The River City News: NEWS ROUND-UP -- MONDAY MORNING 26 DEC

by Michael Monks
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FIRE ALARM EVACUATES CVG

Everything is OK, but:

According to an airport spokesperson, those evacuated will have to go back through airport security. Flights that were scheduled to take off around the time of the evacuation were delayed.

Sounds like a fun travel day.
FOX 19

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KENTUCKY RANKS #1 FOR ANIMAL ABUSERS

So says the Animal Legal Defense Fund:

The states ranked at the bottom of the list have animal protection laws that the ALDF says are lacking. These states all have "severely restricted or absent felony penalties for the worst types of animal abuse, inadequate standards of basic care for an animal, and lack of restrictions on the ownership of animals for those convicted of cruelty to animals," according to a press release.

In ranking Kentucky the worst in the nation, the ALDF provided this info:

- Felony provision available only for cruelty against select animals
- No felony provisions for extreme neglect or abandonment
- Inadequate definitions/standards of basic care
- Principal protections apply only to select types of animals
- No mental health evaluations or counseling for offenders
- No cost mitigation & recovery provisions for impounded animals (e.g. cost-of-care bonds, other reimbursement of costs, liens, restitution provisions)
- No forfeiture of abused animals
- No restrictions on future ownership or possession of animals following a conviction
- Veterinarians are prohibited from reporting suspected cruelty or fighting
- No provisions for select non-animal-related agencies/professionals to report
suspected animal abuse
- Inadequate humane agent provisions and no duty on peace officers to enforce animal protection laws
- No separate crime for the sexual assault of an animal
- No statutory authority to allow protective orders to include animals

Recap from Huffington Post here.
Full report from ALDF here.
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KENTUCKY: GO SMOKE FREE, SAYS OP-ED
Other than leading the nation as the best place for animal abusers, Kentucky also leads (or very nearly leads) in smoking and smoking-related deaths. The CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky took to the pages of the Courier-Journal to urge Kentuckians (and Kentucky) to kick the habit:

If someone had told me, when I first began my career in health, that one day 34 percent of Kentuckians would live in a smoke-free community, I would not have believed it. But, today it’s true that more than 30 communities have laws or regulations protecting workers in restaurants, bars and other work sites from secondhand smoke. This is a good thing for residents, workers and visitors in these communities. And now there is a broad-based endeavor to protect the health of all Kentuckians through a statewide policy.

Courier-Journal
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COVINGTON'S LEGAL AID TURNS AWAY THOUSANDS
More important poverty-related organizations feel the brunt of the economy:

Legal aid groups across the nation will begin turning away more people like Hall after Congress cut the budget for Legal Services Corporation (LSC) by $56 million, or 14.8 percent. The LSC is the primary source of funding for most of the 136 independent nonprofit legal aid societies throughout the nation. The Covington-based Legal Aid of the Bluegrass already turns away 7,063 people annually who are eligible for its services. In Cincinnati, the legal aid service only has enough lawyers to take about 6,000 new cases a year out of 30,000 requests.

But don't touch the "job creators"!
Cincinnati Enquirer/Jim Hannah
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HOLY CROSS LANDS A FEW ON THE KY ALL-STATE TEAM
You have to dig a little, but you can see more honors rolling in for the Indians. Also, lots of other NKY names on the list.
Courier-Journal
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NEW PHOTOS FROM 'ART BY COVINGTON'S FUTURE'
Hope you're following these local students. They're busy. And talented:

Behringer-Crawford Museum invited the youth to take pictures of their Santa Claus visits, and the Eastside Neighborhood Association invited them to set up their photo booth in front of the Christmas Tree at their Christmas Party at the Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center. Chris and Brennon also took event photographs for the BLOCK Citizens Celebration.

Check out more at the link!

Art By Covington's Future

DONATION DRIVE FOR COVINGTON SCHOOLS

Hope you're still in the giving spirit because Covington is a city that always has a high number of its population living in need, especially children. If you're out returning an ugly sweater, pick up some school supplies:

The city-wide school supply (pencils, pens, paper, folders, art supplies, tissues, hand sanitizer) donation drive for Covington Independent Public Schools can be helped at donation bins at Covington Police headquarters, Fire Station #1, City Hall (1st & 4th floor), and Dept. of Public Improvements. Call Michelle Robinson Wilson directly at 292-2241 if you have any questions or would like to arrange a time to drop off donations.

SO...ABOUT THAT HOTEL ON THE PURPLE PEOPLE BRIDGE...

The Enquirer's Laura Baverman follows up more than a year after the proposal surfaced to mixed reactions. A hotel on the Purple People Bridge?

More than a year later, little of that work has been completed. “Unfortunately, the thing has been moving pretty slow,” said Wally Pagan, Newport Southbank’s CEO.
What is done is a budget and balance sheet for the project, showing Newport officials that future real estate and sales taxes and the income taxes associated with 1,000 construction and 500 permanent jobs would help it generate new income. Pagan declined to share the amount of tax Newport could expect from the project.

Cincinnati Enquirer/Laura Baverman