campbell-county-recorder-091709

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SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

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Your Community Recorder newspaper serving all of Campbell County

COUNTY RECORDER

E-mail: kynews@communitypress.com T h u r s d a y, S e p t e m b e r 1 7 , 2 0 0 9

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cmayhew@nky.com

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Drive out to the construction zone past A.J. Jolly Park where at least a dozen workers in reflective vests are using heavy equipment to clear the way for a widening of U.S. 27 to four lanes and it’s clear the project is employing people. But details are scant on exactly how many people the $26.5-million project, entirely funded with federal stimulus money, will employ through the creation of new jobs or retention of existing jobs. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s District Six of the Department of Highways does not have details about how many people the project is employing or will employ over the course of the expected two years of work. The project will widen a 2.4mile section of U.S. 27 from two to four lanes starting at A.J. Jolly

Park and ending at Nagel Road. Construction on the project started Aug. 18 after being delayed since May 2008 because of state budget cuts. The project’s projected completion date is November 2012. Contractors are required to report their payroll information to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, but there is a six week lag time in the reporting of the numbers, said Chuck Wolfe, spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Transportation. “We have to pass that information along to Federal Highway Administration and then to Congress,” Wolfe said. The figures are supposed to be reported to the cabinet by the seventh day of each month by contractors. August numbers aren’t in yet, but should be soon, and so far the only payroll spending on stimulus projects report has been from July, Wolfe said.

Construction details

Construction to widen the 2.4mile section of U.S. 27 between A.J. Jolly Park and Nagel Road has started. The speed limit in the work zone is 45 miles-per-hour. The first construction is about a half mile south of Hillview Drive. Watch for construction traffic entering and leaving the roadway and traffic control devices. Eaton Asphalt Paving Co., of Covington, won the low-bid contract. The July payroll numbers reported by contractors throughout the state was $1.78 million, he said. The state does not break the numbers down by project, Wolfe said. Complicating trying to understand how many jobs stimulus projects including U.S. 27 are creating or retaining is that there is a

A word from the president

The majority of Campbell County Schools viewed a recording of President Barack Obama’s message about the personal responsibility of getting the most out of their education on Thursday, Sept. 10, two days after the speech was broadcast live. “I thought that it was really good because it kind of told us that he cared about our education and our futures,” said Jennifer Rawe, a seventhgrade student. Some parents opted to keep their children from hearing the speech because of political concerns, but the remainder of the district’s students watched the president. SCHOOLS, A6 For the Postmaster

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risk of double counting because contractors often use the same employees on different job sites for functions like paving work, Wolfe said. Contractors also keep their payroll numbers close to the vest because of the competitive nature of the contract bidding process, he said. “They don’t normally share that with each other,” Wolfe said. “We treat that as proprietary information.” The transportation cabinet also tracks payroll numbers, not job figures, so figuring out job creation and retention can be problematic, he said. “We will say at some point how many jobs are created or retained by contractors,” Wolfe said. But the project has just started, he said. “We can’t really say ahead of time how many jobs,” Wolfe said.

Stepping up safety for pedestrians

‘The Jazz Bird’

The Campbell County Public Library helped uncork an annual reading initiative with a Prohibition-era style party Friday, Sept. 11 centered around a book set in the 1920s. It was the first, but not the last event in public libraries in Campbell, Boone and Kenton counties promoting the 2009 Northern Kentucky One Book One Community reading selection of “The Jazz Bird” by Craig Holden. LIFE, B1

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Number of U.S. 27 workers unclear By Chris Mayhew

Volume 31, Number 32 © 2009 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Web site: NKY.com

B E C A U S E C O M M U N I T Y M AT T E R S

By Amanda Joering Alley ajoering@nky.com

CHRIS MAYHEW/STAFF

A day in the park

Fred Moeves of Alexandria rounding a bend at the Alexandria Community Park Monday, Sept. 14, runs daily in the park for exercise.

Levee hosts third annual ‘Taste’ By Amanda Joering Alley ajoering@nky.com

Newport on the Levee is again hosting the annual Taste of the Levee fall festival this October. This is the third year for the event, which is meant to offer patrons a sample of various Levee tenants’ menu items. “The visitors and tenants alike indicated the event was very enjoyable and successfully met their expectations, therefore, we decided to repeat it,” said Ellen Prows, general manager of the Levee. Donny Stenke, manager at Habanero Mexican Fare at the Levee, which opened in April 2008, said the employees and patrons had fun during last year’s event, so they decided to participate again this year. “This is a big event in Newport, and it gave us a lot of publicity,” Stenke said. “Since we had just opened a few months before the event, it really helped us get our name out there.” Other restaurants participating in the event include BRIO Tuscan Grille, Claddagh Irish Pub, Cold Stone Creamery, Dewey’s Pizza, Funny Bone Comedy Club, Jax Grill at Gameworks, Jefferson Hall,

AMANDA JOERING ALLEY/STAFF

Donny Stenke, manager at Habanero Latin American Fare at Newport on the Levee, makes a burrito. Habanero is one of many Levee restaurants that are participating in the Taste of the Levee fall festival Saturday, Oct. 3. Mitchell’s Fish Market and Pit Stop on the Levee. The event also features live entertainment and music by Eric Matthew Tepe, M42 and Ten Foot Big. Beer sales at the event are going to benefit LEGACY, a leadership group for young professionals in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

“Newport on the Levee supports this group as they strive to better Northern Kentucky through professional development events,” Prows said. The event is from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3. In case of rain, the event will be at the same time Sunday, Oct. 4. For more information, visit www.newportonthelevee.com.

With Tower Park in Fort Thomas being a hot-spot for family fun in the area, city council is taking extra steps to ensure the safety of the park’s visitors. Recently a resident brought to light a potentially dangerous problem at the park’s entrance off South Fort Thomas Avenue across from Tower Place, where drivers heading south will stop to turn left into the park, sometimes waving people in the crosswalk to cross the street, said City Administrator Donald Martin. Councilmembers While the people also discussed are crosspainting the ing, Martin said bump-out so cars try to drivers have a pass the stopped warning that it is car by there before they g o i n g around it attempt to pass. on the right side, near the curb, putting the people crossing the street in danger of being hit. “City staff looked at the problem and found that a possible solution would be to install a bump-out from the curb,” Martin said. The bump-out, an extension of the curb further onto South Fort Thomas Avenue, would prevent cars from passing stopped cars on the right, making the area safer for pedestrians and decreasing the amount of time they have to walk on the street, Martin said. In order to install the bumpout, Martin said the city must apply for an encroachment permit from the Kentucky Department of Transportation. Once the permit is granted, the project can be completed by city workers. Councilmembers also discussed painting the bump-out so drivers have a warning that it is there before they attempt to pass.


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