NEWS ROUND-UP -- MONDAY MORNING 16 JAN

by Michael Monks 
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REMEMBERING DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR

The spirit of Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. will be celebrated in Covington during the City's annual march. Join the occasion as Covingtonians pay homage by marching from the old Jillian's site along MLK Boulevard (12th Street) to The Carnegie. It starts at 5:00PM. Following the march at 6:00PM, a ceremony will take place inside the Carnegie's theater.

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NEW YORK TIMES: HOW FARES THE DREAM?

To say the obvious: to look at a photo of President Obama with his cabinet is to see a degree of racial openness — and openness to women, too — that would have seemed almost inconceivable in 1963. When we observe Martin Luther King’s Birthday, we have something very real to celebrate: the civil rights movement was one of America’s finest hours, and it made us a nation truer to its own ideals.
Yet if King could see America now, I believe that he would be disappointed, and feel that his work was nowhere near done. He dreamed of a nation in which his children “will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” But what we actually became is a nation that judges people not by the color of their skin — or at least not as much as in the past — but by the size of their paychecks. And in America, more than in most other wealthy nations, the size of your paycheck is strongly correlated with the size of your father’s paycheck.
Goodbye Jim Crow, hello class system.

NY Times/Paul Krugman  
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INEQUALITY IN 2012: HOW FAR FROM THE DREAM ARE WE?

We will only realize Dr. King’s vision when every American has the chance to find a well-paying job, get health care when they get sick, and receive a quality education. The numbers below show much work remains.
46.2 million: The number of Americans in poverty in 2010.76.7 million: Number of people in families who were living below $44,000 for a family of four (two times the federal poverty line).27.4: Percentage of African Americans in poverty.26.6: Percentage of Hispanics in poverty.9.9: Percentage of non-Hispanic whites in poverty.45.3: Percentage of young adults facing poverty, when they are considered independently of their parents.5.9 million: Number of young adults living with their parents. Those who aren’t saw a 9 percent decrease in their income.39.1: Percentage of African American children less than 18 years old in poverty.12.4: Percentage of white children less than 18 years old in poverty.
To start fixing this problem, it’s important that we grow the country’s number of low-skill jobs, so that those in poverty can begin to find a way out. We also need to maintain a solid safety net for those who can’t work, such as the elderly and the disabled.

Center for American Progress  
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HERALD-LEADER: MLK'S SPIRIT LIVES ON IN 'OCCUPY' PROTESTS

But I suspect that King would be most interested in spending some time at the corner of Main Street and Esplanade, where local participants in the Occupy Wall Street protest have kept a steady vigil for 107 days, as of Friday, and counting.
Hill, this year's guest speaker, thinks so, too. That is because the Occupy protesters in Lexington and cities across America echo many of the concerns about economic justice that King expressed, especially during the final year before an assassin's bullet silenced him in 1968.
"We've always needed to talk about the have-nots and the have-gots," Hill said in a telephone interview last week. "The Occupy movement kind of revives that conversation."
Marc Lamont Hill, who is best known to many TV viewers as a liberal foil to Fox talk-show host Bill O'Reilly, plans to discuss some of those issues during his Lexington speech.
"We live in a really, really dangerous moment, for a variety of reasons — politically, socially, culturally," Hill said. "There has never been a moment where we more needed to draw on the insights of Dr. King's legacy, not only to bring the nation together but to move the nation forward."

Herald-Leader/Tom Eblen 

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3 STATES CELEBRATE MLK WITH ROBERT E LEE

Care to guess where they are? Time's up:

Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi all celebrate Lee/King Day as one state holiday. On the surface, the Confederate general doesn't seem like the type of candidate to be immortalized in a holiday, especially one shared by a civil rights hero. "One man led an oppressed people towards a greater equality and paved the way for Civil Rights, the other led men to their deaths in order to preserve an institution that would enslave people based on their skin color," wrote Lance Pickering on the Facebook wall for Louisiana-based KSLA.
Another comment by Russell Chism read, "…General Lee commanded the South to put a stop to the abolition of slavery plain and simple." While this might be the reaction of some people unaware that King/Lee Day even existed, they might also be unaware that the two men have much in common.

Raycom News Network via FOX 19  
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FREEDOM CENTER IS FREE TODAY

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center hopes to break its one-day attendance mark – 6,000 on Jan. 17, 2011 – Monday when it offers free admission for the eighth consecutive year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. PNC Bank is underwriting the free admission for the second year in a row. 

Cincinnati Enquirer/Mark Crunutte
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AT LEAST 2 KENTUCKIANS ABOARD CRASHED ITALIAN CRUISE SHIP

This morning, news has surfaced that the cruise ship that crashed in the Mediterranean may have done so because the captain was showing off. Worse still, rescue teams believe more people could still be inside, trapped among the wreckage. Two Kentuckians were aboard:

Sarah Moore told the Daily News of Bowling Green that her daughter, Lauren Moore, had just started a 10-day Mediterranean cruise Friday night when ship ran aground. Her daughter was flying home Sunday, she said. Another Kentuckian, Joe Ryan, also survived and was trying to get home, according to his father, Larry Ryan.

Associated Press via Herald-Leader  
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SCATHING EDITORIAL ON KENTUCKY REDISTRICTING
The Ledger-Independent in Maysville is less than thrilled with the General Assembly's return to Frankfort:

But every once in a while the hacks in Frankfort are so blatant in their tactics, so dismissive of the rights of Kentucky citizens and so arrogant in their approach, that we must speak out. The plan for the redistricting of seats in the Kentucky House of Representatives that was approved on Friday calls for Lewis County to be divided into three separate districts represented by three (Democrat) lawmakers.
The fact that Lewis County voters have registered overwhelmingly on the GOP team since the days of Bull Run and Gettysburg be damned.

Ledger-Independent  
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SEE ALSO: Lawmakers duke it out Courier-Journal/Joseph Gerth 
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COVINGTON TO HOLD MEETING ABOUT CHURCH STREET
The City wants public feedback on the 90-day trial of changing Church Street to a one-way between 36th Street and Southern Avenue. The meeting is Wednesday, January 18, at 6:00PM inside the cafeteria at Holy Cross High School.
(press release)
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'MAJOR' NKY ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENT TOMORROW AT NKU
From the press release:

After nearly a year of planning, a team of regional economic development experts is set to announce the most innovative business development project our region has embarked upon in recent years.

Hmmm. Sounds major. The River City News will be there.

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3 MURDERED IN CINCINNATI IN 24 HOURS

A tragic and violent weekend across the river where a 65-year old shop owner, a 19-year old man, and a 21-year old woman were murdered.

Cincinnati Enquirer 

UPDATE: Arrests made in 2 of 3 murder cases Cincinnati Enquirer 

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IS KENTUCKY CLOSER TO LANDING AN NBA TEAM?

Some guy in Louisville is still holding on to that dream:

He said a promising deal with a group of wealthy Chinese businessmen fell through last spring, because of the league’s stalemate with players over a new collective-bargaining agreement. A new labor deal was reached late last fall, and a belated NBA season began around Christmas. Now, Miller said in an interview Thursday, his recruitment effort is focusing on finding an investor in another city who is willing to put up an expected $400 million or more to either move an existing team to Louisville or to get the league to authorize an expansion team for Louisville.

Courier-Journal/Sheldon Shafer  
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Remember the Kentucky Colonels? 

From Wikipedia:

Kentucky was one of the league's most talented teams, and had one of its best fan bases, but during the ABA's talks of merging with the NBA, the Colonels were not a favorite to change leagues. As a result, John Y. Brown, Jr. was forced to fold the Colonels.
(snip)
The Colonels won 448 games in the ABA, more than any other team or franchise. The Colonels' overall regular season record was 448-296; their .602 winning percentage is better than that of any ABA franchise except for the Minnesota Muskies who only played one season. (If the Utah Stars' statistics are counted on their own, excluding their seasons as the Anaheim Amigos and the Los Angeles Stars, that team's winning percentage, .608, is slightly better than the Colonels'.)
The Colonels' playoff record was 55-46 (.545). Only the Indiana Pacers won more ABA playoff games (69).

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NKU WOMEN GO FOR WIN NUMBER 800 TONIGHT
Both the men and women take on Bellarmine in Louisville tonight. On the men's side, Bellarmine is the defending national champions while the Norse are coming off their first loss of the season. The women have a milestone to reach:

NKU can earn its 800th all-time victory by defeating Bellarmine on Monday. The Norse are 799-303 all-time in women's basketball.

The men's team won its 700th all-time game earlier this season.
NKU Norse 
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UK CHEERLEADERS WIN 19TH NATIONAL TITLE
That's right: The Wildcats are not just elite in basketball.
Herald-Leader 
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COVINGTON: THE SUNDAY EDITION
Did you get a chance to read The River City News Sunday Edition yesterday?
The Kids Are Not All Right - Three devastating stories about local youth this week; It's being called the most innovative business development project in the region and we'll find out this week; Plus, an incredible ending to a small college basketball game in KY that you have to see to believe! Those stories and more, plus Covington's week-in-review, at the link!
The Sunday Edition 
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LOLZ
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A couple times, The Onion has listed Covington, KY as the dateline for its satirical news stories. Here's they are:
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NEIGHBORHOOD CHILDREN GEAR UP FOR 'OPENING OF THE GERBIL'S TOMB'

COVINGTON, KY–In what promises to be the biggest neighborhood event since July's golf-ball dismantling, Andy Mefford, 9, announced plans Monday to exhume Marshall, his sister's deceased pet gerbil.
(snip)
Marshall, who died June 24 of complications from an eye infection, was laid to rest the following day beneath the large oak tree in the Meffords' backyard. The gerbil was entombed in a styrofoam hamburger container, along with a daisy and a poem written by its devoted owner, 7-year-old Kimberly Mefford. Mefford's decision to exhume the rodent, made partly in response to a recent Learning Channel Secrets Of The Pyramids documentary, has sparked excitement among children throughout the Reardon Street area.

LOL. Read the whole thing here.
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SECOND HOUR IN FABRIC STORE NEARLY KILLS 8-YEAR OLD
LOL:

COVINGTON, KY–Local 8-year-old William Haney is listed in stable condition following Sunday's near-fatal two-hour excursion to Martha's Fabric Outlet on Route 23 near Cincinnati. Dragged to the store by his mother, 36-year-old Carolyn Haney, who was reportedly obsessed with finding the perfect fabric for new bathroom curtains, Haney wandered the aisles for more than an hour in search of anything of remote interest.

The Onion