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Your Community Recorder newspaper serving Fort Thomas Jacob Violand
E-mail: kynews@communitypress.com T h u r s d a y, J a n u a r y 2 7 , 2 0 1 1
RECORDER W e b s i t e : N K Y. c o m
B E C A U S E C O M M U N I T Y M AT T E R S
Fort Thomas sees rise in car break-ins
Volume 11, Number 36 © 2011 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Campbell County Connects blog
The Campbell County Connects blog has moved to a new location. Continue to follow us at cincinnati.com/ blogs/campbellcountyconnects.
By Amanda Joering Alley ajoering@nky.com
Tire amnesty
It’s been more than a decade since the last tire hoards were removed from two sites south of Alexandria in 1997, but the legacy of those cleanups remains as the rotating state tire amnesty program visits Campbell County this spring. NEWS, A3
Sweet ending
Campbell County Middle School has found the “scoop” on how to motivate students to read more by giving away an ice cream sundae party for the classroom that checks out the most books. The six-week “Book Scoop Contest” ends Feb. 11. Students’ individual scoop points for reading books and magazines are tallied into the totals for their language arts teacher’s class. SCHOOLS, A5
Go, go, go Joseph
The Fort Thomas Independent Schools’ Community Theatre is bringing their production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to the stage with a little twist. “We are staying true to the script, but using our costuming to add some hippie ’70s flare,” said Director John Williamson. The musical, written by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice in the 1960s, is the biblical saga of Joseph and his coat of many colors. LIFE, B1
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Find your community’s website by visiting NKY.com/local and looking the place you live under the “Kentucky communities” menu. You’ll find local news, sports, photos and events, tailored to where you live. You can even submit your own articles and photos using Share, our online submission tool.
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AMANDA JOERING ALLEY/STAFF
Driving through the snow
Patrick Davidson enjoys the snow by taking a ride on his four-wheeler in Fort Thomas.
The Fort Thomas Police Department is asking residents to keep an eye out for suspicious activity after an increase in car break-ins in the city. Lieutenant Rich Whitford said the department has received reports of seven or eight cars being broken into on Tremont Avenue and Sunset Avenue recently. These two streets were also a hot spot for break-ins around this time last year, Whitford said. “We’re not sure if there is a connection there, or if it’s just coincidence,” Whitford said. Just as it was at this time last year, unlocked cars are being broken into late at night or early in the morning. “We’re asking residents to please keep their vehicles secured and try not leave anything of value out in the open,” Whitford said. Officer Chris Armstrong, who covers Sunset Avenue as part of the department’s Neighborhood Focus Area program, said it is rare that the department sees anyone actually break a window to enter a car.
Armstrong said unlocked cars parked both on the street and in residents’ driveways have been broken into recently. “They seem to just look for unlocked cars so they can get in and out easily without being detected,” Armstrong said. While the officers are increasing patrols, they can’t be everywhere all the time, so getting the word out to residents to lock their doors is the main way to stop the break-ins, Armstrong said. Whitford said the department is investigating whether it may be the same person or people breaking into the cars as last year and why Tremont and Sunset have been hit both years. “It may be because both streets are near major thoroughfares, or it may be someone who lives in the area that is doing it,” Whitford said. No arrests were made after the break-ins last year. Whitford said anyone who sees anything suspicious should report it to the department at 441-6562 or the Campbell County dispatch at 292-3622. For more about your community, visit www.nky.com/fortthomas
Highlands club collecting cell phones to help gorillas By Amanda Joering Alley ajoering@nky.com
The Green Club at Highlands High Schools is holding a cell phone drive in an effort to help gorillas in Africa. This is the second year the club has teamed up with the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden on this project. Nancy Bardgett, the club’s sponsor, said by recycling unwanted cell phones and chargers the project helps reduce the need to mine coltan, the ore used in the production of those items. Mining coltan, which is primarily located in Africa, is disrupting gorilla habitats. The zoo takes the phones collected by the students, sells them to companies that recycle them and gives the money to gorilla conservation organizations. “By participating in this proj-
ect, we’re not only keeping these items out of the landfills, but we are helping gorilla conservation,” Bardgett said. Bardgett said the club decided to hold its cell phone drive shortly after Christmas, when many people get new phones. Last year the club collected three big boxes of phones for the project. “We’re trying to expand our reach this year by putting collection boxes in all Fort Thomas schools and other places in the community,” said Taylor Rosenhagen, co-president of the club. With the help of the studentrun Highlander News television program, the club was also able to film a feature about the project in the gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo. Anyone interested in donating phones or chargers can drop them off at any of the Fort Thomas
AMANDA JOERING ALLEY/STAFF
Green Club members Stephanie Holstein, Will Bardgett, Taylor Rosenhagen and Keena Wiegand put cell phones in one of the collection boxes. Independent Schools through the end of February.
For more about your community, visit www.nky.com/fortthomas
Vote on repeal of indoor smoking ban is Feb. 16 By Chris Mayhew cmayhew@nky.com
Campbell County Fiscal Court will act upon an ordinance at the Feb. 16 meeting that, if approved, will repeal the indoor smoking ordinance prohibiting smoking in workplaces indoors passed in December of 2010, said Campbell County Judge-executive Steve Pendery at the county’s quarterly “Mayors’ Meeting” Tuesday morning in Newport. So far, all the cities have received notification of the law
that was passed in December, Pendery said. The first reading of the repeal ordinance was at the Jan. 19 Fiscal Court meeting in Newport, he said. “That will be acted upon at a meeting on the 16th of February at 7 p.m.,” Pendery said. Instead of the typical 5:30 p.m. meeting time for the third Wednesday of the month meeting in the county administration building at 1098 Monmouth St., Newport, the time for the vote on the repeal ordinance has been
changed to later in the evening to accommodate the number of people expected to attend the meeting, said Melissa Williams, director of administration for the county. The indoor smoking ban was passed by a 3-1 vote margin at the final meeting for former commissioners Dave Otto, and Mark Hayden in December. Otto and Hayden both voted for the law, along with Pendery. Commissioner Ken Rechtin was the lone dissenting vote against the indoor smoking ban. New commissioners Pete Gar-
rett and Brian Painter, who replaced Otto and Hayden, asked for an ordinance to repeal the law passed by the previous Fiscal Court at their first meeting on Jan. 5, after being elected to office in the November elections. Hayden and Otto both voted for the new law, along with Campbell County Judge-executive Steve Pendery, with Commisioner Ken Rechtin voting against the indoor smoking ban. For more about your community, visit www.nky.com/campbellcounty
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