Your Cincinnati Bengals draft grades and other opinions you might have missed this week

The Cincinnati Futures Commission report continues to be the talk of the town. The 74-page report details a number of recommendations to address Cincinnati's projected $438 million budget deficit over the next 10 years. Raising taxes, imposing a trash fee and selling certain city assets are ideas that have garnered the most attention, but College Hill resident Harold Schuler believes finding a way to make Cincinnati's pension fund solvent might be the biggest hurdle city leaders will have to clear.

Schuler suggested dissolving the pension fund altogether, "if City Hall has the guts." His commentary was the most-read opinion this week.

Enquirer editorial: With a new report, Cincinnati’s future is in the air. Pay attention

Should the city consider ways to dissolve the pension fund? Is such a move even possible or fair to employees? What are some other ways the city might address the challenges it faces with the pension fund? Tell me what you think by dropping me a letter or op-ed.

One of the complaints I hear most often from the Enquirer's conservative readers is about the perceived liberal bias that exists in the mainstream media. So it was no surprise that some of those readers lit up our inbox when Uri Berliner, a senior business editor at National Public Radio, wrote an essay on April 9 in The Free Press expressing his concern about the lack of viewpoint diversity at his employer, and how NPR had lost its way, and America's trust, during the Trump presidency. Berliner's critique came on the heels of a March 22 speech by Jenn White, host of National Public Radio’s news-oriented talk show 1A, at Memorial Hall.

Terry Gerbach, of Walnut Hills, wrote: "Shortly after NPR radio host Jennifer White appeared in Cincinnati talking about how the media could regain the trust of the public, NPR was accused by one of its own editors as being very pro-Democrat. Since apparently a number of the Enquirer staff attended her speech and were wowed by it, I've been waiting to read about their take on this revelation, but to date I've seen nothing. Embarrassed?"

Enquirer editor Beryl Love, who attended and wrote about White's visit, took on Berliner's revelations in his most recent column, which was among the most-read opinions this week. Love said Berliner's essay "certainly can be picked apart, but it shouldn’t be dismissed." He predicted the questions he raised would have reverberations in newsrooms throughout the country.

"My concern with Berliner’s essay is that it leads the reader to believe the introspection he calls for isn’t happening at NPR. Based on the response from  (from NPR President and CEO Katherine) Maher and NPR staffers I know personally, it has been, and I can vouch that it’s happening in the company that employs me, as well."

Berliner's essay and Love's response are both worthy reads. You can check them out in the links above. We'd love to hear your comments as well.

Another op-ed that resonated with readers came from Werner Lange of Wyoming who wrote about the near-disastrous train derailment that took place on April 20 in his community. In his April 22 guest column, Lange expressed his frustration with the lack of progress in raising railroad safety standards in the aftermath of the East Palestine disaster more than a year ago. He was critical of local congressional representatives, namely Senators J.D. Vance and Sherrod Brown and U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, for watering down bills aimed at protecting citizens from accidents with trains carrying hazardous materials. More local control is the key to safer railways, Lange said.

Do you agree? How concerned are you about railroad safety standards now that a derailment has hit close to home? We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Here's a few more of the most-read opinions this week:

Column: Cincinnatians divided over whether Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Letters: David Taylor's vision for how to govern should be soundly rejected by voters.

Lastly, the big talker of the weekend for sports fans is the 2024 NFL Draft and the players selected by our hometown Cincinnati Bengals. As of this writing the team has picked five players in the first four rounds: Amarius Mims (18th); Kris Jenkins (49th); Jermaine Burton (80th); McKinnley Jackson (97th); and Erick All (115th). Tell us how you think the Bengals brain trust did with the draft. Did you like the picks? Did the Bengals address their needs? Who are you most excited to see this upcoming season and which player has a chance to make the biggest impact? We'd love to hear your breakdown of this draft class and the grade you'd give the Bengals. You can comment here.

As always, you can join the conversation on these and other topics by sending your thoughts to letters@enquirer.com. Letters of up to 200 words may be submitted and must include name, address, community and daytime phone number. Op-eds are submitted the same way except they should be 500-600 words and also include a one-sentence bio and head shot. Submissions may be edited for space and clarity.

If you need some tips on how to write an op-ed, click here.

Opinion and Engagement Editor Kevin S. Aldridge can be reached at kaldridge@enquirer.com. X, formerly known as Twitter: @kevaldrid.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Bengals draft grades, dissolving pension fund and other top opinions