Protesters leave a bad taste at Taste of Cincinnati and other opinions you read the most

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2 days ago

(In this column, Opinion Editor Kevin Aldridge briefly recaps the most-read letters to the editor and guest columns on Cincinnati.com this week in case you missed them. You can read all these opinions in their entirety by clicking on the links.)
The Taste of Cincinnati draws thousands of people from all over the region and beyond to sample the Queen City's signature food and drinks, while enjoying music and great weather in downtown Cincinnati over the Memorial Day weekend. The festival also attracts social and religious activists and protesters who see the event's huge crowds as a prime target for their messages. For one festivalgoer, the proselytizing of a group of protesters ruined an otherwise enjoyable day at the Taste.
The experience was so unnerving that it had Deborah Busse of Liberty Township questioning whether she would return to the Taste of Cincinnati in 2026. Her letter to the editor asking Cincinnati city officials to address the problem was the most-read opinion this week.
"Taste of Cincinnati was crowded on Saturday, with beautiful weather and what was supposed to be a fun festival experience, until loud, screaming protesters showed up with their bullhorns, mega trucks, and big signs. They were screaming at the crowd that we were all going to hell," Busse wrote. "They must have had permits because the police did nothing, even though they were approaching people and shouting at them in the street.
"They were everywhere: 5th and Vine, Government Square, and the entrance to the festival. They were so loud that you could not hear the band. They ruined a fun day at the festival."
Tell us about your experience at Taste of Cincinnati 2025. What were some of your favorite dishes at the Taste? Did these or other protesters/activists disrupt or distract from your good time? What suggestions would you have for city officials to address the issue? Please send me a letter to the editor or an op-ed with your thoughts.
Parking in Downtown Cincinnati can be a mixed bag. Some people appreciate the convenience and options available. For others, it's frustratingly expensive and confusing, in part due to a perceived lack of clear information. Count Nick Boeing of Dayton, Ohio, among the latter.
In a letter to the editor this week, Boeing expressed his frustration over a parking snafu that cost him $65. He said he came to Over-the-Rhine to support small businesses, but left feeling exploited.
"I recently parked in a 3CDC-managed lot in OTR and was hit with a $65 citation, despite paying and never receiving a receipt due to a broken kiosk. Faded signage and aggressive enforcement via automated cameras left me feeling tricked, not welcomed," Boeing wrote. "These deceptive practices don't just squeeze locals, they drive us away."
You can read his full commentary here.
After Boeing's letter was published, I received two emails in response.
The first was from Kevin Driskell of Miami Heights, offering Boeing a remedy to his situation.
"The same thing happened to me a few years ago at street parking at Findlay Market," Driskell wrote. "I contacted parking services on the city's website, explained what happened, and emailed them a copy of the ticket and the parking charge on my credit card. They canceled the ticket. Pretty easy process to rectify a system snafu."
The second email was from Joe Rudemiller, vice president of marketing and communications for 3CDC, who wanted to set the record straight.
"While the individual writing the letter did receive a fine, he neglected to mention that he paid for two hours of parking but stayed longer − hence the citation," Rudemiller wrote. "Although the kiosk was out of paper, I think it's a reasonable expectation that someone paying for parking would take care to understand how long they have paid for parking and ensure they either go back to pay to park longer or realize there may be a fine associated with that parking (there is signage noting that we utilize license plate recognition cameras for monitoring length of stay and that there will be a fine issued if someone parks longer than the allotted time for which they've paid)."
Rudemiller noted that people parking at a city meter do not get a receipt, yet are expected to monitor the amount of time they pay for parking. If they overstay that timeframe, they are given a ticket.
What are your thoughts about downtown parking? Do you find it convenient and accessible or costly and confusing? We'd love to hear about some of your experiences, so send us a message.
Cincinnati is known nationally as a pioneer in Montessori education, particularly in the public school system. The Queen City is home to the nation's oldest public Montessori school, Sands Montessori, and the oldest public Montessori high school, Clark Montessori. So when the Cincinnati Public Schools superintendent and treasurer recently presented a proposal to the school board to reduce paraprofessionals in Montessori schools by half, Sarah Beach, a parent of two Gamble Montessori Elementary students in Westwood, couldn't stay silent.
Beach penned an op-ed appealing to the district not to mess up its Montessori model and highlighting the importance of paraprofessionals in the classroom.
"Montessori classrooms are designed to encourage hands-on and independent learning. They run similar to an orchestra," Beach said. "The teacher is the conductor, the paraprofessional in the classroom is the concertmaster, supporting both students and the teacher, while the students are the musicians. Each role is important to creating the symphony of learning within a Montessori environment."
Beach argued that reducing paraprofessionals would compromise the integrity and efficacy of Montessori learning in the district and put the high schools at risk of losing their prestigious American Montessori accreditation. The elementary schools, she wrote, would never be able to earn accreditation.
"Montessori without paraprofessionals does not work," Beach said. "We will cripple our healthy, thriving, full Montessori schools to get a dysfunctional Montessorta mess. Maria would not approve."
Do you agree with Beach's assessment of the situation? And with funding cuts to education at the federal and federal levels, how would you suggest CPS deal with its budget woes if not through cuts like this? Please join the conversation by sending us your thoughts in a letter or op-ed.
The most unexpected story this week was undoubtedly former Cincinnati City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld's pardon by President Donald Trump. Sittenfeld was convicted in 2022 of federal bribery and attempted extortion charges for soliciting donations for his political action committee from FBI agents and an informant posing as developers of a downtown Cincinnati project. Trump is no stranger to controversial pardons, but what left many locals scratching their heads was the fact that Sittenfeld is a Democrat who once called Trump a "bafoonish carnival barker."
Politics can make strange bedfellows, but this pardon made little sense, politically or in principle. I decided to speak with a few folks locally to get their thoughts about the situation and wrote a column about their insights. Here's a sampling of what they told me.
"This pardon is perfectly in keeping with Trump's worldview that anyone in office can solicit and take any benefit from anyone they want," said David Niven, a political science professor at the University of Cincinnati. "So many of these other rogue political characters Trump has pardoned were putting money in their own pockets with their corruption. Sittenfeld was right on the line between 'this is business as usual' and 'this is a step too far.' In that sense, this is a much more defensible pardon and less of a grand statement."
Steve Goodin, an attorney at Porter Wright and the Republican who was appointed to City Council in 2020 to replace Jeff Pastor, a council member who was suspended for taking bribes, said Trump is sending a message through his pardon power about how he feels the justice system treated him.
"Trump has a real problem with the way he was treated," said Goodin. "I'm no fan of Donald Trump, but I think a lot of the criminal cases brought against him were not very well thought out, and a lot of people feel the prosecutors were using bad judgment or being political."
You can read my full commentary here.
In the end, Sittenfeld's money and connections might have been the key to securing his freedom. Enquirer reporters Dan Horn, Scott Wartman and Kevin Grasha reported on May 30 that two well-known Republican attorneys who worked on Sittenfeld's case have worked in the Trump administration.
I'd love to hear your thoughts about Sittenfeld's pardon. Do you feel like justice was denied, or do you believe Sittenfeld should never have been charged in the first place? What are your theories on why President Trump decided to let Sittenfeld off the hook? I can't wait to read your responses.
Lastly, in case you missed them, here's a chance to catch up on a couple more of the most-read opinions this week:
Column: From the editor: The philosophical divide that stands in the way of a new Bengals lease.
Op-ed: Landsman: 'I have a hard time getting the image of being shot and killed out of my head.'
Column: Vance rode Middletown pride to the White House. Will he help its schools?
As always, you can join the conversation on these and other topics by sending your thoughts to [e-mail]. Letters of up to 200 words may be submitted and must include name, address, community and daytime phone number. Op-eds are submitted the same way, except they should be 500-600 words and also include a one-sentence bio and headshot. Submissions may be edited for space and clarity.
If you need some tips on how to write an op-ed, click here.
Opinion and Engagement Editor Kevin S. Aldridge can be reached at [e-mail]. On X: @kevaldrid.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Protesters ruin Taste of Cincinnati Trump pardons Sittenfeld | Opinion