LINK Kenton Reader - Volume 3, Issue 7 - January 10, 2025

KENTON

VOLUME 3, ISSUE 7 — JANUARY 10, 2025

THE VOICE OF NKY

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Beyond books: Hidden treasures of public libraries

By Haley Parnell

D

id you know the Campbell County Public Library has a stargazing club and telescopes for check out?

Public libraries, of course, lend books, but they also provide so much more to their communities. Campbell County has a stargazing club, Kenton County has a history and genealogy department and one of Boone County’s branches has its own art gallery.

“Libraries are not simple organizations anymore,” said Boone County Pubic Library Director Carrie Herrmann.

One niche thing that the Campbell County Library offers is its stargazing club through the Cold Spring branch. The location has three telescopes available that can be placed on hold and picked up. Those who need help operating the devices can attend the club or get assistance from the library.

On average, Campbell County Public Library offers about 45 programs a month Continues on page 3

The Newport Aquarium visits the Campbell County Public Library. Provided | Campbell County Public Library Facebook

NKY by the numbers: People experiencing homelessness

By Nathan Granger

H

ousing and housing shortages are recurring topics among the NKY’s leaders, and homelessness – even when it’s not broached directly in conversations about housing – inevitably contributes to the scope of the problem. The start of the year offers a chance to assess homelessness both in Kentucky and nationwide.

One way to do this is by consulting the National Alliance to End Homelessness, which recently released its 2024 State of Homelessness Report. The report analyzed data from a variety of sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Deptartment of Housing and Urban Development, as well

as state-level care networks. It paints a picture of trends in homelessness.

The report’s most recent data measures differences between 2022 and 2023, the most recent data that’s available.

Before one considers the data, however, there are some things to keep in mind about how it’s collected and analyzed. At the national level, housing data of all kinds is collected through the census every 10 years. The U.S. Census Bureau makes estimates between census years through the American Community Survey, which offers projections based on census trends.

Additionally, federal definitions for homelessness are more specific than simply someone who doesn’t have an established

address (you can read HUD’s four definitions of homelessness at bit.ly/HUD-homelessness).

The state measures homelessness through annual point-in-time counts, which measure the number of people using homeless shelters on one night in January. The counts can shed light on homelessness levels at a particular moment in time, but there are many factors that can influence a year’s figures. Absent any centralized alternative, however, point-in-time counts are the go-to method for tracking trends, even if they’re admittedly imperfect as a measure.

Care in Kentucky is split into three sections.

Continues on page 4

Restaurant openings, closings in 2024 p6 Covington office market rebounds p10 Veteran journalist Pat Crowley remembered p13

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at each of its three largest branches, Cold Spring, Newport and Fort Thomas. The programming is divided into three age ranges: children from newborn to 11, teens 12 to 19 and adults 18 and up.

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There are different club opportunities like Minecraft and Dungeons & Dragons. The library hosts traveling exhibits from institutions like the Smithsonian, Kentucky Science Center, Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati Zoo and Newport Aquarium.

“All those places have gotten more expensive to visit and have memberships for, so we like to bring them to us so our families don’t have to have that expense added to everything else,” Phillips said.

Boone County Public Library offers an archives and history center.

The Boone County Library is currently working with the county clerk and circuit clerk to transfer records from the 1700s to the early 1900s to the library so that it can properly care for them and make them available for the community to use.

Herrmann said the library are recognized nationally for its research on African Americans in Boone County.

The Kenton County Public Library’s main branch in Covington has a history and genealogy department. Part of that department is the Kenton County Public Library Faces and Places photo archive, which stores old photos from the region. Library director Dave Schroeder said that the department is used by amateur genealogists, publishers, newspapers, agencies, people who are doing histories on houses and more.

The Scheben Branch of the Boone County Library in Union offers passport applications. The Main Library in Burlington offers GED testing, and notary services are available at all Boone County locations.

Herrmann said the notary service is popular because it offers weekend and evening hours, unlike a post office.

She said they don’t focus on job programming because Kenton County’s program is so strong.

Kenton’s library system excels at helping people find work through its workforce development program. The program works with people in between jobs, helping them with coursework and resumes. It also has a Northern Kentucky Accountability Group, an education group that helps people with job searches.

Schroeder said there usually are about 100 people at that program every Wednesday morning at the Erlanger Branch.

“We’re drawing people from as far north as Dayton, Ohio and from as far south as Lexington, and that program has received national attention,” Schroeder said.

The library has four workforce development staff members at the Erlanger branch, two at Covington and one in Independence. Those staff members work with

Kids were able to participate in the voting process in November at three of Kenton County Public Library's branches. Provided | Kenton County Public Library

people individually to review resumes and conduct mock interviews.

low people to digitize VHS tapes, eight-millimeter film, cassettes and photos.

“Our focus is primarily on folks who have worked for a significant period of time, who have been outsized, downsized, the economy has changed, and they are looking for the next step in their career,” Schroeder said. “Nobody was really doing that in a region in a systematic way. So, we picked that piece up.”

The mobile lab has similar items as the innovation labs, and they have electronic circuits to work with kids and teach them how circuits work. They even have preschool coding toys for younger kids.

The Boone County Main Library has an art gallery where local, regional and national artists display their artwork. The main library also has a couple of sensory-related items, including a sensory room that was created in tandem with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the Cincinnati Zoo. “The sensory spectrum, you either have people who get overstimulated very easily and then there is the flip side, where there are people who need to have intense stimulation all the time,” Herrmann said. “So, this room is designed to work with either side of that spectrum and provides either calming tools, calming resources, or there are things there that the kids or adults can use that give them the extra stimulation that they need.”

At the new Walton branch, Herrmann said she had the architects design an inclusive restroom, keeping sensory issues in mind.

The restroom has lighting that is not harsh and bright; there are no automatic faucets, toilets or paper towel dispensers. It also includes an adult changing table.

The Boone County Public Library has three Innovation Labs (Main Library, Hebron and Walton) with various technology and a mobile version, which is like a book bus but with technology.

“We received a grant to do the mobile Boone Innovation Lab that businesses or communities or schools can book, and we will come out and work with them on some of the high-end technology,” Herrmann said.

The Boone Innovation Labs have laser engravers, Cricut machines, 3D printers, large-format poster printers, podcast equipment and green screens. They also have media conversion stations, which al-

The Walton Innovation Lab has a textile emphasis. It has two different sizes of quilting machines, as well as sewing and embroidering machines.

The innovation labs are free of charge except for the materials.

Like Boone County’s innovation labs, the Kenton County Public Library offers the stream center, a maker space. The largest location is at the Erlanger branch of the library; however, Covington and Independence have small versions.

The stream center in Erlanger has laser printers, 3D printers, long-arm quilting machines, embroidery machines and coding equipment geared toward children. All three locations have large-format printers, which Schroeder said are popular with teachers.

“It’s very cost-effective for them to make posters and other kinds of hands-out displays, all those things that help support the classroom,” he said. “We know, just from anecdotal information, that many of those teachers are paying for those things out of their own pocket. So, by the library offering that service it’s reducing the one less thing.”

The stream centers are free of charge except for the materials.

Two popular programs at all three county libraries are 1000 Books Before Kindergarten and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

The 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program is a reading initiative for children through age 5 and their caregivers. Its goal is to help children develop their vocabulary, build confidence and be kindergarten-ready. The Dolly Parton Imagination Library program mails an age-appropriate book for free to enrolled children monthly.

JANUARY 10, 2025 3

Continued from page 1

The areas in and around Lexington and Louisville each have their own continuum of care, but the rest of the state, including Northern Kentucky, is lumped into the third continuum of care, which was largely designed with rural communities in mind.

As such, it’s not always easy to isolate data for the Northern Kentucky.

Although it’s not mentioned in the report, it’s also impossible to talk about homelessness in Kentucky without mentioning the so-called “Safer Kentucky Act,” or House Bill 5, which went into effect in July.

The bill increased penalties for living outside, and critics of the bill worried it would make outreach to people experiencing homelessness more difficult as it might shunt them away from service providers and into jail and the courts. In one recent headline-grabbing story, a police officer in Louisville cited a pregnant woman with an unlawful camping citation as she was going into labor.

With these caveats in mind, we can begin to assess the admittedly mixed picture the alliance’s report paints.

Let’s start with the bad news: Overall rates of homelessness both nationwide and in Kentucky increased from 2022 to 2023. An estimated 4,766 people experienced homelessness in Kentucky on a given night in 2023, and the rate of homelessness among the state’s general population was 11 out of every 10,000 people.

The good news is that homelessness response systems throughout the nation have been expanding. More people were served in shelters in 2023 than in 2022, and nationwide, the supply of permanent housing options during that same time grew by 36,737. There was also an increase in people moving into permanent housing and a decrease in the number of people returning to homelessness.

Though the stereotype of a homeless panhandler at freeway exit ramps sticks out in

popular imagination, chronic homelessness actually represents a comparatively small portion – about 10% – of the state’s homeless population, said Kim Webb, executive director of the Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky.

“The rest of folk, like our data supports, is folks that come in and just need a shortterm place to kind of put their life back together and go back to family,” Webb said.

“All of a sudden, they’ve gotten sober or they’ve gone to therapy or they have gotten a different job, saved some money, and then all of a sudden family’s willing to take them back.”

Despite these positive trends, demand for services consistently outpaced supply. In Kentucky, for instance, there was a shortage of nearly 1,390 shelter beds for individuals in 2023.

Likewise, unsheltered homelessness is continuing to rise. Nationwide there was a 9.7% increase in unsheltered homelessness, an increase of about 23,000 people, from 2022 to 2023.

The report points to a general shortage of affordable housing, a phenomenon that has been a repeated point of focus in Northern Kentucky. Renters are especially susceptible to the downstream effects of this.

“Rental burdens in 2023 were extremely high,” the report states. “This is not a new problem, but the result of decades of inadequate investments in housing that caused rent burdens to steadily increase since the 1970s. To reverse this long-term trend and end homelessness, policymakers must make significant investments to ensure that all people have deeply affordable and safe housing. Some people also need additional income, health care and social supports that are too expensive or inaccessible on the private market.”

About 38% of renters in Boone County, about 40% of renters in Kenton County and about 45% of renters in Campbell County are rent-burdened, according to the American Community Survey. A household is rent-burdened when it spends 30% or more of its income on rent.

A homeless encampment in Covington. Photos by Nathan Granger | LINK nky

Broken down by demographics, people of

Eggs ‘N Issues State of Northern Kentucky

color experience higher rates of homelessness than white people, although the percentage of the white homeless population that’s unsheltered in Kentucky is larger than other demographics at 37%.

Most of the people experiencing homelessness are men, but more women are beginning to experience homelessness, as well. Rates of homelessness among transgender and other gender nonconforming people are also on the rise: “since 2015, transgender homelessness increased 217% (compared to 14.5% for cisgender people),” according to the report.

The report also indicates nationwide increases among people with disabilities, the elderly and people with chronic health conditions. In Kentucky, seven out of every 10,000 adults aged 55 or older experienced homelessness in 2023, which is actually low compared to some other states.

Webb said the high rates of homelessness among men and increased rates among the elderly track with her organization’s experience. Attitudes around masculine self-reliance can often increase the stigma for homeless men, but people aged 55 and older also have their own challenges.

“47% of our [847] guests self-reported as homeless for the first time last [fiscal] year,” Webb said. “47% said they’d never been homeless before, and of that, 12% were over the age of 55.”

“We’re seeing more and more elderly show up that have never been homeless before that have increasing medical needs that we don’t even probably focus on the housing system as a whole to solve this for them,” Webb also said.

The number of families experiencing homelessness in Kentucky decreased from 2022 to 2023, a deviation from national trends. The overall number of people aged 25 and younger, however, increased.

In spite of the more dour observations in the report, the National Alliance to End Homelessness concludes by saying “homelessness is not an intractable problem. While much of the data in this report depicts rising trends in homelessness, local progress and coordinated federal efforts demonstrate that there are solutions.”

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It gives the following recommendations to address the problem: • Expand housing production that very low-income households can afford.

• Increase access to emergency housing and increase funding for homelessness assistance grants.

• Reform existing mental health, substance abuse and general health care systems to make them more affordable for everyone.

• Expand income-support programs, such as the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, and the Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act, or WIOA. Locally, Webb recommended increased cross-jurisdictional efforts at centralized data collection, such as having dedicated, county-level specialists to collect and analyze data among service providers in order to provide interventions informed by localized trends, rather than broader state-level trends. Next, she advocated amending the Kentucky Constitution to mandate county-funded emergency shelters throughout the commonwealth, similar to how counties are required to fund and maintain animal shelters.

The Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky.

Lastly, she recommended a general increase in the number of emergency shelters throughout the region.

“Homelessness is a year-round issue,” Webb said.

People line up at the Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky.

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NKY’s 2024 dining openings and closings

By Maggy McDonel

of Blaze Cigar Lounge and Bar in Newport.

The bar offers an extensive bourbon collection, private barrel picks, beer and cocktails, and will serve food and desserts from The Purple Poulet next door. Rickhouse at the Derby is at 844 York Street in Newport.

N

orthern Kentucky’s dining landscape saw a lot of changes in 2024.

We reported on 11 closings and 24 openings, along with some reopenings. This year, NKY lost several classic diners plus an axe-throwing bar, a Covington brunch spot and more. On the brighter side, we got several new bars, multiple new Mexican restaurants, an Asian-inspired café, a couple of new Italian spots, a bakery, a butcher and more.

Jersey Mike’s Subs Alexandria Jersey Mike’s Subs has opened a new store inside the Village Green Shopping Center at 6925 Alexandria Pike. The new location was previously occupied by Radio Shack, a now defunct electronic retail chain.

Read on for a year in review of the region’s dining scene.

Closings

Frisch’s Big Boy. Photo provided | Frisch’s Big Boy Facebook

Lou Lou’s Cafe Lou Lou’s Cafe, in Alexandria’s historic Spare-Time Grill building, announced its permanent closure due to the owners, needing to help a family member with health issues. The business closed on Feb. 18. The Spare-Time Grill opened in 1958 and is considered a landmark within the Alexandria community. Spare-Time Gril re-opened under new ownership in the summer.

Covington and Erlanger Frisch’s The Erlanger and Covington Frisch’s permanently closed in April. These closures were two of three Frisch’s closures in Greater Cincinnati that week; since then, over 20 Frisch’s Big Boy locations have permanently closed. Founded in 1939, Frisch’s is considered a Cincinnati area staple.

Flying Axes Flying Axes, an axe-throwing bar in Covington, closed in June after six years in business. The bar, owned by Dave Durand, was in the historic Covington firehouse building and opened in 2018. The bar announced its impending closure on its Instagram page, citing that “sometimes the bullseye just doesn’t stick.” West Sixth Brewing is set to open a location in this space.

York Street Cafe York Street Cafe in Newport announced its

closure in July after nearly 30 years of operation. In the announcement, the owners thanked their customers for their support and said they would miss them. In November, McCollum’s on York opened in the former York Street Cafe location.

Mokka and the Sunset Bar & Grill Mokka and the Sunset Bar & Grill, a popular restaurant in Newport, closed in July after over 20 years in business. Mokka was known for its casual breakfast, lunch, dinner and late-night cocktails, with a menu featuring burgers, sandwiches, salads and other entrees.

Taste of Belgium’s (Crestview Hills) Taste of Belgium’s location in Crestview Hills closed in September. The bistro, which opened in 2020, was the only one in Northern Kentucky. The closure coincided with the closure of the Mason, Ohio, location.

Los Potros Los Potros Mexican restaurant in Dayton permanently closed in late October.

16 Lots Brewing 16 Lots Brewing Co. has permanently closed its flagship brewery in Mason, Ohio, and its Southern Outpost location inside Newport on the Levee. The brewery faced rumors of impending closure earlier in January, but was able to stay open by garnering public support, cutting staff and menu items.

Honey Uninhibited Honey Uninhibited, a Southern-style comfort food restaurant owned by former Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap, announced its permanent closure in December. The restaurant, which served Southern favorites, opened in June 2023. Dunlap expressed his pride in the restaurant’s accomplishments and thanked his team and loyal guests for their support.

Rich’s Proper Rich’s Proper was one of two popular restaurants in Covington that closed on Dec. 15. Co-owners Bill and Morgan Whitlow announced the decision on Rich’s Proper’s Facebook page, citing the businesses as no longer sustainable.

Hangry Omar’s Hangry Omar’s was the second of Bill and Morgan Whitlow’s Covington restaurants to close Dec. 15. In an announcement on Facebook, the Whitlows thanked their employees for their service and expressed their gratitude to their customers for their support.

Openings Rickhouse at the Derby A Newport bourbon bar, Rickhouse at the Derby, opened in late winter. The bar, in the former home of The Boardroom, is the brainchild of Dallas Seagraves, the owner

Tienda Tipicos This spring, Esperanza Domingo and her husband, Rafael, opened Tienda Tipicos Esperanza in Covington to sell hand-stitched clothes and Hispanic food items. The store is divided into two sections, one for clothing retail and the other for a convenience store. The store is designed to support Covington’s growing Hispanic population, and the community has responded positively to the new business. Tienda Tipicos is at 1930 Madison Ave. KungBrew Café KungBrew Café, an Asian-inspired café in Covington, opened its doors in April. The café offers coffee, bubble tea and traditional gongfu-style tea in a historic home.

Regular hours are Tuesday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday, with the shop closed on Mondays. The café is at 640 Main St..

Fort Wright Dunkin’ Donuts The Fort Wright Dunkin’ officially opened in May. The location was previously a SubStation II, which closed in April of 2023. The Fort Wright Dunkin’ location is at 1826 Dixie Highway.

Spare-Time Grill The iconic Spare-Time Grill in Alexandria, which opened in 1958, reopened this summer under new ownership. The Copley family, who have roots in the restaurant, are planning to keep the look of the building while making minor renovations. They’re serving American diner food, including the popular “Spare Burger” and soft-serve ice cream. The Copleys reopened the spot with the intention of giving the community back the beloved Spare-Time. Spare-Time Grill

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is at 7807 Alexandria Pike. Spare-Time’s owners announced in December that they would close for the winter. They expect to reopen in the spring.

Crumbl Cookies Newport Crumbl Cookies, a popular bakery chain, opened its first Northern Kentucky location in Newport in May. Delivery is available through the Crumbl App, DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub. Curbside pickup is available via the Crumbl App or online at crumblcookies.com. Crumbl Cookies Newport location is at 1313 A Monmouth St. Walton Cattleman’s Roadhouse Cattleman’s Roadhouse, a steakhouse franchise, has opened its new location in Walton. The restaurant is the franchise’s 10th location, with nine in Kentucky and one in Indiana. The franchise’s first location was opened in Shelbyville in 2006 by Bill Hisle and Stuart Meredith. The Walton location is at 12910 Frogtown Connector Road.

with Northern Kentucky. They launched a crowdfunding campaign in May and were fully funded with 210 people raising $18,833. The shop aims to create a friendly neighborhood hospitality spot where people can get a high-end coffee experience in a chill environment. Elliot Coffee is at 825 Sixth Ave., Dayton.

By Golly’s Covington

By Golly’s, a Cincinnati-based chain, opened its Covington in September in the former Keystone Bar and Grill location. The restaurant is owned by Sizemore Holdings.

It offers a laid-back atmosphere and classic American fare. By Golly’s Covington is at 313 Greenup St.

Covington Bridges Nepali Bridges Nepali Cuisine has opened a new location in Covington, offering a taste of Nepali cuisine. The restaurant has four locations, with three and Cincinnati and the Covington one being the first to open in Northern Kentucky. Bridges Nepali’s Covington location is at 11 W. Seventh St.

Revival Vintage Bottle Shop Revival Vintage Bottle Shop opened its new location in North by Hotel Covington in September after two years of planning and a lawsuit. The store, which sells vintage bourbon bottles, has been featured in wellknown publications such as Conde Naste and the New York Times. The new location comprises three floors, with the first and second floors open to the public and the third floor still under construction. The store offers patrons the opportunity to try vintage spirits that can be over 100 years old. Revival Vintage Bottle Shop is at 614 Madison Ave., Covington.

Elliott Coffee Elliott Coffee, a coffee shop in an old gas station in Dayton, officially opened in July.

The shop offers a range of drinks, including espresso, matcha, tea and locally-sourced honey. The co-owners, Elijah and Isabelle Knapp, originally from central Ohio, moved to Cincinnati in 2020 and fell in love

Mama Pompilio’s Kitchen Pompilio’s, a well-known Italian restaurant from Newport, opened a new location at The Party Source in Bellevue in September.

The new location, called Mama Pompilio’s Kitchen, offers flatbread pizzas, Italian sandwiches, risotto balls, Italian sausage, meatballs and more. Mama Pompilio’s

Spare-Time Grill in Alexandria. Photo by Haley Parnell | LINK nky

Kitchen is inside Party Source at 95 Riviera Drive.

French Toast Heaven French Toast Heaven, a restaurant specializing in comfort food, expanded into Northern Kentucky with a second location at 921 Monmouth St. in Newport in September. The restaurant, which is the brainchild of executive chef and owner Kevin “Chef Maurice” Jordan, is known for its breakfast, brunch and lunch offerings.

French Toast Heaven’s Newport location is at 921 Monmouth St. Just Love Coffee Cafe Just Love Coffee Cafe opened its doors in Independence this October, marking the second location in Greater Cincinnati. The coffee franchise offers a variety of drinks, artisanal waffles, wraps, omelets and waffled sandwiches. Love Coffee Cafe is at 6455 Taylor Mill Road.

Carmelo’s Restaurateur Billy Grise and his business partner Mitch Arens opened Carmelo’s, an American Italian restaurant in Covington, on Nov. 5. The restaurant is named after Grise’s great-grandfather, Carmelo Caserta, who owned an Italian eatery in Piqua, Ohio. The menu includes family-style Italian dishes such as lasagna, spaghetti and meatballs, and an extensive selection of wines imported from Italy. The restaurant is in a former office building and required extensive renovations to transform it into a restaurant. Carmelo’s is at Madison Avenue and E. Fifth Street.

Rekas Butchery and Delicatessen Rekas Butchery and Delicatessen, a new butcher and deli owned by Shelbi Nation and her wife, Ashley, opened its doors on Nov. 13. The shop, named after Shelbi’s great-grandmother, is a tribute to her as it has been her lifelong dream since she was a little girl. The deli offers a small menu of sandwiches, housemade salads and more, while the butcher side offers prime ribeyes, filets, Wagyu brisket, local pork and tons of marinated meat options. Rekas is at 401 Scott St. in Covington.

Better Blend Highland Heights Better Blend new quick-service, high-protein smoothie bar took over the former St. Elizabeth Express Care. The local chain officially opened its Highland Heights lo-

cation in November. It joins other Better Blend Franchises that have popped up across Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati.

The Better Blend Highland Heights location is at 2891 Alexandria Way. Tulum Kitchen and Bar Tulum Kitchen and Bar opened on Nov. 22, taking over the previous Nomad location in Bellevue. The restaurant describes its cuisine as authentic regional Mexican food.

Tulum is at 225 Fairfield Ave. Union Commons Braxton Brewing Co. is returning to its roots with a new development in Union Commons, less than a quarter mile from where the brewery began. Opened in late November, the development features a two-story brick-and-mortar brewery and a 20,000-square-foot communal green space called The Lawn, adjacent to Dewey’s Pizza and Graeter’s Ice Cream. Union Commons is at 8905 U.S. 42 in Union.

Breadsmith Breadsmith, an artisan bread and sweets shop, officially opened its doors in Bellevue on Dec. 3. The store offers a variety of breads, pastries and other baked goods and is open from Monday to Sunday. The store also offers a variety of drinks and pastries.

Breadsmith is at 315 Fairfield Ave. Demetrios at River Center Demetrios, a new location of a Greek-American restaurant, opened in Covington’s RiverCenter this fall. The restaurant, which closed its Cincinnati location in September, offers a variety of Greek-inspired comfort food, such as gyros and Cincinnati chili, as well as American-style comfort food, like double-decker sandwiches, burgers, fries, and hot wings. The restaurant is expected to capitalize on the demographic of customers who work in proximity or directly out of the dual office towers. Demetrios is at 50 E. Rivercenter Blvd.

McCollum’s on York A new American bistro, McCollum’s on York, opened in Newport in the former York Street Cafe, which closed in July after 30 years of operation. The restaurant is the brainchild of Richard McCollum, who served as York Street’s head chef in its latter years. The restaurant has dubbed itself a “new American bistro.” McCollum’s is at 738 York St.

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JANUARY 10, 2025 7

kenton county briefs Union hears updates on Union Promenade, Town Square developments

A map showing updated business tenants at the Union Promenade as presented to the Union City Commission on Dec. 16. Click for full-sized image.

Provided | KW Commercial

Union residents now have updates on two major developments in the city: the Union Promenade and the Union Town Square.

Developers from both projects delivered updates to the city commission in December. Mayor Larry Solomon had been meeting with developers of the Union Promenade, 9541 U.S. 42, LLC as represented by commercial broker KW Commercial and wanted to inform the commissioners on their progress.

“I think that they’ve made significant progress, and all of that progress is in line with the entertainment district that was the original promise, and what we’ve seen is that it is consistent with that,” Solomon said, introducing the developers.

The remaining properties were split into numbered lots, some of which are capable of housing multiple businesses.

“The only thing I knew to do was go to social media and try to get my boy’s ball back,” she said.

The second development discussed was the Union Town Square, a large park project that will eventually include a splash pad, a new city building, some residences and walking trails. The city purchased the 22 acres of land for the project, located between U.S. 42 and Old Union Road, in June 2022, and has done public surveys asking the community about what they’d like to see in the square.

Ewing’s post received dozens of shares on Facebook, as people hoped that Levi could get his football back.

Scott Noel and Teresa Hargett Brooks of Summit Architects + Engineers presented options for what to focus on as it related to costs. The goal was to get feedback from the commission so they could better plan.

“If we’re leaning on either side, it’s on the conservative side just to make sure that we’re going to deliver a project that’s going to come in on budget or maybe slightly under,” Noel said.

By the end of the discussion, the commission had chosen to reduce the number of picnic shelters to just one on the northeast end of the square, which is slated to host the pump house for the splash pad. Additionally, the commission chose to remove some porch swing fixtures originally slated for installation on a canopy on the northend of the square. Both moves aimed to control costs. Other playground swing fixtures were kept.

Much of the discussion of the Promenade focused on tenant businesses the developer had either successfully secured or was in the process of finalizing. Some businesses are already operating on the property, but the meeting gave deeper insight into what the final commercial ecosystem on the development may look like.

The city plans to put the project out to bid in April, and they expect it to take between 18 months and two years to complete.

Two T.J.s – T.J. Schutte of KW Commerical and T.J. Ackermann of 9541 U.S. 42, LLC – presented the updated tenant list for the promenade. A satellite site for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital is the promenade’s flagship property. The hospital broke ground last November and aims to begin accepting patients next summer.

Even though his father may be faithful to the Cincinnati Bengals, 11-year-old Levi Still is a lifelong Denver Broncos fan.

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Young NKY fan can keep game ball taken by security

His parents told LINK’s media partner WCPO that he has three jerseys: Von Miller, Justin Simmons and now Patrick Surtain II.

Levi Still and his football from Denver Broncos CB Pat Surtain II. Provided | WCPO

said Levi’s mother, Stacey Ewing.

Levi, who lives in Erlanger, said his fandom started after his parents returned from their honeymoon and brought him a special Denver Broncos football. From then on, he was hooked to Broncos Country.

Levi was given a Pat Surtain jersey for Christmas, and his family got tickets to the Bengals vs. Broncos in Cincinnati on Dec. 28.

As the fans arrived, Levi and his family went down to the railing, to get closer to the players as they warmed up.

But what happened next, was a dream come true.

Ewing said that on Sunday morning, one of the security guards reached out, telling her that he went through all the steps to get Levi his ball back.

“He instant messaged me and just said he, you know, the steps that he had taken to get it verified and to make sure he could have it, and then he reached out,” Ewing said.

Ewing’s family packed up the car and headed back to Paycor Stadium and met with the staff. There, Levi was reunited with the special football.

“I felt happy because I thought I was never going to get it back,” Levi said.

Ewing said she’s grateful to the staff and security at Paycor Stadium for helping get the ball back to Levi.

Man arrested for stealing over 300 gift cards from NKY stores

“All of a sudden, we see Pat Surtain walking to us. We just freaked out and he ended up handing him the football,” said Ewing.

Levi saw Surtain perform on the biggest stage, even seeing the Pro Bowler recover a Tee Higgins fumble in the fourth quarter.

Even though the Broncos fell to the Bengals in overtime, the surprise gift made the night extra special for Levi, until he and his family began to leave the stadium.

“We got stopped by security, three gentlemen, who were just doing their job. They had told us the football is property of the NFL and it can’t leave the stadium,” said Ewing.

Ewing and her son said the ball was taken away and the family left the stadium.

But Ewing said she had to see if something could be done.

“He’s been a fan since he was 5 years old,”

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A man was arrested on Dec. 23 for stealing more than 300 gift cards from Northern Kentucky stores, the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office said.

A sheriff’s deputy arrested the man on Dec. 23 during a traffic stop along Highway 1039.

During the traffic stop, the deputy found more than 300 stolen gift cards and a ledger filled with serial numbers from gift cards.

The driver of the vehicle, 49-year-old Sean Farr, admitted to stealing the various gift cards and the numbers off of other cards that he put back on store shelves, the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office said investigators are working to figure out the amount of the gift cards and where exactly they were tak-

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kenton county briefs en from, but it appears most are from the Florence and Newport areas. They did not specify what the gift cards were for.

ily. Kenton County does not believe that any financial information was accessed.

Farr, who is from Louisville, is facing several charges, including a fugitive warrant from another state. He is being held at the Carroll County Detention Center.

Students and families involved have been notified, and both districts are encouraging families to monitor their financial accounts for signs of fraud or suspicious activity.

Phishing scheme exposes student data in Boone, Kenton County schools

Fort Wright asks state to take over Dudley Road bridge

“When that bridge was put in many, many years ago, it was basically to support Robke Chevrolet, which was a revenue-generating opportunity for the city,” Hatter said at the meeting. “Since they closed down, and now Gateway has that property, and all the adjacent properties are ultimately non-taxable entities, there’s no revenue in that. It’s basically just the cost sink for the city, and it provides absolutely zero value to any resident of the city, unless they happen to be Gateway students.”

The resolution passed unanimously. Hatter stated the goal of the resolution was to include it along with statements from other government entities who support the ownership transfer in a request to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, arguing their case.

Donate used evergreen trees to send ‘holiday wishes to Kentucky fishes’ Data on some students from Boone and Kenton counties was the target of a phishing scheme.

Mohammad Rahmani | Unsplash

Personal data from current and former students at Boone and Kenton County school districts may have been illegally viewed and copied from district systems earlier this month, according to announcements from the districts.

Both of the breaches seem to have been the result of a phishing scheme, wherein a cybercriminal solicits personal security information, such as passwords, in order to access someone’s account.

Information for 38 Kenton County students was viewed and possibly copied, according to a Dec. 20 announcement from the district. An email statement delivered to news outlets last week confirmed this number. 200 records were affected in the Boone County attack, according to an announcement from the district.

Information accessed includes basic identifying information (birth dates, addresses, and so on) as well as student health information, Medicaid information, educational records and information related to special education programs. The accessed records may not be uniform for every affected fam-

The Fort Wright City Council has asked the state of Kentucky to take over the ownership and maintenance of a bridge on Dudley Road.

The request took the form of a city resolution that the Fort Wright City Council passed at a special meeting in December.

Mayor Dave Hatter stated at the meeting the bridge had become a money suck for the city, as all of the institutions in and around the bridge are non-taxable.

Originally, the bridge connected the adjoining road to the now-defunct Robke Chevrolet dealership, which had generated tax revenue for the city. Part of the resolution states the city would give the $73,500 currently held in reserve for maintaining the bridge to the state to aid in its maintenance efforts.

Fish thrive in an environment that is full of different types of cover including trees and logs, says a news release. The donated trees will help restore woody structures in lakes that decay over time, providing protective cover and shade for a variety of fish species.

The news releases also says: “Donated trees will be anchored to environmentally friendly weights and submerged at various depths in different lakes and reservoirs across Kentucky to provide places for fish to feed, shelter and spawn.

They make great refuge and feeding habitat for game fish, as well as small fish and invertebrates that are crucial for a thriving ecosystem, says the release.

“The locations where trees are installed generally become hot spots for fish species targeted by anglers. These locations are recorded by Kentucky Fish and Wildlife staff and the GPS coordinates made available to anglers through the “Lakes with Fish Attractors” page on the department’s website and FishBoatKY app, available on the iTunes App and Google Play stores.

A Dudley Road street sign. Photo | Google Maps

The bridge traverses Banklick Creek and leads into an area containing Gateway Community and Technical College’s Transportation Technology Center, a pumping station for Sanitation District 1 and – in time – a new regional fire training facility.

Evergreen trees can be donated at 33 dropoff locations across the state through Jan. 15. Trees should be real, not artificial, and should be free of lights, garland and decorations. Limbs, wreaths, brush or other plants will not be accepted.

Donated trees will be anchored to environmentally friendly weights and submerged at various depths in different lakes and reservoirs across Kentucky to provide places for fish to feed, shelter and spawn. Provided | Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources is making its annual “Christmas for the Fishes” request.

Natural Christmas trees can be donated to help improve underwater habitat for fish.

“We want to ‘light up’ fishing opportunities by improving fish habitat in 19 public lakes across the commonwealth next year,” said Spencer Phillips, a fish habitat biologist with Fish and Wildlife. “Natural Christmas trees donated through the program will be bundled and dropped in the lakes to provide aquatic cover that fish need to survive and thrive.”

“Kentucky Fish and Wildlife is funded through the sale of fishing and hunting licenses, boat registrations and related grants. Conserving Kentucky’s fishes and their habitats and providing related recreational opportunities are important aspects of the department’s mission.

“For more information about the Christmas tree recycling program or to find a drop-off location, visit the department’s website (fw.ky.gov) or call 1-800-858-1549, 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (ET) weekdays, excluding holidays.”

NORTHERN KENTUCKY –THE #1 REGION BUSINESSES CALL HOME.

JANUARY 10, 2025 9

Covington’s office market rebounding as work-from-home options wane Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, to compensate for the payroll tax shortfall. Unfortunately, this resulted in the city diverting ARPA funds from other initiatives it was originally earmarked for, such as public Wi-Fi, parking, parks and recreation, and affordable housing.

By Kenton Hornbeck

C

ovington’s commercial office market is recovering after the COVID-19 pandemic forced some employees into remote and hybrid work models.

“Given the fact that our budget is driven largely from a revenue standpoint by payroll taxes, once companies like Fidelity started shifting the payroll withholdings from the home location of Covington to wherever people were actually working from home, then we saw a pretty significant impact on our budget,” West said.

The 2024 State of the Region report published by the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber found the Northern Kentucky office market had a 13.2% office vacancy rate during the second quarter of 2024. That’s down significantly from the 2023 report, which found that Northern Kentucky had a vacancy rate of 20.3% during the first quarter of 2023.

Moreover, an Overview of the Cincinnati Market Office published by Colliers, a global real estate analyst, found that the Northern Kentucky Riverfront had an office vacancy rate of 9.5% in October of this year.

These numbers bode well for Covington, as the city’s riverfront is home to many office buildings, including the Covington RiverCenter — two of the tallest office towers in Northern Kentucky.

During the pandemic, work-from-home mandates changed how employees and supervisors conducted day-to-day business operations. Since they were no longer in the office, critical company functions had to be performed remotely, using software like Zoom or Microsoft Teams to conduct meetings or communicating with services like Slack.

Work-from-home mandates also changed how companies relate to the cities where their offices are.

Many companies invested heavily in digital infrastructure to bolster employees’ remote work capacity. Furthermore, some companies fully embraced remote or hybrid models, reducing the demand for traditional office space.

Now that the pandemic is in the rearview mirror, some corporations are enacting return-to-office mandates to counteract what they view as remote work’s adverse

Covington’s office vacancy rate fell significantly in 2024 as companies call more employees back to the office. Photo by Eric Willoughby | LINK nky contributor

effects on in-office culture and employee collaboration.

“Covington was impacted the same way most of the rest of the country was with the shutdowns,” Covington Economic Development Director Tom West said. “The social distancing had a big impact on all of our customer-facing businesses, but it also had an impact on the office market.”

In addition to negatively impacting office vacancy rates, work-from-home mandates also impacted Covington’s payroll tax revenue. Covington, which relies on payroll tax revenue to fund its government, faced a budget shortfall in 2024 after one of the city’s largest employers, Fidelity Investments, began remitting payroll taxes.

Essentially, if a Fidelity employee who works remotely has a home office in a city besides Covington, they were getting taxed in their home city rather than Covington.

Fidelity employs around 5,500 people at its office complex in south Covington. At

the start of the pandemic, many employees at the Covington campus were ordered to work remotely, an edict that lasted for years.

In 2023, payroll taxes accounted for approximately 45% of the city’s general fund revenues. Covington’s payroll tax revenue declined by roughly $5 million from fiscal year 2022 to the end of fiscal year 2023.

Covington publicly discussed the situation in 2023 when finance director Steve Webb gave a presentation to the city commission.

He attributed losses in the city’s general fund to Fidelity remitting payroll taxes.

“As remote work has become normalized, these employers are now withholding and remitting portions of the occupational license tax to the jurisdictions where their employees are physically working,” Webb said in May 2023.

This devastated Covington’s general fund in 2023. For the 2024 budget, Covington used federal money through the American

In September, Fidelity began requiring its U.S. employees on hybrid work schedules to work in the office for two weeks out of every four-week period, doubling the previous requirement of one week. West said Fidelity’s policy has helped Covington’s office market, but the recovery is still ongoing.

Michelle Klingenberg, a managing director at real estate firm JLL, told LINK nky that companies are investing in office amenities to entice employees back to the workplace.

“Companies are spending more money to make their office situation better than any work-from-home environment,” Klingenberg said. “It’s going to be highly amenitized. They will pay more per square-foot to have their office be the greatest and best – higher than any competition – in order to recruit and retain their high talent.”

In Greater Cincinnati Klingenberg said that, while working in an office may look and feel differently than before the pandemic, it’s here to stay, and corporations are willing to spend money to make it happen.

“Office is back, it’s just different,” she said.

This article features reporting from LINK nky’s Nathan Granger.

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streetscapes

Additions to Madison Avenue in Covington

By Maria Hehman

F

or this week’s Streetscapes, we are looking at new arrivals to Madison Avenue in Covington.

We’ll start with drinks at Revival Vintage Bottle Shop, move on to dinner at Carmelo’s and then end with chocolates for dessert at Maverick Chocolate Co.

to canned domestics, Revival has options for all.

The interior is very reminiscent of a speakeasy. One could easily sit and sip their fine spirits for hours.

Entrees and pastas may be what Carmelo’s is best known for, but don’t overlook the garlic soup or caesar salad before delving into these delectable dishes.

Maverick Chocolate Co.

Carmelo’s Founded across the river, Maverick Chocolate Co is the newest addition to Madison Avenue. It’s Maverick’s third Tristate location.

Revival Vintage Bottle Shop

The chocolate shop is a family owned and operated business that uses ethically sourced cacao beans to create chocolate that is turned into bars, truffles and even beverages.

You can select from an astounding variety of flavors and treats. From lemon lavender white chocolate, cafe mocha milk chocolate and peanut butter dark chocolate, guests will feel like a kid in a candy store.

Carmelo’s is the hottest spot on Madison Avenue this winter.

Revival Vintage Bottle Shop interior. Photos by Maria Hehman | LINK nky contributor

There’s a reason you might be hard pressed to find reservations at Carmelo’s Italian restaurant – it really is that good.

Revival Vintage Bottle Shop opened in North by Hotel Covington in September.

Start your meal with endless wine choices, from red to white to rose and sparkling.

Revival doubles as a showroom for rare bourbon and a cocktail bar. Bourbon enthusiasts will love the opportunity to sample vintage alcohol aged more than 100 years on the second floor tasting/showroom. Outside of bourbon, patrons can sample and purchase a variety of rare spirits including tequila, gin, brandy, rum and scotch.

When it comes to food, there are no bad choices, and in fact narrowing down the menu to a reasonable amount of food to order may be the most difficult decision you’ll make. (We won’t judge if you order a little of everything.)

Guests just looking for a cocktail and a laid back ambiance are best suited on Revival’s main floor, which features a full-service bar. From bourbon flights to craft cocktails

Carmelo’s shareables feature choices of mozzarella with grilled focaccia and olive oil, meatballs a mix of veal, pork and beef in its Sunday sauce, or its cauliflower that’s flash fried tossed with anchovy and garlic, parsley parmesan, lemon garlic mayo and almonds.

Outside of Maverick’s chocolate bars, patrons can purchase beverages to make at home (the dark drinking chocolate will put your Swiss Miss packets to shame). It’s ideal for making a cozy and rich drink this winter.

Mushroom Marsala from Carmelo’s.

What to Know If You Go Revival Vintage Bottle Shop Location: 614 Madison Ave., Covington Hours: Monday, closed; Tuesday-Thursday, noon-10 p.m., Friday, noon-midnight; Saturday 11 a.m-midnight, Sunday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.

Phone: 859-479-2676

Carmelo’s Location: 434 Madison Ave., Covington Hours: Monday closed, Tuesday-Thursday 4-9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 4-10 p.m., Sunday 4-9 p.m.

Website: eatatcarmelos.com Phone: 859-287-4700

Maverick Chocolate Co Location: 623 Madison Ave., Covington Hours: Monday-Tuesday, closed; Wednesday-Saturday, noon-8 p.m.; Sunday, noon-6 p.m.

Website: maverickchocolate.com Bourbon Mule from Revival Vintage Bottle Shop.

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The Weekend LINK SATURDAY MORNINGS JANUARY 10, 2025 11

sports Arlinghaus hits 100th win at Holy Cross

Ted Arlinghaus | Photo provided

In a 51-50 victory over Bishop Brossart on Dec. 29 in the semifinals of the Giovanni’s Berea Holiday Classic, Holy Cross girls basketball coach Ted Arlinghaus earned his 100th win with the program.

Arlinghaus is in his fifth season with the team, compiling a 101-38 record to date, counting the 101st win in the championship game of the Giovanni’s Berea Holiday Classic against Russell County.

Walker watch is on E.J. Walker is on the brink of breaking the Lloyd Memorial boys basketball scoring record. He entered the season with 1,322 points in his high school career, 267 away from program record holder Ryan Wilson, a 2000 graduate with 1,588 career points.

Walker has 197 points through the Juggernauts first 11 games of the season, putting him 71 points away from breaking the record.

Lloyd (9-2) plays at Covington Catholic on Jan. 3, hosts Holy Cross on Jan. 7 and hosts Villa Madonna on Jan. 8. If Walker hits his 17.9 points per game average in those three games, he’d then be in line to do it on Jan. 10 at Scott.

Holiday tournament winners

Holy Cross is certainly a threat to win a 9th Region title, they enter 2025 with a 12-1 record and on a nine-game winning streak.

Their last win came in exciting fashion, Tony Kutcher hitting a 3-pointer as time expired in a 51-48 victory over Harrison County.

Joseph Meyer and Mark McCutchin are leading the Bulldogs in scoring with 14.2 points per game. Dominic Scott and Kutcher are coming in at 9.0 and 8.4 points per game, respectively. McCutchin leads the team in rebounds with 7.8 per game, Scott pulling down 7.5 per game.

Holmes starts off 2025 with a chance to go above .500 when they host Bracken County on Jan. 3.

The Colonels took down Holy Cross in overtime to claim the title.

Cooper won the Queen of the Commonwealth over the holidays. Photo provided | Cooper girls basketball

Over the last two weeks of the holidays, tournament basketball was played all over the state (and some out of state).

Those coming home with tournament hardware include: • Cooper girls (Queen of the Commonwealth).

• Holy Cross girls (Giovanni’s Berea Holiday Classic).

• Simon Kenton boys (Central Bank Jim Rose Classic).

• Covington Catholic boys (Ram Jam Tournament).

• Holy Cross boys (City of Middletown Holiday Classic).

• Dixie Heights boys (Estill County Tournament).

• Campbell County boys (City Between The Lakes Christmas Classic).

NKU had an easier time Jan. 4 in a 78-60 home win over Green Bay.

Ryle wins NKAC wrestling championship

(859) Sports Radio hits 400th broadcast The (859) Sports Radio team started by Mark Wehry hit its 400th broadcast Jan. 2 when they broadcast the Conner-Bishop Verot (Florida) boys basketball game.

Wehry and his team of announcers started (859) Sports Radio in 2019 and they’ve been hitting the ground running since. They do football and volleyball in the fall, basketball in the winter and sometimes baseball in the spring. They livestream the game with their announcing of the game in the background.

Wehry does not charge for broadcasts, and he does not seek advertising. The only regular sponsor is Ken Morgan from Cricket Wireless who provides the internet hotspot free of charge. Wehry’s on-air talent is happy to pitch in and offer expertise at no charge to aid the cause.

Norse working overtime

Holmes on the rebound Holmes boys basketball team won five games the past two seasons. They’ve hit that mark before the calendar turns to 2025. The Bulldogs currently sit at 5-5 on the season, going 5-2 in their last seven games.

• Beechwood girls (Nell Fookes Classic).

• Dixie Heights girls (White, Greer and Maggard Holiday Classic).

The Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball team has had back-to-back overtime games, one resulting in a triple overtime loss at Robert Morris, the other an overtime win at home over Purdue-Fort Wayne.

It’s Horizon League play, would you expect anything different?

In a conference that is often met with a ton of parity, this season seems no different.

The Norse are currently 3-1 in conference, 8-7 overall. They sit in a tie for third in conference, Youngstown State off to a 5-0 start in conference play, Milwaukee 3-0.

Three players are scoring in double figures for the Norse. Trey Robinson leads the way with 16 points per game, adding 6.5 rebounds a contest while shooting 53% from the field. Sam Vinson is at 11.9 points per contest, pulling down 5.3 rebounds with two steals per game. Josh Dilling averages 11.3 points per contest at nearly a 40% clip from the 3-point line.

Ryle cruised to the NKAC conference title with a near-60-point cushion over runner-up Conner at Boone County High School on Dec. 28. Ryle finished with 212.5 points. Conner totaled 154.5 for a 10-point margin over third-place Covington Catholic (144.5). Highlands (115) came in fourth.

Campbell County and Holmes tied for first at the second-ever NKAC girls meet, each with 47.5 points. Ryle came in third, just a half-point behind with 47. That was good for a 10-point margin over fourth-place Conner (37).

The Raiders repeated as conference champions, with a twist. Of their seven individual champs at the boys and girls meets, five come from two families, three from the Brinkmans.

Freshman Bryant Brinkman won the 106-pound championship. His twin, Aiden, won at 113 pounds. Sister Peyton, a seventh grader, won the 107-pound title at the NKAC girls event.

Travis Stieber won the 190-pound championship for the Ryle boys and sister Preslee Stieber won the 152-pound crown for the Lady Raiders, beating teammate Brilynn Gemmer in the final.

Other boys weight-class champions include three from Conner. They are Clayton Badida at 120 pounds, Bryce Blaisdell (132) and Chase Bailey (215). Covington Catholic had a pair of champs, Luke Peace at 150 pounds and Keegan Bishop at 165.

Campbell County’s Deacon Heisler won at 138 pounds. Highlands’ Kayson White won at 144. Ben Turner from Cooper won the 175-pound title and Boone County’s Jayden Pointer won the heavyweight crown.

The rest of the girls conference champions include KenYanna Johnson of Holmes at 120 pounds. Conner’s Rose Thomas repeated as champion, winning at 138 pounds.

She won at 132 last season. Abigail Berling of Highlands won the 185-pound title.

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Conner’s boys basketball team won LINK nky Team of the Week for Dec. 16-21. Photo provided | Charles Bolton

CONNER BOYS BASKETBALL 12 JANUARY 10, 2025

obituaries

P

Patrick J. Crowley

at Crowley was a man of many talents, skills and achievements, but he always knew that the biggest accomplishment of his rich life was his family, which he loved dearly with every inch of his magnanimous heart.

finest political journalists,” commenting that “over a long and distinguished career, Pat’s work in the Commonwealth drew wide attention and well-earned national acclaim.”

Pat also hosted two long-running television shows on Insight Channel ICN6 (now Spectrum Cable) in Northern Kentucky: “On The Record,” a public affairs show, and “Northern Kentucky Magazine”, a morning news and feature program. He also regularly appeared as a commentator on KET’s “Comment on Kentucky” and on other radio and TV programs.

The award-winning journalist and wellknown public relations professional and lobbyist died unexpectedly at his home in Fort Thomas Dec. 28. He was 63. He is survived by his loving family: wife, Pam; son, Conor; daughter, Shayna, and her husband, Max Neverman; and Pat and Pam’s three grandchildren, twin grandsons, Bennett and Bodhi, and granddaughter, Sloane.

If you live in Northern Kentucky, you would see Pat everywhere: having breakfast at Sis’s in Newport with community leaders and friends, working the halls of the Kentucky General Assembly in Frankfort, emceeing luncheons and dinners held by business associations or civic groups, writing news releases at his desk or speaking to reporters on the telephone at his office in Newport, playing golf and socializing at his weekly golf league at Twin Oaks Golf Course in Latonia, or having cocktails and dinner with clients, political leaders or friends at a local restaurant.

His workdays were notoriously long, often rising before dawn and working late into the night, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. He absolutely loved the careers and the life he’d chosen, once telling Pam, “I know people think I work too hard, but I just love what I do so much.”

He also deeply loved his family, and his weekends were devoted to them. Saturdays were often spent with Pam and their cadre of rescue animals, such as Pat’s beloved “Wuzzle,” their three-legged Chihuahua, or “Mike Jones,” the adventurous cat that served as the protagonist of some of Pat’s most hilarious stories.

But in recent years, his absolutely favorite day of the week was Sunday, when he would spend blissful time with his three precocious grandchildren, often documenting these outings on his “thewuzzle79” Insta-

gram account, his only social-media channel. In these images with his grandchildren, Pat was always beaming.

Pat also had yet another, larger family — not just the extended Crowley family with whom he owned Crowley’s Highland House Café in Mount Adams, but also everyone in the Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati community who came to know and love Pat Crowley.

During his lifetime, Pat was a youth sports coach at Woodfill Elementary School and other Fort Thomas youth sports teams; a volunteer for various charitable groups, including the annual Christmas Celebration and Dinner for homeless and less fortunate at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center; a regular speaker at business, political and other events; a golfing buddy; a journalist and public-affairs professional; and, of course, an amazing friend to many, many people. Every person who met Pat was blessed to be the beneficiary of his kindness, insight, humor, intelligence, thoughtfulness and friendship.

In 2009, he and Jay Fossett founded Strategic Advisers LLC, a Northern Kentucky public relations, marketing and public affairs firm. Pat parlayed his connections in the news media and relationships in Frankfort and Washington into a successful 15-year career in PR and public affairs. He was the driving force behind the company, where his son and daughter now work. Much of the work he did there was making our community a better place to live, work and raise a family.

Pat worked for 27 years as a newspaper, magazine, television and digital journalist, including 16 years as business writer, political writer and columnist for The Cincinnati Enquirer. He also worked for The Cincinnati Post, The Cincinnati Business Record, The Maysville Ledger-Independent, the Register Newspapers of Southeastern Indiana, and The Recorder Newspapers of Northern Kentucky. His freelance journalism work appeared in Newsweek, Family Circle, American Bar Association Journal, and National Real Estate Investor, to name a few.

In 2023, the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce presented Pat with The Walter L. Pieschel (MVP) Award in recognition of his outstanding service to the Chamber and the Northern Kentucky community.

There’s an old Irish saying that is apt when thinking of Pat and his beautiful life: “Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, but love leaves a memory no one can steal.” Everyone loved Pat Crowley and he reciprocated that love in the way he lived his life.

Pat spent much of his time at the Enquirer working at the newspaper’s Northern Kentucky and Frankfort bureaus. In 2007, The Kentucky Press Association named him the state’s top columnist and his 2004 series on casino gambling earned state and national awards.

Visitation for Pat was held Jan. 8 at the Southgate Community Center. Services and a reception followed. Memorials are suggested to SAAP, Box 72040 Newport, Kentucky or Cleo’s Legacy, 5699 Mary Ingles Highway, Melbourne, Kentucky 41059.

Dobbling, Muehlenkamp-Erschell is caring for Pat and his family. Online condolences may be made to dmefuneral.com.

The Washington Post selected him as one of the country’s top political reporters and political bloggers. This week, Sen. Mitch McConnell called Pat “one of Kentucky’s

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