The Big Mac Bridge

Though it was officially named the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge (after the co-founder of the Boy Scouts and the Sons of Daniel Boone), the public in Newport quickly began calling this the "Big Mac Bridge" shortly after its completion in 1976. The twin yellow arches of the structure recalled the double "golden arches" of the McDonald's logo in many people's minds. According to Wikipedia, "McDonald's considered opening a restaurant at the base after the nickname caught on, but never went to construction."

I'm not sure why the bridge was painted bright mustard yellow in the first place; perhaps the same "focus groups" were hired to determine its color as with the Purple People Bridge.

Campaign Ad Depicts Rock Stars as Criminals

A political advertisement for one James A. Daley, Campbell County Attorney, has backfired in the worst way.

The ad accuses his opponent Steve Franzen of "making a living defending criminals". Hey, no shit, Sherlock! - he used to be a public defender. In America everyone has a right to legal representation, even though I know you prosecutors wish we could dispense with that quaint formality. The ad further illustrates its confused point by showing a bunch of black-leather-clad tattooed tough guy "criminal types".

Problem is, those men are all members of current rock bands - Disturbed, Stone Sour, and Avenged Sevenfold, all of whom are popular Warner Bros. recording artists. And they're not pleased with being portrayed as criminals, especially not for some two-bit politician's personal gain.

According to Cincinnati.com:

Franzen, a private practice attorney who works in criminal defense, said beyond being disgusted at the message on the flier, depicting these band members, who are in no way connected to him, as criminals is a violation of several laws including copyright, slander and placing someone in false light.

"We're talking about the county attorney here," Franzen said. "At the very least he ought to be able and willing to run a campaign within the bounds of the law."

Justin Verst, the chair of "Keep James A. Daley County Attorney," who paid for the flier, said it was produced by the group's paid consultants, November Strategies. Verst said the fliers did go out with his group's permission.

Newport's "Bizarre and Beautiful"

This past weekend, the Newport Aquarium upgraded its "Bizarre and Beautiful" exhibit of rarely-seen deep-sea creatures. Over a dozen new species have been added, including the electric flame scallop (pictured above) and the Japanese spider crab (pictured below).


The centerpiece of the exhibit, however, remains their famous giant Pacific octopus, which they keep on display in two aquarium tanks which connect by see-through tubes - and the octopus can move from tank to tank by squeezing through them.

Reportedly, the new and improved exhibit also gives children better access by putting some of the tanks closer to the floor at kid-height.

St. Anne Convent

St. Anne Convent, located in Melbourne, KY, is affiliated with the Catholic organization Congregation of Divine Providence and is described on their website as a "spiritual gathering place for liturgies, retreats and celebrations" for over 600 sisters. Their website also says they were founded in 1889 "by a group of pioneering French women in Newport, Kentucky, along the Ohio River".


But most people on Earth's frame of reference for St. Anne's, whether they even know it or not, would be its appearance in the classic film Rain Man, starring Dustin Hoffman and Kentuckian Tom Cruise. St. Anne Convent was used by the filmmakers as the location of "Wallbrook", the fictitious mental institution where Hoffman's autistic character resides.

Arrests made in burned-body killing

Following up on our earlier post about a burning body found under a bridge in Cold Spring, KY, the Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that four people have so far been arrested in connection with the case.

Thursday night police arrested Marion Lawson Parker III in Arlington Heights, Ohio, said Covington Police Lt. Col. Spike Jones. Parker, 27, of Covington, who is known as "Timmy," is charged with murder while being held in the Hamilton County jail.

When Parker is brought back to Kentucky he will be charged with robbery, unlawful imprisonment and tampering with physical evidence.

Shawn Davis, 28, was found dead under the bridge on Dodsworth Lane in Cold Spring after firefighters responded to a report of a fire.

Three other people were arrested in the death.

Five days after Davis was found, Patrick Cooke, 24, of Covington; Samantha Mayse, 19, of Independence; and Mary Ann Hartbarger, 34, of Covington were all charged with complicity to commit murder and complicity to commit robbery.

Cooke and Hartbarger also are charged with tampering with physical evidence. Cooke faces an additional charge of first-degree unlawful imprisonment.

All three are being held without bail in the Kenton County jail.

Covington police Lt. Col. Spike Jones said Thursday that the tampering with physical evidence charges stem from the burning of the body.

The funeral for Mr. Davis is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday at Don Catchen and Son Funeral Home, 313 W 19th Street, Covington, KY. He will be buried at Mother of God Cemetery in Fort Wright, KY.

Burning corpse found under bridge

This past Saturday, someone called 911 to report a fire blazing underneath a bridge in Cold Spring, KY. When local firefighters arrived, they discovered some had dumped a dead body there and set it on fire.

Keith Hill, police chief of Campbell County, told The Kentucky Enquirer that they don't believe the man had been dead for very long before the incident occurred.

By way of fingerprints and tattoos, the man was identified as Shawn Allen Davis of Covington. Davis was 28 years old, a father of three, and no one seems to have a clue why anyone would have done this to him.

The Purple People Bridge

So, they had this abandoned railroad bridge in Newport, KY, see. And they renovated it as a pedestrian bridge, see. But someone hired "focus groups" to determine what color it should be painted, and the answer came back: purple. That's what you get for having more money than sense, and for not being able to make a decision yourself. Then again, the focus groups recommended a darker purple, and the powers-that-be decided to ignore that part and chose a pale lavender.

More infamous than the bridge itself is the "attraction" they tried to organize around it, which consisted of walking a set of steps that go up and down the top perimeter of the bridge. It might have been interesting, had they not charged 60 bucks for the experience, and not made you don idiotic-looking yellow and purple full-body costumes (in the dead of summer, even!) and made you wear headphones blasting music and ridiculous sound effects into your ears. They also made you sit through a painfully boring hour-long "orientation" video before the walk.

Not surprisingly, almost no one wanted to take part, and they withdrew the program in Summer 2007 due to utter lack of interest. (You can still cross the "Purple People Bridge" as a pedway to Cincinnati, though.)