphia in the House, and the Commonwealth Foundation, Pennsylvania’s free-market think tank. Proponents stress that the amendment will not force the reopening of the state’s commercial and social life, but will compel Wolf, and subsequent governors, to govern less regally. Wolf insists that amending the state constitution by popular referendum, as provided for in the state’s constitution, constitutes an attack “on democracy itself.”

In Pennsylvania and elsewhere, the pandemic has exacerbated government’s self-aggrandizing refl exes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has swerved into housing policy with a nationwide eviction moratorium, seems to have accommodated public health protocols to teachers unions’ agendas, and last month recommended that children at summer camps wear masks with two or more layers when not swimming.

The vast latitude granted to vastly expanded government has whetted government’s appetite for more expansion and latitude, facilitated by careless language. “Infrastructure” has become a classifi cation that no longer classifi es, denoting everything that polls well (e.g., nutritious school lunches). Instead of treating climate change as a problem – bigger than some that humanity has surmounted, smaller than many others – to be ameliorated by a few broad and effi cient measures (e.g., a carbon tax), climate change is presented as an “existential” crisis requiring government to micromanage everything everywhere forever.

Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis wrote that the states are laboratories of democracy. During the pandemic, many have become laboratories of authoritarianism, the pleasures of which Wolf and some governors seem reluctant to relinquish. Next Tuesday, Pennsylvanians can begin the process of toppling their governor’s throne.

George Will’s email address is georgewill@washpost.com.

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GOP’s power grab is biggest threat to America Eugene Robinson Columnist

WASHINGTON – The greatest threat to our nation’s future is not COVID-19 or the rise of China or even the existential challenge of climate change. It is the Republican Party’s attempt to seize and hold power by off ering voters the seductive choice of rejecting inconvenient facts and basic logic.

For the American experiment and people to survive, much less prosper, this iteration of the GOP must fail.

The blind-loyalty-even-to-dishonest-insanity Republican litmus test that cost Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., her leadership job is only the most acute manifestation of the party’s decline into utter irresponsibility. It’s bad enough that those who want to remain in good standing must embrace the “big lie”about purported fraud in the 2020 election. But the requirement doesn’t stop there. On issue after issue, Republicans are cynically adopting a kind of pre-Enlightenment insistence on the primacy of belief over evidence.

If some voters want to believe that COVID-19 is somehow being overblown by the world’s leading experts in infectious disease, then it becomes mandatory for GOP governors – ambitious ones, at least – to reopen their state economies, no matter the cost in need-

less illness and death. If some voters want to believe that systemic racism does not exist, then it becomes mandatory for Republicans to declare, as Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) did, that “America is not a racist country.” If some voters want to believe that poverty is a choice made by lazy people, then it becomes mandatory for the GOP to try to force the poor back to work by slashing unemployment benefi ts.

There is, of course, often a huge difference between what one might want to believe and what is actually true.

Genuine leadership sometimes requires telling people what they don’t want to hear. But the Republican Party no longer even pretends to want to lead.

What it wants instead is to obtain power.

But to what end? Historians may see today’s GOP as emulating legendary King Canute in his futile attempt to hold back the sea. China is not just a boogeyman to be invoked when convenient and ignored when reality might require Americans to change to compete. The climate is getting more volatile. A younger generation is demanding change in everything from policing to the workplace.

Honest leadership would require leveling with GOP constituents about the impossibility of turning back the fl ow of history. It would involve telling voters that globalization and information technology have forever changed the U.S. economy. It would involve proposing solutions for the way things are

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) talks to reporters after House Republicans voted to remove her as conference chair in the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center on Wednesday in Washington, D.C. GETTY IMAGES

– or are becoming – rather than the way some might want them to be.

And Democrats who want to make real progress on any of these urgent issues need a Republican Party with that fortitude. We laugh about the party being obsessed about Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, Dr. Seuss and whether a few transgender girls can run on their high school track teams at not just our own peril, but that of our political system.

This nonsense is being reinforced and amplifi ed by a right-wing media machine – not for ideological reasons, but for profi t. And yes, the GOP base is still loyal to former president Donald Trump.

But none of this is an excuse for the way Republicans in Congress and at the

state level are behaving. Public service is supposed to be more than an audition for a Fox News contributor job.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., understands how Trump’s lies about the election led directly to the Capitol insurrection; he told us so himself on Jan. 6. But he was ready to boot Cheney out of her highranking post for simply telling the truth and to replace her with Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. Relative to Cheney, Stefanik is a moderate on policy. That no longer matters. Her core qualifi cation is a willingness to go along with the “voter fraud” lie, and presumably with other lies as well, in the name of her own ambition. Shame on her. Shame on all of them.

It is no secret that my own views are much more aligned with those of the Democrats than with the Republicans.

But I genuinely believe it is good for the country when we have ideas-based, evidence-based competition between a party that leans to the left and one that leans to the right.

The scary thing is that this GOP, untethered from reality and the material needs of the country, is within a handful of seats of taking back both the House and the Senate. As exhausting as it is to acknowledge this, the 2020 election was just the fi rst step toward restoring a shared reality. For Democrats, losing next year’s midterm elections is simply not an option.

Eugene Robinson is on Twitter: @Eugene_Robinson.

Democrats’ moves thwarting economic recovery in US Marc A. Thiessen Columnist

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden insists that Friday’s disastrous jobs report has nothing to do with Democrats’ extension of federal unemployment benefi ts. “I know there’s been a lot of discussion ... that people are being paid to stay home, rather than go to work,” he said Monday. “Well, we don’t see much evidence of that.”

Look harder, Mr. President. The evidence is there for all to see.

The April jobs report fell short of expectations by more than 700,000 jobs.

Normally, that would be a sign that employers are reluctant to hire. But that is not the case today. Job openings are at a record high. Employers are creating millions of jobs; they just can’t fi nd workers to fi ll them.

How can that be? With coronavirus restrictions being lifted across the country, and vaccines available to anyone who wants them, Americans are venturing out, traveling, going to restaurants and living their lives again. Millions of Americans who were forced out of their jobs during the pandemic should be eager to return to work.

So why aren’t they? One reason is that by extending the federal unemployment supplement to September, Biden created a disincentive for millions of Americans to return to work. Even though Congress reduced the federal supplement from $600 to $300 a week, a recent paper estimates that 48% of workers still make more from unemployment benefi ts than they would from working.

This is especially true for those at the lower end of the income scale, such as restaurant workers. In an interview with a restaurant industry journal, Carl Howard, chief executive of the Fazoli’s restaurant chain, does the math. “In Ohio you can make $452 a week in unemployment,” he says. “The federal government is going to top that with $300. That’s $752 [a week]. If I pay $15 an hour, that’s $600.” In other words, even if he matches what Democrats say should be the federal minimum wage, he can’t compete with the unemployment offi ce.

But that’s not all. While workers would have to pay taxes on that $600 in earned income, thanks to Biden they can get some of that $752 tax-free – because the president’s COVID-19 relief legislation included a $10,200 tax exemption for individuals on unemployment, and $20,400 for married joint fi lers. Why would someone work long hours to earn $600 a week when they

make more and pay less in taxes by doing nothing?

Is enhanced unemployment the only reason Americans are not fi lling the record number of job openings? Of course not. Another problem is Biden’s failure to push back on his allies, the teachers unions, and get U.S. schools reopened.

According to the American Enterprise Institute’s “Return 2 Learn” tracker, less than half of all public schools are currently open for full-time in-person learning – and the numbers are even lower in school districts with high minority populations and high proportions of single mothers.

This is not only harming millions of American children; it also is preventing millions of American moms from rejoining the workforce. According to a Pew analysis, mothers of small children lost work at three times the rate of fathers during the pandemic – and job losses were even higher for single mothers of young children. If Biden wants to help these families, he should demand that the teachers unions agree to reopen our nation’s public schools – not next fall, but for summer learning, so that kids can make up lost ground and mothers can return to work.

As the Biden administration fl ails, Republican governors across the country are showing the way forward. In January, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a

law that requires every public and accredited private school in her state to offer in-person learning, fi ve days a week.

Governors in Arizona, Texas, Florida, West Virginia, South Carolina and other states also have directed schools to reopen. As a result, across the country, 59% of schools are fully reopened in districts that Donald Trump won compared with just 32% in districts won by Biden.

Similarly, Republican governors in South Carolina, Arkansas and Montana have announced that they are turning down the federal unemployment subsidies in their states starting at the end of June. In Montana, Gov. Greg Gianforte is going a step further by off ering a onetime $1,200 “return to work” bonus to anyone who returns to work and completes at least four full weeks of paid employment. My American Enterprise Institute colleague Michael R. Strain suggests we should do the same on the federal level.

Early in the pandemic, when millions of businesses were ordered to close by the government, it made sense to give unemployed Americans additional help to make it through the lockdowns. But that is no longer the case. America is back open for business – or at least it would be if the Democrats’ policies weren’t holding it back.

Marc Thiessen is a columnist for The Washington Post.

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ARTS&LIFE

TOKENS PAST SUNDAY+ PARK PROFILE

of the

Cincinnati’s history is inescapable at our riverfront parks

W

Leyla Shokoohe Special to Cincinnati Enquirer/USA TODAY NETWORK

ater, water, everywhere. I sometimes take for granted the incredible waterfront access I have as a resident of Cincinnati.

I’m willing to bet you do, too. But without the Ohio River, the Queen City, the city formerly known as Losantiville – or “the city opposite the mouth of the river” – would not exist.

Our city’s legacy was forged by the river. We utilized it as a means to an end, sending our goods to far-off destinations, helping us earn our keep – and name.

We became the Queen City, the Paris of the West (at least, in Ye Olde Times). We Cincinnatians have reaped the benefi ts of direct access to the Ohio River for over two centuries, and now, in the 21st year of the 21st century, we still can.

Four riverfront parks stretch across the banks of the Ohio: Smale, Sawyer Point/Yeatman’s Cove, Bicentennial Commons and the Theodore M. Berry International Friendship Park. For this story, I visited the fi rst three.

A music feature lets guest play chimes with a keyboard built into the ground at Smale Park on the Ohio Riverfront in downtown Cincinnati.

See PARKS, Page 4AA

A large, steel, flying pig statue is also a climbing apparatus at Smale Park on the Ohio Riverfront in downtown Cincinnati. SAM GREENE PHOTOS/THE ENQUIRER

Will Cincinnati soon be home to its own Little Asia?

Keith Pandolfi Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

If all goes right, Cincinnati could someday be home to its own Little Asia, a neighborhood of open-air and brickand-mortar restaurants similar to Singapore’s hawker centers. If all goes right, they will serve cuisines from Malaysia and Cambodia; Japan and India; Korea and the Philippines.

Sure, that might sound like an ambitious plan in a city that doesn’t have a Chinatown, a Little Italy or a Little anything right now. But to Koji Sado, who spent four years working in Singapore for Procter & Gamble, it’s not too farfetched. “Singapore is such a melting pot for diff erent cultures,” he said.

“When I came back to Cincinnati, I

The momo dumplings from Bridges Nepali Cuisine, in Northside. They come highly recommended by the editorial team at Asianati.

CATHERINE GRACE PHOTOGRAPHY

thought, ‘Why can’t we do that here?’ “ Sado isn’t alone in his quest. Last year, he partnered with Bao Nguyen, a co-owner of Pho Lang Thang, in Overthe-Rhine, to take the fi rst step: A web-

site dubbed Asianati (www.asianati.com) that they hope will serve as a virtual Little Asia until a literal one comes to fruition.

“We realized we can’t go from zero to all the way there,” Sado said. “So we started with a website that would be a good resource for all the Asian food places around Cincinnati. And we wanted it to be curated by Asians.”

While the site might seem modest right now, it’s slowly but surely building a database of information on Asian American restaurant openings and some of the site’s editors’ favorite food picks, including the red bean bun at Bread House Bakery, in Sharonville, and the beef pho at Saigon Noodle Bar, in West Chester. There’s also a directory of Asian-owned restaurants and articles on things like Vietnamese coff ee cul-

ture; a guide to banana ketchup and profi les of Asian-owned restaurants.

It’s also an idea that fi ts the times since Cincinnati’s Asian American population is growing. According to the latest U.S. census data, Asians are the fastest-growing minority group in Ohio, increasing by almost 74,000 people since 2010. That growth occurred mostly in the counties that include the cities of Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland.

The problem, according to Sado, is that once Asian Americans arrive in Cincinnati, each community, whether it’s Korean, Japanese or Cambodian, remains somewhat isolated from one another, only interacting within their own communities.

He’s hoping Asianati will bring those See LITTLE ASIA, Page 4AA

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Brave enough to eat cicadas?

Recipes for stir-fry, stew, cookies Allison Ward The Columbus Dispatch USA TODAY NETWORK

Simon La Bozetta typically forages in nearby wooded areas for wild mushroom varieties to eat or sassafras herbs to put in tea, but in the coming weeks, he’ll add another item to his search list.

That item will add some crunch to his diet, but more important, it’s something he’s been waiting years to fi nd and try – 17 years to be exact.

With the Brood X perennial cicadas expected to arrive by the millions in Ohio and 15 other states this month, La Bozetta and others with adventurous palates will savor the rare opportunity to taste the little buggers, which some have hailed as the shrimp of the dirt for its seafood-like fl avors.

He’s not holding his breath, however, that it will taste like buttery shrimp scampi no matter how he prepares the cicadas.

“For me, it’s the novelty of the experience,” said the 48-year-old Columbusarea resident who has been foraging since he was a child. “I love to have new experiences, to travel, to see things. The curiosity is there.”

And the desire to eat the insects might also be about saving face on social media, too, where he’s mentioned the fact that they’re edible more than once.

But who isn’t talking about cicadas on Facebook and Twitter these days?

From local artisans making jewelry out of the loud winged creatures to scientists trying to predict when they’ll arrive (typically when temperatures average 64 degrees), social media is abuzz with all things cicadas.

And yes, that also means people are swapping cicada recipes, including Asian-inspired cuisine, a gumbo-like dish, chocolate-covered varieties and even a version of rhubarb pie, while news articles describe their taste as nutty or similar to that of chicken.

Andrew Zimmern, creator of the Travel Channel’s “Bizarre Foods” franchise, said the insects have a bold fl avor.

“They’re earthy, loomi (sour),” Zimmern said. “They’ve been living in the ground for 17 years – kind of like the taste of the forest fl oor. It’s a strong taste, but not in a bad way. It stands up to the big fl avors of garlic and ginger.”

And he should know: Those are two of the ingredients in his recipe for crispy wok-fried cicadas that he made in 2013 when Brood II came to the East Coast.

He said that although the whole creature is edible, people should remove the wings (if they’ve matured) and it’s the chef ’s choice whether to leave the outer shell, or carapace, depending on if they want an extra-crunchy addition to their dish.

The best cicadas for cooking are those that have newly hatched, because their shells will be softer, according to “Cicada-licious: Cooking and Enjoying Periodical Cicadas,” a mini cookbook

Crispy Wok-Tossed Cicadas

Maryland Cicadas

Chocolate-Chip Cookies

Makes 8 servings

Fom Andrew Zimmern, creator of the Travel Channel's "Bizarre Foods" franchise, www.andrewzimmern.com.

From “Cicada-licious: Cooking and Enjoying Periodical Cicadas”

by Jenna Jadin and the University of Maryland

From “Cicada-licious: Cooking and Enjoying Periodical Cicadas” by Jenna Jadin and the University of Maryland

2 cups cicadas

1

2 tablespoons peanut oil

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons minced ginger

4 quarts water

1 hot dried Asian chile

1 (12 fluid ounce) can beer (optional)

4 tablespoons minced lemongrass 1 cup chopped scallions 1 clove minced garlic 2 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons Toban Djan (fermented bean paste with chiles) 1 cup minced celery 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 teaspoon cornstarch 3 tablespoons rice wine (or sake) Collect roughly 2 cups of cicadas, keep them in a bucket (with a lid) with an inch of water inside. Wet wings means they won’t fly off. Dry on a towel, pluck wings and legs and set aside.

Heat a large wok over high heat. Add the peanut oil, and swirl.

Add the minced ginger, hot dried Asian chile (tsin-tsin work great), minced lemongrass, chopped scallions, minced garlic, sugar, Toban Djan (fermented bean paste with chiles, Lee Kum Kee brand is fi ne) and toss for 15 seconds. Add the cicadas. If you can’t fi nd fermented bean paste, use a few tablespoons of Chinese dried salted black beans instead.

Toss for one minute to cook. Add the minced celery, toss. Mix the soy sauce, cornstarch and rice wine together in a separate bowl, then add the mixture to the wok. Toss, cooking for another minute or so until sauce tightens. Enjoy.

created by Jenna Jadin, who was a graduate student at the University of Maryland in 2004.

The manual advises that early morning is the best time to catch the bugs emerging and to “simply go outside with a brown paper bag and start scooping them in.”

Adventurous chefs can cook with them immediately after cleaning them and removing any unwanted parts, or refrigerate them.

For Zimmern, the purpose of making the stir-fry-inspired meal and eating it was not really to entice others to duplicate it, but to show cooks that they could create the dish and, more important, that there are diff erent ways of

How we survived the cicada invasion in 2004

8 red potatoes, quartered 2 large sweet onions, cut in wedges 2 pounds lean smoked sausage, cut in 2-inch lengths 8 ears fresh corn, broken in half 4 pounds large cicadas In an 8-quart pot, bring Old Bay, salt, water and beer to a boil.

Add potatoes and onions; cook over high heat for eight minutes.

Add smoked sausage to potatoes and onions; continue to cook on high for fi ve minutes.

Add corn to pot; continue to boil for seven minutes. Add cicadas, cook for fi ve minutes.

Drain cooking liquid. Pour contents of pot into several large bowls, shallow pails or mound on a paper-covered picnic table. Sprinkle with additional Old Bay if desired.

thinking about food sources.

“It wasn’t a gimmick but a serious attempt to show people that bugs are food,” said Zimmern, of Minneapolis, who currently hosts “AZ Cooks” on Instagram each Thursday. “They’re food for millions of people. American eaters need an open defi nition of what food is.”

That’s what Srilatha Kolluri tries to get her students in her food science classes at Ohio State University to ponder when she teaches them about entomophagy or the practice of eating insects.

With more than 2,000 edible species of insects globally, she said many cultures dine on ants, locusts and meal worms, Kolluri said, especially because they are so high in complete protein (60% to 65%). Cicadas are no diff erent.

“A lot of people worry about the ‘ew’ factor,” said Kolluri, a faculty lecturer who allows her students to taste protein bars made from cricket fl our. “But whatever you’re used to – your culture – that dictates your preferences. If in another part of the world, you grow up eating it, it’s not ‘ew.’”

And if Americans can get over the initial disgust, eating insects is a very sustainable resource, she added.

21⁄ 4 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup butter, softened ⁄ 4 cup sugar

3

⁄ 4 cup brown sugar

3

1 teaspoon vanilla 2 eggs 1 (12-ounce) package chocolate chips 1 cup chopped nuts ⁄ 2 cup dry-roasted chopped cicadas (Place on cookie sheet and roast for 10 to 15 minutes at 225 degrees. Cooking time will vary. They should be a soft, dry consistency, a bit like a nut.)

1

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla; beat until creamy. Beat in eggs. Gradually add flour mixture and insects, mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop by rounded measuring teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

La Bozetta has eaten insects, such as crickets, in the past so he doesn’t think these will be too diff erent.

He plans to try them a few diff erent ways, including in a pesto sauce and sauteed in butter and garlic like shrimp, and he’ll document his feast for all his followers, he said with a chuckle.

“If I get one down, I’ll probably have had my fi ll,” La Bozetta said. “But who knows? That’s the great thing about trying new foods. I might fi nd a new favorite.”

Here’s hoping cicadas don’t become a favorite dish because he’ll have to wait another 17 years to eat them again.

April 29, 2004: Ethel Cogen, who works for the city in the Community Development Planning Department, stands with her bubble umbrella, which she used when the cicadas arrived as a shield from the pesky bugs. STEVEN M.

Jeff Suess Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

For weeks we have acted as modernday Paul Reveres reminding Greater Cincinnati, “The cicadas are coming!

The cicadas are coming!” It is fi tting, after all, that we follow up the dumpster fi re of 2020 with a plague of insects.

Still, we must remind ourselves that we survived the Brood X invasion 17 years ago and we’ll do it again.

How did we do it back in 2004? With grit, determination and a healthy dose of humor.

We stayed indoors, a lot. We carried bubble umbrellas in June. We made cicada jewelry and T-shirts. Jake Speed and the Freddies sang “Queen City Cicada.”

And we ate them – well, some adventurous folks did. Cincinnati.com posted hundreds of recipes to prove it. Local chefs were asked to imagine cicada cuisine (but not actually make the dishes).

Snappy Tomato had their Snappy Ci-

⁄ 2 cup Old Bay Seasoning

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

HERPPICH/ THE ENQUIRER

cada Pizza jingle (a joke ... we think), with “tree delivery.”

Ode to the cicada The Enquirer held a cicada-themed limerick contest and received more than 500 entries. This verse by Stacey G. Woolley was one of the winners: I love cookin’ them cicaders.

I eat ’em with my mashed potaters.

They’re good when they’re fried, But for regional pride, They should make ’em a fl avor of Graeter’s.

Make your own cicada We also off ered readers step-by-step instructions on how to make origami cicadas, courtesy of artist Jessee Smith, the wife of eminent cicada guru Gene Kritsky, a professor and entomologist at Mount St. Joseph University.

So, The Enquirer has brought that paper-folding diagram back out for you, loyal readers, as our way of helping you to cope with the coming occupation.

Use your fanciest colored paper to dress up the inside of your home, and be sure to add those beady red eyes for the best eff ect.

May 14, 2004: Building a Bug: Step-by-step instructions for making an origami cicada. Diagrams by Jessee Smith. ENQUIRER FILE

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SUNDAY+ ARTS IN A MINUTE

This show shouldn't be possible, but big dreams become reality David Lyman

diverse points of view.”

Special to Cincinnati Enquirer

There are just two performances, though, and because of COVID-19-related protocols, seating in the Carnegie, where this takes place, is limited to 100. The cast includes Jasimine Bouldin, Tatiana Godfrey, Montez Jenkins, Romeo Seay and Nathan Tubbs. Music is by Daniel Zimmer. Tickets are at thecarnegie.com.

USA TODAY NETWORK

“Ambitious” doesn’t begin to describe de la Dance Company. Founded by a pair of former Cincinnati Ballet principal dancers, the 14-year-old company always seems to be staging ballet and creating projects that common sense says should be beyond their reach.

After all, de la Dance Center, the school that funds much of the company’s operations, is relatively small.

Tucked away in a stretch of light commercial businesses on Kennedy Avenue, it’s a pretty unprepossessing place from the outside.

But co-founders Meridith Benson and Mario de la Nuez have never let small budgets stand in the way of their big dreams. Their ambitions are professional, in every way.

This week, for instance, the company opens its production of “Giselle,” one of ballet’s oldest and most loved classics.

It’s a diffi cult ballet to pull off well. But from the looks of the rehearsal videos that have made their way online, audiences are in for a treat.

Over the past few years, Benson and de la Nuez have turned their dance space into a studio theater. They’ve built almost every element of the theater themselves or with volunteer help.

Risers, stage lighting, costumes, sets – it’s all home-grown. And along the way, they’ve also trained some excellent dancers. One of them – their son, Mikey – has returned from New York’s American Ballet Theatre to perform the leading male role of Albrecht. (At ABT, he is known as “Michael.”) Dancing with him, in the title role, is fellow ABT dancer Kanon Kimura.

The Theater @ de la Dance Center is already a small space, but with COVID-19 restrictions, audiences will be limited to 40 people per performance.

“Giselle” runs May 14-23 at the Theater @ de la Dance Center, 5141 Kennedy Ave., Columbia Township, one block east of Ridge Avenue. Tickets are $20$35 at 513-871-0914 or www.deladancecompany.org.

While you’re checking out the Carnegie, take a look at other live offerings; “I Got Rhythm” (May 21-30) and the “American Idiot” cast reunion (June 5).

Broadway’s coming back Last week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo gave Broadway theaters the long-awaited go-ahead to reopen as early as May 19. The elation was palpable. But it’s not going to happen.

Not on May 19, at least.

Staging a Broadway show isn’t as simple as flipping a light switch.

Contracts have to be negotiated – or re-negotiated, in many cases. Sets have to be built. And then there are the rehearsals. So May 19 is a no-go. And Cuomo admitted as much.

Now, it looks like September and October will see a handful of new and re-opened productions, including “Come From Away,” “Mrs. Doubtfi re,” “Chicago,” “Six” and “The Phantom of the Opera.”

Even more interesting for Cincinnati-area theater lovers is that the Broadway in Cincinnati series won’t be far behind.

Kanon Kimura and Michael de la Nuez, both members of American Ballet Theatre, are seen in a recent rehearsal for de la Dance Company’s production of “Giselle.”

Performances are May 14-23. MERIDITH BENSON/PROVIDED

It must be a typo Someone screwed up the spelling, right? “Troof & Sketchconciliation” can’t possibly be correct. Especially when you see that the show was awarded one of ArtsWave’s Truth & Reconciliation grants.

But scroll down to the name of the person who created the show – Gauravi Shah. She is one of the area’s most gifted sketch comics, balancing hilarity with the deadly serious. And that is precisely the point of Shah's new show, described as “hard-hitting, yet light-hearted sketch revue showcasing

Genevieve Holt, general manager of the Midwest division of Broadway Across America, said she remains “very confi dent” that “Pretty Woman” will be ready to open at the Aronoff Center on Oct. 18, as previously announced. She also noted in a recent announcement that “Wicked” will be the fi rst show to open on the road. It’s scheduled to open in Dallas in early August and make its way to Cincinnati for a Nov. 17 opening.

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Parks Continued from Page 1AA

Smale Oh, Smale. What an interesting piece of park-itecture! Planning for this park began over 20 years ago, in 1997, but the fi rst phase didn’t open until 2012, and it was completed in 2015. Smale comprises 45 acres of green space, facing south to the Ohio River. I started in the technical middle of Smale Park, taking the steps down from Marian Spencer Way, crossing the Ohio River Scenic Byway and jumping into the park at the adventure playground.

The playground is fl anked by the Roebling Bridge on the right, and it’s one of the most picturesque parts of the whole park, in my humble opinion. The grounds are impeccably well-kept, and there were tons of families and kids running all around. I’ve missed the hustle and bustle of, ya know, other people. It was really nice.

Here, I ended up staring out over the river for about 15 minutes, riveted on the bright spring day by the soothing lapping of the river against the banks. I wrested myself away from the railing and meandered west, where I stumbled upon the Black Brigade Monument. (I don’t like to prescribe any of my journeying, other than general entry points, and prefer to go in blind. I take a million pictures and research the details later.)

This monument is in a peaceful little grove of trees, honoring the history of Black men who served in the fortifi cation eff orts of Northern Kentucky troops during the Civil War. Several plaques and a handful of moving sculptures comprise the monument.

Memorials to and remnants of our city’s history are scattered throughout Smale. I’m going to move us geographically to the huge green space (aka the Great Lawn) on the other side of Roebling Way – most familiar to me as “the place where I saw the National play at Homecoming Festival in 2018” – where I saw something else really freaking cool.

To see it again, I had to walk to the middle of the lawn, past a couple making out on a tie-dyed blanket and a very good dog laying down. It defi nitely makes my list of Top Park Oddities, right above Van Lear and the abandoned army ambulance, from my Bellevue adventure. I’m talking about 1 W. Vine St. What’s 1 W. Vine St., you may ask? I’ll tell you: Nonexistent. Did you know our city’s limits extended beyond The Banks entertainment area in Ye Olde Times? I honestly didn’t until I saw this thing. (I blame my public-school education for that. Just kidding, Lakota, you were ... fi ne.) One W. Vine St. is a stone column from a building that once stood there in the 1840s, according to a plaque affi xed to it. The column is maybe eight feet tall, weathered and worn down.

It was uncovered during Smale construction, belonging to part of a neighborhood once called “The Bottoms.” It seems almost dangerous to me to leave such a rad piece of Cincinnati history just, you know, out there in the elements. But also, fi tting. It’s a testament to the passage of time. Things move forward and progress and yet our history is embedded in the very ground we stand

Wide lawns provide space to spread out at Smale Park on the Ohio Riverfront in downtown Cincinnati. SAM GREENE PHOTOS/THE ENQUIRER

The paddlewheel installation at the Public Landing on the Ohio Riverfront in downtown Cincinnati.

upon. Anyway, go take a look. Tell me if you go and how it makes you feel.

All the Smale things h The Rosenberg porch-wide swings are super cool. Sit a spell and enjoy the river breeze. h The labyrinth is beautiful and contemplative. Coincidentally, one of my top 5 favorite movies is “Labyrinth” (obviously David Bowie’s fi nest cinematic work) and so I very much enjoyed moving through this winding space. I was stuck behind a family of four traversing it, though, so maybe pick a low-traffi c time to walk through and think. h Castellini Esplanade is located at the far end of Smale, closer to Paul Brown. Apparently, there used to be a produce market in this corner in Ye Olde Times. It seems less well-utilized than the rest of Smale.

Sawyer Point/Yeatman’s Cove and Bicentennial Commons The riverfront parks span nearly three miles along the banks of the Ohio.

I am a prodigious walker, but I split my trips into two. The second time I went down to the water, I took my pals J and K along for the walk. If you’re like me, most of your acquaintance with Sawyer

Point and Yeatman’s Cove comes from the Serpentine Wall, the WEBN Fireworks and Bunbury. If you’re also like me, you have no real idea what the heck Bicentennial Commons is. We’ll get to that.

I was fi rst struck by the marked difference in architectural styling between Smale and these older riverfront parks.

Sawyer Point and Yeatman’s Cove have a very utilitarian, sparse feel to them.

They feel like holding a VHS – which is to say, in a word, outdated. But quaint and deeply familiar.

Yeatman’s Cove opened in 1976, and the fi rst Riverfest, aka the WEBN Fireworks, took place in 1977. While Yeatman’s Cove was built in the late ‘70s, it still feels like the ‘80s. Does that make sense? By generational logic, the late ‘70s were part of the early ‘80s, because there is a cultural bleed of each decade into the next. There is a wonderful book called “On Nostalgia,” by David Berry, that explores the phenomenon of nostalgia. It is an examination of “the fundamental impossibility of return,” and as a society, we’ve absolutely developed an aching fondness for that impossibility. By the same token, Sawyer Point and Yeatman’s Cove make me simultaneously deeply nostalgic for a time I never actually experienced and for the ones I have.

Little Asia Continued from Page 1AA

communities together, starting with restaurant owners and, ultimately everyone, by telling the stories of local restaurant owners, where they came from and what their own American dreams are. He’s also hoping to educate both Asian Americans and the Greater Cincinnati population in general about the issues the community faces via lectures and special events.

On a lighter note, he and Nguyen also want the site to be a go-to resource for foodies looking for the best dumplings, pho and Sichuan food in the city.

As far as special events, last year, Sado and Nguyen helped launch Asian Food Week as a way to fi ll in the gap for Cincinnati’s Asian Food Fest, which was canceled due to the pandemic but is set to resume in August.

The fi rst food week, which included restaurant deals and promotions, happened in November; the second one launched the fi rst week of May as a way to kick off Asian Pacifi c American Heritage Month (APAHM), which takes place through the end of May. To celebrate the month, Asianati is promoting a series of restaurant deals, online lectures, sake tastings and cultural events, including a virtual cooking and conversation class titled “The Truth about MSG” on Wednesday, May 19, 7-8 p.m., and a “cultural family movie night”

Teak Thai reopened in OTR at Race and 12th street with a menu that features sushi and Thai cuisine. Monkey Brain appetizer, fried avacado stuffed with sushi and cream cheese. PHIL DIDION/THE ENQUIRER

at Washington Park that will include Asian food vendors on Friday, May 26, 5-10 p.m. For a full list of APAHM events, visit asianati.com/apahm.

What Sado and Nguyen didn’t expect when they started Asianati was that the site would also become a resource for Asian-owned restaurants victimized by a wave of anti-Asian sentiment. A senti-

ment that was fueled in part by former President Donald Trump’s labeling of COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus.”

During the past year, beloved local restaurants such as Oriental Wok, with locations in Hyde Park and Fort Thomas, were vandalized and received phoned-in threats of violence toward employees. Meanwhile, Tea & Bowl res-

And maybe that (however unstably founded) nostalgia is why I felt such a kinship with Sawyer Point and Yeatman’s Cove. I felt like I was walking through the physical embodiment of deja vu. My pals J and K are both a bit older than me, and they regaled me with incredibly vivid childhood memories spent in this concrete-criss-crossed urban park. J recalled a kid-friendly band that performed near the tennis courts under the Big Mac Bridge in the early ‘90s, and K recalled playing in the Otto Armleder Fountain area, situated to the north of Sawyer Point.

What other children have played there, couples kissed, sunbathers reclined?

Bicentennial Commons is a shadier stretch of parkside. Here again, our history is inescapable. An incredible pathway in Bicentennial Commons lined with markers explains the entire geologic timeline of Ohio (and Earth.) The massive statue of Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, erected in 1984, reminds us of our city’s namesake, a great Roman general.

Now, if you’re like me, you will have approached Bicentennial Commons from the backside, which abuts Yeatman’s Cove. (To be honest, Google Maps has multiple locations named Sawyer Point Park and Yeatman’s Cove. It’s a little annoying.) I found the proper entrance, a Very ‘80s™ entryway that feels and looks like Riverbend’s cousin, and I’ll tell you why: because Bicentennial Commons opened in 1988, and Riverbend opened in 1984. Generational bleed strikes again! Well, and they both make use of tall columns topped with quirky icons (and oddly pastel colors).

At the Bicentennial Commons entrance, you’re greeted by graceful fl ying pigs atop four columns that call to mind a ship’s mast. And indeed, the whole entrance is called the Cincinnati Gateway, designed by Andrew Leicester, telling the story of our city’s inextricable river relationship through sculpture. I highly recommend a long exploration of this underrecognized installation.

The ghosts of our collective past haunt all parts of our city. Sometimes they make themselves more apparent, and other times, they’re hiding in plain sight along the banks of the Ohio.

Leftovers h The steamboat installation on the way to Sawyer Point is absolutely bonkers. It was roped off one of the times I went, but the other time it wasn’t – and I apologize to the gentleman smoking something whom I disturbed by galumphing in and setting off every single speaker. (The installation tells the story of the steamboats.) To be honest, it didn’t hold my attention for too long, but then again, I was on deadline. So, 7/10 would try again. h Cincinnati Parks offi cials, do you know where the brick in the commemorative brick groundwork at Bicentennial Commons is for my friend’s family?

We could *not* fi nd it. Additionally, is it too late to buy one for myself now? I saw lots of blank ones! h The volleyball and tennis courts under the Big Mac bridge are wild. Like.

Who even knew they were there? Why didn’t I know? How can I claim to be an unoffi cial ambassador for Cincinnati if I didn’t know? Who am I?

taurant in Clifton Heights received numerous prank orders in which customers placed large orders that were made but never paid for.

Sado says he and the rest of the Asianati team make a point of checking in with the Asian American restaurant community to make sure things are OK, and to draw attention to the problems they’re suff ering if they aren’t. (On Sunday, May 16, APAHM will present a Unity Against Hate rally on Fountain Square from 2 to 4 p.m.)

More broadly, the site has been a godsend to restaurants that have no social media or online presence to speak of.

“We’re hoping we can become their virtual storefront for them,” says Sado, who is hoping they can work with restaurants to photograph dishes and present their menus online.

It’s something that’s pertinent right now, since, according to Sado, more than 20 Asian-owned restaurants have permanently closed during the past year, mostly because they couldn’t adapt to the quickly enough to takeout and delivery. Those that did adapt now face the problem almost all Greater Cincinnati restaurants are facing: They can’t fi nd employees to work for them.

And so, while Sado and Nguyen’s dream of a Little Asia might still be far off in the future, the website they’ve created is already giving a voice and a sense of community to the city’s Asian American restaurant owners, as well as food lovers, including myself, who want to learn everything we can about them.

cincinnati.com

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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Xavier graduates Frances Orenic, right, and Libby Overfi eld embrace at the end of the Xavier University College of Arts and Sciences graduation ceremony on May 8 at the Cintas Center in Evanston. ALBERT CESARE/THE ENQUIRER

GIFT GUIDE FOR CLASS OF 2021 GRADUATES Jean Chen Smith Special to Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

It’s been a year of ups and downs, requiring strength and resilience to move forward in uncertain times. There’s no better occasion to celebrate the recent graduate in your life. Whether they’re saying goodbye to high school or college life, check out our list of must-have gifts from local businesses and much more.

1. Cookware Stop by Artichoke at Findlay Market in Over-the-Rhine and select some cookware options for the new grad.

Whether you’re looking for pots and pans or more unique items, this store will give you lots of inspiration. artichokeotr.com.

2. Casual kickers Whether they’re graduating high school or college, Totes Isotoner Moccasins provide all-day comfort in stylish options. Based in Cincinnati, the company is famously known for its umbrellas and cold-weather accessories. isotoner.com/collections.

3. Grown-up sheets SleepCharge mattress pads and sheets, which are powered by Nanobionic bedding, are meant to provide you with a restful night of sleep. A blend of minerals embedded in the fabric is activated by body heat and returns the energy back to you all while helping to repair tired muscles and joints. This will be perfect for those starting their new careers. Shop at walmart.com.

4. Let them eat chocolate Stop by Maverick Chocolate’s Rookwood or Findlay Market location for ethically sourced chocolate. With a big selection of chocolate bars and gifts, you will be sure to fi nd a sweet treat for your grad. maverickchocolate.com.

5. Send fl owers Order a bouquet or two from the Budding Florist, a local small business that works with area growers to provide quality blooms. thebuddingfl oristcincy.com.

6. Cool shades for their next adventure For her, Costa Del Mar’s May polarized sunglasses will keep her stylish with its refi ned and sophisticated square lens and chic aesthetic.

For him, the Fantail Pro is slim with a vented and adjustable nose pad to customize fi t. Metal keeper slots will help to keep sweat and sun out of his eyes. costadelmar.com.

7. Entertaining Host an event with a cutting board from Fresh Home + Kitchen, located right in Cincy. The home store carries an assortment of accessories and entertaining essentials suitable for any occasion. freshhomekitchen.com.

8. Travel in style Arlo Skye’s Zipper Carry-On Max with Front Pocket is a sturdy and lightweight roller that can take your grad from vacations to business travel in style. With a hard-shell front pocket for convenience, the luggage has an antimicrobial lining and comes with a removable, airline-compliant charger.

Xavier graduate Libby Overfi eld moves her tassel to the left side of her cap signifying her graduation during the Xavier University College of Arts and Sciences graduation ceremony on May 8 at the Cintas Center in Evanston. ALBERT CESARE/THE ENQUIRER

arloskye.com.

9. Makeover magic Book him or her an appointment at the neighborhood salon to elevate their style as they enter a new chapter of life.

Wild Honey Salon off ers a variety of services that can update anyone’s look. wildhoneysalon.com.

10. Elevated skincare Solvasa’s integrative beauty philosophy is about helping clients achieve whole wellness to balance both the inside as well as the outside of the body.

Solvasa’s products bridge Eastern tradition and Western science in response to

stress, enhancing overall wellbeing. solvasabeauty.com.

11. Dress up offi ce accessories Multitasky’s Everything Notebook B5 is just what the name implies. A loose-leaf writing pad inside a compact personal organizer with a wallet, sticky notes and a bookmark ruler to navigate his or her work and social life. Best of all, the notebook has a waterproof soft denim-like cover so it’s not only durable and chic, it’s easy to take everywhere. multitasky.com.

12. A sophisticated work bag Look no further than Radley Lon-

Arlo Skyes’ Zipper Carry On Max with Front Pocket lends sophistication to business trips.

NOAH WORKMAN, PATRICK ROUSSEAU/ PROVIDED

don’s Liverpool Street zip-top for a functional bag that looks professional and chic. Known as a best-seller for years, this bag is crafted in smooth leather with triple interior compartments for easy organizing. The detachable strap and elegant handles allow for carrying options. Whether at the offi ce or after hours, this bag is up for the transition. radleylondon.com.

13. Play that funky music Tribit StormBox Pro is a compact speaker that is as effi cient as it looks.

With full-range sound production, Exclusive XBass Technology and a long battery life, it is fully water-resistant and provides reliable connectivity. Perfect for travel as well as home use. tribit.com.

14. Outdoor pursuits Gear them up with the REI Co-op Siesta Hooded 25 Sleeping Bag and REI Co-op Outward Low Padded Lawn Chair for those adventurers. Whether it’s their last trip before “adulting” or a summer hurrah, REI Co-op’s Kingdom 4 Tent is sure to make camping comfortable and fun with its waterproof features and seasonal versatility. rei.com/h/camping-and-hiking.

15. Road warrior Splurge on your grad. Gift them the Himiway Escape Moped-style Electric Bike, which off ers endless fun and adventure. Whether commuting to work or riding for pleasure, this is the ultimate bike, boasting a double suspension system that guarantees comfort in any terrain. With 750W and 80Nm of torque, the high-speed hub motor ensures a smooth ride. himiwaybike.com.

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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THE ENQUIRER

The Clipper

The Pink Rose

SUNDAY+ SCENE IN CINCY

The 25th annual Krohn Conservatory Butterfly Show is open May 8 through Sept. 6. The show this year is titled “Butterflies of Bali.” Tickets must be purchased online. JOE SIMON PHOTOS FOR ENQUIRER

The Butterfl y Show returns at Krohn Conservatory

Outside of the Krohn Conservatory

Blue Morpho

Great Owl

The Butterfly Show features over 12,000 butterflies in free flight.

cincinnati.com

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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7AA

THE AMISH COOK

Fruit salad recipe discussed at quilting bee Ultimately Refreshing Fruit Salad

Gloria Yoder Special to Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

I put Hosanna and Joshua in our single stroller and headed to the neighbors for a quilting. I stopped at the mailbox on my way and was delighted to see a letter from a very dear friend and reader, Mrs. Weber from Cincinnati. Not wasting any moments, I tore open the envelope. Unfolding a paper that talked about God hiding in the cleft of the rock, I silently thanked the Lord. How did Mrs. Weber know I needed to be reminded of that, this very moment?

Next, I scanned the letter. Her beloved husband of 48 years passed. I can’t imagine what this dear friend must be facing.

Several minutes later, I stepped into Sarellen’s kitchen. One of her daughters was making a pot of tea. Hosanna headed straight for the toy box and got out a doll, delighted to play with her friend Heidi. After putting our wraps on a pile in the living room, I proceeded to rock Joshua to sleep in hopes of a productive afternoon at the quilt.

After 10 minutes, I headed downstairs with Joshua, who was now in innocent slumber. Putting him in bed and shifting the blankets to make him comfortable, I joined Sarellen, who was already quilting. It’s been years since I’ve been at a quilting.

As Sarellen and I chatted, my mind kept drifting to the children and Daddy at home. Bless dear Daddy’s heart for telling me they’ll manage things at home while I’m gone. I breathed a little prayer for them as my needle kept going in and out, in and out. Hosanna, who was now sitting beside me, watched in fascination.

More ladies joined. It was relaxing to listen in on conversation, contribute to it, and sip tea while our needles kept busy. Heidi and Hosanna served pastries that had been set out for all to enjoy.

Soon the subject centered around last week’s wedding, where my second cousin got married. We all agreed it was some of the best mixed fruit ever. Sarellen had asked the bride’s mother about it, so I can now share it with you today.

As we quilted, memories of when I was a young girl and Grandma – who

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came to help sew the quilt my mother did for me – kept coming to mind. When she passed at 80, she was still an avid quilter. I could almost hear the tips she gave when I asked her questions and watched how fast her needle covered inch after inch. I don’t expect to ever be as swift as she was. Yet, quilting is something I’ve enjoyed ever since I was a little girl and Mom introduced me to quilting when a friend gave a small “Dutch Girl” quilt for me. And it dawns on me that the little pillow top which came with that quilt was never quilted. I still have it, and that is where Julia will put in her fi rst stitches.

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

|

THE ENQUIRER

THINGS TO DO IN CINCY THIS WEEK

The best solution for

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Jeremy Pinnell performs Saturday night at Ludlow Vets as part of the Whispering Beard Presents series. PROVIDED Luann Gibbs Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

Monday, May 17 CHARITY: Cincinnati Circus in the Biergarten, 6 and 8 p.m. MondayThursday, Big Ash Brewing, 5230 Beechmont Ave., Anderson Township.

See fi re performances, aerial stunts, the wheel of death and more. $20, $10 ages 10-under, free age 2-under. eventbrite.com FAMILY: Butterfl ies of Bali, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. daily, Krohn Conservatory, 1501 Eden Park Drive, Mount Adams.

Timed ticket entry. Runs May 8-Sept. 6.

Reservations: krohn.ticketspice.com/butterfl yshow.

FOOD: Cincy Salad Week, May 1723. Sponsored by Cincy Fit Foodie, enjoy specialty salads at participating restaurants. cincyfi tfoode.com/restaurants.

JOB FAIR: Job Fair, 4-7 p.m., Oasis Golf and Conference Center, 902 Love-

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THEATER/VIRTUAL: Ben Butler, streaming through May 22. What MASH was to the Korean War, Ben Butler is to the American Civil War. $15. falcontheater.net.

THEATER/VIRTUAL ENDING SOON: Rhapsody in Black. Streaming through May 17. Written and performed by acclaimed actor LeLand Gantt, this one-man show explores personal journey to understand and transcend racism in America. $6. cincinnatiarts.org.

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Tuesday, May 18 FOOD: New Recipes with Kate, 78:30 p.m. via Zoom. Chef Kate Caccamo of Salt Your Greens hosts quick, easy

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Continued from Page 8AA

and family-friendly recipes for dinner.

Recipes, ingredients and Zoom link sent prior to event. $15.

Register: eventbrite.com.

Wednesday, May 19 MUSIC: Reggae Wednesday, 6-9 p.m., Fountain Square, 520 Vine St., Downtown. Live reggae music. Runs weekly May 12-Oct. 13.

Free. myfountainsquare.com.

THEATER OPENING: Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical, 7 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, Sorg Opera House, 63 S. Main St., Middletown. $15 advance. sorgoperahouse.org.

Thursday, May 20 DANCING: Salsa on the Square, 7-10 p.m., Fountain Square, 520 Vine St., Downtown. Weekly dance series with live salsa bands. Runs May 6-Sept. 30.

Free. myfountainsquare.com.

Friday, May 21 CHARITY: Yappy Hour, Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum, 1763 Hamilton-Cleves Road, Hamilton. Bring your canine companion for a walk around 300-acre park and fi nish with a drink at Grand Pavilion, Benefi ts Animal Friends Humane Society. Bring donation of one medium or large bag of pet food and two bags of treats for entry. pyramidhill.org.

CONCERTS: The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, 8 p.m., Riverfront Live, 4343 Kellogg Ave., East End. With DeeOhGee. Doors open 7 p.m. riverfrontlivecincy.com.

MUSIC/FESTIVAL: May Festival, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Music Hall, 1241 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine. Opening weekend.

MUSIC: Spring Concert Series, 6-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Fountain Square, 520 Vine St. Downtown. Weekly concert series through May 30. This week: Noah Smith with TBA on Friday; Erin Coburn with TBA on Saturday.

Free. myfountainsquare.com.

MUSIC/VIRTUAL: Cincinnati Fire Museum Virtual Music Series, 8 p.m. live on Facebook. This week: Hop-hop

artists Sons of Silverton. Free. facebook. com/cincyfi remuseum/events.

THEATER: I Got Rhythm, 7 p.m. Friday, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, Covington Plaza, 144 Madison Ave. Outdoor performance series. Choreographed tap dance production featuring music from Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin and George Gershwin. $25, $15 students and children. thecarnegie.com.

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ntil recently, there was no practical way to identify dead regions of hearing cells in the ear. However, a new British-developed procedure using standard test equipment now allows for identification of dead hearing cell regions. The study suggests that the presence or absence of dead regions may have serious implications in the fitting of hearing aids.

This research reveals that amplifying dead cells is a mistake which will result in poorer speech understanding in noise. A new microcircuit is now available that can be programmed to bypass the dead cells. As a result, the patient’s usable hearing cells receive

9AA

amplification, thereby improving speech understanding in noise.

“We are employing a like method using a sound field speech in noise procedure”, said Lowell Scott of Acute Hearing.

“This test simulates hearing in a noisy crowd. We are able to achieve maximum speech understanding by frequency shaping this new hearing aid.”

The results have been phenomenal.

Acute Hearing Centers is offering this new frequency-shaping hearing instrument on a 30-day satisfaction trial. “Your satisfaction is absolutely guaranteed,” Scott said.

If you hear, but are having trouble understanding conversation, take advantage of the complimentary demonstrations offered this week.

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See TO DO, Page 11AA

|

Study by Cambridge University in England Reveals Key Answer

Saturday, May 22 CHARITY/MUSIC: NKY Music Legends Hall of Fame Benefi t, 9 p.m., Bobby Mackey’s, 44 Licking Pike, Wilder.

Doors open 7 p.m. Performing: Bobby Mackey and His Best Damn Band with special guest Ray Cummins. Accepting donations for NKY Music Legends HoF. $10.

CONCERTS: Whispering Beard presents: Live at the Ludlow Vets, 6:30 p.m., 830 Elm St., Ludlow. Featuring Jeremy Pinnell, The Harmed Brothers and Frontier Folk Nebraska. All ages outdoor show happens rain or shine. $35 reserved pod. cincyticket.com.

CONCERTS: Here Come The Mummies, 7 p.m., Riverfront Live, 4343 Kellogg Ave., East End. Doors open 6 p.m.

Ages 16-up. Rain or shine. $20-$40. riverfrontlivecincy.com.

FOOD: Murder on the Menu: Remus on the River, 6 p.m., Queen City Riverboat, 100 O’Fallen Ave., Dayton. Show, dinner and cruise on Ohio River. Historically-inspired cocktail and dinner with Remus Whiskey pairing. Boards at 5:30 p.m. $75 all-inclusive. cincinnatimurderdinners.com.

HAPPY HOUR: Adult Sunset Safari: The African Sundowner, 6-10 p.m., Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, 3400 Vine St., Avondale. Cocktails, dinner and up-close animal encounters. $150, $140 members. Ages 21-up. cincinnatizoo.org.

SHOPPING: Strawberry Days, 10 a.m. daily, Blooms and Berries Farm Market, 9669 S. State Route 48, Loveland. U-pick strawberries, farm games, petting zoo and more. May 22-June 6.

SHOPPING: Grace Market, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, Grace Green Acres Farm, 932 Cook Road, Lebanon.

Outdoor event featuring vendors of natural products like locally sourced food, handmade clothing and jewelry. Music,

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Why Do I Hear...

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

|

THE ENQUIRER

IN THE GARDEN

A mid-May checkup on your garden Chris McKeown Guest Columnist

Today, we are waking up to the middle of the month of May. The fi rst half of the month of May has been very interesting in the garden world.

The fi rst thing we need to look at is the weather. The weather has been very wet with below-average temperatures.

The weather really has not been very conducive for planting summer annuals and vegetables. Two weeks ago, I mentioned that the ideal soil temperature for these plants was 65-70 degrees. On that day, the soil temperature was 63 degrees. Since then, it had dropped to 54 degrees on Mother’s Day. After Mother’s Day, we started a warming trend. This will hopefully get these plants back on track. If you planted early, ahead of Mother’s Day at the beginning of the month, your plants have not been happy. They have been trying to grow in cold, damp soil and vulnerable to a few frosty nights.

The problem here is your plants have not been growing roots. They need the warmth in the soil for the roots to grow.

They would have had warm soil if they were still in the greenhouse waiting to be planted. In the case of vegetables, your plants may be slower to produce fruit than ones being planted later in the month.

The best thing I can encourage you to do now is to be patient. I would also urge you to be very careful with how and when you water. Your plants are already suff ering from too much water. The roots would be extremely vulnerable to over-watering. The roots may have already been damaged just being in the wet soil. You do not want to make them worse. Make sure they are dry before you give them any supplemental water

If you’ve already planted some things in the garden, it’s best to just let nature fi gure it out. ADAM MONACELLI/COURIER-POST

other than the rain. You certainly should not be watering every day.

Knowing that your plants are struggling, you might consider feeding them.

This will certainly help. However, I would encourage you to wait until the weather has warmed up and you know they are growing. Fertilizing stressed plants can make the situation worse.

My best advice to you if you are worried about these plants is to just let nature take care of them. The weather is getting back to normal, and they should start growing as they should. They are behind, but they will catch up.

The second thing I wanted to let you know about is the supply of plants on the market. I have been telling and warning you that the supply of all types of plants heading into the season was

very tight. This was because gardening became extremely popular during the pandemic.

Now we are well into the second spring season since the beginning of the pandemic. The supply issues are continuing and getting even more challenging. As you are shopping for plants, you may struggle to fi nd certain plants that traditionally have always been easy to fi nd.

These situations are even more frustrating for those of us in the nursery business who want to make all of our customers happy. My advice here is to be willing to substitute similar varieties and types of plants. This is a good reason for shopping at an independently owned garden center. These places will have direct lines of communication with

their growers. If they do not have something now, they will be able to tell you when they might.

Now one more quick thing. We are getting very close to the emergence of the cicadas. Actually, one benefi t of the cold weather is it has been holding them back. There is a lot of bad information being spread.

There is no need to put off planting because of the cicadas unless you are personally afraid of them. The plants will be fi ne. Trees of all sizes are vulnerable to having some branches broken.

That is all we have to worry about. You can cover smaller trees with netting if it makes you feel better. If you do not, they may suff er a few broken branches but will ultimately be fi ne. Flowers and other plants will not be impacted at all.

In Loving Memory

Good leadership means being consistent and pushing yourself to be your best.

Lisa Angel, Distribution Director, The Citizen-Times

Lisa is one of Gannett’s emerging leaders and we invite you to become another! Gannett has over 250 locations nationwide with a variety of packaging and production roles that accommodate many of the transferable skill sets that you may already have.

Our most precious resource is our diverse workforce – people of all backgrounds, cultures and skills. That’s why we’ve partnered with the Urban League and NAACP to help us identify strong candidates who are looking to grow into a leadership role within Gannett.

We remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice and those who are especially dear to us on Memorial Day

For Memorial Day we will publish a special page devoted to those who are gone but not forgotten. The names will be placed in a format that is similar to the sample on the right. You can choose from a verse & an image to be included in your ad as well, please see those options below.

1 Choose one of the following verses

In Loving Memory

The year will never wipe away those happy days we spent together.

In our heart we keep the memories of the one we loved so dear.

The smile you wore, the way you talked and a thousand more things we remember.

In our heart your memory lingers touching our lives forever.

Sweetly tender, fond and true, there’s never a day that we do not think of you.

Your memory is dear today as the hour you passed away.

In our home you are fondly remembered, sweet memories cling to your name.

We miss you today as much as we did when God called you home.

Life is very empty without you as we were so happy together.

Your absence to us is a sorrow and your loss we will always regret.

Your presence is ever near us; your love remains with us yet.

On earth you nobly did your best, may Jesus grant you heavenly rest.

Fondly loved and deeply mourned; heart of my heart, I miss you so.

There is a link death cannot sever, love and remembrance last forever.

A star so bright your spirit has come to be and it’s there for us to see.

Mary Jane Dean Aug. 10, 1942 - May 28, 2018

The smile you wore, the way you talked and a thousand more things we remember.

Your Loving Husband and Family Always Remember

Peter Smith

Navy April 13, 1988 - Sept. 3, 2017 In our heart your memory lingers touching our lives forever.

We love you, Mom and Dad

2 Choose one of the following image option

Civilian

“I have a long history with Gannett and this is my first

managerial position. After 22 years, I am in charge of a team across three publications and I truly enjoy the responsibilities that leadership brings. One of my top priorities is to inspire my team members to strive for excellence, always. Together, we get the job done!”

Military

Full-time and part-time positions are available.

Contact Sydney Vernon, Sr. Manager/Talent Acquisition @ 914-694-5335 or e-mail: svernon@gannett.com

For more, visit Gannett.com

Gannett. Be inspired to set your sights…higher!

Please call 888-508-9353 or email Classifieds@enquirer.com or visit www.cincinnati.com/celebrations to place your ad today!

HURRY! DEADLINE IS NOON MONDAY, MAY 24TH, 2021 The section will be published May 31st CE-GCI0627229-01

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Rain or shine. Free admission; parking $3. gracegreenbeauty.com.

SHOPPING: Hosta & Perennial Auction, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Gil Lynn Park, 203 Greendevil Lane, Dayton. Wear a mask.

Sponsored by the Hosta Society of Greater Cincinnati. gchostas.org.

Sunday, May 23 THEATER: Upstanders Onstage: Performances for Social Change, 6-8 p.m., parking lot of Mayerson JCC, 8485 Ridge Ave., Amberley Village. In-person, socially distanced outdoor event featuring theater artists, musicians and poets. Ages 12-up. Reservations required. cincyplay.com.

THEATER: Village Players: A Tale of Tails, 2:30 and 4 p.m., Tower Park Amphitheater, Cochran Ave., Fort Thomas.

Performed by the Fort Thomas Village Players.

TOURS: Historic Mount Adams Walking Tours, 1 p.m., Mount Adams Bar & Grill, 938 Hatch St. 2-hour guided walking tour of neighborhood. Wear

Looking ahead CHARITY: Drive For Change Golf Outing, May 28, Eagle Creek Country Club, 990 Crittenden Mt. Zion Road, Dry Ridge. Golfers have a chance to win a new truck with a hole-in-one. Benefi ts Women’s Crisis Center. Register: bidpal.net/driveforchange.

CHARITY: Wigs & Waffl es, June 27, Fueled Collective, 3825 Edwards Road, Norwood. Celebrate Pride 2021 at a drag brunch benefi ting Lighthouse Youth & Family Services’ LGBTQ+ programs. $49, includes brunch, open bar and drag show. cincydragbrunch.com.

CHARITY: Double Vision XII, June 25, Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park and Museum. Live and silent art auctions, light bites, music and cash bar. Benefi ts Visionaries and Voices. Free, but reservations required. eventbrite.com.

FAMILY: Coney Island, 6201 Kellogg Ave., Anderson Township, opens for the season on May 29.

FILM: Hollywood Drive-In Theater, 1538 Cedar Ave., College Hill. Drive-In opens May 28 for the season. $25 per car. hollywooddriveintheater.com.

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THE ENQUIRER

Congratulate

A Graduate!

The United States has a lot of astronauts on the moon in the second season of alternate history drama “For All Mankind.” APPLE TV+

Apple TV+ is surprisingly appealing Kelly Lawler USA TODAY

Many of the best series on TV this year aren’t on Netfl ix or Disney+ or Hulu or Amazon or HBO Max. They’re on Apple TV+.

Shocking as it may seem, the ubiquitous tech company’s foray into original TV programming, which started out with a dull whimper in November 2019, has progressed to a satisfying roar with a triumphant slate of acclaimed TV shows.

As someone who initially dismissed the service as an expensive vanity exercise, I couldn’t be more thrilled with Apple’s output in 2021. And it appears like it’s only going to get better.

Apple entered the original TV business with a $4.99 a month price tag for its streaming service (purchasers of selected Apple products also get it free for one year). When the service launched it had only nine shows and fi lms to off er, including Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon’s media drama “The Morning Show”; post-apocalyptic “See,” starring Jason Momoa; irreverent historical comedy “Dickinson”; alternate space race history “For All Mankind”; and some children’s programming.

2021

It was a paltry off ering compared with major rivals Netfl ix, Amazon and Hulu. And unlike them, and several other streaming services introduced since then, Apple has no deep library of archival content.

Disney+, launched shortly after Apple, has far more library titles than originals from Disney Channel series to “The Simpsons”; HBO Max was launched with 10 seasons of “Friends,” reclaimed from Netfl ix; Peacock quickly took back the rights for “The Offi ce” from Netfl ix in January, months after its launch; and Paramount+, the newest arrival in the streaming wars, has everything from classic Nickelodeon cartoons to CBS crime dramas to “The Brady Bunch” (even if many of its titles also are available on its competitors’ sites).

How were a handful of shows with a handful of stars supposed to compete with more TV than any viewer could watch in a lifetime?

The answer, unsurprisingly, is quality over quantity. While “Morning Show” and “See” fl ailed creatively out of the gate when Apple TV+ launched, most of the streamer’s programming has been smart and savvy. Apple has

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Apple TV+ Continued from Page 12AA

slowly been amassing some of the most creatively ambitious and satisfying series on TV right now.

The promising “Mankind” fl ourished as one of the most exciting, illuminating dramas on TV. “Dickinson,” while not everyone’s taste, is a cult series with a devoted following and a cutting sense of wit. And several strong series have joined the lineup, including workplace sitcom “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet,” Jason Sudeikis’ comedy “Ted Lasso,” immigrant anthology series “Little America,” M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller “Servant,” animated musical “Central Park” and British comedy “Trying.”

On the fi lm side, Apple has acquired and premiered increasingly high-quality movies. The company’s deep pockets and the upheaval in the fi lm industry have allowed the service to acquire some titles meant for theatrical releases, including the dazzling Oscarnominated animated fi lm, “Wolfwalkers.” Other well-received movies include Billie Eilish’s documentary “The World’s a Little Blurry” and Sofi a Coppola’s “On the Rocks,” starring Bill Murray and Rashida Jones.

Apple still lacks the vast choice of Netfl ix or Disney+, but it is quickly becoming one of the most worthwhile subscriptions out there. All it took was a little time.

And, in fact, its modest array of offerings proved an advantage. Decision paralysis affl icts many viewers scrolling through endless titles on Netfl ix and HBO Max, as too many choices make it hard to fi nd something to watch.

Of course, not every series is a winner. An adaptation of William Landay’s novel “Defending Jacob,” starring Chris Evans and Michelle Dockery, was a boring mess that couldn’t rise to its source material. The fi rst season of “Morning Show,” despite its A-list cast, was a wild disappointment, with poor writing and casting that often made little sense. But it’s easy enough to simply ignore the dud shows in favor of the winners.

If you’ve had an Apple TV+ subscription since you bought a phone or computer and don’t know what to do with it, here are three shows to start with.

‘Mythic Quest’ An heir to quirky, joyous workplace sitcoms such as “Parks and Recreation” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” this comedy from the creators of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” is hilarious and endearing. Set at the offi ce of a video game company, the series has a stacked cast of characters played by Rob McElhenney, Danny Pudi, David Hornsby and F. Murray Abraham. Its central relationship is between McElhenney’s Ian and his creative partner Poppy (Charlotte Nicdao), a platonic relationship that’s more complex and engaging than many a romance. It’s one of the few series that included the pandemic in its storytelling in a thoughtful including a remotely shot 2020 episode that found the perfect tone. And while the series occasionally indulges in cringe comedy, it has a much lighter touch than “Sunny.”

‘Ted Lasso’ One of the few Apple shows to become a bigger part of the zeitgeist, you’ve probably heard of Sudeikis’ aff able American football coach Ted Lasso, who takes a job as a coach for a British football (aka soccer) team. What started as a one-joke punchline in an NBC Sports commercial blossomed into one of the most genuinely heartwarming shows on TV. Ted is the most positive, upbeat character to grace the small screen, and his kindness is infectious to the disgruntled Brits, who don’t trust or like him when he shows up in London.

The show zooms out over the course of the phenomenal fi rst season, showing the players, coaches, friends and management of a down-and-out football club as a misbegotten family. When it arrived last year, it was a much-needed balm, even if you don’t know anything about soccer.

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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HappyFather’sDay Happy Father’s Day

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‘For All Mankind’ Apple’s best series is one of its fi rst, although it took a few episodes to get going. “Mankind” is an alternative history of the late 20th century, which explores what would have happened if the Soviet Union had beaten the U.S. to the moon and the space race never ended.

What starts as a relatively insular drama about astronauts and engineers in Houston quickly becomes a bigger story that asks larger questions.

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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THE ENQUIRER

SUNDAY+ FUN+GAMES

Your votes will help decide what lives here Editor’s note: We’re asking YOU to vote for which puzzles and comics we should add to this space every week as part of our expansion of the Sunday Enquirer.

For our fi nal week of options, we have Whatzit?, 7 Little Words, Ziggy and Half Full. Vote for your favorites online at cincinnati.com/puzzlevote3 or email rtodd@enquirer.com. By May 23, we’ll debut our new Sunday+ Fun+games page with your winners.

(Find this week’s solutions below.)

TV’S BEST BETS Mike Hughes Special to Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

Sunday, May 16 “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” season fi nale – 9 p.m., NBC. There’s a fl ood of fi nales this week. “Playlist” has Zoey say goodbye to someone; “Bob (Hearts) Abishola” (8:30 p.m. Monday, CBS) has a hurry-up wedding. Today’s fi nales also include “Great North” and “Family Guy” (8:30 and 9:30 p.m., Fox) and “The Rookie” (10 p.m., ABC). But at 9 p.m., Hallmark’s “Good Witch” opens its season and CNN’s “Story of Late Night” has an excellent David Letterman profi le.

Monday, May 17 “American Experience: Billy Graham” – 9-11 p.m., PBS. Graham was a Southern farm kid, 6-foot-2, with blue eyes, a strong voice and an amiable, amorous nature. He quit Bob Jones College because he wanted to date girls. At another Bible school, he met a missionary’s daughter; they were married 64 years, with fi ve children. Graham fi t the classic picture of an evangelist; he also may have overstepped political boundaries. The Watergate tapes were “a crushing experience,” triggering atonement and moderation.

Tuesday, May 18 “Superman & Lois” return – 9 p.m., In his home town of Smallville, Clark has doubts about letting Jordan (who has shown brief fl ashes of his dad’s superpowers) play football; Lois keeps probing developer Morgan Edge. Also Tuesday: Season fi nales of Fox’s “The Resident” and “Prodigal Son,” ABC’s “Black-ish,” “Mixed-ish” and “Big Sky.”

HALF FULL ZIGGY

Wednesday, May 19 “The Conners” season fi nale – 9 p.m., ABC. It’s been a rough year for the family, with COVID, strife, money woes and Jackie’s embarrassing “Jeopardy” appearance. But ABC promises there will be two marriage proposals. Its other comedies – “Goldbergs,” “Home Economics,” “Call Your Mother” – also wrap up, on a night that’s also strong on nature: At 8, PBS debuts “Life at the Waterhole” and the Smithsonian Channel has “Cher and the Loneliest Elephant.”

Thursday, May 20

Whatzit solution: Filthy rich.

7 Little Words solution: 1. TENACIOUS. 2. TENDERLY. 3. TENNIS. 4. TENTACLED. 5. TENOR. 6. TENUOUSLY. 7. TENDRIL. May 16

WLWT NBC WCPO ABC WKRC CBS CINCW WXIX FOX WKRP WCET PBS WSTR MYNET WDTN NBC WHIO CBS WPTO PBS WPTD PBS WKEF ABC WKEF.2 FOX WBDT CW WKOI WCVN PBS

7PM

7:30

Ellen’s Game of Games: 5 Wife of the.

America’s Funniest 9 Home Videos (N) 60 Minutes (TVPG) (N) 12 12.2 TMZ (TVPG) (N) (6:30) Bless the 19 Postgame Harts 25 Munsters Munsters Greta Thunberg: A Year 48 Denmark.

Bang: Bus Bang: Love Car. 64 Pants.

Ellen’s Game of Games: 2 Wife of the.

60 Minutes (TVPG) (N) 7 WoodSongs: John Paul 14 White. (TV G) Walter Presents: Sum16 mer Night. (N) America’s Funniest 22 Home Videos (N) The Simp- Bless the Harts 22.2 sons TMZ (TVPG) (N) 26 43 Criminal Minds Private Investigators: 54 Too Cold for Hell.

8PM

8:30

9PM

9:30

10PM

10:30

11PM

11:30

Ellen’s Game of Games Zoey’s Extraordinary Good Girls: Chef WLWT News 5 at 11:00 “Heads Up.” (N) Playlist (TV14) (N) Boyardee. (TV14) (N) (N) American Idol: 418 (My. The top five performs. The Rookie: Threshold. WCPO 9 (N) (:35) (TVPG) (N) (TV14) (N) Sports/Sort The Equalizer: True Be- NCIS: Los Angeles: Look- NCIS: New Orleans: Runs News (N) Sports Auliever. (N) ing Glass. (N) in Family. (N) thority DC’s Legends (N) Batwoman (N) Men Men Seinfeld Girls The Simp- The Great Bob’s Bur- Family Guy FOX19 NOW @ 10 ReNews (N) Full Court sons (N) North gers (N) (N) gional news. (N) (N) Munsters Munsters Roseanne Roseanne Roseanne Roseanne Nanny Nanny Rise of the Nazis: Night Masterpiece: The Gift. Masterpiece: World on Thou Shalt Not Kill of the.

(TVPG) (N) Fire. (TVPG) (TV14) (N) Major Crimes: D.O.A..

Central Central Local 12 Monk: Mrs. Monk. Trudy Paid ProRaydor’s husband.

Ave. Ave. News (N) comes back. gram Ellen’s Game of Games Zoey’s Extraordinary Good Girls: Chef 2 News at 11 Paid Pro“Heads Up.” (N) Playlist (TV14) (N) Boyardee. (TV14) (N) pm gram The Equalizer: True Be- NCIS: Los Angeles: Look- NCIS: New Orleans: Runs News (N) (:35) Judge liever. (N) ing Glass. (N) in Family. (N) Joe Antiques Roadshow: Hemingway: A Film by Ken Burns and Lynn Austin City Limits: Sam Celebrity Hour.

Novick: Blank Page (1944-1961). (TV14) Smith. (TVPG) Rise of the Nazis: Night Masterpiece: The Gift. Masterpiece: World on A New Leash on Life of the.

(TVPG) (N) Fire. (TVPG) Vets & dogs.

American Idol: 418 (My. The top five performs. The Rookie: Threshold. News (N) Paid Pro(TVPG) (N) (TV14) (N) gram The Simp- The Great Bob’s Bur- Family Guy News (N) Ring of Honor Wrestling Paid Prosons (N) North gers (N) (N) Stars compete. gram DC’s Legends of Tomor- Batwoman: And Justice News (N) 2 Broke Major Crimes: Skin row (TVPG) (N) For. (TV14) (N) Girls Deep. (TV14) Criminal Minds Criminal Minds Criminal Minds Criminal Minds The Queen’s Castle: The Masterpiece: The Gift. Masterpiece: World on Masterpiece: Mrs. Wilson I. (TVPG) Ranger. (TVPG) (TVPG) (N) Fire. (TVPG)

“Last Man Standing” series fi nale – 9 and 9:30 p.m., Fox. Tim Allen has had a fi ne run – eight seasons on “Home Improvement,” nine (over 10 years and two networks) here. The fi rst show ended voluntarily; this one didn’t … a point Allen makes here. He wrote the fi nal half-hour, a metaphor in which thieves take a classic truck he worked on for a decade. The 9 p.m. episode reminds us it’s old-school adequate; the 9:30 one gives some awful lines to Jay Leno.

Friday, May 21 “Shark Tank” season fi nale – 8 p.m., ABC. People usually bring this show big ideas, but not big creatures. Now here’s the biggest so far: A life-size, animatronic dinosaur. Other pitches are more portable – a cooler, a caff einated drink, a potty-training helper.

That wraps up the 12th season. Also, Friday has two documentary mini-series: “Inside the Met” (9-11 p.m., PBS, concluding next week) probes the Metropolitan Museum of Art as it turns 150; “Pride” (8-11 p.m., FX) concludes, viewing gay-rights struggles.

Saturday, May 22 “Saturday Night Live” season fi nale – 11:29 p.m., NBC. A couple years ago, few people had heard of Anya Taylor-Joy or Lil Nas X. Now they’re host and music guest. Taylor-Joy, 25, was up for two Golden Globe awards this year; she won for “The Queen’s Gambit” and was nominated for “Emma,” a Jane Austen tale. Lil Nas X saw his “Old Town Road” start on the country chart, cross over to pop … and spend 17 weeks at No. 1. Breaking barriers, he became the fi rst Black and openly gay man to win a Country Music Association award.

cincinnati.com

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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15AA

Water WORLD

SUNDAY+ TRAVEL

Upper Caney Creek Falls in the Bankhead National Forest of Alabama. GETTY IMAGES

See how Alabama earned nickname of ‘Land of 1,000 waterfalls’ Maria Clark The American South | USA TODAY NETWORK

The return of warm weather in the South seems to spark a desire to fi nd water to cool down in. Fortunately, options abound – especially if you’re a nature lover. h Drive through parts of northern Alabama and you’ll see why the region is often referred to as the “Land of 1,000 waterfalls.” h The area is home to a surprisingly high density of canyons, caves, and waterfalls. While some places are harder to access and require more hiking, there are also less taxing options for people planning a short day trip or traveling with young children. h The American South compiled a list of several unique waterfalls across the state and directions on how to get to them. Some of these locations are easier to travel to than others and may be less accessible depending on the time of year. For more information on these locations and the hundreds of other waterfalls across the state, visit alapark.com or alabamawaterfalls.com.

Note : The number of visitors in state and national parks has skyrocketed during the pandemic, leading to overcrowding and damage to wildlife. For information on how to responsibly enjoy the outdoors visit: http://lnt.org/

DeSoto Falls 7104 DeSoto Parkway NE Fort Payne Located in DeSoto State Park, these waterfalls are among the most accessible if you are planning a day trip. This 100 ft waterfall is one of the tallest in the state and is especially impressive after it rains. There’s a fenced-in overlook that is easy to walk to from the parking lot for a view of the falls. Make sure to take precautions when traveling with small children.

There’s also a network of trails that lead you to the base of the falls if you’re interested in exploring other views. The Desoto Falls Bottom and Bluff Overlook Loop is a 2 mile moderately traffi cked trail that takes you to the base of the falls.

If you have time you can also visit Laurel Falls and Lost Falls, which are two smaller waterfalls also located in Desoto State Park.

Little River Falls Located off of Highway 35 next to the bridge in Gaylesville Located near Desoto State Park, Little River Falls is a 45 ft waterfall that is accessible all year. It’s one of three named waterfalls in the Little River Canyon National Preserve. Water levels are signifi cantly lower in

the Summer and Fall, but make it easier to wade through above the falls.

There is also a nice swimming hole at the base of the falls.

The best way to get to the falls is through the boardwalk from the parking lot. There is a wheelchair-accessible path leading to the falls. No camping is allowed in the area and the park closes after dark.

Graces High Falls Fort Payne Located in the Little River Canyon National Preserve, Graces High Falls is technically Alabama’s tallest waterfall. The 133ft waterfalls are usually not visible in the summertime due to low rainfall.

Rainbow Falls, Dismals Canyon National Natural Landmark 901 Hwy 8, Phil Campbell Rainbow Falls is located in Dismals Canyon, a small privately-owned natural preserve located in northwest Alabama. The property was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1975 and is known for its rich diversity of plant life and geological features.

There’s a 1.5 mile trail on the canyon fl oor that takes

you past Rainbow Falls and a variety of rock formations. Tiny bioluminescent insects, better known as glow worms, light up the canyon at night. If you plan to camp or stay in one of the property’s cabins overnight, you can take a guided night tour.

Noccalula Falls 1500 Noccalula Rd., Gadsden, Alabama Located in western Alabama, Noccalula Falls and the surrounding park is one of the more family-friendly destinations. There’s a year-round campground, botanical garden, and picnic areas. The 1.7 mile gravel Black Creek Trail takes you from the campground to the waterfalls.

Caney Creek Falls and Upper Caney Creek Falls Bankhead National Forest Caney Creek Falls is possibly one of the most photographed waterfalls in Alabama. Be prepared to hike about an hour in and out to get to the falls. Located at the southwest corner of the Bankhead National Forest, it’s about a 1.7 mile hike from a small parking area to the falls. It’s a relatively steep climb down to the falls, but once at the bottom, you can walk behind the falls or swim. The trek is well worth it.

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WELCOME HOME A FAN

FC CINCINNATI ’S GUIDE TO THE STADIUM

FC Cincinnati’s new TQL Stadium in the West End neighborhood of Cincinnati will host its fi rst home match today. ALBERT CESARE AND PHIL DIDION/THE ENQUIRER

‘IT’S A NEW DAY’ IN WEST END From Crosley Field to TQL Stadium, area sees return of sports Sharon Coolidge

Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY NETWORK

For 58 years, beginning in 1912, Cincinnati’s West End was home to Crosley Field, where the Cincinnati Reds played.

The city’s music festival was held there, too, with some of the biggest jazz acts of all time gracing the Crosley Field stage.

Fannie Shaw, 74, moved to West End when she 8, left as an adult and moved back a decade ago.

She remembers fi nally being old enough to go to the music festival in the last year it was held in 1970, before Crosley Field closed.

West End was a vibrant, bustling Black neighborhood, she said.

“There was a grocery store, barber shops, restaurants, skating rinks,” Shaw said. “Even old people can skate well now because of them.

“We seldom left the community. We didn’t need to.”

Now, 109 years after the Reds fi rst chose West End as their home, FC Cincinnati has built TQL Stadium, investing millions of dollars into a neighborhood that has been neglected for years.

See WEST END, Page 2G

ABCs of TQL

10 cool features

Pre-match hot spots

Luxurious locker rooms

Find out everything you need to know about the stadium from A to Z. Page 4G.

Different seats, cool artwork and the widest scoreboard in a North America soccer stadium. Page 8G.

Here are some nearby places to hang out before and after matches. Page 10G.

Check out the amenities for the FC Cincinnati players in their new digs. Page 11G

Expert care that’s close to home Don’t let a sports injury slow them down. Call in the hometown experts who treat both professional and high school athletes every day. Our team of orthopedic specialists, therapists and trainers are the best in the region, and offer same-day appointments.

TO SCHEDULE Call 513-347-9999 Visit mercy.com/cincinnati-orthopedics

Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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THE ENQUIRER

FC CINCINNATI

Team executives determined West End was the best fi t for FC Cincinnati and its $250 million, 26,000-seat stadium. SAM GREENE AND ALBERT CESARE/THE ENQUIRER

West End Continued from Page 1G

The fi rst home match is set for today.

“Once again, we are reborn here in the West End and opening up a stadium, the fastest growing sport in America, the largest sport in the world,” Mayor John Cranley proclaimed at the May 1 ceremonial opening.

How it all began Cincinnati’s Major League Soccer team was born in 2015 out of ambition and the grit of West Sider Jeff Berding, a former city councilman who at the time was a Cincinnati Bengals executive and soccer dad. Berding believed soccer was the sport of the future, and he convinced Carl Lindner III, co-CEO of Great American Insurance and one of the wealthiest men in Cincinnati, that the dream of bringing professional soccer to Cincinnati was worth the risk.

Lindner, whose children played soccer growing up, agreed. Then, with help from some of the most prominent families in Cincinnati, including the Farmers (Cintas Corp.) and the Josephs (Joseph Auto Group), a soccer club was born. California-based Silicon Valley star Meg Whitman and her family joined the ownership group with a $100 million investment in 2019.

From almost the get-go, fans in the city where professional baseball was born embraced their new soccer team and immediately created grassroots excitement and traditions. Hundreds – and for some matches, thousands – of people marched through Clifton Heights to Nippert Stadium on the University of Cincinnati campus on game day. The fan base kept growing. There were record crowds and a winning minor-league team.

It seemed like magic.

“You go back to 2015, 2016, this city had nothing going in sports,” said Matthew Long, FC Cincinnati’s fi rst season ticket holder. “The Reds were horrible. The Bengals were horrible – and had been for so long. You had this nugget that just showed up. There were people who had an interest in soccer, had played it, watched it. Then all of a sudden, they had a team with their name on it. It didn’t have a history, so you could be there when history was made.”

Lindner and Berding kept dreaming. Lindner and Berding kept working. They wanted FC Cincinnati to be a Major League Soccer expansion team.

FC Cincinnati was winning. And winning.

And winning. Players engaged with fans and were visible in the community. The atmosphere at Nippert was fun and electric. It was the place to be.

Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber was in town for the Aug. 15, 2017, U.S. Open Cup semifi nal that pitted FC Cincinnati against the New York Red Bulls, an MLS team.

The Reds played at Crosley Field, seen during the 1961 World Series, for 58 years, beginning in 1912. ENQUIRER FILE

The coronavirus pandemic struck in March 2020, but construction continued – practically the only thing that wasn’t at a standstill in the early days of the pandemic.

At a ribbon-cutting ceremony May 1, West End residents poured into the stadium for a sneak peek.

Larry Morris, who has lived in West End for 30 years, attended the open house with his 7year-old grandson, Zaire.

“I’ve always wanted to see the neighborhood change for the better and wanted the city to take it more seriously and invest in the area,” Morris said. He’s hopeful the stadium will do that.

Berding said that to him and all the owners, building the stadium in West End “combines the history of Cincinnati and the pride of Cincinnati with a better future for Cincinnati.”

“It was an opportunity to make the biggest impact,” Berding said. “Sports teams have the unique ability to inspire. We can be a catalyst to improving people’s lives.”

Garber, the MLS commissioner, came back to Cincinnati for the ribbon-cutting.

“Sports are at its best when the identity of a city can connect with a passion of its fans,” he said. “When it all comes together, it is memorable and it is a story. We have that here with FC Cincinnati.”

Future of a team, neighborhood

When FC Cincinnati came knocking, Fannie Shaw saw the stadium as a way to better the community. SAM GREENE/THE ENQUIRER

“I am hopeful over the long term we can say FC Cincinnati contributed to a better quality of life in the West End.” Robert Killins Jr. West End Community Council president

FC Cincinnati lost 3-2 in extra-time. Garber would later say that’s when he knew FC Cincinnati belonged in the big league.

The following spring, FC Cincinnati won an expansion team bid, with play to begin in 2019.

Now, FC Cincinnati needed its own stadium, a requirement to be awarded a team.

Where would the team go?

It was not smooth sailing from there. There were fi ghts over where the new stadium would go, how much money – if any – the city of Cincinnati and Hamilton County commissioners would chip in and why a soccer-specifi c stadium was needed at all, since fans loved Nippert Stadium, where the team had been playing.

Lindner and Berding determined West End, adjacent to Downtown, was the best fi t. And FC Cincinnati broke ground in December 2018 on what would eventually be a $250 million, 26,000-seat stadium.

Shaw, who grew up in West End, said when she moved back to the neighborhood, it was nothing like West End of her childhood. The grocery store was gone. So was the pharmacy.

People didn’t walk places anymore, she said.

“People were talking about revitalization,” she said.

When FC Cincinnati came knocking, Shaw, who is on the executive board of West End Community Council, saw the stadium as a way to better the community.

She went to FC Cincinnati games at Nippert Stadium and said she’ll go again, only she’ll walk from her home on Hopkins Street.

“I think it will be good for young people and for the neighborhood going forward,” she said.

In 2019, Shaw’s neighbors’ son, 11-year-old Arlando Griffi n, who plays on FC Cincinnati’s youth team, West End Pride, got to go to Fashion Week in New York City to model the team’s jersey. Shaw’s friend Nick Johnson was TQL Stadium’s fi rst employee, and there are lots of jobs there, she said, that people in the neighborhood can walk to.

“It’s a new day,” Shaw said.

West End Community Council President Robert Killins Jr. noted that there remain concerns about displacement from rising costs.

But he also said some West End residents are feeling the same pride they felt when the Reds played there.

“I am hopeful over the long term we can say FC Cincinnati contributed to a better quality of life in the West End,” Killins said. “That this will showcase the community, even if just a few hours at a time.”

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Prematch march starts at Findlay Market The march

Pat Brennan Cincinnati Enquirer

The details of the march were unveiled by what’s called The Incline Collective, a unifi ed messaging platform for FC Cincinnati’s supporters groups.

USA TODAY NETWORK

It was during the 2019 Major League Soccer season – FC Cincinnati’s fi rst in the league – that the prematch march into the University of Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium captured national attention and became an essential companion piece to the FCC fan experience.

Even prior to that, the march was integral to jump-starting the in-stadium atmosphere that fueled FC Cincinnati to an MLS expansion bid.

At TQL Stadium, the march will continue to be a must-see and must-experience part of attending a game, albeit in a much diff erent form as the team shifts to its new home in West End. In the past, the march was typifi ed by FC Cincinnati fans hoisting banners, signs and fl ags, deploying smoke devices and loud chanting and singing that reverberated for blocks around Nippert. Eventually, many of these fans piled into The Bailey supporters section, which served as the drum line and noise amplifi er of the entire stadium.

Many of the these features will remain, even as the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in a few extra regulations, including reduced capacity at TQL Stadium.

Supporters groups have also instituted rules designed to show respect to the neighborhoods they’ll be marching through.

While the march is largely organized and populated by FC Cincinnati’s supporters groups, anyone can participate. And there will be ample opportunity to join in as the march weaves through Over-the-Rhine and into West End. “The goal is to keep everyone safe, keep the energy positive, and be good neighbors to ev-

• The groups will converge at Findlay Market on Pleasant Street, traveling on foot from their prematch hangouts.

For the Inter Miami match, the groups are expected to meet at the market at 2:40 p.m.

FC Cincinnati fans march to The Bailey before the match between FC Cincinnati and Philadelphia Union on March 30, 2019, at Nippert Stadium. ALBERT CESARE/THE ENQUIRER

eryone involved,” said Matt Broo, vice president of The Pride supporters group. “We’ll possibly make tweaks as needed depending on how it works the fi rst few times out.”

FC Cincinnati, its supporters groups and local authorities have been working out the details of the new marching route, which concludes atop TQL Stadium’s Grand Staircase in front of the First Financial Bank gate.

“Our goal is to bring the energy and passion we’ve had at Nippert to the new West End Stadium, but in a way that keeps people safe and

• From Findlay Market, fans march south into the north end of Washington Park at around 2:50 p.m.

• The march pivots to the west as fans join and supporters make their way from Washington Park, across Central Parkway using 14th Street, to the stadium and up the grand staircase at 3:10 p.m. with the goal of getting all Bailey ticket holders into the section by 3:30 p.m.

ensures that we are being good neighbors to everyone in our new home,” supporters group leaders said via The Incline Collective Twitter account. “We hope you’re as excited as we are to get started this Sunday.”

Supporters groups also issued the following regulations for the march. Included among the rules for the new march route will be the requirement for special authorization for smoke, fl ares and incendiaries.

From the Incline Collective website: • The drummers lead the March. Please do not get in front of them. They’re working to keep us all singing and do not need to be dodging you as well.

• Absolutely no alcohol is permitted on the March. No exceptions. We’re going to the stadium, not going on a bar crawl (plus it’s illegal and makes us all look bad).

• Stay on the sidewalks and keep pace with the group. Do not block the paths of vehicle traffi c or the streetcar.

• Absolutely no smoke, fl ares, or other incendiaries unless you’ve received specifi c authorization from one of the SGs (this is a Cincinnati Fire Code issue, and we want to be respectful of their wishes to keep people safe).

• Follow all directions of the capos & SG leaders.

• Have fun! Sing loudly and show your excitement for FC Cincinnati!

The ongoing pandemic will alter slightly the look and feel of the march for the foreseeable future. Supporters group leaders are asking march participants to mask while marching and to keep 3 to 6 feet of social distance.

The supporters groups also opted not to do an in-stadium march, which was one of the hallmarks of the in-stadium experience at Nippert. The improved logistics of The Bailey supporters section at TQL Stadium lessened the need for an in-stadium march.

Main entrance creates a ‘wow’ moment for fans Shelby Dermer Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

FC Cincinnati Vice President of Facility Operations Dan Lolli knows the importance of making a good fi rst impression.

That’s what the club wanted with its Central Parkway entrance to TQL Stadium, which plays host to its fi rst game 16 today.

The main entrance does just that with its sheer size – more than a dozen aisles of stairs, each featuring more than 30 steps of anticipation. When fans scale to the top, they are greeted with TQL Stadium’s rare lighting display, with more than 3 miles of LED lights built into the architectural fi ns along the building’s east side.

“We wanted to create that ‘wow’ moment.

Your eyes are instantly drawn up the main entrance,” Lolli said. “People come up these stairs and the fi rst thing they hit are the fi ns.

This is a one-of-a-kind light show here. We are the only stadium in the world and only the second building in the world that has this light show.”

The lighting, derived of 513 LED strips (an ode to Cincinnati’s area code), creates an engaging glow around the stadium that essentially serves as a giant video board through LED diodes, which make up every inch of the fi ns.

“What you typically get with video boards is a very static, 2D – something that looks ugly when they’re not on,” Lolli said. “We’ve built it

There are more than 3 miles of LED lights built into architectural fi ns along TQL Stadium’s east side. KAREEM ELGAZZAR/THE ENQUIRER

into the design of the building, so when we want to attract and really defi ne the type of celebration we’re having, we can do it.

“The neat thing about these lights is that they’re not really throwing light out. At night, when these are on, it’s not like all of Central Parkway is lit up. It’s really contained and makes for a nice visual on the building.”

Atop the stairs, the East Plaza will serve as a rallying pregame point for all fans.

It will be open to the public three hours before a home match, and will serve alcohol along with multiple food and beverage options, a pregame broadcast show in the southeast corner and potentially a DJ. A box offi ce will also be added for fans buying tickets the day of the match once the stadi-

“This is a one-of-a-kind light show here. We are the only stadium in the world and only the second building in the world that has this light show.”

Dan Lolli

FC Cincinnati vice president of facility operations

um begins operating at full capacity.

“Our festival starts at the end of the stairs and it goes all the way up, and anybody is able to join,” Lolli said. “You’ve got a ticket, but your buddy doesn’t. We want both of you to come up here, grab a drink and enjoy the atmosphere.”

A common theme in and around TQL Stadium is its accessibility. Lolli said FC Cincinnati offi cials wanted to give fans options so they could miss as little of the match as possible.

That is true on the East Plaza. While there are plenty of choices for the club’s supporters, it’s an open space that extends the majority of the east side of the building. For eventual sellouts, there will be 22 entry lanes for fans to swiftly get to their seats.

“We’ve kind of purposely left this so open because we don’t want congestion,” Lolli said.

“We want fans to free fl ow and get right into the building once the gates open and not have to weasel through a bunch of people.”

The concourse will also conclude The Bailey’s march to the stadium, which will start at Washington Park and go past Music Hall on 14th Street before turning on to Central Parkway.

From the plaza, the fans will do their fi nal chant before heading in through the gates and looping north to the new and improved Bailey 2.0.

“At the end of the day, they are the driving force of our fan entertainment and we have the ability in this space to amplify their message,” Lolli said.

AWARD-WINNING BEER & G A M E D AY F O O D

JUST 2 BLOCKS AWAY FROM WEST END STADIUM

TAFT'S ALE HOUSE BREWERY & RESTAURANT LOCATED IN OVER-THE-RHINE AT 1429 RACE ST

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THE ENQUIRER

FC CINCINNATI

Time to learn your ABCs of TQL Stadium From Staff Reports

Cincinnati Enquirer

USA TODAY NETWORK

Autographs Remember those days of hanging out after FC Cincinnati games and going down in the stands behind the team’s bench area to get autographs? Well, COVID-19 protocols prevent that kind of activity now. But once restrictions are lifted, “the team will fi nd a way to thank the fans who got us in this new stadium,” says Dan Lolli, vice president of facilities and stadium general manager. No specifi cs on whether you’ll eventually be able to get autographs the way you used to pre-pandemic.

Bailey There is space for 3,100 fans in The Bailey at TQL Stadium; the capacity was 1,700 in The Bailey at Nippert Stadium. FCC offi cials asked Bailey members what they wanted in their area. And they got almost everything they asked for: a safe-standing section (including railing), better sloping (for clear sightlines of the pitch), more seats, capo stands (where folks leading chants are), a drum stand and cup holders for everyone. Oh, and it is the only section with aluminum decking, which allows Bailey members to stomp and create more noise; the rest of the stadium has concrete fl oors.

Quick service A soccer match rarely stops, so FC Cincinnati offi cials understand providing speedy service is important for fans. The food-andbeverage services’ goal is to get you back to your seat in two minutes. The team designed concessions with that in mind.

Craft beer There will be 169 taps throughout the stadium with 32 unique draft beer types, including local favorites Rhinegeist, Platform and Sam Adams. Coors Light and Heineken are well represented.

Restrooms On the concourse, there are 20 restrooms: seven mens’, nine womens’ and four family.

This does not include clubs and suite areas.

Diaper-changing stations Nearly every restroom in the stadium will have a diaper-changing station, including male, female and family restrooms.

Elevators There are 16 elevators. Each gate has at least two nearby. There are four elevators from Central Parkway to the main plaza by the Grand Staircase, in case fans prefer not to climb the steps. “We’re trying to be as accessible as possible,” Lolli says.

First aid There are two Mercy Health fi rst aid locations on the concourse, including one in the Guest Services center near the main gate.

Gates There are six entrances for fans into the stadium, four of which are open to all fans. The main entrance is off Central Parkway and has the so-called Grand Staircase. That takes you up to the First Financial main gates. On the north side is the Workhorse Gate, off Central Avenue. The team store entrance on the north side is also a ticketed entry. On the south side is the Allegiant Gate on Central Avenue. On the west side is a premium ticket-only entrance for premium ticket holders. On the east side is an entrance for only First Financial Club ticket holders.

Heineken Bar at The Bailey As you walk the concourse, you can’t miss this one because it’s pretty sizable. Directly behind The Bailey is the Heineken Bar at The Bailey, which is designed with speed of service in mind, Lolli says. There will be many brands of draft and canned beer here.

Ill A Mercy Health doctor will be on-site for all games. Mercy Health has a long-standing partnership with FC Cincinnati.

Jerseys You can get all your FCC gear at the twostory team store, the largest in an MLS-specific stadium and big enough to hold events and player signings. In 2019, FCC sold the secondmost team merchandise in the league. The team store will be open seven days a week.

Hours will be Monday through Friday – noon to 6 p.m.; Saturday – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday – noon to 5 p.m. You can get customized jerseys with any name and number.

Scoreboard messages TOP: The First Financial Gate is on the east side of FC Cincinnati’s new TQL Stadium in the West End neighborhood.

There are six entrances for fans into the stadium, four of which are open to all fans.

Eventually, there will be a way to get messages on the scoreboards – at an undetermined cost. Keep an eye on TQLStadium.com.

ABOVE: A wide assortment of beer will be offered to fans at TQL Stadium.

There will be 169 taps throughout the stadium with 32 unique draft beer types, including local favorites Rhinegeist, Platform and Sam Adams.

FC Cincinnati offi cials expect the stadium to be in use for much more than home games.

They expect to play host to soccer and high school football, concerts, perhaps lower-division college football. They also expect to hold roughly 150 private events a year in the clubs and other stadium locations, including fundraising events, luncheons, trade shows, beer festivals and weddings. In fact, the fi rst wedding in the stadium will be in June. To learn more about having an event there, email Allison Linkhart at Linkhart@FCCincinnati.com.

Tours Tours of the stadium are expected to start in June. Go online to TQLStadium.com for tour info. Hours, costs and other details have not yet been fi nalized.

Other uses for stadium

TOP RIGHT: The two-story fan store inside of FC Cincinnati’s new TQL Stadium is the largest in an MLS-specifi c stadium.

Lights

Video

There are nearly 3 miles of lights in the fi ns that go around much of the building. There are 513 exterior panels that make up the fi ns, a nod to Cincinnati’s area code.

There are more than 370 televisions in the stadium, including 51 on the concourse, 72 in suites and 84 in clubs. The rest are around concession stands, media booths and locker rooms.

BOTTOM RIGHT: A ReadyStation kiosk converts customers’ money into pre-paid cards. TQL Stadium will be 100% cashless. There will be no service charge at these reverse ATMs.

There are nine concession stands, two grab-and-go markets and four bars on the concourse. There are also 25 food and/or beverage carts. None of that includes the clubs or party deck.

PHOTOS BY SAM GREENE AND KAREEM ELGAZZAR/ THE ENQUIRER

Meals

Nursing mothers There is a nursing room at the Guest Services center on the concourse near the main gate. It’s one room. If you go there and the room is occupied, an FC Cincinnati staff member will escort you to another open room in the stadium. “We will fi nd a solution,” Lolli said.

Ode to OTR The First Financial Club is considered a nod to the beer history in Over-the-Rhine. While excavating, workers found old Burger Brewery glass bottles, which will be on display. (The stadium is adjacent to the former brewery’s site.) You can learn more about the various clubs, including this one, on Page 9G.

Kids

Parking

The ability to have kid-related activities is limited due to COVID-19 protocols, but eventually, there will be the Mercy Health Plaza on the southeast corner that will have kid-focused activities more like the fi elds next to Nippert Stadium at the University of Cincinnati. Oh, and this is fun: If you have a child 16 and under, you can go to the Guest Services center and request a “My fi rst game at TQL Stadium” certifi cate.

Partnering with the city of Cincinnati, Hamilton County and the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp., there are more than 5,000 parking spots controlled on game day by the team. That’s in addition to garages and parking lots in the area. The garage under the plaza of the stadium has 350 spots, all of which are taken on game day by season-ticket holders. The team store has its own lot with free parking on nongame days.

Wheelchairs There will be dedicated wheelchair attendants at every gate. They will help get people to their seats, and they will return at the end of games to help people leave. There will also be wheelchairs available if needed.

Xtra cash TQL Stadium will be 100% cashless, but there will be three reverse ATMs to allow you to put in cash and get a Visa debit card in return that can be used in the stadium or anywhere Visa cards are accepted. There will be no service charge; the team is picking that up.

You During the process of designing the stadium and determining amenities, FCC offi cials met several times with diff erent groups of fans to talk about what would create the best experience for them. That meant for those in The Bailey, for elderly fans, younger fans, etc. The team tried to map out what the experience would be like for each.

Zappas FCC hired George Zappas as the stadium’s executive chef. Why is that a big deal? Zappas was previously the executive chief of Orchids at Palm Court. He left his position as executive chef of Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza, where he oversaw Orchids, as well as all inroom dining, banquets and catering events.

Learn more on Page 10G.

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A look at all Major League Soccer stadiums Pat Brennan Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

FC Cincinnati plays its fi rst-ever match Sunday in the $250 million TQL Stadium, its new home complete with a canopy roof and state-of-the-art features.

The glittering new 26,000-seat home of FC Cincinnati now joins the MLS network of stadiums throughout North America, most of which are new, soccer-specifi c by design and relatively pricey.

Just this MLS season, two other new stadiums – one in Columbus and one in Austin, Texas – will open, and more are coming in the future as the league continues to expand.

Here’s how TQL Stadium stacks up in Major League Soccer:

Atlanta United h Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta) h Opened: 2017 h Cost: $1.5 billion, according to the Atlanta Falcons h Capacity: 42,500 for soccer (expandable to 71,000) h Other tenants: Atlanta Falcons (NFL)

Austin FC h h h h

Venue: Q2 Stadium (Austin) Opens: 2021 Cost: $260 million, according to ENR.com Capacity: 20,500

h Cost: $2.3 billion, according to the New York Times h Capacity: 54,251 h Main tenant: New York Yankees (MLB)

Chicago Fire FC h Venue: Soldier Field (Chicago) h Opened: 1924; refurbished in 2002 and reopened in 2003 h Cost: The renovation was approximately $655 million, according to the Chicago Bears. h Capacity: 61,500 h Other tenants: Chicago Bears (NFL)

Orlando City SC h Venue: Exploria Stadium (Orlando) h Opened: 2017 h Cost: $155 million, according to the Orlando Sentinel h Capacity: 25,500 h Other tenants: Orlando Pride of the NWSL

Colorado Rapids

Philadelphia Union

h Venue: Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (Commerce City, Colorado) h Opened: 2007 h Cost: $87 million h Capacity: 18,061

h Venue: Subaru Park (Chester, Pennsylvania) h Opened: 2009 h Cost: $120 million, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal h Capacity: 18,500

Columbus SC Note: Columbus is scheduled to open a new arena in July. Currently referred to as “new Crew Stadium,” the current estimated construction cost for the 20,000-capacity venue is more than $300 million, according to multiple reports. h Current Crew SC venue: Historic Crew Stadium (Columbus) h Opened: 1999 h Cost: $28.5 million h Capacity: 19,968 h Other: Historic Crew Stadium is being converted into the club’s training facility

Angeles Times h Capacity: 22,000 h Other tenants: Angel City FC of NWSL (expected to begin play in 2022)

D.C. United

Minnesota United

COLUMBUS SC/PROVIDED

h Venue: Audi Field (Washington, D.C.) h Opened: 2018 h Cost: Estimated between $400-$500 million, according to the Washington Post h Capacity: 20,000 h Other tenants: Washington Spirit of National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)

h Venue: Allianz Field (St. Paul, Minnesota) h Opened: 2019 h Cost: $250 million, according to multiple reports h Capacity: 19,400

FC Dallas

h Venue: Stade Saputo (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) h Opened: 2008 h Cost: $40 million, according to the Sporting News h Capacity: 20,801

ABOVE: The Q2 Stadium in Austin opens this season with a capacity of 20,500. The stadium cost $260 million to construct, according to ERN.com.

h Venue: Toyota Stadium (Frisco, Texas) h Opened: 2005 h Cost: $80 million ($55 million renovation in 2018) h Capacity: 20,500 h Other: Home to National Soccer Hall of Fame museum

Houston Dynamo FC h Venue: BBVA Stadium (Houston) h Opened: 2012 h Cost: Approximately $95 million, according to the stadium’s website h Capacity: 22,500 h Other tenants: Houston Dash of NWSL

Sporting Kansas City h Venue: Children’s Mercy Park (Kansas City, Kansas) h Opened: 2012 h Cost: $200 million h Capacity: Approximately 21,600 h Other tenants: Kansas City of NWSL

Los Angeles Galaxy h Venue: Dignity Health Sports Park (Carson, California) h Opened: 2003 h Cost: $87 million to construct the stadium as part of a $150 million complex h Capacity: 27,000

Los Angeles FC h Venue: Banc of California Stadium (Los Angeles) h Opened: 2018 h Cost: $350 million, according to the Los

Inter Miami CF h Venue: DRV PNK Stadium (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) h Opened: 2020 h Cost: $60 million, according to the South Florida Business Journal h Capacity: 18,000

CF Montreal

Nashville SC Note: Nashville is building a soccer-specific stadium expected to cost $335 million, according to The Tennessean. It is scheduled to open in 2022. h Current venue: Nissan Stadium (Nashville) h Opened: 1999 h Cost: $260 million, according to multiple reports h Capacity: 69,143 h Other tenants: Tennessee Titans (NFL)

TOP: A rendering of the new Columbus SC stadium.

Currently referred to as “new Crew Stadium,” the current estimated construction cost for the 20,000-capacity venue is more than $300 million, according to multiple reports.

AUSTIN FC/PROVIDED

Portland Timbers SC h Venue: Providence Park (Portland) h Opened: 1926 (Portland’s MLS franchise starting playing there in 2011) h Original cost of renovation for the Timbers: $36 million in 2011 (expanded in 2019 for $85 million, according to The Oregonian.

Underwent multiple phases of expansion during the 20th century). h Capacity: 25,218. h Other tenants: Portland Thorns of the NWSL

Real Salt Lake h Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium (Sandy, Utah) h Opened: 2008 h Cost: $110 million, according to the stadium website h Capacity: 20,213 h Other tenants: Utah Royals FC of the NWSL

San Jose Earthquakes h Venue: PayPal Park (San Jose) h Opened: 2017 h Cost: $100 million, according to multiple reports h Capacity: 18,000

Seattle Sounders FC h Venue: Lumen Field (Seattle) h Opened: 2002 (Sounders joined MLS in 2009) h Cost: $360 million, according to the stadium website h Capacity: 37,722 for soccer (expandable to more than 70,000) h Other tenants: Seattle Seahawks (NFL)

Toronto FC

h Venue: Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Massachusetts) h Opened: 2002 h Cost: $325 million, according to the New York Times h Capacity: 65,878 h Other tenants: New England Patriots (NFL)

h Venue: BMO Field (Toronto) h Opened: 2007 h Cost: CAD $62.9 million (later expanded for CAD $120 million), according to MLSSoccer.com h Capacity: 30,000 (officials are planning an expansion up to a 46,000-capacity for the 2026 World Cup) h Other tenants: Toronto Argonauts (Canadian Football League)

New York Red Bulls

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

h Venue: Red Bull Arena (Harrison, New Jersey) h Opened: 2010 h Cost: $200 million, according to the New York Times h Capacity: 25,000

h Venue: BC Place (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) h Opened: 1983 (Whitecaps moved into the venue in 2011) h Cost: CAD $514 million to renovate the arena, which allowed the Whitecaps to play there. h Capacity: 27,000 (expandable up to 54,500) h Other tenants: BC Lions (CFL)

New England Revolution

New York City FC h Venue: Yankee Stadium (Bronx, New York) h Opened (2009)

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A timeline from conception to home opener Sharon Coolidge Cincinnati Enquirer

Today: vs. Inter Miami CF, 4 p.m.

May 29: vs. New England Revolution, 3 p.m.

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2021 home schedule

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USA TODAY NETWORK

FC Cincinnati President Jeff Berding announced in 2015 he intended to bring a minor league professional soccer team to Cincinnati.

That team, FC Cincinnati, played three years in the United Soccer League, earning three playoff appearances, including the best record in the league in 2018, and spurring the largest USL fan base. With American Financial Group Co-CEO Carl Lindner III as controlling owner, the team was awarded a Major League Soccer franchise,

which began play in 2019.

As part of the deal to become an expansion team, Lindner pledged to build a soccer-specifi c stadium in Cincinnati’s urban core. Now the team is set to begin play in TQL Stadium, which had a ceremonial May 1 ribbon cutting and opens today, May 16, for its fi rst game. Major League

Soccer Commissioner Don Garber called it “one of the great soccer stadiums anywhere in the world, not just in Major League Soccer.” It features 26,000 seats, a full-bowl canopy and four distinct club areas with roughly 4,500 seats.

From 2015 to the stadium opening, here’s a timeline of TQL Stadium:

June 19: vs. Colorado Rapids, 7:30 p.m.

Roster Luciano Acosta, midfielder Isaac Atanga, forward Zico Bailey, defender Alvaro Barreal, midfielder/forward Edgar Castillo, defender Cody Cropper, goalkeeper Allan Cruz, midfielder Brenner Souza da Silva, forward Avionne Flanagan, defender

2015

July 7: vs. Columbus Crew SC, 7:30 p.m.

2016

Joseph-Claude Gyau, defender

July 21: vs. Atlanta United FC, 7 p.m.

Nick Hagglund, defender

July 31: vs. D.C. United, 7:30 p.m.

Calvin Harris, midfielder/forward

Aug. 7 vs. Orlando City SC, 7:30 p.m.

Franko Kovacevic, forward

Aug. 14: vs. Philadelphia Union, 8 p.m.

Yuya Kubo, midfielder/forward

Aug. 18: vs. CF Montréal, 7:30 p.m.

Jurgen Locadia, forward

Sept. 4: vs. Inter Miami CF, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 11: vs. Toronto FC, 8 p.m.

Ben Lundt, goalkeeper (on loan at Phoenix Rising FC)

Sept. 18: vs. New York City FC, 7:30 p.m.

Ronald Matarrita, defender

Oct. 2: vs. New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.

Haris Medunjanin, midfielder

Oct. 16: vs. Orlando City SC, 7:30 p.m.

Ben Mines, midfielder

Oct. 20: vs. Chicago Fire FC, 7:30 p.m.

Kamohelo Mokotjo, midfielder

Oct. 27: vs. Nashville SC, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 7: vs. Atlanta United FC, 3:30 p.m.

Tom Pettersson, defender FC Cincinnati President Jeff Berding speaks to the media at Nippert Stadium on Aug. 12, 2015. ENQUIRER FILE

FC Cincinnati and Crystal Palace FC players pose for a photo after their friendly match at Nippert Stadium on July 16, 2016. ENQUIRER FILE

Aug. 11: Former Cincinnati City Councilman and Bengals executive Jeff Berding tells The Enquirer he wants to bring a professional minor league soccer team to Cincinnati.

Aug. 12: FC Cincinnati launches as a United Soccer League team. The team’s home will be the University of Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium. Berding pledges it will one day be a Major League Soccer team.

April 9: FC Cincinnati beats Charlotte Independence 2-1 in its fi rst home match in front of 14,658 fans.

July 16: Cincinnati plays host to English League’s Crystal Palace in an international friendly drawing 35,061 fans, the largest attendance for a soccer match in Ohio history.

November 2016: FC Cincinnati offi cials start looking for a site for a soccerspecifi c stadium, which it would need to win a Major League Soccer team.

Nov. 29: MLS Commissioner Don Garber visits Cincinnati as the city showcases why it deserves a expansion franchise.

Team history

Caleb Stanko, midfielder Beckham Sunderland, goalkeeper

2020: 4-15-4 Top goal scorer: Yuya Kubo, 3 2019: 6-22-6 Top goal scorer: Allan Cruz, 7 USL 2018: 23-8-3 Top goal scorer: Emmanuel Ledesma, 16 2017: 12-10-10 Top goal scorer: Djiby Fall, 15 2016: 16-6-8 Top goal scorer: Sean Okoli, 17

Supporters’ groups Auxilia One The Bridge

2017

2018

May: FC Cincinnati narrows its list of potential stadium sites to West End, Oakley and Newport.

June 12: FC Cincinnati unveils plans for a privately-funded $200 million soccer-specifi c stadium with 21,000 seats.

June 14: FC Cincinnati, in the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup fourthround match, beats the Columbus Crew SC – an MLS team – 1-0, kick-starting the Hell Is Real Derby. FC Cincinnati would also beat the Chicago Fire, also an MLS team, in a penalty shootout in the Round of 16 when goalie Mitch Hildebrandt stopped 3 of 4 Fire penalty kick attempts.

Aug. 2: MLS Commissioner Don Garber, speaking to media members prior to the 2017 MLS All-Star Game against Real Madrid at Chicago’s Soldier Field, said of FC Cincinnati’s proposed stadium sites: “We like all three sites. We don’t have a preference for one. Their stadium renditions are fabulous and I think that Cincinnati has done an awesome job.” Garber also credited Lindner and Jeff Berding for doing “an awesome job” during the club’s 2017 U.S. Open Cup run, which was extended later that night with FCC’s quarterfi nal-round win against Miami FC. Aug. 15: FC Cincinnati loses a U.S. Open Cup semifi nal 3-2 to the New York Red Bulls, an extra-time loss to another MLS team. Garber was in attendance and would later say that’s when he knew FC Cincinnati belonged in the big league.

Nov. 29: Cincinnati City Council votes to provide $34 million in infrastructure costs for the stadium, which is believed to be headed to the Oakley site.

This fi nalizes FC Cincinnati’s MLS bid. The Hamilton County Board of Commissioners agrees to build a 1,000-vehicle garage as part of the project.

The Briogaid Die Innenstadt Hangar 937 The Pride

2019

Participants at the groundbreaking of FC Cincinnati’s West End stadium on Dec. 18, 2018. ENQUIRER FILE

A rendering shows how the FC Cincinnati Stadium exterior would look at night. PROVIDED BY AYESHA HUSAIN (POPULOUS)

Jan. 22: Word emerges that FC Cincinnati has signed options on land in West End, the fi rst hint that the historic Black neighborhood adjacent to Downtown Cincinnati will be home to the stadium.

Feb. 13: FC Cincinnati begins a land swap plan with Cincinnati Public Schools. The team needs land where Taft High School’s Stargel Stadium sits, and in exchange, the team says it will build Taft a new, nicer stadium across the street.

May 29: The club is awarded an MLS expansion team, which would be the league’s 24th franchise.

Dec. 18: FC Cincinnati breaks ground on West End Stadium.

March 2: FC Cincinnati plays its fi rst MLS match in Seattle against Seattle Sounders FC, losing 4-1.

July 16: The fi nal renderings of a now $250-million West End Stadium are unveiled, designed by Jonathan Mallie, of the global architecture fi rm Populous. The plan shows 26,000 seats, one of the largest soccer-specifi c stadiums in America, and it features a canopy over the entire seating bowl, a rarity for soccer stadiums.

Dec. 9: Silicon Valley star Meg Whitman joins the FC Cincinnati ownership group with a $100 million investment.

Przemyslaw Tyton, goalkeeper Gustavo Vallecilla, defender Maikel van der Werff, defender Brandon Vazquez, forward

FC Cincinnati forward Brenner Sousa da Silva STEVE ROBERTS/ USA TODAY SPORTS

Leadership Jaap Stam, coach Gerard Njikamp, general manager

Queen City Firm

Jeff Berding, president Carl Lindner III, CEO and controlling owner

2020

2021

FC Cincinnati head coach Jaap Stam

Ticket info Currently no single-match tickets for 2021 are being sold for the first three home matches. Options include 14-match season tickets and various min-plans. Call (513) 977-5425 or email tickets@fccincinnati.com for details on seating options.

Online Team: fccincinnati.com Enquirer: cincinnati.com/sports/fc-cincinnati Twitter: @PBrennanENQ

BILL STREICHER/ USA TODAY SPORTS

Construction continues for the natural grass fi eld at FC Cincinnati’s new stadium in West End on Sept. 14, 2020. HANNAH RUHOFF/THE ENQUIRER

Controlling owner and CEO of FC Cincinnati, Carl Lindner III, and his wife, Martha, cut the ribbon for TQL Stadium on May 1. PHIL DIDION/THE ENQUIRER

March 12: As the coronavirus pandemic spreads across the United States, Major League Soccer suspends league play. Much of Ohio is shut down for safety reasons, but construction work is allowed to continue and stadium building remains on track for a spring 2021 opening.

March 18: FC Cincinnati debuts its exterior stadium lighting, a dancing light display.

April 21: FC Cincinnati announces a naming partnership with Clermont County-based Total Quality Logistics and says the stadium will be named TQL Stadium.

May 1: The stadium soft opens with a ribbon cutting featuring FC Cincinnati’s owners; Garber, the MLS commissioner; and politicians, including Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. The fi rst home match is scheduled for May 16 against Inter Miami FC. May 2: Fans get their fi rst look inside the stadium at a Meet-Your-Seat event for season-ticket holders.

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10 cool features inside the new stadium The Enquirer team has been on several tours of TQL Stadium, attended the ribbon cutting and open house and Meet-Your-Seat day. It has had numerous conversations with FC Cincinnati team offi cials about the stadium. After all that, we picked out some highlights about the new digs for you.

Plush seating on the suite level inside of TQL Stadium is one of seven different styles in the stadium.

1

SEATING: Rather than order all stadium seats in the same style from the same company, FC Cincinnati offi cials chose to go a more diffi cult (and probably expensive) route and order seven diff erent kinds of seats from seven diff erent manufacturers. There are also diff erent designs and diff erent colors. Each of the four clubs has its own style of seat.

And, there are three other seat types throughout the stadium.

An original mural of Cincinnati locations inside of FC Cincinnati’s new TQL Stadium.

3

A view of the massive north video board above The Bailey at FC Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium.

2

SCOREBOARD: The primary scoreboard above the Bailey is 151-feet wide, making it the widest for any soccer stadium in North America, according to FC Cincinnati offi cials. The main display is roughly 3,500 square feet, which would be the fi fth-largest for a soccer-specifi c stadium, the team says. You know how many TVs it would take to cover the display? Get this: 323 60-inch televisions. Oh, and there’s an auxiliary video display in the stadium’s southeast corner that is 1,150 square feet.

New club level seats at FC Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium.

There are 4,500 club seats.

4

The KMK Law Terrace is a private party deck inside of FC Cincinnati’s new TQL Stadium.

5

ART: There will be four diff erent murals, all produced by ArtWorks. One, on the southeast corner outside the stadium, will go up after today’s match; it was created by the West End community and represents the history of the neighborhood. There is one on the north end of the concourse next to the Heineken Bar at The Bailey, created in collaboration with supporters, and two in the First Financial Club.

CLUB SEATING: TQL Stadium has 4,500 club seats, all of which are sold out. That’s double the average number at MLS stadiums. They each have a diff erent theme. “We wanted to create multiple destinations in the stadium,” team president Jeff Berding said. The First Financial Club was designed with young professionals in mind, with a $1,000 season-ticket price point, said Dan Lolli, vice president of facilities and stadium general manager.

PARTY DECK: The KMK Law Terrace is a private party deck at the southwest corner of the stadium. There are indoor and outdoor areas. It has its own bar and seats for 55 people. It can be reserved for individual games by groups/organizations and also for private events. There are nice views of the stadium, downtown, the West End and all the way to Kentucky.

A private room is available for nursing mothers, along with a special sensory room.

Artwork outside the Legends Room features famous Cincinnatians.

An aerial view of FC Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium. The roof mostly covers all the seats.

6

SENSORY ROOM: If you or your child need to get out of the light or noise, head to the Guest Services center – on the concourse next to the main gate – for access to a sensory room of sorts. It’s one room that can help fans escape the action. “There will be activities and equipment to help kids focus,” Lolli said.

7

PAYING HOMAGE: The Legends Room is a private mini-club in the northwest corner that honors big names in Cincinnati history, including Rose Lavelle, Oscar Robertson, Rosemary Clooney, Ezzard Charles and William Howard Taft. You can only buy season tickets for access to the Legends Room, which includes outdoor seats, and it is sold out for 2021. It has all the amenities of a club with food, a bar, restrooms and a private concierge.

Ticketing and parking will be integrated into the FC Cincinnati app, as well as food and beverage info.

9

ON YOUR PHONE: This isn’t really about the facility itself, but it’s related. You’re going to need/want to download the FC Cincinnati app on your mobile phone. Ticketing and parking will be integrated, as well as food and beverage info.

You want to fi nd out where to get a hot dog or your favorite beer? You guessed it: There’s an app for that.

Eventually, later in the season, you will be able to preorder food from a concession stand on the app and go pick it up. The team is also working on a mobile wallet feature.

8

ROOF: The roof, the roof, the roof is on ... oh, never mind. The TQL Stadium roof mostly covers all seats, one of the fi rst MLS stadiums with the feature, Lolli said. There is one caveat: With rain and wind, those in the fi rst rows just might get a little wet. But overall fans are protected from precipitation here.

A team representative demonstrates the reclining suite-level seats inside the stadium.

10

LIVING IN LUXURY: When we discussed the seats earlier, we should have mentioned that all suites have reclining seats.

That’s in 53 suites – double the average amount in MLS stadiums – with a range of 10 to 22 seats per suite. If you’re scoring at home, that’s 950 total reclining seats.

SOURCES: Jeff Berding, team president; Dan Lolli, vice president of facilities and stadium general manager; Jeff Smith, senior vice president of sales.

PHOTOS BY SAM GREENE, ALBERT CESARE AND PHIL DIDION/THE ENQUIRER; AND GETTY IMAGES

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Premium clubs each have unique features Shelby Dermer

Cincinnati Enquirer

USA TODAY NETWORK

FC Cincinnati brass traveled to soccer-specifi c stadiums in Europe and throughout the United States when it came time to design a new soccer venue in Cincinnati.

The group came back with frequent fl yer miles and several ideas on how to make what is now TQL Stadium unique.

“The one thing we wanted to hang our hats on, out of all the ideas and feedback, is the fan experience,” said Jeff Smith, senior vice president of sales and ticketing.

The First Financial Club features decorations paying homage to Cincinnati’s brewery history. PHOTOS BY SAM GREENE/THE ENQUIRER

The fan experience is enhanced in the stadium’s club seating, which is featured in four premium clubs located on each side of the venue. The clubs add up to 4,500 premium seats, while the MLS average is 2,000, according to Smith. The four premium clubs were the fi rst to sell out when tickets were off ered to fans.

Each club off ers fans innovative resources for food and beverages with designed seating areas that keep the high-end experience while paying homage to Cincinnati’s history.

“We felt very strongly that we wanted all of our club experiences to be truly unique and special, from your seating product to the food and beverage experience, the decor, the design, layout and furniture,” Smith said.

Here is a breakdown of the four premium clubs and what they off er.

The Tunnel Club seating space is between the two team benches. This is the most exclusive club TQL Stadium has to offer.

First Financial Club

Tunnel Club

Capacity: 2,117 Location: Lower bowl along the east sideline of the stadium.

Access/price: $1,000-$1,250 per season ($59-$74 per game).

Theme/decor: The club has a rustic, beer-hall feel with several long wooden tables, barrels on the wall at each bar, exposed ceilings and plenty of options for patrons.

The club “is pretty much our ode to Cincinnati, our ode to Over-the-Rhine and our brewing heritage,” said Nigel Chalkley, FC Cincinnati director of operations for food and beverage. “You really catch the essence of that with our beer off erings. This will be the place to be.”

Food and drink: The club has multiple concessions, including a grab-andgo station, a made-to-order pizza oven, Smash Burger and tacos.

“Whatever goes well with beer,” Chalkley laughed.

There are three large bars, totaling 48 beers on tap.

Noteworthy: Smith said that during construction, there were some old beer caverns underground which served as inspiration for what the First Financial Club could be. FC Cincinnati has been in contact with collectors across the city for potential relics that will highlight the city’s history.

“It’s unlike most traditional clubs,” he said. “ You’re gonna see some of those beer artifacts, whether they were unearthed or not. You’re gonna see the First Financial Club fi nalized and all dressed up in a fun way as we continue to make that nod toward the beer history and traditions of the city.”

Smith also noted the club’s aff ordability.

“We’ve priced these cheaper than half the MLS teams price just regular seats on the east side,” he said. “The uniqueness of First Financial Club as a non-traditional premium space, coupled with its aff ordability and its openness to all people, I think just makes it even more special.”

Capacity: 390 Location: West side of stadium, fi eld level.

Access/price: $7,500-$10,000 per season ($442-$589 per game).

Theme/decor: The club has a private lounge feel, which is appropriate for the most exclusive club TQL Stadium has to off er. There’s a mix of barstools and regular tables, along with a few couches.

Food and drink: All-inclusive membership includes premium alcohol offerings and a chef-driven menu.

“We do stadium favorites with a twist,” Chalkley said. “We take those favorites and make them unique.”

Noteworthy: The Tunnel Club is likened to courtside seats at a basketball game. The players and referees will enter the pitch from the Tunnel Club and members will get to see news conferences after the matches.

“We wanted the fan to be a part of it,” Chalkley said. “If you’re a member, your seats are right next to the players. This will be the place to come hang out and have a good time.”

The Cincinnatus Club is the second-largest premium club. Its large windows offer a great view of the West End neighborhood.

A look at the Pitch View Club inside of TQL Stadium. The Pitch View also has an outdoor veranda for fans to enjoy during matches.

Cincinnatus Club

Pitch View

Capacity: 1,134 Location: West side of stadium, lower level.

Access/price: $1,700-$1,900 per season ($100-$112 per game).

Theme/decor: As the second-largest premium club, Cincinnatus is about socializing. It is decorated with team colors and through large windows has a great view of the West End neighborhood.

“We skewed very, very heavily with civic pride of our season-ticket holders,” Smith said.

Food and drink: There are two bars with draft and packaged beer, along with a chef-attended grab-and-go station and two other dining options with stadium favorites.

The two dining concepts, located on opposite sides of the club, will feature a friendly food rivalry between Cincinnati and the city of the team visiting for that specifi c match.

“If it’s Philadelphia, we’ll do a cheesesteak for that side, then we’ll do a Cincinnati version on this side. For Chicago, we’ll do a Chicago hot dog versus a Cincinnati one,” Chalkley said. “It’s like a friendly face-off .”

Noteworthy: The bevy of options is to get fans in for concessions and back to their seats as quickly as possible.

Team offi cials think the space will be popular on non-game days. “We forecast 100 to 150 events outside of soccer,” Chalkley said.

Capacity: 790 Location: West side of stadium, concourse level.

Access/price: $3,200 per season ($188 per game).

Theme/decor: There are several tables, chairs and booths in the club and it is spacious. Membership to Pitch View includes access to the Cincinnatus Club through an internal staircase. There is also an outdoor veranda for fans to eat, drink and socialize before, during and after matches.

“If I’m a fan, I’ve got my beer, my sandwich and I’m here the whole game,” Chalkley said. “It’s like sitting at home.”

Food and drink: There are multiple dining options and a private bar in the south wing of the club.

Noteworthy: The Pitch View is the only premium club with sightlines to the pitch from inside the club.

“It’s like a background neighborhood feel where people can congregate,” Smith said. “The sightlines are absolutely incredible and kind of gives a neighborhood feel in a club space, which I’ve never seen in a comparable venue before.”

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Zappas hopes to revamp stadium food Keith Pandolfi Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

George Zappas knew what he was getting himself into when he agreed to take on the role of executive chef at TQL Stadium. He knew the expectations would be high. He knew he’d be running nine concessions and several highend clubs. He knew he wouldn’t just be serving hot dogs and nachos.

He knew that, these days, stadium food is no longer, well, stadium food.

“When I started considering this job, I googled pictures of stadium food,” Zappas said.

“The top eight out of 10 pictures I ended up fi nding were ‘bad stadium food’ photos. Every time I did a search for a stadium hot dog, it would be a picture of a hot dog with a broken bun.”

The caption would always read something along the lines of, “This is what I pay for?” Just another reminder that food reviews are no longer the provenance of newspaper critics or Yelp reviewers. As Zappas points out, thanks to social media platforms such as Instagram, “the ability to be hypercritical is just a thumb touch away.”

Which is why the food Zappas, 38, will be off ering at the stadium looks both delicious and, perhaps more importantly, camera ready.

His fried chicken is perfectly golden brown with pops of red harissa paste; his pressed Miami Cuban sandwich wears its grill marks with pride, the top of its Sixteen Bricks bun placed slightly askew to show off the sandwich’s slow-roasted pork, fat-poked mortadella and bright yellow mustard. It’s why his Taste of Belgium waffl e is topped with a cumulus cloud of whipped cream decorated with FC Cincinnati-colored sprinkles.

“You really have to be on top of everything,” Zappas said.

Road to the big leagues Just like many FC Cincinnati players, Zappas started showing promise for his chosen profession at a young age. As a kid growing up in Pittsburgh, he knew he wanted to work in kitchens someday. In sixth grade, when a local newspaper asked him what he wanted to do when he grew up, he started moving his hands in a furious chopping motion, imitating the

Regular concessions Queen City Eats

Hot dog: $5 Nachos: $5 Kids meal: $7 Popcorn: $5 Bavarian pretzel: $6 Bottled soda: $6 Bottled water: $5

Buffalo Wings & Rings

5 boneless wings: $8 10 boneless wings: $15 Onion rings with Bama sauce: $7 Buffalo chicken nachos: $11 Cauliflower wings: $6

Frisch’s

Big Boy burger: $10 Bad Boy burger: $10 Impossible burger: $12 Fish sandwich: $10 Fudge cake: $6 Fries: $6

La Rosa’s

Cheese pizza slice: $6 Pepperoni pizza slice: $6 Bavarian pretzel: $5 Popcorn: $5

Rhine Roost

Tenders and fries: $10 Chicken and waffles: $12 Waffle: $6 French fries: $5 Bavarian Pretzel: $6

Skyline Chili

Coney: $4 Cheese coney: $4 French fries: $5 Chili cheese fries: $7

FC Cincinnati Executive Chef George Zappas highlights the Impossible Burger with fries food option on May 7at TQL Stadium.

KAREEM ELGAZZAR/THE ENQUIRER

Specialty items Melted Cart 3-cheese grilled cheese sandwich with chips: $11 Queen City Eats pork belly hot dog: $8 Smokehaus pulled pork sandwich with chips: $11 Taste of Belgium Dessert waffle with whipped cream and sprinkles: $10 Miami Cuban sandwich: $10 Rhine Roost Harissa fried chicken with fries: $10 Poke bowl seasoned with sesame ginger dressing: $12 Smokehaus brisket nachos: $10

Japanese hibachi chefs he’d seen on TV or working at Benihana.

Sure, there were detours. In high school, he decided he wanted to be a photographer and enrolled at Ohio University, in Athens, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

But fortuitously, during his last two years of college, he took a job at the local Ruby Tuesday. And what was meant to be a way to make some extra cash, turned into something much bigger.

It’s the job that helped set the course for the

rest of his life. It’s the job that taught him lessons he would carry with him forever.

“When I worked at Ruby Tuesday, I realized how to do 300 covers on a Friday night,” he said. “I learned how to get the food out so it was still hot and fresh when it arrived on the customers’ tables.”

From that point on, Zappas knew just about every kind of restaurant, whether it was a fast-casual chain or a four-star icon, had something to teach him. “I really just went with the fl ow for a while, getting every bit of education I could,” he said.

In 2006, he moved to Cincinnati to be with his fi ancé (now wife), who was from here and working for Cincinnati Magazine. As soon as he arrived, he picked up the magazine’s Best Restaurants issue and applied to the top fi ve.

He landed a job as a kitchen manager at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza’s Orchids at Palm Court, where, aside from a year-anda-half stint as sous chef at Local 127, he remained up until last year.

Working his way up at Orchids involved, well, just about every restaurant job you can think of. From working as a line cook, to running their butchery program, to cranking out enough food to feed a wedding guest list of 500 or more. It meant placing the fi nishing touches on the restaurant’s meticulously plated dishes, overseeing room service and fi guring out how to maintain quality control, whether the food was going to one diner sitting alone at the bar, or 300 celebrating a graduation.

Zappas managed to tackle all of those challenges and, in 2018, he was named executive chef of the hotel after his predecessor, Todd Kelly, left Cincinnati for a job in Georgia. It’s a job that prepared Zappas for his latest challenge: feeding tens of thousands of ravenous soccer fans at TQL Stadium. Even though, after talking for a while, he admitted that, yes, he’s scared as hell. Why shouldn’t he be?

But, to Zappa’s being scared as hell is a good thing. “I saw chefs like Toddy Kelly and the other great chefs of Cincinnati strive for constant perfection and to never stop learning,” he said. To Zappa’s, life in the restaurant world is a place where you should always feel a little uneasy, even after you’ve entered the big leagues. “The moment you get too comfortable, you become complacent, he said.

“So if you’re trying to make great food in this city, you’ve gotta get uncomfortable.”

Here are 10 to places to eat and drink before the game Noteworthy: Across the street from Washington Park, this spot provides easy access to other establishments and day-of-match activities in and around the area.

Pat Brennan Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

Over the fi rst fi ve FC Cincinnati seasons, one of the charms of attending matches was that you could build a full day or night out around the games, complete with food and beverage. The University of Cincinnati campus and surrounding neighborhoods off ered plenty of bars and restaurants to round out the game-day experience.

That isn’t changing as the team moves to TQL Stadium. If anything, drinking and dining options surrounding the club’s new home are greater in number, closer to the stadium and more eclectic.

Here are 10 options for your match-day routine all within less than a mile (in order of proximity).

The Pitch Where: 1430 Central Parkway, Over-theRhine.

Hours: Open at 11 a.m. Sunday for the Inter Miami match.

Distance from stadium: Directly across Central Parkway.

Noteworthy: The Pitch could be one of the most popular stops for fans on match days. Its proximity makes it arguably the best option for food (rotating food trucks) and beverage on match days. Factor in the outdoor patio space, rooftop view of the stadium and decor, and a seat at the bar or high-top are going to be a sought-after spot.

Ollie’s Trolley Where: 1607 Central Ave., West End Hours: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday; closed Sunday.

Distance from stadium: Approximately 0.2 miles.

Noteworthy: Ollie’s Trolley dishes out authentically Cincinnati fare and is as close as it gets to TQL Stadium outside of the Pitch.

Queen City Radio Where: 222 W. 12th St., Over-the-Rhine.

Hours: 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday; 4 p.m. to midnight Friday; noon to 2 a.m.

Saturday; 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday (Closed Monday, Tuesday).

Distance from stadium: Approximately 0.3 miles.

La Ofrenda

The Pitch is prepared to open across the street from FC Cincinnati’s new TQL Stadium.

SAM GREENE/ THE ENQUIRER

Noteworthy: Eclectic drink off erings, food trucks and proximity to TQL Stadium.

Samuel Adams Cincinnati Taproom Where: 1625 Central Parkway, Over-theRhine Hours: 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Sunday (closed Monday through Wednesday).

Distance from stadium: Approximately 0.3 miles.

Noteworthy: This locale will also serve as the pre-match home to the Pride, FC Cincinnati’s oldest supporters’ group.

Findlay Market Biergarten Where: East side of the intersection of Elm and Elder streets.

Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday (closed Monday).

Distance from stadium: Approximately 0.4 miles.

Noteworthy: While the biergarten will close prior to kickoff on most match days (open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Sunday), you can grab a local craft beer and indulge in the market’s many food off erings.

Cobblestone OTR Where: 1132 Race St., Over-the-Rhine Hours: 3 p.m. to midnight Tuesday through Thursday; 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday; noon to 2 a.m. Saturday and Sunday (closed Monday).

Distance from stadium: Approximately 0.5 miles.

Where: 30 Findlay St., Over-the-Rhine Hours: 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; 5 p.m. to midnight Friday; 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday (closed Monday and Tuesday).

Distance from stadium: Approximately 0.6 miles.

Noteworthy: Located near Findlay Market, this 800-square-foot bar with an outdoor patio features 130 tequilas,mezcals, sotols, agave spirits, margaritas and house tacos.

Rhinegeist Brewery Where: 1910 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine Hours: 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; noon to midnight Friday and Saturday; noon to 9 p.m. Sunday.

Distance from stadium: Approximately 0.6 miles.

Noteworthy: The craft brewer has prominent placement inside TQL Stadium but also has a streetcar stop directly outside the brewery and tap room.

Northern Row Brewery & Distillery Where: 111 W. McMicken Ave., Over-theRhine Hours: 3 p.m. to midnight Tuesday through Thursday; 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday; noon to 2 a.m. Saturday and Sunday (closed Monday).

Distance from stadium: Approximately 0.7 miles.

Noteworthy: Will serve as the go-to bar for one of FC Cincinnati’s well-known supporters’ groups, the Pride.

Rhinehaus Where: 119 E. 12th St., Over-the-Rhine Hours: 3 p.m. to midnight Monday; 2:45 p.m. to midnight Tuesday through Thursday; 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday; noon to midnight Saturday and Sunday.

Distance from stadium: Approximately 0.7 miles.

Noteworthy: This place is popular for soccer fans interested in watching FC Cincinnati, the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams, or English Premier League clubs.

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TQL STADIUM

Now it’s easier to post to social media Investments in technology include Wi-Fi, over 300 TVs Michael Perry Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

When any organization has the chance to build a new facility, it wants to plan not just for the day it opens but for years in the future. The facility can’t become outdated quickly, especially when it comes to technology.

As FC Cincinnati offi cials pondered how to improve on the fan experience from Nippert Stadium, there were obvious and not-so-obvious opportunities.

Here are some of the technological amenities fans will experience in TQL Stadium.

Wi-Fi For all its charm, this was a problem at Nippert Stadium that shouldn’t be an issue at TQL. There will be 650 access points to Wi-Fi strategically spread in and around the stadium, says Dennis Carroll, FC Cincinnati’s chief operating offi cer.

He said the team “invested heavily” in cellular service so fans should have no problems getting online, posting to social media and checking websites at any location in or just outside TQL. “We want to capture people and give them a reason to come and stay,” Carroll says.

Ticketless/cashless Fans will use their cell phones and the FC Cincinnati app to get into the stadium. Tickets will be downloaded on phones. “Like boarding a plane,” Carroll says. This was in the plans even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Fans who do not have mobile access can go to the ticket offi ce on the stadium’s main plaza and get a printout that will get them in the gate.

“Data shows 99% of ours fans won’t have issues with ticket-less entry,” Carroll says. You won’t need the Seat Geek and FCC apps. You can link your Seat Geek account to the FCC app.

Points of purchase for food and drinks at TQL will not accept cash.There are three reverse ATMS in the stadium at which fans can input cash and get back a Visa card that is good anywhere that accepts Visa.

“That’s the one we wrestled with pre-COVID,” Carroll says. “Most venues will be this way in fi ve years regardless. Once the pandemic hit, it was an immediate no-brainer. It’s the future, and it is absolutely safer and quicker.”

Scoreboards/Televisions There are two main scoreboards, the larger

of which is above The Bailey on the northside of the stadium. The other is in the southeast corner. There is not a seat in the stadium from which you are unable to see one of the scoreboards.

There are also roughly 370 integrated televisions in the building, including on the concourse, at concession stands, in the clubs and suites. They can all be customized from a control room on the west side of the stadium.

Whether it’s graphics, replays or video, it can show up on all TVs and the scoreboards. “If we score a goal, we can do a blue-and-orange celebration and light the place up,” Carroll says.

In addition to cameras around the stadium for TV broadcasts, there will be additional wireless cameras to help with the presentation on video/TV screens. There is a director of game presentation, a DJ, a technical director and a creative director among a team of about 20 involved in game-day production.

There are two main scoreboards inside of FC Cincinnati’s new TQL Stadium, the larger of which is above The Bailey on the north side of the stadium. There are also roughly 370 integrated televisions in the building.

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Sound TQL will have the latest technology from some of the leaders in audio, such as Bose and JBL, Carroll says. There are also touch screens in the four clubs – which can each have diff erent music playing – and player locker rooms.

Sound can be set for each location.

Fins to the left ...

One of the highlights of TQL Stadium is the lighting outside the east side of the building.

There are nearly three miles of lights in the fi ns, or exterior panels, that surround most of TQL. The fi ns don’t just light up, Carroll says.

They can change colors, brightness and show images, including animation. “It’s more dynamic than any similar stadium light feature,” Carroll says.

Players’ new digs are plush – and permanent Pat Brennan Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

The contrast between the FC Cincinnati experience at the University of Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium and TQL Stadium is stark.

For players, the diff erence might be the most dramatic.

At Nippert, FC Cincinnati paid rent and borrowed space that was usually converted back to suit the UC athletic department.

From parking spaces to lockers to the fi eld, almost everything the FC Cincinnati’s players saw and touched was quickly fl ipped, folded up and stored until the next match.

By May 7, when the players and staff conducted their fi rst-ever training session at TQL Stadium, most aspects of the stadium were completed, and that included some special players-only amenities that will give the FCC squad an added element of comfort it never could have had at Nippert.

The players will have access to a private lounge adorned with an 80-inch TV. Video games are expected to be a popular activity in that space. There’s a grooming station. Pingpong tables.

The players and staff will have a private dining space. Meals there will be catered by the in-house hospitality staff .

The training room is as elaborate as the club’s suburban Mercy Health Training Center in Milford. It features workout and rehab equipment, hot tubs and dedicated offi ces for the training and medical staff .

Then you move to the locker room, which is eff ectively the inner-sanctum of the club on match days.

The convertible metal lockers used by FC Cincinnati at Nippert Stadium have been replaced with custom-made high-end wood locker spaces with padded seats.

“We’re trying to make the players feel as athome as possible,” said Dan Lolli, FC Cincin-

The home locker room and digital lockers are one of many player perks inside of FC Cincinnati’s new TQL Stadium.

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nati’s vice president of facilities and TQL Stadium general manager. “The fi nishes are a touch above Milford because we want the players to know that when you’re at Milford, that’s where you practice. When you’re at the stadium, it’s game day, so elevate yourself.

From the custom wood grain of the lockers to the island in the middle with the waterfall counter-tops.”

Stepping out of the locker room post-match at Nippert meant stepping outside into the elements. If weather permitted, maybe fraternizing with friends, family and opposition players was possible.

After games at TQL Stadium, players will be

“We want our guys to have the most comfortable environment to allow them to focus on getting results for FC Cincinnati.”

Dan Lolli

FC Cincinnati’s vice president of facilities

able to mingle and relax in the MedPace Tunnel Club, which is one of the most exclusive club areas in the stadium.

The post-match press conferences will take place in a space directly off the Tunnel Club and give fans an opportunity to watch and listen to the exchange between media members and club offi cials.

Players’ family members will also have passes to come into the Tunnel Club for postmatch festivities.

“We want our guys to have the most comfortable environment to allow them to focus on getting results for FC Cincinnati,” Lolli said.

12G

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SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

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THE ENQUIRER

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