NEWS ROUND-UP -- THURSDAY EVENING 23 AUGUST

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THE RIVER CITY NEWS MORE COVINGTON NEWS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE

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FACEBOOK: The River City News

@theRCnews on Twitter  

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by Michael Monks 

Email Michael

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"I HEREBY WITHDRAW MY RESIGNATION" SAYS EX-SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER

EXCLUSIVE

Her resignation from the Covington School Board on August 2 set in motion a chain of legal and electoral events like no other in recent memory in this town and now Denise Varney has thrown another wrench into the effort to replace her by saying that she wants to replace herself. Varney sent this email message to the school board, the superintendent, the board attorney, and the Kentucky Commissioner of Education:

Please accept this correspondence as my announcement that I am withdrawing my resignation as a Covington Independent School Board member effective immediately. It has come to my attention that legal counsel for the Covington school board did not advise the Superintendent of the school district that my resignation must be voted on and accepted by my fellow board members. I hereby withdraw my resignation.

So, if you are keeping score, here is how it has all played out (so far): Varney resigned, the public was told that the Kentucky Commissioner of Education would make an appointment, advertisements promoting the vacancy ran in the Cincinnati Enquirer as mandated by law, on the day of the filing deadline to run for three other school board seats (but not Varney's because she had two years left in her term) Mark Young attempted to file to run for Varney's seat but the County Clerk's office was unaware of any vacancy and so his request was denied, Young had an attorney threaten to sue the Clerk's office after citing a state statute that indicated an election to fill Varney's seat was likely necessary, the County Clerk added Young to the ballot as the sole candidate running for Varney's seat, a complaint was filed against Young's candidacy in Frankfort, Young's name was removed from the ballot on the grounds that the Commissioner of Education had not accepted Varney's resignation, Varney wants her seat back. Got it?

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CONVICTION ACHIEVED IN CASE OF MURDERED COVINGTON TEEN

The body of 16-year old Dre'Shawn Hammon was found in a wooded area behind City Heights in June of last year and today, fourteen months after Covington Police made the tragic discovery, one of his killers is headed to prison. Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders reports via Twitter:

GUILTY! 1st Asst Comm Atty Jim Redwine just convicted Mikel Crumes of Murder in killing of DreShawn Hammond! ... Wow! Big win in a very difficult case! So proud of Jim Redwine! ... Jury sentences Mikel Crumes to 30 years for Murder of DreShawn Hammond. Great work by 1st Asst Comm Atty Jim Redwine!

Crumes was one of two teens arrested in the murder case, but the second one, Tromonte Rice, pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Crumes.

Image via

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WATERFRONT OWNER JEFF RUBY BOOTED FROM ILLINOIS COURTROOM

Ever the showman, local restaurateur Jeff Ruby, who has taken a great personal interest in the murder trial of suspected wife-killer Drew Peterson, was booted from the Joliet, Illinois courtroom today:

“There’s been something I’ve been meaning to tell him for seven years,” Ruby said, standing outside his luxury bus, parked across the street from the courthouse, with a cigar. “So I did this,” and mouthed the words “F--- you.”
A sheriff’s department spokesman said Ruby is banned from the rest of the trial.
The confrontation happened after Ruby said Peterson started staring at him during the break. Ruby said he started to stare back. When Peterson wouldn’t break eye contact, Ruby sent his message. Peterson immediately turned to his attorney, Joel Brodsky, and told him what happened. Brodsky asked a bailiff to throw Ruby out.

Full story: Chicago Sun-Times 
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VIDEO:

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ABANDONED COVINGTON HOME CAUSING PROBLEMS

Trouble started with this Latonia home when its owner died last December:

The city of Covington describes the house as being in legal limbo. One owner died and a co-owner abandoned the place. It's in foreclosure but still in that co-owner's name. He won't transfer the title to the bank. So while it sits and rots no one can do much but sit back and watch. A skim coat to seal the top part of the chimney had fallen off. The damage to Ted Polonczyk's cars looks minor but the estimates to fix total more than two-thousand dollars.

More, including a video report, here: WKRC 
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ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL FOOD TRUCK EVENT IN COVINGTON
Life returned to Covington Landing Thursday afternoon as the food trucks came back to Covington... and all of them sold out. Pics of the event -- at the link!

More photos: The River City News 

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SHOULD CITIES REGULATE WHERE AND WHEN FOOD TRUCKS OPERATE?

Interesting timing that this debate column would cross Twitter today. It offers two varying viewpoints on a debate familiar to Covingtonians recently:

Pia Lopez: Yes, within reason

And just as conventional restaurants can't open just anywhere, cities should be able to license food trucks and set some limits on the time and place of mobile food sales – as cities do in limiting liquor licenses or keeping chemical plants zoned away from schools.
That said, many cities have regulations on food trucks that are far too restrictive.
In Sacramento, for example, outdated ordinances ban food trucks from parking longer than 30 minutes in any place. They have to close at 6 p.m. in winter and 8 p.m. in summer. In Elk Grove, it's worse – food trucks can't stay in one place longer than 15 minutes or sell past 2 p.m.

Ben Boychuk: Yes, but as little as possible

Flagrant restraint of trade may be illegal, but regulators have a vast toolbox at the ready.
The City of Angels came back with an ordinance the City Council drafted in consultation with the county health department. The new law, which took effect in January 2011, imposed an A-B-C grading system similar to the one restaurants have operated under for years.
The law also requires that trucks have access to a restroom within 200 feet of their location, and mandates health inspections twice yearly.
Sounds perfectly reasonable, doesn't it? Food truck owners actually welcomed the rules.
In practice, however, city and county regulators have enforced the law with draconian zeal. Instead of two health-and-safety reviews a year, truck owners complain it's not uncommon for health inspectors to show up twice a month. Tiny violations – such as parking 201 feet from a restroom – beget hefty fines and low grades. It's absurd.

Read more from both: Sacramento Bee 
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DON'T MISS THURSDAY MORNING'S NEWS!
The heart-wrenching story of a KY man killed in a logging accident, who made one last call to his mom as he lay dying; The drought forces a KY farmer to feed his cattle candy; Plus, the Cash Mob crew is coming to Covington...

Full story: The RC News: Thursday Morning Round-Up |
QUICKIES
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Attorney from Kenton Co disbarred for "appalling conduct" WXIX 
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Unemployment rate falls in 97 Kentucky counties State-Journal 
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Benefits fair planned for 2,000 laid off workers in eastern Kentucky Herald-Leader 
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KY's tobacco crop withstands worst of drought Herald-Leader 
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Gov. Beshear calls on Congress to pass farm bill cn|2 
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Kentucky officials ramp up support for legalized industrial hemp Herald-Leader & cn|2 
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Beshear to name new chief of staff soon WFPL 
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GOP unity appears to be strained State-Journal 
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FOX News is negative towards President Obama, MSNBC is negative toward Mitt Romney Poynter 
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Children's Home of NKY interviewed on WKRC 
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Newport citizens raise funds for dog park Soapbox Cincinnati 
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UK Basketball: Nerlens Noel is not Anthony Davis and he is okay with that Coach Cal 
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"WHY I MOVED BACK TO THE SUBURBS"
A writer shares his story from London:

Still, I don’t regret moving on from my old hip, up-and-coming inner London neighborhood one bit. I’m not glad to have moved on because I need space for my kids (I don’t have any) or because I need to save money (though I do). I’m pleased to be gone because, despite all the hype about their supposed edginess and creative ferment, I find fashionable inner city neighborhoods increasingly as banal, antisocial and plain dull as any suburb. For all their reputation as hives of individuality, neighborhoods like my own city’s Broadway Market offer almost identical businesses to those you’d find in currently hip city neighborhoods anywhere. While the base materials (streets and houses) may be different in, say, NYC’s Greenpoint, Berlin’s Neukölln, or Madrid’s Malasaña, the trappings of gentrification – expensive coffee and bike shops, junk sold at a premium as “vintage” and, soon after, bitterly resented chain outlets – make these places seem increasingly homogenous. 

Full story: The Atlantic Cities 
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THE CARNEGIE'S PRODUCTION OF XANADU IS A HIT!
Check out this review:

As Clio/Kira, Margaret-Ellen Jeffreys is perfect. She exudes an effervescent cuteness and has some wonderfully theatrical facial expressions. Ms. Jeffreys' signing is excellent and her acting is natural and nuanced. CCM junior Blaine Krauss does a great job of conveying Sonny's deadpan cluelessness and shows off a splendid singing voice on several numbers. Rick Kramer is known to Cincinnati audiences as a leading actor in many community theater productions over the years. For Xanadu, he plays both Danny Maguire and Zeus. He sings well and has just the right balance of humor and pathos for the roles. Eileen Earnest and Miranda McGee get plenty of laughs as the evil sisters plotting to destroy Clio. The remaining ensemble members each display multi-faceted talents: Blair Bowman, Aubrey Ireland, McKynleigh Abraham (who theatergoers might remember from season one of "The Glee Project"), and Brian Wylie.

There is one more weekend left! Full review: Talkin' Broadway 
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AREA MAN REGRETS INVESTING IN FACEBOOK
LOL. "Area man"...

Saying that he thought it was a “safe bet” at first, local man Mark Zuckerberg, 28, told reporters Tuesday that—after going what he called “all in” on the business—he now regrets staking so much of his financial future on the Internet company Facebook. “It seemed like a slam dunk—popular company, kids love it, and my financial advisors were telling me this stock was going to be a monster,” said Zuckerberg, who works in computers, and has lost nearly $600 million since Facebook went public in May.

Full story: The Onion (satire)
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DOG MAKE YOU ANGRY? SHAME HIM!
Here's how I wasted about seven hours today:

Many, many, many more here: Dog Shaming