Citywire
By Eric Pacella |
|
Light Rail
The state of Ohio has submitted a preliminary application to the Federal Railroad Administration in the hopes that the FRA would fund a passenger-rail service linking Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton, and Cincinnati. These trains would have a maximum speed of 79 mph. According to the application, service could begin in the fall of 2011 at a cost of about $250 million. Another application is in place for a high-speed rail, which would travel at 110 mph. This project would service the same cities at an estimated cost of $1.53 billion. Compare that to the estimate of $1.6 billion for the rebuilding project of I-70 and I-71 downtown, and suddenly high-speed rail service doesn't seem like such a costly endeavor. A total of $8 billion of federal stimulus money has been set aside for high-speed rail projects.
Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest in German Village was NOT cancelled in mid-July in exchange for an anonymous $20,000 donation that carried a stipulation that the event be cancelled if the donation were accepted. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The German Village Society cancelled the event minutes before accepting an anonymous $20,000 donation that no longer held such a stipulation. Clearly, the two events were completely unrelated. Days later, convinced that the public just wouldn't understand, the GVS decided not to take the money after all, and said it was considering an event similar to Oktoberfest on a smaller scale. The owner of Schmidt's Restaurant und Sausage Haus, Geoff Schmidt, has decided to take over the event, renaming it "The Columbus Oktoberfest," and moving it to the Ohio State Fairgrounds. Kudos to you, Geoff. Ausgezeichnet.
Graduate Tax Increase
A college tuition freeze that has been in place for the past two years may provide much-needed respite for undergraduates, but does not affect graduate-level programs. Ohio State grad students will be paying as much as 9.2 percent more for their tuition. Only one program, the Master's of Business Operation Excellence, did not see an increase in tuition. Undergraduate degrees are seen as a necessity and graduate degrees as an option, hence the lack of effort to keep costs of graduate-level programs down. Graduate students are often paid to teach, helping students to cover the cost on their own.
The Governor's Gamble
In our July issue, 614 reported that Governor Ted Strickland was planning to circumvent the voting public and approached the Ohio state legislature to approve a proposal to introduce slot machines to Ohio's horse-racing tracks - despite the fact that Ohio voters had turned down slots in the past. When it showed up as part of his budget proposal, Republican legislators refused to approve the slots, delaying approval of the budget. In a surprising power play, Strickland issued an executive order on July 13th to the Ohio Lottery Commission authorizing the slot machines to go into seven area racetracks, bypassing the General Assembly and assuming full responsibility for the decision. The two-year, $52 billion proposed operating budget includes $993 million of revenue that is expected to be generated by the slots.
Each racetrack will be permitted up to 2,500 of the machines, and will be charged a $65 million licensing fee that will be broken up into five equal payments.
Originally Published: August 1, 2009
