By Pat Lafleur, 

FortThomasMatters City Beat

April 15, 2013: a day of looming headlines. The U.S. files its
taxes. Cesar Chavez’s chosen successor is elected to the Venezuelan presidency,
to mixed global response. Background checks for U.S. gun purchases remain hung
in limbo. Violence erupts in Iraq, and a mysterious, horrific pair of
explosions rocks the Boston Marathon.

So maybe it was a good thing that, in Ft. Thomas City Council
chambers, there were no such headlines. The brief, 30-minute council meeting
focused primarily on the lighter side of Ft. Thomas life:

•  
Asst.
City Administrator Ron Dill delivered the General Services Dept. 2012
Annual Report. With facts and figures sitting precisely where Mr. Dill expected
them, he was happy to report that the installment of Rossford Park and the
on-going development of the Highland Park dog park continue to see high rates
of activity and engagement from residents.

•  
The Fort
Thomas Fire Department followed suit, gladly reporting a successful month
of March, with a strong turnout of 42 participants in last month’s Weather
Spotters seminar, and a brand new FEMA grant, procured for a new defibrillator
unit and in-house alerting system. 

•  
Fort Thomas Police
Chief Mike Daly rounded out the good news, reporting that all current FTPD
Academy cadets are performing well, and — despite the warming of the weather
— crime levels for the month of March remained flat (instead of increasing, as
was expected).

•  
Chief Daily also made sure to comment on the high-speed chase that occurred last
Wednesday night. Chief Daily clarified and augmented a few of the details I
reported last week. To amend my earlier report, Chief Daily explained that
the chase originated with Southgate Police initiating pursuit on I-471, a chase
that resulted in the suspect crashing into two
parked vehicles (as opposed to just one) on Dixie Ave. The pursuit also
involved Newport police (in addition to Ft. Thomas and Southgate). All other
facts reported last week were confirmed by Chief Daly’s statement.

After the departmental reports, Mayor Brown asked council
for old and new business, and crickets chirped. A quiet two weeks in Ft.
Thomas, and a quiet City Council meeting.

In fact, if this week’s Ft. Thomas City Council meeting
were any sort of barometer, one would think nothing were going on in the world
at all. Given the events actually going
on yesterday, maybe that was intentional.

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