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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011 BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS

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Vol. 12 No. 24© 2011 The Community Recorder

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Dinner's readyA local catering business is

supporting VFW posts, onedinner at a time.

Express Catering, owned byRandy Gasdorf, offers all-you-can-eat steak dinners from 5-7p.m. every Thursday at the JohnR. Little VFW post in Southgate.

The catering company hasheld a similar dinner at theAlexandria VFW for the lastseveral years.

News, A5

Music in the hallsFor years, elementary school

students in the area have takenfields trip to various symphoniesand musical performances, but aprogram at Fort Thomas In-dependent Schools is bringingthe music to the students.

The School House Symphony,a six-member ensemble featur-ing the string, woodwind, brassand percussion families, is per-forming at the district’s threeelementary schools four times ayear.

School, A6

Businesses cometogether tosupport veterans

Businesses on Bellevue’sFairfield Avenue are doing morethan just offering sales and dealsduring this November’s SecondSaturday Sellabration.

During the event, which isfrom 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday,Nov. 12, the businesses are work-ing together to spread aware-ness about and raise money forHonor Flight Tri-state, a charitythat identifies and locates WorldWar II veterans and then escortsthem on an all-expenses-paidtrip to Washington, D.C. to visitwar memorials.

Life, B1

CATCH A STAR B1

Kylie Ward THANKS TO LISA

DESATNIK

The School House Symphonyperforms for students atMoyer Elementary School.

FORT THOMAS — The City ofFort Thomas and the Fort Thom-as Business Association (FTBA)are teaming up to create a newfeature to promote businesses inthe city and keep residents andvisitors informed.

Shop Fort Thomas, an onlinebusiness directory hosted on thecity’s website, is scheduled to beup and running by the end of No-vember.

Assistant City AdministratorJay Treft said the site will be anopportunity for businesses to

post information they want to getout to the public.

“Businesses will be able topost things like their hours andwhat they offer and also updatethe site with coupons, sales andjob opportunities,” Treft said.“People can also sign up to be no-tified when a certain businessposts something new, so this is agreat way for businesses to cre-ate a following.”

Treft said the idea came up acouple months ago and since thenthe city has been working withthe FTBA and the third-partyvendor who offers the service tospread the word among business-

es in the city.So far, 35 businesses have

signed up to be included in the di-rectory.

FTBA president and StateFarm Insurance agent Tracy Da-vis said the program is very userfriendly and is another way forbusinesses to get information outand draw more people into thecity.

“This is a way for visitor tocheck out our city and what wehave, all in one spot,” Davis said.“With one click, people can seeexactly what we offer.”

Treft said the city and FTBAare sharing the start-up costs, but

for the most part the programwill pay for itself through a fee of$70 per year charged to each par-ticipating business.

Davis said for all the exposureit will give businesses, the fee isdefinitely worth it.

“You get so much for such agreat price, which is important inthese hard economic times,” Da-vis said.

Once its up, the Shop FortThomas link can be found on thecity’s website at www.ftthoma-s.org, the FTBA’s website atwww.ftba.biz and on participat-ing business’s sites.

Website promotes businessesBy Amanda Joering Alleyajoering@nky.com

SAVING LIVES, ONE DROP AT A TIME

Hoxworth Donor Care Specialist Amy McCabe takes blood from donor Mackenzie Hill, a junior atHighlands High School, during Fort Thomas's blood drive Thursday, Oct. 27. AMANDA JOERING ALLEY/THE

COMMUNITY RECORDER

FORT THOMAS — For almost10 years, Vito Ciepiel has beenliving his dream running a busi-ness that combines two of hispassions, food and music.

Vito’s Cafe, which Vito andhis wife, Mary Ciepiel, openedin Fort Thomas in 2001, has beenoffering patrons a differentkind of dining experience fromthe beginning by featuring sing-ing servers.

Mary said they lived in NewYork for years before moving tothis area in 2000 to be near theirchildren and grandchildren.They had always dreamed ofopening a restaurant that fea-tured singing servers, a positionthat Vito, who has a master’s de-gree in opera performance, heldin the past.

“This has been in his blood along time,” Mary said. “He hasthree loves in his life: Food, mu-sic and me, not necessarily inthat order.”

Vito said the couple hadlooked into starting their res-taurant in New York, butthought it may be too competi-tive since it has nearly 25 timesmore restaurants than Cincin-nati.

Once they moved here, Vitosaid they searched for monthsthrough several local cities likeHyde Park and Madeira beforefinding their current spot inFort Thomas on Highland Ave-nue.

Vito’s Cafeto celebrate10 years ofbusinessBy Amanda Joering Alleyajoering@nky.om

Vito and Mary Ciepiel, owners ofVito's Cafe in Fort Thomas, posefor a picture in their restaurant,which will celebrate its 10thanniversary in November. AMANDA

JOERING ALLEY/THE COMMUNITY

RECORDER

See VITO’S CAFE, Page A2

NEWPORT — The CampbellCounty Detention Center's smok-ing policy allowing select in-mates to smoke in an area wheresheriff department deputieshave to work remains in place fornow, but an expected state ruleschange will require all areas ofjails be smoke free in 2012.

In August, Campbell CountySheriff’s Deputy Van Kowolonekdelivered a letter to the CampbellCounty Fiscal Court commission-ers signed by himself and twoother deputies claiming smokingin a squad bay area, known as asally port, where they pick up anddrop-off inmates for transportwas “causing health issues foremployees.”

Commissioner Brian Painterquizzed Jailer Greg Bucklerabout the smoking issue at theconclusion of an annual reportabout the jail during the Oct. 19fiscal court meeting.

Painter said he understood thechange in state policy would for-bid smoking in the future, and heasked Buckler if any considera-tion was being given to ending allsmoking at the jail now.

In response, Buckler said thejail has worked with the inmates,a group of females in the county’scommunity service program fornon-violent offenders, to to keep

their smoking to a minimum andcut back.

The jail’s policy allowingsmoking won’t change for now,and the profits from cigarettesales to the inmates has helpedpay for things including a newtruck for the community serviceprogram for the benefit of the in-mates, Buckler said.

“Our net profit was about$23,000 off their cigarette sales,so that’s revenue that we’re goingto lose,” he said.

Buckler said ending smokingat the jail before there is a state-wide policy, expected to happensometime in the spring, means hewould probably receive requestsfor transfers to other facilitiesthat do allow smoking. Transfer-ring prisoners would be a poten-tial loss in revenue for CampbellCounty, he sad. The requestswould be one more thing to dealwith, although he wouldn’t haveto grant them unless the jail’s in-mate population became over-crowded, Buckler said.

Buckler said smoking is aprivilege only for Class D in-mates in the work-release com-munity service program andabruptly ending smoking nowisn’t something he wants to do.

The main jail has been smoke-free since December 1999, andsmoking is only allowed in an out-door courtyard at the RestrictedCustody Center for the male in-mates in the community serviceprogram and in the jail’s sally

port area for female communityservice inmates, Buckler said.

“It’s something you can’t juststop cold turkey, when we did it atthe main jail we cut them back onhow much they could smoke eachday and week,” he said.

There is ventilation in the areawhere smoking is permitted withtwo garage doors, and therearen’t any security worries be-cause the inmates in the sallyport smoking area are classifiedto work in the community everyday, Buckler said.

“It’s not as bad as they make itout to be because you can leavethe door open and have fresh aircoming in,” he said.

Buckler said has never beenapproached by anyone in thesheriff department either beforeor after Kowolonek spoke to fis-cal court in August, and he did notappreciate them speaking outwithout first coming to him.

In a few months it will be amoot issue, and to grant the wishof going smoke-free now wouldbe a significant revenue loss, hesaid.

Buckler said he honestly doesnot see the issue as a big deal andthinks the presentation of how hehas worked to find cost savings atthe jail was being overlooked bysome of the commissioners.

“I said we saved you almost$900,000, and they want to ques-tion you on smoking?” he said.

Campbell County jail willbe smoke-free in springBy Chris Mayhewcmayhew@nky.com

A2 • FORT THOMAS RECORDER • NOVEMBER 3, 2011 NEWS

FORT THOMASRECORDER

NewsMichelle Shaw Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .578-1053, mshaw@nky.comChris Mayhew Reporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .578-1051,cmayhew@nky.comAmanda Joering Reporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .578-1052, ajoering@nky.comMelanie Laughman Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . .513-248-7573, mlaughman@nky.comJames Weber Sports Reporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .578-1054, weber@nky.com

AdvertisingDebbie Maggard Advertising Manager. . . . . .578-5501, dmaggard@nky.com

DeliveryFor customer service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .781-4421Sharon Schachleiter Circulation Manager . .442-3464, sschachleiter@nky.comCathy Kellerman District Manager . . . . . . . . . . .442-3461, ckellerman@nky.com

ClassifiedTo place a Classified ad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .283-7290, www.communityclassified.com

To place an ad in Community Classified, call 283-7290.

Find news and information from your community on the WebForth Thomas • nky.com/fortthomas

Campbell County • nky.com/campbellcounty

Calendar .................B2Classfieds .................CFood ......................B4Life ........................B1Police .................... B6Schools ..................A5Sports ....................A6Viewpoints .............A8

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“The interior was per-fect for our concept,” Vitosaid. “I also liked it be-cause Fort Thomas has agreat reputation, it’s in asafe neighborhood and ithad a large parking lot,something that a lot of oth-er places we looked atlacked.”

Since it opened 10years ago, Vito’s Cafe hasstayed the same in a lot ofways, but changed in oth-ers, Vito said.

The menu, for exam-ple, still offers some of theoriginal items includingmainly traditional Sicilian

cuisine but now also of-fers more multi-regionalItalian dishes and Ameri-can cuisine.

“Our cuisine has reallyprogressed through theyears and is now at a veryfine point that we’re veryproud of,” Vito said.

About three years ago,Mary and Vito’s son start-ed a microbrewery, RedEar Brewing Co., at thecafe, offering even moreoriginality to the restau-rant.

Mary said the cafe hasseen a lot of incredible tal-ent come through itsdoors since it opened andhas often served as step-ping stone in the careersof local singers from Cin-cinnati’s College-Conser-vatory of Music (CCM)and Northern KentuckyUniversity (NKU).

“Many of the singersthat started here are nowsinging all around theworld,” Mary said. “Ourmusic is what makes usdifferent, and we are inthe perfect location to benext to two musicschools.”

Vito said while the cafeis known as the home of

the singing servers, theyalso let talented busersfrom Highlands HighSchool perform for pa-trons, and also support theschool by hosting somecast parties for Highlandstheater performances.

In honor of the 10 yearanniversary, several ofthe cafe’s “stars” are com-ing back to celebrate at 7p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, dur-ing the Night of the Starsevent, where each of themwill be performing theirspecialty number.

Mary said she is proudto be celebrating their 10year anniversary.

“In the restaurantworld it is a huge accom-plishment to make it 10years,” Mary said. “I’m soproud that we have beenable to sustain Vito’s Cafeand maintain such highquality.”

Other upcomingevents at the cafe includea Candlelight WhiteChristmas Eve Buffet andNew Year’s Eve Gala.

For more informationor to make reservationsfor upcoming events, call442-9444.

Vito’sCafeContinued from Page A1

NEWPORT — The idea ofstudying potential consoli-dations of 911 service inNorthern Kentucky issplitting into two differentconversations surroundingdispatch centers and radiotechnology improvementsfor first responders.

The latest developmentof the ongoing discussionabout 911 emergency com-munications betweenCampbell, Boone and Ken-ton counties is in terms ofstructure, said CampbellCounty Administrator Rob-ert Horine at the Oct. 25Campbell County FiscalCourt Mayor’s meeting inNewport. The three countyjudge-executives startedpublicly discussing poten-tial 911 service consolida-tion in January.

Fire and police officialsare being asked what theythink of switching to a newdigital trunk communica-tion system allowing foreasier cross-agency com-munications, Horine said.The point of a Oct. 27 meet-ing in Kenton County with

fire, police and dispatch of-ficials was to ask them if itis a technology they want topursue because they wouldbe most affected, he said.

Dale Edmondson, exec-utive director of the Camp-bell County ConsolidatedDispatch Center, and JimStaverman, director ofBoone County’s PublicSafety CommunicationsCenter, were appointedchair of a committeetasked with learning moreabout the trunk radio sys-tem technology at the Oct.27 meeting, said CampbellCounty Police DepartmentChief Keith Hill, who alsoattended the meeting.

The Northern Kentuckypolice and fire associationswill ask their memberswhat technology they need,and explore what functionsdifferent radio systemswill and won’t perform,Hill said.

Regionally, Cincinnati,Louisville and Lexingtonhave already made theswitch to trunk systems,Edmondson said.

Right now, NorthernKentucky fire and policecan and do communicateacross state, county anddistrict lines in some limit-ed capacities with the sys-tems they already have, hesaid.

With trunk radio sys-tems emergency respond-ers would be able to talkwith anyone on the samesystem including Cincin-nati, Lexington or Louis-ville, he said.

911 servicediscussion hasnew dual focusBy Chris Mayhewcmayhew@nky.com

LIGHTING UP THE NIGHT

Fort Thomas residentsAiden Rogers (left) andKristian Oberman checkout some of thejack-o-lanterns at FortThomas'sJack-O-Lantern WalkThursday, Oct. 27, in thearmory in Tower Park.AMANDA JOERING ALLEY/THE

COMMUNITY RECORDER

Residents and visitors wait in line outside theFort Thomas armory for the city's annualJack-O-Lantern Walk. AMANDA JOERING ALLEY/THE

COMMUNITY RECORDER

VIEWPOINTSVIEWPOINTSEDITORIALS | LETTERS | COLUMNS | CH@TROOM CommunityPress.com

COMMUNITYRECORDEREditor: Michelle Shaw, mshaw@nky.com, 578-1053

FORT THOMASRECORDER

Fort Thomas Recorder EditorMichelle Shawmshaw@nky.com, 578-1053Office hours: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-FridaySee page A2 for additional contact information.

228 Grandview Drive, Fort Mitchell, KY 41017654 Highland Ave., Fort Thomas, KY 41075phone: 283-0404email: kynews@communitypress.comweb site: www.nky.com

A publication of

NOVEMBER 3, 2011 • FORT THOMAS RECORDER • A9

VIEWPOINTSVIEWPOINTSEDITORIALS | LETTERS | COLUMNS | CH@TROOM CommunityPress.com

COMMUNITYRECORDEREditor: Michelle Shaw, mshaw@nky.com, 578-1053

NOVEMBER 3, 2011 • CAMBELL COUNTY RECORDER • A9

Campbell County has over 100 positionsfor the Fiscal Court to appoint. Many ofthese affect taxation/rates and staff over-sight on boards such as TANK, SD1, and theNorthern Kentucky Water District. TheJudge-Executive and Commissioners havetheir own duties that include taxation, fees,and county services. Each of these entitieshas their own set of responsibilities that areunique to their particular function. All ofthem require a watchful eye by engagedcitizens with regards to spending, ethicalbusiness practices and regulatory compli-ance.

It has been suggested by Ken Rechtin,that he and the other commissioners beappointed to these boards and commissionsso they can, as he said, “do it ourselves.” Hesays his reasoning is accountability-you canjust vote the commissioner out if you dis-approve of his board actions.

This type of thinking is void of practical-ity and even common sense. Forget the factthat Commissioners Garret and Painter are

and commissions. In other words, account-ability exists through who we elect to runcounty government. We do not need com-missioners controlling everything fromproperty taxes to bus fees to water fees torain tax. We do need to insist on the appoint-ments of legitimate people who will bringtheir own talents to the table and agree toserve. If the appointees fail to satisfy theneeds of the voters, you have two options:remove the appointee or remove the Com-missioner(s) and Judge-Executive. Eitherway you look at it, the Fiscal Court is ac-countable. It is that easy.

Kevin Sell resides in Southern CampbellCounty and served as Board Member for theKentucky Workers Compensation Authority,

Member of the Campbell CountyRe-apportionment Committee 2011, and Chairman

of the Kentucky Occupational Safety and HealthCommission.

small business owners, themere notion of removingcitizens from service isunconscionable. The Camp-bell County Fiscal Courtwebsite even has a page forboards and commissions.The first sentence reads:“Citizen participation is avital aspect of good gov-ernment." This begs thequestion why Judge Pen-dery stated that all three of

his commissioners would do a great job inserving on boards. The bottom line is thatyou cannot do both. If members of the fiscalcourt want to serve on a board or commis-sion, they should resign their post and applyfor an appointment-just like everyone else.

Solving the accountability issue requiresus to look no further than the appointingauthority. In this case, it is our Judge-Exec-utive and County Commissioners. They voteon the appointments to the boards, districts,

Elected should not be named to boards

Kevin SellCOMMUNITYRECORDER GUESTCOLUMNIST

In support of HollenbachWith the Nov. 8 General Elec-

tion less than two weeks away, Iwould like to urge all voters inNorthern Kentucky to vote to re-elect State Treasurer Todd Hol-lenbach.

Todd Hollenbach is a person ofintegrity who has done an excel-lent job of managing the Ken-tucky State Treasury over thepast four years. His office hasprovided better services to theKentucky taxpayer while cuttingthe budget of his office.

He has been able to reconcilethe state's books for the first timein several years. He has cut hisbudget as reflected in the returnof his state vehicle, performinglegal work himself rather thanhaving an outside contract andeliminated the janitorial contractfor the Treasurer's Office. As aresult Todd and the employees ofthe Treasurer's office take turnscleaning their offices.

On Nov. 8, remember to re-elect a responsible State Treasur-er--Todd Hollenbach.

Paul WhalenFort Thomas

In response to McConnellMitch McConnell: Where are

the jobs you promised during the2010 election season?

Mitch McConnell, our seniorRepublican Senator, lives in arhetorical world where the belief“If I just say it, it must be true,”runs rampant. This is a man whoclearly states that his first priori-ty is making President Obama aone term president even thoughhis Republican Party promisedjobs, jobs, jobs during the 2010election season.

The 2010 elections over-whelmingly gave ConservativeRepublicans the mandate to getour economy moving and createJobs, Jobs, Jobs. Our PresidentObama has offered an outstand-ing jobs bill that Republicans re-fused to sign. Instead they arespending the precious time theyhave in the House and Senate try-ing to: prohibit taxpayer fundingof abortion; force a balance bud-get amendment; refuse to raisethe debt ceiling; restrict Federalregulation of greenhouse gases;block Health Care Reform; pro-hibit funding of NPR; on and onand on…This short list is only thefirst half page of active legisla-tion listed at www.senate.gov. Re-publicans have made no attemptto create jobs.

Here’s some news for McCon-nell. The stimulus bill is success-ful to the extent of the amount ofmoney that was in it. He states inhis recent letter in Viewpoints,Oct. 27 that “the solutions comingout of this administration simplymiss the mark.” The simple truthis Republicans are focused onmaking President Obama looklike a failure when the failure liesclearly in the lap of RepublicanObstructionism.

Here’s my message to MitchMcConnell: Prove that you arewilling to work with PresidentObama.

Donna HoffmanFort Thomas

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

PET BLESSINGFrom the large to the small they wereblessed one and all. St. Joseph, ColdSpring celebrated the Feast of St.Francis of Assisi Oct. 4, a beautifulsunny afternoon. Shown: Fr. GerryReinersman receives a thank you fromTango, Abbey Keuper's four-leggedfriend at the pet blessing held at St.Joseph, Cold Spring. PROVIDED

It turns out that $100 bills bearing BenFranklin’s likeness are not the only thingcounterfeited these days. So is the economicsystem that Franklin and his fellow patriotsworked so diligently to create.

Actually, our founders did not createcapitalism – the voluntary exchange ofgoods and services that leads to profit. Italready existed.

Rather, they formed a Constitution andsystem of government that encouraged andprotected it. They wanted as little govern-ment intervention as possible.

In the email pushback I’ve been gettingabout my recent comments extolling thevirtues of capitalism while decrying thepenalties of wealth-redistributionist pol-icies, I realized that a point of clarification isin order: When I refer to “capitalism,” I’mtalking about real “capitalism,” not thecounterfeit kind.

Real capitalism goes on full display whenno one – or no government program – pre-vents entrepreneurs from succeeding orfailing on their own merit, hard work andtalent. Counterfeiting takes place whengovernment intervenes to “help” someoneavoid failure.

Usually, counterfeit capitalism occurswhen cozy relationships develop with thewell-connected political types. But thenrather than prosper, these operations oftenfail.

Dramatic examples of the failure of suchcrony capitalism in recent years: Fannie

Mae and Freddie Mac, twogovernment-sponsoredlending agencies thattanked, and Solyndra LLC,a California-based solarpanel manufacturer. So-lyndra failed even thoughit received $535 million ingovernment loan guaran-tees — despite warnings tothe Obama administrationthat the company’s bookslooked cloudy rather than

sunny.Unlikely as it sounds, the Secret Service

— the agency charged with finding andshutting down counterfeit operations —offers an idea useful in distinguishing be-tween real and fake “Franklins.”

Secret Service agents don’t spend a lot oftime studying counterfeit bills to learntricks employed by cheaters. Instead, theyfocus on the real money.

In fact, they come to know the real cashso well that it doesn’t matter what changescounterfeiters make with color, engraving,weight or composition of paper. Trainedagents quickly recognize a fake.

When Kentuckians become intimatelyfamiliar with the tenets of true capitalism, itwon’t matter what tricks counterfeiters try.Commonwealth residents will become com-petent “agents” of capitalism.

The will see through counterfeit capital-ists — governors who collude with overpaid

economic development “yes” men to offereconomic “inducements” spun as “tax in-centives” or “investments” to get companiesto choose Kentucky.

On the campaign trail, these agents willbe busy checking out counterfeit claimsabout how many good private-sector jobsthese handouts really create, or my favorite,“save.”

Incidentally, missing from announce-ments lauding these efforts is any indicationof where the money came from for the hand-outs – taxpayers.

See, these agents will know that realcapitalism opts instead for tax-and-laborpolicies that take the power of choosingeconomic winners and losers out of the“yes” men’s hands and put it into the handsof job creators.

Counterfeit capitalists brag that theywant forced union membership in order todefend an American tradition, “keepingwages high for working families.” But realcapitalists support a right-to-work law andsay it should be up to individual Kentuck-ians to decide whether they want to pay achunk of their paycheck for ineffectivelabor-union representation.

When you recognize real capitalism —and the beauty of profit, enterprise andachievement — you can spot a phony, nomatter how good the con artists make itlook.

Jim Waters is vice president of the BluegrassInstitute.

Counterfeit capitalism: Trick or treat?

Jim WatersCOMMUNITYRECORDER GUESTCOLUMNIST

With the conclusion of summer and fall infull swing it appears one of the most severesmog seasons to hit the Tristate region hascome to an end.

The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana RegionalCouncil of Governments (OKI) would like tothank the residents of Greater Cincinnatiand Northern Kentucky for their efforts tohelp improve the region’s air quality. TheHamilton County Department of Environ-mental Services (HCDOES) issued 24 smogalerts in 2011. The smog alerts included the

Kentucky counties of Boone, Campbell, andKenton, and Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, andWarren counties in Ohio.

This summer, Cincinnati experienced 17straight days of at least 90 degree heat.These 17 days of extreme heat did nothing tohelp smog levels in our area. When the fore-cast calls for high temperatures, clear skies,and little or no wind, much like the OKIregion experienced this summer, smog canbecome a problem. This is why it is so im-portant that residents understand the causes

of poor air quality and helpreduce air pollution.

Air quality has become atopic of increased concernwhen the USEPA stiffenedozone standards in order tohelp protect citizens bylowering the acceptableamount of pollution.

OKI Loren Koehler is the communica-tions intern for the OKI Regional Council ofGovernments.

Smog season was one of most severe

Loren KoehlerCOMMUNITYRECORDER GUESTCOLUMNIST