MONDAY: Kenton Co. revamping schools

The Kenton County School District is in the middle of what Rob Haney, director of support operations, is touting as "probably the largest capital construction campaign in the history of Kenton County schools."

The school board gave approval Monday to forge ahead on five construction projects, part of a $72 million overhaul of its buildings. Here's the rundown of funds committed to projects:

• $4.5 million in site-preparation work for the new Twenhofel Middle School, to be next to the old one at 11800 Taylor Mill Road - and to be completed in a year and a half.

• $2.4 million in site work for the new Caywood Elementary School, to be next to Turkey Foot Middle School. The new building should be done in August 2005.

• Application to the state for permission to go ahead with $6 million in new athletic facilities at Dixie Heights High School. With that, they'll get a new multipurpose stadium and the school's first on-site soccer field, baseball field and track.

• $125,000 for new restrooms for an already completed addition to Taylor Mill Elementary School.

• $150,000 in design work to prepare for rewiring computers at River Ridge Elementary.

TUESDAY: Ex-bank execs to plead guilty

The top two officers of the now-defunct Peoples Bank of Northern Kentucky agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges relating to a check-kiting scheme that ensnared hundreds of Erpenbeck Co. homebuyers, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Lexington said Tuesday.

The plea deals were from John Finnan, the bank's founder and president, and executive vice president Marc Menne.

Three other defendants had already pleaded guilty to bank-fraud charges. One was former company president Bill Erpenbeck. He is serving a 30-year prison sentence.

THURSDAY: Making school fun with art

FORT MITCHELL - They danced with scarves, cut and pasted colorful designs and learned about rhythm at Beechwood Elementary School last week.

No, it wasn't a group of children in a summer arts camp.

These were teachers from throughout Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati who spent the week learning ways to apply the arts to traditional academics such as language arts and math.

The Arts Connections summer workshop provided teachers with ideas they can use to make learning more fun and creative. Each school that had teachers in the program will receive $1,500 from CET, which sponsored the workshop, to fund classroom presentations by professional artists or student trips to arts events.

Your children might experience some results of the sessions in their classrooms as soon as this fall, teachers say.

FRIDAY: State resists return of federal funds

The Kentucky Department of Education is fighting a demand from the federal government to return $5.7 million in grant money already used by Kentucky school districts.

Federal officials claim competitive bids were not properly sought for the items.

The money was used by school districts to help pay to get hooked up to the Internet with new computer equipment. Northern Kentucky schools received $179,610 of the amount in question.

The state has assumed responsibility for the situation, and it would be unlikely that individual schools would have to pay back funds.

The department is appealing the demand, and a response from the Federal Communications Commission is expected within four months.

The grant money came from a $2 billion federal program known as E-rate, which is funded from a fee tacked onto every phone bill.

SATURDAY: Boone safety center opens

BURLINGTON - A public safety center housing everything from an indoor firing range to ample meeting space and an incinerator opened Saturday because the needs of Boone County sheriff's deputies outgrew the boundaries of the county.

Deputies had been driving to Indiana for firearms training.Criminal investigators were scattered on three floors of the county building, and some detectives were working in an abandoned courtroom. Staff meetings had been held at local firehouses. The new 50,000-square-foot center will save taxpayers money by having everything a deputy needs under one roof and allowing for better training, said Sheriff Mike Helmig.

Located at 3000 Conrad Lane, it will be part of a $26.5 million public-safety campus that will eventually house a new county jail and fire training center. Boone County Emergency Management will move into the new center, and out of rented office space.