Image 1 of Gallatin County News April 11, 2012

Check out our Home and Garden magazine - Inside! Gallatin County News An Independent Weekly Newspaper Vol. LXXXVI No. 15 Wednesday, April 11, 2012 50 cents Carvers Trail homes ready for sewer line Long delay finally over Happy to know their numbers Gallatin County Lower Elementary School students who met their math goals hit the streets last Tuesday for a parade around the school system’s campus. The parade is an annual event to reward students who complete their math requirements. Photo by Kathleen Niece. Police may finally have suspect in murders of the Stephensons The death of an Aurora oman last week may ead to solving the murers of Bill and Peggy tephenson, according to CPO TV. The Stephenons lived in Florence but ere well known in Galltin County and had many elatives living here.They were killed last May. A source said Boone County detectives are speaking with Aurora police regarding the homicide of Leigh Jennings, 67, of Aurora. Her body was discovered by a neighbor at the apartment complex on Aspen Drive Thursday evening. An autopsy that was performed the next day determined homicide was the manner of death. Dearborn County Prosecutor Aaron Negangard said Tuesday “it was a violent death.” Police on Monday said Jennings Candidates for KY House, Congress battle this spring The deadline to register o vote in the May 22 priary elections is Monday pril 23. Although it appears ormer Massachusetts ov. Mitt Romney will ave enough delegates y election day to win the epublican nomination or president by election ay, there are other races on the ballot to consider. Among these is the race for the Fourth U. S. Congressional seat in this district that is currently held by Geoff Davis, who is not running for reelection. On the Republican side, the candidates are Lewis County Judge/executive Thomas Massie; March set records for warm weather Gallatin County just nished its warmest arch in history. The National Weather ervice said daytime temeratures for the month ere about 20 degrees bove normal with the av- Meeting canceled Glencoe City Counil was unable to meet onday night because nly three of the six counil members showed up. ithout a quorum, Mayor im Nantz cancelled the eeting and said a special eeting will be scheduled ater in the month to relace the regular meeting. erage temperature at 55.5 degrees. The previous record was March 1947 when the average was 54.7 degrees. Normally, the average is 43 degrees. These averages include the daily highs and overnight lows combined. The average daily high this March was 66.2 degrees, well above the normal of 53.2 degrees. Overnight lows generally fall to about 33.5 degrees but the low this year averaged 44.8 degrees for the month. The region set records for high temperatures on three days last month and matched high records on three other days. The hottest day of the See March, page 3 Boone County Judge/ executive Gary Moore; Oldham County math teacher Brian Oerther; State Representative Alecia Webb-Edgington of Fort Wright; Fort Mitchell consultant Tom Wurtz; Sparta attorney Marc Carey and Crestwood contractor Walter Christian Schumm. Greg Frank of Corinth and Grant County Democratic Chairman Bill Adkins are the Democrats in the race. The Fourth District, which includes Gallatin County, runs along the Ohio River from West Virginia to Louisville. Also on the ballot are primary elections to pick the candidates to run for the Kentucky House of Representatives in the 61st District. That seat currently is held by Rep. Royce Adams, a Democrat. Adams is also not running for re-election. Democrats hoping to win their party’s nomination are Camilla Kay Patton and Wanda Crupper Hammons, both from Dry Ridge. Republicans in the race are Scott Bruce of Williamstown and Grant County magistrate Brian E. Linder of Dry Ridge. worked at Jim Young’s Barber Shop in Florence, owned by former Gallatin County resident John Young. Co-workers said she worked at the barbershop for “nine or 10 years. 9 News was told Tuesday that a man named Steve Stephenson, a newphew of Bill and Peggy Stephenson, “is being looked at closely as a suspect.” Sources will not say how the cases are connected. Steve Stephenson attempted suicide Monday night, but lived. His home was also recently searched, according to sources. Police have said little about the Stephenson murders which have been described as brutal and bloody. Bill and Peggy Stephenson, both 74, were See Stephensons, page 3 Warsaw Mayor C.E. French told city council at Monday’s meeting that all 32 sewer taps are in place for 32 residents of Carver’s Trail. “The city taps are done,” said French. “It’s now up to the homeowners to run lines from the houses to the tap. By the end of next month, they should all be done.” Warsaw will provide sewer service along with the city water residents already receive. The announcement should resolve the complaints about delays. In other city council business: •Mayor French asked council to submit a list of streets and sidewalks that need repair at next month’s meeting. After the city’s list is complete, the repairs will be bid out. Among the streets council discussed were Stafford, Hackberry, and Lone Oak. Councilmen also discussed bad water drainage in front of Tadmor Lodge and behind the Garnett-New-McDonald Funeral Home. •The mayor said Dorman Products would donate $1,000 to fix fencing at the city athletic fields on Hwy 35. •David Geohegan of the Center for Applied Ecology at Northern Kentucky University addressed council regarding efforts to buy large tracts of land in Gallatin County. The Center has received money from the U.S. Corps of Engineers to buy land where streams have been damaged by industries like the Ghent Power Plant. NKU students will work to restore the streams to a healthy condition. Geohegan asked council for ideas on properties that might be available. •County Tourism Chairman Wayne Rassman addressed council about the upcoming Summer Concert Series at the riverfront park and changes to the city dock. He also said the county will acquire the boat launching ramp in Sugar Creek and install a dock there. •Mayor French said there have been complaints about people parking vehicles on yellow curb lines. He asked citizens to keep right-ofways open so drivers can see oncoming traffic easier at intersections. •Council tabled the second reading of a proposal to add two stop signs at the Third and Market Street intersection. Officer Brent Caldwell asked council to consider if parallel parking should be instituted there to help visibility. The city would like to have a four-way stop because of children playing in front of the “Old Show Building” apartments. •Council met in closed session to discuss a personnel issue. Getting ready for the elections Gallatin County Judge/xxecutive Ken McFarland (left) talked to Republicans last Thursday night at the county park in Glencoe. The organizational meeting was to prepare party members for the coming primary and general elections. Kevin Deaton (third from right)was named the party’s county chairman. McFarland is the county’s first Republican judge and Republicans now hold a majority of the seats on the county’s fiscal court for the first time. Photo by Kelley Warnick I have a lot on my mind This and That By Kelley Warnick Editor All the warm weather and rain we’ve had lately has given me plenty of time to think. That’s because I have been mowing a lot of grass and there are only two things I do when I’m on my mower: Dodge trees and ponder. One of the many things I thought about while I mowed yesterday was global warming. I decided maybe it’s not so bad. I didn’t have to shovel one flake of snow last winter, my heating bill was the lowest it has ever been and I never had any trouble driving up the steep, long driveway to my house. I know the polar bears don’t like it but it suits me pretty well. I also thought I was glad I hosted an Easter Egg hunt for the youngsters in my extended family Saturday. The boys had a great time running around the yard finding their treasures while a precious little three-year-old girl named Kaydee stretched out in the grass so she could talk to the clouds. I thought about politics too. I decided that I won’t be the only one who will be sorry when the Republicans quit arguing about who will be their party’s presidential nominee. It seems every comedian in the country is getting good material from that circus. I decided this was the most beautiful Easter weekend we’ve ever had. It was warm, sunny and with the Dog- wood trees in bloom, Gallatin County looked like a picture postcard. Too bad we couldn’t bottle it up and pull it out every Easter. I know this is spring break time for many people. Even though I don’t have plans to do anything special this year, I decided I wasn’t disappointed. Mexico is scary these days, so Cancun isn’t attractive. Not only that, it’s an expensive road trip to the beach with gasoline selling for $4 a gallon. I can use the money I’ll save to replace all the golf balls I’ve lost this spring. I thought about baseball for a while as I manicured my yard. I came to the conclusion the Cincinnati Reds should be pretty good this year, the Cleveland Indians will give me little to cheer about and the Boston Red Sox are already in trouble. My cat, Tiger, also crossed my mind as I rode my mower around and around the yard. I decided he’s the laziest and luckiest animal I know. He sleeps around the clock, has developed a fondness for filet mignon and has his own couch. We all should be so fortunate. All kinds of thoughts drifted through my head as I worked on the yard. I came to realization I was lucky to live in a time when I could hear the late Mike Wallace make politicians squirm on 60 Minutes, that chocolate Easter bunnies aren’t just for kids and the men and women who run our oil companies must be quite greedy. One final thought crossed my mind as I clipped off the last blade of grass. I decided I was grateful I mowed the grass only once a week because all that thinking had worn me out.