DRY RIDGE, Ky. — A man was airlifted to the hospital Monday afternoon after he was shot by his daughter in Dry Ridge, Ky., according to police.

The Grant County Sheriff's Office said deputies, Kentucky State Police and Kentucky Fish and Wildlife responded to a call on Michigan Avenue after 3:45 p.m. Monday. When they arrived, they found a 67-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the chest.

The man was then flown to UC Medical Center for treatment. Police said the man is stable, but whether he still needs surgery is unclear.

The sheriff's office said they believe 49-year-old Patricia Deering, the victim's daughter, pulled the trigger. She was taken into custody and sent to the Grant County Detention Center and has been charged with one count of first-degree assault and one count of first-degree wanton endangerment.

If convicted on both charges, Deering could face up to 25 years in prison; she could be sentenced to 10 to 20 years for the assault charge and receive up to five years for the endangerment charge.

COVINGTON, Ky. — Have you ever looked at the side of a building a pictured a mural? How about some green space and benches to fill it?

You now have a chance to make that vision a reality with Covington's new competitive grant program.

"Just some little quirky thing that someone wants to do to make a difference in the community and help create that bold, vibrant, quirky sense of place that we're about in Covington," said Kyle Snyder, the project's manager.

The Quality of Place Grant Program encourages anyone in the city — be it a citizen, group or business — to offer ideas on how to creatively enhance the physical appearance of one of the business districts or nodes, build a sense of place through improvements, new works of public art or public gathering places.

"It could be a small piece of art someplace, it could be seating to activate an area, you know after BLINK we're all engaged with lighting and how lighting on the underside of a bridge or a tree could really make a big difference," Snyder said.

Spearheaded by the city's economic development team, Snyder hopes the project will not only bring creative benefits but also economic ones.

"You know, if you stop in and you buy a coffee and you walk around, you want to be engaged, and we want the city to engage people," he said. "We want people to visit, fall in love with it, move here, start a business here and just kind of help the city grow what it is and what it's going to become."

Project leaders say while demonstrated support from adjacent property owners is not necessary where people's ideas are being proposed, their buy-in will make applications more competitive.

The city has allocated $125,000 for the grant this fiscal year, and applicants can request a grant of $1,000 to $30,000.

The deadline to apply is Nov. 18 at 4 p.m. Find information on how to apply here.

Project leaders hope to introduce the new works by next summer, bringing an emboldened look to "The Cov."

"We are branding ourselves, hopefully, as the bold side of the river," Snyder said. "You cast your net and you get what you get and that's the fun of it."

COVINGTON, Ky. — A former Kenton County Detention Center deputy is accused of dealing drugs to inmates.

Curtis Malik Edwards, 26, was arrested Friday and charged with first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance with a firearm and first-degree promoting contraband.

Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders said the jail found evidence suggesting drugs were being provided to inmates by an employee. During an investigation, agents with the NKY Drug Strike Force found narcotics in Edwards' possession when he returned to work from a lunch break.

"The jail acted quickly to put a stop to it," Sanders said in a release. "The discovery luckily landed on his off day, so the agents had a couple days to investigate before the suspect returned to work. ... He was under constant surveillance when he came back to work so the agents were able to catch him in the act."

Sanders said the investigation discovered Edwards was receiving money from people outside the jail to deliver drugs to some of the inmates. Edwards allegedly used a gun to transport the drugs into the jail.

Edwards was fired upon his arrest. Sanders said more charges could be filed against Edwards and some inmates when the case is presented to the Kenton County Grand Jury.

If convicted of his current charges, Edwards could face up to 25 years in prison. He is currently being held on a $10,000 bond. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 12 at 1:30 p.m.

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BURLINGTON, Ky. — Hundreds of people marched through Burlington to remember a 21-year-old shot and killed in Florence.

Dan Likiko was found shot inside his vehicle along Winthrop Circle on April 22. The suspect in his murder, 38-year-old Wayne Haggard, made his first court appearance Friday morning.

Likiko's friends and family walked from the Boone County Public Library to the courthouse for Haggard's hearing, chanting "Justice for Dan" and carrying signs that said "We love you, Dan" and "Black Lives Matter."

"We are very happy to see the community come together to support Dan, who is our brother who has died for no reason," said Bob Mukeba, a friend of Likiko.

Blake Sheely/WCPO

Many of those involved in the protest were members of the Congolese community in Northern Kentucky, and the Congolese flag could be seen wrapped around the shoulders of multiple people. Likiko's family moved here from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2015.

"This is a very hard time for us," said Didieo Diakandu, a member of the Congolese Community of Northern Kentucky. "Just a young man, 21-year-old being killed by the neighbor. We cannot live like that."

RELATED | 'He was a beautiful soul': Family remembers 21-year-old shooting victim

Initial investigation by police revealed Likiko was involved in some type of altercation with people on Wintergreen Court, which led to shots being fired. Haggard's family claims the computer technology student threatened him.

Likiko's mother was in attendance. She was visibly emotional as her son, Likiko's older brother Romuald, spoke.

"It's crazy ... I'm trying to put the pieces together over what exactly happened, but there's no explanation at all because he was not on his property," Romauld Likiko said. "He's calling it self-defense. That's not self-defense at all."

Valerie Lyons/WCPO

Judge Marcia Thomas deemed Haggard a danger to the community and set his bond at $1 million cash. His case has also been moved to a grand jury. Haggard has a preliminary hearing set for April 28.

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FLORENCE, Ky. — Hoping to enjoy a beer with friends after a hard-fought pickleball match? What if you can do both at the same place?

Another pickleball facility is coming to the Tri-State — this time with a brewery attached. The Freedom Brewing Company is partnering with The Pickleball Ranch on a new 12,000-square-foot facility that will include pickleball courts, an indoor/outdoor brewery, brew pub-style restaurant and taproom.

Located directly behind Thomas More Stadium on Freedom Way, the facility's rooftop and lower-level patios will offer views of both the stadium and the facility's six pickleball courts. The lower-level patio will also include a space for live entertainment.

"The Freedom Brewing Company and The Pickleball Ranch @FBC look to work closely with the City of Florence & the Florence Y’alls to create a true entertainment district gem and a one-of-a-kind social and lifestyle experience for fans of brewery & craft beer, baseball, pickleball, and live entertainment," Pete Robinson, managing partner at Freedom Brewing Company, said in a release.

Florence Mayor Dr. Julie Metzger Aubuchon said in a release that the city's goal has always been to turn the site of the Florence Y'alls into an entertainment district.

"The project will be an asset in our area and provide us the ability to showcase our beloved hometown, in the shadow of our famous water tower, as never before," she said. "The facility will provide something for everyone and I look forward to spending time there with my family and friends."

A groundbreaking for the facility is scheduled for May 10. The facility is expected to open in the spring of 2024.

ERLANGER, Ky. — When Jack Duncan called the Northern Kentucky Health Department's COVID-19 vaccine hotline, the agency told him there were no appointments available as doses continue to arrive at facilities across the region.

That didn't stop him.

After multiple phone calls around the region looking for an opening, the 80-year-old Air Force veteran called WCPO Wednesday asking if there was anything else he could do.

"You can see all my scribbling," he said, pointing to a sheet of notepaper. "These are telephone numbers that I called."

Kentucky residents 70 years and older became eligible to receive the vaccine earlier this month. Hospitals, health departments, federally qualified health centers and pharmacies are among the Northern Kentucky facilities that began receiving and administering the vaccines last month, but supply and personnel resources limit how quickly everyone who is eligible can get the injections.

The health official Duncan spoke with advised him to register online so he would be notified when more appointments became available.

But for those like Duncan who do not consider themselves computer savvy, signing up online only put another barrier between him and an already difficult-to-reach lifeline.

"I don't own a computer. I have no abilities on the computer," he told WCPO.

RESOURCES: Where to sign up for the COVID vaccine

WCPO put Duncan in contact with health care workers at HealthPoint Family Care, where, again, Duncan was told there were no available appointments.

"She just told me they were filled up now," he said. "They had no openings now, but would I be receptive to a cancellation if they had one? And I said, 'Do it.'"

The employee took his phone number and said they would call him if someone else canceled their appointment.

It didn't take long for Duncan's phone to ring. The next day, he was lining up to receive the first of two injections for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Robin Feltner with NKY Health told WCPO that Duncan's experience was "probably rare."

"There is usually no vaccine left over," Feltner said.

But Duncan said his experience tells him that persistence can pay off.

"I'm thankful, very thankful," he said. "It's amazing... Be persistent. Be very persistent."

It's that persistence, he said, that "means the difference between lying on a ventilator for two or three months and then eventually dying, or it means surviving another however many years the Good Lord says."

When he's sick, 61-year-old Wayne Hensley puts his life in the hands of the St. Elizabeth Healthcare team in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. When he was in urgent care two months ago, he hoped everyone he was paying to treat him could prove they were fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Now that St. Elizabeth — along with the region's five other major hospital systems — have announced they will require all staff to be inoculated against the virus, Hensley said he was shocked to hear some nurses are protesting the mandate.

"I don't know if it's a game or what," Hensley told WCPO Tuesday. "They need to get a shot."

A group of nurses has planned to protest the decision Tuesday outside the Northern Kentucky hospital's Edgewood campus. Their primary reason for resisting the vaccination, they said, is because none of the three available in the U.S. has received full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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"Why are we rushing this?" nurse Taylor Brenner said. "Why all of a sudden did every hospital in the Tri-State mandate this all in one day? It's just, it's scary."

National health officials have said they expect the FDA to give full approval status to Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine later this summer or in early fall.

Still, Hensley remains convinced health care providers should get their shot.

"Everybody else is getting it," he said.

Patty Keith of Southgate, though, said she's not so concerned if her doctor or nurse isn't vaccinated.

"It does not matter to me," she said. "I already know they're wearing masks, their gloves, everything that they're wearing, that they have to wear already to take care of patients. So, I would be OK with that."

Cincinnati resident John Wabbington agreed with Keith but said he hopes hospital staff will at least consider getting their shots.

"I would just hope the people would actually think about it, think what's good for the patients themselves," he said.

The group of nurses planned to protest from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday in Edgewood.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear eliminated most of the commonwealth’s remaining COVID-19 health orders Friday with a few strokes of his pen and officially ended the news conferences he’d conducted multiple times a week — sometimes daily — since March 2020.

“After more than 15 months of struggle and sacrifice, we can say this: While COVID remains a threat, we are no longer in crisis,” Beshear said in his final COVID-19 conference.

About 47% of all Kentuckians had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by the time he spoke on Friday afternoon, according to Kentucky Public Health. Seniors, the group most urgently threatened by the novel coronavirus and prioritized earliest for vaccination, are vaccinated at a higher rate than any other group: 82% of Kentuckians over 65 have gotten a shot.

Dr. Lynne Saddler, who helps run the Northern Kentucky Health Department, said the governor’s words were a relief. She’s heartened by her department’s most recent data sets, which show that cases, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 have all plummeted since January.

“We want to make sure that it stays low and goes even lower,” she said. “We’re encouraging people to get vaccinated, because when you look at the data, the graphs and the science, you can see very clearly the game-changer has been the vaccine."

Beshear is the last governor in the Tri-State to rescind his state’s health orders, which have included mask mandates, curfews for some businesses and limits on gatherings where COVID-19 was likely to spread.

His Ohio counterpart, Gov. Mike DeWine, did the same on June 2.

Gov. Eric Holcomb of Indiana acted sooner than either of them — his state rolled back its health orders in March and April.

"We're reaping the rewards of doing it right and getting back to normal, but let us never lose sight of what it cost to be here,” Beshear said Friday.

Kentucky Public Health estimates that 7,147 Kentuckians lost their lives to the virus over the course of the pandemic.

Let’s be specific. What can you do in the Tri-State this summer that you couldn’t before?

None of the three states has enforced capacity limits or social distancing requirements for events and businesses.

There are no curfews for businesses or private citizens in any of the three states.

Mask mandates apply only in limited situations.

Such as?

Following guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people should still wear masks on public transportation and in health care settings such as nursing homes.

So it’s completely my choice whether I do the rest of these things?

In most settings, yes, but private businesses can still legally require customers to wear masks and practice social distancing.

Many of the nation’s largest retail companies, including Target and Kroger, have opted not to require masks in their stores.

Ky. Gov. Andy Beshear lifts COVID restrictions