Bill Rinehart

A petition drive challenging a Hamilton County sales tax will fall short of the signatures needed to put the issue on the ballot. The effort's chair, Andy Black, says they needed 33,369 signatures, but won't reach the goal by the Thursday deadline.

Voters head to the polls Tuesday in an off-year election. In Ohio, local offices and issues dominate the slates. Hamilton County Board of Elections Director Sherry Poland says for the 30% of registered voters expected to cast a ballot, there have been some changes since the last election.

The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce has started a campaign to increase voter turnout. The new "My Vote Counts" effort is in reaction to the region having some of the lowest participation in the state. But another program has been trying to make voting a habit for 19 years.

Updated: Oct. 16, 4:47 p.m.

The second Blink festival was bigger than the first, expanding into Kentucky with more murals, and more projection mapping. It also attracted more people, according to organizers. The Cincinnati Chamber says they estimate between 1.25 and 1.5 million people came out during the four nights of the art and light festival stretching from Covington to Over-the-Rhine.

The hot, dry weather that dominated the region in late September and early October shouldn't have much of an effect on this year's Christmas tree crop. It could mean fewer trees in the future, though.

The fate of the Millennium Hotel should be a little more clear in 120 days. But local leaders will have more of a say in that fate. The Port and development company Vandercar have agreed to a contract on purchasing the convention center hotel.

The area has not had any line of duty fire department deaths in the last year, but, Cincinnati Fire Chief Roy Winston says 48 former firefighters have passed. He gave the keynote address at the Firefighter Memorial Service Thursday afternoon, and says technology and training have helped reduce the number of on-the-job fatalities.

Cincinnati Council members have approved a motion that will ask the Bengals to approve the construction of a music venue at The Banks without asking for new parking. Such a move would mean the relocation of a concrete plant wouldn't be necessary.

Organizers of Blink have already said it's best to plan on parking during the light and art festival and seeing the spectacle as a pedestrian. Julie Calvert with the Convention and Visitors Bureau says if you're coming Downtown, it's not a bad idea to get a hotel room.

The Bengals are urging Cincinnati and Hamilton County leaders to settle their differences and work together on developing a music venue at The Banks. The team released a letter this afternoon after a Joint Banks Steering Committee meeting ended with arguments over the proposed facility.

Blink will have more than 40 light-based interactive installations and over 80 entertainers during the four-night multi-media cultural event. There were twice as many submissions for interactive installations for this year's Blink than there were in 2017.

Kroger's new Downtown store opens Wednesday morning. The store at Court and Walnut features a supermarket on the first floor and a food court on the second.

Updated: Monday, 1:12 p.m.

On Friday, a green-ish scum began forming in places along the banks of the Ohio River. At the time, the executive director of the Ohio River Valley Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO) wasn't concerned, but that changed this weekend. 

Hamilton County's general fund will receive an unanticipated $681,000 deposit. Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval says his office and the prosecutor started working a year ago on a special project: to recoup money floating around the legal system.

A 20-year-old man was in critical but stable condition Thursday afternoon, a day after he was shot by a police officer in Avondale. Cincinnati Police say the entire encounter was caught on video but will not be released until after it can be reviewed by the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office.

Cincinnati Police are investigating the third officer-involved shooting of 2019.

Updated 4:16

The parade that kicks off the Blink festival is moving. The Future City Spectacular parade will start at Eighth Street, and travel south on Vine Street to the Freedom Center on Oct. 10, the first night of the light and art show. The first parade, in 2017, was in Over-the-Rhine.