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Julia Fair Northern Kentucky Government Reporter Cincinnati Enquirer
Hello, Northern Kentucky: I want to hear from you
individual is wholly defi ned by their worst moments.” But prosecutors said Friday that Fields deserves a life sentence, adding that would help deter others from committing “similar acts of domestic terrorism.” The dueling memos were fi led week as the federal sentencing looms on Friday. Fields is a 2015 Cooper High School graduate. He grew up in Florence. Fields’ case stirred racial tensions around the country. Fields pleaded in March to federal hate crime charges and admitted that he intentionally plowed his speeding car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters, killing a woman and injuring dozens. The 2010 Dodge Charger Fields was charged with driving into the crowd was purchased in June 2015 from Kerry Toyota in Florence, according to a Carfax report. The title was updated a month later in Maumee, a Toledo suburb where Fields had moved with his mother.
I’ve heard there’s a bit of a chili rivalry that I should know about. The billboards for Gold Star Chili and Skyline Chili caught my eye as I drove into Northern Kentucky, eager to learn about its communities. I learned, quickly, that Dixie Chili is the oldest remaining chain and was established in Newport. Nicholas Sarakatsannis opened Dixie Chili in Newport in 1929. Skyline Chili and Gold Star came decades later. But I want to know more about Northern Kentucky, aside from which restaurant has perfected the unique meals. Hello, Northern Kentucky, my name is Julia and I want to chat about your communities, your schools and your governments. By now you can probably tell that I’m new to the area. Let me tell you how I got here. I’m from Cleveland, Ohio, but for the past year I was living and working in Virginia. There, I worked for The News Leader in Staunton and covered local governments. I’m here by the way of a program called Report For America. It’s similar to Teach for America, but for journalism. It’s no secret that news outlet resources are not what they used to be. Many areas that used to have robust local coverage are news deserts leaving residents in the dark about where their tax dollars are going. The Cincinnati Enquirer joined the Report For America program and hired me as a watchdog government reporter focused on Northern Kentucky. I’ll be reporting on the counties of Boone, Kenton and Campbell and the cities within them. “What do you mean by, ‘watchdog?’” is something I’ve heard from a few people as I’ve begun to introduce myself. It means I have the time and resources to look out for your tax dollars and communities. We’ve heard that Northern Kentucky residents want to know more about growth, poverty, taxes and the upcoming 2019 gubernatorial election. In particular, I will cover what local elected leaders are spending money
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The silver Dodge Charger alledgedly driven by James Alex Fields Jr. passes near the Market Street Parking Garage moments after driving into a crowd of counter-protesters on Water Street on August 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Heather Heyer, 32 years old, was killed and 19 others injured when they were struck by the car. MATTHEW HATCHER/GETTY IMAGES
Fields asks for mercy Man who plowed car into Charlottesville crowd, killing one person, seeks a sentencing of shorter than life in prison Alan Suderman ASSOCIATED PRESS
RICHMOND, Va. — The self-avowed white supremacist who plowed his car into counterdemonstrators opposing a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, two years ago, killing one person and injuring dozens, has asked a judge for mercy and a sentence shorter than life in prison. Lawyers for James Alex Fields Jr., 22, said in a sentencing memo submitted in court documents Friday that the defendant should not spend his entire life in prison because of his age, a traumatic childhood and a history of mental illness. Fields pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes in March and is set to be sentenced on June 28. “No amount of punishment imposed on James can repair the damage he caused to dozens of innocent people. But this Court should fi nd that retribution has limits,” his attorneys wrote. But prosecutors countered that the avowed anti-Semite and Adolf Hitler admirer has shown no remorse since he drove the car into the counterdemon-
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James Alex Fields, Jr. PROVIDED
strators on Aug. 12, 2017, killing antiracism activist Heather Heyer and injuring others protesting against the white nationalists. The attorneys for Fields said that giving him something less than a life sentence would be akin to an “expression of mercy” and a “conviction that no
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