After more than four months of discussions, the Florence City Council approved two new Electricity Franchise agreements at a Wednesday evening special meeting. The city awarded Duke Energy and Owen Electric Cooperative 20-year contracts to do. The Wednesday meeting was the seventh time the council had considered the agreements since August. It was a long […]
Author Archives: David S. Rotenstein
Posted inNews
Florence council member gets another term on regional planning board
Florence City Council reappointed council member Gary Link to the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments, known as OKI, for another one-year term. Winn, first elected to the Florence council in 2011, has served on the OKI board since 2015. Founded in 1964, OKI is a multi-jurisdictional organization with a 120-member board of directors. The board’s […]
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Florence Fire/EMS team honored for response to postpartum emergency
Two first responders from the Florence Fire/EMS Department received commendations for outstanding care provided during an emergency call in August. St. Elizabeth Healthcare Outreach Manager Chris Vogelpohl and EMS Outreach Coordinator Josh Cox gave certificates to Captain Chris Fuhrmann and paramedic Lauren Goldfuss at the Nov. 18 Florence City Council caucus meeting. St. Elizabeth Healthcare […]
Posted inCulture
Covington hides some of its gambling history
Covington does little to tell the stories about the city’s colorful history as one of the most criminally and politically corrupt places in the United States. Those stories are easy to find in old newspaper articles, federal and congressional investigation records and in the many books and academic journal articles written about gambling and vice […]
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Eastside Covington event will beautify, promote resilience
Clara and William “Bill” Riley bought a two-story home in Covington’s Eastside neighborhood in 1974. They moved to the Eastside in 1961, shortly after getting married. Clara had grown up in Cincinnati, and Bill was from Covington. Bill died in 2019, and Clara was left with an aging house and a growing list of maintenance […]
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Proposed Florence Wawa clears final planning hurdle
A contentious proposal to build a new Wawa convenience store and gas station at the busy US 42 and Hopeful Church Road cleared its final hurdle in its review by the City of Florence. The Florence City Council voted to move the project forward at a special meeting on Oct. 21 by approving a Change […]
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Florence police captain retires, two officers promoted
After 29 years of service, Florence police captain Greg Rehkamp is retiring. The veteran officer’s departure created two opportunities for promotion from within the department. At the Oct. 14 Florence City Council business meeting, Florence Mayor Julie Metzger Aubuchon swore in Lt. Mike Geis as Rehkamp’s replacement. Aubuchon also swore in Sgt. Erik Daniels to […]
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Proposed Florence Wawa creates dilemmas for city leaders
Changes are on the horizon for the busy US 42 corridor in Florence. Florence may be getting a new Bank of America branch and a new Wawa market. The two developments being considered moved closer to approval during the Oct. 14 Florence City Council business meeting. The Bank of America Change of Concept Development Plan […]
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Bulletproof vest donation helps keep Florence K9 ‘family’ safe
Florence has four police dogs, or K9Ss. One of them, a German shepherd named Ajax, recently received a protective vest thanks to a donation from Vested Interest in K9s, Inc., a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that provides bullet- and stab-resistant vests to law enforcement agencies with K9 units nationwide. Ajax is 5 years old. Originally from Slovakia, […]
Posted inCulture
Is Northern Kentucky’s vice history good for business?
Northern Kentucky once was one of the most criminally corrupt places in the United States. Covington and Newport were hotbeds of bootlegging, gambling and prostitution. Many public officials, if they couldn’t be bought by racketeers, were themselves criminals. The ways that Covington and Newport deal with that history are complicated. Newport, in some ways, leans […]