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B1 Your Community Recorder newspaper serving Northern Kenton County E-mail: kynews@communitypress.com T h u r s d a y, A u g u s t 1 3 , 2 0 0 9
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Jenny Neltner, Janet Millner and Kate Broadhurst
© 2009 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
A calling
Maggie Bauereis is starting her school year a world away. The 24-year-old Villa Hills native will leave for a trip to teach in the Republic of Kosova as part of the Prishtina High school, an American Schools International mission funded school. Read what drove Bauereis to take the trip and what she hopes to accomplish in her year there. LIFE, B1
Share your vacation photos
Whether you’re headed to the beach or the mountains this summer, we want to publish your vacation photos. To get started, go to NKY.com/Share and follow the steps there to send your photos to us. Be sure to identify everyone in the photo and which community they live in. Photos will appear on your community page and may even make it into your local newspaper, so start sharing today!
REGAN COOMER/STAFF
KJ’s Pub in Crescent Springs is working to get plans approved for an outdoor dining patio that would take up about four spaces directly in front of the restaurant. Currently, Crescent Springs Council is not satisfied on the feasibility or safety of the plan.
No go on outdoor ordinance for now By Regan Coomer rcoomer@nky.com
An ordinance allowing outdoor dining in the city could be in Crescent Springs’ future, but for now, council takes requests as they come. “We’ve been going back and forth on this issue for a number of months,” said Mayor Jim Collett. “We’ve talked about trying to change the zone, but the best thing to do is look at it by a caseby-case basis and stick with what we’ve got right now.” Recently KJ’s Pub expressed interest in outdoor dining and approached council on the issue; however, council felt a patio could be unsafe because of traffic in But-
termilk Crossing. “We would like to expand and put in a patio just to be competitive,” said co-owner John Busch. “In this day and age, you’ve got to have it.” Busch had hoped to put in a patio that would take up about four spaces in the lot directly in front of KJ’s that would fit eight to 10 tables for outdoor dining. Adding a patio could bring more business to the shopping center, Busch said. “Anything we can do to help the center grow is a good thing,” he said. While Collett has no problem with outdoor dining in other areas of the city, he doesn’t think outdoor dining at KJ’s Pub is a “good idea.”
“When you do something like this and you’re trying to fit something where it doesn’t quite work, if you permit it there what’s the person around the block going to do? You’re just going to open up a can of worms and if you’ve got a situation that’s just not safe, why would you do it?” Collett asked. Outdoor dining applications need to be “scrutinized” by council individually, Collett said, who should ask themselves “Does this really make sense? Is this really in the best interest of the city?” Council did discuss allowing KJ’s to have an outdoor patio if the entrance next to the business were closed off. Busch, however, doesn’t think
Kenton animal shelter seeks volunteers By Jason Brubaker jbrubaker@nky.com
Big business
Participating in the 4-H MiniSociety program sponsored by the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Services gave youth in the area the opportunity to see how to manage a business in the real world. Students learned complex structures and models such as supply and demand and scarcity principles. Read more about this innovative opportunity. SCHOOLS, A5
JASON BRUBAKER/STAFF
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closing an entrance is a viable solution. “That’s not my entrance-way to shut down and I think that would be a worse thing for the shopping center to close an entrance and exit,” he said. KJ’s Pub recently submitted plans to the Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission where they were rejected. Currently Busch’s hired engineer is reviewing the plans again, which he eventually hopes to re-submit to the NKAPC. “We’re trying to go about this the right way,” Busch said. “It’s just frustrating, especially when you turn on the TV and see someone close their doors and lose everything every day.”
Deb Marvin cuddles with "Peter”, one of the stray dogs at the Kenton County Animal Shelter, on Aug. 5. The shelter is looking for more volunteers with the opening of their new wing.
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Deb Marvin’s entrance to the dog adoption center in the Kenton County Animal Shelter is greeted each day with a myriad of wagging tails, excited barks and rattling of cages as the dogs bounce around, hoping to catch her attention. “You come in here and see all of their faces, and you end up just wanting to take them all home,” said Marvin. “This is just such a cool way to be around them and help out.” Marvin is one of about 15 volunteers at the shelter, which recently celebrated the grand opening of a new wing, allowing them to care for even more dogs and cats. With the additional space and the ability to hold more animals for longer periods of time, Volunteer Coordinator Elizabeth Cochran said the shelter is actively seeking more volunteers.
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“Because we can hold animals longer, we really have a need for more people who can help out,” said Cochran. “It really is a rewarding experience for anyone who loves animals, and we’d love to get some more people in here.” Cochran said the volunteers must be at least 18 years old, and willing to work at least 12 hours each week, with tasks ranging from serving as an adoption counselor to cleaning cages to answering phones and greeting visitors. Diana Curtis, who started volunteering in March at the shelter, said she enjoys seeing all of the animals each day, and especially loves being a part of the adoption process. “It’s a great feeling when you match up a family with the dog or cat they want and see them go home happy,” she said. “Those are the best days for us here.” For more information about the shelter or to become a volunteer, call 356-7400.
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