Another year is soon to be in the books – and with the close of 2021, we mark more than ten years of intense coverage of Covington, Fort Thomas, and all of Northern Kentucky through the independent efforts of The River City News and Fort Thomas Matters.
This is a collection of our most-read stories in the calendar year.
Selfishly, we begin with news about ourselves.
LINK Media forms, acquires Fort Thomas Matters and The River City News
A new media company was formed in Northern Kentucky, announced in October as LINK Media. The new operation includes the acquisition of both FTM and RCN, which will now work under the new brand “LINK Nky”.
Plans for the company include a new, robust website with news, information, and entertainment at LINKnky.com. The new site launches on February 15 at which point the existing RCN and FTM sites will stop publishing and be archived.
Additionally, the site will include podcasts and videos created exclusively for Northern Kentucky audiences.
LINK will also launch a bi-monthly print publication to be directly mailed to every household in Boone, Campbell, and Kenton counties. Look for the first issue to arrive in late February.
LINK is led by Chief Executive Officer Lacy Starling, co-founder of Newport-based Legion Logistics. The River City News founder, editor, and publisher serves as chief content officer. He will host a new weekly podcast, building on his radio success as host of Cincinnati Edition at 91.7 WVXU, Cincinnati’s NPR station, a position he left in December after three years to focus on his work at LINK. Mark Collier, a co-founder and publisher of Fort Thomas Matters serves as chief operations officer.
LINK will announce soon its new full-time team members, including a managing editor, two general assignment reporters, and a politics and government reporter who will be embedded in Frankfort during the 2022 Kentucky General Assembly legislative session.
Stay tuned to our social media sites and sign up for our daily email –Â The Daily LINKÂ – to stay on top of all of these exciting developments.
The launch of LINK marks the single-largest investment in journalism in Northern Kentucky in a generation, and we will do our best to do you proud.
New restaurants and developments lead NKY clicks
Our readers always enjoy the announcement of new businesses, especially restaurants.
In 2021, that was no different.
The most-read story in the entire year for RCN was published all the way back in January, when it was announced that the former Golden Corral buffet restaurant chain location in Ft. Wright would be torn down to make way for a new Mike’s Car Wash location. In 2020, it was reported that Golden Corral was closing both its Ft. Wright and Florence locations, but this year, the company announced the reopening of the Florence one.
In Independence, readers flocked to a story about a new mixed-use development bringing housing and a planned brewery. Later in the year, it was announced that the project area would grow larger.
Taylor Mill-based One Holland Group, which is leading the Independence development, made a lot of headlines in 2021, with the most-read being its plans to return Roy Rogers restaurants to NKY and Cincinnati. One Holland also acquired local Barleycorn’s restaurants this year, a year after buying the famed Greyhound Tavern in Ft. Mitchell.
Another huge development in Northern Kentucky followed years of rumors and hopes: the region got its first Trader Joe’s grocery store in Crestview Hills, in the space previously occupied by Joseph-Beth Booksellers.
The well-known Superbowl in Erlanger also saw a lot of reader interest this year when it was announced that it would be transformed into a Strike & Spare Family Fun Center.
Other highly-trafficked news stories about restaurants and developments include the new Enson Harbor restaurant opening in Bellevue in the spot previously occupied by Joe’s Crab Shack, a new Derby-themed bar opening in Newport, Twin Peaks bringing its busty brews to Florence, the renovation plans for both Newport on the Levee and Newport Pavilion under new ownership, and though it was only published a couple days ago, the final chapter of Old Town Cafe in downtown Covington is one of our most-read stories of the entire year.
Pandemic continues to cause concern in NKY
In 2020, we all watched the world change in an instant as COVID-19 swept the globe, and finally made its way here. In 2021, with vaccines made widely available early in the year, a return to normal was expected.
But mutations of the coronavirus brought another couple of surges, including one that we are experiencing now.
In September, as the delta variant of the virus caused concerns at hospitals, Gov. Andy Beshear deployed the National Guard to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Covington to help, an announcement that became one of our most-read stories of the year.
But regular life returned in most ways, albeit with caution among many. In Campbell Co., the first murder trial to be held since the pandemic disrupted proceedings, resulted in a guilty verdict, one of our most-read stories of the year.
Civil War Museum closing, sober-living home opening create controversy
In Ft. Wright, the James A. Ramage Civil War Museum was shuttered by order of Mayor Dave Hatter, following a long dispute between the city and the museum’s board.Â
In Lakeside Park, the addition of a third sober-living home in the city prompted crowded meetings and demands for action. It ultimately was cited in Mayor David Jansing’s reason for abruptly resigning.
Crime stories also lead in the local news click count
People’s interest in crime stories is nothing new, and in 2021, our coverage of local crime news also dominated our most-clicked stories.
Among the top stories in the crime category: suspect shot at Newport Plaza, a Cold Spring family looked for answers after a bullet came through a playroom window, four juveniles arrested after a Boone Co. sheriff’s deputy was injured in a stolen vehicle case, and sometimes even local judges found themselves on the hot seat: Kenton Co. District Judge Ann Ruttle was suspended from the bench.
Big money draws big attention
A recent story that we published instantly became one of the most-read pieces of content of the year: a Boone Co. jury awarded a pilot a nearly $2 million judgment in a suit against Crestview Hills-based Columbia Sussex.
We also saw some serious jackpots in the Kentucky Lottery here: a Campbell Co. man won $1 million on a scratch-off ticket; in Ft. Mitchell, a $1 million Mega Millions winner was sold; a Florence man won $250,000 on a lottery scratch-off game; a Boone Co. man found himself $200,000 richer after playing a game; a Burlington woman hit a $100,000 jackpot; and a Florence woman walked away with a $75,000 winner.
Other big stories that we followed in 2021 – and that you read – a lot
A giant flagpole was erected at a Crescent Springs business, but found itself on the wrong side of local zoning laws.
The federal government gave the City of Covington the OK to close its housing project known as City Heights.
When the DAV (Disabled American Veterans) opted to move its headquarters from Cold Spring to Erlanger, the site became a point of contention between the City of Cold Spring and the Campbell County board of education.
For residents on Old Kentucky Route 8, it has been a long wait for proper answers.
NKY teams claim state titles in high school sports
Northern Kentucky loves its high school sports, and two championship squads’ victories downstate resulted in some of our most-read stories of the year.
Highlands, best known around Kentucky as a football powerhouse, emerged from an unusually strong Ninth Region in 2021 to win the boys basketball Sweet 16 crown.
It was welcomed news in Fort Thomas, where the football program has been sliding, and even saw a new football coach hired – and then immediately change his mind.
In football, another local powerhouse dominated again, to win its second-straight championship: the Beechwood Tigers.
Be on the lookout for more coverage of Northern Kentucky – from the only media outlet on the ground here: LINK Media.
-Michael Monks