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by Michael Monks
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MAYOR TO REVEAL BUDGET, CITY HALL REORGANIZATION PLAN
Tonight we will likely know what the City of Covington will start to look like as the new fiscal year begins on July 1. Mayor Chuck Scheper will present the 2012-13 city budget during a special town hall meeting at the Madison Event Center, the same location of his State of the City address in January in which the new mayor rolled out his 10-point plan to return Covington to a path of solvency. In addition to updating the people on the progress of that ambitious plan, the mayor will yield to Cincinnati-based Management Partners for a presentation on its recommendations to restructure City Hall.
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Will this mark the end of code enforcement being housed at City Hall? The community development department? Will there be job reductions? Are police and firefighters on the chopping block? Questions that have lingered for the past couple of months will hopefully be answered tonight starting at 6:00PM. Then, on Thursday, the Covington City Commission convenes for a special meeting at City Hall to vote on the budget.
Will this mark the end of code enforcement being housed at City Hall? The community development department? Will there be job reductions? Are police and firefighters on the chopping block? Questions that have lingered for the past couple of months will hopefully be answered tonight starting at 6:00PM. Then, on Thursday, the Covington City Commission convenes for a special meeting at City Hall to vote on the budget.
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The River City News will have live coverage of tonight's presentation on Facebook and Twitter and then full reports following the event right here at RCNky.com.
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MORE REMARKS FROM SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES
The River City News reported exclusively on the evolving platforms of several announced candidates for Covington School Board. Read that story at the link below:
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Here is bonus coverage of some of the candidates:
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JO ROGERS
Along with her husband, Jon Ryker, Rogers was one of the early catalysts of the Fix Covington Schools online forum that emerged in the spring. If elected, she is unsure right now whether she would push to remove current superintendent Lynda Jackson from her duties. "I don't know her well enough, I don't know what her goals are," Rogers said. She plans to launch her campaign in earnest soon. "You have to be willing to let schools fail. That doesn't mean you abandon them, it means you have to have standards." Rogers has extensive experience as an educator with teaching experience in Bellevue, as an instructor at the University of Cincinnati, and as a substitute teacher throughout Kenton County.
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TOM MILLER
TOM MILLER
In recent months, Miller has been a regular visitor to school board meetings and has rebuked its members for various reasons on multiple occasions. "I'm questioning the way things are done," Miller said. "From what I've observed with most of our present school board, they just rubber stamp anything the administration says and I don't think that's right." I think the school board has to take a proactive role and question what's going on. I think money can be much better spent. The biggest chunk should be on educating, not administration." Miller has three granddaughters that attend Covington schools.
Miller has launched a Facebook group campaign site: Click Here
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CHRISTI BLAIR
CHRISTI BLAIR
Blair's youngest daughter attends John G. Carlisle Elementary School while her three oldest children are grown and in their early to late twenties. "I'm starting over with her," Blair said. "My kids are twenty-nine, twenty-four, and twenty-three and with them I was always working one or two jobs. I was the uninvolved parents, I didn't even know who their principals were. I was too busy trying to make a living. It's my turn to do this." Blair is actively involved in the parent organization at John G. "It's time for a change. It's going to change one way or another it's going to get better. I'm looking at what I can do to make the biggest difference in this district. I'm not going back to school to get a teaching degree. As a parent in Covington, the best way to make a difference would be to get on that school board and see if I can help."
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REBECCA PETTIGREW
REBECCA PETTIGREW
Pettigrew is also a mother of elementary school students. Her kids attend Glenn O. Swing. You can check out more on Pettigrew's candidacy at her campaign Facebook page.
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KERRY HOLLERAN
A mother of a student at John G. Carlisle, Holleran is an attorney and parent volunteer at the school. "I want to be part of a Board of Education that steps outside that board office and meets parents where they are," Holleran said. "We need parent leaders on the BOE who aren’t afraid to make tough decisions on financial issues, but who will also energize our parents and community to get inside the doors of CIPS and play a role in the education of our children. I want to see board members at SBDM meetings, and at PTO meetings, out there energizing parents and community partners, not just voting on budgets from the board office. If we want to reinvent CIPS, we need everyone’s help. We need board members who will ask for help and who won’t stop until the problem is solved."
See Holleran's campaign Facebook page
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So far, those are the only candidates to file or at least declare their intentions to file to run for the school board. The filing deadline is in August, so you can expect the field to grow. Three of five seats on the Board are up for election. Incumbents Glenda Huff, Mike Fitzgerald, and Krista Powers have yet to indicate whether they will seek reelection.
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DON'T MISS MONDAY EVENING'S NEWS
"Disgusting, horrible," says interim Police Chief Spike Jones of the playground fire; A meeting today estimates the rebuilding cost for the playground to be $100,000; Also, that wasn't the only "suspicious" fire in Covington over the weekend; Meanwhile, parking changes are made official in Mainstrasse as the City writes more parking tickets than ever before around town; Plus, Covington gets a shout-out in the Chicago Tribune. Click the link below. 
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KENTON COUNTY MAY SWAP SPEEDING TICKET FOR SAFETY COURSE
But only if you are a first-time offender! But the program is offered at home, which is nice:
With the County Attorney Traffic Safety program, or CATS, drivers who commit minor offenses can pay $150 for the course, administered either online or via a DVD and workbook, and avoid court costs, fines and fees.Cincinnati Enquirer/Amy Scalf
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AS TEMPERATURES CREEP TOWARD TRIPLE DIGITS, CAN YOU HELP?
From The Welcome House:
The summer months bring new challenges for local homeless families. Some of these families have been living doubled up with friends and relatives for months, but they may find themselves on the streets once the cold nights of winter and spring pass. This is the time of year friends are more likely to ask these families to leave.
Families make up 40% of the homeless population. Children in these families rely on school lunches as a source of regular nutrition throughout the year; in the summer they often cannot rely on a consistent meal. Currently, there are 624 homeless children in the Covington Independent School district. Parents looking for employment in this tough economy are faced with a new challenge when school is not in session, finding a safe place for their children to stay while they are job hunting.
The heat can bring on short tempers, especially when you add in the stress of having no place to sleep at night. The extreme heat we often experience in the Greater Cincinnati area can also bring on new health concerns for many people who have no way to pay their medical bills.
Welcome House is working to eradicate homelessness in Northern Kentucky. The Emergency Shelter provided a safe place to stay for 295 women and children last year. The Case Management, Employment & Social Security Outreach teams provided Guidance to about 5,000 people, 34% of whom were children. This is all part of our goal to help families develop their own plans to provide a future of Stability. That stability must include increasing their income, finding housing that is affordable, and keeping their children in school. Education is the most effective way to break the cycle of poverty.
Please help us continue to provide Shelter Guidance and Stability for our neighbors in need. We've provided 4072 nights of Shelter so far in 2012. But the cost of continuing this service is high. Please continue making a donation to Welcome House. You can do so on our website or buy mailing a check to 205 W. Pike Street, Covington, KY 41011.
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QUICKIES
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How white/black/Hispanic/Asian is Covington? Check out this interactive map that compiles data from a Census survey and breaks it down by neighborhood The New York Times
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Study outlines barriers to wind energy in Kentucky WFPL
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Texas-based Liberty for All Super Pac, which helped Thomas Massie secure the GOP nomination in the race to represent NKY in Congress, will get involved in other Kentucky races cn|2
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Kentucky eye doctor arrested on DUI charge near her office WKYT
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Former UK and future NBA star Anthony Davis trademarks his unibrow Herald-Leader
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PERSONAL NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER:
I GET TO TALK TO TV'S MEREDITH BAXTER!
The first-ever CNKY Scene GLBT Film Festival kicks off in Cincinnati next month 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, July 21, 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. The precise time has not been announced but stay tuned and come check it out. The location will likely be Know Theatre in Over-the-Rhine.
For updates, follow the film festival on Facebook by clicking here.
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NKY PRIDE SET FOR THIS WEEKEND
For updates, follow NKY Pride on Facebook by clicking here.
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And now for the gayest post of the morning...
And now for the gayest post of the morning...
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ARE AWNINGS GOING EXTINCT?
You still see them over some doors and windows around town but it looks like the once popular trend is dying off:
“You’re never going to go on Craigslist and find someone who’s looking for a vintage 1950s fiberglass or aluminum awning,” said Jonathan B. Held, an architect who lives on a street in Greenpoint that is speckled with those overhangs. “They are despised.”Full story: The New York Times
But it was not always so. Many homes that still have awnings spent much of their lives valued less for their beauty than for their ability to shelter a family at the least possible expense, particularly in neighborhoods that just a few decades ago were considered neither up nor coming.
Awnings have long been used to protect houses from the rain and the heat of the sun, and around the 1950s, according to the preservation arm of the National Park Service, aluminum became a popular material because it was considered to be lower maintenance and more durable than canvas.
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98 DEGREES REUNION TOUR!
The Cincinnati-based boy band is getting back together:
“We miss the rush of being on stage together and performing together. Certainly the fans have been clamoring for it, so it just felt right,” Nick Lachey told Seacrest, according to Reuters.The Cincinnati Enquirer/John Kiesewetter
(snip)
Nick and Drew Lachey are rounding up their 98 Degrees band mates for a reunion concert Aug. 18 at Summer Mixtape Festival in Hershey, Pa.
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COVINGTON NATIVE DON SANDERS AND HIS RIVERBOAT ADVENTURES
To know Don Sanders is to know Covington history. With just one simple sentence he can captivate you. Now, he and Covington resident Everett Dameron on board a riverboat named Clyde and because it's the 21st century, the Rafter Clyde has its own Facebook page and it is worth following every day. Sanders is sort of like Covington's own personal Mark Twain. Click the link below and follow along on the adventures.
