The Kentucky Side from LINK nky

With the 2018 Primary Election ballot in Northern Kentucky ready to go, commentator Rick Robinson joins RCN's Michael Monks to break it down on "Northern Kentucky Focus", the weekly public affairs program on 106.7 WNKR.

Becca Wallace - an intern from the Kenton County School District - produced this new podcast for RCN. In this inaugural episode, Becca chats with RCN founder Michael Monks.

Bluegrass band Moonshine Drive jams with RCN's Jesse Waits.

18 people in Kenton and Campbell Counties contracted HIV, possibly due to intravenous drug use, and now there are heightened calls for better access to clean needles for heroin users in Northern Kentucky. RCN's Michael Monks talks to the NKY Health Department's Emily Gresham Wherle about the issue - and about the strong strain of flu going around - in this edition of 106.7 WNKR's "Northern Kentucky Focus".

The River City News publisher Michael Monks cracked jokes about Northern Kentucky and tackled big issues such as the intimidation tactics used by Covington Mayor Joe Meyer's family against the publication and the possible need to start consolidating the region's governments and services.

Guests David Armstrong (president, Thomas More College), Chris Seelbach (Cincinnati city council), Sarah Cameron (chair, Campbell Co. Republican Party), State Rep. Dennis Keene (D-Wilder), and Brent Cooper (president, Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce) weighed in from a variety of perspectives to a lively crowd at Smoke Justis in Covington.

RCN Live! Holiday Special delivered an engaging, informative, and fun look at the important discussion Northern Kentucky needs to have - about its future, about its reputation, about what's possible - and was produced by the only local news organization bold enough to pull it off, The River City News.

Expanded gambling, marijuana, soccer stadiums, pension reform, merging governments, Brent Spence Bridge, the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky relationship, and changes at CVG Aiport are just some of the topics explored in this free-flowing, boozy discussion.

Produced with an assist from Fort Thomas Matters publisher Mark Collier, who manned the live social media desk as the show streamed on Facebook, and production crew Jesse Waits and Brandon Wheeler, RCN Live! Holiday Special is 80 minutes of important stuff that you need in your life.

Listen to it here or download it for playback on the device of your choice.

The River City News publisher Michael Monks cracked jokes about Northern Kentucky and tackled big issues such as the intimidation tactics used by Covington Mayor Joe Meyer's family against the publication and the possible need to start consolidating the region's governments and services.

Guests David Armstrong (president, Thomas More College), Chris Seelbach (Cincinnati city council), Sarah Cameron (chair, Campbell Co. Republican Party), State Rep. Dennis Keene (D-Wilder), and Brent Cooper (president, Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce) weighed in from a variety of perspectives to a lively crowd at Smoke Justis in Covington.

RCN Live! Holiday Special delivered an engaging, informative, and fun look at the important discussion Northern Kentucky needs to have - about its future, about its reputation, about what's possible - and was produced by the only local news organization bold enough to pull it off, The River City News.

Expanded gambling, marijuana, soccer stadiums, pension reform, merging governments, Brent Spence Bridge, the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky relationship, and changes at CVG Aiport are just some of the topics explored in this free-flowing, boozy discussion.

Produced with an assist from Fort Thomas Matters publisher Mark Collier, who manned the live social media desk as the show streamed on Facebook, and production crew Jesse Waits and Brandon Wheeler, RCN Live! Holiday Special is 80 minutes of important stuff that you need in your life.

Listen to it here or download it for playback on the device of your choice.

Attorney General Andy Beshear talks about the need for needle exchanges in Northern Kentucky. He also weighs in on other parts of the widespread drug epidemic in Kentucky, including his lawsuit against a pharmaceutical company behind a drug that he said killed 191 Kentuckians. This interview originally aired as part of the Northern Kentucky Focus program hosted by RCN's Michael Monks on 106.7 WNKR.

The proposed changes to the Kentucky retirement system as it relates to teachers concern local superintendents, who say veteran educators would likely retire, and that it would also be difficult to attract new talent to the profession. Campbell County Schools superintendent David Rust and Dayton Independent Schools superintendent Jay Brewer join RCN's Michael Monks on WNKR's Northern Kentucky Focus to discuss. Plus, Rick Robinson weighs in from D.C. on Rand Paul's broken ribs, and Roy Moore and Al Franken's wandering hands.

This edition's guest is Cincinnati-based Victor Spoils.

The Covington Neighborhood Collaborative will host its 2017 neighborhood summit with a focus on monarch butterfly preservation efforts and the importance of local waterways.