The severe weather threat Tuesday brought Kenton County emergency teams together for a training. “This is very timely training,” Kenton County Homeland Security and Emergency Management director Steve Hensley said. “We spend a great deal of time planning for events we hope never occur, but on occasion, unfortunately, we know that they do.”As the potential for severe weather loomed, agencies from across Kenton County and beyond came together to train including police, fire, environmental agencies and hospital representatives among others.The teams are preparing for disasters such as tornados, floods, chemical spills, terrorist activities and unforeseen problems.“That’s what this is today, bringing everyone together so the first time they meet is not in the event of a real disaster,” Hensley said. “These kinds of exercises help us practice those skills. So, when those unfortunate real-life situations happen, we can hit the ground running,” said Ft. Mitchell police Chief Andrew Schierberg.

KENTON COUNTY, Ky. —

A 15-year-old girl was sent to the emergency room after she was violently attacked on a Kenton County school bus on Thursday.

“I got stitches right here,” said Scott High School freshman Kyleigh Ketcham as she pointed to a spot over her left eye. “It's swollen all the way to the back of my head.”

The teen was riding home from school when she said someone from the back of the bus threw something at her. The mood was light, and kids were laughing as they pointed out the boy who was sitting behind Ketcham.

Ketcham says she poured water on the boy’s leg.

Video taken by another student shows the 17-year-old boy immediately leap from his seat and begin throwing a violent series of punches. About a dozen punches were unleashed onto the face of the 15-year-old girl.

“It just hurt really bad, but I was, like, trying to not cry in front of everyone. So, like, I didn't cry on the bus,” Ketcham said. “I was scared because, like, they could have seriously, like, done more damage.”

“It was just horrific, heartbreaking,” said the teen’s aunt, Corarinna Ketcham. “It was something out of a bad movie.”

“When he was done using her face as a punching bag, she got up and was shocked,” said the girl’s aunt.

Director of Public Information and Community Engagement for the Kenton County School District Jess Dykes released this statement about the incident:

"This type of behavior will not be tolerated and we take all incidents like this seriously. The Kenton County School District is following all policies and procedures with the district code of conduct. We are cooperating with local law enforcement on this investigation."

Taylor Mill police have filed misdemeanor assault charges against the boy.

COVINGTON, Ky. — A former Kenton County coroner has been indicted on charges he illegally distributed opioids between 2018 and 2020.

Dr. David W. Suetholz is charged with 10 counts of knowingly and intentionally distributing controlled substances — oxycodone, oxycontin and fentanyl — to three patients during his time as Kenton County's coroner. The 73-year-old was a practicing physician in the Crescent Springs and Fort Wright areas, and served as coroner from 1991 to 2021.

The indictment says Suetholz distributed 450 oxycodone-acetaminophen pills, 270 oxycontin pills and 10 fentanyl patches from September 2018 to February 2020.

Data from the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy shows Kenton County saw 91 overdoses in 2018, 78 in 2019 and 85 in 2020. Suetholz retired in June 2021.

Suetholz's arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 27. If convicted, he could serve up to 20 years in prison for each count.

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.

Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky is a few weeks -- and $1.7 million -- away from completing construction on its new home in Covington.

The nonprofit on Thursday announced the launch of a Help Us Home campaign to raise $5 million over the next five years, with $1.7 million of that total earmarked to help the organization finish constructing and furnishing its new facility.

The rest of the money will help the nonprofit expand programs, replenish cash reserves and create an endowment to secure its future, said Executive Director Kim Webb.

“Would I have wanted to be doing a capital campaign and in construction at the same time? No,” Webb said. “However, given the opportunity – much like anybody else achieving housing right now – when the housing is available, you have to jump at the opportunity.”

Lucy May | WCPO

Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky began operating in 2008 and is Northern Kentucky’s only cold-weather shelter for adults. The organization has worked from a temporary location on Scott Boulevard in Covington for more than a decade and has been searching for years for a permanent home.

The nonprofit officially broke ground last December on that new home to serve people experiencing homelessness. The building at 436 W. 13^th Street in Covington is being expanded as part of a $2.7 million renovation and build-out.

The new facility will more than double the shelter’s current capacity with 68 beds in 10,000 square feet. The new shelter also will house Northern Kentucky’s first Daytime Navigation & Engagement Center with a medical clinic, meeting rooms for community partners, mail services for guests, self-service laundry, showers, phone charging stations and internet and computer access.

A capital campaign launched in 2013 raised $1 million for the new location, but Webb said she, her staff and board knew they would need to ask the community for help with the rest.

While the coronavirus pandemic raised construction costs for the new shelter, Webb said, it also gave her and her staff the opportunity to reconsider the facility’s design, giving guests their own spaces and the ability to maintain social distance.

There is not a firm date for the new shelter’s completion, Webb said, but she’s hoping it will be finished sometime in November.

“In an ideal world, we would close the doors here (at Scott Boulevard) one night and the next day open the doors at the new place,” she said. “And it’s seamless.”

The Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile Jr. Foundation and Drees Home Foundation each have committed $500,000 to the Help Us Home campaign, and supporters and community leaders have lined up to help Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky raise the rest.

David Drees, the CEO of Drees Homes, is chairman of the campaign in honor of his mother and late father, Ralph Drees, who helped establish Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky.

“To continue this noble mission, the shelter needs our help now more than ever, and I am thankful for this opportunity to help ESNKY continue its mission while preserving my father’s legacy of care and compassion for the homeless,” Drees said in a news release.

As the campaign works to raise that money, the organization also needs help day-to-day to operate at its current location on Scott Boulevard, Webb said.

Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky relies on donations and volunteers to serve people experiencing homelessness in Northern Kentucky. Information about how to donate, help or buy items on the organization’s wish list is available online.

Lucy May writes about the people, places and issues that define our region – to celebrate what makes the Tri-State great and shine a spotlight on problems we need to address. Poverty is an important focus for Lucy and for WCPO 9. To reach Lucy, email lucy.may@wcpo.com. Follow her on Twitter @LucyMayCincy.

Law enforcement and emergency officials are bracing themselves this week for what they hope will not turn into the next surge in COVID-19 cases, as they anticipate potentially hundreds of thousands to attend the return of Riverfest and the Western & Southern/WEBN Fireworks on Sunday.

Some told WCPO Thursday they hope visitors will take extra precautions — and that they have taken some extra steps of their own, including another COVID vaccine shot.

Prim and Rucha Patel, of Austin, Texas, drove into town early this week for the Labor Day events. Aware of the risks associated with such crowds, they said they plan to be extra cautious.

"I wouldn't say I'm as afraid of catching (COVID-19) here, even though we're vaccinated and we've heard cases where people are still getting the new variant," Prim Patel said.

Rucha Patel nodded in agreement, saying, "I've heard that they're still doing the social distancing at bars and restaurants."

In addition to getting vaccinated, they said they plan to stay masked when in tight crowds this weekend — among the precautions doctors and emergency directors hope all Riverfest attendees take this weekend.

But some law enforcement and health officials are taking extra steps themselves, with some first responders in Northern Kentucky taking a third dose of their COVID vaccines in an attempt to avoid infection or quarantine.

RIVERFEST 2021: 9 things to know if you plan to go

Riverfest comes as coronavirus cases — particularly involving the more aggressive delta variant — have increased across the Tri-State in recent weeks.

"This could be compared to — and we hope it isn't — a super-spreader event," said Kenton County Emergency Management Director Steve Hensley.

Kentucky hospitals have so many COVID patients that Gov. Andy Beshear Thursday sent state National Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel to offer support to medical staff.

On Wednesday, Northern Kentucky counties saw 161 new cases.

Hensley said Northern Kentucky police chiefs are concerned about losing irreplaceable staff to quarantine or infection, especially those tasked with crowd control during Sunday's events.

"As soon as it was very obvious to us that this event was going to proceed, we looked for the option, and as soon as we found it available to us, we went and received the third dose," Hensley said.

These efforts come as, across the river, Ohio's public health director shared statistics Thursday showing a similar spike in cases: The number of new cases per day in Ohio is ten times higher than they were for the Fourth of July holiday.

"This is trending in the wrong direction," said Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff. "Fortunately, you know, Labor Day is a holiday that falls when we can do an awful lot outside, (which) is always safer than inside when it comes to these respiratory viruses."

Two Northern Kentucky police agencies are warning about a new round of scam calls in which callers ask seniors for money to bail a relative out of jail.

Police in Boone and Kenton counties said the scam caller portrays themselves as one of the victim's family members, like a grandchild or a nephew, and says they have been involved in a crash and are under arrest.

Then, in a "very convincing" follow-up call, someone posing as a lawyer will instruct the victim to hand over cash for reduced bail between $10,000 and $15,000. A "courier" or "bail bondsman" is sent to the victim's home to collect the money. The Kenton County Sheriff's Office said some victims have been instructed to provide gift card numbers over the phone as payment.

"The scammers are very good at picking up personal clues thru the phone conversation and at portraying themselves as the family member, lawyer or law enforcement personnel," read a release from the Kenton County Sheriff's Office.

Bail bond businesses do not exist in Kentucky, and people who are arrested most often pay bonds directly to jails, according to the Boone County Sheriff's Office.

If you receive one of these scam calls, do not give any personal information over the phone. Make the caller say your family member's name, where they are being held and what police agency made the arrest. Then, hang up and call police.

"The scammers will work hard to keep you on the phone and if you try to hang up they are likely to make threats," the BCSO said.

If you're not sure you received a scam call, contact your family member to confirm they are safe, and do not use a phone number a scam caller provides.

To report these calls, contact the Kentucky Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection at (888) 432-9257.

MORE SCAM CALLS: Kidnapping phone scam terrifies parents

EDGEWOOD, Ky. — Kenton County School District officials planned to cut down a ginkgo tree in front of R.C. Hinsdale Elementary School in Edgewood, but then a group formed online to save it.

Kenton County School District spokesperson Jess Dykes released this statement Saturday:

On behalf of the Kenton County School District, we recognize the importance of the beloved Ginkgo tree to the school and the larger community. The district is reviewing all options to ensure we can protect the tree through construction. District staff have taken necessary steps to ensure that the tree is protected and will not be removed as part of school construction. Our goal is to provide world-class facilities for our kids and we will continue to work to find alternative solutions at Hinsdale going forward.

"The outpouring of emotion for that tree has been overwhelming," said Star Smith.

Her child went to school at R.C. Hinsdale Elementary School, and she works nearby.

"The whole school was built around that tree and it's just so neat. So when you're in the school, each pod is named after a tree. So, there's a synergy going on there," said Edgewood City Council member Ben Barlage.

Barlage said he traced the tree as far back as the 1800s, when Civil War veteran George Phillips used the property as a holiday spot.

A 1918 Kentucky Post clipping mentions an American flag ceremony next to it when a well-known attorney named John O'Neal owned the land.

It has become tradition for graduating classes to take a picture in front of the tree.

"There are so many graduates of R.C. Hinsdale and Northern Kentuckians who have a special place in their heart for the tree," said Barlage. "Now, as an architect, I also know that sometimes, sometimes architecture and space takes precedence, and there's a reason to cut down a tree."

"It just has a lot of history that I don't think Edgewood should lose," said Smith. "We already have a lot of construction going on.

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Editor’s note: With our coronavirus coverage, our goal is not to alarm you but to equip you with the information you need. We will try to keep things in context and focus on helping you make decisions. See a list of resources and frequently asked questions here.

FT. WRIGHT, Ky. -- An employee in the Kenton County School District recently tested positive for the coronavirus, the school system announced Thursday.

The district is currently working with the Northern Kentucky Health Department to identify people who may have been exposed.

"There is a very limited number of people this will impact and the district is in the process of notifying them individually," read a statement Thursday from Superintendent Henry Webb.

Kenton County closed classrooms and switched to online learning earlier this month as Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear recommended all K-12 schools close between March 16-27.

The district has 14,622 enrolled students and 1,700 employees at its 18 schools.

On Thursday, Northern Kentucky Health announced that there are currently 19 positive cases of coronavirus in the region, including 12 cases in Kenton County, four in Boone County and three in Campbell County.