COVINGTON, Ky. — The City of Covington is giving some business owners a helping hand during the holidays. Almost $500,000 in grants are being given out to 13 different businesses in order to offset losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Trying to make it through the next 12 weeks is going to be rough, because we were trying to figure out how we’re going to get funding,” The Delish Dish Catering & Events owner and executive chef Mavis Linnemann-Clark said. “Do I have to take out a personal loan?”

She said these are the questions she wrestles with every day – and at least now, she has some answers.

"The city of Covington has been a cheerleader for us and they've helped us out in other aspects of my business, and this is no exception," Linneman-Clark said.

Covington and Kenton County put money together to give the Delish Dish a $50,000 grand. They’re also giving grants of differing amounts to 12 other local businesses – all in an effort to keep them afloat and keep jobs in the city.

“This will help us keep our doors open and our kitchen cooking," Linneman-Clark said. "It's just the best, absolutely the best, Christmas present that I could ask for."

She said the grant is even more important since her catering company doesn’t qualify for certain relief funds that are only available to restaurants and bars.

"There is hope for small businesses; you just have to look for it under every nook and cranny," Linneman-Clark said.

She said 2020 has not been easy for The Delish Dish or many other businesses across the Tri-State – but the catering company said the grant gives it a new reason to look forward to 2021.

"We're already negative for the year, so it will help us not lose as much money in the first part of the year,” Linneman-Clark said. “And, hopefully next year we can make it out and recover what we've lost this year, which is a lot."

Covington and Kenton County businesses that get grant money will have to work with the Kentucky Small Business Development Center to make sure they are prepared and ready for whatever they might need to do to get through the rest of the pandemic.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Democrats in the Senate said Wednesday that they're reintroducing a bill that would make Washington, D.C. the nation’s 51^st state.

However, even though Democrats now control the Senate, the chances of the legislation passing are not good.

U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del. is leading the group of senators and working with House Democrats to grant D.C. statehood.

The bill, which Caper first introduced in 2013, would give D.C. full representation in Congress and also ensure its elected leaders have full authority over local affairs, including safety and security measures.

“Our nation’s capital is home to more than 700,000 Americans who, despite our nation’s founding mantra — ‘no taxation without representation’ — pay their share of taxes without full voting representation in either chamber of Congress,” said Carper in a statement. “In fact, despite paying more in federal taxes per capita than citizens of any of the 50 states, D.C. residents have no say in how those taxes are actually spent.”

Right now, the district only has one representative in the House, Rep. Eleanor Norton, who introduced a companion bill that passed by a vote of 232-180 last year. Statehood would allow D.C. to elect two U.S. senators, which would likely fall to the Democrats.

“This isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue; it’s an American issue because the lack of fair representation for D.C. residents is clearly inconsistent with the values on which this country was founded,” Carper continued. “It is therefore incumbent upon all of us who enjoy the right and the privilege of full voting rights and representation to take up the cause of our fellow citizens in the District of Columbia.”

The legislation, titled, The Washington, D.C. Admission Act, would also designate the areas surrounding the White House, the Capitol, the Supreme Court, and the National Mall as the seat of the federal government. That area would inherit the name “the Capitol” and remain under control of Congress.

D.C. residents have also voted overwhelmingly to petition the federal government grant them statehood. A November 2016 referendum approved a name, constitution, and boundaries for what would become the new state called Washington, Douglass Commonwealth (D.C.).

President Joe Biden has voiced his support for D.C. statehood, but the chances of the bill passing in the Senate are slim. Democrats would need to overcome the filibuster, meaning they’d need 60 votes. Right now, both parties have 50 senators, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting tiebreaking votes.