HIGH FLYING
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Your Community Press newspaper serving Addyston, Bridgetown, Cheviot, Cleves, Covedale, Dent, Green Township, Mack, Miami Township, North Bend, Westwood Kites were in the air during the annual Green Township Kite Fly at Veterans Park
Volume 83 Number 24 © 2011 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Collection time
In the next few days your Community Press carrier will be stopping by to collect $2.50 for delivery of this month’s Western Hills Press. Your carrier retains half of this amount as payment for his Cooley or her work. If you wish to add a tip to reward the carrier’s good service, both the carrier and The Community Press appreciate your generosity. This month we’re featuring Chris Cooley, a sixth-grader at Our Lady of Lourdes, where he plays basketball, soccer and trumpet in the school band. Cooley also plays piano and collects geodes and stamps. In his free time, he enjoys drawing, creeking, hiking, hunting and boating. If you have questions about delivery, or if your child is interested in becoming part of our junior carrier program, please call 853-6263 or 8536277, or e-mail circulation manager Sharon Schachleiter at sschachleiter@community press.com.
Sportsman of Year Nominations coming
The third-annual Community Press Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year contest is approaching. In this project, our readers determine the ballots and winners of each newspaper’s Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year through online nominations and voting. We run stories on the male and female winners for each newspaper in Ohio and each county in Northern Kentucky in late June. From May 4 to May 16, readers can nominate studentathletes who show the highest quality on and off the field. See the column inside this week’s issue for more details.
Correction
The musical revue “Encore” performances at La Salle High School will begin 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 29, and Saturday, April 30, in the La Salle High School gymnasium, 3091 North Bend Road. Incorrect time information was included in a story in last week’s paper.
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Coffee shop has new owner Cheviot man always wanted to run own business By Kurt Backscheider
kbackscheider@communitypress.com
Jeff Baker said he’s always wanted to be in business for himself, serving customers their daily jolt of caffeine. Now the Cheviot resident can say he does. “I absolutely love coffee,” he said. “I’ve always wanted a coffee house. I love to bake, and I always thought it would be neat to own a coffee house and sell pastries.” Baker is the new owner of Zen & Now Coffee House, 4453 Bridgetown Road, in Green Township. He officially purchased the shop on April 8, and opened the doors to his own business on April 15. He said he’d thought about opening a coffee house for several years, but never pulled the trigger to go for it and do it. “My entire life I’ve worked in nothing but sales,” he said. “I wasn’t happy in the corporate world. I don’t know if I was ever happy in sales.”
KURT BACKSCHEIDER/STAFF
The Zen & Now Coffee House on Bridgetown Road in Green Township is under new ownership. Cheviot resident Jeff Baker recently purchased the business.
Baker said a few months ago he started looking into the possibility of starting his own business and researched available properties. He said he stumbled upon an advertisement online that Zen & Now was available for purchase, and he made his decision. “I realized I need to either do it or stop thinking about it,” he said. “When this opportunity presented itself it just kind of forced my hand.” He said although it may not be the best time to be starting his own business – his wife is eighth months pregnant with their first child – he said he couldn’t pass up the chance to finally own a coffee house. “I’m really glad I did it,” he said. “There’s still a lot I want to do with this place, and I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I’m working for myself. “It’s worth it to me,” he said. Baker said he is making a few changes to the shop, the biggest of which is offering a breakfast and lunch menu. He said breakfast will consist of pastries and other baked goods. Soups, salads and sandwiches will be available for lunch. He also plans to replace some of the furniture with couches, coffee tables and comfortable chairs, and he’s inviting area artists to hang their artwork on the walls of the shop. The coffee house offers free Wi-Fi, and he said musicians will provide live entertainment on the outdoor patio in front of the shop when the weather permits. He said he wants to offer customers an authentic coffee house experience, complete with great coffee and a cozy atmosphere where the smell of fresh brewed coffee hits people as soon as they walk in the door. “The people who come in here truly want to support neighborhood businesses,” Baker said.
KURT BACKSCHEIDER/STAFF
Cheviot resident Jeff Baker makes a soy latte for a customer at Zen & Now Coffee House in Bridgetown. Baker is the coffee shop’s new owner.
“I have to continue working to get the word out.” Zen & Now is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays. For more about your community, visit www.cincinnati.com/greentownship.
Cleves officials say levy must pass By Jennie Key jkey@communitypress.com
By the numbers
Cleves Vice Mayor Bev Meyers says village residents will see more cuts in service if a proposed operating levy fails next month. Cleves voters head to the polls Tuesday, May 3, to vote on Issue 3, the 6-mill operating levy. Officials say the defeat of the levy in last November cost the village about a third of its general fund operating budget. The levy, if passed, would generate about $317,000 annually. Officials are concerned that residents will be confused by ballot wording. Because the levy failed in November, it cannot be listed as a renewal or replacement levy; it appears on the ballot as an additional tax levy. Meyers said she is unsure where the cuts will be made, but they have to happen. “We cannot run a deficit,” she said. “We have to balance our budget. We have already made a lot of cuts and I don’t know where the new ones are going to come
from. We don’t have a lot left to cut. We have used up all our reserves. It costs money to salt the streets. No matter where you live, services have to be paid for. To do that, we need money. Even if this passes, we won’t be flush.” The loss of the November levy resulted in deep cuts: Cleves eliminated two full-time police officers, and cut the salaries of council members and the mayor by $50 per month. Council also reduced other village employee salaries by 10 percent and modified the schedule for Mayor’s Court, which reduced the salaries for the magistrate and prosecutor. In December, council decided to contract with Miami Township Fire Department for fire, emergency medical and paramedic services. Village Clerk/Treasurer Linda Bolton said the new levy would replace the 6-mill operating levy
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Cleves taxpayers will see a reduction in taxes if the levy passes because the village will eliminate or not seek renewal of other levies. The owner of a $100,000 home will see the following reductions: • $60.80 because the 2-mill operating levy won’t be renewed • $27.36 because the 0.9 mill fire levy would be eliminated • $50.43 because the 2.25 mill paramedic levy is also being eliminated. The actual annual financial impact of the requested 6 mill replacement levy drops to $43.84 for a $100,000 house, factoring in the decreases in taxes connected to the passage of the levy. For results on Tuesday, May 3, go to Cincinnati.Com/cleves. that was up for replacement in November and was defeated by three votes. The levy is for current operating expenses for the village. Council has pledged that if the operating levy passes in May, the village will not ask for renewal or
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replacement of a 2-mill operating levy and 0.90-mill fire levy – both of which expire at the end of 2011. Meyers said the 2.25-mill levy paid by Cleves residents for paramedic services will also expire at the end of this year and will not be renewed. The cost of a 6-mill levy to the owner of a $100,000 home will be $182.43, but that homeowner would also see taxes reduced by about $138, making the net cost $43.84. Village officials have sent out two letters to village residents, one in January and one in March, to lay out the village’s financial situation to the taxpayers. An open house to answer questions about the levy in April had no visitors. Meyers is urging residents to go to the polls May 3 and vote. “The levy only failed by three votes last time, so it’s important that our residents get out and vote,” she said. “We need to pass this levy.” Levy information is posted on the village website at www. cleves.org.
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