The Columbia e-Journal May 09

Anytime Fitness Member Appreciation Day - May 20

Anytime Fitness plans its first Member Appreciation Day and official ribbon cutting on Wednesday, May 20. Join Charles Sippial and the Anytime staff from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. to celebrate the opening of their gym at Columbia Square.

New members signing up on the 20th will receive free tanning services for the life of their membership. The Anytime folks will also offer their appreciation with refreshments by Forkable Feasts available all day. Come early for the ribbon cutting and celebrate bringing Anytime Fitness to Colmbia Tusculum.

Annie's Night Club Settlement Agreement

Annie's application for a dance hall license from the City of Cincinnati was denied earlier this year at the recommendation of the Cincinnati Police Department. This was based on the high number of liquor license violations occuring at this Kellogg Ave establishment.

Annie's subsequently sued the City for injunctive relief and then appealed their license case. Annie's and the City have since negotiated a settlement resulting in agreement to issue a dance hall license to Annie's for their late Sunday Night dance.

Annie has agreed to: 1) have six City of Cincinnati Police officers on detail duty from 11:30 pm Sunday night to 3 am Monday morning and two detail cruisers from 1 am to 4 am Monday morning on the Sunday nights it holds dances; 2) enhance their security by using metal detector wands along with body pat downs of all patrons entering Annie's and have manager presence at the door during security checks; and 3) continue to comply with admitting no patrons under 21 years of age for the late night dances. Cincinnati Municipal Code � 829-3 prohibits the operation of a dance hall between the hour of 1:30 am to 6 am where alcohol is served if patrons under the age of 21 years are present.

Brent Spence Bridge Changes

City Council's Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee held a May 12 public hearings to gather comments on the new proposed alternatives for the Brent Spence Bridge. The report on the proposed alternatives is now available online at: www.brentspencebridgecorridor.com/studydocs/ConceptualAlternativesStudy.html

City Council urges businesses, residents and other community stakeholders to support the report's recommendation to eliminate the "Queensgate Alternative."

City Council passed a motion opposing this alternative last year because of the significant economic losses it would cause for businesses in Queensgate, and submitted a report to the state and federal governments last year documenting the impact of the alternative on the area.

The report recommends further study of two alternatives that would add a new bridge just west of the existing span. Traffic from I-71 would be routed over the existing bridge, while I-75 traffic would travel over the new bridge.

The Federal Highway Administration must still approve the report's recommendation to eliminate the Queensgate alternative. Public testimony supporting the recommendation will help ensure that the Queensgate option is taken off the table. The public comment period for this stage of the project ends June 8.

Living United in Tough Time - on line tool from the United Way
Each of us has a friend, neighbor, employee, or relative who has been adversely affected by the economy. With the widespread nature of the crisis, United Way is putting a lot of energy right now into helping families and individuals achieve financial stability.

As most immediate direct response to the current crisis is the development of an online toolkit, Tools for Tough Times, that provides a wealth of information to be shared.
The toolkit offers support to people trying to take charge of their personal finances, workers coping with unemployment and families facing foreclosure.

Visit www.uwgc.org/toolsfortoughtimes to access the many community resources available to you and others throughout our region, and pass this on to everyone who needs it.

From your neighbor and United Way community volunteer Eleonora Fusco.