Reservations are required for all courses. Reserve your spot now by clicking on the REGISTER button below each class description. Act now, before your class fills up!
2015 Spring Schedule
Cincinnati During the Civil War
Reakirt Auditorium
Cincinnati Museum Center
1301 Western Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio 45203
Monday, February 16, 2015 Noon-1:00 PM
Enjoy a side of history with lunch at the Cincinnati Museum Center. This free docent led seminar will take you back to Civil War era. It is late 1862, and a Confederate Army is marching toward Cincinnati. The city is in a panic! Less than a year later, Cincinnati is threatened again – this time by the dashing General Morgan and his raiders. Find out how Cincinnati responded to these emergencies in this fascinating program. Bring your brown bag lunch or grab a bite in the rotunda and feed your brain a little local history.
EmpowerU is a co-promoter of this event,
but no reservations are required
How to Reduce Your Property Taxes
Connections Christian Church
7421 East Galbraith Road
Madeira, Ohio, 45243
Tuesday, February 24, 2015 7:00 -8:30 p.m.
Attorney Chris Finney reprises a popular EmpowerU seminar on reducing your property taxes. This is like money in the bank! Property taxes finance our schools and fund numerous levies for public services and civic desires. As property owners, many people find taxes a significant burden on the family budget. Chris Finney will take you step-by-step through the process of determining how to pay the lowest possible tax on your home or business. His tips will be worth your effort to attend this great session.
Chris Finney is the owner of Finney Law Firm, LLC, where he concentrates on commercial transactional and litigation projects as well as complex real estate matters.
Chris Finney
Protecting Yourself From Identity Theft Evendale Recreation Center 10500 Reading Road Cincinnati, Ohio 45241 Tuesday, March 3, 2015 6:30pm* – 7:30 pm *Note the early start time for this class. National Consumer Protection Week is March 1-7 and the Ohio Attorney General’s office is educating citizens about identity theft. Eastern Hills and Western Hills Community Action have joined forces with EmpowerU to host an expert from the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division who will lead this important session. Bring your college student and your senior parent to hear about the most prevalent scams spreading across Ohio and learn how to protect yourself and your family. The presenter for this seminar is Lindsey Wilson with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, Consumer Protection Division. Disclaimer: “This event is not sponsored by, nor affiliated with, the Ohio Attorney General’s office. The Ohio Attorney General’s office does not endorse or recommend EmpowerU Ohio or any products of services affiliated with EmpowerU Ohio.” 
America’s Christian Heritage-Class Cancelled
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
2718 Dixie Highway
Crestview Hills, Kentucky 41017
Class Cancelled Due to Inclement Weather!
Check Back for rescheduled classes
This lesson uses America’s founding documents, monuments and quotes from the Founding Father’s to prove that America did start as a Christian nation. In addition, it examines multiple examples of the Biblical basis of the Constitution.
Dr. Lee Watts is the founder of God and Country Ministry and currently serves as the Kentucky State Chaplain. Dr. Watts is an evangelist, author and hosts a weekly radio broadcast called “Take America Back.” He currently resides in Lexington, Kentucky where he teaches at Tabernacle Baptist Bible College.
Dr. Lee Watts
Click Here to Login to this Virtual Class at 6:45 on March 5, 2015
Class Cancelled Due to Weather
Kasich’s Budget: The Good, The Bad
and The Ugly
Sycamore Township Trustee Room
8540 Kenwood Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45236
Thursday, March 12, 2015 6:30* – 8:30 p.m.
*Please note the early start time for this class
Governor Kasich has proposed a budget for the next two years to fund the functions of Ohio’s government. This budget suggests some controversial changes in how the state raises revenue and alters the distribution formulas for Ohio’s schools. The first half of the evening will bring members of two area school boards to address the redistribution of funds to school districts. The second half addresses several tax and policy proposals by the Governor including a one-half percent increase in the state sales tax, new taxes on oil and gas extraction in Ohio and planning ahead for the long term financing of Ohio’s Medicaid expansion which has recently added 465,000 new adults to the roles.
Ohio State Legislators Lou Terhar, John Becker, Jonathan Dever and Princeton School Board member Steve Moore will offer wide ranging opinions on the budget as well as offering possible changes that would protect the taxpayers while still growing Ohio’s economy.
Important Handouts From Ohio Budget Session (click on handout)
Steve Moore Handout| Lou Terhar Handout | Jon Dever Handout | List of Sales Tax Possible Increases
Watch a Replay of this Class Now-Click Here
You’re A Criminal and Don’t Know It The Farm 239 Anderson Ferry Road Cincinnati, Ohio 45238 Monday, March 16, 2015 7:00-8:30 PM* Doors Open at 6:00 p.m. for the Best Chicken Dinner in Town! The Roman historian Tacitus observed, “The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.” Yes, my fellow citizens, it seems that we are all criminals now. In his lively manner, Senator Bill Seitz will discuss a pervasive problem and outline one of his latest successful endeavors. There have been many media reports of citizens being penalized with fines and in some cases incarcerated for behaviors that were seemingly harmless, but discovered they were breaking an obscure law that they had never heard of much less INTENTIONALLY intended to break. Despite their protest, many have had to pay fines and in some cases, go to jail. This presentation is guaranteed to enlighten citizens struggling to comply with a burgeoning regulatory state. Senator Seitz will also give an overview of the steps he’s taken to remedy the situation and detail Ohio’s other legislative efforts to rein-in the maze of laws and regulations. State Senator Bill Seitz is a lifelong resident of Western Hamilton County and an alumnus of University of Cincinnati, where he also earned his Juris Doctorate from the U.C. College of Law. His reform efforts have been acknowledged with an award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform.
Senator Bill Seitz
Ohio Open Records & Open Meetings Act Francis R. Healy Community Center Chamberlin Park 7640 Plainfield Road Cincinnati, Ohio 45236 Thursday, March 19, 2015 7:00-8:30 PM Attorney Curt Hartman teaches you how to get the information from governments you need. You must know this important Ohio law to let the sunshine in! If you need information from your Government(s), this class will tell you how to request the information, what information they are required to give you and when are they required to give you the information. Find out why these two Ohio laws have been called “the Great Equalizer.” This is a foundational EmpowerU class–SIGN UP! See Dan Discuss The Power of Sunshine–Click Here! Tonight’s Powerpoint Presentation Click Here Request Ohio Attorney General FREE Sunshine Laws Publication–Click Here! Jay Janus Blog Post About Ohio Sunshine Book from Attorney General Curt Hartman Link to Recorded Class that took place on 3/19/2015
America’s Queen: A Queen City Native Cincinnati Museum Center Reakirt Auditorium 1301 Western Avenue Cincinnati, Ohio 45203 Tuesday, March 24, 2015 7:00 PM The best known celebrities of this century might find it difficult to match the glamorous life and social standing of Kate Chase. This famous Cincinnati native, born in 1840, commanded the attention of Americans and captured the eyes of powerful men, both during and after the Civil War era. Kate Chase was the daughter of Supreme Court Chief Justice and President Lincoln’s Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase. Kate possessed beauty, charisma and political savvy that launched her ascent to the highest echelons of society. Her celebrity rivaled Mary Lincoln and her marriage to dashing young Rhode Island Governor and Textile magnate William Sprague made her the Belle of Washington during the Civil War. Kate enjoyed a life of virtual royalty until it all came crashing down after an economic depression, a scandalous affair with a powerful senator and a sensational divorce. She lived her final years in poverty in DC, but never lost her independent spirit. Today, Kate lays at rest near her father in Spring Grove Cemetery. He will elaborate on her turbulent life, with particular attention to her and her family’s many Cincinnati connections. The lecture will be conducted by lawyer and author, John Oller. He’s a 1979 graduate of The Ohio State University and received his Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University in 1982. Following the lecture, Mr. Oller will be signing copies of American Queen: The Rise and Fall of Kate Chase Sprague, Civil War “Belle of the North’”and Gilded Age Woman of Scandal. 
John Oller
Great Ideas for Your Spring Container Garden
Benken’s Florist
6000 Plainfield Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45213
Tuesday, March 31, 2015 7:00-8:00 p.m.
Spring is in the air and all our favorite early season plants are in bloom. Shake off the Winter blahs and prepare to be dazzled as Michael Benken presents some great tips and ideas for early Spring gardening with annuals and vegetables. The highlight of his presentation will be a variety of fun and cool container gardens. This session will remind you why we love the aroma of tulips, daffodils and many of the most beautiful Spring blooms. Nature will surround you and lovely container designs will start your creative juices flowing as you prepare to dig into the warm soil and plant your own bit of paradise.
Mike Benken, third generation owner of HJ Benken Florist is acknowledged as one of Ohio’s most successful growers. He takes great joy from helping others experience his love and success with greenhouse plants and gardening.
This is a FREE Class!
Mike Benken
Price Hill Chili 4920 Glenway Avenue Cincinnati, Ohio 45238 Tuesday, April 7, 2015 7:00-8:30 p.m. Hamilton County Auditor Dusty Rhodes and Greg Lawson with the Buckeye Institute square-off on shared services, a solution offered as a way to ease tight municipal budgets. The questions raised at this session demand frank discussion and evidence that communities will see savings without losing dependable services. Does every community need their own fire and police department? Can residents depend on a timely response in an emergency? Does sharing public services always save money for the taxpayer? These are important questions when your health or home are at risk! Mr. Lawson and Auditor Rhodes offer opposing views on a number of possibilities for shared services, providing examples from communities where combining services offered more efficiency and quality service as well as those communities where the service or cost failed to deliver the promised savings and quality. This presentation will help citizens and elected officials make wise choices when combining services is suggested for their communities. Dusty Rhodes has served as Hamilton County Auditor since 1990 and was reelected to a 7th term in November of 2014. Greg R. Lawson is the Statehouse Liaison and Policy Analyst at the Buckeye Institute. Auditor Rhodes Handout On New Levies Due to Local Government Fund Reductions Greg Lawson Handout #1 on Local Government | Greg Lawson Handout #2 on Local Government
Sharonville Convention Center
11355 Chester Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45246
Wednesday, April 15, 2015 6:00-8:00 PM
Cincinnati area liberty groups annually host one of the region’s premier Tax Day events. Over a thousand citizens will descend on Sharonville Convention Center to hear inspired speakers discuss the ongoing battle for more accountable representative government. Matt Kibbe from FreedomWorks, Jenny Beth Martin from Tea Party Patriots, Ben Swann, Commissioner Chris Monzel and a number of elected officials and local grassroots leaders will sound the clarion call for fiscal responsibility, limited government and free markets. So, send off that tax check then join your friends and neighbors as motivated Americans come together to create the change they wish to see.
EmpowerU is a sponsoring vendor for this event
Tickets may be purchased
at CincinnatiTeaParty.org or at the Door
EmpowerU is not accepting reservations
for this event
Blue Ash Branch Library
4911 Cooper Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45242
Tuesday, April 28, 2015 7:00 – 8:30 PM
Speaker Bio
Dr. Jay Rissover is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and has practiced in Cincinnati since 1989. He is currently practicing at Blue Ash Internal Medicine, affiliated with TriHealth. Dr. Rissover is one of the few remaining Internists who still has hospital privileges and sees his own patients who are admitted to Bethesda North Hospital and the TriHealth Evendale Hospital.
Dr. Rissover has done numerous public speaking engagements, including co-hosting “Take Charge of Your Health” on 55KRC in 2013 and 2014 and has appeared frequently on WKRC, WGRR, WLW, WKRQ, and Channels 9, 12, 5 and 19.
Click Here To See Dr. Rissover’s Video About the Class
House Intelligence Briefing, Grill-Out and Empowered Citizen Awards Glendale Lyceum 865 Congress Avenue Glendale, Ohio 45246 Thursday, May 7, 2015 6:30 p.m. until dusk EmpowerU celebrates the end of another successful semester by inviting all our friends and supporters to hear an important briefing from Congressman Brad Wenstrup as we grill-out and acknowledge all who attended 10 or more sessions during the Spring with an Empowered Citizen Award. This evening always brings a big crowd and most assuredly, several notable officials friends of EmpowerU to say a few words and greet engaged citizens from throughout the region. Be sure to RSVP so we may plan plenty of grilled items for all our guests. With the rise of ISIS and increased cyber-attacks, global stability and American security are important topics of conversation. How is America responding to this new century of threats? Congressman Brad Wenstrup, representing Ohio’s 2nd District, is an Iraq War Veteran and member of the House Intelligence and Armed Services Committees. He will speak about today’s evolving threats, the state of our military, and America’s capabilities in responding to current and future threats.
Congressman Brad Wenstrup