360 Fireworks Party

Saturday, July 21, 2012

NEWS ROUND-UP -- SATURDAY 21 JULY

THE RIVER CITY NEWS MORE COVINGTON NEWS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE
|
by Michael Monks 
|
BUSY, IMPORTANT CITY COMMISSION MEETING ON TUESDAY
Another part of the Center City Action Plan will be presented with a focus on improving the City's retail situation; Six to retire from Covington Fire Dept and one from the Police Dept; The City sells 3 homes for a buck and may now share more than $120,000 (in federal funding) for their rehab; Plus, new light fixtures possible for Mainstrasse and Riverside Drive. Details at the link.
|
HELP REBUILD THE SIXTH DISTRICT PLAYGROUND TODAY
The community needs you Saturday as Sixth District School and its partners (such as Gateway College) begin the work of rebuilding its playground that was scorched on June 24. Everyone can give something: time, ideas, resources, and money. To raise some cash, there will be an event at the school (1901 Maryland Ave in Austinburg) on Saturday from 11:00AM - 2:00PM. Some ways money will be raised: City Commissioner Steve Casper and Covington Independent Public Schools Superintendent Lynda Jackson will be in a dunking booth and for two bucks you can take a few shots at them. You can adopt a plant for $2, $5, or $10. Volunteers from Seven Hills Church will be there to help sand the area around what is left of the playground equipment. By the way, Lowe's will match what is raised up to $5,000. Get down there and help out!
(Original story with photos: Fire destroys playground at Covington School)
|
DON'T MISS FRIDAY'S NEWS & THE WEEKEND PREVIEW
"The one big loser in the prohibition of cannabis has been the truth," writes a KY veteran; Plus, a look ahead to a busy, active weekend. Click it.
|
QUICKIES
|
Man pleads guilty in Kenton Co to attempting to meet teen girl for sex Cincinnati Enquirer 
|
Kentucky man indicted on child porn charges press release  
|
The vehicle of Fugitive ex-Army Ranger that fled his rape trial is found in Georgetown WKYT 
|
RELATED: Rape victim unable to move on with life while accused rapist is still on the loose Herald-Leader  
|
Kentucky switching to one drug for executions Herald-Leader 
|
Delta flight makes emergency landing in Louisville Courier-Journal 
|
Covington program teaches teens about jobs Cincinnati Enquirer
|
PHOTOS: Wounded Kentucky soldier welcomed home Herald-Leader 
|
Tax reform to get public hearing in NKY Cincinnati Enquirer 
|
KY League of Cities bond program updated WTVQ 
|
Kentucky One gets nearly $700,000 from Catholic Health for health services in the Commonwealth WAVE 
|
KY represented in national education publication WFPL 
|
Governor Steve Beshear talks about his trip to Asia YouTube 
|
Popular Democrat Crit Luallen still mulling a run for Governor in 2015 cn|2 
|
Belmont winner Union Rags retired after season-ending injury Courier-Journal 
|
WHY US CITIES ARE GOING BANKRUPT
CNN's Fareed Zakaria offers his analysis:
The truth is America is sacrificing its future to pay for its past. To keep up with burgeoning pensions, states and cities are slashing services. It's also feeding into the unemployment problem. State and local governments have 445,000 fewer workers today than in 2007. Even if you exclude teachers from that number, we have 231,000 fewer workers.
For decades now, local governments have doled out patronage by increasing pension benefits – these costs impact the budget years later, when the officials who gave the benefits are safely retired themselves. We're now having to reckon with those choices.
CNN
|
JOHNSON & JOHNSON TO SETTLE KICKBACK SCHEME WITH OMNICARE
The formerly Covington-based health care behemoth Omnicare isn't the only shady business in America and teamed up with other shady businesses that are now paying for that partnership:
Johnson & Johnson will likely pay as much as $2.2 billion to settle claims that it promoted the antipsychotic medication Risperdal for unapproved uses, the Wall Street Journal reported. The settlement would also resolve an investigation into whether New Brunswick, N.J.-based J&J paid kickbacks to Covington-based (NYSE: OCR) Omnicare Inc.
Business Courier/James Ritchie 
|
DOES RAISING TAXES ON THE RICH HURT SMALL BUSINESSES?
There is very little evidence to support that oft-cited claim:
“The arguments against allowing the high-end tax cuts to expire on schedule echo those made against President Clinton’s proposed 1993 tax increases, which set marginal rates at the levels to which they are set to return when the Bush rate cuts expire. Critics claimed at the time that those tax increases would seriously harm economic growth and even send the economy back into recession. As it turned out, job creation and economic growth proved significantly stronger following the 1993 tax increases than following the 2001 Bush tax cuts. Further, small businesses generated jobs at twice the rate during the Clinton years than they did under the Bush tax code.”
Full story: Washington Post 
|
FED RESERVE OFFICIAL SAYS CINCI/NKY GROWTH IS OUTPACING NATION
WNKU's report from the Covington Business Council's monthly luncheon:
(Thursday), Dr. LaVaughn Henry, who runs the Cincinnati branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, spoke about the economy at a meeting of the Covington Business Council. After his address, he talked with WNKU's Steve Hirschberg. Henry says the Cincinnati regional economy is doing better than the nation as a whole in recovering from the Great Recession.
Listen to why: WNKU 
|
COVINGTON URBAN PARTNERSHIP SCORES $20,000 GRANT
From the Covington Business Council Foundation/Urban Partnership:
The Covington Business Council Foundation, on behalf of the Urban Partnership of Covington (UP), has received a $20,000 grant from The Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF) to fund UP’s pilot clean and safe program which resulted in the removal of more than 40 tons of litter and the elimination of more than 700 instances of graffiti in the program’s first 15 months of operation.  
The program is a demonstration project. UP leaders and fellow property owners later this year plan to petition fellow land owners to agree to be assessed on the value, square footage and frontage of their properties. In addition to economic development and beautification services, the funds from the assessment would also pay for enhanced maintenance which is exactly the work done in the pilot program. UP has raised over $200,000 from individuals and charitable foundations in the past year to fund the effort.  
Partnership Executive Director Pat Frew says the donation is greatly appreciated. “To have a leading philanthropic organization in our community like the Greater Cincinnati Foundation validate our work with such a generous gift, it encourages our stakeholders and strengthens our resolve that our work is helping to, if not save Covington, certainly re-make it an attractive destination for businesses and residents.”
|
ARTS COUNCIL PROFILES CITY'S DESIGNATION AS CULTURAL DISTRICT
Earlier this year Covington joined Berea, Danville, Horse Cave, and Paducah as Kentucky's first designated cultural districts:
By definition, a cultural district is a well-recognized, labeled, mixed-use area of a community – whether small and rural or large and urban – with myriad cultural amenities. Some 100-plus U.S. cities have planned or started cultural districts, using arts and culture to spawn revitalization efforts. Funded by the Kentucky General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts, the KAC developed the Kentucky Cultural District Certification Program to encourage communities to form partnerships that link culture with economic development.
(snip)
Another river city rife with artsy venues, Covington also boasts a redeveloped waterfront with floodwall murals. Its cultural attractions embrace its German heritage (MainStrasse Village), religious roots (the splendid Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption), architecture (Roebling Suspension Bridge), history (James A. Ramage Civil War Museum) and arts (Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center).
Like the other four Cultural District cities, Covington had city leaders that recognized the community’s arts and cultural assets as economic boosters early on.
“We were ready when the Cultural District program came along,” said Natalie Bowers, art director for the City of Covington. “Essentially, it gave our cultural entities a platform to all work together. All we had to do was fill in the paperwork.”
Having that designation speaks to the city’s quality of life, adding to its marketability for business and tourism, said Barbara Dozier, vice-president of sales and marketing for the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Read about the other cities, too: The Lane Report.
|
WOULD YOU SWIM IN THE OHIO RIVER?
It appears that more people are:
Jonathan Grinder got some strange looks a few years back when he started pitching the idea of a race for swimmers across the Ohio River. He was relatively new in town and figured people here would jump at the chance to dive into the region’s greatest natural resource. Anyone can swim in a pool, he told friends. This would be something special. The response he heard most often: “You’re nuts.”
“People kept saying, ‘No, no, no, you can’t do this,’ ” Grinder recalled. “There’s this perception that the river is dangerous and unhealthy to swim in.” Grinder was undaunted.  
Read it: Cincinnati Enquirer/Dan Horn 
|
MORE QUICKIES
|
Kentucky assault victim's Twitter account may land her in jail Courier-Journal 
|
Children at a daycare are found unattended in a hot attic with 102-degree temperature WKYT 
|
EDITORIAL: RICHMOND SHOULD STAND FOR FAIRNESS (LIKE COVINGTON)
An editorial from the Herald-Leader:

But efforts to extend civil rights protections in Kentucky to include sexual orientation and gender identity have not succeeded. So, Kentucky is left with a patchwork.
That's why a lesbian couple kissing in a park would be protected under the law in Lexington, Louisville and Covington but had no recourse last week in Richmond when they were kicked out of the park.
And that's why Richmond should move quickly to pass a fairness ordinance and extend basic rights to gay, lesbian and transgendered people.
Full editorial: Herald-Leader 

|
TV star Meredith Baxter talks to The River City News publisher
The first-ever CNKY Scene GLBT Film Festival kicks is this weekend in Cincinnati with several great films lined up for presentation. The special guest is Mereditch Baxter who you may remember as the mom on TV's Family Ties and who narrates a documentary being shown at the festival about a raid on a gay bar in Fort Worth, Texas. On Saturday, Baxter will be at the festival for a question and answer session following the film and I am thrilled to have been asked to moderate the discussion. Catch us at Know Theatre on Jackson Street on Over-the-Rhine starting at 6:00PM. -Michael Monks
|
WAS CINCINNATI'S BUNBURY MUSIC FEST TOO WHITE?
That's what a CityBeat reporter says of the first-time festival, which was a smashing success in drawing thousands to Downtown Cincinnati:
Seeing clips of and reading band line-ups for the Bunbury Music Festival reminded me of what a large-scale white boys’ club Cincinnati is when it comes to live music.
A real shame in a city that’s given the world funk, jazz, hip hop and gospel, all indie music because none of it’s country or crossover rap.
Believe me, I do understand the economics of segregation, unintentional or otherwise. But well-intended segregation does not make it any less glaring or annoying.
You’d think music — that so-called “universal language” — could be the adhesive every once in awhile to bind us.
Oh, that’s right, The World Choir Games. But I digress.
Bunbury founder and organizer Bill Donabedian is in fact a great idea man. I wrote a short profile of him a few years back when he was the managing director of the 3CDC-controlled Fountain Square and he programmed and booked events for the city’s living room, wrestling control from all the freaks and bigots who’d only had to get a temporary permit to spout vitriol or erect a cross.
And the square did come alive under Donabedian’s management.
But Bunbury is Donabedian’s bigger, wetter dream of bringing to Cincinnati “its own Lollapalooza” as he put it, an idea so derivative and regressive, Donabedian paid homage to Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell by paying him and his band Jane’s Addiction to headline Bunbury’s opening night.

How incestuously 1990s of him.
Read it all, and then read the comments (if you dare): City Beat/Kathy Y. Wilson 
|
NKU FEATURED IN NEW YORK TIMES
More applause for UpTech, the small business incubator at Northern Kentucky University, even if it goes without a direct mention and even if the mention overall is only fleeting:
Even nontechie campuses like Northern Kentucky University, Duke and Syracuse have jumped in the pool, recently adding or planning to add start-up incubators.
NKU was just mentioned in The New York Times in a sentence that included Syracuse and Duke. I hope that means the value of my degree just went up. I've always referred to NKU as The Harvard of Campbell County. Guess I was right!
The New York Times


BUSY, IMPORTANT COVINGTON CITY COMMISSION MEETING EXPECTED TUESDAY

THE RIVER CITY NEWS MORE COVINGTON NEWS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE
|
by Michael Monks 
|
BUSY COVINGTON COMMISSION MEETING SET FOR NEXT WEEK
On Tuesday night the Covington City Commission will meet for what will likely be a lengthy, important session. Here are the details:
  • Lots of retirements and one resignation on the agenda. From the Fire Department: Chief Chuck Norris, Asst. Chief Alan Terry, Battalion Chief Bill Shelton, Lt. Chuck Spenlau, Engineer Todd Ryder, and EMT/Paramedic Marty Finan. From the Police Department: Sgt. Steve Sweeney. From the Devou Park Rangers: Karl Fry (listed as a resignation, not a retirement).
  • EMS Director Dan Mathew will be appointed acting fire chief
  • Another part of the Center City Action Plan (CCAP) will be presented for the first time as retail consultant Mike Berne comes back to town to discuss "retail positioning and strategy".
  • The City's efforts to relax zoning restrictions on various types of businesses, as recommended in the CCAP, will have a first reading (but not a vote until August). For a review of what those zoning restrictions are, click here.
  • A contract will likely be approved for the installation of 115 LED light fixtures in Mainstrasse Village and Riverside Drive at a cost of $105,000
  • A contract for new destination signage for Devou Park will likely be approved at a cost of $36,000 (payable from Drees Pavilion allocation funds)
  • The City will likely shift some of its federal housing funds to the Center for Great Neighborhoods as the organization moves to renovate three vacant properties on the 300 block of Orchard Street (which were purchased from the City earlier this year for one dollar). $74,000+ from the City's community development block grant funds and $44,000+ from the City's home "HOME" funds are being sought for assistance with this project.
  • The Covington Neighborhood Collaborative will also present at the meeting, led by its President, Bill Wells
The River City News will have the most comprehensive coverage after Tuesday night's meeting here at this site, on Facebook, and Twitter.

Friday, July 20, 2012

NEWS ROUND-UP -- FRIDAY MORNING 20 JULY

THE RIVER CITY NEWS MORE COVINGTON NEWS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE
| 
|
by Michael Monks 
|
WANT TO IMPROVE YOUR CITY? CHECK ITS VITALS
"Want to change the nation? Start with your city. Want to change your city? Check your city vitals." Former Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fischer, President of CEOs for Cities, co-writes this op-ed:
Mayors and urban leaders across the country are asking, "What will it take for my city to prosper in this new economy?" CEOs for Cities, a national organization of cross-sector, cross-generational urban leaders, surveyed the landscape and concluded that the future belongs to those cities and regions who are able to frame their opportunities and challenges by first assessing their vital signs -- critical information that benchmarks their economic performance. Just as the medical profession looks at four vital signs to assess a human's health, so too must we identify and assess the key vitals that determine the economic health and vitality of cities.
(snip)In our new report, City Vitals 2.0, we have developed a four part formula to help city leaders benchmark their economic performance. Using more than two dozen different indicators, we show how cities need to focus on four vital signs: building connections, increasing innovation, improving talent, and capitalizing on your city's distinctiveness. C-I-T-Y: Connections, Innovation, Talent, Your Distinctiveness spells out the genetic code for formulating city economic success in the new economy.
Read it all, even though it kind of turns into an ad for their City Vitals report: Huffington Post
|
COME TOGETHER AND HELP REBUILD SIXTH DISTRICT PLAYGROUND
The community needs you Saturday as Sixth District School and its partners (such as Gateway College) begin the work of rebuilding its playground that was scorched on June 24. Everyone can give something: time, ideas, resources, and money. To raise some cash, there will be an event at the school (1901 Maryland Ave in Austinburg) on Saturday from 11:00AM - 2:00PM. Some ways money will be raised: City Commissioner Steve Casper and Covington Independent Public Schools Superintendent Lynda Jackson will be in a dunking booth and for two bucks you can take a few shots at them. You can adopt a plant for $2, $5, or $10. Volunteers from Seven Hills Church will be there to help sand the area around what is left of the playground equipment. By the way, Lowe's will match what is raised up to $5,000. Get down there and help out!
(Original story with photos: Fire destroys playground at Covington School)
|
CONVICTED: MUGSHOT ROUND-UP
Who's not going to have a good weekend? The people at the link. Check out who's going to prison, who got probation, and who's on the loose in this week's mugshot round-up from Kenton Co Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders, at the link.
|
GOP tax plan would cost $29 billion more than the Democrats' plan The Hill 
|
College Republican doubles-down on his Super PAC that plans to influence the NKY Congressional race Sunlight Foundation 
|
WLWT/Channel 5 is back on cable as Time Warner/Insight reaches a deal with Hearst Broadcasting press release 
|
This is now the worst drought in the Midwest in 50 years MSNBC 
|
PHOTOS: The drought of 2012 Washington Post 
|
Bank of Kentucky reports profits jump Cincinnati Enquirer 
|
Editorial: State Government puts high priority on child welfare State-Journal 
|
Editorial: Joining expanded Medicaid would be beneficial to Kentucky State-Journal 
|
LET'S CLEAR UP SOME MYTHS ABOUT CANNABIS
After last week's terrbily misleading editorial in the State-Journal, Frankfort's newspaper, the director of Kentucky Veterans for Medical Marijuana responds:
Aside from the American family, the one big loser in the prohibition of cannabis has been the truth. The fact that cannabis is illegal and the ramifications of even admitting you smoke it could jeopardize your employment, your standing in the community, your entire life. All of this, while the agents of misinformation spread their lies. 
As a young airman I smoked cannabis while serving in Thailand. I found it to be something other than what I had thought it would be but nothing as harmful as I had heard. Back then there was so much misinformation. Over the years I have smoked off and on but it wasn’t until I met Gatewood Galbraith back in 1990 that I realized just how much I had been lied to.

The problem over those years is no one could speak up. No one dared to, except a handful of activists and over a period of 18 months things changed. The genie was out of the bottle and all the establishment could say is, “It’s a gateway drug.” By then that argument didn’t hold water and since then no one has been able to come up with a good enough reason for the prohibition. It’s as if they have been afraid of the debate, running from it from the president on down.
Read it all: State-Journal 
|
DON'T MISS THURSDAY EVENING'S NEWS
If you've ever wanted to own your own priestly wardrobe, altar, or Eucharist plate, now's your chance, thanks to Mother of God; A KY girl's "Make A Wish" trip to Disney is denied by her own father; Plus, six new homes, part of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, hit the Covington market -- and you can check them out. Those stories and more at the link!
|
WHAT TO DO THIS WEEKEND IN AND AROUND COVINGTON
|
Friday
|
Friday Night Flick in Taylor Mill's Pride Park:
Santa Claus will be here on Friday evening at Pride Park to celebrate Christmas in July between the hours of 7 pm and 9 pm. Please stay after your visit and enjoy our Friday Night Flick - Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas, rated G - and a family dinner from our tasty grilled concessions menu.
More info: Click Here
|
The Carnegie Visual & Performing Arts Center hosts the 20th annual Colored Pencil International Exhibition:  
More than 100 color pencil works will fill The Carnegie's galleries as part of the Colored Pencil Society of America's (CPSA) 20th Annual International Exhibition.
This exhibition features work from dozens of artists that explores the myriad expressive aspects of color pencil, highlighting its versatility and multifaceted uses.
CPSA sponsors the International Exhibition in a different US city each year in conjunction with a four-day convention with workshops, an awards banquet and artists' reception. This year's Meet the Artists Reception will be held Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012, from 4 to 6 p.m.
More details: Click Here 
|
Saint Benedict's Festival in Austinburg features fish dinners on Friday and chicken dinners on Saturday, plus a kiddie arcade and lots of games and raffles (338 East 17th Street).
|
Saturday
|
What's going on this week at the Madison Theater? Click Here 
|
Beast Bash: A celebration of pets and their people
Get over to Pioneer Park (3950 Madison Pike) for this event from 10:00AM to 4:00PM. It features a dogs pool party, an animal communicator, pet contests, and much more. 
|
TV star Meredith Baxter talks to The River City News publisher
The first-ever CNKY Scene GLBT Film Festival kicks is this weekend in Cincinnati with several great films lined up for presentation. The special guest is Mereditch Baxter who you may remember as the mom on TV's Family Ties and who narrates a documentary being shown at the festival about a raid on a gay bar in Fort Worth, Texas. On Saturday, Baxter will be at the festival for a question and answer session following the film and I am thrilled to have been asked to moderate the discussion. Catch us at Know Theatre on Jackson Street on Over-the-Rhine starting at 7:00PM. -Michael Monks

CONVICTED: MUGSHOT ROUND-UP 20 JULY

THE RIVER CITY NEWS MORE COVINGTON NEWS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE
| 
|
Who's going to prison? Who got probation? And who's on the loose?
The following is part of a long list of individuals convicted this week in Kenton County Circuit Court for crimes ranging from burglaries to weapons possession to drugs and more.
|





|
More mugshots with an explanation of the crime and length of recommended sentence is available at the link below, courtesy of Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders. Some have been sent away, some are awaiting sentencing, and others will get probation. Whatever they end up with, let's hope as a community that they return healthy and rehabilitated, otherwise the cycle continues. Click the link.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

NEWS ROUND-UP -- THURSDAY EVENING 19 JULY

THE RIVER CITY NEWS MORE COVINGTON NEWS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE
|
by Michael Monks 
|
(NOTE: Some troubling formatting errors have reemerged Thursday night, so apologies for some clunkiness in the way some of this post is laid out. It is being looked at now.)
|
COVINGTON'S RENOVATED HOMES TO OPEN FOR TOUR
From a City of Covington news release:
The City of Covington along with its partners, the Center for Great Neighborhoods, Housing Opportunities of Northern Kentucky, Huff Realty, Sibcy Cline, Coldwell Banker West Shell and Century 21, proudly invite you to tour 5 of its newly renovated and constructed homes in the 900 block of Banklick Street and Berry Street in Covington. An Open House tour will be hosted by the Realtor Partners on Thursday, July 26 from 5:00 - 7:00 PM. These 5 homes are near completion and are ready for purchase.

As part of a grant from the Kentucky Department for Local Government for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), the City of Covington was able to take 14 home sites, restore them, and offer them for sale to qualifying buyers. Three of the sites are new construction while the remaining 11 are full restorations. To date, one home has been sold and two more are under contract.

The NSP program offers potential homebuyers financial incentives that include paid closing costs, sizable grants, and half of the down payment. Buyers must meet income guidelines to qualify for the program. Information on the program can be found at www.makecovingtonhome.com or by calling the City of Covington Community Development Department at 859-292-2147.

Please join us for this Open House event to experience these exciting new homes and discover the quality construction, convenient location and positive impact this project has given the City of Covington. Refreshments will be provided.
Homes on the tour include 304 Berry ($145,000), 908 Banklick ($122,000/Pending), 912 Banklick ($174,000), 914 Banklick ($174,000), 916 Banklick ($175,000), and 902 Banklick ($210,000/Under Contract). 
|

|
The River City News produced this video for the realtors to help promote the NSP homes for sale. Check out the great deals!
|
NOW FOR THE NEWS...
|
HOMELESS MAN ARRESTED FOR STABBING OTHER HOMELESS MAN
A fight between homeless men led to the stabbing early Thursday morning at Covington Landing. Police have arrested Nicholas Howard, 33, and charged him with first degree assault and tampering with evidence. The stabbing victim, David Abrams 49, is recovering at University Hospital in Cincinnati and is expected to survive. 
Nicholas Howard
|
Another tragedy involves a homeless man...
The body found in Banklick Creek has been identified:
On Thursday, Fort Wright police say they'd learned the man was Paul Sloan. He was homeless and police say they believe he died of natural causes.
Full story: WKRC 
|
MAYOR, CITY MANAGER REACT TO FIRE CHIEF'S RETIREMENT
"I am sorry to see him leave," said Mayor Chuck Scheper. City leaders react to the announced retirement of Covington's Fire Chief. Details at the link.
Full story: The River City News 
|
In case you missed, only The River City News spoke with Chief Chuck Norris about his impending retirement. For that story, click the link below.
|
SEE ALSO: New Facebook group created to support keeping the Covington Fire Department and EMS in tact Facebook
|
DON'T MISS THURSDAY MORNING'S NEWS
The fire chief isn't the only high-ranking official in town to announce his planned retirement this week; Kroger may soon charge you more if you use a credit card; A KY teen is badly beaten in possible anti-gay attack; Plus, Groundbreaking on a micro-brewery in Newport today. Go on and click it.
|
REPOST: PHOTOS OF STORM DAMAGE IN COVINGTON NEIGHBORHOODS
Wind & lightning wreak tree havoc in Covington damaging homes, cars, and Linden Grove Cemetery. Tons of pics at the link. Click the link below. 
|
SEE ALSO: A Kentucky weather siren is repaired after it was zapped by lightning WKYT 
|
QUICKIES
|
Insurance agent wanted in Kenton Co, accused of stealing $500,000 WKRC 
|
Woman pulled from Ohio River alive six hours after jumping from bridge Cincinnati Enquirer 
|
Mountaintop removal coal is mostly exported WFPL 
|
Mitt Romney will send representative to Kentucky's Fancy Farm WFPL 
|
Suspect arrested after overdosing on bath salts and falling through hospital ceiling without pants on WKYT 
|
POLITICS
|
CHARGE OF ANARCHY EMERGES IN NKY CONGRESSIONAL RACE
Dramatic developments in the race for Kentucky's Fourth Congressional District seat. First, the Kentucky-based executive director of a Texas-based Super PAC that bolstered Republican nominiee Thomas Massie past his GOP rivals, faced a DUI charge this week:
Preston Bates, 23, the executive director of Liberty for All, refused to give a corrections officer any personal information other than his name and then said that he was an “anarchist” when he was arrested last July near the University of Louisville. According to the arrest report, Bates pulled up to a residence on Bellamy Place at 3 a.m. July 3, 2011, but when he couldn’t get into the residence, Bates backed his car into an iron fence.
| Meanwhile, the founder of the Super PAC says he stands by Bates:
“Preston made a mistake and has taken full responsibility for his actions. I believe now, as I did when I hired him, that Preston is dedicated to our organization’s efforts to advance the economic and personal freedoms that have made our country the greatest nation on earth,” Ramsey said in the statement. “One might say, after all, that the greatest benefit of a society built on freedom is the ability to learn from the things we wish we’d done differently.”
Full story: cn|2 
| Massie's Democratic rival, Williamstown attorney Bill Adkins has jumped on the issue:
“I call upon Tom Massie to disavow the Ron Paul/Texas Liberty for All SuperPAC Tell them to leave Kentucky and stay out of this race for Congress,” says Bill Adkins. The Texas SuperPAC is currently operating out of a storefront in Bellevue, Kentucky. “Liberty for All and its leaders are far out of touch with the values of Kentuckians in the 4th District. Their executive director is a confirmed anarchist. Anarchists do not believe in any authority, anarchists have no respect for government and anarchists often use violent means to achieve their goals. Their positions are un-American.”
Full statement: Bill Adkins 
| SEE ALSO: Because Thomas Massie quit his job as Lewis County Judge-Executive after less than two years in order to focus on his race for Congress, Governor Beshear appointed a new J-E today press release  | KY UNEMPLOYMENT RATE HOLDS STEADY AT 8.2% From a state news release:
Kentucky’s seasonally adjusted preliminary unemployment rate in June 2012 held at 8.2 percent for the second straight month, according to the Office of Employment and Training (OET), an agency of the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet.
The preliminary June 2012 jobless rate was 1.4 percentage points below the 9.6 percent rate recorded for the state in June 2011. The U.S. seasonally adjusted jobless rate also remained at 8.2 percent from May 2012 to June 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Labor force statistics, including the unemployment rate, are based on estimates and are compiled to measure trends rather than actually to count people working. In June 2012, Kentucky’s civilian labor force was 2,068,524, an increase of 2,622 individuals compared to the previous month. “We continue to be on a growth path,” said economist Manoj Shanker of the OET. “We have added more than 4,000 jobs for two months in a row. Job growth continues to outstrip the number of people entering the job market, helping to keep down the unemployment rate.”
|
MAYORS: ECONOMY IS GROWING BUT WE WANT MORE INFRASTRUCTURE
According to the Washington Post article, the economies of the nation's cities are on the rebound but the state and federal governments must start paying more attention to infrastructure in order for the fragile growth to continue:
The report, prepared by HIS Global Insight, forecasts that 300 of the country’s 363 metropolitan areas will experience real economic growth by the end of the year. The total gross metropolitan product grew by 1.7 percent last year and expanded in 267 metropolitan areas; this year, the report predicts, the average growth of all 363 areas will be just below 1.8 percent. (snip) But mayors attending the conference’s summer meeting in Philadelphia pleaded with federal and state governments, as well as both presidential candidates, to increase the amount of funding for infrastructure — including roads, bridges, water and sewer systems and other transportation investments. Public spending on infrastructure in the United States has fallen to 2.4 percent of the gross domestic product, the group said, something that needs to be increased in order for growth to continue.
Full story: Washington Post 
|
WHERE STATE TRANSPORTATION DOLLARS GO:
From the Atlantic Cities:
Transportation funding is complex. Literally trillions of dollars are constantly at work or on the boards for one thing or another. The type of spending ranges from building overpasses to laying light rail tracks to painting those white-line bicycle riders on the asphalt in bike lanes. And so much more. Trying to define exactly where every transportation dollar in the U.S. goes is probably more effort than it's worth. Understanding generally where that money goes, however, is both doable and informative. A new report has tracked the spending priorities of each state, as laid out in their state transportation improvement programs (STIP).
Full analysis: The Atlantic Cities 
|
SEE ALSO: The percentage of Americans who thinkt he country is headed in the right direction is now the highest that it has been in two years Politico 
|
KY SPENT $1.29 BILLION ON BUSINESS INCENTIVES FROM 2001-10
The state spent more than $1.2 billion on economic development incentives with no real measure for their effectiveness:
The 577 companies that took incentives reported creating 55,173 jobs in the state from 2001 to 2010, more than two-thirds of them in the manufacturing sector. The gross cost per job was $23,385, according to the report by Anderson Economic Group of Chicago. (snip) Testifying Thursday, senior consultant Caroline Sallee said her firm's findings had gaps. It's impossible to know how many jobs would have been created anyway if the state hadn't offered incentives, she said. And it's hard to say, when considering the total cost of incentives, what the state simultaneously gained from those jobs through taxes it collected from workers and the money they spent in their communities, she said.
The full story indicates that Kentucky still lags its neighbors in business development but there are some bright spots. Click it. Herald-Leader/John Cheves 
|
TASK FORCE TO REVIEW STATE'S ALCOHOL LAWS
Covington's state representative, Arnold Simpson was in the news recently for his push to allow liquor sales while polls are open on election day, and now the Governor has ordered a review of Kentucky's alcohol laws:
“Many groups, including licensees, state regulators, law enforcement and private citizens have called for statutory reform of our alcoholic beverage laws. They agree that Kentucky’s current laws do not adequately account for a 21st-century economy and standard of law,” Beshear said in a statement. “A task force that includes members from a broad spectrum of backgrounds and professions is best suited to identify the problems, debate policy and make recommendations for improvements.” Beshear noted that Kentucky has more than 13,000 licenses issued to manufacturers, distributors and retailers for alcoholic beverages. There are more than 70 different license types to regulate those operations, he said, adding that these businesses not only generate millions of dollars for the Kentucky economy every year but also attract tourists.
Herald-Leader 
|
MORE QUICKIES
|
NKY Health Dept says there were 11 new cases of whooping cough reported this week, and calls it an outbreak Twitter 
|
NKAPC looks for new land management software Building Cincinnati 
|
Editorial: Cincinnati, don't apologize! Cincinnati Enquirer 
|
For 3CDC the work is never done in Downtown Cincinnati Business Courier 
|
TRAFFIC ALERT: 
From the City of Taylor Mill:
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet contacted us today and indicated that the Old Taylor Mill Road and Taylor Creek Subdivision Closures originally planned for 9:30 am on Friday morning will now not occur until 10:00 am on Saturday morning. Please note all road closures are anticipated to last through October 31, 2012.
|
DAD DENIES DAUGHTER'S MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION TRIP TO DISNEY
A 4-year old Kentucky girl who has completed leukemia treatments will not get to go to Disney World because her father thinks other kids should:
The Sentinel-Tribune in Bowling Green reports McKenna May of Haskins completed treatment for leukemia but couldn't go to Disney because both parents had to agree. William May of Toledo says he thinks trips should go to sick children in more dire circumstances than his daughter. A Make-A-Wish official says the girl's treatment struggles qualified her for a wish.
Full story: WKYT
|
THE POINT/ARC IN COVINGTON OPENS SCREEN PRINTING BUSINESS
The new business will help fund the agency:
The Point/Arc of Northern Kentucky serves area residents who are developmentally disabled. Brian Harper, of Covington, along with John Foppe of Alexandria, have known each other for years through the Special Olympics. They decided to ask The Point/Arc of Northern Kentucky to join in on this business venture.
|
SPORTS
|
UK Football coach Joker Phillips talks about being on the hot seat Herald-Leader 
|
Zippy Chippy, the "losingest" race horse, makes friends in retirement Herald-Leader
|
MOTHER OF GOD CHURCH AUCTIONING OFF ITEMS
From the Mother of God:
Check out the Everything But The House website. There are several items from Mother of God Church up for auction. A large number of those items can be found under the category "religious" at the following link. Bidding ends Sunday, July 22nd, 2012 at 4:00PM ET.
So what are some of the items up for grabs? Take a look:
$60-65
Lot of priest's liturgical garments, including three modern amice vestments (one in white linen [Christmas, Easter, Feast Day use], one violet linen [Advent and Lenten use], and one red synthetic fiber [with a Pentecostal motif]), as well as six various stoles, all in synthetic fibers, most with cross designs, one with a Eucharistic wheat and grapevine motif. From the collections of Mother of God Church, in Covington, Kentucky.Condition: Good, some general wear, a few light stains, etc.   |
Currently $18-20
Pair of simple vintage, 1960's or 70's light natural oak finish Prie Dieux, or kneelers, with veneer arm rests and vinyl covered keen rests. Simple in design, with a shelf for prayer books, simple tapered lines. From the collections of Mother of God Church, in Covington, Kentucky. Condition: Good, have some age and use consistent wear, a few nicks and chips, etc. |
Right now: $10-12
Lot of three Eucharistic patens, as well as a chalice cover, in silver plate and brass tone metal. Includes an oval paten and two round pieces, each with pierced metal handles. Two of the handles have the "IHS" motif. The chalice coveris in gold tone metal with a stylized heart and cross motif , with a corss finial. From the collections of Mother of God Church, in Covington, Kentucky. Condition: Good, general wear from use.
|
Check out all the items at the link below:
|
NEW STUDY FINDS AMERICANS NEED 6 HOURS OF SLEEP AT WORK
LOL:
"Millions of people are staying up way too late at work," said endocrinologist Hannah Presnall, adding that in order for the body to function properly, workers should arrive at their job, check and send e-mails for two to three hours, and be asleep by 11:30 a.m. at the latest.
Full story: The Onion (Satire)