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COUNTY RECORDER
E-mail: kynews@communitypress.com T h u r s d a y, J u l y 1 6 , 2 0 0 9
Marty Herbert at the Boone County Senior Center
Volume 133 Number 43 © 2009 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Thanks for voting
Northern Kentucky residents have made their choice for the very best in The Community Recorder’s annual Readers’ Choice Awards. We’re counting thousands of votes and will announce the winners in a special publication in August. Winners of the Kings Island tickets won’t have to wait, however. Those local residents will be announced in next week’s Boone County Recorder.
Win up to $500 cash!
July 13-20, we’re giving away $75 a day and two grand prizes of $500 each. Check the site to see if you’re a winner! More info: MomsLikeMe.com/ cincycontests.
Cook featured
Tracey Bright, of Florence, is featured in the fourth Cincy MomsLikeMe.com cookbook sponsored by bigg’s. The cookbook features 27 recipes from local chefs ranging from summertime appetizers and entrées to desserts. Bright’s contribution to the book is her cranberry summer salad with homemade balsamic dressing. – LIFE, PAGE B1
Summer school adds fun twist
Boone County Schools is giving summer school a new twist. Seven of the district’s elementary schools are offering summer school as a form of intervention to students at risk of falling behind. Funding for the program included some federal stimulus money. – SCHOOLS, PAGE A6 For the Postmaster
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Vendor admits tax roll error By Paul McKibben pmckibben@nky.com
Boone County Property Valuation Administrator Cindy Rich showed a letter from her office’s software vendor during the July 7 Boone County Fiscal Court meeting to demonstrate that computer errors were responsible for her office miscalculating the county’s property tax roll. John R. Hansen, vice president of Manatron Inc., told Rich in the letter that based on the company’s findings there are almost 200 parcels that were incorrectly classified as inactive within the system and as a result, these parcels weren’t included in the roll. “It is regrettable that this situation occurred but also important to note that issues like this are not uncommon during the first couple of assessment rolls on a new CAMA (a type of appraisal computer software) system,” he wrote . “It does not appear that these omissions were intentional, either on Manatron’s side or that of Boone County. Rather, they appear to be the result of software idiosyncrasies that were discovered ... .” Rich has said Fiscal Court staff found there were about 150 commercial properties that the officials couldn’t find when they compared the tax roll to last year’s tax roll. Properties missing included the Florence Meijer store. She has blamed this mistake on computer error. Commissioner Charlie Kenner at Fiscal Court’s June 23 meeting requested that Fiscal Court get an explanation from the PVA’s office. He has doubted Rich’s explanation. Rich’s portion of the July 7 meeting was tense. At one point, Rich asked Kenner to read the letter out loud. Boone County Judge-Executive Gary Moore interjected and told Rich that if she wanted to make a statement to the court that is fine but they are really not here to have a debate. Rich said she was just asking if Kenner would like to read the letter. She asked him if he would like her to read the letter or if he would care to read it himself. Kenner said if she really wanted to address this she would have given him a report ahead of time like he asked for two weeks ago. “I don’t intend to be a part of these personal attacks on me. I also answer to the taxpayers. That’s why I bring these things up Cindy,” he said. “Don’t personalize this.” Rich responded by saying, “I think you personalized this two weeks ago.”
Navigate your way to the right car for you.
PAUL MCKIBBEN/STAFF
David Whitehouse, director of the Boone County Parks and Recreation Department, stands in front of a field of wildflowers at England-Idlewild Park in Burlington.
Park is home to wildflowers By Paul McKibben pmckibben@nky.com
Those fields of wildflowers and native grasses at England-Idlewild Park in Burlington are growing not because of a lack of mowing but because of an initiative by the Boone County Conservation District and the Boone County Parks and Recreation Department. Boone County received a federal grant in 2006 for planting trees, planting shrubs, building a wildlife watering hole and establishing a wildlife habitat (wildflowers and grasses) at England-Idlewild Park. The amount of the grant was $4,135. David Whitehouse, director of Boone County Parks and Recre-
PAUL MCKIBBEN/STAFF
A sign tells park visitors about the reforestation project at England-Idlewild Park. ation, said the county has probably 20 acres of property that it’s not mowing now in the park. Whitehouse said the wildflowers save the county money from not mowing and gives people some-
thing to go look at. “The wildflowers are really pretty. We got a lot of different kinds,” he said. The flowers include black-eyed Susans, a yellow flower and purple coneflowers. The Kenton County Airport Board owns England-Idlewild Park, an approximately 300-acre facility. The county leases the land from the airport. The park is Boone County government’s largest park. “The more flowers, the more insects, the more insects, the more birds and just good opportunities to see wildlife, things like that,” said Mark Jacobs, conservation technician with the Boone County Conservation District.
Father arrested for murder in baby’s death By Paul McKibben pmckibben@nky.com
The Boone County Sheriff’s Department has charged a Hebron man with murder in connection with the death of his infant daughter. Benjamin Senseman, 30, was arrested at approximately 4:30 p.m. Monday, July 13. The sheriff’s department said the infant died from head trauma. Sheriff’s department spokesman Tom Scheben said the infant was in her crib when the incident happened and it’s not something the sheriff’s department can attribute to being accidental. He said he doesn’t think Senseman shook her. The sheriff’s department said Hebron emergency medical services were called to the 1800 block of Princess Court at 3:53 p.m. Sunday, July 12 for a report of a 2-
month-old not breathing. Life-saving measures were done and the baby was taken to St. Elizabeth Florence where she was proSenseman nounced dead. An autopsy was done the next day. Laura Senseman, the child’s mother, was working at the time of the incident, the sheriff’s department said. Scheben said the Sensemans have a 3-year-old son. The boy was home at the time of the incident but wasn’t hurt. Benjamin Senseman was in court on Tuesday, July 14. He will remain in the Boone County jail after Boone District Judge Michael Collins ordered him held without bail. Collins also scheduled a preliminary hearing for Monday.
Senseman told Collins that he did not know whether he would be able to hire an attorney. Collins appointed a public defender until Senseman decides. The infant’s death is one of several suspicious death cases in Boone County this year. In March, Union residents Willa Blanc and her son Louis Wilkinson were arrested in connection with the death of Hebron resident Walter Sartory. In June, Paul Walz of Cincinnati was charged with second degree manslaughter, DUI and violation of a protection order after he ran over wife Carisa Walz while driving home, the sheriff’s department said. The incident occurred on Petersburg Road near Ky. 212. Also last month, Union City Administrator Warren Moore and his wife Madge were shot to death in their Union home. Kentucky News Service contributed.
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