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The Enquirer is seeking nominations for 10 local women who are an inspiration to others through their volunteerism or philanthropy in the region.

Now in its 45th year, The Enquirer Women of the Year program has recognized 452 women throughout the decades.

Nominations can be made online or in writing. Deadline is Friday, Jan. 25.

Nomination guidelines and information about past honorees are available at www.Cincinnati.com/woy and by calling Mary Donaldson at 513-768-8112 or emailing mdonaldson@enquirer.com.

A luncheon on April 25 will honor the 10 women of the year chosen this year.

Thanksgiving is approaching, so it’s time to haul out the paint, crayons, pens, ink, beads, feathers, glitter, sequins and glue to dress this bird.

Four bird creators will win $100 each, and many more will see their birds on Cincinnati.com and in The Enquirer on Thanksgiving Day.

The first part of the contest is for best overall bird (chosen by judges from the Enquirer and Cincinnati.com newsroom). The winner will receive $100.

The second part is an online contest in which Cincinnati.com users will vote for a top bird in three age categories: 12 and under, 13-20 and 21 and up. We’ll pick five finalists in each age category and let you vote for your favorite online. The top vote getter in each category wins $100 cash. To vote, search Turkey.

Here are the all-important deadlines:

• To be eligible for the online contest, your dressed bird must be postmarked by Nov. 3, or at The Enquirer by 9 a.m. Nov. 5.

• To be eligible for the best overall bird, your bird must be in our hands (mail or hand delivery) by 5 p.m. Nov. 12.

Voting for the online contest will run Nov. 12 until the morning of Nov. 19.

Then, on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22, The Enquirer will print the top bird, the three online winners and many more of our favorites.

We can’t wait to see what you’ve got for us this year.

Dress the Turkey

The Enquirer

312 Elm St.

Cincinnati, OH 45202

All submissions must include:

• Who created the bird:
• Age:
• Neighborhood/City/School:
• Daytime phone:
• Email address (optional):

For more than 170 years The Enquirer has reflected the unique people, places and perspectives of this region, narrating the big and small changes that bring us together as a community. We look forward to serving in that capacity for years to come.

The evening of Monday, Oct.1, we will begin transitioning to our new Full Access subscription plan on our digital devices for computer, tablet and mobile websites.

Today is a great opportunity to step back and reintroduce you to some of the most important and popular features available through our print and digital platforms, to introduce you to some new features and products we are launching this week and to some content we hope you will enjoy.

• We’ll have the largest team of writers and photojournalists with the Reds on the road and at home.

• We can’t wait for you to experience a seven-part serial story by Krista Ramsey We’re not going to give anything away, but we can promise you it’s provocative.

• We are with presidential candidates as they campaign around the state. We are preparing primers on dozens of races and issues in Ohio and Kentucky to help you prepare to vote early or on Nov. 6. We will publish those in print and allow you to customize your own ballot using our Build Your Ballot tool at Cincinnati.com and nky.com.

• We have some new stories for you in our popular Passion for Place series. And starting Monday, we will introduce two new series. Inspired Locals will introduce us to the people who are creating things for the betterment of our community – artists, entrepreneurs, foodies, social activists. Next Sunday in Forum we will introduce Ideas in Action, essays by people who are taking personal action in the spirit of leadership and big ideas.

• Last week, we introduced our new Things To Do and Dining sites.

• We are excited to introduce RetroCincinnati.com, our new history website. We know that in our region history lives and breathes and everything really does come back around. So we’re going to dig into the Enquirer’s 170 years of archives and join with partners in the community to remind us how our region’s history shaped who we have become and how it affects the decisions we are making for the future. It will be just fun.

• We will introduce an nky.com app, a Things to Do app, and an iPad app that will create a great full-screen experience for our photos and videos.

• We are making a change to the home page of Cincinnati.com and nky.com so you can choose how you want to see our stories. The headlines in Top News on the home page reflect our editors’ choices of the most important and interesting local news of the day. Today’s Updates is simply all the news we’ve posted in the last 24 hours, from most recent to oldest. And Today’s Paper let’s you look at the local headlines that were in each section of the morning newspaper.

• You can read our e-Newspaper, an exact replica of the print edition.

All of that is available with your new full access subscription. If you’re not interested in using your digital access, you can share your digital access with someone who is.

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Just in time for Oktoberfest weekend and a fall packed with great events and shows, we are proud to kick off our brand new Things to Do and Dining pages at Cincinnati.com.

That is where you’ll find special online-only fall TV postings from John Kiesewetter, to expand on his fall TV preview in A&E today. It’s where I can always find Polly Campbell’s burger and pizza halls of fame when I’m trying to decide which new place to check out.

It’s where I learned that Arthur’s in Hyde Park will start serving only local beer. That Bridgetown Finer Meats (my old neck of the woods) has a terrific wine tasting. That the fries at BrewRiver Gastropub are to die for (they are; ask about the vinegar). That Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse will open Oct. 15. That I need to put the Edward Steichen Glamour Photography exhibit at the Taft Museum of Art on my calendar. That Nick Lowe is going to be in Oakley on Tuesday and I’d love to hear Water Liars at the Comet.

I think you get the idea.

Our website improvements are more attractive, more organized and even more current. We have a new easy search function so you can find the things you want. We’ve created guides to make it easy to keep track of lists – Cincinnati’s oldest restaurants, Bengals bars and tailgating spots, 40 fried chicken spots in Indiana, and more.

We’ll be creating more guides. What guides would you like us to create?

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Over the past few months, we’ve been around the community talking with readers about the breadth and depth of our content, our journalism, and listening to their thoughts about how we can serve the community better. We have sat and talked with people who have been devoted readers for decades and people who now rely on our mobile site and apps and our constant updates available through Cincinnati.com.

Many of you have responded with great questions, comments and ideas. You’ve told us what you like and what you would like to see improved. That’s helpful feedback as we continue to adapt The Enquirer to keep you informed and to serve our community better than ever.

We rely on the area’s largest staff of local reporters, columnists and photojournalists to do so. Writers like Cliff Radel and Krista Ramsey who inspire positive changes in our city. Watchdog investigative reporters like Sherry Coolidge, Barry Horstman and Jane Prendergast who expose stories you need to hear. Not to mention beyond-the-game journalists like Paul Daugherty, John Fay, Joe Reedy and John Erardi who keep you in the know about local sports and personalities.

We all know reading habits are changing fast. More than 742,000 people read The Enquirer’s print edition weekly. More than 365,000 local adults read The Enquirer’s content available through Cincinnati.com. Even more telling, nearly 128,000 of those adults look at our news and information content only through our digital platforms. What these groups have in common is they look to us for our unique content, which has been available online at no cost since 1996.

Just like any other business, as our customers’ needs change, so must we. One change is how readers will subscribe to our content.

Beginning in October, to enjoy Full Access to our content you will need a subscription regardless of whether you read our content in the print edition or through one of our digital platforms. I’ll be sending a letter in a few days to subscribers’ homes with all the details. But, we wanted to share this information with you in advance.

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