NEWS ROUND-UP -- TUESDAY EVENING 27 MAR

by Michael Monks 

Email Michael

FACEBOOK: The River City News

@theRCnews on Twitter 

|   

THE RIVER CITY NEWS MORE COVINGTON NEWS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE

|

WASHINGTON, DC HEARS BRENT SPENCE BRIDGE CONCERNS

The NKY Chamber of Commerce (and Covington City Commissioner Steve Frank) traveled to DC to pitch region's concerns and goals, notably funding for the Brent Spence Bridge and Gateway College's urban campus: 

Northern Kentucky leaders laid the case out for the bridge before members of Congress and their staff. The amount of gas and time companies expend from trucks idling in traffic costs money, including $400,000 a year for a logistics and distribution company in Boone County, said Brent Cooper, chairman of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce’s board and owner of information technology firm C-Forward in Covington. Cooper told the legislative director for U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, who chairs the House appropriations committee, R-Ky., that delay on replacing the bridge might not only cost jobs, but lives.

Cincinnati Enquirer/Scott Wartman

|

URBAN CINCY: PARKING MANDATES STYMIE DEVELOPMENT

The online magazine says Cincinnati's parking strategy is antiquated: 

In the middle part of the 20th century, many cities, including Cincinnati, developed zoning codes with regulations dictating how many parking spaces are required for different uses. The regulations often accounted for “peak demand,” which is the amount of parking planners believed would be needed at times where demand for parking would be the greatest. For example, accounting for Black Friday-type events where parking lots are only maxed out once or twice a year. 

Urban Cincy  
|
FRANKFORT & POLITICS
|
House, senate still working toward budget agreement Bluegrass Politics 
|
Audit: State did not monitor federal grants enough Cincinnati Enquirer 
|
House & senate at odds over government spending on contracts Herald-Leader 
|
Legislative wrangling kills two bills on education reform WFPL 
|
Lawmakers attempt second compromise on dropout bill WFPL 
|
Charter schools pilot program passes senate panel WBKO 
|
House panel backs better screening for personal care home patients Courier-Journal 
|
Senators' money concerns tank bill aimed at overseeing child abuse and neglect cases cn|2 

|

General Assembly gives final approval for Amish buggy bill Herald-Leader 

|

Senate panel approves its version of pill mill bill Bluegrass Politics 

|

Kentucky to share pill dispensing data with other states press release

|

Bill stalls on public benefits for illegal aliens 84 WHAS 

___________________________________________________________

|

Rep. John Yarmuth Initiates Letter Calling for Two-State Solution

“In our view, support for a two-state resolution is inseparable from such support for Israel, its special relationship with the United States, and its very survival as a democratic homeland for the Jewish people. As Israeli President Shimon Peres said a few weeks ago, “The principle of the two-state solution is a paramount Israeli interest.” 

WFPL  
|
4th District candidates together tonight in Campbell County Cincinnati Enquirer 
_____________________________________________________________ 
|
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO NKU PRESIDENT DR. JAMES VOTRUBA
The retiring leader of Northern Kentucky University was surprised with a birthday party at the Skyline Chili in Highland Heights. The River City News was there: 

|

PRINCE OF PEACE WINS STATEWIDE ACADEMIC COMPETITION

The Pike Street school took home top honors at the Kentucky Odyssey of the Mind competition: 

The team earned the right to progress to the World Finals, May 23-26 at Iowa State University. The tournament took place at the University of the Cumberlands iin Williamsburg, KY which is off I-75 near the Tennessee border. Students will be fundraising for their trip to Iowa. 

See a photo of the winning team here. 
| 
KENTON CO ADDING PHONE LINE TO COMBAT UNDERAGE DRINKING
WCPO: 

The Kenton County Police Department will accept calls reporting party plans or parties in progress with underage drinkers, and then dispatch the proper police department. "In this area, people are so accepting of underage drinking. Parents host parties because they think it is safer. And the reality is, teens that start drinking at age 15, they are more than seven times more likely to become alcohol dependent when they're an adult. It seems like a simple party, and parents think that they're doing something to keep their kids safe, but in reality, they are not," said Kenton County Alliance Coordinator Kathy Nafus. 

Find the number and more info here. 
| 
QUICKIES
|
Flu cases on the rise in Northern Kentucky NKY Health
|
Tier 1 Performance Solutions ranks among Fast 55 by Business Courier 
|
Omnicare, Ashland in top ten local firms that bring in big bucks per employee Business Courier 
|
Woodland student to help lead Youth Council, motivated by desire to stop bullies Cincinnati Enquirer 
|
Check out another Destination: Graduation story about a Holmes senior CIPS Facebook 
|
Josh Hutcherson to throw first pitch at Reds Opening Day Herald-Leader 
|
Former WKRC coworkers express support for Nick Clooney following his arrest Cincinnati Enquirer 
|
*************************************
|
in case you missed it...
|
THIS MORNING'S NEWS
Groundbreaking for River's Edge is set for this week; A former Covington Police lieutenant colonel was also a karate pioneer in NKY; Plus, a Kentucky t-shirt company is the subject of a discrimination complaint after refusing to produce shirts for an event. Those stories and more at the link. 

The RC News: Tuesday Morning Round-Up 

|

PHOTOS: SPRINGTIME IN LINDEN GROVE CEMETERY

Check out the scenes:

|

Lots more photos for you to check out -- click here. 

|

********************************************

|

      FINAL FOUR HEADLINES

|

COMMONWEALTH HOPING FOR TOURISM BOOTH AFTER PUBLICITY

From a state press release about the big game Saturday between UK & UofL: 

Interview requests already have come from such publications as The Washington Post, The New York Times and USA Today. Many radio stations throughout the country have scheduled interviews during the week. Already, ESPN SportsCenter has featured a story that included Governor Steve Beshear, a University of Kentucky graduate; and Lieutenant Governor Jerry Abramson, former Louisville mayor; as well as Lexington Mayor Jim Gray and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer. In addition, the Governor’s Office and the Kentucky Department of Travel and Tourism have been taking a steady stream of media calls concerning this unique situation. Gov. Beshear and Lt. Gov. Abramson have even recorded a radio spot promoting Kentucky in light of this accomplishment. 

For more, click here. 
|
UK versus UofL is no ordinary rivalry Yahoo 
|

4th graders explain UK/UofL rivalry: 

|

Calipari challenges Cats to do more than score Herald-Leader 

|

Even horses are gearing up for the Final Four Herald-Leader 

|

Final Four tickets by the numbers Business First 

| 

Man forced to shave head after doubting UK WKYT 

|

UK, UofL basketballs on sale to benefit Make A Wish Foundation Herald-Leader

|

Carrollton, KY is geographic center of Final Four teams:

|

HUMOR: Two sides of John Calipari The Onion 

|

HUMOR: Kentucky Going To Stick With Strategy Of Having Far-And-Away Better Athletes At Every Position The Onion 

|

ONLY IN KENTUCKY (and seriously not from The Onion. Seriously.)

FIST FIGHT ERUPTS BETWEEN UK, UL FANS DURING DIALYSIS

Again, this is serious: 

"He just happened to think UofL would beat UK and he started to run his mouth," explained dialysis patient Ed Wilson. Wilson also happens to be a self-proclaimed die hard UK fan. "That's what started it."
But Charles Taylor, who was waiting to get hooked up to a machine saw things differently. "I didn't talk to him about the ball game; I was talking to another guy about the game," The UofL fan exclaimed. "He was meddling. And told me to shut up and gave me the finger!" 

SMH
WKYT  
|
Here's another Kentucky headline that could only happen here:
|
Thieves Make Clean Getaway With Bathtub WKYT

NATION'S FIRST INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN ASSOCIATE DEGREE TO BE OFFERED IN COVINGTON

FACEBOOK: The River City News

@theRCnews on Twitter 

|   

THE RIVER CITY NEWS MORE COVINGTON NEWS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE

|

Tier 1 Performance Solutions is teaming with Gateway Community & Technical College to offer the first associate degree program in instructional design and learning technologies. The program will be offered exclusively at Gateway's Downtown Covington campus: 

Funded with a four-year, $4.9 million grant from the Department of Labor, the Covington business and Northern Kentucky college will teach students locally and around the nation skills including web and graphic design, web development, technical writing and project management. The two-year degree will ready students for in-demand jobs in instructional design or corporate training at companies like TiER1, which designs and implements e-learning programs for organizations including Macy’s, FedEx and General Electric. It also works with the U.S. Air Force. 

Tier 1's move from the Odd Fellows building to the RiverCenter Towers (the company was considering a move out of Covington, but was convinced to stay) and plans to expand Gateway's urban campus are vital parts of Downtown Covington's revitalization plan. This partnership is welcome news. Check out the full story at the link. 
Cincinnati Enquirer/Laura Baverman
|
UPDATE: Release from Gateway College here.

NEWS ROUND-UP -- THURSDAY EVENING 12 JAN

by Michael Monks 
NEW ADDRESS: Email Michael

Find us on Facebook: The River City News @ Facebook

@theRCnews on Twitter  

|

EXCLUSIVE

COVINGTON'S DAYTIME CURFEW THWARTS SEXUAL ABUSE OF TEEN

EXCLUSIVE: The recently adopted daytime curfew for minors in Covington is being credited with stopping the sexual and physical abuse of a teenager. The teen was stopped during daytime hours by Covington Police and it was later revealed that the teen was trying to escape an abusive household. The revelation led to the arrest of an adult on sodomy charges. Click the link for more on this exclusive story from The River City News.

Daytime Curfew Thwarts Sexual Abuse of Covington Teen 

|
$500,000 MISSING FROM KENTUCKY DEPT OF AGRICULTURE

Ahh... so this is what that bipartisan audit of Richie Farmer's old office is about:

According to inventory records obtained by the Herald-Leader, more than 100 state computers are missing, including some issued personally to former Agriculture Commissioner Farmer, who took office in 2004. The state issued Farmer four new Dell laptops in 2010 and he has not returned any of them to the Department of Agriculture, according to the inventory records.
(snip)
In all, the list of missing inventory obtained from the Department of Agriculture details 171 items worth about $334,000, including computers, digital cameras, printers, copiers and other equipment.

And the Republican Party thought this guy should be Kentucky's Lieutenant Governor. What a bullet we dodged. What. A. Mess. Read the whole disgusting thing.
Herald-Leader 
|
SEN. RAND PAUL RETURNS $500,000 TO FEDERAL TREASURY
This is apparently only a coincidence, and not related to the same amount of money missing from the Agriculture Dept:

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul today announced that he is returning $500,000 to the United States Treasury - money unspent from his official operating budget. The total amount being returned is more than 16 percent of Paul's original office budget. As far as is known, no U.S. Senator has returned as much to taxpayers.
"I ran to stop the reckless spending," said Paul. "And I ran to end the damaging process of elected officials acting as errand boys, competing to see who could bring back the biggest check and the most amount of pork."

Senator Rand Paul  
|

|

SEE ALSO: Sen. Paul says he is not interested in being Vice President:

Paul, speaking Thursday morning in Louisville, said he’s “seen the chatter on the Internet” about the possibility of being tapped as the GOP nominee’s running mate. But he said for now he is focused on helping U.S. Rep. Ron Paul’s campaign for the GOP nomination. “I haven’t really considered it yet,” Rand Paul said. “I’m focused on trying to help my dad.”

Associated Press via Cincinnati Enquirer  
|
MORE DETAILS ON TIER 1'S NEW COMMITMENT TO GROWING IN COVINGTON
The performance solutions company will take up a big chunk of space at the RiverCenter Towers:

Tier1 signed a 10-year lease for 12,500 square feet of space on the ground floor or Corporex Cos.’s RiverCenter. Greg Harmeyer, co-founder and CEO of Tier1, said the RiverCenter space will be more efficient, designed specifically for the company’s uses, and it gives the company room to grow. Before this deal came together, Tier1 was looking at moving out of Covington. “We were looking elsewhere for sure. We were pretty far down the path to going elsewhere,” Harmeyer said. “I have to give Covington a lot of credit.”

Business Courier/Tom Demeropolis  
|
DRIVE SAFELY OUT THERE
The roads are slick due to the snow coming down tonight. Here's a safe-driving announcement from the Kentucky State Police at the link.
KSP 
|
GATEWOOD GALBRAITH REMEMBERED IN LEXINGTON
The perennial candidate and character in Kentucky politics died this week:

Congressman Ben Chandler recalled that when Galbraith was making one of his early runs for office, he sought advice from Chandler's grandfather, former Gov. A.B. "Happy" Chandler. Galbraith wanted to know what the two-time governor thought of his idea to legalize marijuana and make it a Kentucky cash crop.
Ben Chandler said his grandfather replied, "I think it's a great idea ... and then you get to tax the hell out of it."
Artist and blues musician Rodney Hatfield said he'd known Galbraith since the 1960s when "we were young men together ... with all that implies."
"I thought his concession speech after his last campaign was absolutely Jeffersonian, one of the most elegant speeches I ever heard," Hatfield said. "It would have been wonderful if he had won one of those races, just to see what he would have done in office."

Herald-Leader/Jim Warren Photos from the memorial here.  
|

|

KY GOP MAY CHALLENGE NEW HOUSE DISTRICTS IN COURT

The Republicans in the House are not happy with what the Democrats there did to the districts. The Democrats in the Senate won't be happy with what the GOP has in store for them there. Ah, Frankfort.

WFPL/Kenny Colston 

|SEE ALSO: Boy, if you thought Covington was upset with what was proposed to happen to it, wait till you read about how some Republicans feel. This piece is great: Daily Independent/Ronnie Ellis 

|
SOME KY KINDERGARTENERS COULD START SCHOOL A YEAR LATER

That's if a new bill passes, pushing back the birthday requirement by two months:

Senate Bill 24 would require that kids turn 5 by Aug. 1 to enroll in kindergarten that fall. If approved, it would take effect with the 2013-2014 school year. The bill cleared the first hurdle Thursday with near unanimous approval by the Senate Education Committee. The current Oct. 1 cutoff has been in place since 1980, said Lisa Gross, spokeswoman for the Kentucky Department of Education. She said the change could increase enrollment, but her department doesn’t have a strong stance on the legislation.

State-Journal/Katheran Wasson  
|
RECORD YEAR FOR KENTUCKY BOURBON TOURS
I'll drink to this:

The Kentucky Bourbon Trail passport program saw 11,757 visitors to all of the six distilleries on the tour in 2011, setting a new record for a single year. It was the second consecutive year a record was set.

Business First/Stephanie Clouser  
|

|
UK GAME KNOCKED OFF AIR BY HUNGRY ANIMALS

The surprisingly close basketball game last night between UK and Auburn was not seen for a while in the Lexington market because some varmint chewed through a power line:

Mike Kanarek, WKYT's vice president of operations, said the animal ate away at a line on the station's property and caused an electrical outage. The station has a backup generator that kicked in within a minute, but it took 10 to 12 minutes for its transmitter to cycle back up and resume broadcasting the game, he said. Coverage of the game was out from 9:27 to 9:42 p.m.

Herald-Leader/Scott Sloan 

Image via

|

TSA FINDS $400,000 IN LOOSE CHANGE LAST YEAR

Bet you've never had this happen when you tear through your couch cushions:

TSA found $409,085.56 in spare change last year that was unclaimed by passengers, according to figures released by the agency. Historically, if no one comes back to get the leftover money, it stays with the TSA.
(snip)The airports where passengers left the most spare change were New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, where $46,918.06 was found, and Los Angeles International Airport, which collected $19,110.83.

The Hill/Keith Laing  
|
WE MAY SEE MORE BENGALS GAMES EVEN IF THEY DON'T SELL OUT
Senator Sherrod Brown is urging the FCC to change the blackout rules:

“We are one step closer to ending the blackout rule,” Brown said in a news release. “Today, the FCC announced that it would begin taking public comment on the blackout rule, an outdated rule which is unfair to the teams, the fans, and especially the taxpayers. Although the Bengals season ended last week, I’ll keep fighting to repeal the blackout rule.”
(snip)
But it didn’t make much difference for the Bengals this year. Despite making the playoffs this season, the team had the three smallest crowds in Paul Brown Stadium history in 2011.

Business Courier/Steve Watkins  
|
***************************************************
|
in case you missed...
|
THE CASE AGAINST CONVENTION CENTER EXPANSIONS
As state legislators weigh the funding of various proposed projects, NKY's wish list includes two in Covington: convention center expansion and development of Gateway's urban campus. City Journal makes a case against convention center expansions. Click the link, check it out, and share your thoughts on which is more important.
A Case Against Convention Center Expansions 
|
THIS AFTERNOON'S NEWS
New grant money may help allow for food stamps at the Covington Farmers Market; Yet even more bad news for Omnicare today; Dayton (OH) is worried about Cincinnati's syphilis problem (SRSLY); Plus, a new license plate option for fans of historic preservation in KY! Those stories and more at the link.

News Round-Up -- Thursday Afternoon 

|

*******************************************************

|

JAMES FRANCO TO STAR IN NEW MAPPLETHORPE MOVIE

The artist Robert Mapplethorpe had died by the time his work created a firestorm/embarrassment for the City of Cincinnati.

Next Movie 

Background on the Cincinnati Mapplethorpe episode here. 

|

OBAMA WONDERS WHY HE HAS TO INITATE PHONE CALLS WITH NCAA CHAMPS

LOL:

"They are national champions. I'm president of the United States. Am I crazy to think that one of the first things they'd want to do is call me? I'd just like to know I'm on their minds for once."

The Onion