Billy Graham mission showed unity

The BILLY GRAHAM Mission left a lasting legacy on Cincinnati far beyond the four days of prayer and song at Paul Brown Stadium in June.

Stacie Wainscott, a 39-year-old Fort Mitchell resident who was a volunteer for the mission, said the event was sorely needed in the wake of riots and racial unrest that took place in 2001. The Rev. Mr. Graham's mission showed the nation that Cincinnati does care about those issues.

It's up to the city to move forward from here, she said.

"A lot of people tried to strive for more unity than there was before," Ms. Wainscott said. "After the mission, it showed that people here are thinking about those issues more - to have some sort of peace. It brought something for us to think about." (Billy Graham Mission coverage)

Sprawl comes to Liberty Township

Butler County's Liberty Township became the Tristate's latest battleground between controlled development and sprawl.

In the past decade, Liberty's population jumped 147 percent, from 9,250 people to 25,000. Regional planners project the township will top out at 83,000 residents by 2030 - making it the largest community in the county.

Across the Tristate, rows of new homes, shopping centers and office parks blanket former farmland.

In Liberty Township, Homer Harding, 67, lived on his 96-acre farm on Hamilton-Mason Road since he was 12, raising bean, corn and wheat crops. Now, a traffic light hangs outside his driveway to control cars off Cox Road, which recently was widened to five lanes.

This fall developers paid him $5 million for his farm.

"Everybody's heading for tall timber," Mr. Harding said. "If someone had told me 20 years ago they would pay me this much for this land, I would have said they were nuts."

"Everybody fights everything, but development is going to happen," Mr. Harding says.

New stadiums, new riverfront

After six years of work, the price of progress along Cincinnati's riverfront was realized in 37 seconds, when Cinergy Field came tumbling down.

The most prominent riverfront structure for more than three decades, the stadium is to be replaced with a 51-acre park, a world-class museum and a brand new ballpark next door. (Implosion coverage)

Bob Bedinghaus, a county commissioner who was voted out when Paul Brown Stadium came in $51 million over budget - said he would do it all again.

"For the first time, people are going to understand how much room there is on the riverfront," without Cinergy Field, he said. "For the last 30 years, the whole east side of the (Roebling) Suspension Bridge has been blocked."

Prosecutors investigate priests

The national sex scandal that forced the Boston archbishop to resign was felt in Cincinnati, too.

Revelations of sexual abuse by priests stunned the faithful and infuriated victims who had suffered in silence for decades. In Cincinnati, prosecutors launched a grand jury investigation to find out whether priests or their superiors should be charged with crimes. Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen was still fighting in December with church officials for access to records. "Hopefully, there will be an early resolution to this in 2003," he said. (Accusations against local priests)

Race relations roller coaster

Improving race relations and eliminating social inequities in Cincinnati was much like a roller coaster ride at Paramount's Kings Island. There were many ups and downs, and residents were often left feeling both exhilarated and queasy at the same time.

Such is the paradoxical truth about race relations in the Queen City. For every positive step forward, there seemed to be a negative step back.

Yet former federal judge Nathaniel Jones remains cautiously optimistic: "I don't think there is a city in the country that is being as innovative as Cincinnati in terms of addressing issues of race, excessive use of force and racial profiling. It is nothing short of a myth to keep touting other cities like Atlanta and Detroit as the Promised Land, places of milk and honey as it relates to race." (Local race coverage)