Autumn in The Village

 Coming OUT For Equality:

Whether you're lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or not, be proud of who YOU are and your support for LGBT equality this Covington Night OUT!

By: Michael Connett

‎"ROCK(theVOTE!)tober - Come OUT & Stand UP!"

ROCKtober on The South Bank" is a Month Long Calendar featuring a Full Spectrum Celebration of Diversity, Human Rights, Health, Heritage, Arts & Culture designed & presented by MWCLT/South Bank Synergistics and GetOneFree.com

Date and Time: Saturday, 8-2pm

Location: Goebel Park in Mainstrasse at 6th and Philadelphia Streets, Covington

A Short Description of the Event: Fall is coming and this Festival is the last chance for you to come out and buy farm-grown food from the Covington Farmer's Market until next season. The Farmer's Market committee is celebrating its last 2011 hurrahby inviting all of this past season's line-up of musicians back to play a day-long encore. While you are dancing, create a pumpkin painting just before Halloween, and make sure to visit the farmers selling their wares.

Saturday, ROCKtober 1st @ Noon Wee Folk Fairy Fest

Great post, Stoney! A reminder that if you miss it, you can still follow the Queen(s) later when the portal opens again at the AEC for "Covington's Night OUT II"...

Whatever your age, this is an event you do not want to miss!!! With a lineup of great entertainment, artsy vendors and frivolity of all sorts, this festival is unique to the area and sure to put a smile on your face!! Be sure to arrive in time for the Foot Parade led by a horsedrawn carriage carrying the Fairy Princess at 3 pm. The Wee Folk Fairy Fest invites visitors to tour the Mainstrasse area as a portal from the fairy realm; the concept of the Festival is based on the imaginative notion that for one day a year, Mainstrasse opens a portal from the Fairy World where Fairies and other magical beings come through to play with humans. Visitors are encouraged to indulge in Fancy dress and each year more and more creative apparel is visible at the Fest! The Parade is led by a nominated Queen of the Fairies, and both adults and children in costume walk around the promenade islands together, following the horse-drawn carriage that carries the Queen.

Saturday, October 1 at 4:00pm - October 2 at 2:00am
It's time for the second annual Covington's Night Out! 

 Last year over 800 queer and queer allies came out in one night to spread the message that Covington will not tolerate hate and especially hate-motivated violence in our community. We are continuing to support that message in 2011. This time, though, we're expanding the event to include:  Speak Out! Sing Out! Act Out!
Covington’s Night Out Queer Art/Music Showcase  Think drag, choral, indie, folk, and comedy on an outdoor stage with an indoor exhibit and film screening. + food + drink + pride + solidarity!
The final line-up with be posted soon!
--CONFIRMED--
Zella Whelms
Wonky Tonk
SpookyQs
**Supported by The Center for Great Neighborhoods**
Following the showcase, we will encourage people to proudly walk down Pike St. and check out the special events occurring at each of the participating bars.

Date and Time: Friday, October 7, 2010 6-10pm

Location: Various venues and locations located throughout downtown Covington

The City's businesses and galleries open their doors to you and hosts Covington's biggest Galllery Hop of the year. Renaissance Covington is the sponsor for this year's event and

The Center for Great Neighborhoods (CGN) is hosting a screening of the seminal urban arts film Style Wars. The free event will also include performances from Elementz who will be providing a live street art installation, a DJ spinning old school hip hop, possible breakdancing, and beer; the AEC is hosting its opening of curator Dan Doerger's performance-as-art exhibition, and there will be special exhibitions listed throughout the city. Join us for a jam-packed pedestrian friendly downtown event.

Date and Time: Sunday, October 9, 2011 11am - 5pm

Location: 7th Street between Washington and Madison Avenues

Now in its Seventh year, the Art Off Pike Annual Street Arts Festival is Covington's oldest public Arts street festival and is bringing together a wide variety of artists whose works will be on display and for sale amongst an urban setting in the heart of Covington's downtown. As people discover the artwork presented by the artist booths lining the streets, children are invited to take part in 'Picasso's Playground', a kid's cornucopia of art activities hosted by local Arts non-profit organizations. Food vendors Taste of Belgium and Lime will be present to offer their tasty treats. Don't miss this event! This year's main sponsor is the Carol Ann & Ralph V Haile US Bank Foundation. www.artoffpike.org

Date and Time: Saturday, October 15, 3-10pm

Location: Sixth Street Promenade in Mainstrasse, Covington

Didn't know that Kentucky produces amazing wine? This festival is for you! The event is in its fourth year at this location and has doubled attendance each year, with approximate attendance of 2,000 in 2010. The event can be described as a high-end street festival and wine tasting located in the heart of Mainstrasse that showcases approximately 15 Kentucky vintners as well as a variety of local Artists and independent Crafters. This year, the event is partnering with Full Spectrum to emphasize the celebration of Artists and the creative elements of wine making. It is a nice atmosphere to do so as a wine tasting is the perfect compliment to Art! There will also be live music and high-end food vendors at the event throughout the day.

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MONDAY ROCKtober 17th: A Northern Kentucky CommUNITY Event for Hungry & Homeless @ Madison Avenue Christian Church, 6 - 8 PM

"Come, Remember, Respond!"

Memorial Service with Music by NKY Brotherhood and Harpist, Diane Schneider. Donations accepted at the event to help the NKY Emergency Cold Shelter and other local agencies: Blankets, Gloves, Socks, Hygiene items and non-perishable food and goods.

Followed by Outdoor Food & Music plus Activities for kids!

Presented by The NKY Hungry & Homeless Committee. For more info contact Vicky Bauerle @ Catholic Charities 859-581-8974 or vbauerle@covingtoncharities.org

 

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Date/Time: October 23, 12-5pm, Parade 2:30pm

Location: Goebel Park, Mainstrasse, Covington

What is a better combination than Art and Dogs?! The 10th Annual Pawrade Festival welcomes your furry friend dressed up as this year's theme: Art! The Festival starts at noon with doggie games, vendors, rescue groups, canine snacks and human goodies, including Yankee Doodle Deli tasty spicy pretzels. DJ Shirley will be there to keep the toes tapping and the tails wagging. The Pawrade kicks off at 2:30 through the Mainstrasse Promenade with a costume contest to follow. The theme, famous artist and art works, will surely inspire some interesting renditions of Wegman and Huneck. Bring the pups to bob for hot dogs or the kids to get their face painted like their favorite pooch, the Pawrade is an event for the whole family.

Full Spectrum, now in its third successful year, was created by the City of Covington as a means to provide a platform for all Artistic mediums to be celebrated and promoted, emphasizing the City's strong support of the Arts. The event attracts approximately 9,000 people to the downtown core including Mainstrasse and has approximately 500 individual artists participating or represented, 400 volunteers, and 200 businesses and venues represented or participating. Full Spectrum draws its resources from the region and aims to bring activity to the Covington downtown urban core. Visit the website for more information. The event is sponsored by Center for Great Neighborhoods, the City of Covington, Carol Ann & Ralph V Haile US Bank Foundation, Wells Fargo, Mainstrasse Village Association, Crest Graphics, place matters, Cincinnati World Cinema, Renaissance Covington, Doors of Mainstrasse, Children Inc., Baker Hunt, Fuel Cincinnati, Cincinnati World Cinema, Elementz, AEC, NKY Vintners Association, Party Source, Serenity Funeral Home , Strasse Dog and Dirty Feet Pet Care. Very Special Thanks to all of the unmentioned supporters and volunteers of Full Spectrum.

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In the Beacon's Beam...

"Coming OUT of Hiding: A Retrospective Journey through AIDS…”

“On Coming Home”

“Home is not a place; it is an attitude. It is an attitude which depends on how much we are able to feel at home with ourselves as well as with others. Home is something which happens to a person; homecoming has less to do with geography than it has to do with a sense of personal integrity or inner wholeness.
The most important of all endeavors in life is to come home. The most terrifying of fears is loneliness. It means that one has become a stranger to himself, and consequently, to others. To be lonely is to feel fear, to be forever unsettled, never at rest, in need of more reassurance than life can give.
Someone truly loves us when he brings us home; when he makes us comfortable with ourselves, when he takes from us the strangeness we feel at being who we are. We are loved when we no longer are frightened with ourselves.”

“Dawn Without Darkness” – Anthony Padavano

This story is about my most important endeavor in life. To experience that greatest love of all; to truly love myself, to shed the strangeness I feel at being who I am and to no longer be frightened with myself. This is my attempt to finally get myself home before I die…

The Compilation and Presentation of All Material on this Site is “Copyrighted and All Rights Reserved” by:

“The Michael W. Connett-’LIVING’ Trust

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How the Denver Principles changed AIDS (and health care) forever.

You must know this, because it matters. Because it has already changed your life and you may not even realize it.
It was 1983. Just a year prior, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) became the fearful nameplate for the murderer of gay friends and lovers. The virus that caused it, HIV, had only been identified a few weeks earlier. Amidst this atmosphere of unremitting grief and fear, a group of activists met in Denver as part of a gay and lesbian health conference. Among them, a dozen men with AIDS. (And among their number, the inspirational Michael Callen of New York City, pictured at right, and Bobbi Campbell of San Francisco.) They were about to do something that would change our response to AIDS — and health care in general — forever.
As the conference drew to a close, the activists asked to address the attendees. Rather than having a report presented about the state of the AIDS crisis, they wanted to speak for themselves. If the word “empowerment” hadn’t yet been a part of the health care lexicon, it was about to be.
The group took turns reading a document to the conference they had just created themselves, during hours sitting in a hospitality suite of the hotel. It was their Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence rolled into one. It would be known as The Denver Principles, and it began like this: “We condemn attempts to label us as ‘victims,’ which implies defeat, and we are only occasionally ‘patients,’ which implies passivity, helplessness, and dependence upon the care of others. We are ‘people with AIDS.’”
The seminal moment in AIDS activism was arguably those few minutes, when the principles were outlined by these brave “people with AIDS.” Identifying themselves as such, that alone, was startling at the time. How could they not be seen as anything but victims of an arbitrary and cruel killer? But they would have none of it. And they did not stop there.
They outlined 17 principles that covered everything from health care decisions to civil rights to sexual conduct. And their impact on all of us is so obvious today it can easily be taken for granted. Please honor their service and read on.
They demanded that physicians see their patients as “whole people,” and provide “accurate information.” They believed their opinion on their care should be awarded equal weight, and this was revolutionary. The next time your doctor consults you about a change of medications or whether a diagnostic test may be required, you can thank The Denver Principles.
They asked “all people” to fight against AIDS discrimination in the workplace and in housing, which was a provocative concept in the fearsome days of 1983 when people recoiled from those with HIV.
Astonishingly, they even advocated for “as full and satisfying sexual and emotional lives as anyone else” for people with AIDS. Imagine that, at a time when a new blood- and sexual contact-driven disease was in full bloom, a group of people suffering from it wanted sexual rights. Amazing. And yet today, if you are HIV positive and disclose your status to potential partners without feeling like a diseased pariah (or you have observed sexual evolution, like serosorting and sex clubs for positives), you can thank The Denver Principles. For that matter, if you’re HIV negative and negotiate sex with partners of any stripe, you can thank the Principles for believing that we all deserve a satisfying sexual life.
While gay men were the designers of the document, The Subversive Librarian notes that this was a situation in which lesbians and gay men worked together really effectively. As Walt Senterfitt wrote in 1998: “Part of the widespread acceptance of the notion of self-empowerment must be attributed to lessons learned from the feminist and civil rights struggles. Many of the earliest and most vocal supporters of the right to self-empowerment were the lesbians and feminists among the AIDS Network attendees.”
A clear line can be drawn between how all of us participate in our own health care decisions and The Denver Principles. It has influenced the doctor/patient relationship in every disease category, benefiting millions of patients.
Longtime activist and POZ Magazine founder Sean Strub delivered the keynote speech at the Campaign to End AIDS’ 5th Anniversary event last year. He devoted his powerful remarks to the historic importance of The Denver Principles and announced a plan to create a Denver Principles Empowerment Index that will hold AIDS groups accountable to the people they serve. That work continues today, with a planned meeting of activists underway to map the criteria of the Index.
Sean knows a thing or two about accountability. When I worked for various AIDS organizations through the 1980’s and 90’s, we were shaking in our boots each year when POZ Magazine produced their chart outlining which of the country’s AIDS organizations met certain criteria. The chart rated things like financial transparency, the cost of fund raising, and how many HIV positive people served on the Board (for which, by the way, you can thank The Denver Principles, which demanded people with AIDS “be included in all AIDS forums.”)
The Empowerment Index that Sean and others are creating (he’s open to input) would chart similar criteria for AIDS organizations and other health care providers, by measuring the degree to which their clients feel empowered and involved in their own decisions. It would tangibly rate things like fund raising, transparency, HIV+ representation and the delivery of services.
So the Denver Principles live on. A list of profound basic rights were outlined during the dawn of this epidemic that continue to have an impact on us today. Anyone facing a chronic illness should laud the amazing journey and profound importance of this document.
(When I was invited to participate in an “e-Patient Bill of Rights Roundtable” at a conference for internet-based health bloggers and web sites next week, The Denver Principles immediately sprang to mind. So why not revisit this part of our history as people living HIV/AIDS and their advocates? This is a revised version of my posting from May 4, 2010. — Mark)

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Monitoring and Evaluating our Communication Channels

New MediaSeptember 20, 2011

By Mindy Nichamin, AIDS.gov New Media Coordinator

When it comes to social media, how do you measure and monitor your reach? It’s a tough question, and one we often ask ourselves at AIDS.gov. Across our communication channels (the AIDS.gov website, blog, Twitter , Facebook , YouTube, mobile, and more), we strive to provide quality information about the federal government and HIV/AIDS on a consistent basis. In addition to the content that we share, we also focus on listening to what you have to say, and measure your engagement as best we can.
In order to provide an at-a-glance summary of all of this information, our team compiles an internal Communications Channel Assessment report that gives a 6-month snapshot of activity and user feedback across these channels. You can view the internal report here (PDF 1.3 MB).
We compile the data used in this report on a weekly and monthly basis by listening and monitoring across all of our channels. Some of this is done manually, and other data we’re able to compile using Google Analytics , a free tool. In-line with our Communications Strategy, this report helps tell us how we’re doing, how we compared with the last six-month period, and areas where we might reassess our strategy.
We also identify patterns of engagement across channels. Since much of our content is re-purposed and packaged across channels (for example, we promote each AIDS.gov blog post via Twitter, Facebook, or other channels if appropriate), we are curious if certain content triggers different types of interaction in different channels. Did the content we put out for National HIV Testing Day (June 27) cause a surge in website traffic, retweets, likes, etc.? Is our audience engaged, leaving a blog comment or a Facebook like or comment?
June 5, 2011 marked 30 years of AIDS in the United States. In preparation for that day, we published 8 original blog posts, tweeted/retweeted, posted to Facebook at least daily, and featured a White House Facebook video chat on our YouTube page. As a result of this increased content released and cross-promoted across channels, along with the timeliness and public interest in 30 years of AIDS, we saw a 29% increase in blog traffic (compared to the previous week), 36% increase in Twitter followers, 16% increase in new Facebook likes, and 74% increase in YouTube views. In addition to these numbers, we saw more comments from you about your thoughts on 30 years of AIDS. From this we’ve learned that one piece of content can go a long way, that promotion is essential to get the word out to our audience, and that our audience is likely to engage more when given a notable topic/occasion and the opportunity to have their voice heard.
Here are some takeaways from the January-June 2011 period, in the latest report (compared with the previous six-month period):

• Blog content and total visits increased about 10%
• Twitter followers increased by 75%
• Facebook likes increased by 30%
• We produced fewer YouTube videos and podcasts this period, but gained subscribers and listeners
• Website views increased by 20%
• The search terms “AIDS” and “What is HIV/AIDS” were the most popular traffic sources to get to AIDS.gov
• We’ve just begun to evaluate Foursquare and mobile, our newest communication channels. Mobile users are accessing m.aids.gov about 50/50 between Apple iOS and Android platforms.

Our communications channels are valuable tools to disseminate information and engage with the HIV community. Monitoring and evaluation provides insight into how and if we’re achieving this.
How do you measure social media over time? What defines success for you? What are your tips on content or audience engagement? Please share...
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Harlan judge steps down

By Bill Estep — bestep@herald-leader.com 

A circuit judge convicted of ethics violations will step down while he appeals the decision.
Harlan Circuit Judge Russell Alred agreed Tuesday not to hear cases during his appeal, said Covington attorney Jeff Mando, who argued the ethics case before the Judicial Conduct Commission.
The commission convicted Alred on nine ethics charges, including abusing the authority of his office, and ordered him removed.
Alred is appealing the decision and the punishment to the state Supreme Court.
It will likely be next year before the high court decides whether to uphold the removal order, Mando said.

Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2011/09/20/1890259/harlan-judge-steps-down.html#storylink=rss#ixzz1Yb35EPT1
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Northern Kentucky Forum on education

When: 4-5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 21.

Where: Holbrook Student Center at Thomas More College, 333 Thomas More Parkway in Crestview Hills

Cost: Free, though reservations are requested by emailing engage@nku.edu.

Information: www.nkyforum.org.
CRESTVIEW HILLS - The Northern Kentucky Forum will host a group of experts this week to discuss education reform in Kentucky.
The free event, open to the public, will be 4-5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Holbrook Student Center at Thomas More College.
Citizens can also offer ideas through Sept. 28 at http://cincinnatinky.opencity.me.
The forum is a partnership of three public engagement groups: Northern Kentucky University's Scripps Howard Center for Civic Engagement, Legacy and Vision 2015.
Forums are held eight to 10 times a year on various community topics. Martha Johnson, co-chair of next week's event, said they average about 100 people at each one.
"What we hope to do is get more citizens interested and involved in the discussions," said Johnson. "It's been a lot of fun to see what issues we bring forward and who we can get to speak about them."
Next week's panelists will be Michael Childress, a public policy adviser to the Dean of the College of Communications and Information Studies at the University of Kentucky and policy analyst with the Center for Business and Economic Research at Gatton College of Business and Economics; Judith Gibbons, member of the Kentucky Board of Education and Northern Kentucky resident; Carolyn Witt Jones, president of the Partnership for Successful Schools; and Stu Silberman, executive director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence.
Silberman, who has been involved in education for the past 37 years, said the forum will encourage open, public dialogue about where education in the Commonwealth is now - and where it needs to be. He plans to speak about what it will take to reach the Prichard Committee's goal of Kentucky being ranked in the top 20 by 2020.
"There are great things happening across the state right now, and there are things we know we need to improve," said Silberman, who served as superintendent of Fayette County Public Schools before taking over as executive director of the Prichard Committee on Sept. 1. "It's a great opportunity to highlight the positives and speak about ways that we can replicate what is working well in schools throughout the state."
Panelists will take questions from the audience, and from four high school students who have been selected to ask the panelists questions.
"We really need to get the voice of students when talking about education," Johnson said. "Each of them will have four minutes to ask whatever they want."
The Internet addition is new to the Forum. The website will pose the question: "What would it take for Kentucky's system of elementary, middle and secondary public schools to become one of the nation's top 10?" All answers will be shared with the panelists' organizations, along with the Northern Kentucky Education Council.
"We've never done this before," Johnson said, "but I think it's an interesting way to get more people involved."
For more information, visit www.nkyforum.org. Though it is free, reservations must be made through email at engage@nku.edu.
Enquirer contributor Sarah Hardee contributed.
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 Michael Connett shared a link.

Ohio medical marijuana ballot language rejected

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine says a group wanting to legalize medical marijuana has enough petition signatures but failed to properly summarize ballot language in its initial effort toward putting the idea before voters.

Share ·Michael Connett 2012!?

• Do you think medical marijuana should be on ballots in 2012? Are you aware that a Bi-Partisan bill has been filed by Barney Frank & Ron Paul for the repeal of Federal prohibitions on Marijuana!?

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New survey shows need for better civic education

According to a survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, only 38% of poll respondents can name all three branches of the U.S. government and one-third can’t name just one branch.

Additionally, over half of those who took the survey were unable to recall the date – exactly 224 years ago tomorrow – the Constitution was signed.
http://www.peopleaboutreform.org/
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Audit finds DOJ pays big bucks for snacks

An audit of the Department of Justice by the Inspector General says that taxpayer money was wasted on overpriced food and drinks. At one conference, the DOJ spent $4200 on 250 muffins--that's about $16 a muffin. (Sept. 21)(/CBS News)
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This is awkward: GOP mayors LIKE President Obama’s jobs plan...

 GOP mayors like Obama’s jobs plan. GOP governors don’t. - The Washington Post

The U.S. Conference of Mayors--a bipartisan national group for mayors of major cities--has openly embraced the American Jobs Act, with key Republican mayors offering high praise for the president’s infrastructure spending plan.

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"Class is an aura of confidence that is being sure without being cocky. Class has nothing to do with money. Class never runs scared. It is self-discipline and self-knowledge. It's the sure footedness that comes with having proved you can meet life." --Ann Landers—

"A Life lived in Fear, is a Life Half- Lived..."

"HIV is something you live with every day for the rest of your life. You may never die of it, but you always die with it..."

Michael W. Connett, Grantor/Trustee - The Michael W. Connett LIVING Trust"I used to be afraid of dying, I'm not anymore. I'm more afraid of what happens to the people who live..." from "And The Band Played On"

SouthBank PRIDE re-brands!

“Correct Principles are LIGHTHOUSES...

They will not move, they are not odds, you cannot break them; We can only Break Ourselves against them.... These are self-evident principles, perhaps not yet habits. We already know them, but what is Common Sense is not Common Practice.”

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People



South Bank Equality Union

The Good News and Bad News in the President’s Deficit Plan

By NCPSSM | September 19, 2011
“For too long, Washington’s fiscal hawks have co-opted the deficit conversation suggesting the only way to restore our nation’s fiscal balance is to slash Social Security and Medicare. At the same time many of these “safety net” opponents were signing pledges to protect tax breaks for millionaires and corporations. That is not fiscal responsibility. Our National Committee members understand this and, thankfully so does our President. The White House has given us a desperately needed reality check offering a deficit plan providing the common-sense balance most Americans know is necessary. President Obama has flatly rejected conservatives’ calls to cut Social Security since this program did not create our deficit crisis. In fact, Social Security has a surplus of $2.6 trillion in its trust fund and can pay full benefits for at least 25 more years. Added to that good news is that the President will not recommend raising Medicare’s eligibility age – safeguarding healthcare access for millions of future retirees.
Unfortunately, the President’s other proposals on Medicare are more of a mixed bag offering increased cost-shifting to seniors rather than continuing the work begun with healthcare reform. Medicare is affected by the same rising costs experienced by the rest of our healthcare system. We need to tackle the true problem, not just pass those costs on to seniors. That’s why the National Committee supported health care reform as the best way to bring spending under control, though cost savings have not yet been fully realized since many provisions are still being implemented. Raising premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket costs for seniors doesn’t address the real challenge facing our nation but merely shifts costs to retirees who are losing an increasing share of their Social Security checks.”…Max Richtman, President/CEO
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http://www.peopleaboutreform.org/

Monday, September 19, 2011

THE NEW REGIONALISM: CINCINNATI POACHES HUNDREDS OF JOBS FROM COVINGTON by Michael Monks
Email Michael
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-River-City-News/244172412265645
@theRCnews on Twitter
The long rumored move of Omnicare from Covington's riverfront to that of Cincinnati is now the reality. A press conference Monday afternoon sealed that deal as Ohio Governor John Kasich, Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory and Omnicare CEO John Figueroa shook the hands of one another and smiled for cameras and reporters on a high floor of Atrium One, Omnicare's new home, that offers a view of Covington, the city on the other side of the river, and on the other side of this "good news".

"This was an easy decision because it does involve a national headquarters and a great number of people," Kasich said. "It represents a company that has a great growth potential." The pharmaceutical giant was looking for new digs to accomodate a planned move to bring all of its area employees under one roof. Though Omnicare was courted by Covington and Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear with a hefty incentive package to stay, Kasich's offer was higher and more aggressive.

"We are very proud of our Kentucky roots," Figueroa claimed, adding that seven hundred Omnicare jobs would remain in Louisville, where in the last month the company has spent a lot of time courting a buy of its nearest competitor, Pharmerica.

"I declare today to be 'Omnicare Day' in the City of Cincinnati," boasted a glowing Mayor Mallory. When questioned if Cincinnati's bullish grab of hundreds of jobs from Covington would have an effect on regionalism, the mayor responded, "I spend lots of money in Covington."

"We're gonna be talking about the (Brent Spence) bridge this week, we're working with officials in Northern Kentucky on this bridge," Mallory continued. "We've worked on a lot of issues and initiatives in a regional basis. This is not going to stop this process."

"When you have a press conference and you're jumping up and down for pulling away a significant company from a town that is smaller and relies more on the income than Cincinnati, it affects regionalism," said Covington City Commissioner Shawn Masters. "But if this is how they are going to play the game, we have to show our cards and we have to do it soon."

"We do not try to steal companies," said Steve Stevens, President of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. "We've always had that truce. I don't feel like these guys were trying to poach these companies locally. Kasich called us and every other surrounding state 'the enemy' and said he was going after us."

Stevens agreed that the loss to Covington will be greater than the gain to Cincinnati. "Losing five-hundred white collar jobs, Covington is in bad shape as it is," he said.

The news of a major corporate departure like Omnicare could not come at a worse time for Covington, just two months removed from a contentious budget debate that resulted in the elimination of several public jobs and the early retirements of many long-serving employees. The budget hole then for the fiscal year was projected at around $4 million. The loss of Omnicare and the likely loss of AC Nielsen in the coming weeks will result in more than a million dollars more that will need to be replenished.

"Probably within the next few weeks we'll be working on the second round of a contingency plan," said Masters. As far as layoffs, "we haven't gotten that far into it, but that's certainly something that's going to have to be put on the table."

Both Stevens and Masters remain optimistic about Covington and the region following Omnicare's departure. "We've got to keep sharpening pencils and working on tax reform," Stevens said.

"I think this is a chance for the Commission to begin to restructure community development where we're more focused toward a sales mentality rather than a reactive one," Masters said. "We have to be out there looking for business."

Omnicare's CEO stated that employees will start moving across the river from RiverCenter in December and should be completely moved to Cincinnati by April, though some jobs would remain through June. The move to Downtown Cincinnati also affects the Omnicare employees who work at a facility in Ft. Wright.

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On my way to the MACC for the Monday Night Community Prayer Meal, I came across a B&W Typewritten Flyer stapled to a tree. As I had noticed the same on vehicles and rolled into fencing in my neck o' the woods, I retrieved it...

Dinner was the usual nice fare but I found the evenings meditation quite appropriate, Matthew 20: 1-16: "Friend, I am doing you know wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous"
 National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness (NHAAA) 
 www.theaidsinstitute.org

The purpose of the webinar is to discuss the complexities and issues related to HIV/AIDS and older adults. First, The AIDS Institute will provide a brief overview of National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day and the ongoing educational campaign as well as emphasize the need for increased HIV awar...

National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day (NHAAAD) is commemorated annually on September 18. This year's theme for NHAAAD: "Aging is a part of life; HIV doesn't have to be."

But since it already is in my case, I think I'll take a stroll through The Village to show that I'm Still Here!

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As usual; after the reading, dinner was served by the Monday night crew with Lori from Walgreens leading the charge!  After everyone present is served accompanied by the normal griping and entree sharing, dessert (the delicious danish & donut trays) are served to those who have finished eating. And then the rude, ungrateful, selfish vultures circle and swoop in when the left-overs are left out... On my way out I stopped when I noticed plates, drinks, etc left on the front of the church & policed the area as I disposed of the trash. Wouldn't want any neighbors to complain to the City like they used to about White Castle trash! Oh wait, they didn't; understanding that it comes with close proximity to a food service location. Unfortunately, they didn't grant MACC Community Meals the same understanding and compassion for feeding "them damn homeless & hungry".  I've been aware of and used these community resources since the 6 months I was homeless and worked with Welcome House to secure my current Home HIVe.

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"If YOU Build IT, THEY will come..."

The South Bank EQUALITY UNION

Working to create A Synergistic South Bank CommUNITY where “ WE seek and value opinions, viewpoints and perspectives from others to create solutions that are better than those that would have been created on our own”

True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.
- Clarence Darrow

I like to think that I am not so extraordinary that I am going to have a life experience that no one after me will also experience. That was the basis of "The AIDS Benefits Handbook" which was my bible as I began the journey 20 years ago. Unfortunately there was no similar Guidebook for Coming Out back in the early 70's. My calling is to education and my talent is to write. I've lived in this area, on both sides of the river, all my life...

The perspective from this view is: If it is true that indeed, whatever is good for the Queen City is, indeed good for the whole region; does it then not follow that what is shameful for the Queen also sheds shame on her whole realm?? 

South Bank Tenants Advocacy Project

Services Goal: The Neighbor's Closet

Services Goal: My Neighbors Helpers

"A Good Place to Live!"
Housing Quality Standards & Inspection Criteria

Housing Quality StandardsHousing quality standards help to ensure that your home will be safe, healthy, and comfortable. In the HUD Housing Choice Program there are two kinds of housing quality standards:

Things that a home must have in order to be approved by the HA, and
Additional things that you should think about for the special needs of your own family. These are items that you can decide.

The Housing Choice Program
The Housing Choice Program allows you to choose a house or apartment that you like. It may be where you are living now or somewhere else. The must have standards are very basic items that every house or apartment must have. But a home that has all the must have standards may still not have everything you need or would like. With the help of the Housing Choice  Program, you should be able to afford a good home, so you should think about what you would like your home to have. You may want a big kitchen or a lot of windows or a first floor apartment. Worn wallpaper or paint may bother you. Think of these things as you are looking for a home. Please take time to read the following information. If you would like to stay in your present home, use this booklet to see if your home meets the housing quality standards. If you want to move, use it each time you go to look for a new house or apartment. Good luck in finding your good place to live.

"A Good Place to Live" is divided into six sections and a summary. In each section there is a picture and an explanation of the items that a unit must have. There are also suggestions of some things you should think about. At the end of each section, think about whether or not the unit has everything it must have and everything it should have. Sections include:
Living Room
Kitchen
Bathroom
Other Rooms
Building Exterior, Plumbing, and Heating
Health & Safety (in the home, yard, and neighborhood)
Summary

Read each section carefully. After your find a good place to live, you can start the Request for Lease Approval process. You may find a place you like that has some problems with it.

The Requirements
Most houses or apartments must have at least a living room, kitchen, and bathroom. A one-room efficiency apartment with a kitchen area is all right. However, there must be a separate bathroom for private use of your family. Generally, there must be one living/sleeping room for every two family members.



Oh, about the message I retrieved from the tree; to Covingtonians from THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE:

"...We are the National Alliance and we think it is important that white people know all the things the Anti-White Media is hiding from them. The media wants you to digest their propaganda about non-white Immigrants  being beneficial to Our Country, they want you to believe that people who could not build their own countries will add something positive to ours... REMEMBER, the word "RACISM" was Invented to wage psychological war against you, to remove your will to resist the invasion of your lands... there can be no more toleration for the demented ideology that says that nothing can be done because it might be seen as Politically Incorrect. We need to tell them to take their diversity and shove it... IF YOU are ready to STAND for The Truth and Your People and AGAINST the Liars and INVADERS then contact us.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

You and I want our lives to matter.

We want our lives to make a real difference

- to be of genuine consequence in the world. 

We know that there is no satisfaction in
merely going through the motions, even if those motions
make us successful, or even if we have arranged to make
those motions pleasant. We want to know we have made
some impact on the world. In fact, you and I want to
contribute to the quality of life.

We want to make the world work.  -Erhard

_______________________________________________________

"The opposite of love is not hate,
it's indifference.
The opposite of art is not ugliness,
it's indifference.
The opposite of faith is not heresy,
it's indifference.
And the opposite of life is not death,
it's indifference." -- Elie Wiesel

???Covington!!!

“Winners(?) develop the habit of doing things that losers (?)

don’t like to do!”

" I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, and ill-nourished. The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." F.D.R.-1937

Showdown in Covington

"ROCKtober on The South Bank"

is a Month Long Resource for a Full Spectrum Celebration of Diversity, Human Rights, Health, Heritage, Arts & Culture designed & presented by

MWCLT/South Bank Synergistics and GetOneFree.com

    ROCKtober: ITS NATIONAL MONTH OF...!

National HIV/AIDS Awareness Month
...HRC's "National Coming OUT Day"
Computer Learning Month
Hispanic Heritage Month
National Book Fair Month
National Car Care Month
Gourmet Adventures Month
National Cosmetology Month
Polish American Heritage Month
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Month
National Depression Education and Awareness Month
Northern Kentucky PRIDE Inaugural Celebration...





HIV/ AIDS Health Services

HIV Testing
Two methods of testing are available: blood and rapid oral swab. Blood tests are done with a needle; the rapid oral swab test takes a sample of fluid and tissue using a small, flat brush inserted in the mouth and rubbed against the gums above and below the teeth.Tests are either confidential or anonymous. A confidential test means the results are entered onto your medical record and require your name, address and social security number. Written documentation of testing from a blood test may be provided upon request for the person who was tested. An anonymous test means the results are known only to you. No documentation can be provided with an anonymous test.
Both types of tests will include pre and post test counseling to discuss your risk of acquiring or transmitting HIV, how to avoid acquisition or transmission of HIV and what to do should you test positive for antibodies to HIV.

Oral tests
The OraQuick rapid oral swab is free and always anonymous. The biggest advantage of the OraQuick test is that results are available in about 20 minutes, so only one visit is required to be tested, counseled and get your results. 
OraQuick testing is available during specific walk-in testing times at the times/locations listed below.

5 to 7 p.m. on Thursdays at the Marguerite Robinson Community Center, 400 W. Sixth St., Newport, Ky.
11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month at the Marguerite Robinson Community Center, 400 W. Sixth St., Newport, Ky.
Noon to 2 p.m. on the second Saturday of the month at the Lane Chapel, C.M.E. Church, 125 Lynn St., Covington, Ky.
3 to 5 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month at the Campbell County Health Center, 1098 Monmouth St., Newport, Ky.
1 to 4 p.m. on the third Sunday of each month at St. John's United Church of Christ, 520 Fairfield Ave., Bellevue, Ky.
1 to 4 p.m. on the fourth Monday of each month at the Kenton County Health Center, 2002 Madison Ave., Covington, Ky.
If you have questions about rapid HIV testing, please call 859.341.4264, Ext. 2085.

HIV/AIDS Case Management
HIV/AIDS case management services provide support, stabilization and referrals to community resources for persons living with HIV/AIDS and members of their households. Services are available to those living in the counties of Boone, Campbell, Carroll, Grant, Gallatin, Kenton, Owen and Pendleton. Services include: Short-term crisis counseling, housing and utility assistance, assistance with drugs and medicine, dental care, health insurance, transportation, nutritional guidance, links to support groups and volunteers, assistance in obtaining a medical doctor, and referrals for specialized counseling, food, housing and other community services. For more information or for an appointment, call 859.341.4264.

HIV/AIDS Outreach Services
Outreach services are provided to the community to promote HIV testing and counseling, and to encourage HIV Positive individuals to seek case management services. Special emphasis is on the hard to reach high-risk groups, such as African-Americans, Hispanics, substance abusers, homeless persons and the incarcerated. For more information, call 859.341.4264.

HIV/AIDS/STI Prevention Education
HIV/AIDS Prevention and Education programs are available to community, professional groups, and businesses upon request. Risk reduction education is also provided to high-risk groups. For more information, please call 859.341.4264.

HIV/AIDS Professional Education
An HIV/AIDS Continuing Education Update course, approved by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, is a multidisciplinary class suitable for any of the professional groups impacted by KRS 214.610/615. It is a 2-hour course with a cost of $20, payable on the date of the class. The course is offered bi-monthly. Please call 859.341.4264 or visit the Current Programs page for current date, location and to RSVP. Several online courses have also been approved by the state.
http://hivstopswithme.org/
"ON DEATH...from "The Prophet"

Then Almitra spoke, saying: We would ask now of Death.

And He said; 'You would know the Secret of Death, but how shall you find it unless you seek it in the Heart of Life. For Life and Death are ONE, even as the River and Sea are one.

In the Death of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the Beyond, like the seed dreaming beneath the snow your Heart dreams of Spring. Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gates to Eternity.

Your FEAR of Death is but the Trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the King whose hand is to be laid upon him in Honor. Is the shepherd not JoyFul beneath his trembling that he shall wear the mark of The King, yet is he not more mindful of his trembling.

For what is it To Die, but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun. And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tide that it may rise and expand and seek GOD - Unencumbered.

Only when you drink from the River of Silence, Shall You Indeed - SING. And when you have reached the MountainTop, then Shall You Begin to CLIMB. And when the Earth shall claim your limbs, THEN SHALL YOU TRULY DANCE'.

-Kahlil Gibran, "The Prophet"

As AIDS Quilt founder Cleve Jones said in 2001; “Our hearts may be filled, but there are only two emotions worth expressing at this perilous time: GRIEF and RAGE. Grief for the millions who have died and are dying. Rage at the indifference, greed, and stupidity that permit this grotesque calamity to continue.”

Indifference, greed and stupidity are also the three major ingredients in the American recipe for what has come to be known as AIDS Complacency. A Cultural phenomena against which every major player in the fight against it has warned us continually for as long as I can remember. Indifference which is rooted in the arrogance that it can’t happen to us, only “the right people”; mainly gays. Greed fueled by the profits, jobs and paychecks from the new industry and bureaucracy it spawned. Stupidity that feeds the intolerance, discrimination, stigmatization and demonization that prevents us from using every means available to prevent future infections as well as diagnose, treat and care for those who already have been.