Jolene Almendarez

Feral cats — whether you love them or hate them, someone in your neighborhood is bound to feed them. In the city of Covington, officials passed a new ordinance Tuesday that's meant to find a middle ground between feral cat lovers and haters.

Before the holiday season began a few weeks ago, Cincinnati City Council's Law and Public Safety Committee heard from family members who've lost loved ones to violence.

Committee members hope this annual tradition is a reminder of the lives lost to gun violence. But family members hope keeping their loved one's name in the public sphere will inspire somebody to come forward and help solve a murder.

Three Cincinnati City Council members have been accused of taking bribes from developers this year. City Council Member David Mann says an independent commission could help put a stopper in local corruption when it comes to development.

For most local nursing home facilities, Thanksgiving is the busiest time of year. Family and friends often join elderly residents for meals and visits.

"Typically, from Halloween through New Year's, it seems like a big party on our campus on every level of care," says Megan Ulrich, vice president of marketing and business development at Maple Knoll Communities. "Obviously, again, this year's not going to be that way." 

Some time between mid-November and the end of the year, the pace of people's lives traditionally picks up with holiday shopping, decorating and planning meals for crowds of people. But this year, COVID-19, the deadliest virus outbreak in over a century, has derailed many plans.

Updated: 1:32 p.m.

A third Cincinnati City Council member this year has been arrested and accused of taking bribes in exchange for favorable votes on development projects. The FBI says Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld was arrested at his home Thursday morning after accepting $40,000 in bribes.

COVID-19 cases in Ohio are reaching record-high numbers and the Cincinnati area is no exception. Officials say Cincinnati saw an all-time high of 247 cases Saturday and nearby Clermont County reported a high of 186 cases Friday. 

The Arts Apartments at Music Hall in Cincinnati's gentrifying West End is in for renovations and changes that will result in nearly 250 affordable and low-income housing for the next 20 years.

City Council unanimously approved a tax exemption last week to help finance the project.

Cincinnati Councilman Jeff Pastor didn't show up to Thursday's City Council meeting where his alleged criminal actions were called "totally unacceptable, totally outrageous" by Mayor John Cranley.

Pastor, 36, was arrested at his home Tuesday morning and charged with honest services wire fraud, bribery, attempted extortion by a government official and money laundering. Officials said he took $55,000 in bribes over the course of year.

The Cincinnati Police Department has been undergoing technology upgrades in an effort to provide more transparency, efficiency, and ultimately, solve more crimes, officials say.

Election Day is over but for election workers, the hard task of ensuring the vote went off without a hitch will likely go on until mid-December. In Hamilton County, officials looked into reports of malfeasance and are still counting votes. 

There have been reports of voter intimidation and people voting more than once. Investigations into the claims did not pan out any concrete proof of either.

It's a dream job for newly elected Charmaine McGuffey to take the reins at the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. And now that she'll be leading the department, she's promising to bring big changes in the name of criminal justice reform and equity.