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Anne Keller and Charles Faidley are all booked up.
5, 2009
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Taste of Colerain celebrates 20 years By Jennie Key jkey@communitypress.com
Volume 92 Number 26 © 2009 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Camp lets kids horse around
The dust filters through pale rays of sunshine in the barn at Cohron’s Chestnut Acres in Colerain Township, as campers from McAuley High School’s horse camp trot around the barn floor astride Scarlet, Winter Hawk and Irish Legacy. – SEE STORY, B1
Put 20 candles on the cake and get ready for a Taste of Colerain blowout. The Meijer Taste of Colerain celebrates 20 years, and organizers hope to throw a party worthy of the occasion. Everything quintessential about the taste is in the mix this year: lots of food options, local entertainment and family fun. The Taste will be from 5 to 11 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7; 4 to 11 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8; and 3 to 9 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9. The food fest takes place at the Colerain Township Government Complex, 4200 Springdale Road. There is free parking, free shuttle service, free children’s activities, free entertainment and free hourly drawings. Tawanna Moulter, administrative assistant for the Colerain Township Parks and Services Department, says the Taste has a lot of restaurants. Old favorites and newbies have signed up and she says the menu has a lot of variety. “The food selection is excellent this year,” she said. “Really, the menu covers every taste.”
Parking information
Poker run
The annual Freedom Ride sponsored by the GoodTimers is set for Sunday, Aug. 16. Organizers hope about 300 riders will participate. – SEE STORY, A2
Taste patrons can enjoy free event parking at the Colerain High School parking lot, 8801 Cheviot Road, the Colerain Middle School parking lot, 4700 Poole Road, and Northgate Mall in front of the former J.C. Penney store. Free shuttles will run continuously between the parking areas and the event site. Handicapped parking will be located at the front lot of the Colerain Township Senior and Community Center, adjacent to the event site, at 4300 Springdale Road. Workers will be on hand to give additional assistance as needed.
PROVIDED
Great weather meant great crowds for last year’s Taste of Colerain. This year’s food fest is Aug. 7-9 at the Colerain Township Government Complex, 4200 Springdale Road. In addition to food and beverages, there is also a charity auction thanks to local auctioneer Chester Dowers that runs throughout the Taste of Colerain. To celebrate the anniversary, the carnival rides aren’t just for kids this year. Kissel Brothers will bring big rides and kiddie rides and games. There will also be pony rides and the free children's activities in the Children's Tasteland include face painting, crafts, temporary tattoos and games. A variety of local bands will provide entertainment. On Friday, groove to the wacky Cajun voodoo of Robin Lacey and DeZydeco as they take the stage from 6:30 to 11 p.m.
Green trustees give OK to Mercy zone change By Kurt Backscheider
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kbackscheider@communitypress.com
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On Saturday, the Marine Corp. Band warms up the venue with classic rock from 4 to 6:30 p.m., followed by the Rusty Griswolds from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. On Sunday, acoustic guitar will start the day with Jim Gegner performs from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., followed by Wayward Son from 6 to 9 p.m. Trustee Jeff Ritter, who acts as the board’s liaison with the summer events committee that plans Taste and the Fourth of July Spectacular, said the committee has done its work well. “I am hopeful the weather will be as good as it was last year,” he said. “Everything is in place, and we have the Rusty Griswolds headlining on Saturday, so it should be a great event.”
White Oak resident Darren Flynn said residents against Mercy Health Partners’ plans for a Monfort Heights hospital and medical office will continue their fight. After reviewing a concept plan presented by Anchor Properties at their meeting Monday, July 27, the Green Township Trustees voted unanimously to recommend the county approve a zone change on the proposed site’s 70 acres to planned office. The site is off North Bend and Boomer roads near Interstate 74. “We’re very disappointed in the fact the trustees have dismissed the voice of nearly 1,300 township constituents,” said Flynn, referring to the residents who signed the opposition group’s petition against the hospital. “But we haven’t given up.” He said members of the Concerned Citizens in Opposition to the Proposed Mercy Hospital Site plan to attend the Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission’s meeting when the commission reviews the zoning case at 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, at the county administration building. The concept plan for the $200
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Flynn Linnenberg million hospital development included a cluster of medical offices on the western portion of the site, a two-acre buffer between the offices and St. Ignatius, 100 to 450 feet of buffering along most of the site’s southern border and an up to sixstory hospital on the eastern edge of the property. The section of Boomer Road adjacent to St. Ignatius would be rerouted south and west, and become a hospital access road. The old road would then become a private drive for St. Ignatius. Improvements already planned for North Bend Road, and improvements planned by Mercy, would improve traffic flow. Trustee David Linnenberg said he read every name on the petition submitted by the opposition group, as well as every page of the 32page report opposition organizer Mark Broering Sr. turned in expressing his concerns. “I’ve learned a lot about this
Bryan Snyder, development services administrator for the Hamilton County Planning and Zoning Department, said there are three more hearings scheduled for Mercy Health Partners’ request for a zoning amendment. The Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission will review the case Thursday, Aug. 6, and then make a recommendation to the Hamilton County Rural Zoning Commission whether to approve or deny the request. The rural zoning commission will review the issue at a meeting Thursday, Aug. 20. “The point of the regional planning commission’s review of the case is to compare the zone change request to any adopted land use plans in the county, which in this case would be the Green Township Land Use Plan,” Snyder said. Based on the concept plan and testimony heard at the Aug. 6 meeting, he said the planning commission will make a recommendation to the zoning commission whether a zone change is appropriate. He said after the rural zoning commission takes a stance on the issue, a public hearing before the Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners will be scheduled. The board of county commissioners has the final say in whether to approve or deny the zone change to allow the development. Snyder said the earliest the county commissioners would hear the case is the third week of September. issue,” Linnenberg said, addressing Broering and the opposition. “I am a supporter of this plan, but trust me your input has made dramatic changes.” Linnenberg said the relocation of Boomer Road and the two-acre buffer between the development and St. Ignatius were not in the original plan. He said a second entrance to Kleeman Road was also eliminated from the original plan because of concerns raised by the opposition. “We listen and that’s why a lot
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of this is different than the original plan,” he said. “In the future we are going to want to hear your input and we are going to want to make some changes. This is not the final plan.” Flynn said the opposition group still intends to place a referendum issue on the ballot if the proposal is ultimately approved by the county. “Let’s allow the voters decide if something of this magnitude should be built here,” he said. Cincinnati News Service contributed to this story
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