Water Damage Restoration in Covington, KY

COVINGTON, Ky. – If you’re one of those people with a section of your closet reserved for Halloween costumes, then swing the doors wide and ponder your choices. This weekend there’s more than one costume event that beckons.

Get sharp with your carving skills too. Halloween is next week, but the time is nigh to get your jack-o’-lantern in order.

And while not everything is about pumpkins and costumes this week, there’s a decidedly scary theme, what with Samhain right around the corner: Spells cast from a stage, spooky things to stitch, creepy movies to watch, Halloween-themed libations, and more.

Not digging all the seasonal vibe? Kick back and listen to live music, take in an art exhibit, shop the farmers market, do a food tour, and lots of other things.

Festive carvings

What will it be? A snaggletooth smile? Scowl? Smirk?

Whatever it is, Covington Parks & Rec’s Pumpkin Carving Night tonight is the place for you to unleash your creativity on that big round orange-colored head. All pumpkins and carving tools will be provided at this free family-friendly event, which takes place at David Housley Pavilion in Randolph Park.

Then on Saturday, Parks & Rec will put the newly created fabulous jack-o-lanterns on display at its Jack-O’-Lantern Festival (also free), which will feature a costume contest, free food, games, arts and crafts, candy, bounce houses, and face painting.

What’s your favorite haunt?

“Quirky” is a description The Cov wears with pride. Eerie and bizarre, too? Never a doubt.

Need convincing? Check out the Spooky Secrets Tour, a 2-mile stroll that starts tonight and runs through Oct. 30.

Inspired by Northern Kentucky-based author Kathryn Witt’s Secret Cincinnati: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful and Obscure, the guided Spooky Secret Tour is led by Jill Morenz, president and CEO of Aviatra Accelerators.

Aviatra is a local nonprofit that helps women entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Proceeds from the tour support Aviatra’s fine work.

The tour stretches from the riverfront to MainStrasse Village and takes in all the scary, creepy, strange tales in between. You’ll hear hair-raising stories, walk off calories, and support women entrepreneurs all at the same time.

Criminals, honest women, and the law

While costumes abound this weekend, you don’t need one to cast yourself as someone or something else. Case in point: Live Action Role Play – The West at Juniper’s tonight.

This is a role-playing game where participants physically portray the character and pursue goals within a fictional setting. A designated “Gamemaster” decides the setting and the rules to facilitate play (think of your childhood and that one bossy neighborhood kid).

With a willing suspension of disbelief, you are set in the old West, where a group of folks have prospered. With a taste for finery, they have ordered a shipment of enviable treasures from the East Coast – things like jewelry, paintings, spices, clothing, sculptures, and more. That shipment arrives at the local saloon, ready for auction, and the cast of characters (possibly you among them) show up to make your bid.

Whether you are cast as a lawperson, criminal, honest woman, dishonest man, rebellious strong gunslinger, lady of the evening, or an altogether different sort will be decided when you arrive at Juniper’s. Point is, everybody bidding on that shipment has their own dream and agenda they’re aiming to fulfill, so the stakes are high, and … well … it’s the wild west.

Sip a themed drink and focus on your character coming out of this game alive. And while costumes aren’t required, they’re encouraged.

What’s to fear from needle and thread?

Sure, there are loads of costume parties and pumpkin-carving events between now and next Thursday, but have you ever attended a “delightfully spooky embroidery experience?”

We’re curious.

Is deceptively benign verbiage being employed here to lure unsuspecting innocents into a tenebrous vault of torture? Will joyful stitchers be found shackled to a dungeon wall by the vise-like grip of embroidery hoops, their attempts to scream muffled by skeins of thread? Will hundreds of crewel needles be punched into their heads, akin to Hellraiser’s Cenobite Pinhead? Or, is “spooky embroidery experience” really code for a call to nefarious web-weavers to gather and plot evil doings?

Godspeed to the brave souls who attend Saturday’s Spooky Sip & Stitch - Embroidery with Elizabeth Watkins at Purple Paisley, Local Artisan Shop. May you emerge healthy and safe, and with a worthy Halloween sampler of your own creation.

Ghosts & ghouls

The Braxton Halloween Party & Costume Contest on Saturday has an array of opportunities for you to be duly honored for your creativity, because they’re offering prizes for best individual, best couple, and best group costumes.

The real fun will play out on Braxton Brewing’s LED Dance Floor, where you can show off your lit (and spookiest) dance moves.

Bewitched, bothered, and bewildered

Queen City Cabaret and The Carnegie team up for a night of musical tricks and treats on Saturday with I Put A Spell On You: A Creepy Cabaret, featuring haunting jazz standards and campy cult classics.

Expect something to tempt the tastes of every ghoul and goblin at this one-night-only event. Queen City-based drag performer The Lady Phaedra will be making an appearance, and so will Cincinnati Opera’s Victoria Okafor, with her silvery soprano voice.

Stick around after the show for what The Carnegie says will be the “best Halloween party in town,” serving up devilishly delicious cocktails, special performances, and an audience costume contest.

It takes a spooktacular village

Saturday’s Halloween MainStrasse Bar Crawl has 20 MainStrasse Village venues participating, each with its own frighteningly good drink specials, chilling live tunes, ghoulish DJs, and wickedly good prizes for best costumes.

Here’s who’s participating: The Standard, Paddy’s on Main, Zazou, Juniper’s, Cock and Bull, Mac’s Pizza Pub, Goodfellas, Wiseguy Lounge, Creative House of Art & Design, Village Pub, UpOver, Zola, Old Kentucky Bourbon Bar, Strasse Haus, Gypsy’s, Crafts & Vines, Rosie’s Tavern, Bar 32, Happy Days Tavern, and Larry’s.

‘Crawl’ at your own pace and enjoy.

Live music

Tonight: Beyond the Stage Live: Deuces II at Madison Live … Alex Poteet at Smoke Justis … The Missy Werner Band at Molly Malone’s Irish Pub & Restaurant.

Friday: Too Hot for Leather at Madison Live … Devin The Dude at The Rooftop at Madison Theater … Live at The Village (TV Show) with CFG & the Family (Live Audience) at The Village Theater … Estrada Do Sol at Juniper’s … Kenny Cowden at Smoke Justis.

Saturday: Jadakiss, Presented by Legacy & Winners Entertainment Featuring: Frank Talley, Pimp, J-Gutz at Madison Theater … Bravoartist Presents: Rav and Kill Bill The Rapper -- Keep the Change Tour at Madison Live … Ricky Nye Inc. at Juniper’s … The Bluebirds Duo at Smoke Justis.

Miscellaneous

Tonight: Library Trick or Treat at Kenton County Public Library … “Familiar Faces” exhibit at Behringer-Crawford Museum … Pumpkin Carving Party at Creative House of Art & Design … Expanding Universe: New Works by Thomas Osorio at Pique … Thirsty Thursday Bingo at Frosthaus.

Friday: “Familiar Faces” exhibit at Behringer-Crawford Museum … Fall Into Quilling – Autumn Themed Workshop at Purple Paisley, Local Artisan Shop … Horror on Hoopla and Kanopy at Kenton County Public Library … Feud at Frosthaus … Karaoke at Frosthaus.

Saturday: Covington Farmers Market at 425 Madison Ave. Parking Lot … MainStrasse Village Food & Culture Tour … “Familiar Faces” exhibit at Behringer-Crawford Museum … Guinness and Ghouls Event at Molly Malone’s Irish Pub & Restaurant … Halloween Bash! at The Standard Covington.

Sunday: Belly & Brunch at The Roost Latonia.

###

Look here to see when your street is scheduled (and when to move your vehicles)

COVINGTON, Ky. – Crews from the Public Works Department will start collecting leaves from sidewalks and streets in residential neighborhoods on Monday, Oct. 21.

They will follow a formal schedule over the next two months with a focus on neighborhoods with a lot of trees whose leaves clog gutters and streets.

To give crews room to work, residents are required to move their cars.

To find out when crews will be on your street, click Leaf Pickup Schedule and type in your address. You’ll be given two dates: One for the north or east sides of the street, and one for the south and west sides (depending on how your street is oriented).

Crews will work only one side of the street at a time so residents can park on the other side (or around the block or in their driveways) and avoid getting a ticket. Watch for “No Parking” signs put up a business day beforehand, as well as sandwich-board signs in highly visible areas.

(To find out more about the leaf collection operation in general, click Leaf Collection.)

Residents can rake or blow leaves to the curb – not into the street – a day ahead of crews’ arrival. Leaf piles should be placed away from obstructions such as parked vehicles, fire hydrants, mailboxes, water meters, and landscaping. The piles should contain only leaves and no other yard waste.

City crews will do the work of piling up the leaves from the sidewalks.

The formal schedule runs through Dec. 17, but crews will do spot pick-up until Dec. 31. If there are particularly bad areas that were missed, residents can call (859) 292-2292 toward the end of the season to report those, although chances are crews already know about problem areas.

More than aesthetics

Leaf pickup and street sweeping are not only an aesthetics initiative but also a critical part of infrastructure maintenance. Leaves and other yard debris can block or clog storm drains, causing flooding issues on the streets and surroundings properties.

Furthermore, the presence of leaves, grass clippings, and similar debris are harmful to local waterways. As organic waste breaks down, it adds excess nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus to the water. This leads to unwanted and uncontrolled growth of algae and native and non-native aquatic weeds.

# # #

The measure asks voters a simple yes or no question: Would you like to convert Covington's city manager form of government to a mayor-council one?

COVINGTON, Ky. — After eight years as Covington mayor, Joe Meyer will leave office on Dec. 31 with the hopes his successor has more opportunities and power to make change than he did.

“Most people think that the mayor has already got a lot of power to do stuff,” he said while sitting in the city commission chambers. “Most people do not understand the city manager form of government as it's actually applied (in the city).”

Meyer is joined by about a dozen current and former Covington officials in advocating for voters to pass the “Covington Forward” ballot measure this November.

The initiative looks to change how the city government is structured. As of now, Kentucky’s fifth largest city is run by a city manager, who is appointed by the city commission and mayor.

If the ballot measure passes this November, the newly-elected mayor and a newly formed city council will run the city.

The measure will appear in the form of a yes or no question on the ballot:“Are you in favor of the proposal entitled petition for the City of Covington to adopt a Mayor-Council Plan? Yes or No?”

Simply put, a “yes” vote means you’d like to change Covington’s government structure, while a “no” vote means you’d like to keep things as they are.

“The first thing we're doing is aligning the form of government with people's expectations of the government,” Meyer said.

Under the current government model, every commission member and the mayor has a vote in shaping local policies.

Mayors are responsible for running meetings, signing contracts and acting as the public face of the city. They share executive and legislative power with the board but have no veto power.

That means every staff vacancy, every contract, every budget change, every street naming, every equipment purchase and every public project is subject to a commission vote. City operations, meanwhile, fall to the city manager and other professional city workers.

“It's the most common form of local government in the state,” Meyer said. “And our big cities like Louisville and Lexington have it.”

Meyer isn’t alone in his thinking. C-Forward CEO Brent Cooper sees retooling how the city functions as a way to boost economic prospects and ditch a sluggish style of government.

“I've been in Covington since 2003, and a lot of wonderful things have happened,” Cooper said. “We think this kind of initiative could accelerate things even faster.”

There is some opposition to the idea of change. In a September op-ed for WCPO's news partner, LINKnky, guest author Robert Horine said, "The general electorate of Covington has not asked to change the form of government ... I trust the combined judgment of a majority of the City Commission, advised by a professional city manager, over the judgment of one person whose only qualification is the ability to get elected."

If voters approve converting the government, the four commissioner positions would be abolished and replaced with anywhere from six to 12 city council seats.

The commissioners elected in November would write ordinances outlining details of the new government — including how many council seats the city would have — by the end of their two-year terms. Residents would vote to fill the new council seats in 2026.

Watch Live:

More NKY news:

Riverfront Commons project unveils new attractions Woman in custody after mother's dismembered body found lying outside their home Kyle Rittenhouse speaks at candidate's fundraiser; Opponent calls it 'offensive'

Copyright 2024 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

The results are in for the Covington Board of Commissioners. Incumbents Shannon Smith and Tim Downing have maintained their seats, dominating the field, much like they did in the primary. Two new commissioners will take the remaining two seats: Tim Acri and James Toebbe.

There were four open seats on the Covington City Commission, along with an open mayoral seat. Ron Washington, the city's current mayor pro-tem, ran unopposed for the mayor's seat. Under Covington's city manager form of government, every commission member and the mayor have a vote on local laws. Mayors are responsible for running meetings, signing contracts and acting as the public face of the city, but they share executive and legislative power with the board. Because the mayor casts votes on laws and policies, the person sitting in the mayor’s seat has no veto power, unlike mayors under the mayor-council form of government.

Additionally, unlike the mayor-council and city commission models, city manager governments are required by law to have a full-time administrative officer, the city manager, who directly oversees the departments and workers in the city (although some cities who use mayor-council form often have a city administrator or city manager anyway). The city manager is appointed through a full vote of the board of commissioners and is responsible for much of the day-to-day operation of the city.

The city manager is a sworn office, but as a non-elected official, the manager doesn’t have voting power. Still, city managers hold a lot of sway in how a city is run, especially since the commission and mayoral positions do not have required full-time hours. (Mayors and commissioners often work full-time jobs outside of city hall.)

A ballot question asking Covington residents if they wanted to convert the municipal government to a mayor-council form was approved by voters this election, meaning the new commissioners will be charged with transitioning the government in the next two years. Residents will then vote to fill the newly formed city council seats in 2026.

"I am truly honored and humbled by the trust the voters have placed in me as the next mayor of Covington," said Washington. "This victory, along with the passing of the ballot initiative to transition to a mayor-council form of government, marks an exciting step forward for our city, though we know this change will take effect in two years. In the meantime, I look forward to working alongside the newly elected members of the city commission as we continue to address the needs of our community."

COVINGTON, Ky. – How about that Harvest Moon Supermoon lunar eclipse this week? What a show. And we didn’t even have to purchase tickets. Did your dogs howl? Were your dreams wild?

Turns out the night sky this weekend will still have plenty of cool stuff happening and Covington Parks & Rec want you to get a glimpse, so they’re inviting you to peek through their telescope. That’s just part of what’s happening in The Cov the next few days, with events for Dads, astronomers, artists, history buffs, brides-to-be, foodies, music-lovers, bitters-sippers, and more.

Fatherhood Friday

Dads don’t have to learn “fatherhood” alone.

The Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission’s (NKCAC) Fatherhood Program goes a long way to help local dads and father figures connect with their kiddos, learn how to be a good partner and co-parent, and strengthen their economic well-being.

On Friday, the NKCAC’s Fatherhood Program Fall Cookout at the Stone Shelter in Devou Park promises an evening of laughter and camaraderie with plenty of free food, fun games, and lots of mingling. The event is free and open to the public.

Celestial perspectives

Catch some celestial magic on Friday when you peer through Parks & Rec’s mighty powerful telescope at Astronomy Night at the Volpenhein Shelter in Devou Park. If you’re lucky, you just might get a look at Saturn’s rings.

Parks & Rec’s super cool lens lets you get a pretty dang good look at what’s playing out in the night sky, and this week there’s been a lot going on, like Tuesday’s Super Harvest Moon Eclipse, Venus tangling with bold Spica, Neptune opposing Earth on Wednesday, and Saturn just hanging out in view (with a lens of course).

Here’s to clear skies Friday.

Marché artisanal local

Channel your inner Parisian (or Emily in Paris, if you will), in the spirit of a Saturday spent perusing original art in an outdoor market at Purple Paisley, Local Artisan Shop’s Scott Street Local Artisan Market.

You’ll find an array of cool art created by local talent showcasing their finest creations. Take home original paintings, handcrafted jewelry, unique ceramics, intricate textiles. And take time to chat with the creators – they LOVE to talk about their work.

Historical Walking Series

Covington Parks & Rec’s free Historical Walking Series: Eastside and Westside Neighborhoods on Saturday is a walking history lesson of some of The Cov’s most interesting places, like the Lincoln Grant Scholar House, The Carnegie, and the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption.

You’ll meet up at City Hall, at 20 W. Pike St., and follow Parks & Rec’s guides on a leisurely stroll through time.

Getting hitched?

If nuptials are in your future, then you need to start planning, renting, booking, and buying now so you can check off that long list of brow-furrowing “must-dos.”

Fortunately, you can do that on Sunday in a one-stop-shop experience.

The singular goal of Sunday’s Greater Cincinnati Bridal & Wedding Expo at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center is to help you turn your dream wedding into a reality. With a gazillion products and services on display, odds are it will succeed.

Name your need and odds are this expo has it: bridal gowns, bridal accessories, catering, ceremony officiants, dance lessons, furniture rental, hair/makeup and beauty, florists, entertainment, marriage counseling (it’s never too early to discuss those pet peeves), reception and wedding venues, photographers, and even plastic surgeons (because what bride or groom doesn’t want to play around with the integrity of their face right before their wedding?) Plus, there will be plenty of prizes and giveaways.

Get creative in your ‘third space’

You’ve got your home space, where you settle in after spending the day at your work space … but did it ever occur to you that you might benefit from a “third space?” Katie Kit Threet wants you to know that your “third space” – that space where your creative side is nurtured – can be found at her new place of business, Artmarkit, a creative reuse hub that makes art affordable and accessible to all.

On Sunday, Threet is hosting Artmarkit’s Grand Opening, so that you can check out the space for yourself. Odds are you’ll feel inspired by the shelves brimming with paints, brushes, papers, pens, pencils, and just about every inspiring medium your imagination can conjure. Located next door to Olla Taqueria, you can grab a fine taco for sustenance before or after you get creative.

Live music

Tonight: The Missy Werner Band at Molly Malone’s Irish Pub & Restaurant … Soft Kill with Fotocrime at Madison Live … Lee Dixon & Friends at Smoke Justis.

Friday: Abby Holliday at Madison Live … Estrada do Sol at Juniper’s … Kyla Returns to The Secret Bar at Creative House of Art & Design … Leroy Ellington at Smoke Justis.

Saturday: Dave Taylor Third Music Saturday at The Metropolitan Club… Circus Bizircus at Madison Theater … The Gimlets at Juniper’s … Scott Ryan at Smoke Justis.

Miscellaneous

Tonight: Thirsty Thursday Bingo at Frosthaus … Wine Tasting at Crafts & Vines … Bitter is Better: Fernet Party at The Standard.

Friday: Karaoke at Frosthaus … Feud at Frosthaus.

Saturday: Covington Farmers Market at 425 Madison Ave. Parking Lot … MainStrasse Village Food and Culture Tour … Relaxation & Restoration: Embroidery at Kenton County Public Library.

Sunday: Mat Chat at Thrive Empowerment Center.

###