Month: March 2010

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

Make your plans now for Bockfest 2010

There are many things to get excited about when it comes to Bockfest that go beyond the wonderful, oh so wonderful, beer. Some of that excitement should revolve around the many great events and features of the celebration this weekend. While Bockfest truly does not start until Friday evening, things get an early start today. Take a look a UrbanCincy’s Bockfest celebration picks below to start planning out your Bockfest lineup.

Mecklenberg Gardens – Tonight, March 3, Cincinnati landmark Mecklenburg Gardens will be hosting the tapping of Hudepohl Bock & Schoenling Bock starting at 5PM. The event is free and open to the public as some lucky folks will be able to get the first few drinks of Hudepohl Bock, the 2009 Bockfest homebrew winner, and Schoenling Bock which returns after nearly a 25 year absence.

Bockfest Parade – The annual Bockfest Parade rolls through the streets of Downtown and historic Over-the-Rhine on Friday evening to officially kick off the weekend’s festivities. The parade will start in front of Arnold’s Bar & Grill at 5:30pm and will head north along Main Street through OTR. You can either watch the parade from along the route or join in as it requires no advance sign up.

Bock Beer – Bock Beer is a centuries old tradition dating back to 14th Century monks that brewed it during Lent while they fasted. It is always a sign of the coming spring and does pack a potent punch. There will be no shortage of Bock beers to try over the weekend including many offerings from Greg Hardman and our friends at Christian Moerlein.

Bockfest Hall – Every year Bockfest Hall is the cornerstone of the festival and this year is no exception. The one thing that is different this year though is that Bockfest Hall is part of what was the historic Kauffmann Brewery near Vine & Liberty streets (map) in Over-the-Rhine. Be a part of history and have a beer in an old Cincinnati brewery that is also rumored for “big” news in the near future.

Arnold’s – Cincinnati’s oldest continually operating tavern, Arnold’s, will be playing host to entertainment through the weekend, has a special Bockfest menu that is definitely worth checking out, and will feature six Bock beers on tap, the most of any Bockfest establishment.

Free Shuttle – Bockfest Hall & Arnolds are only two of the participating venues at Bockfest, and all weekend a free shuttle (see map above) will run between all of the participating Bockfest establishments. Not only is this beneficial because it gives you access to many venues around the area, but it works great as you can park near any establishment and hop on the shuttle for the night (sounds a little familiar to something else being proposed).

Great Local Music – Great music occurs all weekend long at the participating Bockfest venues, but the one can’t miss act has to be local favorite Jake Speed & the Freddies who will be playing their Cincinnati flavored tunes at Bockfest Hall on Friday evening. Here are the rest of the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday events and bands that can be found at any one of the 13 participating venues.

Great Cincinnati Food – While the 14th Century monks may have brewed Bock beer because they were fasting during lent, you won’t have to. Food can be had at the many fine establishments as well as Bockfest Hall which will feature German food from Mecklenburg Gardens and waffles from Taste of Belgium.

Hudy Bock & the Homebrew Contest – This event, brings together home brewers from around the city to compete in a contest to see who makes the best Bock beer. While many varieties will be judged, the winner of the Traditional Bock category will be honored by Christian Moerlein who will use the recipe for the 2011 version of Hudepohl Bock. The competition starts at noon on Saturday at Bockfest Hall.

The annual Bockfest Parade kicks off the weekend of festivities Friday at 5:30pm – photo by SlimWhitman.

“Little Kings” Sausage Queen Finals – To be held at Bockfest Hall on Saturday evening at 8pm this event is not to be missed as the Sausage Queen of the festival will be crowned. The road to becoming the Sausage Queen includes making it through preliminary rounds that have been held over the last few weeks and is a high honor for whomever is wins the crown. The contest has become legendary and is always lots of fun.

Historic Church Tour – New to Bockfest this year is the Sunday afternoon Historic Church Tour of six of Cincinnati’s most historic churches located in Over-the-Rhine. The tour starts at 2pm and is scheduled to last for two hours. The price of admission to the tour is $20 and includes drink tickets for Bockfest Hall.

Regardless of how much time you spend at Bockfest, it looks to be a great weekend. Temperatures look to be in the mid to upper 40’s with clear skies. There will always be something happening, and with the free shuttle getting from place to place should be very easy. So take the time to come have some fun and support Cincinnati’s rich brewing history and the time old tradition of the coming of spring with Bockfest 2010.

Photo of Tom Hartman at Mecklenberg Gardens from BuyCincy.

Categories
News Politics

Public safety spending consumes Cincinnati’s strained budget

As Cincinnati faces a $51 million operating budget deficit for 2010, with the chance of the deficit worsening in 2011, many Cincinnatians and local leaders are looking for ways to close the gap without further cutting into already slim programs elsewhere.

Cincinnati’s 2010 General Fund Operating Budget totals $393.8 million of which public safety departments make up $181.9 million or 63 percent of the annual operating costs. A large chunk of that $181.9 million is made up in payroll costs for 1,135 police officers (3.4 officers per 1,000 residents). The question that must be asked is if other operations have continually been cut over recent years, then how can we close a $51 million budget deficit?

For comparison purposes, the City of Columbus has more than twice the population of the City of Cincinnati with 773,277 residents spread out over a much larger land area. Compared to Cincinnati though, Columbus has only 1,876 police officers (2.43 officers per 1,000 residents) and a Part 1 crime rate 4 percent lower than Cincinnati.

The objective data seems to indicate that a more robust police force alone is not necessarily the path to lower crime rates. But since 1974 while Cincinnati’s population has decreased 26 percent the police presence has increased 36 percent. Over that same time period public safety’s portion of the annual General Fund Operating budget has increased from 31 to 63 percent, and has seen spending increase 124 percent while non-public safety spending has decreased 43 percent.

The data is alarming. While the City continues to cut essential programs in order to balance a budget in a shrinking city, public safety programs continue to see expenditures increase with virtually no public opposition or discussion about the need for these expenditures. Of the more than 1,100 police officers only 698 are used for patrol purposes. The Cincinnati Fire Department meanwhile saw 86 percent of all fire runs in 2009 go to non-fire events.

“Police visibility in crime hot spots and enforcement of nuisance properties actually prevent crime, but in Cincinnati much of our approach is responding to crime in a defensive manner,” said former City Council member Greg Harris. “This reactive approach will never lessen crime and we will never have enough cops to make it effective. As a result, we have to implement proven crime fighting strategies built on greater police visibility.”

Public Safety related spending has risen 124% since 1974 while non-Public Safety spending has decreased 43% [LEFT]. In 2010, Public Safety related spending accounts for 63% of Cincinnati’s 2010 General Fund Operating Budget [RIGHT].

In Cleveland, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) have begun rejecting calls for minor ailments such as toothaches or hemorrhoids, and as a result has been able to reduce its ambulance fleet by three vehicles in an effort to help close their own glaring budget deficit. The difference between Cincinnati is even greater as Cincinnati EMS also sends fire trucks on these calls.

Reductions in Cincinnati’s public safety budgets could very easily help close the budget deficit for 2010 and offer long-term cost savings for the city. The comparisons to Columbus and Cleveland are only so useful as each city is unique, but they do offer an interesting insight into Cincinnati’s budget discussions especially when current budgets are examined with past budgets.

The answer for Cincinnati seems to lie in more efficient public safety operations, as with Los Angeles’ or New York’s high-tech crime mapping strategy, where the police force is managed to operate in a proactive way that helps reduce violence long-term and fire fighters are used to fight fires and not to respond to 911 calls for toothaches. The question now is whether or not our political leaders will have the courage to stand up to the police and fire unions and make these decisions.

Cincinnati Police photograph by Ronny Salerno.

Categories
News

On-street bike corrals coming to Cincinnati

In this week’s issue of Soapbox Cincinnati, I wrote about the first on-street bicycle parking in the region coming this April to Northside. The move is another important step by the City of Cincinnati towards becoming the bicycle friendly city this administration wants the city to become.

Bicyclists that are in the know are already clamoring about the new addition. But for those who have yet to experience on-street bike corrals, take a look at how they have positively impacted businesses, pedestrians, bicyclists and more in Portland.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

Bockfest is about beer, history and so much more

This weekend marks the 2010 version of Bockfest in historic Over-the-Rhine and downtown Cincinnati. The annual festival celebrates the arrival of bock beer which is traditionally a Lenten brew originally produced by European monks in the 14th Century. And while the festival derives its name from the beer and it takes place in Cincinnati’s richest of brewing neighborhoods, it truly is about so much more than the beer.

Prior to prohibition, Over-the-Rhine was a densely populated neighborhood home to many of Cincinnati’s beer barons including Christian Moerlein among others. The mixed-use neighborhood featured breweries, bottling plants, lagering cellars, residences and businesses for all those who worked there. Much of this history is featured on the annual Prohibton Resistance Tour (sold-out) which will take over 600 visitors through some of the old buildings, cellars, and tunnels in the neighborhood.

Another way to get to know the neighborhood is through the Historic Church Tour which occurs on Sunday afternoon at 2pm. Many of the churches on the tour are over 150 years old and are home to some of the most stunning architecture in the city. In addition to the six churches on the walking tour, each tour-goer will receive drink tickets good at Bockfest Hall located at the historic Kauffman Brewery (map).

Proceeds of both tours, and the entire weekend, go right back to the Brewery District Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation and the Over-the-Rhine Foundation. The proceeds will go to help maintain Over-the-Rhine’s historic character and keep its brewing heritage alive. There is also a raffle being held for a one week vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with tickets on sale all weekend and through the Over-the-Rhine Foundation.

And of course, there is the beer. At this year’s Bockfest there will be the annual favorites like the Christian Moerlein Emmancipator Dopplebock and Hudy Bock brewed with a special recipe this year brought to us by Michael Carver of Northern Kentucky. The highlight of this year’s Bockfest might very well be the return of longtime Cincinnati brew Shoenling Bock which hasn’t been produced in over 25 years.

While there are many activities leading up to the Bockfest festivities, the official start is the parade on Friday evening originating at Arnold’s at 5:30pm. Keep an eye on UrbanCincy for an article later in the week detailing the specifics of the weekend!

Bockfest Parade photo by chiswick.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment Business News

Fountain Square Ice Rink has record breaking season

Just over a week ago the U.S. Bank Ice Rink at Fountain Square closed down after a record breaking season. While the rink closure is always a sign of the spring to come, this one was especially meaningful in quite a few ways.

First off, the 2009-2010 was a record breaking season for the rink as it welcomed more visitors than ever before. In total, just over 49,000 skaters found their way to Fountain Square to take part in what has quickly become a winter tradition in downtown Cincinnati. This season the rink saw a 22% increase in the number of visitors over last season and the growth is nearly exponential when compared to the times prior to the renovation of the Square. Before 2006 the rink averaged about 50 skaters a day, but this season saw that number balloon to an average of 591 skaters each day.

Clearly some days are busier than others, and this year was no exception. This season, the rink was able to host many events which featured discounted or free skating for families and students which served as a great way to bring people into the central business district. Without question, this past season of ice skating which started on Thanksgiving Day was the most successful the rink has seen to date and it only bodes well for the future.

In addition to ice skating, the rink is also home to the HGC Broomball League which was played during the first six weeks of 2010. In total, forty teams participated including The Little Kings & Queens of Cincinnati which featured two UrbanCincy writers. While the season was not the most successful on the ice, it was a resounding success off. Our one win, and many losses, were well documented by our number one fan 5chw4r7z. Playing alongside Jenny & Dave of UrbanCincy were many other folks passionate about the heart of our city including Brad Thomas of CincyStreetcar and Gordon Bombay of Queen City Discovery.

The broomball league is one of the more popular activities that Fountain Square produces all year and it fills up quickly each year. This season included games played during the week as well as the first ever Saturday league, which will likely be continued next season when the rink opens again. Here are some “official” pictures of the championship games which brought the season to a close during on February 17.