Life in "Progress" City

Need jobs? Not here in Cincinnati, who hasn't had a republican mayor since The League of Nations was relevant. They've got it covered.

In the middle of the worst recession since the '30s, a company wants to invest about $25 million and hire 40 people for a project that would make Cincinnati a link in a global transportation network.

They don't want any tax incentives, there's no rezoning needed, and they would use riverfront property that's been gathering weeds for years.

Great deal, right?

Ohio's governor thinks so. So do the Hamilton County commissioners and at least two economic-development groups.

But Cincinnati City Council doesn't think so.

Council members have put up every roadblock they can think of to prevent the Queensgate Terminal project from going through.

Here's the plan: create a barge terminal on the Ohio River where containers of goods could be loaded from rail cars onto barges bound for Asia and elsewhere.

It's being pushed by Bluegrass Farms, a grain processor for farmers that would use the terminal to export Ohio soybeans to China and Japan.

But the city of Cincinnati is sitting on the 31 acres needed and won't let it go, despite an Ohio Supreme Court order.

Council members want to use the land for a still undetermined park or condos. Put the terminal somewhere else downstream, they say.

What's so "progressive" about lack of jobs?

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