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Court advocates give children a voice
By Regan Coomer rcoomer@nky.com
Volume 13 Issue 31 © 2009 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
A simple message
Students at Lloyd Memorial High School received a very important message and visit from two local Holocaust survives Oct. 27. Werner Coppel and Zahava Rendler visited students in order to share their stories and a message of tolerance and prejudice. Students were moved by the speakers, who are part of the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education program based in Cincinnati. SCHOOLS, A5
Share your news
Have a great photo from your kid’s latest field trip? Trying to drum up publicity for your group’s event? Visit NKY.com/Share to submit your photos, news and events. It’s a one-stop-shop for submitting information to The Community Recorder, The Kentucky Enquirer, NKY.com and many other publications and Web sites.
Vets remembered
Communities throughout Northern Kentucky will be honoring veterans Nov. 11. In Kenton County many public schools and local organizations will be participating in events. Read about two of the larger events that take place annually in Kenton County, along with other events that will allow residents to honor their veterans. LIFE, B1
To place an ad, call 283-7290.
Established two years ago, Kenton County’s chapter of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for neglected or abused children is off to a “fantastic start,” said Executive Director Allison Rapp. The organization, which was named the best CASA startup of 2009 by the national chapter, currently serves 64 children and employs 24 active volunteers with another 12 just sworn in. “It really takes a labor of love for these volunteers,” Rapp said, explaining volunteers go through 40 hours of training in order to help children who are victims of neglect or abuse. Family Court judges Christopher Mehling and Lisa Bushelman gave the Kenton County CASA its start when the Kenton County Family Court began two years ago, Mehling said. Now the organization is up and running, it is no longer financially dependent on the court. From July 2008 to June 2009, Mehling said Kenton County had 2,792 reported cases of child abuse or neglect, which involved 3,589 children. The second highest in Northern Kentucky during that period was Campbell County with 807, Mehling said. “We’ve got a problem in the county and with the economy in the shape it’s in and the unemployment rate up so high, it’s not getting better, it’s getting worse,” Mehling said.
PROVIDED
The Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for children in Kenton County give abused or neglected children a voice in the court system. Currently CASA has 36 volunteers who give as much as eight hours a week to helping children. On Oct. 26, several new volunteers were sworn in by Family Court Judge Chris Mehling who, along with Family Court Judge Lisa Bushelman, gave the Kenton County CASA its start. Left to right: Program Coordinator Lisa Edwards, volunteers Stacy Meyers, Evelyn Laux and Sally Pfetzer, Judge Mehling and volunteers Tom Pfetzer, Karen Wachs, Jenny White and Deborah Pelfrey. CASA and its volunteers provide him and Judge Bushelman with a “better idea of what to do and a better road map” to help improve children’s lives, Mehling said. CASA’s volunteers accomplish this by interviewing everyone in contact with the child to formulate a recommendation of action for the family court judges. “The sole goal is it advocate for the children and really try to find out what is best for the child in his or her life,” Rapp explained.
That could mean therapy for the child and parents or a removal from the parents to a foster or adoptive family, Rapp said. A volunteer could spend as many as eight hours a week visiting children, Rapp said. “These are innocent victims,” she said. “The parents have all kinds of issues and the kids get ignored or abused. I think the gratification for the volunteers is the knowledge they have definitely affected this child’s life for the better.”
Kenton County CASA is currently located in offices provided by the Kenton County Fiscal Court in the county building. While the organization is privately funded, it has also received funding from the Kenton County Fiscal Court, the national CASA, the Butler Foundation and the Humanitarian League. For more information about volunteering or donating to the Kenton County CASA, call 3921790 or visit casakentonky.org.
Senior center expected to be done next fall By Jason Brubaker jbrubaker@nky.com
The new and improved Elsmere Senior Center is expected to be completed by this time next year. The center is set to undergo renovations starting next spring. The project will also include the installation of an elevator to replace the current chair-lift in the lobby. “We’re pretty excited about this,” said councilman Marty Lenhof, who has been on the committee planning the project. “It’s going to be a world of difference for our residents there.” Lenhof said the center will remain open
during the project, although some activities and programs may be moved or altered due to space constraints. Equipment in the basement will be moved upstairs as it is undergoing renovation, and then everything will be moved downstairs as the upstairs gets a face lift as well. “That was a big thing for us- to make sure people could still use the center while all of this is going on,” said Lenhof. “It might be a little different for a while because things will be moved around, but it will be worth it in the end.” The city has been partnering with the Northern Kentucky Area Development District on the project planning and grant applications,
and they received a Community Development Block Grant for $400,000 for the project. The city’s match for the grant was a little over $100,000, of which they have already spent approximately $75,000 on preparatory work for the project, including engineering and a land survey. The project is expected to go to bid soon, and work should begin in March. “This is going to be great when it finally is done, because we’ve been working on this for a while,” said Lenhof. For more information about the senior center, call 727-2306.
Elsemere’s Eastern Avenue to get sidewalk By Jason Brubaker jbrubaker@nky.com
Elsmere city engineer Ray Erpenbeck said that a project to put sidewalks on the west side of Eastern Avenue is expected to begin next spring. Erpenbeck said the project will likely go to bid in January, and it should be entirely completed by the end of next summer. The fivefoot wide sidewalk will run the entire length of the street, and will attach directly to the curb, preserving as much yard and/or driveway space as possible for the residents.
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“Because of the proximity of some of the houses to the street, we decided to eliminate the grass strip between the sidewalk and the curb,” explained council member Marty Lenhof. “During our public hearing, the biggest concern the residents had was losing too much of their yard, so that was something we did to alleviate that.” The council debated whether to put a four-foot wide sidewalk in instead of the now standard fivefoot sidewalks, but ultimately voted to go with the slightly wider version.
“I think a four-foot is adequate, because we’re already going to be taking away some of their yards and some of them won’t have much space left,” said Lenhof. However, several council members felt the four-foot sidewalk could end up being too small. “If we have someone in a wheelchair, or someone pushing a stroller, that would take up most of a four-foot sidewalk,” said council member Mary Lou Neal. “I don’t think by taking just one foot off the width of the sidewalk, we’re going to be preserving a ton of yard space for someone,”
agreed Kama Greene. “I don’t think it will make a huge difference, and since it’s the standard now, I think we should stick with that.” Erpenbeck said the project is expected to cost around $75,000. “The cost difference between a four-foot and a five-foot is pretty minimal, so I think it’s best we go with the standard,” he recommended. A letter is expected to go out to residents on Eastern Avenue soon, explaining the project. For more information, contact the city at 342-7911.
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