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What role did McConnell play in tiny airport? Kentucky Speedway’s hometown lands planes Julia Fair Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK
Florence police officers and fi refi ghters responded to a call of no guests at a birthday party for two young boys July 20 at the Columns on Wetherington apartment complex. Officers and fi refi ghters sang Happy Birthday to the boys. BURLINGTON FIRE DEPARTMENT/PROVIDED
When no guests show for boys’ party, Florence PD, fi refi ghters ride to rescue Chris Mayhew Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK
What could have been a crushing disappointment instead turned into a memorable surprise Saturday for two Florence, Kentucky youngsters after none of their invited guests came to their birthday party. The boys, 3 and 5 years old, were ready for the swim party. Six boxes of pizza going mostly uneaten underneath birthday decorations already had Traci Habana’s attention as she enjoyed the pool with her family at the Columns on Wetherington apartment complex. She wondered where the guests were as the adults sat and waited and waited. Then someone from the birthday party came over and off ered Habana’s children some of the pizza. None of the 10 children invited to the party were there, she said. Habana’s family sang “Happy Birthday” to the family she didn’t know. “It kind of broke my heart, you know, it was kind of like that Mom moment,” Habana said. Then she had an idea. So she called Florence police’s non-emergency line and asked if the department
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A sign welcomes NASCAR fans in Sparta. JULIA FAIR/ENQUIRER
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could send an offi cer on a mission to cheer up the children. About 10 minutes later more than a dozen fi rst-responders paraded in, Habana said. “I’ve got some really great guys,” said Police Chief Tom Grau. “Sgt. (Chris) Billiter spearheaded it when they got the call.” Michael La’Bor, father of the boys, said he knew ahead of time throwing child birthday parties was harder in the summer. “But when not one person was able to make it, as a father it hurt because I felt like I didn’t do enough to get other kids there for them to enjoy it,” La’Bor said. The family was packing up to leave when Habana approached them and asked if it would be OK to try and get a police offi cer there to make the day special, he said. “It hit me in my heart that a stranger would do that,” La’Bor said. His oldest son can’t stop talking about the police and fi refi ghters’ visit, he said.
SPARTA, Ky. — One side of this town of 231 people has the essentials: city hall, a post offi ce and a bar. The other has the Kentucky Speedway that attracts 100,000 NASCAR fans to the area every summer. And soon, tiny Sparta will be getting Kentucky’s newest airport - about three miles away from the Speedway near Park Ridge Road. It’s an idea that’s been around since the early 1990s but hasn’t gotten funding until now. But exactly how did this small city in Gallatin County – the state’s second smallest county – get a new airport? It won’t be the kind of airport that the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is. The 5,500-foot runway will instead cater to people privately fl ying small air crafts into Sparta. The Speedway and its culture is embedded in the Sparta community. Gas stations display “Welcome Race Fans!” signs. The local bar even plastered a beer advertisement on its window that showed a professional race car driver cracking open a cold one. Most people in the county are excited about the airport. Residents see the airport, expected to be built in three to four years, as helping not just the Speedway but also local businesses. Many businesses submitted letters of support for the small airport. The Speedway sent a letter but its advocacy didn’t end there. Details about the Speedway’s eff ort to make the project a reality were found in Enquirer archives. In 2003 Kentucky Speedway President Mark Simendinger said the airport was a key component in the future of the Speedway which was just three years old at the time, according to Enquirer
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