State Cuts Cause Counties to Raise Taxes to Cover 911 ServicesWOW who could have seen that coming?

Champaign County in the Springfield Noose Son

Ohio Cities & Police Numbers
As Ohio cities grapple with diminishing tax revenue, cutting into their safety budgets has become inevitable. Urbana has cut 14% of their officers giving the city 1.6 officers/1,000 residents. Cincinnati is around twice that with about 3.3/1,000.
One of the budget saving options law enforcement is taking is going high tech.

"High-tech equipment like red-light traffic cameras and computerized dispatching systems help enforce the law with fewer officers and reduce redundancy in paperwork functions."

Cincinnatians, after a fear campaign by COA T & NAACP, banned red light cameras. Now we get to pay more for less service.
As the state gobbles up more and more of our tax dollars & offers less and less in return Ohio cities are going to be hurting. As the state hamstrings the cities through budget cuts and ham fisted legislation, there looks to be a very bleak future.

Noose Son story here

Ole’ Book Nook Closes
Urbana's lone book store is set to close after serving the community for 25 years.
After the closing of the 2 mall bookstores in Springfield's Upper Valley Mall, Springfield, 10 miles south of Urbana, is left with one independent book store & one comic book store. The next nearest bookstore to Urbana is in West Liberty, about 12 miles to the north. There are a couple other book sores out in the rural wastes of central Ohio but the best selections will be in Columbus, about 50 miles to the east.
Is the bookstore even relevant today? One can get on Amazon & read customer reviews, view rankings, etc...
Champaign County does have a library. What it's future is - who knows?
With the added tech of Kindle type crap, the bookstore gradually gets less and less relevant. The Amazon portal for independent book dealers keeps old books available to the general public without requiring a person to hunt about in all these small town book stores.
Whatever, it's still kinda sad.

Noose Son story here.

One of the better housing markets in Cincinnati is the "downtown" area. Residents cite walkability, proximity to shopping, events and the ability to live car free. Across the country there is renewed interest in the urban lifestyle. So Why not Urbana? Some folks have already moved in and plans are in place to renovate buildings that have been empty for as long as 90 years. Urbana's downtown is, of course, pretty much one block, Market Square. The intersection recently went roundabout.
Now about that windfarm.....

Noose Son story here.
Latest on the Champaign County windfarm here.

Police & Fire to Face Layoffs
The layoffs could affect between 6 & 10 employees between the two departments.

Jason Croker, president of the Urbana Firefighters Local 1823, said police and firefighters are the only city employees facing layoffs. He said it's the first time he can remember that firefighters were threatened with layoffs.

Sound familiar, Porktowners? Bear in mind, this is Urbana, OH, we are talking about which has roughly the population of Cincinnati's Northside neighborhood. A 10% cut is fewer people but probably more acute than in Cincinnati. The population is more likely to know the names of the city employees, too.
Gangs tend to like smaller owns like Urbana & Hamilton because the police don't have the resources to deal with them, even in good times. Urbana also has an older housing stock, similar, probably, to Northside as well.
Union reps, same as in Cincinnati say they have never been the target of reductions. Union reps, same as in Cincinnati vow to fight any layoffs.
From what I have read, municipalities are not expected to see any relief form the current economic meltdown til, at least, 2011/12. With cities required to have balanced budgets from year to year there is no way to operate in the red the way a private company might do & there is no near end to the problems we are facing. Cincinnati just approved a budget that raided it's capital fund to the tune of about 30%. We can't do that again & like I said, predictions for better municipal revenue aren't slated for 2010.
FWIW, swimming pools and recreation centers are considered crime prevention tools - not perks.
This is not just a local issue. It is not an attempt to bust up unions by the cities, but, from the myopic attitudes of the unions, I am thinking, more and more, that that might not be a bad idea.

Noose Son story here.

Urbana's Roundabout - Week One

The intersection in the heart of Urbana switched from an ugly traffic light hanging over a monument to a roundabout last weekend. The first reactions are mixed. While traffic congestion is down, some folks believe it is because drivers are hurtling through side streets endangering Urbana youth. Others say it is more efficient & will work better as people learn to use it.
It's gotta look better - even if the statue is splattered in blood and bathed in the light of the burning, wrecked cars.
Here's the directions given to Urnananianites.

Noose Son story here.

Last Chance !
Today is your last chance to visit the Hamilton County Fair this year !
Riding Lawnmower Derby ! Robin Lacy & DeZydeco ! Critters ! Poo !
I still haven't found squat on a Fair Queen and given the lousy ass coverage of the fair in the local media, I doubt that I ever will.
Anyway, here's a shot from the Llama show at the Champaign County Fair...

Freddie and Carmen Hillman

Cedar Bog Educational Facility Open House

Saturday, April 18, from 11 A.M. to 4 P.M. the recently completed educational facility at Cedar Bog will be open to the public. Refreshments will be served and tours and educational material will be available.
There will be a bird walk at 9:00 AM.
The facility was designed to be ecologically friendly, with features that include solar panels, geothermal heating and a Trombe wall to absorb additional heat from the sun.
The facility had been planned for years but state budget cute almost killed it. The Cedar Bog Association came through and got the project done.
The bog ,hich is actually a fen is a weird little patch of natural history that got deposited out of place there about 12,000 years ago (or in the 60s if you're a creationist).
PS Toad Tuning is just around the corner.

Noose Son story here.

Urbana Group Sponsors Renewable Energy Exhibition
January 20th, at Urbana University's student center, Champaign Advocates for Renewable Energy (CARE) will present an exhibit to the public featuring businesses and organizations with renewable energy solutions at 7PM.
The 20 exhibitors include the Ohio Farm Bureau, Invenergy, Dovetail Wind and Solar, Ohio Interfaith Power and Light and Pioneer Rural Electric Cooperative.
The exhibit is open to the public and allows folks to learn more about renewable energy options.

Noose Son story here.

Urbana's Monument Square to go Roundabout
Urbana, Ohio plans on changing it's central intersection, Monument Square, to a roundabout. It always kinda was given the amount of alcohol consumed and number of screaming teenage girls in the car, but traffic at the intersection of routes 68 and 36 (Main, Scioto & Miami) was always controlled by a light. Essentially, they are taking out the light and installing stop signs.
Even if it doesn't improve traffic flow (I have been in rush hour traffic jams in Urbana), the esthetics could be greatly improved by the elimination of wires and the ugly old light that looks older than the daggone statue.

Noose Son story here.

Instructions from the Urbana Engineer's office.

Independnts & 3rd Parties Need Not Apply ?
Linda Johnson of Urbana writes about how her efforts to be a Champaign County poll worker were stymied since she refuses to be a drone of the corpo-political system.
"I was politely informed that each precinct was bipartisan, staffed by two Republicans and two Democrats.
Never content with, "No." I tried logic, "As an independent, I would have no agenda, who could be more fair?"
The board employee could not sanction my reasoning.
I tried a slightly different tact, "What about the other parties? The Green Party, the Libertarians, the Socialists or Communists? They aren't represented?"
"Nope. Just Republicans or Democrats.""
Moral: Don't Think For Yourself.

Noose Son story here.

Queer as a Clockwork Orange
Shades of A Clockwork Orange in Urbana
Champaign County Municipal Court Judge Susan J. Fornof-Lippencott sentenced a guy to listen to classical music (Beethoven, Chopin, Bach, DeBussy) for 20 hours as an alternative to paying a $150 fine.
After 15 minutes, Mr Vactor opted to pay the fine.
This seems a lot like the "therapy" young Alex received in the book/movie A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.

As you may remember his treatment had unintended consequences and his penchant for classical music only heightened his appreciation for his lifestyle which included activities much worse than blaring obnoxious, vulgar and misogynistic music from his car.
I guess we can file this under "life imitates art".

Noose Son story here.

Robert's on Miami

I have had 2 occasion's to eat at Robert's on Miami in downtown Urbana, Ohio. Neither occasion was terribly celebratory (funerals) but the quirky atmosphere, great service and excellent food helped make for delightful events.

Seriously, my dining there has led me to recommend a friggin' restaurant in Urbana, Ohio !

Located at 116 Miami Street, just west of the square, it is easy to find & has a handy parking lot right next door.

they offer a decent wine list and a menu loaded with pasta, seafood & desserts.

Don't let the hideous website and photography fool you !

http://www.robertsonmiami.com/

(their area code is 937)