Happy final Thursday of the year, my fellow Cincinnatians.

I’m Rasputin Todd, entertainment editor at The Enquirer, and I’ll be your Daily Briefing host today. We’ll be looking back on 2023 before boldly heading into the future.

Our first course comes from the mighty Keith Pandolfi with his list of the top six best new restaurants of the year. As his editor, I can tell you he thought long and hard about his picks – and ended up choosing six instead of five because he just couldn’t leave any of them out.

Our second course is brought you to by me – and you! It’s one final look back at the top stories of 2023, as voted on by Cincinnati.com readers. The top three aren’t all that surprising, but some of the other choices are odd … and yes, Taylor Swift shows up more than once (#eyeroll). Check out the full Cincinnati.com Wrapped results here.

Our, uh, dessert course is all this other content below.

Enjoy. 😊

What else you need to know Thursday, Dec. 28

🌧 Weather: Cooler with a high of 42, thick cloud cover and occasional rain.

🏀 Holiday Hardwood Classic: The Cintas Center showcase expands to 11 games featuring 22 teams.

🏛 General Assembly: Ohio lawmakers are considering some bills you might not know about.

⚾ Wittenmyer & Williams: Predictions for the Reds and the 2024 MLB playoffs.

🏬 Retail theft: Ohio stores see less shoplifting but more organized crime.

Today’s top headlines

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Your Cincinnati.com Wrapped and more top stories | Daily Briefing