People have asked… Why are you so tough on city hall and vigilant about crime? Before anyone else sends me those questions, read about number thirty-six and then read what the city is considering…
10 TV: A shooting at a west side market left a clerk in life-threatening condition Tuesday night. The shooting was reported shortly before 8:30 p.m. at Smith's Market, located at 2432 Sullivant Ave… The clerk was transported to Mount Carmel West Hospital in life-threatening condition.
10 TV: Will police detectives have to wait for a shuttle to take them to their cars before responding to a crime scene? It's a possibility. Officials said the city will no longer pay to have unmarked Columbus Division of Police cars parked in a parking garage along Front Street… In the past, the city has paid about $120,000 a year to allow 113 department vehicles to park inside the garage, but the city said it can no longer afford the cost. One option is to move the vehicles into the parking lot in front of police headquarters and kick out other city employees that currently use the lot. Or, the department could move some of the detective cars into what's known as the lieutenant's lot, located on Spring Street across from headquarters. Another option would involve moving the police cars into a lot off Short Street, and then have a shuttle take detectives to their cars…
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Economic Crisis? Solve it with Soccer
10 TV: The Greater Columbus Sports Commission estimates soccer fans will spend between $2-3 million when the U.S. and Mexico open the final round of World Cup qualifying at Crew Stadium.
The city hopes to cash in on the sold out game with thousands of fans flooding the city… Tickets for the match sold out in 90 minutes, purchased by fans in 43 states and Washington, D.C., Canada and Mexico. Both squads are bitter rivals and Wednesday's meeting is the first Cup qualifying match between the two played in Columbus since 2005.
U.S. soccer fans are encouraged to wear red for the match. Nearly 22,000 placards will be distributed to fans to create a patriotic visual for the millions watching on TV.
The city hopes to cash in on the sold out game with thousands of fans flooding the city… Tickets for the match sold out in 90 minutes, purchased by fans in 43 states and Washington, D.C., Canada and Mexico. Both squads are bitter rivals and Wednesday's meeting is the first Cup qualifying match between the two played in Columbus since 2005.
U.S. soccer fans are encouraged to wear red for the match. Nearly 22,000 placards will be distributed to fans to create a patriotic visual for the millions watching on TV.
Quick Read
Tuesday’s edition commences with an outstanding graphic which illustrates the impact that city’s budget cuts will have…. Meanwhile, the Dispatch continues their excellent State of the State coverage with a reaction piece to Governor Strickland’s proposed longer school year… And Tim Ferran’s “Jock Talk” (Life and Arts) is an interesting premise… Unfortunately, the column’s value is strangled by statistics…
Monday, February 9, 2009
BREAKING: Strickland, White House Talk
Governor Ted Strickland and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel have discussed the vacant Health and Human Services Cabinet position. According to a source with knowledge of the conversation, Strickland is not a candidate. He was simply asked his opinion of other candidates.
Hineygate History?
10 TV: A hotel near the Ohio State campus that is popular with tailgaters during football season is set to be sold to the university and converted into a dormitory. Campus Partners, the redevelopment agency for the university, has announced an agreement to purchase the Holiday Inn on the Lane...
Doug Aschenbach, the interim president of Campus Partners said that Ohio State plans to turn the hotel into a dormitory in time for September's start of the new school year. "In terms of student housing, it's an affordable way to bring extra bed inventory online because it's a property that's already there with minimal renovations," Aschenbach said.
The hotel, located across Lane Avenue from campus and a short walk to Ohio Stadium, is filled during home football games with revelers enjoying Hineygate, the tailgate party hosted at the site. Students reacted with excitement at the possibility of living this fall at the hotel.
Ohio State is considering keeping Hineygate going even after converting the hotel to a dormitory. The deal to purchase the hotel should be completed later this month. The hotel is set to close at the end of March, with renovations taking place during the summer.
Doug Aschenbach, the interim president of Campus Partners said that Ohio State plans to turn the hotel into a dormitory in time for September's start of the new school year. "In terms of student housing, it's an affordable way to bring extra bed inventory online because it's a property that's already there with minimal renovations," Aschenbach said.
The hotel, located across Lane Avenue from campus and a short walk to Ohio Stadium, is filled during home football games with revelers enjoying Hineygate, the tailgate party hosted at the site. Students reacted with excitement at the possibility of living this fall at the hotel.
Ohio State is considering keeping Hineygate going even after converting the hotel to a dormitory. The deal to purchase the hotel should be completed later this month. The hotel is set to close at the end of March, with renovations taking place during the summer.
City Considers, Continues Budget Cuts
NBC 4: Columbus faces its tightest budget crunch in years and members voted unanimously to approve the controversial cuts that included permanent and temporary layoffs for some city workers. Making up $13 million won’t be easy, but it’s a task officials said has to be done to balance the budget.
Columbus city council members made a final decision regarding the budget Monday. One of Mayor Michael Coleman’s suggestions was to implement a five-day temporary layoff for some 1,300 city employees and permanent layoffs for others. That would be in addition to 27 police recruits and 12 middle managers who already were laid off.
Council and the mayor’s office proposed cutting $750,000 from the Summer Strike Force, $800,000 from police fleet purchases and $280,000 from Experience Columbus.
City officials announced the Saturday closing of 13 recreation centers last Friday. The centers could close permanently but at least will remain closed until the economy improves.
The city auditor suggested increasing the income tax to raise revenue for the city last week. Programs like the Community Crime Patrol also remain on the chopping block. While council approved the budget that does not include hiring the police recruits, that does not mean that the issue is over because negotiations continue.
Columbus city council members made a final decision regarding the budget Monday. One of Mayor Michael Coleman’s suggestions was to implement a five-day temporary layoff for some 1,300 city employees and permanent layoffs for others. That would be in addition to 27 police recruits and 12 middle managers who already were laid off.
Council and the mayor’s office proposed cutting $750,000 from the Summer Strike Force, $800,000 from police fleet purchases and $280,000 from Experience Columbus.
City officials announced the Saturday closing of 13 recreation centers last Friday. The centers could close permanently but at least will remain closed until the economy improves.
The city auditor suggested increasing the income tax to raise revenue for the city last week. Programs like the Community Crime Patrol also remain on the chopping block. While council approved the budget that does not include hiring the police recruits, that does not mean that the issue is over because negotiations continue.
More Than Our Name…
Since Gossip Cbus began, I’ve been swamped with e-mail…. Normally, I respond to your questions once a week…. However, I received this question (occasionally as a comment) and I feel the need to respond to it individually… The question or comment centers around our existence as a simple city gossip column…
I know gossip is a part of who we are… It’s in our name… With that said, anyone who has spent any time at all on this website, anyone who has read one story, anyone who has bothered to look beyond our name, will realize we are much more than gossip. We aren’t and we wont be covering who is sleeping with who, who is using drugs, or who is being scene in this city, unless it is relevant to a story which we are covering…
I know we do a cover a lot of events and we post a lot of promos… I am proud of our nightlife coverage… I am equally proud of our breaking news coverage, our feature reporting, and our interviews… When this website began, it did so with one ambition, provide a unique service to this city and provide something for everyone in this city… I feel thus far we have done that and we will continue to do that…
And to those who dismiss us as a mere gossip column, I invite you to read the site and read it again… If you do, you will realize our attraction…
I know gossip is a part of who we are… It’s in our name… With that said, anyone who has spent any time at all on this website, anyone who has read one story, anyone who has bothered to look beyond our name, will realize we are much more than gossip. We aren’t and we wont be covering who is sleeping with who, who is using drugs, or who is being scene in this city, unless it is relevant to a story which we are covering…
I know we do a cover a lot of events and we post a lot of promos… I am proud of our nightlife coverage… I am equally proud of our breaking news coverage, our feature reporting, and our interviews… When this website began, it did so with one ambition, provide a unique service to this city and provide something for everyone in this city… I feel thus far we have done that and we will continue to do that…
And to those who dismiss us as a mere gossip column, I invite you to read the site and read it again… If you do, you will realize our attraction…
Frog Bear Fun
For Valentine’s Week, a Frog, Bear, and Wild Boar major event announcement… (This will rerun twice in the coming days… still, you may want to mark you calendar)…
Heart Takers Ball (February 14): First 200 people score free admission for the rest of the year.
Heart Takers Ball (February 14): First 200 people score free admission for the rest of the year.
Playing For Children
For February, another major announcement… (This will rerun twice, separately… still, you may want to mark you calendar)…
Music in the Round (February 28): The Cap Square Rotary Club presents Chris Burney, Matt Monta and RJ Cowdry. Spice will host this exemplary evening. Tickets are $30 (individual) and $55 (couple). All proceeds benefit Transit Arts, which provides artistic outlets to city children.
Music in the Round (February 28): The Cap Square Rotary Club presents Chris Burney, Matt Monta and RJ Cowdry. Spice will host this exemplary evening. Tickets are $30 (individual) and $55 (couple). All proceeds benefit Transit Arts, which provides artistic outlets to city children.
INVITE: Roses & Rubies
Commencement: February 5, 12, 19, 26 (5:30 p.m.)Venue: Franklin Park Conservatory (1777 East Broad Street)
Cameron Mitchell Catering hors d’oeuvres
Quick Read
Did Monday seriously feature a front-page story about some opinionated idiot’s license plates? Misti Crane’s heart wrenching story on Ohio State’s ongoing dementia study, perfectly humanized a painful disease… Debbi Gobelys peace, on parents and children, not willing to relinquish their college dreams, despite these economic crisis was outstanding.
Jeb Phillips’ metro lead “Faces of A War” was a brilliant concept, which read like a list… Thankfully, Sherri Williams covered him with an excellent piece of the impact of women’s clinics closing in the city.
Life and Arts featured outstanding Grammy coverage… Margaret Harding typed an intriguing feature on the increase (yes, I said increase) of technology funding in this city… And Mike Pramik continued his great work… spotlighting River South, one of the few venues I have heard about that will benefit (yes, I said benefit) from City Center’s impending exodus…
Jeb Phillips’ metro lead “Faces of A War” was a brilliant concept, which read like a list… Thankfully, Sherri Williams covered him with an excellent piece of the impact of women’s clinics closing in the city.
Life and Arts featured outstanding Grammy coverage… Margaret Harding typed an intriguing feature on the increase (yes, I said increase) of technology funding in this city… And Mike Pramik continued his great work… spotlighting River South, one of the few venues I have heard about that will benefit (yes, I said benefit) from City Center’s impending exodus…
Sunday, February 8, 2009
You Have Questions... I Have Answers
Since Gossip Cbus began, I’ve been swamped with e-mail (thanks for the love)… While I’ve tried to give individual responses to several, I also know that some of the questions are questions others may have and thus, answering them publicly would be better… Therefore, from time to time, I will answer questions where everyone can see them…
Q: Will Gossip CBUS have Valentine’s Day coverage?
A: We will have announcements on Wednesday and Friday about events that are taking place… As for twitter coverage or wraps, that is also tentatively scheduled, but remains subject to change…
Q: I saw on your site that Juicy Campus shut down. Does this help or hurt Gossip CBUS?
A: Obviously, any readers who read that site that now read us as a result of that shut down, helps Gossip CBUS. With that said, Juicy Campus and Gossip CBUS service two entirely different tastes… Juicy Campus was unchecked, unverified filth, which occasionally bordered on slander… Gossip CBUS is so much more… Again, we expect some readers from their shut down… But, if anyone is here looking for the same type of material, you wont find it…
Q: Will Gossip CBUS have Valentine’s Day coverage?
A: We will have announcements on Wednesday and Friday about events that are taking place… As for twitter coverage or wraps, that is also tentatively scheduled, but remains subject to change…
Q: I saw on your site that Juicy Campus shut down. Does this help or hurt Gossip CBUS?
A: Obviously, any readers who read that site that now read us as a result of that shut down, helps Gossip CBUS. With that said, Juicy Campus and Gossip CBUS service two entirely different tastes… Juicy Campus was unchecked, unverified filth, which occasionally bordered on slander… Gossip CBUS is so much more… Again, we expect some readers from their shut down… But, if anyone is here looking for the same type of material, you wont find it…
Quick Read
Sunday’s front page featured a pair of excellent pieces… The first on Ohio Mayor’s stimulus package dreams and the second spotlighting the economic demand of rich school districts versus poor school districts…. Joe Hallet (metro section), also had a front page or at minimum first section story on the Curious Non-Committal of John Kasich.
Sports led with outstanding coverage of the basketball Buckeyes 64-58 victory over Minnesota and Tim May typed a solid piece on freshman linebacker recruit Storm Klein… Unfortunately, May ruined his own feature with an insipid lead about Kelin’s potential nicknames (Storm Warning etcetera)…
Steve Wartenberg’s feature (Business section) on Ohioans conned out of money was potentially the edition’s best and without question the edition’s most interesting…
Sports led with outstanding coverage of the basketball Buckeyes 64-58 victory over Minnesota and Tim May typed a solid piece on freshman linebacker recruit Storm Klein… Unfortunately, May ruined his own feature with an insipid lead about Kelin’s potential nicknames (Storm Warning etcetera)…
Steve Wartenberg’s feature (Business section) on Ohioans conned out of money was potentially the edition’s best and without question the edition’s most interesting…
CYP, Charities Host Spectacular Evening
Theoretically, young professional organizations are power enclaves. A city’s influential post-college generation unites. And through lavish events, they ascend their profile, while raising charitable donations…
On Saturday, Columbus Young Professionals hosted “A Date 2 Remember.” The marquee fundraiser coupled an impressive date package auction with charity, fashion, food, liquor, and networking. From the balcony to the Vault’s entrance, Columbus’ working princes and princesses showcased altruistic hearts and exquisite fashion senses (trust me when I say there were more than a few cocktail bunnies present)…
While the event served as another reminder that Columbus Young Professionals is the sub-forty year old organization in the city, the real stars of the evening were A Kid Again and Junior Achievers of Central Ohio… Both of which are wonderful organizations that we were thrilled we could support…
As of this typing, no official totals have been released, however, sources tell me that almost $20,000 was raised this evening. That unofficial total would trump the collection from the first annual “Date 2 Remember.” Despite the staggering economy, this evening spoke to the true depth of our city’s generosity…
“A Date 2 Remember,” while a magnificent evening for two charities, was certainly far from flawless; making the fact that so much was raised even more impressive. The fashion part of the evening was ultimately non-existent… Why have the people wearing the donated clothes? Why not have a separate show so the clothes don’t get lost, which the unfortunately did under this format… Also, why not spotlight local designers, which there are an abundance of in this city… I counted three different people wearing clothes from Macy’s… If I want to see people wearing clothes from Macy’s I will turn on my television…
In addition to the fashion, the overall presentation of the date package auction was questionable… The masters of ceremonies were awful… Their comments and jokes were insipid and their almost constant begging for dollars after the bidding had clearly died was ridiculous… $800 on one package, in this economy, is good money… Stop asking people for money incessantly like you are trying to get them to watch your dog while you’re on vacation… The music was also tacky… At times, I thought someone was just throwing in what ever CD they found lying around backstage… And playing the music over the bidding? Seriously?
The worst aspect of the evening was the separation of dates from packages… Apparently, under the rules of the evening, you could bid on the package and ditch the person or accept the person with the package… Why even have people attached to the packages? The format essentially reduced them to needless props, so why were they there? Why not, and this would be much more sensible, merely auction off date packages for two people… You would raise the same amount of money, possibly even more money from people who may not have bid, because they were confused as to the concept…
Now, I know what you are thinking… I just spent the last three paragraphs dissecting the event, how could I possibly be of the opinion that this was a great evening… Allow me to say two things about that… This was a great evening. Columbus Young Professionals intermixed a lot of great people and they raised a bucket full of money for two amazing charities…. I applaud them…
I also deeply respect and admire Derek Grosso and Kristin Mele, the first couple of Columbus Young Professionals… I have spoken with both of them… They are amazing people and their organization is outstanding… However, this website has a responsibility… We cannot sacrifice our the fundamental premise of journalism, to report that which we see, because of personal relationships… If someone chooses to terminate a personal relationship based on a website post, I will feel that loss… With that said, I hope that professionalism is universal… I sincerely respect everyone who has made Gossip CBUS a success in the first two months… I hope they continue reading and they realize that reality is our only objective…
On Saturday, Columbus Young Professionals hosted “A Date 2 Remember.” The marquee fundraiser coupled an impressive date package auction with charity, fashion, food, liquor, and networking. From the balcony to the Vault’s entrance, Columbus’ working princes and princesses showcased altruistic hearts and exquisite fashion senses (trust me when I say there were more than a few cocktail bunnies present)…
While the event served as another reminder that Columbus Young Professionals is the sub-forty year old organization in the city, the real stars of the evening were A Kid Again and Junior Achievers of Central Ohio… Both of which are wonderful organizations that we were thrilled we could support…
As of this typing, no official totals have been released, however, sources tell me that almost $20,000 was raised this evening. That unofficial total would trump the collection from the first annual “Date 2 Remember.” Despite the staggering economy, this evening spoke to the true depth of our city’s generosity…
“A Date 2 Remember,” while a magnificent evening for two charities, was certainly far from flawless; making the fact that so much was raised even more impressive. The fashion part of the evening was ultimately non-existent… Why have the people wearing the donated clothes? Why not have a separate show so the clothes don’t get lost, which the unfortunately did under this format… Also, why not spotlight local designers, which there are an abundance of in this city… I counted three different people wearing clothes from Macy’s… If I want to see people wearing clothes from Macy’s I will turn on my television…
In addition to the fashion, the overall presentation of the date package auction was questionable… The masters of ceremonies were awful… Their comments and jokes were insipid and their almost constant begging for dollars after the bidding had clearly died was ridiculous… $800 on one package, in this economy, is good money… Stop asking people for money incessantly like you are trying to get them to watch your dog while you’re on vacation… The music was also tacky… At times, I thought someone was just throwing in what ever CD they found lying around backstage… And playing the music over the bidding? Seriously?
The worst aspect of the evening was the separation of dates from packages… Apparently, under the rules of the evening, you could bid on the package and ditch the person or accept the person with the package… Why even have people attached to the packages? The format essentially reduced them to needless props, so why were they there? Why not, and this would be much more sensible, merely auction off date packages for two people… You would raise the same amount of money, possibly even more money from people who may not have bid, because they were confused as to the concept…
Now, I know what you are thinking… I just spent the last three paragraphs dissecting the event, how could I possibly be of the opinion that this was a great evening… Allow me to say two things about that… This was a great evening. Columbus Young Professionals intermixed a lot of great people and they raised a bucket full of money for two amazing charities…. I applaud them…
I also deeply respect and admire Derek Grosso and Kristin Mele, the first couple of Columbus Young Professionals… I have spoken with both of them… They are amazing people and their organization is outstanding… However, this website has a responsibility… We cannot sacrifice our the fundamental premise of journalism, to report that which we see, because of personal relationships… If someone chooses to terminate a personal relationship based on a website post, I will feel that loss… With that said, I hope that professionalism is universal… I sincerely respect everyone who has made Gossip CBUS a success in the first two months… I hope they continue reading and they realize that reality is our only objective…
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
