Streetvibes July 15-31, 2009 Edition

Sexy, Yummy, Veggie P. 8

Art to Save Our Souls P. 3

Will it Be Moved? P. 11

STREETVIBES

$1

July 15 - August 2, 2009 • Advocating Justice, Building Community • Issue 157

A Streetcar Named ‘Democracy’ NAACP wants voters to decide

By Paul Kopp Contributing Writer The Cincinnati Chapter of the NAACP wants citizens to decide on a proposed streetcar plan approved by city council.

The plan calls for the construction of a 3.9-mile long streetcar line around downtown and parts of Over-the-Rhine, with a connector leading to uptown neighborhoods at the top of the hill.

The city hopes the streetcars will create new jobs, business and economic growth. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) wants voters to decide.

The NAACP has circulated petitions for an amendment to the city charter that would require a referendum Streetcars of varying designs and styles are seen in many large American cities. to determine whether a major transportation project, such as In addition to the $200 million cost to build the tions to make sure voters get to decide. streetcars, should be approved. The NAACP says it “All we are demanding is a vote,” says Christo- streetcar system, operating costs will cause a furhas already submitted sufficient signatures to put the pher Smitherman, president of the NAACP. “They ther $60 million dollar issue on the ballot but is continuing to circulate petiseem to fear people voting on this issue.“ imbalance, Smitherman See Streetcar, p. 4

Making More Than Pizza Q&A with the head of Venice on Vine

By Angela Pancella Contributing Writer Rina Saperstein is executive director of Power Inspires Progress, which operates Venice on Vine, a restaurant and employment-education program at 1301 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine.

What is Venice on Vine?

The restaurant's purpose it to sell good food and be a comfortable place to visit. We're about more than just pizza. Because we're an employment education program, we are helping our employees gain a work history and job skills so they can get out and get a better job.

What are the requirements to work here?

One of our eligibility criteria is that our employees have to be from inner-city Cincinnati. Right now we have people from places like Avondale, Price Hill, Camp Washington. A fair number come from Over-the-Rhine. A fair number are from temporary homeless shelters and transitional housing.

Other criteria: You must be over 18, you must want to work, you must want to make changes. We're not a part-time or See Pizza, p. 7

Venice on Vine teaches local residents more than just preparing delicious pizza.

Photo by Andrew Anderson.

2

The Vibe

By The Numbers

6

the day in July when a radio commentator talked about ordinariness as a virtue (see page 5).

7-14

the ages for kids to learn meditation at a Tibetan Buddhist monastery (see page 14).

$200

the cost, in millions, of the proposed streetcar system (see page 1).

72

the number of hours the Navy put a sailor in the desert to prepare him for torture (see page 5).

4

the number of American Indians portrayed on a T-shirt protesting European colonization (see page 3).

3.9

the number of miles covered by a proposed streetcar system for the city of Cincinnati (see page 1).

12th

the street on which Mark Shears often sells Streetvibes (see page 6).

20

the number of dollars that keep addicts from getting help (see page 10).

47

the percent of employees being laid off by Hamilton County of Jobs and Family Services (see page 12).

StreetSense

STREETVIBES July 15 - August 2, 2009

By Kayla Thornton Contributing Writer

Fun with Sexually Transmitted Diseases Infertility, brain damage, heart disease, birth defects, cancer and death are among the benefits promoted by CityBeat’s new twist on alternative journalism. “Dear Maija,” a column by Maija Zummo, CityBeat’s listing editor, serves up a twenty-something version of advice that is irresponsible at best and, at worst, down right creepy. Her July 1 column isn’t only offensive; it’s dangerous.

“I have herpes and I hate it,” Rock and a Burny Place writes. “I’m very good looking, and men always hit on me, but I feel as though I shouldn’t go home with them because they might get herpes from me and then get pissed about it. I’ve thought about trying to get someone to emotionally rely on me enough that I could tell him the truth and then take those drugs they advertise on TV and just try not to give him herpes, but what if I get sick of his neediness?”

Zummo responds, “Don’t take yourself so seriously. Some people (you, condom companies, etc.) act like STDs aren’t a joke, but the truth is they are — all of them except AIDS, which isn’t funny. Another joke is that most guys in Cincinnati already have herpes. I’d say that one out of four guys you meet at a bar, especially a bar downtown, will have herpes. So you have a one in four chance of sleeping with someone who’s already infected, which cancels itself out. You and this new herpes-riddled suitor could even laugh about each other’s outbreaks and playfully make fun of each other’s genital sores. (I told you STDs were funny!)”

Streetvibes is an activist newspaper, advocating justice and building community. Streetvibes reports on economic issues, civil rights, the environment, the peace movement, spirituality and the struggle against homelessness and poverty.

Distributed by people who are or once were homeless, in exchange for a $1 donation, Streetvibes is published twice a month by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless.

Address: 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 Phone: 513.421.7803 x 12 Fax: 513.421.7813 Email: streetvibes2@ yahoo.com Website: www. cincihomeless.org Blog: streetvibes. wordpress.com

Streetvibes Staff

Yeah, funny.

Fun with Fake Pills

Editor Gregory Flannery

The “one in four” chance of hooking up with a herpes-infected man apparently is a guess, something not checked with the health department, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) or any other medical professional.

Art Director Lynne Ausman

Here’s another little ditty from the CDC that Zummo didn’t bother with: “Young people (ages 15 to 24) have fives times the reported chlamydia rate of the general population.” That demographic is a big part of CityBeat’s readership – people who need sound advice on safe sex. Instead, this is what they get.

Zummo goes so far as to recommend a specific prescription drug for treatment. “ … if you aren’t a gambling sort of woman, I’d suggest either a) getting a Valtrex prescription or b) stealing an orange pill bottle and writing ‘Valtrex’ on it,” she writes. “Then the next time you’re at a bar trying to lure some muscled hottie in light-colored jeans back to your place, just ‘accidentally’ drop the Valtrex bottle out of your purse. Eventually you’re going to find a guy who looks at the bottle and makes the following positive conclusions about you: 1) you’re easy, 2) you have herpes and 3) you care about managing your outbreaks, which he’ll see as both responsible and attractive. So my advice is … get a Valtrex prescription and start going to downtown bars.”

But she doesn’t stop there.

Fun with Date Rape “Even if you don’t find the right guy with herpes, there’s still a 50 percent chance you’ll get roofied. Either way you’ll get laid.”

For the uninformed, a “roofie” is a slang term used to describe a powerful sedative that’s slipped into a person’s drink – usually a woman’s – in order to knock her unconscious in order to rape her. Also referred to as a “date-rape drug,” some are GHB, Rohypnol and Ketamine.

Could all of this be dismissed as an attempt at satire? The column isn’t so labeled. A staff writer (without a medical degree) offers medical advice, suggests date rape as a “positive” way to get laid and encourages theft in response to a question about spreading herpes to unsuspecting men. Isn’t that funny?

The CDC has brought about the decline of many STDs though education and awareness. It combats the uninformed and dangerous misinformation spread by sixth-grade kids and now, sadly, a newspaper, CityBeat. Instead of helping to end a health epidemic, the paper gives instructions on how to keep it going.

If the forum were a publication with a reputation for authentic satire, such as The Onion, this could be dismissed. But in a newspaper trading on its reputations for award-winning journalism (as CityBeat Co-publisher John Fox did in the same edition in which this column appeared), this kind of writing crosses so many journalistic and ethical lines it’s unconscionable.

StreetSense is an occasional column written under pseudonyms to prevent the authors from losing their jobs.

Contributing Writers Lew Moores, Margo Pierce, Paul Kopp, Jeremy Flannery, Michael Henson, David Heitfield, Alecia Lott, Larry Gross, Stephanie Dunlap, Suhith Wickrema, Georgine Getty, Angela Pancella, Jaisha Garnett Photography/Artwork Andrew Anderson, Paul Kopp, Aimie Willhoite, Lynne Ausman Proofreader Jennifer Blalock The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to eradicate homelessness in Cincinnati through coordination of services, public education, grassroots advocacy and Streetvibes.

We are members of:

STREETVIBES July 15 - August 2, 2009

Art Review

Art for the Mind and Spirit

3

An exhibition for the socially conscious and unafraid

By Margo Pierce Contributing Writer A Buddhist monk, an undescription of Janie, Jackie employed writer and a docand Jody, my body stiffens: It’s evocative, laden with meaning that the artist brings in addition tor walk into an art exhibit, “My recent art has been an to that of the viewer. Awareness and thoughtfulness are as much on and what follows is as surexploration of the mentally display as swaths of paint and clay sculptures. real as that unusual mix of ill or brain-diseased self as people. One reason might it relates to how we as inbe that this isn’t a madedividuals see our identities for-TV-movie art show with wine and cheese and people dressed in diamonds and how society as a whole views us.” and Dolce & Gabbana. This exhibit, at the Art Academy of Cincinnati in OverIs art supposed to consider those unpleasant and uncomfortable things that we The-Rhine, is described as “a community art show and event of sociopolitical don’t discuss over dinner when the entire family has gathered and young ears are expressions for peace and justice.” SOS (Save Our Souls) Art has images of present? Why not? Who said it has to just be about flowers and pretty landscapes controversial comedian George Carlin hanging with collages supporting gay that make us feel happy or connect us to pleasant experiences from our past? marriage and a drawing of former Vice President Dick Cheney going off a cliff These pieces make me think, challenge my preconceived notions, inspire rein a wheelchair. actions I couldn’t anticipate. This art gets to me.

The first piece in the exhibit, Waiting for the Wolf, is a life-size statue of a The use of words stands out to me, the writer. As a woman, it was also anyoung girl wearing a red velvet cape. Nothing unusual about that, until you get noying. Man, mankind and humanity – nowhere did I see womankind. At the closer and see the child is covered in pieces of egg shell. Her body is a collage of top of Who Are the Founding Fathers by Tom Phelps is a picture of four Native broken fragile white bits with only the eyes of a retail store mannequin intact.

American men in full feather and animal-skin regalia positioned in front of the The artist, Kymber Henson, four dead U.S. presidents on focuses her work on the fragilMount Rushmore. The center ity of childhood and the horof the piece is a T-shirt with rors many children witness, a row of American Indians according to Saad Ghosn, the on horseback done up in war doctor and artist who orgapaint and full “riot” gear of nizes SOS Art every year. The bows, arrows, guns and other exquisite detail of those tiny weaponry. “Fighting terrorism pieces so carefully placed is since 1492,” the T-shirt says. remarkable, even beautiful, No indication is given that, until my mind registers the prior to the arrival of Europeironic symbolism, the shatterans, women served as the head ing implications of innocence of most American Indian tribes lost in the red cape of Little or that white men refused to Red Riding Hood. acknowledge their positions Henson offers a chilling of power and respect. description of Waiting for the Words are as powerful as Wolf. images, so when Ghosn says “My piece relates to the “patriarchy” when describvulnerability of childhood, ing one of the nine panels of whether it's a child who sufhis woodcut I react internally. fers from incest and feels helpA circumcised penis poking less or any child at the mercy down out of the sky dropping of human traffickers or serial globs of semen onto a landpedophiles," Henson says. scape of people below isn’t ‘The Observer’ by Saad Ghosen. Photo Saad Ghosn.

Sexual assault, physical something I would have choviolence, malnutrition, abansen to illustrate the missing donment, under-funded public schools, waking up sick in the middle of the night feminine. My mind rebels at the male focus on the missing feminine. As I stand alone, juvenile detention, addiction and a host of other terrors flood my mind, on his right and the monk on his left, he explains that a portion of The Observer until it’s too upsetting to look at that piece of art that probably took hundreds of illustrates his frustration with the negative impact male domination has had on hours to create. A voyeur, I want to look. An advocate, I have to tear my eyes our culture. It was another piece I didn’t feel comfortable discussing with a away because there’s nothing I can do about all of that standing in an exhibit. monk.

But is that true?

Walking the classroom galleries, my head already swimming with thoughts That is the power of SOS Art. It’s evocative, laden with meaning that the art- and reactions, I take in the pictures: One is “two victims of war,” depicting the ist brings in addition to that of the viewer. Awareness and thoughtfulness are as killer and the killed and the obituary pages of the New York Times post 9-11-01 much on display as swaths of paint and clay sculptures.

– many faces smiling, some not.

What does the monk think of this first piece after hearing about the varied The walls are covered in controversy, suffering, anger, hope (more Obama ways in which adults tell him they suffered as children? I wonder but I don’t images than I was prepared to count), fear, passion. I felt surrounded by the ask. Besides, he’s already moved on past the next several pieces and is asking most important issues of our time, uncensored. Ghosn is right: The art school is Ghosn about a picture. the perfect place for this exhibit because he isn’t forced to choose which images The lobby gallery is the first of three – the other two are upstairs – and I’m must be left out because of being politically incorrect or offensive – the stantorn between intrigue and anxiety. If this is just the beginning, what’s to come? dards are content and quality.

As a feeling of being overwhelmed starts to grow, I hear my name called. Af‘Art gets to me’ ter looking at Peace Men, a sculpture by Gloria McConnaghy – a happy Buddha in the center – we move down the hall to look out the window at the end. An “I want to go to the place where I am nothing and everything.” This statement artist several stories below is painting a mural on a brick wall. The painting is of

by India Ayre is part of a painting called Present Moment by Lisa Vaughn. people painting: a pretty picture in the real world devoid of controversy.

Wandering empty classrooms with art on the walls – some nubbly with paint and compositions made of three-dimensional objects – I keep my hands in my For a better world pockets, restraining my fingers from touching. The casual setting makes me want to believe it’s OK to feel those pieces, unlike a museum with guards and SOS Art isn’t just an opportunity for like-minded people to gather, bemoan squawking radios. I’m not visually impaired, a reasonable excuse for wanting the current cultural climate and go home feeling depressed and disempowered to touch in order to experience. But not being able to touch makes me feel I’m by the impossibility of significant change. A schedule of events that engages missing something. people in conversation and inspires action is part of the two-week exhibition.

Then I see a series of three paintbrushes caked with white paint, each con“Movement Inquiry Workshop,” directed by Ethan Philbrick – performer, mutained in a box, like a shallow diorama, hung in a trilogy. I can’t touch those even sician, dancer, filmmaker and educator – is an “interactive performance focusif I were allowed, but I can still feel their stiffness. As I read artist Kurt Storch’s ing on themes of social justice, accountability,

See Art, p. 9

Community News 4 A Streetcar Named No License to ‘Democracy’ Look

STREETVIBES July 15 - August 2, 2009

Real-estate agent peeked, but was it a crime?

By Gregory Flannery Editor Climbing a ladder to look into a vacant house is trespassing even if there is no sign saying, “Keep Out,” and even if the person taking a peek is a real-estate agent, according to a July 2 ruling by the Ohio First District Court of Appeals.

In a scathing dissent, Appeals Judge Mark Painter said the conviction was silly.

“Evidently being short on criminals, we are now reduced to convicting realtors for looking at foreclosed houses,” he wrote.

Acting as his own attorney, Michael Janson appealed his conviction in Hamilton County Municipal Court.

When a neighbor saw Janson climbing into a vacant house, he called the sheriff’s office. Janson stayed until the deputy arrived and admitted he’d looked inside, saying his mother was interested in bidding on the property. The deputy arrested him.

“As a realtor who specialized in foreclosures, Janson could have arranged a legitimate viewing of the property without the necessity of climbing up a ladder and lookIn addition, the ing in a window without any kind of authoneighbor who called rization,” the appeals the cops on Janson court ruled. had mown the vacant Ohio law doesn’t reproperty’s lawn. Why quire signs forbidding wasn’t he prosecuted people from entering for trespassing? other people’s property without permission, - Judge Mark Painter the ruling found.

In his dissent, Painter sneered at the conviction, straining to find any sign of criminal conduct.

“The defaulting owners had vamoosed,” he wrote. “Who knows if it were even possible to get permission to look at the house? So he stopped there and peeked in the window (according to his testimony), using a ladder that was leaning against the house. For this he was arrested, taken to the hoosegow, presumably in irons, and made to post bail. He was then made a convicted criminal. Janson was no burglar. When the neighbor called the law, he waited for the officer to arrive. Where was the crime?”

If anything, Janson did the owners of the property a favor, Painter argued.

“It would be more reasonable to assume that the owners of the house, having defaulted on the mortgage, would have been more than amenable to a realtor checking the house out with a view to bidding on it — the higher the bid, the less the defaulting owners owe,” Painter wrote.

In addition, the neighbor who called the cops on Janson had mown the vacant property’s lawn. Why, Painter asked, wasn’t he prosecuted for trespassing?

Although trespassing is one of the least serious criminal convictions in Ohio law, the way this case was handled brings to mind great injustices in classical literature, according to Painter.

“Someone should have had the common sense to dismiss this case before it came to trial,” he wrote. “Failing that, the trial judge should have thrown it out. Failing that, this court should do the right thing. But all failed. And a 52-year-old lawabiding citizen is dragged through the court system and made a convict. Michael Janson must feel like Jean Valjean — except that Valjean actually committed a crime. Janson is not guilty of a crime. His misfortune is that he lives in a county where he would be convicted anyway.”

(continued from page 1)

says. The NAACP believes that, even if the city receives federal funding, taxes surely will be increased, he says.

“Once they interject our money, it’s something different. (City council) forgets the money they are talking about isn’t theirs,” Smitherman says. “If there is one thing I understand, its money. I’m a stockbroker.”

Construction costs for the project total $128 million, according to Meg Olberding, a spokeswoman for city manager. Money for construction Seventh and Walnut in downtown Cincinnati could one day be will come from capital fund- a streetcar stop. Photo by Paul Kopp. ing, which can only be used for long-term projects, she the route, the streetcar sys- devleopment of the streetcar, says. Taxes won’t increase, tem will help close the budget they will be responsible for but instead the city will pay deficit. It is the city’s general its upkeep, which Monzel for the project using revenue fund that has a deficit – but the says the city estimates will from various sources, one be- city never planned on using cost roughly $3 million a year. ing the sale of Blue Ash Air- that money for the streetcars, “They are hoping to get half of port. The city also expects to she says. Their hope is that that in fares, but what if they receive funding from the fed- the streetcar will replenish the don’t get half of that in fares?” fund.

Monzel says. “Their business eral govern“It’s been plan is a little weak. One of ment.

The city says proven in two my big fears is we are going “The city taxes won’t different stud- to be on the hook to maintain has found ies that street- this thing.” increase, but $61 million cars bring Monzel says city officials dollars,” Olinstead the city almost 3-to-1 don’t realize the strength of berding says. will pay for the return on an grassroots opposition to the “We need $57 project using investment,” streetcars. million more, revenue from Olberding “There are people out there and that is various sources, says. who are saying, ‘This is a projwhat we are Chris Monect that is going to impact one one being the presenting to zel, a Repub- neighborhood and there are the federal sale of Blue Ash lican, is the 50 other neighborhoods out government.”

Airport. only member here that need funding, that Smitherof city coun- need economic development man, a city cil to oppose projects but they don’t need a councilmember from 2003the plan.

He says he supports streetcar,” he says.

2005, says the city budget is Mayor Mark Mallory and already looking at a $20 mil- the NAACP’s proposed charlion deficit for 2009 and $40 ter amendment because he city council members in supmillion for next year. He also believes that voters should port of the streetcars didn’t says he warned his colleagues decide on any project of such respond to e-mail and phone at City Hall of the under-fund- a large magnitude. He also messages seeking comment. ing of the city’s retirement believes the streetcar system Some council aides directed will require new taxes. He questions to the city manager fund, but they didn’t listen.

“Will city council, the compares the issue to the sales and Cincinnatians for Progmayor, the manager – all of tax for the Reds and Bengals ress, a pro-street car lobby, them – continue to ignore this stadiums, which voters ap- neither of which responded.

Councilman Chris Bortz – financial crisis in July 2009 proved.

“For such a massive project, who, Smitherman says – owns by pushing the building of a $200 million streetcar that we something bigger than Paul property along the proposed cannot afford to operate?” he Brown Stadium, it just makes streetcar route, was one of sense to have a vote,” Monzel those who couldn’t be reached. says.

In addition to more taxes, says. “(City council members) Tracy Schwetschenau, Bortz’s Smitherman speculates that supported the vote on the sta- chief of staff, says he doesn’t the city will layoff 600 work- dium sales tax, but now when have a Blackberry to access ers, which is about 10 percent it comes to this, you say ‘No, his city e-mail, but she’d give no, no, we don’t want to put him the interview request if he of its staff. visited his office at City Hall.

Olberding acknowledges that on the ballot.’ ” He also believes the opera- With council out of session the city’s budget problems but says that, by spurring eco- tional costs for the streetcar this month, things are pretty nomic growth through new will be a potential problem. slow there, and they are happy businesses and housing along Though the city does plan to about that, Schwetschenau receive capital funding for the says.

Missed an Issue? Check out the Streetvibes archive at www.cincihomeless.org/content/streetvibes

STREETVIBES July 15 - August 2, 2009

5

Issues

None Dare Call Him Lawrence Larry Gross and the art of the ordinary

By Gregory Flannery Editor A commentator on National Public Radio on July 6 lamented “the elevation of ordinariness to a virtue.” He was referring to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin but made me think of Larry Gross and his new book, Living Out Loud.

Gross doesn’t commit the vice of elevating ordinariness but he does celebrate it – when he isn’t busy shaking his fist at it or trying to improve it.

Full disclosure: I wrote the introduction to the book, and some of the essays mention me. See? Ordinariness.

What’s extraordinary about Gross’s work is his determination to extract meaning from the chaos around him.

Bus rides become occasions for moral intimacy, outrage or wonder. Bars, preferably

What’s extraordinary about Gross’s work is his determination to extract meaning from the chaos around him. Bus rides become occasions for moral intimacy, outrage or wonder. Bars are where his muses hold forth. Far from trying to pretty up the grit that makes up the characters’ innards and their environs alike, Gross studies them as a naturalist would, cataloging the latest act of discourtesy or gentleness that he runs across. filled with smoke, are where his muses hold forth. Far from trying to pretty up the grit that makes up the characters’ innards and their environs alike, Gross studies them as a naturalist would, cataloging the latest act of discourtesy or gentleness that he runs across.

“I have a willingness to talk to anybody, and I think that opens you up to encounters

you wouldn’t have otherwise,” he says. “I also think by making eye contact – which a lot of people in this town won’t do – you’re letting yourself in for it a little bit.”

The dig at “this town” is intentional. Most of Gross’s essays first appeared in CityBeat, where he has also pub-

See Larry, p. 13

Larry Gross, author of ‘Living Out Loud.’

Photo by Andrew Anderson.

Heroism and White Guilt Shower lessons and other kinds of torture

By David Heitfield Contributing Writer

his age and weight (rocks in his pocket) to enlist in WWII, was a prisoner of war. “Nothin' Whenever I'm out drinking to talk about,” he said, and we with Republicans, the script never talked of it again. I have usually calls for an interven- his Purple Heart. He never tion – not about my drinking, really talked about the times of course, but he was shot, about my evil either: “Just There was a hot political views doin' a job.” box, there was – that ends in The marwaterboarding, a predictable keting tool of there was lots stalemate, fol“Support Our of slamming lowed by someTroops” exists people against one offering me as a politically walls. a hearty handcorrect piousshake and a ness to hide drunkenly sinthe ugly side of cere “Thank you for serving conservative White Guilt. So, our country.”

I'm here to help.

It makes me throw up a Thirty years ago I vollittle in my mouth. And that's unteered for the Navy and not necessarily the drinking, worked as a Korean linguist either: I get the same gassy for four years. While America feeling when I see a soccer was a different place then – mom driving like hell while my high school had a smoktalking on her cell phone, her ing lounge for students – and barely-controlled SUV sport- the service was peacetime, ing a “Support Our Troops” maybe I can give you a few bumper sticker and a ribbon. things to think about so that Or over the recent Fourth of the next time you feel the need July weekend, which televi- to shake a vet's hand to thank sion has now turned into a him for his service, you'll first “Support Our Troops” holiday. wonder just where that hand So now we support our troops has been. on Veterans Day and of course Memorial Day and of course Cut vertically the Fourth. On Thanksgiving, we are thankful for our troops.

I was enticed into the miliAt Christmas, we remember tary by an attractive woman those stationed overseas for I met at a party who was attending the Naval Postgradutheir sacrifices.

I was 30 when I found out ate School in Monterey, Camy late father, who lied about lif. She told me Monterey

was about the most beautiful spot on earth, and there was a language school there, and I should look into it. After my recruiter sold me on the idea that joining the military and wearing the Navy cracker jacks uniform would result in “getting more pussy than you can shake your dick at,” my choice was between delivering pizza to Miami University coeds who, at their most generous, would piss on my townie face, or I could go into the world and procreate.

I was put on a train to Chicago for boot camp at Great Lakes. One area of boot camp that they don't tell in movies is the emphasis on personal hygiene, because they assume many of the recruits have been too busy being heroes to learn how to clean themselves: how to brush your teeth; how to shave (always use cold water after the shave to close your pores); how and when to shower (use Zest soap so there is no residue to clean up before an inspection), stuff like that.

Company 079 was soon marked as a company that would not go through formal graduation ceremonies, so we became something of a company of rejects. Our laundry officer, from the Bronx, was expert at procuring drugs (blotter acid was popular in the day) and other contraband.

I remember one night I was on

duty when a kid slit his wrists.

As medics were carrying him out on a stretcher, his drill instructor was screaming about how he had failed him, that if he wanted to be successful in this life he had to learn to do things right, and the next time he took a razor to his wrists he should cut vertically, down the arm.

Boot camp was where I, and many others, heroically took up smoking. Smokers got frequent breaks called “smoke and Cokes,” when you could buy a soda and smoke a couple of butts. A few weeks into boot camp almost all of us were smokers.

After boot camp came language school at the Presidio

of Monterey, which overlooks the Monterey Bay Peninsula.

It was not only just as beautiful as I'd been told, but it was California in 1979, before AIDS and even before herpes was a big concern. One friend of mine, an Air Force linguist named Pam, had a list of her sexual partners and had hoped to make 100 before she even thought of getting married. I don't know if she ever made it, because she flunked out. A friend I'd made in boot camp, who held a master's degree in something, told me during the flight to San Francisco that he was gay. He taught me about fine dining, quite the experi-

See Heroism, P. 6

Issues 6 Heroism and White Guilt

STREETVIBES July 15 - August 2, 2009

(continued from page 5) ence for a kid for whom “eating out” was a hamburger at the Red Barn; and also introduced me to San Francisco, which included things like “fisting” bars and other avenues for anonymous gay sex.

He flunked out, too.

For me, it was mostly a year of partying. Beer was cheap, and so was the sex, being pre-AIDS California. We had strippers on base once a month, and they soon added male strippers as well, with the idea that the females would get drunk and worked up and want to screw and it was good for morale all around.

I made many friends. One guy, who also flunked out, introduced me to his “oneone-one” theory, which meant going down to Carmel beach, under I believe the ninth and 10th fairways at Pebble Beach Golf Club, and drink one beer, smoke one joint and eat one Quaalude and then enjoy the day. My closest friends were other people from the Midwest, as we could discuss our heroism, but there was quite the assortment of characters, including the high-school dropout with a 170 IQ, or the guy who specialized in cultivating legal ways of getting high.

Silly torture Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape was a program started by the Air Force at the end of the Korean War. All we knew going in was that

it involved getting tortured for a couple of days. This program was for people who might be in danger of getting captured by the enemy and is generally reserved for air crew and Navy SEALs. I was originally scheduled to fly when I got to Korea, so this is why I was sent there.

I'd love to tell my personal story about surviving SERE school, but I don't have one to tell. I failed the swimming test before deployment. I honestly don't remember if it was intentional on my part or not; I do recall I wasn't crazy about the idea of getting tortured, although I'm also not a very good swimmer. Still, failing the swim test set me up for several months at Coronado, where I had nothing to do but call in at 8:30 a.m. to check in, then spend the rest of the day at the beach being a hero, while they changed my billet from a flier to a land-based analyst, which takes an inexplicably long time to do in the military. While I hung out in beautiful San Diego, I also got to meet a good number of people going into and coming out of SERE training.

The gist of what I heard was this: First, there was a period of sleep deprivation and starvation, about 72 hours in the desert. After you were exhausted and weak came the capture and 24 or so hours in the POW camp. The rules were skin could not be broken and no blood drawn, but anything else was fair game. The

“guards” wore vague Eastern Bloc uniforms and spoke in an exaggerated Slavic accent.

There was a hot box, there was waterboarding, there was lots of slamming people against walls. Just when you thought it was all about to end, one of the guards gathered everyone in formation, brought out a Bible, told their captors in the fake Slavic accent that there was no God, no hope, only the all-knowing Communist Party to answer to, with various people telling me that the Bible was either spat upon or pages were ripped out, I guess depending on the mood.

At this point, a number of otherwise strong young men would just break down and start crying, and then the cavalry charge would blare out, the captives would be “saved” and the ordeal ended.

The most memorable story came from a guy I'd befriended about a week before he participated in SERE. He was a very pragmatic guy, a little older than most of us, and he saw this all as a silly game for some sadistic military play.

During his POW session, he explained to his captors that he was sick of the silly games and he would tell them whatever they wanted to know, because he was tired and hungry and this was all kinda stupid.

At that point, the Slavic accents were dropped by the guards.

“We're not gonna torture you if you don't want to take part in that,” he was told, “but

let me tell you what a sorry American you are.”

There, after days of weakening from the lack of sleep and food, they told him stories of heroic POWs of the past, and what they had to endure, and they did so selflessly. Whatever it was, it worked. He came back a totally changed man, having been shamed into a gung-ho soldier from that point on. He described

his own past personality as “cowardly” and vowed never to allow that to happen again.

I don't know about the effectiveness of torture for eliciting information from enemies, but it seems to be very effective in inducing conformist ideology on our own people.

This is the first of a series.

The Hustle Man

Selling wares, time and ‘Streetvibes’

By Jeremy Flannery Contributing Writer When living on the streets, you try to survive with the means at your disposal. Mark Anthony Shears sells his time and acquisitions.

“People call me ‘the Hustle Man,’” he says, “because I wash people’s car windows, detail cars, and if anyone gives me clothes or other things for the FreeStore, I try to sell what I can first to get by.”

Streetvibes is another item Shears sells to earn a living.

He would like to attempt writing for the newspaper someday, he says.

“I read the paper first so I know how to sell it better, to get to know the city better and know the conditions of the poor and homeless,” he says.

Shears has been homeless

on and off for eight years, he says. He started selling Streetvibes in December 2008. He uses a gentle yet fearless approach when selling the paper.

He shakes hands with a pastor and two people in the middle of a conversation on 12th Street and shouts to a man before he escapes in his car. He sells a few copies to people standing on the sidewalks of Main Street and greets others. He sells a copy to a man in a coffee shop and to someone working at Art Beyond Boundaries. He pitches sales in other stores along Main Street, but gets no bites.

“I know a lot of people down here and they say, ‘That Mark Anthony is a good guy’ because I wash people’s car windows, and if people get their cars busted into, I try to find out who did it for them,”

Shears says. “Some people will offer me some money but let me keep the issues so I can sell them to someone else.”

Shears is a U.S. Army veteran who served with an army task force in Honduras in 1988, he says. He has never received benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, he says. He studied photography at Central Texas College and earned a massage therapy license in Killeen, Texas, he says. His fall into homelessness began in New Jersey, he says.

“I was living in New Jersey and was contracted to work for People Express Airlines, and I had a one-night stand and got a woman pregnant,” Shears says.

He then moved to Cincinnati, where he was robbed of $500 meant to pay for child

Mark “Hustleman” Shears is a ‘Streetvibes’ vendor and Army veteran. Photo by Andrew Anderson.

support, he says. He served six months for non-payment of child support and has faced

homelessness on and off ever since, he says.

STREETVIBES July 15 - August 2, 2009

Q&A

Making More Than Pizza

(continued from page 1)

7

Venice on Vine is open Monday-Friday 10:30am - 8pm for Carry Out or to Eat In Need to grab ‘n go? Order ahead by calling (513) 221-7020. second job, we're a place you Another part of daily activi- kids?’ you have to say, ‘No, I come because you want to ties: After you've worked here have to go to work.’ If the paget in the workforce full-time six to nine months, we expect role officer wants to meet with e v e n t u a l l y. you during You do have work hours, We want people to have some successes to be physiyou have to they can talk about when they leave here. cally capable say, ‘Can we of doing the make it a dif- Rina Saperstein job of a resferent time?’ taurant, too. ” Your emThat means lifting 25 pounds, you to be active in job hunt- ployer's expectation is that working in hot and cold en- ing, to go to job fairs, take part you will prioritize work over vironments … and you have in mock interviews. We're one all, but everybody else exto be willing to do every job place where we don't mind if pects you to prioritize them. in the restaurant. You have to you look for a job while you're Learning how to survive in a make pizza, clean the bath- on the job! work environment is learning rooms, be on the cash register.

What are some of the barri- to juggle that sense of prioriYou also have to participate ers your employees have faced ties. I say, “You don't have to in your educational develop- in looking for work? love your job, but you have to ment. All of our employees Many of the people here act like it.” work with tutors and all in have had issues of addiction We want people to have different ways. One person and are in recovery. Many some successes they can talk might be working on computer people – not all – have been about when they leave here. skills, another person might be incarcerated. For some, that's We don't want people to have studying for her GED, another minor. For others, it can be a to tell potential employers, might be saying, "How am I major barrier to employment. “Well, I had a job for a month going to start my small busi- Several people can no longer and then I left that, and then I ness?" Another person may be work in health care, for exam- went to another job and then I learning to read. In whatever ple, because of a conviction, left that one too.” The people form it takes, educational de- and so they are completely who work here can say, “I'm velopment is a requirement of changing the field in which working right now, and last the job; it's not an option. they'll work. Other people week, this happened on the You also have to show up here never grew up in an envi- job and this is how I solved for work every day; we're ronment where work was val- it.” We want people to have pretty strict about that. ued and so they never learned accomplishments and then What are the work days the skills necessary. Think to be able to talk about them like? back. How did you get your with pride. There's a big barPeople work 20 hours a first summer job? Usually rier, though, and that is there week – a four-hour shift five it's from someone you know. are very few entry-level jobs days a week, so there's plenty There can be a big barrier if in the inner city. People have of time to do whatever else people don't have connections transportation issues when you need to do in your life. to the work force. ... Even if there are jobs out in the subEvery person has an assign- the skills required in the job urbs on schedules that don't ment, which rotates every do not require a high school work with the bus lines. three weeks. If you're starting education, the employer will Also, we're creating classes new in that job, you shadow still say you need to have a of people who are unemploysomeone else. After you've high school education. able, especially considering done it for a while, somebody A lot of people lack knowl- the number of people with a then shadows you. You're re- edge of employers' expecta- conviction record. That's a sesponsible for your tasks. You tions. I tell people starting rious policy issue. I'd say local learn by direct supervision, here, “Be aware that when your employers have to step up. If shadowing and teaching. sister says, ‘Can I drop off the you walk into a place and you

Venice on Vine is located at the corner of Vine and 13th streets in Over-the-Rhine.

Rina Saperstein, executive director of Power Inspires Progress. Photos by Andrew Anderson.

see a help wanted sign, say, “I know a program that could provide you with employees that have proven they have a work ethic. They can take control in a tough environment.”

That would be my plea.

You have to find your own value in work because it's not going to come externally; it's not always going to be bread and roses. I've seen a lot of people have a sense of pride and accomplishment. It's a really big deal when they hit their one-month or threemonth anniversary.

They understand the value of that.

What has surprised you at Venice on Vine?

I'm surprised by how many people here are victims of violence and how that shapes their lives. I just think about the level of grief they must carry. Someone may have a son who's paralyzed, or her children's father was murdered, or his grandchild was shot. It's constant. It's like, “How can I expect people to come to work and concentrate on the pizza?”

Every time you see a report of a shooting in the paper, somebody here knows them or it's somebody's family member. It's so easy to draw the lines between “us” and “them,” to think, “We're the law-abiding, good people.”

But all those people are somebody's nephew, somebody's son, or somebody's gonna end up here later when they figure out they don't want to be part of that world anymore.

We have people who do a wonderful job. It's not easy

when 14 people walk in wanting to eat within 15 minutes.

And there's constant turnover here; everybody's always training, nobody's ever fully trained. (Our employees) show up for work every day for very little pay. That's incredible dedication. I have really enjoyed getting to know a lot of the people here.

We do form a community.

I'm happy when people have moved on and are doing well and that does happen.

What are your goals for Venice on Vine and Power Inspires Progress?

I want people to come here (because) they want a good slice of pizza. It helps if they are a little tolerant, if they know we're not fast food. But we still have to put out the food. We can't run the program unless we can satisfy the customers.

We make half of our money from sales. That was a really important goal, and I'm really proud we did. Our donations are huge to us and our big fundraiser in September is a quarter of our budget. (At nonprofits) we're always telling people, "You've got to work for your money, you can't depend on handouts," and so we do the same. But we can't survive on just what we can earn.

(Our employees) are still going to need food stamps, and we're in the same boat as the people here.

It used to be the trend in non-profits to talk about selfsufficiency, but the reality is interdependency - it's resourcefulness.

8

Recipe

STREETVIBES July 15 - August 2, 2009

Sexy, Yummy, Veggie Your tour guide into the steamy side of vegetarian cuisine

Lazy Vegetable Spring Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce For the dipping sauce: ½ cup natural peanut butter (chunky or smooth) 1 tbsp minced garlic ¼ cup tamari or soy sauce ¼ cup water (more if needed) 1 tbsp rice vinegar 1 tsp Asian chili paste 1 tsp sugar 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves

By Alecia A. Lott Contributing Writer The fact that I’m a vegan doesn’t mean I love salads.

In fact, I have to force myself to eat them just like everyone else.

At many casual restaurants, they’re simply a glorified steak or chicken sandwich sans bread. Once all the animal flesh and secretions are omitted, all I am often left with is wilted lettuce and maybe a few pale, measly wedges of tomato and scraps of carrot.

Olive oil and vinegar – yawn – might be the only dairy-free dressing option. How depressing.

When I make salads at home, I enjoy them because I can throw in my favorite stuff: beans, bell peppers, artichoke hearts, nuts, dried fruit, olives.

That said, salads are labor-intensive and dull, with all the prep work, the green leafy healthfulness.

Many of my favorite foods – French fries, sushi, chips ’n’ guacamole, samosas – have many fun things in common that salads lack: They are finger foods that don’t require utensils. (I use chop-

1. In a small bowl or food processor, combine everything except the cilantro until well blended. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Add more water if sauce is too thick.

2. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Stir in the cilantro just before serving. This sauce will keep for up to 5 days.

Photo by Andrew Anderson.

sticks to eat sushi because they’re fun, but sushi is traditionally a finger food.) There is a dipping sauce involved, which makes everything in life better. With the exception of the fries, they are a touch exotic, whereas big ol’ leafy salads are a very American thing.

Today’s recipe, colorful Vietnamese-style spring rolls, combines the nutritious, crunchy virtuosity of a salad with the dip ’n’ dunk, otherworldly appeal of my favorite fare. The ingredients and measurements are simply a guide-

! ? t a h W y a

line. You can fill them with whatever you like; and if you are lazy like me, you can just use pre-sliced veggies.

The toughest part is dealing with the spring roll wrappers, which are made of delicate rice paper and can be found in the Asian section of most supermarkets. You might have to practice a few times but soon you’ll be a pro. If you don’t want to make the dipping sauce, just buy the yummy Thai Kitchen Peanut Satay Sauce, as I do. I told you I’m lazy!

For the spring rolls: 8 spring roll wrappers 1 cup shredded red cabbage ¾ cup shredded carrots 1 cup broccoli slaw 1 small red bell pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips ½ cup fresh bean sprouts ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro 1. Dip a wrapper in a shallow bowl of warm water to soften. Carefully place it on a clean towel briefly to blot, then place it on a cutting board or flat work surface.

2. Place a small amount of each ingredient on the bottom third of the wrapper (the edge closest to you). Pull the bottom edge over the filling and tightly fold in the sides. Dab the top edge with water and tightly roll up.

(You can cut the roll in half if you wish, but that will make it messier to eat.)

3. Place the roll seam-side down on a serving platter. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling ingredients.

4. Serve with small bowls of dipping sauce.

Berta’s Art Corner

S

When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.

– Dom Helder Camara

________ Become a fan of Streetvibes on Facebook!

“Vertical Wrap” Government Square, Downtown Cincinnati

STREETVIBES July 15 - August 2, 2009

Art Review

Art for the Mind and Spirit

9

(continued from page 3)

and social responsibility.” Sally Lawson-Bailey leads chanting and meditation.

“Immigrants and Immigrant Right Issues: a Local Perspective” is a panel discussion facilitated by Dan La Botz, historian, followed by a potluck meal, music and the documentary film, The Cats of Mirikitani, “an intimate exploration of the lingering wounds of war and the healing power of community and art.”

Live music and poetry readings are interspersed throughout the schedule, with poets scheduled to read the night we visit. They are all published in For A Better World: Poems and Drawings on Peace and Justice by Greater Cincinnati Artists. After the visual stimulation it’s hard to just listen. My eyes wander over tattoos, clothing, hair and looking for what people do while they listen.

One woman knits.

Unable to follow the words I hear with my eyes open, I follow along with the poems in the book Ghosn autographed before handing it to me.

“I want to see the tables turned, George Bush stopped at the border Incoming, stripped of his cowboy boots and jeans, His counterfeit dignity…..

Five hundred detentions per day, in this land where we are free to ignore the truth, the home of the brave and patriotic bumper sticker. (excerpted from Mohammed’s Return by Karen Arnett) My fingers flip pages, not as satisfied as they would be trailing over bumpy paint, but content to wander. The black/white/gray drawings paired with each group of poems feel stark. But maybe that’s the point.

So many fight to protect their right To gluttony, ease, ignorance and spite The right to be crude The right to eat any food They desire. It sits and expires While others subsist on handouts And sound-outs, and closeouts “Get your nose out”s and “Mind your business”s Are fired like arrows at those who care Enough to say, “Wait, stop there

‘Waiting for the Wolf’ by Kymber Henson. Photo by Bill Howes.

And just think.” (excerpted from Lines by Celeste Brott) This is the monk’s favorite so far, the poet’s thoughts clearly communicated on paper and in voice.

The bios of all contributors reveal contributors from ages 9 to 85. At the beginning of the reading, the moderator thanks Ghosn for giving local poets an opportunity to publish and be heard each year. Not one to read poetry, I’m not aware of the lack of a market or audience, but given how infrequently poetry gets the spotlight and the low value place on cultural pursuits, it makes sense.

I’m glad to be present, to witness the creativity.

Poet (and Streetvibes columnist) Michael Henson takes the stage and demands attention with a seemingly spontaneous presentation of an engaging piece. He doesn’t sound rehearsed or hesitant – he’s excited and pulling us along with a happy and energetic cadence. What follows is A Poem for Esme and the reason for the gathering is driven home with somber silence between spoken lines. Two women close to me cry and hold hands – friends of the family of Esme Kenny?

Peace and justice are complicated concepts to understand but their lack seems obvious as the death of a young girl. Inspiring action to address the lack is important and essential.

‘Present Moment’ by Lisa Vaughn. Photo by Saad Ghosn.

Throwing around words Only shows we’re lazy Letter will fall on deaf ears And empty heads.

If words could change the world, Mouths would be gods And language would be magic.

But we’re thrown words around Long enough.

The world doesn’t need more words, The world needs action.

And we need the world.

– All Talk by Christopher Patterson

SOS Art was May 29–June 7 at the Art Academy of Cincinnati in Over-the-Rhine. Smaller exhibitions will run throughout the year at various locations.

To receive updates about where and when these shows will take place, e-mail Saad Ghosn at ghosns@ucmail.uc.edu

Column 10 For Want of Three Items Why not just help any addict who asks for it?

Twenty dollars.

A photo ID. A piece of mail with your name and address on it.

These three items are what you will need if you want to go into detox at a center I won’t name because good people work there trying to do their best with the circumstances they are given.

If you lack any one of them, you will be turned away.

If your photo ID is not from the state of Ohio, you will be turned away.

And the piece of mail needs to be a bill or some other official piece of mail – not just a letter from your aunt – or you’ll be turned away.

A homeless certificate, completed by one of the entities legally authorized to issue a homeless certificate, will stand in for the ID and the piece of mail. But not the $20.

When I took My Friend (I won’t name him either) over to the detox center, he had none of them. I thought everything had been set up with emergency-room social services. We had a 9 o’clock appointment and I picked him up at the hospital in plenty of time.

But when we got there, the receptionist asked, first thing, “Do you have a photo ID, $20 and a piece of mail?”

I had the $20. I was ready for that. My Friend got out his

photo ID, but it was a Kentucky ID, so it didn’t count.

“I don’t live there no more,” he told her, but it didn’t matter.

So did he have a piece of mail? It took a moment for My Friend to register the question. He looked befuddled (he was, after all, befuddled). He searched through his wallet and came up with nothing.

“Do you remember I told you, ‘Bring a photo ID, $20 and a piece of mail’? ” My Friend did not. He had been drunk or on Valium for the past 48 hours, so he was lucky to remember anything at all.

So there we were. It had taken hours of work by a num-

20 minutes.

Twenty minutes was too long to wait. My Friend was sent away.

He got in later that day.

They released him three days later and he went right back to the bottle. I don’t know if they offered him a treatment referral and he refused or if there were no post-detox treatment available.

*****

Twenty dollars.

A photo ID. A piece of mail with your name and address on it.

Try to remember, if you ever end up homeless and addicted, to hold onto these three items. When you’re beat down and crazy and addled and you don’t

By Michael Henson know whether to live or die, but you’re willing to ber of people to get My Friend give it just one more shot, just to this point, but we were be sure you can prove who stumped for lack of an ID and you are.

It would be a shame to a piece of mail.

We tried to explain that ever treat the wrong person.

My Friend was homeless. So It would be a shame to dewhere was his homeless cer- tox someone under false pretences. It would be a shame to tificate?

Time was running out here. save the wrong life.

My Friend was about to lose ***** his spot to the next person on the list. We figured out that My Why is addiction differFriend had a homeless certificate on file and that we could ent from any other disease? get someone to fax it over in When My Friend fell down

ammered H

STREETVIBES July 15 - August 2, 2009 Michael Henson is author of Ransack, A Small Room with Trouble on My Mind, The Tao of Longing and Crow Call. This column is part of a monthly series on poverty and addiction.

and broke his arm a few days later and it got infected, he showed up at the emergency room door, broke as ever, with the same Kentucky ID and no mail in hand. No one at the ER bothered about his out-of-state ID or his lack of mail or $20.

They treated him. And I know it wasn’t cheap. It involved at least three days in a hospital bed and plenty of antibiotics and a whole team of doctors and nurses.

What we say is that addiction is a disease like other diseases. What we do is to treat it like a moral failing. Why do we set up barriers to treatment? Why do we set up standards for the addict we do not have in place for anyone else?

***** What if it were simple?

What if you could just show up, shaking, miserable, bowels trembling, vitals spiking, hope nearly gone, numb in mind, barely able to think, much less think straight, without ID or mail or barely a dollar to your name (that you can’t prove is yours)? What if you walk up to a facility where they said to you, “We don’t care who you are or where you come from.

We can see you’re sick and we’re happy to help.”

But they don’t.

Maybe they say that to clients with hefty wallets and

good insurance, the people who still get mail from Netflix or the phone company, who have their $20 handy. But they don’t say that to the people I take to detox, who tend to have a lot of burnt bridges but not a lot of money or official mail.

But let’s imagine they could welcome anyone who showed up. Would that be a bad thing?

What if we had the funding to cover beds for every addict who shows up in need? And what if we would follow up detox with treatment at whatever level is appropriate? And what if there were supportive case-management services available to help the addicts get their IDs and addresses together? Would there be a downside?

If there is, I don’t see it.

But why do I even ask? Is there a single governmental entity at the federal, state, county or local level ready to put the money behind a real effort to prevent, intervene or treat chemical dependency or provide support for the struggling addict?

We can have an extended debate on whether to buy another boat for the Hamilton County Coast Guard. But we don’t talk at all about how to rescue My Friend.

Health Food in Times of Peril A celebration of books and characters

By Jaisha J. Garnett Contributing Writer The potato peel pie sadly only exists in the pages of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows but it's probable that the ingredients would have been something like this: 2 pounds of potatoes 2 cups raw, grated potato peelings 1 cup of water 4 medium sized beets, strained and chopped The main ingredients of an epistolary novel set in 1946 that celebrates the power of books to inspire and strengthen readers in times of darkness are equally simple: 1 island under German occupation

1 roasted pig 7 founding dinner guests An armful of books Infinite letters of correspondence 1 amiable protagonist named Juliet Ashton Juliet Ashton is a young writer, a lover of all things literary, in her early thirties.

As the novel opens, she is on tour promoting her book, Izzy Bickerstaff Goes to War, a collection of newspaper columns published in the newspaper the Spectator during World War II. Though the book is a success, Juliet admits to her editor that she is disgruntled at the thought of having to write another book as Izzy Bickerstaff – she doesn't want to be seen as a "light-hearted journalist anymore."

Still discontent with her career, short on ideas and dispirited by the deprivation left behind by the war, she receives inspiration from a letter by a stranger on the British island of Guernsey. Dawsey

Adams is inquiring about the other works of Charles Lamb, briefly speaking of living on Guernsey during the German occupation and the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Juliet's curiosity is inevitable, and so a correspondence with Dawsey begins: "Why did a roast pig dinner have to be kept a secret? How could a pig cause you to begin a literary society? What is a potato peel pie – and why is it included in your society's name?"

Here's how the literary society came to be: A pig kept in secret from the German soldiers spurs a spontaneous dinner party. The guests lose track of time and find themselves sneaking back to their homes one hour past curfew. Unfortunately, the German patrol officers are alerted and begin questioning the guests. Under the pressure of the moment, Elizabeth McKenna confesses that the group had just been at a meeting of the Guernsey Lit-

erary Society and that the discussion of Elizabeth and Her German Garden had been so absorbing that everyone lost track of time. What started as a lie to save themselves grew into a strong society of friends united by their love for reading. Readers learn that the society is still quite active, meeting every fortnight, and the quirky potato peel pie is still served, though the Germans have since left their island.

Such an extraordinary tale couldn't help but spark Juliet's frequent communication with the rest of the Guernsey residents. Long-distance friendships begin to form and soon Juliet decides to visit the island. But the visit turns into an extended stay, and research for an article in the Times spans into something greater when Juliet decides that her next book will be based on the residents of Guernsey and their life during the German occupation.

Over 20 different voices

are portrayed in this novel, yet it never feels disjointed.

Each letter is another piece of the story. It takes a while, however, to get used to the ever changing point of views, matching the characters with their back-stories.

The novel stands as an entire story and does not feel fragmented. The overarching love for all things literary and the darker undertone of war connect to bring a story that speaks of life and strength. The story possesses ounces of English character, and both sweet and sour love stories wind quietly beneath the heavier story lines, conjuring up scenarios that could fit flawlessly into the pages of any Jane Austen novel.

Lighthearted without being cliché, humorous, warm and poignant to its very core, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society charms with every page.

STREETVIBES July 15 - August 2, 2009

Editorial

The Drop is Dead, Long Live the Drop

11

Lies, damned lies and TV news

By Georgine Getty Contributing Writer

was. I hear it from homeless people and social service providers. I hear it from people who love the Drop Inn Center and people who hate it. I heard it from my hairdresser, my massage therapist, the lady bagging my groceries and the baristas at any coffee shop in town.

My general rule is to wait

sent to the Homeless Coalition listserv, Clifford stated: “Please be aware that this “The Drop Inn Center is story is not accurate. We have closing,” it’s said with certainreceived no communications ty, urgency – the kind of voice from anyone at City Hall rethat someone uses to tell you a garding forced relocation or celebrity is dead. threatening our funding. In “Oh yeah?” I say. Inside, I fact, we have been actively roll my eyes. involved in a city-initiated “Absolutely.” process called “Homeless to They’ve Homes,” which heard it is attempting to The new School for Creative and from: provide holistic, Performing Arts (SCPA) knew exactly A. So and so collaborative sowho their neighbor was when they took who works at lutions for homethe Drop Inn less individuals on their beautiful new building and the Center in Cincinnati. school has made no statements about B. A blog The process was concerns with the Drop Inn Center.

C. A politiinitiated by Roxcian anne Qualls, and D. A local the initial report celebrity at a cocktail party. until I hear it three times from was approved by City CounAnd the punch line? people I trust and then call Pat cil.”

“There’s no way that they Clifford, executive director of And yet, there that story are going to let the Drop the Drop Inn Center, and ask sits in cyberspace. When you Inn Center stay next to that him if it’s true this time. He google the Drop Inn Center, school.” always patiently explains that after its home page, WLWT’s Set aside the fact that the it is not, unraveling where the article is the first to pop up. new School for Creative and rumor might have started. He’s Not a retraction to the article.

Performing Arts (SCPA) been hearing from me more Not a mea culpa. The article. knew exactly who their neigh- and more frequently over the Maybe WLWT could no bor was when they took on past few years. their beautiful new building But this last time, I didn’t and that the school has made even wait three times. no statements about concerns “The Drop Inn Center is with the Drop Inn Center. Set closing.” aside the fact that SCPA stu“Oh yeah?” I said. dents volunteer regularly at “Yeah. I saw it on the news, the Drop Inn Center – not just on the feed at the bottom. It next door, but actually in the said the city bought them a building. Set aside the fact new location and will hold that the Drop Inn Center lived their money until they move.” next door to Washington Park Good golly, “they” have reElementary School for around ally stepped up their game.

30 years with no problem. Set On June 24, WLWT (Chanaside the fact that people ex- nel 5) reported, “The city's periencing homelessness are largest homeless shelter not drooling pedophiles wait- could lose its funding unless ing for the opportunity to prey it moves.” The on-line report upon school children. that followed its run on teleSet that all aside. vision states that the Drop Inn Who are “they?” And how Center is located across the did “they” come to have street from SCPA and that city enough power to take out an officials are buying them a autonomous, fiscally responsi- new building due to concerns ble non-profit agency? I hope about the students. The Drop “they” never come after me.

Inn Center doesn’t want to “You know. Developers.” move, the article concludes, Oh, I know developers. but the city will cut its fundI’ve been hearing about the ing if it doesn’t.

Drop Inn Center’s imminent A call to Pat Clifford. He demise since before I even had no idea where the story knew what a Drop Inn Center came from. In a later email

Are you interested in helping with Streetvibes?

Are you a writer, poet, artist or photographer?

If so, contact Greg Flannery 513.421.7803 x 12 or email streetvibes2@yahoo.com

The Drop Inn Center is at the corner of 12th and Elm streets.

Photo courtesy of Drop Inn Center.

longer resist the appeal of the rumor. Maybe they had reached a critical mass of hearing it so many times from so many people that they just couldn’t help themselves.

But there’s an old saying that goes, “What you don't see with your eyes, don't witness with your mouth.” That’s the kind of thing you usually say to your kid. It’s not the kind of thing you should have to say to a major local news source.

Each night the Drop Inn Center opens its doors to around 250 people who are having the worst night of their life. They take those folks and move them from hopelessness, addiction and despair and into housing, employment and hope. Don’t they have enough to worry about without having to make a formal statement every day assuring us all that they are still alive?

Issues 12 Social Workers, Liberate Thyselves

STREETVIBES July 15 - August 2, 2009

The cost of political apathy

By Suhith Wickrema Contributing Writer

Yet when the Hamilton County Department of Jobs and Family Services – the department that issue food stamps, provide day care vouchers, protects abused Imagine what a Cincinnati City Council meet- and neglected children, protects elderly people, ening would like if city council were in the process of forces child-support orders, provide cash assistance laying off 47 percent of the police department. The to the very poor, helps people to join the workforce council chambers would be packed to capacity with – is about to lose 47 percent of its employees, there uniformed officers, their family is only a murmur of protest. members, neighborhood vigilante Why is that? groups and ordinary citizens.

Those of us who work at the DeFunding is Imagine what the school board partment of Jobs and Family Servicalways about meeting would look like if Cincines see ourselves as social workers, political power nati Public Schools were in the proadvocates for the poor and injured and influence. We cess of laying off 47 percent of its and as a part of the helping professocial workers employees. The school board meetsion. On a daily basis, we motivate seem reluctant ing would be packed with teachers, our customers and other professiontheir spouses, students, parents and als to do tasks that they might not to develop this ordinary citizens. want to do. We facilitate meetings political power and Do you remember the Hamilwith people who might have opposinfluence. ton County Commission meetings ing viewpoints to a given problem when the commissioners propose and develop a consensus solution. to reduce the sheriff department’s Given these skills, one would budget? The hearing room was filled with sheriff’s think we would be able launch a successful camdeputies, their spouses, their kids, their parents and paign against these decimating cuts. However, we community members. have been unable or unwilling to organize and presDo you remember what the city budget hearings sure the politicians to stop the hemorrhaging at our looked like two years ago, when council members work place. People in the helping profession seem proposed to close down a number of city health cen- inherently incapable of organizing into a political ters? The hearing rooms were full of health depart- force. ment employees, health care advocates, consumers, Funding is always about political power and influand ordinary citizens, all waving socks: “SOC – Save ence. We social workers seem reluctant to develop Our Clinics.” The clinics were not closed. this political power and influence. This malady perWhen the city manager suggested selling the Cin- meates the entire human service/social work profescinnati Water Works, threatening the quality of our sion. The reluctance of social workers and helping water and union jobs, workers, union leaders, civil professionals to demand a valued place in this socirights organizations, consumer advocates and or- ety has baffled me. dinary citizens initiated a petition drive to stop the Over the years I have come up with many differsale. ent explanations for why members of the helping

Across 1. Singers 4. Public affairs channel 7. Majestic 10. In a menacing manner 11. Ethnic defense body 12. Conforms to 16. Article 17. Duplicate 20. Take flight 21. Annulus 22. Bring ashore 23. Snakelike fish 24. Not so much 27. Passed with flying colors 29. Gibbet 30. Confederate general 32. Show failing mental faculties 33. Fencing position 35. Obnoxious 36. Former South American civilization 37. Foul 38. Support for injury Down 2. Persia 3. Turn 4. Star sign

Crossword

profession are unwilling or unable to organize and demand respect.

Explanation one: Women dominate the helping profession. Misogyny still prevails in our culture.

The de-valuing of a profession dominated by women is just a reflection of this misogynistic culture.

I do not find this theory convincing. Women dominate the teaching and the nursing professions. Teachers’ unions have become a force to reckon with. The power of the California Nurses Association has become legendary. Teachers and nurses have gained by this organized action – the median income of a teacher with over 20 years experience is $58,000.

The median income of a registered nurse with over 20 years experience is $63,000. The median income of a social worker with 20 years experience is $41,000. So, the misogyny of our culture does not appear to be a determining factor in the economic subjugation of the helping profession.

Explanation two: Social workers are overworked and underpaid, thus not having any surplus time or energy to organize. This is circular reasoning. If social workers were well organized, they would not be underpaid and overworked, but we cannot organize because we are overworked and underpaid.

At one time, teachers and nurses were also overworked and underpaid. Somehow, members of these two professions found time to organize into strong unions, giving them political power and influence.

This translated into better pay.

Explanation three: The tolerance of low wages by social workers has been explained by saying that social workers see their work as a “calling,” thus willing to work for low wages. A recent Government Accountability Office report estimated that the turnover rate among child-welfare workers is between 30 and 40 percent. It See Social Workers, p. 13

Sudoku

Fill in the blank squares so that each row, each column and each 3-by-3 block contain all of the digits 1 through 9.

5. Inadvertent mistake 6. Not supple 8. Expression of agreement 9. False 13. Worse 14. Flirt 15. Detect 17. Stride 18. I will comply

19. Small picture in a larger one 24. Lieutenant Colonel (2,3) 25. Tastelessly showy 26. Blackballs 28. Submit 31. Go out 33. Fraud 34. Enclosure

The fundamental goal of a Sudoku puzzle is to use the provided numbers, or givens, to discover which numbers logically fill in the empty squares. The only rule of Sudoku is that each of the nine rows, each of the nine columns, and each of the nine 3x3 subsections must contain all of the numbers from one to nine, and each number consequently can occur in each row, column and subsection only once.

Solutions on Page 15

13 Social Workers, Liberate Thyselves STREETVIBES July 15 - August 2, 2009

Community News

(continued from page 12) is hard to believe that this many people would leave their “calling” on a regular basis.

I do not find any of the above arguments convincing. I am not sure if there is a simple answer to explain the apathy of social workers. However, I would like to offer the following reasons as significant contributing factors.

Factor one: We social workers have started to emulate some of the characteristics of the people we serve – blaming At one time, others and social conditions without taking responsibilteachers and ity for one’s situation are a nurses were common characteristic of the also overworked troubled people social workand underpaid. ers encounter. In social work Somehow, jargon this is known as the members of these “victim stance.”

We social workers blame two professions the county commissioners, found time to the legislature, the governor, organize into the union and the society for strong unions, not valuing social work and giving them social workers. We blame everyone else for our condition, political power without doing anything to corand influence. rect it – the “victim stance.”

This translated Factor two: We, social into better pay. workers have become victims of our own rhetoric: "You cannot change others or the world, you can only change yourself." This is a mantra said by many social workers to their clients. It is this kind of selfcentered, individualistic thinking that has made us sit at our desks and passively watch while our co-workers’ livelihood is stripped away from them.

Social workers function as agents of social control to maintain the status quo. We use concepts such as “victim stance” and “you can only change yourself” to keep the poor in check when the poor question social inequality. We, appear to have internalized these concepts of oppression.

If you are interested in organizing social workers, counselors and human-services workers into a political force, contact Suhith Wickrema at 513-281-4441 or Suhith@iac.net.

Cincinnati’s City Hall. Every other year when City Council decides on the bi-annual budget, health clinics, city pools and human-services funding are the first to be cut out to balance the budget.

None Dare Call Him Lawrence lished cover stories and news stories – work he takes seriously. But no one, including Gross himself, takes seriously his blogs, whose content over the years has sometimes been pornographic, often absurd and usually grumpy. Fellow bloggers and letters to CityBeat have chided him for being too critical of Cincinnati.

His grievances includes the failure rate of downtown restaurants, unfriendly strangers, bedbugs, newspaper racks left to deteriorate after a paper has gone out of business, holiday signs left up too long, directional signs pointing to a skywalk that no longer exists and the predominance of iceberg lettuce in salads at so many meals.

The complaints are his favorite response from readers, Gross says.

“I love getting hate mail,” he says. “I don’t know what that says about me but I love to ruffle feathers.”

It says a lot about him, in fact. Gross doesn’t spare his own privacy – or, for that matter, other people’s – in his essays. He doesn’t hesitate to risk alienating girlfriends or being banned from bars because of what he writes.

“People say, ‘You write so personally. You write about your brother, you write about break-ups.’ I fig-

(continued from page 5)

ure either a person is going to like me for that or not like me for that,” he says. “At least they’re going to know me.”

Asked if he views writing as therapy, Gross observes that many successful writers have drunk heavily and suffered depression.

“I think writers are a little nuts,” he says. “I think it makes them more creative.”

Does that include the person interviewing him?

“Yes.” Gross left a long career as an accountant to take up writing full-time. Writing was always what he wanted to do, but family members discouraged the risk, he says.

“I’ve been talked out of it all my life. Finally I get to do what I want to do,” he says. “I want to die slumped over my writing desk. For me, that would be the perfect way to go.”

Gross is finishing a novel and wants to write a collection of short fiction after that. The great bulk of the essays in Living Out Loud are true accounts of people he has seen, he says.

“You just can’t make this stuff up,” he says. “This is stuff that just happened.”

The prostitute at the Laundromat. The amateur

preachers on the bus.

“People have told me that weird people are attracted to me,” Gross says. “I’m always attracted to people who are a little off-center.”

His stories are often like that. “The Birthday Gift” is about a man who leaves his 16-year-old son at home with friends to do what they want. He won’t watch and he won’t interfere. The father goes to a bar and takes up with a woman he thought he’d earlier had an affair with.

Asked to criticize his own work, Gross says, “I think I’m kind of the Jack Webb of writing – a little too clipped at times, not descriptive enough.

Sometimes I think it’s just the facts. I sort of rush it.

There’s not a lot of extra. It’s just to the point.”

Like his upbringing: a farm boy in East Enterprise, Ind. Like his name: He’s no Lawrence.

“You can look at my driver’s license,” he says.

“It’s Larry. That’s what’s on my birth certificate.”

Ordinariness might not qualify as a virtue. But it can hold fascinating stories.

Living Out Loud is available at amazon.com and can be ordered at any bookstore.

14

STREETVIBES July 15 - August 2, 2009

Vendor Voice

Time

By Mack L. Russell Sr. Streetvibes Vendor

The essence of time is so mysterious.

The wonders, the experience, and it’s endless.

Is time truly appreciated or is time depressed?

Is time the beginning or the end?

Do we humans understand time or is time a thing man counts upon a clock?

Does time begin when one is born or when one dies? After all, who determines the mystics of it all?

At times, time will keep you impatient, wondering from hour to hour. Then there are times when time comes roaring at you like a cheetah en route to clutch its prey.

No one knows exactly what to do with time.

In times of misfortune, time never seems to be right.

But in times of good fortune, time is always right on time.

We humans curse time, and we also give times its praises because we know not what time truly is.

Whether we know it or not, time is truly a god because in time there is the beginning and the end.

Like when one is born, we rejoice upon their arrival, and when one lies on that dreaded state of death, we have sorrow, for that person’s clock loses its tick, and that is something no battery can reset.

What is time? Not even a prisoner knows, Although one may experience a lot or a lapse in time.

Time waits for no one.

We go through life never expecting time of our own end but some of us expect one day in time it will surely come.

And know that brings about thought and questions.

But who am I or you to question time, and what difference will it make?

Time, mine, yours or the world’s, it matters not, Because time is not to be claimed.

One must use the time given on this earth as best as one can, and when the end comes, accept thy fate for what is known in and of this world we leave behind, time and all.

Be All You Can Be: A Peaceful Planet Person

By Berta Lambert Streetvibes Vendor The army recruits for death and mayhem.

It hides its interest in sloganeering. Appeals are made to youth’s desire for self-improvement. Wouldn’t it be grand to be all you can be?

Years before this slogan is broadcast, folk artist Mary Ann Lederer paints a picture. It is hung in Mac McCrackin’s Presbyterian church in the West End. Basic elements are head portraits of three or four or so and a super-imposed phrase, “Be a Peaceful Planet person.”

Not incidentally, Gordon Maham is fond of responding to inquiries from guards, police and military folk alike: ‘I represent the peaceful planet people.”

In good time the author, I, Berta Lambert, suggest a combination of the slogan and phrase: “Be all that you can be. Be a peaceful planet person.”

A banner has been made for me and my allies, but bumper stickers and buttons and such are yet to appear.

Cleo’s Joke Corner

Why did the army draft all the babies?

Because they wanted to build up their infantry.

What’s Happenin’ July/August Events Benefits:

IHN Golf Outing. Flagg Springs Golf Course. $75 for individual, $300 for team of four. Benefits Interfaith Hospitality Network. July 24. 9:30am. Contact Betsy Wones to play, 4711100.

Jazz in July ‘09. The Phoenix. $25. Benefits CILO. July 24.

5:30-8:30pm. RSVP: 513-241-2600.

20th Annual Bocce Tournament. Sharon Woods Fern Hollow.

Bring desert to share. Benefits Our Daily Bread. July 26. 11am5pm.

Northside Community Yard Sale. Benefits Churches Active In Northside. August 8. 9am-2pm. http://northside.net/sale for more info.

Activities:

JUST Community Youth Leadership Institute. July 19 25. Visit http://bridgescincinnati.org/programs/iyli.html. $50 (includes lodging, meals, transportation and t-shirt).

Compassionate Communication of Greater Cincinnati.

Integrating Nonviolent Communication into Every Day Life.

July 17 at 9am or July 18 at5pm. at New Thought Unity Center.

513-300-6832 or susan@stiglercreative.com.

Kids’ Meditation/Yoga Camp. July 18, 2-5pm. Ages 7-14.

Gaden Khachoe-Shing Monastery (3046 Pavlova Drive, Colerain Twp.) Register at gsl@ganden.org or 513-385-7116.

Parents welcome.

Health Care Reform Informational Forum. August 3, 7pm, First Unitarian Church in Avondale, Hosted by Women’s City Club. US Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Cincinnati) will speak.

STREETVIBES July 15 - August 2, 2009

15

Resources

Need Help or Want to Help?

Shelter: Women and Children

Our Daily Bread

621-6364

Health Center for Respite Care

621-1868

Crossroad Health Center

381-2247

Health Resource Center Homeless Mobile Health Van McMicken Dental Clinic

357-4602 352-2902 352-6363

Mental Health Access Point Mercy Franciscan at St. John

558-8888 981-5800 458-6670 977-4489

1730 Race Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Central Access Point Cincinnati Union Bethel

381-SAFE 768-6907

St. Francis Soup Kitchen Churches Active in Northside

535-2719 591-2246

Bethany House

557-2873

FreeStore/FoodBank

241-1064

300 Lytle Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 1841 Fairmount Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45214

4230 Hamilton Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45223 112 E. Liberty Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Grace Place Catholic Worker House 681-2365

Madisonville Ed & Assistance Center 271-5501

Salvation Army

762-5660

St. Vincent de Paul

YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter

872-9259

6037 Cary Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45224

131 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Shelter: Men City Gospel Mission

1419 Elm Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

241-5525

Justice Watch 241-0490 St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Work. House 381-4941 1437 Walnut Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Mt. Airy Shelter

661-4620

Shelter: Both

3600 Erie Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45227

1125 Bank Street, Cinti, Ohio 45214

562-8841

Treatment: Men Charlie’s 3/4 House

784-1853

DIC Live In Program Prospect House

721-0643 921-1613

Other Resources

Starting Over

961-2256

2121 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

682 Hawthorne Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45205

Treatment: Women First Step Home 2203 Fulton, Cinti, Ohio 45206

961-4663

Caracole (HIV/AIDS)

761-1480

Treatment: Both

Drop Inn Center

721-0643

351-0422 381-6672

Interfaith Hospitality Network Lighthouse Youth Center (Youth)

471-1100 221-3350

AA Hotline CCAT Joseph House (Veterans)

241-2965

Hamilton County ADAS Board Recovery Health Access Center Sober Living Talbert House

946-4888 281-7422 681-0324 641-4300

217 W. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

3330 Jefferson, Cinti, Ohio 45220

Housing: CMHA Excel Development OTR Community Housing

721-4580 632-7149 381-1171

Tender Mercies

721-8666

Tom Geiger House Dana Transitional Bridge Services Volunteers of America

961-4555 751-0643 381-1954

114 W. 14th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 27 W. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Food/Clothing Lord’s Pantry OTR/Walnut Hills Kitchen & Pantry

830 Ezzard Charles Dr. Cinti, Ohio 45214 1522 Republic Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Advocacy Catholic Social Action Community Action Agency Contact Center

1227 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

OTR: 1620 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Walnut Hills: 2631 Gilbert, Cinti, Ohio 45206

421-3131 569-1840 381-4242

Franciscan JPIC 721-4700 Gr. Cinti Coalition for the Homeless 421-7803 117 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

621-5300 961-1983

40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45202

1800 Logan St. Cinti, Ohio 45202

961-4080

1821 Summit Road, Cinti, Ohio 45237

5 E. Liberty St. Cinti, Ohio 45202

NAMI of Hamilton County PATH Outreach

Anthony House (Youth)

2728 Glendora Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45209

3550 Washington Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45229

Intercommunity Justice & Peace Cr. Legal Aid Society Ohio Justice & Policy Center Faces Without Places Stop AIDS

579-8547 241-9400 421-1108 363-3300 421-2437

Center Independent Living Options Emmanuel Community Center Peaslee Neighborhood Center Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart Goodwill industries Healing Connections Mary Magdalen House People Working Cooperatively The Caring Place United Way Women Helping Women

Hamilton/Middletown

St. Raephaels Salvation Army Serenity House Day Center Open Door Pantry

241-2600 241-2563 621-5514 381-0111 771-4800 751-0600 721-4811 351-7921 631-1114 211 977-5541 863-3184 863-1445 422-8555 868-3276

Northern Kentucky Brighton Center

ECHO/Hosea House Fairhaven Resuce Mission Homeward Bound Youth Mathews House Homeless & Housing Coalition Parish Kitchen Pike St. Clinic Transitions, Inc Welcome House of NKY Women’s Crisis Center VA Domiciliary VA Homeless

859-491-8303 859-261-5857 859-491-1027 859-581-1111 859-261-8009 859-727-0926 859-581-7745 859-291-9321 859-491-4435 859-431-8717 859-491-3335 859-559-5011 859-572-6226

If you like what you read, but don’t live in the Cincinnati area, you can subscribe to Streetvibes. Call us at 513-421-7803 x 12 to learn more about subscribing to Streetvibes.

Puzzle Solutions

16

Double Take

STREETVIBES July 15 - August 2, 2009

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” - John Lennon

Photos by Aimie Willhoite.

Streetvibes staff spent the Fourth of July at the Northside Parade and Festival. Top Left: Josh Spring, executive director selling papers.

Bottom Left: Greg Flannery, editor, talking about Streetvibes. Top Right: Jeni Jenkins, education coordinator sprays colored hairspay for the kids. Bottom Right: Justin Jeffre stopped by the Streetvibes booth to buy a paper and get a free temporary tattoo from Lynne Ausman, administrative coordinator.

The residents of Fay Apartments in East Westwood demanded that their voices be heard.

City council listened to various points of view and ultimately voted 6 to 3 to give developers a loan to renovate the complex and ultimately save the homes of 700 families. Council members in favor of renovation were Roxanne Qualls, Greg Harris, David Crowley, Laketa Cole, Leslie Ghiz, and Cecil Thomas.

Those against were Chris Monzel, Jeff Berding, and Chris Bortz.