CINCINNATI —

The annual Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival kicks off this weekend!

The festival will feature local and international artists and filmmakers.

The goal of the event is to showcase stories that celebrate humanity by providing a platform for stories that typically don’t get told.

Screenings will be held at the Cincinnati Art Academy and The Woodard Theater.

Festival tickets start at $15 and weekend passes are still available.

For those who wish to avoid crowds, the festival is also hosting a virtual event where you can screen this year’s movie selections on-demand or through live stream feeds.

For more information visit the festival’s website, here.

CINCINNATI — BLINK 2022 officially kicked off Thursday night, but there are still three more nights of fun and beautiful art installations around downtown Cincinnati, Over-the-Rhine and Covington. If you're headed out to the festival and overwhelmed by the 101 art installations scattered throughout more than 30 city blocks, we've got your back.

Here are the top nine BLINK installations you should check out this weekend:

Euthenia

Stretching across a long building at the corner of Race and Liberty streets, Euthenia shows a mural lit up by projections and art. Designed by Insane 51 out of Greece, the mural depicts Euthenia, the ancient Greek spirit of prosperity. As the lights project onto her, different layers and features are exposed.

Toroid

Located along Freedom Way at The Banks, Toroid is a physical framework that lights up as "light itself depicts the human construct of time and the linear slices of Toroid emphasize the human prerequisite for time to be tangibly segmented." The installation is designed by This Is Loop, a collaborative artistic partnership by Harriet Lumby and Alan Hayes of the United Kingdom.

Mr. Dynamite

OTR's James Brown mural is already an iconic mainstay in Cincinnati, and artist Kyle Eli Ebersole is emphasizing that greatness even more with Mr. Dynamite. The art projection sends viewers on Brown's musical journey and highlights his career with Cincinnati-based Kings Record, with whom Brown produced many of his earlier hits.

Timisien

Arguably the most immersive installation of Blink 2022, Timisien by Architects of Air is an inflatable luminarium at Ziegler Park. The installation does have an entry fee — $15 for adults, $10 for children 2 to 10. You can purchase tickets ahead of time to bypass any lines for the exhibit as well. For those that enter the luminarium, you're encouraged to wander freely or simply lay back and enjoy the ambiance of the structure. Another heads up for those interested, you do take your shoes off for this installation, so you're advised to wear socks.

In The Middle — Memorial Hall

Designed by Antaless Visual Design, an artistic "evolution" of Italy's Alessio Cassaro, In the Middle sees the "logical and surreal meat and 'collide' continuously, showing us that one or more dimensions can exist and coexist." The installation is also very close to Washington Park, which has food, drinks and music to enjoy during BLINK. There are also multiple other installations in that vicinity to enjoy.

Eyes Up Drone Show

Lighting up the sky two times per night (8 p.m. and 10 p.m.), the Eyes Up Drone Show is displayed over the Ohio River between The Banks and Covington's installations. The show features more than 300 drones forming different images in the sky — you can even catch the WCPO logo in the air on Saturday. You can watch the show on either the Covington or Cincinnati side of the river as well.

String Theory For Dummies

Another immersive installation, String Theory For Dummies, allows attendees to play with yarn strung across a structure. The yarn is then lit up into multiple neon colors. The installation — which is designed by Daniel Shields, Jamebo Corsini and Daniel Hiudt — aims to showcase accessible art and art that doesn't have a barrier between it and people. Attendees are encouraged to grab balls of yarn to "develop your string theory" and have an installation created by everyone.

String Theory for Dummies

In The Middle — Mother of God Church

Same name, different look and location. Antaless Visual Design also designed In The Middle at the Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Covington. The installation uses lights, shadows the multiplication of objects and more to illuminate the building. Similar to his Memorial Hall design, "the goal is to demonstrate how the artist can be completely at the service of architecture," but the new architecture gives his art a new vibe. Don't skip this one just because you saw his work in OTR.

Toy Heritage Mural

If you feel like paying homage to your inner child, the Toy Heritage Mural on West Court Street in Cincinnati is for you. Designed by Graffmapping, who hails from Spain, the installation illuminates Jonathan Queen's existing mural. You can see favorites such as Yoda, Mr. Potato Head, a Care Bear and more on the wall. The installation is also located near BLINK's Asianati Night Market, where you can find special drink and food options.

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CINCINNATI —

The two men involved in the mass shooting in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine district last August appeared in court on Monday for their pretrial hearing.

Cincinnati Police Department says 21 shots were fired in the shooting that injured eight on Aug. 7, 2022.

The first barrage of bullets included a shot fired by Cincinnati police officer Joe Shook, who hit a suspect named Diablo McCoats, 29, in the leg.

At the press conference last year, officials said 29-year-old McCoats has been indicted on 16 counts of felonious assault and one count of having weapons while under disability.

If convicted on all charges, McCoats faces a maximum sentence of 91 years, per court docs.

Jarvis Barnes, 34, has been indicted on seven counts of felonious assault and one count of having weapons while under disability.

If convicted on all charges, Deters said Barnes faces up to 80 years in prison.

Tuesday's hearing established that Sept. 12 will be the final pre-trial before the trial begins on Sept. 18.

CINCINNATI — A beloved breakfast spot is closing its original location for a renovation, while opening a third location in Hamilton County.

Sugar n Spice has been serving up wispy thin pancakes and fluffy eggs for more than 80 years. Its current Paddock Hills building on Reading Road has been around for more than 50 years and is about to expand and get a refresh - or restoration, as co-owner Adam Mayerson says.

"The building was built in the mid-1950's so, over the years, it has taken its beatings, but with love," Mayerson said. "We were wanting to make some upgrades to it eventually, but 2020 happened and that derailed a lot of our plans."

Adam Mayerson

The project, which will start in January and is expected to last until June, will nearly double the diner's capacity - from 39 seats to 69. The new addition along Reading Road will be able to house larger groups and will include ADA-compliant restrooms.

There will also be changes to the entrance, including a pick-up window for takeout orders.

Mayerson says the kitchen will be new - from top to bottom.

Adam Mayerson

"It's a true restoration as opposed to a renovation," Mayerson said. "We wanted to bring it back to its 'original life,' pick whatever decade that is; but just bring it back to life and put some love back into it like all of our loyal guests have."

While the original location is closed, a third Sugar n Spice location will open on Summit Parkway in Blue Ash next to Summit Park. Mayerson expects that diner to open in January, and says it takes its design inspiration from the original.

"We had a clean slate there," he said. "We wanted it to feel and resemble a lot of aspects and little nuances of Reading."

Mayerson's family bought the diner in 2019, after eating at the Reading Road location for four generations.

Adam Mayerson

Sugar n Spice's second location on Sycamore Street in the Pendleton neighborhood opened in 2020 and remains open.

CINCINNATI —

Like many people who spend their days near Grant Part in Over-the-Rhine, Melissa Blowers can't shake the sound of last week's drive-by shooting that injured four people, including three kids — ages 10, 14, 15.

"It was shocking," Blowers said. "The noise alone — it was just so loud and jarring."

Blowers heard the bullets fly while working at Wesley Chapel Mission Center.

"We serve over 250 kids in the neighborhood, and they're always down here on this street," she said. "So safety is a major concern for us."

Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval said in the aftermath of last week's shooting that he has heard those concerns and is intent on taking action.

"Absolutely, there are issues of lawlessness," Pureval said.

In an effort to fight against the kind of lawlessness that rocked East McMicken Avenue, just north of Liberty Street, last week, Pureval may rip a page out of the playbook the city used after gunshots left eight bystanders injured last summer on Main Street.

"We put up bike racks in order to prevent loitering," Pureval said. "We closed off the streets because so many of the ... so much of the violence there was due to drag racing and pedestrian safety issues."

Police also boosted lighting and added patrols along Main St.

"Those are the tactics we are likely to deploy in this area, as well," Pureval said. "We’ve already initiated a traffic study to make sure we can slow cars down in that area where that drive-by occurred."

Blowers likes the idea of slower traffic, but she wonders what impact bike racks and bright lights might have.

"I don't know if we can control the personal disputes that happen with bright lights, but I guess it could help," Blowers said.

WLWT investigator Todd Dykes has reached out to the city manager's office to find out the time frame for the traffic study, the specific streets involved and when results will be made public.

CINCINNATI — Blink weekend is almost here and thousands of people will be traveling to and descending upon Over-the-Rhine, downtown Cincinnati and Covington.

To combat the headache of traveling into the city and attempting to park, Cincinnati Metro and TANK (Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky) are offering free fares each night of the neighborhood-spanning festival.

Each night from Oct. 13-16, Metro and TANK buses will offer fare-free rides beginning at 6 p.m.

There will be direct routes to Blink available at four park-and-ride locations, and these routes will drop attendees off at the Riverfront Transit Center for both Metro and TANK. TANK will also drop attendees off at the Covington Transit Center.

These four park-and-ride locations are: Cincinnati State, Cincinnati Public Schools Board of Education, UC Digital Futures Building and Northern Kentucky University.

The last trip from NKU to Covington is at 9 p.m., and TANK buses will operate from the Covington Transit Center back to park-and-ride locations until 11 p.m.

All local Northern Kentucky TANK service will operate as normally scheduled, but service in Cincinnati will only operate to the Riverfront Transit Center after 6 p.m.

Due to street closures in Cincinnati, Metro's Government Square will close each night at 6:15 p.m., and anyone waiting then will be shuttled to the Regional Transit Center. As streets reopen, Government Square is expected to also reopen at 12:30 a.m.

All new and existing transit users who use the Transit app between Thursday and Sunday to purchase Metro fare will be gifted a free Metro 24-hour pass through the app. Similarly, anyone who registers a new Transit with EZ Fare account through the app during Blink or anyone that uses the Transit app to purchase fare during the day will be entered to win a raffle prize from Metro.

TANK is also having promotional giveaways, drawings and more at NKU as people wait for their buses.

The fare-free rides comes as Blink brings multiple road closures at various times throughout the weekend.

For more in-depth details for both Metro and TANK, click here.

You can catch up on all the preparations for Blink and everything you need to know to have a fun weekend here.

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CINCINNATI — Cincinnati police made an arrest Saturday in an October shooting in Over-the-Rhine that left a man dead.

Police said 38-year-old Arthur Campbell was shot and killed around 4:40 a.m. on 43 E. McMicken Ave on Oct. 17. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers said Campbell was shot in his car. At the time of the shooting, investigators said they planned to use security footage to help solve the crime.

On Feb. 5, Cincinnati Police said officers with Cincinnati Police Department's Homicide Unit, along with assistance from the Fugitive Apprehension Squad, arrested Quintin Stanley, 32, on an open murder warrant in the death of Campbell.

Anyone with any information on this shooting is urged to call Cincinnati Police Department's Homicide Unit at 1-513-352-3542.

CINCINNATI — CEO Troy Allen and his staff at Columbus-based Rise Brands have spent three months trying to come up with the best solution to reopen its 16 Bit Arcade bars and Pins Mechanical duckpin bowling alleys in Cincinnati and several other cities.

"For us, obviously both facilities are very high-touch facilities and so when COVID happened and we had to shut down for three months now we started right away, OK, as far as what's it going to look like post-COVID," Allen said. "What would make me comfortable? Or taking my kids there for a night out?"

Allen said he and his team considered using a chemical bath to kill viruses, especially at Pins Mechanical, where visitors share lanes and duckpin bowling balls.

"For me, one of the most important things was, especially with Pins, you have this facility where people are continually handling and touching the duckpin balls and you have different groups on side-by-side lanes that are sharing that," he said.

Ultimately, though, Allen and his team instead turned to medical-grade ultraviolet sanitizing lights that work for both Pins Mechanical and 16 Bit locations.

"We've got little handhelds that we use throughout the night between uses," said Paul Montgomery, general manager for Rise Brands in Cincinnati discussing his team's use of UV lights at the 16 Bit location in Over-the-Rhine. "But at night afterward we've got one where we've got to throw on the glasses and put on the gloves. It's a powerful one. We treat all the games and UV-treat all the surfaces before the next day."

The arcade bar on Walnut Street reopened a week-and-a-half ago.

"We are doing things a lot differently now," Montgomery said.

That includes having two full-time staff members wiping down or UV-treating each video game machine used. Guests also are no longer allowed to congregate at the bar and are assigned seating restaurant-style, Montgomery added.

And while Pins Mechanical on Main Street in Over-the-Rhine waits to reopen due to sidewalk work right in front of the location, Allen said other Pins Mechanical locations have opened with similar UV technology.

"We've actually installed 55-watt medical-grade UV in our ball returns," Allen said. "So now every ball you throw down the lane, it goes into our lift system that brings the ball back, you know, gravity-fed come back down, and that's about a four-second process."

Allen said the Pins Mechanical location in Over-the-Rhine should reopen by mid-July. For more information on both Pins Mechanical and 16 Bit locations, visit www.risebrands.com.

CINCINNATI — As it stands, the section of Central Parkway between Findlay Market and the bend just south of 12th Street is pretty drab. Commuters use it mainly as a major artery for cars passing through the city. But a group of concerned residents and business owners think it can be so much more than that. That’s why they have formed a task force to renovate the area, transforming the parkway into a grand boulevard that connects the city’s landmarks.

Organizers from the task force see it in part as a way to follow through on the city’s original vision for the parkway: a sprawling street with features like gardens and fountains that rivaled the most beautiful European cities.

“It was meant to be a grand street, connecting from the river through Downtown and Over-the-Rhine and up to the universities and to the neighborhoods along the Mill Creek,” according to Chris Manning of Human Nature. Human Nature is on the task force’s design arm for the project.

Ever since the canal that was once here was filled up, the area’s scenic beauty faded over time.

The task force feels revamping this section of the parkway can enrich the architectural character of the city.

Michael Williams, the owner of Wooden Nickel Antiques, has run his store on the parkway for over 40 years, and is one of the originators of the renovation project.

“It's going to be beautiful. It needs to be beautiful, or people won't be here,” Williams said. “It needs to be a tourist attraction. People will want to come here, but also it is about development. It will tie in Downtown to Findlay Market.”

Organizers say they want to create a more cohesive, attractive space that connects the West End with Over-the-Rhine while also making the street safer for pedestrians. They also want to make the parkway more practical for everyday use. Both the West End and Over-the-Rhine Community Councils have endorsed the project. The city also pledged $1 million to advance the project.

However, some prominent community figures object to this, arguing there are other issues to tend to that are more deserving of this money.

“I feel like that million dollars that they're putting into beautifying the street could have gone to affordable housing development,” said Mary B. Rivers, the executive director of Over-the-Rhine Community Housing.

“I thought it was unnecessary and sort of tone deaf in terms of the greater needs in the community of Over-the-Rhine in the city of Cincinnati that we would spend $18 million of our public dollars for a streetscape project of a couple of blocks.”

Manning acknowledges those other needs but stresses this is a big opportunity.

“We don't see other needs as being opponents or competition for what we're trying to do. We have a lot of respect for everybody who's working to make the community better.”

Next steps for the task force include refining designs, cost estimates and holding more community engagement. It's projected the renovations could cost around $20 million dollars.

Monique John covers gentrification for WCPO 9. She is part of our Report For America donor-supported journalism program. Read more about RFA here.

If there are stories about gentrification in the Greater Cincinnati area that you think we should cover, let us know. Send us your tips at moveupcincinnati@wcpo.com.

CINCINNATI — One woman is dead and two others were injured in a shooting near Grant Park in Over-the-Rhine early Saturday.

Police arrived at 64 East McMicken Ave. just before 5:30 a.m. Saturday and found 35-year-old Brandi Turner dead from a gunshot wound.

Two other victims, whom police have not identified, were taken to University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

The shooting comes days after two boys were shot in separate incidents in their homes this week in the Villages at Roll Hill and the West End.

The area in and around Grant Park has been a hotspot for shootings for years. Even as police and neighbors have been working to clean up the area to prevent more violence, shootings persist.

RELATED: As Grant Park shootings continue, neighbors rely on each other — not police — to protect kids

"Now it's time to step up. I need the right people to see this, to help us make the change with this senseless gun violence,” Mitch Morris of the Cincinnati Works Phoenix Program said at a gun violence protest on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive Saturday afternoon.

City data shows police have responded to more than 250 shootings and 307 people have been victims of a shooting so far this year. As of Monday, Cincinnati Police had responded to 64 homicides so far in 2021.

At the protest, Morris and others laid body bags on the MLK Jr. bridge to show communities what those numbers mean in terms of lives lost.

Eric Clajus

"Each one of those body bags represents a family, represents a mother or father. I need people to see the reality of this," said Morris.

Sergeant George Jason is the District 1 neighborhood liaison supervisor. He said a heavier police presence near the park has been requested by some people in the community.

"We get a lot of calls from concerned citizens, businesses. They just remind us that they would like to see police out walking,” Jason said. "We're trying to build a relationship with the community."

Gun violence and homicides in Cincinnati reached an all-time high in 2020, and 2021 is on pace to remain the second deadliest year in recent history.

CINCINNATI — Longtime resident John Back knows all too well about the serious need for greater access to parking in Over-the-Rhine, particularly near Findlay Market. Despite having access to a lot, he said he can still get stuck without a space to park. It’s even tougher to make space for guests at his home.

“It's challenging, you know. People who don't have a parking spot, sometimes they'll take yours because they don't know whose it is. Sometimes your parking spot gets blocked.”

He, like a number of other residents and community stakeholders, welcome Hamilton County’s idea to build a parking garage in the area to meet the need. The garage is expected to include spaces for the public, especially Findlay Market patrons, soccer fans from TQL Stadium, in addition to spots for local developers like The Model Group and Urban Sites.

However, Back is one of a number of people deeply invested in Over-the-Rhine and historic preservation who take issue with how Hamilton County wants to execute the plan. Organizers of the project intend to shut down part of Logan Street between Elder and Findlay Street, and build over the current street to create the new parking structure. They are also looking to create a new access street behind the garage that will connect to Central Parkway.

Tomorrow, the city’s planning commission is scheduled to review Hamilton County’s application for a portion of Logan Street in Over-the-Rhine to be vacated and sold in order to paving the way for the garage. In addition to taking issues with the city planning for the project, critics argue Hamilton County did not adequately seek out community input before taking this to the commission.

Residents say passing through Logan street is important for their commutes. Building the garage with this design will disrupt the historic neighborhood grid, making it more congested and degrading residents' quality of life.

"I'm in favor of it,” Back said. “But the main issue here is that there's a street called Logan street that people use, every day." Back happens to be a developer, and has flipped a number of properties in the area. He also works for a real estate company and is an architect by trade. Yet he said his concern about this effort is rooted in his professional background, but his love and passion for Over-the-Rhine as a neighborhood.

"I can't think of anything more obtrusive than erasing an entire street and cutting off access to people."

Jennifer LeMasters, also a longtime resident and architect, shares Back’s concerns. LeMasters is the co-chair of the infill committee at the Over-the-Rhine Foundation. She senses that those who have been given sufficient information and engagement in the project have been affluent corporate professionals who are tapped into Over-the-Rhine’s business community. More than that, she and other critics argue that those who have been been consistently corresponding with Hamilton County about the new garage are those who stand to benefit the most from the structure.

Meanwhile, ordinary, marginalized residents that are disconnected from city bureaucracy and Cincinnati’s business scene are out of the loop, according to LeMasters. She feels the county and project organizers should have done a better job of reaching out to more residents who will be affected so they would have had a better chance to provide input.

“There's meaningful engagement, and then there's just check the box engagement. And I do think they've checked the box on this engagement to 80%, 70% maybe, but, but have they had meaningful engagement here? No."

But Phil Beck, Hamilton County’s construction executive, objects to this criticism.

“I can say categorically that that is not the case.” Beck, the head of the garage project, shuts down the idea that Hamilton County did not make a concerted and forceful effort to inform and dialogue with various residents as well as prominent institutions. He said Hamilton County led about twenty meetings with people in the community in recent months.

Joe Hansbauer, the president and CEO of Findlay Market, stands by county officials in the face of the criticism. Hansbauer said he's never seen more community outreach on a project in his 10 years at Findlay Market.

“Ultimately, I think they have selected a design that maximizes the community input. Does it mean that they have hit 100% of all the concerns? Of course not. It's not possible, right? But they recognize where, you know, that there were concerns that they were not able to meet. And I think that's what it's all about."

Bobby Maly of The Model Group also challenged criticisms that the garage disproportionately skews to the needs of private businesses by giving them the bulk of spots. He said much of those spots will double as parking for workers during the day, and public parking on nights and weekends.

Still, critics like LeMasters and Back take issue with the county for not formally engaging Over-the-Rhine’s community council before approaching the city's planning commission to vacate and sell the Logan Street land plots.

"I hope that the planning commission will realize that this is against the comprehensive plan," Back said. "This is against the values that we have adopted as a city."

The planning commission is scheduled to address the vacation and sale of Logan Street at 9 AM on Friday, Sept. 17. Those interested in following the discussion can watch a live stream here on the city’s website.

Monique John covers gentrification for WCPO 9. She is part of our Report For America donor-supported journalism program. Read more about RFA here.

If there are stories about gentrification in the Greater Cincinnati area that you think we should cover, let us know. Send us your tips at moveupcincinnati@wcpo.com.

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati is preserving affordable housing in the West End, but some believe it is coming at the expense of more than two dozen families.

Chris Griffin, West End Community Council president, said his father is one of the people paying the price for upgrades to the Arts Apartments.

"My father has been a 30-year resident at those apartments, and he's being displaced," Griffin said.

Griffin said his father fell victim to a policy involving tax incentives used to upgrade the Arts Apartments, long recognized as an affordable housing development that did not enforce specific income requirements.

By taking advantage of those tax incentives, apartment residents will now have to meet specific income requirements.

Griffin said those displaced are "poor" but "not poor enough" to live there.

"These people shouldn't have to move," he said. "They've been paying their rent there for a long time."

Cincinnati city council approved the tax exemption for owner and developer Birge & Held in November.

The company also applied for Low Income Housing Tax Credits through the state. And committed to making all units affordable.

Of the 248 units, 83 will be Section 8 housing. The remaining 165 units will be deemed affordable, with rents varying by income levels below 60 percent of the area median income.

For the West End, that means a family must make below $35,800 to live at the Arts Apartments.

Under the new terms, 28 existing tenants don't meet those income qualifications and must leave.

"My dad…he sent me a photo and said I don't want to end up like this," said Griffin, who shared a photograph on Twitter that appeared to show a displaced resident.

Welp this is what’s going on in the West End, Market-rate renter were forced out of their homes. 29 families the CDC and city council approved to be displaced from the west end @GregLandsman @ChrisSeelbach @voteSundermann @voteSmitherman @Dr_JRTate @VoteDillingham @StaceySmithCCC pic.twitter.com/czd0XSPMvw

— Christopher Griffin (@Chris_SupaG) August 25, 2021

But Mary Burke Rivers, executive director of Over-The-Rhine Community Housing, said that is not what's happening in the photo.

"In that particular image was a person who relocated on site while their unit was being renovated. And when they moved back they didn't want their furniture. So they talked to the property mangers and said, 'I don't want this. I'm going to put this out,'" she said.

OTRCH is working with Birge & Held on the project.

Rivers said those displaced are being offered relocation assistance.

"All moving expenses are being covered, nobody is set out, and can get upwards of over $9,000 in relocation benefits," Rivers said.

She added that the goal for her organization is to help preserve affordable housing, not end it for some residents.

"We know that it's so important to preserve affordable housing, because you can't get it back," Rivers said.

Some residents and West End representatives argue the changes in the neighborhood, such as those at the Arts Apartment, aren't helping everyone who lives there.

"This is just an example of the double-edge sword if we don't look at all outcomes of the actions that we're taking, and the development that we're doing," said Ashley White, West End Community Development Corporation president. "We need to talk to everyone and not just one side."

Both the West End Community Council and the West End Community Development Corporation said they want more say before the city council makes any further decisions on developments as more housing projects with set income levels are on the way for the West End.

"If we convert everything to deed-restricted income-based housing… we really don't have affordability for anybody at any other income," said Noah O'Brien, vice president of the West End Community Council.

Tristan Vaught had a fake ID at 16. It wasn't about drinking — at least, drinking wasn't the primary goal. Vaught, who is non-binary and identified as a lesbian earlier in their life, had no idea where to meet fellow members of the LGBTQ community except gay bars and clubs.

“We had to go to a bar to find other gay people," they said.

MORE ABOUT TRISTAN: Tristan Vaught leads, educates on LGBTQ issues by being 'unapologetically me'

Life is different now for Vaught and millions of LGBTQ people across the United States, but the club and bar scene is still a critical part of gay culture. Justin DeJohn, who helped open the discotheque-bar E19 in Over-the-Rhine during 2020, wants to keep that tradition thriving in Cincinnati.

“We like to say that we are gay-owned and gay-operated and straight-friendly,” said DeJohn, who opened the bar alongside owners Richard Cooke and Martin Wagner. “We primarily service the LGBTQ+ community and their allies, but truly everyone is welcome here.”

DeJohn said E19 is a welcoming space with only three rules: Be safe, be kind and have fun. Like many bars that serve the LGBTQ community, E19 takes care to make sure its patrons are safe and can enjoy themselves without worrying about harassment, assault or discrimination.

“We obviously want people to come here and drink and dance and have a good time, but safety is absolutely vital,” DeJohn said. “Because we are an LGBTQ+ space, there are things that this community disproportionately deals with, ranging from treatment at other establishments — there is other environmental, social factors.

"We want to be sure that we are really a step ahead, making sure that our guests walk in and know that they can rely on us to take care of them. We are going to watch and monitor the space very closely. Also, when we are dealing with the safety issues, we want to be proactive, not reactive.”

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Members of the staff are trained to look for signs of sexual harassment or assault, and the team took part in "It’s On Us” training through the non-profit Women Helping Women. The bathrooms of the bar contain signage with code words for guests who may feel they are feeling threatened. Guests can repeat these code words to staff in order to unobtrusively ask for help.

“They can come and tell us, and we immediately respond, and we have a system for how we approach possible perpetrators,” DeJohn said.

And ensuring guests' physical comfort creates room for emotional comfort and self-expression, two of the things that set gay clubs apart from the competition for their core clientele.

“You can be whoever you want to be here, and I think that is a really beautiful thing,” DeJohn said. “I don’t think a lot of people in our community feel like they can really be themselves in other spaces, but here I encourage you. (We) want our guests to feel that, too. Be 100% you, and we got your back.”

RELATED: This UC doctor works to provide 'affirming care,' break down barriers facing LGBTQ patients

Pastor Lesley Jones, founder of Truth and Destiny Church, sees the clubgoing experience as its own kind of religious event for people who struggle to find belonging elsewhere.

“At the end of the night, the house music comes on and the next thing you know they are playing church music,” she said. “They are going to church! Talking about, ‘Girl hallelujah!’ and they pray and everything."

In a way, she's an evangelist for that, too. She's taken skeptical friends to gay clubs so they can understand the experience from her perspective.

“I said, 'I want you to see what happens,'" she said of one past encounter. "'You’re always asking me, why do you go there?' I'm like, 'You have to understand, when I’m not welcome somewhere, I create my own, and that’s what they’ve done.'”

MORE PRIDE COVERAGE: 'It's about Pride': WCPO special coverage of Pride in the Tri-State

CINCINNATI — Emilio Estevez feels the magic every time he returns to Cincinnati. So much so that it was the first topic to come up in a recent interview with Vanity Fair, published online this week.

"It’s so cool! I love being able to tell people in L.A. or New York, either come visit us to see what the hell is going on, or please stay away. One or the other," the actor and director said. "It's a really magical city."

In the interview, Estevez spoke about his local family roots. His mother was born here, and his father and fellow actor, Martin Sheen, was born an hour north in Dayton.

He said his "love affair" with the Queen City began a decade ago, when he was touring for his film "The Way."

"(O)ur last stop was in Cincy, and Kristen Schlotman, who runs the film commission, said, 'Hey, you should stick around and see what Cincy has to offer,'" he told the magazine. "And I did. That began the love affair back in 2010. And in the last 10 years, the city has just exploded."

In the time since, Estevez has become one of the city's most famous residents after buying a place in Over-the-Rhine. He shot and set his latest film, "The Public," in Cincinnati, with most of the story taking place inside the Downtown branch of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library.

As an OTR resident, he recently get involved in city politics when he wrote a letter to Mayor John Cranley and City Council asking them to reconsider keeping the streetcar closed indefinitely after it was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"As much as I love to walk, it's getting hot now, and I know that I speak for many of the OTR residents who would like to get on the streetcar and ride to Findlay Market and other businesses that can use all of our help to get back on their feet during this pandemic," Estevez wrote late last spring.

Estevez went on to applaud the city's booming beer brewing scene, restaurants, night life and architecture.

"I call it the Paris of the Midwest. I didn’t coin that, but that’s how I feel about it," he said.

The magazine published the interview in anticipation of an upcoming "Mighty Ducks" reboot, "The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers," which premiered on Disney+ Friday.

CINCINNATI — On Friday, for the first time in 14 months, Music Hall hosted a choral performance with audience members in the same room.

The Cincinnati May Festival had run uninterrupted for decades before COVID-19 forced organizers to cancel it in 2020. Associate chorus director Matthew Swanson said he and the performers were overjoyed to return in 2021 — even with smaller audiences, masks for singers and performances streaming concurrently online for unvaccinated or anxious music-lovers.

“It’s just a joy to be making music together, particularly choral music and vocal music, with others and with the Cincinnati audience that we love,” Swanson said. "Not just being here on the stage in Music Hall, but being here on the stage and looking out at audience members, which is an unmatched experience and part of what makes live performance a community endeavor."

With five performances over two weekends, organizers hope to give audience members a chance to watch in person without worrying about large crowds.

But even if they choose to stay home and watch remotely, chorus director Robert Porco is happy that the festival returned.

“It’s even more special, in a way, because I’ve been here over 30 years, and for every year I’ve been here, there was a May Festival,” he said. "I know that we are one of the few major choruses in America that is actually singing with an audience — so it's a bold step, I think, but I agreed to it because I was convinced that it was safe."