In the year David DeVillers has spent on the job as the region's top federal attorney, the Ohio Speaker of the House and two Cincinnati City Councilmembers have been arrested in pay-to-play schemes. And he didn't shut the door on the possibility there could be more corruption-related arrests coming at City Hall. The rash of arrests are a reflection of DeVillers making it a top priority to crack down on public corruption immediately after the Trump appointee took over as the U.S. attorney for the...
Nov 12, 2020•47 min•Season 2Ep. 60
Hamilton County Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou watched election night as a blue wave swept in, taking with it two county elected leaders – treasurer and recorder – and nine judgeships. The latter flipped both the common pleas and appellate courts to a Democrat majority – something that was unthinkable a decade ago for the once-dominant Hamilton County GOP. Those losses have some local Republicans quietly grumbling about the need for new party leadership. Triantafilou addressed his a...
Nov 05, 2020•50 min•Season 2Ep. 59
How many outstanding absentee ballots will still need to be counted on Election Night? What time will results be released? And how do you become Ohio's top elections official? Secretary of State Frank LaRose answered these questions and more on The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast. Listen to the full episode for free by clicking the link at the top of the article. That's So Cincinnati can also be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio and other major listening platforms. LaRose's ...
Oct 29, 2020•45 min•Season 2Ep. 58
It's the offseason, and Reds President Phil Castellini has some time to reflect. In a candid, hourlong discussion on The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast, Castellini covered a wide range of topics, including: • His strong bond with his father, Reds owner Bob Castellini, and their passion for Cincinnati sports • Lessons from working for his father's companies since he was a teenager, when he started as a laborer in the produce distribution and warehouse businesses • Thom Brennaman's future...
Oct 21, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 57
Fresh off attending Joe Biden's visit to Union Terminal, That's So Cincinnati co-hosts Sharon Coolidge and Jason Williams break down the Democratic presidential nominee's campaign stop and what it could mean in Ohio. And listeners get to meet Keith Pandolfi, The Enquirer's new food and dining writer. The biggest question for Keith, of course, is what's his take on Cincinnati-style chili? Find out on That's So Cincinnati.
Oct 13, 2020•53 min•Season 2Ep. 56
Is the 2020 election when the Republicans lose all their remaining power in Hamilton County? It was a big topic of discussion on The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast election preview episode. University of Cincinnati political science professor David Niven breaks down the ticket in Hamilton County from Biden-Trump to Republican Joe Deters' chances of holding the prosecutor's seat to former Cincinnati Councilman Charlie Winburn's race for county treasurer. The once-dominate Hamilton County...
Oct 07, 2020•59 min•Season 2Ep. 55
Lincoln Ware has been on the air in Cincinnati for nearly a half century, known to his listeners as a trusted voice who gives them a chance to have theirs heard. "I've been on the air longer than any African American in the history of Cincinnati radio," said Ware, who hosts the Lincoln Ware Show 10 a.m.-12 p.m. weekdays on 101.5 FM The Buzz. Ware joined The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast to do what he does best – speak honestly about Cincinnati politics, issues affecting Black citizens ...
Sep 30, 2020•53 min•Season 2Ep. 54
Did Fiona actually miss seeing zoo visitors during the coronavirus shutdown? How did the Cincinnati Zoo team break Ndume of a chewing gum habit? And what's a long-time zookeeper think about "Tiger King?" Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens Director Thane Maynard had the answers in a wide-ranging and engaging interview on The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast this week.
Sep 22, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 53
The leader of Cincinnati-based Ohio Innocence Project said in 2011 then-state Attorney General Mike DeWine rejected a request to do a statewide review of cases involving prisoners who claimed to be wrongfully convicted. But DeWine, now Ohio governor, didn't turn down the offer because he disagreed with the premise of helping people who are wrongfully convicted, his spokesman told The Enquirer. Local, state and federal government bureaucracies made such a review challenging, DeWine spokesman Dan ...
Sep 16, 2020•52 min•Season 2Ep. 52
FC Cincinnati play-by-play voice Tom Gelehrter talks about the making of a new documentary about the team, his summer at broadcasting school and starting his own company. Gelehrter's company, 4th Floor Creative, produced "Nonstop Flight: The Untold Story of FC Cincinnati," which debuted this week. Enquirer Director of Photography Cara Owsley also joins That's So Cincinnati to take listeners onto the front lines of what it's like to capture photos and video of the big news stories of 2020....
Sep 10, 2020•55 min•Season 2Ep. 51
One of Greater Cincinnati's leading influencers in the LGBTQ community wants to give embattled Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman a chance to redeem himself. And there's no better place for Brennaman to do that than the television booth, community leader Ryan Messer told The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast. "I don't think he should be fired," said Messer, vice president of the Cincinnati Public Schools board and co-founder of Greater Cincinnati's Human Rights Campaign . "There's good that c...
Sep 02, 2020•1 hr 37 min•Season 2Ep. 50
The election is all about suburban women voters. You've inevitably heard that many times in 2020. Ohio GOP Chairwoman Jane Timken joined The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast to discuss the battle for suburban women voters and whether Trump's message of safety amid nationwide protesting is working with that voting bloc. "I am that demographic," said Timken, 53, who grew up in Cincinnati and now lives in the suburbs of the Canton-Akron region. "You’re watching on TV what’s happening in Minn...
Aug 26, 2020•55 min•Season 2Ep. 49
Cincinnati's Greg Hartmann is among a handful of Republicans who can vouch for how costly it can be to publicly criticize Donald Trump. Hartmann made national headlines in late 2015, when the then-Hamilton County commissioner called Trump "the most offensive public figure I've seen." The comments ended up costing Hartmann a White House-appointed federal prosecutor's job. Back in the local political spotlight to lead the GOP's campaign to kill a potential ballot initiative to disband the Cincinna...
Aug 18, 2020•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 48
Ohio Rep. Brigid Kelly joins The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast to discuss the Larry Householder scandal; the dangers of dark money in politics; how the House moves forward; and what Hamilton County office she may run for in the future. The Hyde Park Democrat says she's concerned the alleged $60 million Statehouse bribery scandal against the now-former House Speaker could deter "good people" from running for elected office and get involved in politics and government. The Kelly interview...
Aug 11, 2020•56 min•Season 2Ep. 47
Former Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken has emerged as a leading critic on the city and county's embattled riverfront development project, also known as The Banks. And the former Congressman and local TV anchor didn't hold back in his criticism of The Banks on That's So Cincinnati this week, calling for new leadership on the project. Luken is a member of the city-county Joint Banks Steering Committee, which is supposed to provide oversight and decision-making power on the project. But the committe...
Aug 04, 2020•53 min•Season 2Ep. 46
Cincinnati Attorney Chris Finney talks about his challenges of going against energy company-led efforts to reject a ballot initiative last year on Larry Householder's House Bill 6. Finney also discusses his legal battles against Gov. Mike DeWine's coronavirus-related orders. Also this week: Co-hosts Jason Williams and Sharon Coolidge breakdown the scandal in Columbus and discuss a leisure trip on the Ohio River.
Jul 29, 2020•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 45
On this week's episode: -- New Cincinnati City Manager Paula Boggs Muething talks about her personal and professional journey. -- What's up with the under-the-radar Hamilton County parks levy -- Taking the stairs at Eden Park
Jul 23, 2020•57 min•Season 2Ep. 44
It's been four years since Cincinnati Parks leaders announced that the long-awaited riverfront marina was finally going to be built. Nothing has happened since, though. What happened? New Cincinnati Parks Director Kara Kish told The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati Podcast that the Parks Board earlier this year requested and got an extension until 2023 for the $1.5 million state grant being used to help get the project going. "I am optimistic about (the marina)," Kish said. "I think it's in the f...
Jul 16, 2020•51 min•Season 2Ep. 43
The burden of paying for future maintenance and upgrades to Paul Brown Stadium continues to loom large for Hamilton County taxpayers. As the bill is coming due in a few years on deferred costs, Republican commissioner candidate Andy Black is proposing a solution: Sell the stadium. It's not a new idea, but Black is well-intentioned and has gathered a team of experts to work on a plan. The former Mariemont vice mayor talks in-depth about his idea on That's So Cincinnati. Black's interview begins a...
Jul 08, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 42
Dusty Rhodes says Democrats can censure him "until the cows come home," but the long-time Hamilton County auditor isn't going to apologize for his recent tweet asking why Black Lives Matter isn't also focusing on children lost to abortions and shootings. Instead, Rhodes is doubling down on his comments and hopes it drives a conversation about emphasizing that "all black lives matter," he told The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast his week. A anti-abortion Catholic and conservative-leaning ...
Jun 30, 2020•53 min•Season 2Ep. 41
It's moments like this in our history when a journalist's experience, perspective and credibility are critical for viewers and readers. WLWT-TV anchor and reporter Courtis Fuller has been a trusted voice for Greater Cincinnati for nearly four decades, and his institutional knowledge really pays off in major news events like the recent racial inequality protests. He was on the streets covering the protests the past few weeks, just like he was in 2001 during the civil unrest in Cincinnati. And eve...
Jun 16, 2020•1 hr 27 min•Season 2Ep. 40
It'd be hard to find a law enforcement officer anywhere who understands police-community relations better than Cincinnati assistant police chief Paul Neudigate. The 30-year policeman last week climbed over a barrier during a racial equality protest and took the opportunity to talk with and listen to peaceful protesters. And he quickly realized: There's work to be done to bridge the relationship between police officers and a younger generation of Cincinnatians. What protesters were saying "it hur...
Jun 10, 2020•51 min•Season 2Ep. 39
Cincinnati chef and restaurateur Jose Salazar chuckles about a conversation he had with his wife in early March. "Everything was just starting to click," Jose Salazar said about his three restaurants, the most popular being Salazar in Over-the-Rhine. "My wife about two weeks before the shutdown said, 'I feel great. I feel like for the first time in years I'm not worried whether I'm going to make payroll next week.' " Some 10 weeks later, Jose Salazar is fighting to stay in business. He talks in-...
May 26, 2020•59 min•Season 2Ep. 38
Before the streetcar was shut down to passengers to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, there was a plan on the table to make it fare-free. Yes, free. Finally. Supporters have long said such a move would bolster weak ridership. Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Seelbach told The Enquirer’s That’s So Cincinnati podcast that the Cincinnati Bell Connector was going to be free to ride starting July 1. (Click the Audioboom link at the top of the article to listen to the podcast episode for free.) I...
May 19, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 37
Concerns are growing inside the Cincinnati Police Department about the possibility of officers being laid off as City Hall faces a monumental $80 million budget deficit in the upcoming fiscal year. Police union President Dan Hils, never one to back down from a political fight, is ready to "call out stupid" if City Council attempts to prioritize any pet projects at the expense of public safety. After years of saying they'll make basic public services a top priority, the politicians "have to mean ...
May 13, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 36
Supermarkets are limiting meat purchases as outbreaks of the new coronavirus has shutdown meat-processing plants across the U.S. But never fear, Greater Cincinnatians. "There won't be a shortage of goetta," Glier's Goetta CEO Dan Glier told That's So Cincinnati podcast. Glier's Northern Kentucky-based plant is equipped with a state-of-the-art sanitation system the company installed last year. Dan Glier also talks about the unique history of the company his dad started in 1946 and whether there w...
May 05, 2020•1 hr 14 min•Season 2Ep. 35
Bent on reopening the economy, Ohio Republican lawmakers are returning to Columbus next week united around one message: Convincing Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to start listening more to elected officials in the Statehouse and less to non-elected state medical Director Amy Acton. Ahead of the Legislature returning to session on Tuesday for the first time in six weeks, Ohio House Majority Leader Bill Seitz of Green Township joined The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast to talk about the role ...
Apr 30, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Season 2Ep. 34
Jerry Springer knows television and politics — and the proud liberal can't stand Donald Trump. So how do you get "Judge Jerry" fired up? Ask Springer whether the networks should be airing Trump's daily coronavirus press conferences. "There is no excuse now that we know what they're like for just turning on the cameras," Springer told The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast . "The reporters should be there, and then write their reports or report it on the news that night. But to just turn the...
Apr 21, 2020•1 hr 12 min•Season 2Ep. 33
Some 50,000 absentee ballots have been cast in Hamilton County since the coronavirus sent the Ohio primary election to the mailbox. Thousands more are still expected to participate before this unprecedented vote-by-mail only election ends on April 28. And lots of confusion and questions remain about how to vote and how to make sure your vote is counted. The Enquirer has you covered right here. Sherry Poland, Hamilton County Board of Elections executive director, addressed all you need to know ab...
Apr 15, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 32
Dr. O'dell Owens wants us all stay focused on a public health crisis. He's talking about the opioid crisis, Greater Cincinnati's leading public health expert wants everyone to know hasn't gone away amid the coronavirus pandemic. "It’s falling off of people’s thought patterns," Owens told The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast. "That’s what bothers me. This issue was so big that the life expectancy numbers in our country changed." Owens, president and CEO of Interact for Health, is concerned...
Apr 09, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 31
