The tour brought him here Tuesday, where he spent a gray and rainy day chasing local stories, then broadcasting the 6:30 p.m. news from Drees Pavilion in Covington's Devou Park with the entire city skyline behind him.

Before things got too hectic, we sat him down for a round of 10 questions.

The best part of covering an election . . .

Is watching the country reveal itself in all its parts.

The worst part . . .

Sometimes it's a little too much of a process and not enough about the issues - even though process is a big part of politics today.

I'm finding Cincinnati to be . . .

Not quite what it was in the 19th century. And wet. And though my visit is more superficial than I'd like, I'm finding the city energized by the election.

Historically, the election I would most like to have covered . . .

The Thomas Jefferson election. I've read a lot about it, and I'd like to see how people at the time responded to the meanness of it. It really makes ours today look tame.

I'll never forget the story I did on . . .

Oh, there are so many. A few that stand out are my most recent visit to Jerusalem, Khomeini's return to Iran and just recently being one of only three reporters in the room when they brought Saddam Hussein in.

My least favorite story to cover . . .

Is anything involving gossip. I have an extremely low threshold for it. But like everyone else, I read it. I just don't do it very well myself.

When a story really troubles me, I recover by . . .

That's a hard question. But I can recover by reminding myself that good journalism is a public service.

If I had unlimited free time, I'd . . .

Travel - anywhere. With my wife. There are a lot of places left that I haven't been.

If I weren't in news I'd be . . .

If I thought I had the stamina for it, I might enjoy teaching. I'm constantly impressed by what extraordinary effort teachers put into educating our children.

One thing I wish you had asked me but didn't . . .

Whether you're interrupting me. I would have said yes (laugh). But I do have to run to another interview.

Jim Knippenberg