Streetvibes October 2008 Edition

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Check out the Streetvibes blog @ streetvibes. wordpress.com

Photos from the damage done by Hurricane Ike’s winds ~ p.8

Interview with Barb Wolf about her stay in jail ~ p.3

STREETVIBES

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O c t o b e r 2 0 0 8 • I s s u e 1 4 7 • C i n c i n n a t i ’s A l t e r n a t i v e N e w s S o u r c e

Lots of Choices for the White House Clear differences, diverse candidates in presidential race By Gregory Flannery Editor It’s still possible to elect a woman president this year, even though Sen. Hillary Clinton didn’t get the Democratic Party’s nomination. Nor do you have to vote Republican if you want a woman to be vice president. Cynthia McKinney & Rosa Clemente of the Green Party of the United States are among the 14 presidential tickets on the Ohio ballot for the 2008 election. McKinney’s platform features publicly funded universal health insurance, immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops and contractors from Iraq and a detailed plan for helping homeless people. The ballot also includes candidates for the Constitution Party, the Libertarian Party of Ohio, the Socialist Party USA, as well as write-in candidates and independents – some well known, such as consumer advocate Ralph Nader and rightwing pundit Alan L. Keyes; and some largely unheard of. None of those candidates Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain make their way down the ramp to ground zero during the 9/11 Commemora- will win the election, of course. tion Ceremony. Photo by REUTERS/Julie Jacobson/Pool. None is expected to have even

Ain’t Gonna Take It

Social services sue over attack by city council By Gregory Flannery Editor Social-service agencies threatened by a city-council resolution calling for their dispersal are fighting back, filing suit Sept. 10 in U.S. District Court against the city of Cincinnati. The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of a resolution establishing a policy that “social-services agencies and programs shall not concentrate in a single area and shall not locate in an area that is deemed impacted, which at this time includes Over-the-

Rhine.” The resolution, sponsored by Councilman Chris Bortz, says the “unchecked proliferation” of these agencies has the potential to negatively impact Over-the Rhine. The policy is constitutionally flawed in multiple respects, according to a suit filed by attorney Timothy Burke: * The complaint alleges violation of the First Amendment – the affected agencies include Streetvibes and the Voice of the Homeless Speakers Bureau, operated by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. “An ordinance aimed to

eliminate the spread of social-service programming in certain neighborhoods is an unlawful, content-based restriction on speech that was made without a compelling government interest,” the complaint says. * The lawsuit says the new policy is vague on essential

See LAWSUIT p.12 Sister Mary Stanton, executive director of Bethany House, shares comments during a press conference on Sept. 10. Photo by Andrew Anderson.

the marginal impact that Nader had in the 2000 race or that business magnet H. Ross Perot had in 1992. But for an electorate used to complaining that their choices for the presidency are too narrow, the 2008 ballot is full of options.

Big diff The next president will almost cerFor information tainly be on other elections Sen. John and ballot McCain of initiatives see Arizona, pages 6 and 7. the Republican nominee; or Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the Democratic candidate. Either choice will be historic. McCain, 72, would be the oldest person ever elected president. Obama, 46, would be the first African-American president in U.S. history. The two candidates represent starkly different backgrounds. McCain, the son of a Navy admiral, was a naval aviator shot down while bombing North Vietnam. He

See PRESIDENT p.7


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