Sunday, June 18, 2006

Chris Henry Gives Cincinnati a Bad Name

Chris Henry has gone way too far, again.
COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) - Bengals receiver Chris Henry pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges accusing him of providing alcohol to three underage females.

Henry, 23, has been arrested four times in the last seven months in three states. He was arraigned on his latest set of charges in northern Kentucky on Thursday morning, then went to Paul Brown Stadium for the team's minicamp.

Henry did not practise with the team because he is still recovering from a knee injury suffered during Cincinnati's playoff loss to Pittsburgh last season. Trainer Paul Sparling said Henry could be cleared to resume practice in a few weeks.

The second-year receiver surrendered to Kenton County authorities Thursday on three misdemeanour counts of unlawful transaction with a minor. If convicted, he could get up to a year in jail and a $500 US fine on each count.

It's his second case in Kenton County, where he was arrested last December on a charge of marijuana possession. He pleaded guilty in March and avoided jail time after completing a drug rehabilitation program.

Henry also faces trial Aug. 21 in Orlando, Fla., on a concealed weapons charge. He is accused of pulling a pistol on a group of revellers in January. Earlier this month, Henry was charged in nearby Clermont County, Ohio, with speeding and drunken driving.

The latest charges grew out of an investigation into an 18-year-old woman's claim that Henry sexually assaulted her at a hotel. She was charged with filing a false police report after police said she changed her story.

Henry is accused of providing alcohol to the woman and two other females 15 and 16 years old. Authorities said more charges could be added.

Henry and the Bengals have declined comment.

Under NFL rules, a player cannot be released by a team while he is hurt. Henry could be subject to suspension without pay under the league's policies on substance abuse.

The team should release him as soon as they are legally able to do so.

Posted by JN at 5:18 PM | | Comments

Hackett Plaintiff in VA lawsuit

From WCPO via BSB.
A Cincinnati attorney has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of 26.5 million veterans whose personal information was on a stolen computer disk.

The suit asks the Department of Veterans Affairs to compensate the veterans and pay for credit monitoring.

Paul Hackett filed the suit yesterday in US District Court in nearby Covington, Kentucky.

Hackett is a Marine reservist who served in Iraq and ran unsuccessfully for Congress last year.

The suit asks the VA to pay damages of at least one-thousand dollars per veteran.

VA officials say the disk stolen from a data analyst's home in early May included Social Security numbers and birth dates, and in many cases phone numbers and addresses.

A previous Beacon Journal article included a quote from Hackett on the issue.
"It's a comedy of errors," Hackett said. "Out of 26 million, some identities have been stolen, and that will end up destroying the financial lives of veterans. It's outrageous."

Posted by JN at 4:51 PM | | Comments

No Luck for Queen City Gaming

From the Akron Beacon Journal:
A group that was pushing a plan to put slot machines around Ohio because a competitor's gambling campaign does not include Cincinnati has withdrawn its proposal.

Queen City Gaming Entertainment Inc. blamed the decision in part on its rival's hiring of the companies that could gather the 323,000 voter signatures needed by Aug. 9 to get the issue on the Nov. 7 ballot.

"It's become more and more clear that you need a professional firm to do this job, and it's not likely that there is one available at this point," Queen City spokesman Brendon Cull said Thursday.

The state attorney general's office had approved the proposal Monday, authorizing the group to begin circulating petitions.

The other group, Ohio Learn & Earn, has been gathering signatures since May 1 for its plan to put 24-hour slot operations at seven Ohio horse racing tracks and two downtown Cleveland locations.

The Queen City group's proposal included those venues and a Cincinnati location.

Leslie Ghiz, a Cincinnati councilwoman, said she would campaign against the Learn & Earn proposal, should it qualify for the ballot.

"I'll do everything I can to make it fail. They went out and literally hired every firm that collects signatures to conflict them out," she said.

Learn & Earn also had filed challenges to Queen City's petition circulators in several counties, alleging the group had not filed proper documentation that the circulators were Ohio residents.

"We did this because whether it's our (proposal) or theirs, it naturally has controversy attached to it," Learn & Earn spokesman David Hopcraft said. "We are making every effort to comply with the highest standards of state law."


I just have a few quick observations on this.

1. It is pretty sad that initiatives have to be outsourced to private companies in order to succeed. The purpose of this provision is for the community as a whole to propose legislation, not private special interest groups.

2. Learn and Earn is probably the most misleading name possible for an initiative that aims to implement gambling in Ohio. Sure, a small percentage of profits from the slot machines will go to educational grants, but not enough to warrant naming the program after that minor aspect of it.

Posted by JN at 4:37 PM | | Comments

Monday, June 05, 2006

Harriet Beecher Stowe Lecture: Writing to Change the World

Saw this in Cin Weekly, thought some of you may be interested.

Dorothy Rabinowitz, reporter, columnist and member of the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal will deliver the 4th annual Harriet Beecher Stowe Lecture.

Wine and hors d' oeuvres will be served.

Evening Sponsor: Hilliard Lyons

Wed, Jun 14th 2006 | 7:00 PM

The Mercantile Library
Reading Room
414 Walnut Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202

$20 members; $25 nonmembers

Posted by JN at 5:16 PM | | Comments