Internationals

Work has begun on 409-415 Scott Boulevard which will offer a permanent home to the Covington Bike Patrol on the first floor.

The City of Covington will pay $100,000 (paid for by federal community development block grant funds) to cover fifteen years of rent for the new home serving the previously transient patrol. Terms of a deal between the city and developer RAH Realty were approved in March by the city commission by a unanimous vote.

(This story was first reported in December. SEE: Scott Blvd. Building to Be Renovated, Will House Bike Patrol)

Severe thunderstorms are expected to hammer Covington and the region on Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service reports.

The forecast also calls for damaging winds and possibly severe hail. The NWS also reports that there will be a low chance for the development of tornadoes.

Here is your 7-day forecast:

WEDNESDAY Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 78. South wind 9 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

WEDS NIGHT Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. Southwest wind 9 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway on Tuesday announced that the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers continue to provide direct relief to homeowners in Kentucky and across the country as part of the historic national mortgage foreclosure settlement. According to the fourth post-settlement report released today by the independent settlement monitor, 1,757 Kentucky homeowners received more than $61.1 million in settlement-related relief from Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, Citi, Chase and Wells Fargo through March 31, 2013. Borrowers received an average of $34,806 in assistance.

The report also shows that as of March 31, 2013, mortgage servicers were processing additional relief claims for Kentucky borrowers totaling more than $2.1 million, bringing Kentucky’s total consumer relief to $63.2 million. The report compiles information provided by the servicers and has yet to be verified by the compliance monitor.

Kara Perkins agreed to go along when one of her friends said she needed to drop off some paperwork at Northern Kentucky University on Monday.

When they walked into the president’s office at NKU, Perkins had a puzzled look on her face. Then she saw members of her family gathered in an adjoining meeting room with her father holding a graduation gown.

Perkins was unable to attend the formal commencement ceremonies at NKU on May 11 because her 11-year-old daughter, Ariana, was taking part in a dance recital that same day.

But Perkins had a surprise commencement ceremony of her own on Monday when NKU President Goeffrey Mearns awarded her a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education.

Kentucky Treasurer Todd Hollenbach is looking for a few good volunteers to help him and his Treasure Finders program search for folks in Kenton County who may be able to claim 37,971 abandoned properties worth $11.8-million.

“Most of the properties are in the form of cash from old insurance policies, stocks and bonds and leftover bank accounts.” Hollenbach said, “But there are also more than 50-thousand unclaimed items stored in the Treasury vault including hundreds of military items from civil war discharge papers to purple hearts.”

The Treasure Finders event for Kenton County is scheduled for Thursday May 30th from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. ET on the 4th floor of the Kenton County Courthouse at 303 Court Street in Covington.

This article appears courtesy of KY Forward and is written by Jon Hale. KY Forward's coverage of UK Athletics is sponsored by Republic Bank.

Willie Cauley-Stein made no attempt to hide his opinion about school from his coach when arriving on campus for his freshman season at UK.

“Hated school,” said John Calipari of Cauley-Stein. “He’d have told you at the beginning of the year: ‘I hate school.’ And I appreciate an honest guy. He didn’t BS.”

What difference can a year make? Consider one of the reason’s Cauley-Stein gave reporters for coming back to UK for a sophomore season.

“You know, I enjoy school,” he said. “It’s not like I was in any hurry to leave.”

Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, Ky., announced today that David A. Armstrong will become the College’s 14th president.  The Thomas More College Board of Trustees elected him. The Bishop of the Diocese of Covington and Chancellor of Thomas More College The Most Reverend Roger J. Foys approved the selection. Armstrong replaces Sister Margaret Stallmeyer, C.D.P., who will retire as president effective June 30, 2013.  He will take the helm July 1, 2013.

Armstrong is currently the vice president and general counsel of Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio, where he was instrumental in increasing enrollment and retention securing the largest gift ($2.1 million) in college history and developing new academic programs and initiatives, along with leading a re-branding campaign in 2010.

It's time for another round of "What's Covington Selling on Craigslist?" This was a regular feature when RCN's website was more of a blog format. This is its first edition on the new website and it looks like we've got plenty of treasures to choose from!

Four Leaf Clovers

Someone spotted a pair of four leaf clovers (pictured at left) and is hoping to cash in on their luck by selling them:

I have two live four leaf clovers. They are still growing so you can come pick them yourself. $10 for both or $7 if you only want one.

How did the seller come up with the price? Would you buy a chance at a lucky day?

"A Little Dirty" Garbage Cans

Thanks to Lori Morgan for including a profile of The River City News in the latest edition of The Village Breeze, a seasonal publication handed out in Covington's riverfront neighborhoods. Be sure to say hello to Lori at McClore's Old Time General Store on Main Street. Here is the RCN column in full:

Oh, the stories this city tells.

Or, could tell, if only someone were telling them.

But no one was.

So, now I do. Every day of the week, all day long.

And I love doing it almost as much as I love Covington. And there is a lot of love involved. If you haven't heard, 2013 is not exactly the ideal time to get into the newspaper business, even if it is a strictly digital enterprise. No one really knows how to make it work, exactly. But it's sure fun trying. Mostly.

Someone in Florida will claim the $590.5 million Powerball jackpot that was drawn on Saturday but two others got pretty lucky in Kentucky.

A pair of tickets sold in the Commonwealth are worth a million dollars each because their buyers matched five numbers but not the Powerball. Those tickets were sold in the cities of Ison and LaGrange.

The big winner of the largest Powerball jackpot in history bought the ticket in Zephyrhills, Florida.

The winning numbers from Saturday's drawing were: 10-13-14-22-52, with a Powerball of 11.