WKRP

Cincinnati is also know as the Queen City.  I know there are a few of them there, but how they influenced the city moto is don't know.  Jerry Springer was mayor of Cincinnati. I bet he presided over some fun city council meetings.  Cincinnati shut down an art gallery in the 1990's for exhibiting photographs by Robert Maplethorpe.  Homoerotic photographs, in wonderful black and white (all the better to show the contrast between naked skin and black leather.)  They claimed it violated community standards of decency - there really was a simple solution - don't like the exhibit - don't go in the gallery.  A few years later Cincinnati made the news for prosecuting a "little old lady" for putting quarters in other people's parking meters.  The meter maid was coming down the street, she was feeding her meter, and while she was at it added a quarter to the expired meters on the next couple of cars along the street.  The police were called and she was charged with "interfering with a law enforcement officer." She was convicted, appealed and lost.  I understand she paid her fine in quarters. This tells a lot about the city in the 1990's it is a nice place, run by a bunch of people who are wound far to tight and want to control the actions of everyone.

Such a shame, it is an interesting place.  An old rust belt industrial river city, it has a lot to offer, interesting architecture, a nice river front, a good zoo and a world class art center.  There were also a couple of fun things that have come out of the Queen Cincinnati.  In the late 90's some thug grabbed the purse of another "little old lady" on the sidewalk in Cincinnati.  Oops, wrong lady to screw with, first she was armed and chased him down with her Glock, second, she is a Federal Judge.  Forget the purse snatching, she had him charged with assaulting a Federal Judge. The likely punishment for the purse snatching under local law was a small fine and time served.  The penalty for assaulting a federal judge is years in federal prison.  He appealed his conviction and sentence, and lost.  If he has behaved, he might be out by now.

For many of us our first exposure to Cincinnati through the 70's sitcom WKRP. WKRP was a sitcom about a crazy radio station staff set in Cincinnati in the 1970's.  Who can forget the great turkey drop, "who would have known turkey's can't fly when you drop them from a helicopter".  "So if you ever wondered, wondered what became of me, I am living on the air in Cincinnati - Cincinnati WRKP" I bet you were humming the tune.