COMMUNITY RECORDER
Your Community Recorder newspaper serving Northern Kenton County
THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015
HITTING CLOSE TO HOME 1B Officer Kim to be honored at police softball tourney
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BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS
Road project could take privately owned land By Melissa Stewart mstewart@communitypress.com
MELISSA STEWART/THE COMMUNITY RECORDER
Jeanette Kruer stands next to the 6-foot tomato plants she planted on Mother’s Day.
Patio tomato plant dwarfs Madonna Manor resident Melissa Stewart mstewart@communitypress.com
VILLA HILLS — Jeanette Kruer, 86, has been growing tomatoes all her life. But, when she got a City Picker container for Mother’s Day, she never dreamed the tomato plants she planted in it would grow so big. “Six feet tall,� Kruer said. “And they continue to reach for the sky – blooming and setting tomatoes on top the plants.� The City Picker is a 24 1/2inch patio garden kit. It has a self-contained watering system that automatically waters the plants and has drainage holes to help prevent overwatering. Kruer keeps the City Picker in her patio garden at her apartment at Madonna Manor, an assisted living facility in Villa Hills. There’s no secret to her gardening methods, Kruer said. All she has to do is water the plants each day though a little pipe in the corner of the planter. “The tomatoes drink water
like drunken sailors,� she said. “That was a saying back in my day.� With the tomatoes not yet ripe enough for picking, Kruer and her neighbors wait patiently. “There’s really nothing that quite compares to the taste of a homegrown tomato,� she said. “I can’t wait to taste them. There’s so many, they seem to come out in clusters of five instead of the typical one or two on a vine. I’ll be sharing with my neighbors too.� Kruer said she’s been growing her patio garden since she moved into Madonna Manor more than two years ago. She said her garden is “the four B’s – birds, butterflies, bees and BLTs.� “My neighbors can see the tomato plants from their apartments,� she said. “They’re stopping by asking me when there will be BLTs,� she said. “I love BLTs – yum!�
Rick Sasher is happy living at a little house on the corner of Bromley-Crescent Springs and Amsterdam roads. “It’s the best house I’ve ever lived in,� the Vietnam veteran said. “This house is great. I used to work on houses and it’s better than any new house. I like the yard. I’m happy here.� Sasher rents the house from owners William and Jeff Keene for a nominal fee each month. “We want to try to help him out,� Jeff said. “He says he doesn’t have anywhere else to go. We’ve been happy to do this.� Jeff Keene said he’s not sure, however, if it can be a permanent situation. A road improvement project for Bromley-Crescent Springs could take some of his property including the home that was built by William and Jeff Keene’s grandfather in 1949. Phase I of the BromleyCrescent Springs Road Reconstruction Project begins at the intersection of Anderson/ Beechwood Road with Bromley-Crescent Springs Road at Clocktower Way. The total length of the project is approximately 0.77 miles. The purpose of the project is to improve safety, existing roadway geometry, and provide pedestrian and bicycle access through this section of the corridor, said Nick Hendrix, Kenton County director of public works and county engineer. “Bromley-Crescent Springs Road is a heavily traveled collector route that links neighborhoods to the major commercial hubs, retail centers and schools located in Crescent Springs, Fort Mitchell and Villa Hills,� Hendrix
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TREASURE HUNTING
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Burlington Antique Show a local, national favorite. 5A
State senator says program sends mixed message to youth. 8A
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MELISSA STEWART/THE COMMUNITY RECORDER
Jeff Keene stands in front of his property at 2003 Amsterdam Road that could potentially be affected by the Bromley-Crescent Springs Road project.
said. “The road also serves as an alternate route to Interstate 75 for motorists traveling between these cities and Covington or Cincinnati. This project is needed to bring the existing alignment up to current geometric design standards, thereby improving overall safety for the traveling public,� Hendrix said. According to the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Government database, the average daily traffic for the corridor is 7,409 vehicles. The existing road has narrow lanes, no shoulders and numerous alignment deficiencies. Hendrix said data used for a 2013 grant submittal for this project show an accident rate of 7.32 per million vehicle miles, which is relatively high. According to the Kentucky State Police database, six accidents have occurred on within the project limits this year. Crescent Springs Mayor
Lou Hartfiel and Fort Mitchell Mayor Jude Hehman both support the project. “It’s a safety issue,â€? Hartfiel said. “It’s a very curvy road and visibility isn’t good. It’s also an important connector road.â€? The county is fronting the funding for the first phase of construction, $5.9 million, but 80 percent of it will be reimbursed with federal matching funds. In addition, the cities of Crescent Springs and Fort Mitchell will partner with the county on segments of the road within their cities, which is about 20 percent of the cost, Hendrix said. A preliminary design has been completed for two alternates. Both alternates include: Âť A new two-lane road for Springs Bromley-Crescent Road with 11-inch lanes and curb and gutter See PROJECT, Page 2A
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