Latest news with #Cincinnati.com
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
Protesters leave a bad taste at Taste of Cincinnati and other opinions you read the most
(In this column, Opinion Editor Kevin Aldridge briefly recaps the most-read letters to the editor and guest columns on 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 letters@ 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 kaldridge@ On X: @kevaldrid. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Protesters ruin Taste of Cincinnati Trump pardons Sittenfeld | Opinion
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Here's how a company earns Top Workplaces honors
If you want to really know what's happening at work, ask the people on the front lines. That's the foundation of the Top Workplaces award. For the 16th year, employee survey company Energage has partnered with and the Enquirer to honor the best places to work in Greater Cincinnati and northern Kentucky. This award can't be bought; it has to be earned, based on employee feedback. Winners are chosen through a scientific survey process. Positive employee feedback equals recognition. Workplaces that don't have strong feedback are excluded from the winners list. Energage crunches the data based on a 25-question survey that takes just a few minutes to complete. The survey asks employees for their feedback on such factors as pay and benefits, direction, leadership, meaningfulness, and appreciation. Energage scores companies based on the responses. Organizations do not pay any fees to survey employees or to earn a Top Workplaces designation. If they choose, organizations can purchase the survey data. There is no obligation for winners to purchase any product or service. For the 2025 winners list, 2,519 organizations were asked to survey their employees, and 180 agreed to do so. Based on the survey feedback, 122 have earned recognition as Top Workplaces in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. 'Top Workplaces awards are a celebration of good news,' said Eric Rubino, CEO of Energage. 'They exemplify the significance of a people-first workplace experience, reminding us that employees are the heart of any thriving organization.' The winners list is intended to reflect on the regional workforce. To qualify for Top Workplaces recognition, employers must have at least 50 workers in the region. Survey results are valid only if 35% or more employees respond; employers with fewer than 85 employees have a higher response threshold, requiring responses from at least 30 employees. Employers earn Top Workplaces recognition if their aggregated employees feedback score exceeds national benchmarks. Employers are grouped into similar sizes to best compare similar employee experiences. Energage has established those benchmarks based on feedback from about 30 million employees over 19 years. They are ranked within those groups based on the strength of the survey feedback. Why might a particular employer not be on the list? Perhaps it chose not to participate, or perhaps it did and employee feedback scores were not strong enough. Energage also runs tests on survey feedback and in some cases may disqualify an organization if, for example, a high number of employees said they felt pressured to answer positively. To participate in the 2026 Top Workplaces awards, or for more information, go to the nomination page at This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Here's how a company earns Top Workplaces honors
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
These are Greater Cincinnati's Top Workplaces, according to employees
The Enquirer and partnered with Philadelphia-based Energage, an employee research and culture technology firm, for the 16th year to determine the winners of this year's Greater Cincinnati Top Workplaces. The rankings are based solely on employee survey feedback that is then analyzed based on Energage's objective criteria. Energage performs the surveys for media partners in metropolitan areas across the United States. Any organization — public, private, nonprofit, government — with 50 or more employees was eligible to participate. Learn more about the methodology here. Based on employee survey feedback, 122 have earned recognition as Top Workplaces this year. Here's the full list. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What are Greater Cincinnati's Top Workplaces? What employees say
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Vote: Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky high school athlete of the week, April 21
Voting is open for the Cincinnati Enquirer's next Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine Athlete of the Week ballotof the 2024-2025 high school sports year for activity through April 20, 2025. Enquirer/ readers can vote for their favorite high school athletes of the week on their desktop, the mobile web or app once per hour. Deadline is 4 p.m. on Friday. Advertisement Scroll down to the bottom of this story for the ballots. Voting occurs each week during all high school sports seasons and recognizes athletes across all sports. Please do not email your votes; they will not count. Beacon Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Also, our system considers WiFi as one IP address ‒ to prevent people from clearing caches to vote without limit ‒ so if multiple people on a shared WiFi are voting, they should briefly take their phones off WiFi for the hourly votes to count. Athlete of the week winner certificates through April 11, 2025, have been mailed to the athletic departments. More: How to add names to Cincinnati Enquirer's high school athletes of the week ballot in 2024 Here are this week's ballots. Beacon Orthopaedics Athlete of the Week logos This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Enquirer high school athlete of the week April 21, 2025
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Vote: Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky high school athlete of the week, April 14
Voting is open for the Cincinnati Enquirer's next Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine Athlete of the Week ballotof the 2024-2025 high school sports year for activity through April 13, 2025. Enquirer/ readers can vote for their favorite high school athletes of the week on their desktop, the mobile web or app once per hour. Deadline is 4 p.m. on Friday. Advertisement Scroll down to the bottom of this story for the ballots. Voting occurs each week during all high school sports seasons and recognizes athletes across all sports. Please do not email your votes; they will not count. Beacon Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Also, our system considers WiFi as one IP address ‒ to prevent people from clearing caches to vote without limit ‒ so if multiple people on a shared WiFi are voting, they should briefly take their phones off WiFi for the hourly votes to count. Look for athlete of the week winner certificates through Feb. 14, 2025, which have been mailed to the athletic departments. More: How to add names to Cincinnati Enquirer's high school athletes of the week ballot in 2024 Here are this week's ballots. Beacon Orthopaedics Athlete of the Week logos This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Enquirer high school athlete of the week April 14, 2025
