(WKRC) — A family in Northern Kentucky is raising concerns after discovering water in their car's gas tank following a fill-up at a local gas station recounted the moment his car broke down shortly after leaving the Speedway in Fort Wright He barely managed to get his car out of the station before realizing something was amiss The car ended up stalling in the middle of the road Melissa Waters explained their efforts to diagnose the problem "We started trying to figure out what was wrong We got a new battery and put a new battery in it; that didn't solve it We put a new airflow tube in it," Melissa Waters said The family spent hours attempting repairs at the end of the street Henry Waters discovered the pump he used was out of order Melissa Waters sought help from the gas station "I ran down there and basically was in a plea of like 'You have to help me,'" Melissa Waters said The attendant informed her that water had been pumped out of their tanks Melissa Waters said she was assured by Speedway and its parent company 'We will take care of everything,'" said Melissa Waters "Speedway 7-Eleven has completely direct billed everything out there for me including the tow bill they have added onto the Honda bill so we won't incur any expenses." Melissa shared her experience on social media and heard from two other drivers facing the same issue "I just want other people to know instead of them having to spend hours trying to diagnose it and not realizing it is water in their gas tank," Melissa Waters said 7-Eleven released the following statement: The University of Cincinnati's John Ash spoke with Link NKY about reckless driving in residential suburban areas in light of Fort Wright Kentucky officials announcing an increased police presence on Amsterdam Road 22 press release from the city said the increased patrols on Amsterdam Road around its intersections at Morris and Redwood are due to the "rising number of traffic violations routinely occurring in this area." said some people drive recklessly on low-trafficked residential roads for the expected reasons "“[There’s the] convenience/desire to avoid traffic assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management in UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science Suburban residential roads may also play a role in the reckless behavior "...It depends on the situation,” Ash said “Wider lanes/roadway areas can encourage drivers to drive faster Lack of [bike lanes and/or sidewalks] may also mean that such users feel less comfortable traveling along a given roadway Drivers may then get used to not seeing these users and become less cautious.” Read the Link NKY article. Featured photo at top of a police car on a residential street The University of Cincinnati's John Ash spoke with Link NKY about reckless driving in residential suburban areas in light of Fort Wright The University of Cincinnati’s co-op program rose to No The local program has historically placed in the top 5 co-op programs in the country Its reputation is enough to attract students from all over the world UC engineering professors explain significance of Cincinnati water plant shutdown in May University of Cincinnati | 2600 Clifton Ave — Police are investigating after KKK flyers were left in neighborhoods across the Tri-State Residents in Fort Wright are just some of the many who had the flyers left on their doors "I fear for community members who don't deserve to be targeted like that." Samuel said his neighbors informed him about the flyers posted as he and his family didn't get one He later saw more residents in different areas share that they received the same flyer on Facebook just due to the fact that it looks like they knew who they were going after where they lived Mayor Dave Hatter said at least three streets received the Trinity White Knights of the KKK flyer officials believe the flyers are working to "intimidate immigrants and encourage membership in the KKK." which WCPO 9 News is choosing not to share fully Hatter said he and city council were outraged and dismayed the flyers were distributed I want to condemn this flyer and state in the strongest possible terms that this type of hateful garbage is loathsome and deplorable does not represent the Fort Wright Community or the values of our businesses and residents will not be tolerated in the City of Fort Wright and should not be tolerated by our society as a whole," he said Northern Kentucky NAACP Branch President Jerome Bowles said flyers like these are nothing new trying to encourage people to join their cause," Bowles said "What it tells me is their movement is dying out So they’re trying to use all means that they can recruit." He said this is nothing to be afraid of but is urging neighbors to stay vigilant He said these flyers do not represent what the community stands for "Fact of the matter is this region is going in a totally different direction than what the flyer and those individuals represent," said Bowles Anyone who wants to report anything regarding the incident is asked to contact police at 859-331-1700 Game Recap: Baseball | 4/12/2025 5:15:00 PM Thanks for visiting The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here NKyTribune Fort Wright city council listened to a representative from Verdantis (formerly CT Consultants) talk about the proposed roundabouts on Kyles Lane Wednesday evening which is what the state would like to install as part of the major rehaul of I-75 leading up to the new Brent Spence bridge The Transportation Cabinet had shown drawings to council previously and the city asked Verdantis to come and explain the drawings further and their extended repercussions to council and take their questions City Engineer Marty Hellman showed renderings from the Transportation Cabinet’s file and then showing the roundabouts on either side of the extended bridge over the expressway Hellman came out immediately on the side of the roundabouts Fort Wright Mayor Dave Hatter prefaced the presentation by saying that the city does not have a position on the roundabouts and that’s why they asked Verdantis to come in and talk it through with the council members so that they understand exactly what the plans mean to the city “What they are asking us to do is to say are we for or against this conceptually,” Hatter stated “We can steer it in the direction we think is best but they’re going to do what they want to do.” Council member Jay Weber had some concerns about the design of the roundabouts He said that he didn’t think they were true roundabouts but hybrids due to the fact that on one side incoming traffic would go straight across the roundabout traffic is supposed to merge into the round part Weber said he has some friends who are police officers and they pointed out that specific part on the rendering also saying that it was a good place for T-bone accidents The rendering also shows that there are no emergency lanes on the new bridge because there are pedestrian lanes on the sides None of the council members liked that fact Hellman explained that the main traffic designer for the project lives in Ft Wright so she has a vested interest in what goes on in the city Weber asked if he had heard of Dutch roundabouts Weber explained that when the Dutch roundabouts were first put in and they had to take the entire roundabout out and redo it Weber said he had looked at the state of Kentucky’s website on roundabouts and there seemed to be a problem with the big trucks being able to A Hellman didn’t seem to think roundabouts were a problem and reiterated that the plans were not final none of the above mentioned problems would happen “Even under extreme heaviest conditions there is an improvement with the roundabout over the signalized intersections,” he stated asked if they use traffic counts to make their decisions and Hellman said they use both counts and projections Collins then referred to the traffic mess that was on Kyles Lane every morning and evening and he wanted to know if they know the counts during the evening and morning rush hour that they have projected the counts to 2049 Hatter ventured that the plans are not final and wondered if council was possibly getting too far into the weeds while the traffic flow in that area that’s up there now it’s not necessarily going to improve the issues in these neighborhoods but you don’t expect it will make it worse,” said Mayor Hatter “So the net is that while it will still be the same screwed up mess out here that it still is this is not going to exacerbate that problem Council member Scott Wall said if the roundabouts will solve all the problems why not put one in front of the city building at the intersection of Kyles and Highland Hellman said there would be a space problem Council member Margie Witt brought up the fact that she is a walker and likes having a traffic signal so that people stop at a red light She acknowledged that she still makes eye contact with drivers so that they see her but she has serious concerns about the roundabout pedestrian paths because the cars don’t stop and the pedestrians don’t have the right of way A lot of students walk home from school on Dixie Highway and they would have to take extra caution that cars don’t hit them it’s their interstate,” Hellman said “but they do want to take concerns that the city has into account of whatever they are doing.” although he was not pleased with the aesthetic changes they made last time “These are some pretty legitimate concerns,” Hatter said “that I would like to have addressed in detail and assurances that these would be fixed before we sign off on it We hit some things tonight that I hadn’t thought of.” He said some of the concerns people had brought to him were centered around the question would roundabouts make the traffic congestion already present better or worse Despite Hellman’s enthusiasm about roundabouts almost always making traffic flow better “It’s going to be confusing to a lot of people because people are confused by roundabouts,” Hellman conceded “It’s more like a big elongated roundabout It is still going to take some time to get used to it.” I agree that the roundabout should be configured so all traffic must yield before entering the roundabout Straight through traffic should be avoided at all costs I also believe pedestrian and bike traffic need to be taken into account for safe passage I support the idea of roundabouts at these intersections if the designs can be improved and appreciate the inputs from council Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Game Recap: Baseball | 4/13/2025 4:15:00 PM Thanks for visiting ! The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy. We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here. CalendarEventsResultsAllHomeAwayAllHomeAwayComposite CalendarSunday 0at5Wright State Trent MurphyPhoto by: Mikayla Hogan'Dons Fall on Sunday at Wright State4/13/2025 3:43:00 PM | Baseball © 2025 Purdue University Fort Wayne An equal access/equal opportunity university. If you have trouble accessing this page because of a disability, please email Human Resources and Office of Institutional Equity at accessibility@pfw.edu Fort Wright police recently retrieved the pup from a neighbor's garage after they found an abandoned Officer Emily Horseman said she was the last to respond to the call and found Ripley lethargic and unable to move the dog looked at her and wagged its bony tail Horseman didn't believe Ripley would survive the night so she offered to pay whatever was necessary if someone was willing to take her to an emergency vet Two neighbors took her to MedVet Cincinnati resulting in a 24-hour stay treatment to keep her alive and a bill totaling roughly $1,800 Horseman paid the bill and decided to foster Ripley until she was strong enough to find a forever home Ripley has responded well to the special diet and she's obviously determined to have a full life," Horseman said The officer said Ripley got her name from the Alien movie franchise And while she said Ripley may look like one of the iconic monsters from the movie at the moment she's sure that she'd live up to the strong female lead "I know she looks more like the Alien from the movie right now but when she's all gassed up and full of groceries she'll probably be more like the Ripley character," Horseman said it's impossible to tell until Ripley fills out "She's got some purebred good girl in her," she said According to a release from the City of Fort Wright impromptu donations from people in the community and city council members have raised around $1,300 to reimburse Horseman the city directed additional donations for Ripley's care to the police department Fort Wright police have opened a criminal animal abuse and neglect investigation. Anyone with case information can report it to the Fort Wright Police Department by contacting Detective Mike Gross at 859-331-1700 This action reduces real property tax rates to the lowest tax rate imposed in more than a decade a reflection of the City’s commitment to fiscal management and the responsible stewardship of tax payer dollars City Council voted unanimously to lower the current Real Property Tax Rate of $2.48 per one thousand dollars of assessed value to $2.15 per one thousand dollars of assessed value This reduction reflects a 13.31% decrease in the rate and rolls the property tax rate back to 2009 – a time when the country was still recovering from the nationwide financial crisis of 2008 and the city had historically some of the lowest property tax rates in the last 15 years City Council’s investments in the City continue to pay off as evidenced that the average value of a home in Fort Wright has now grown to $299,400 the owner would pay $643.71 compared to $742.51 The adoption of this historically low rate is anticipated to position the City of Fort Wright as the third lowest property taxing entity in Kenton County The lowering of this year’s property tax rate continues a trend established by the Fort Wright City Council and City Administration to deftly manage the City’s budget and continually strive to balance expenses with income while maintaining our debt free status In a continual effort to be empathetic and responsive to rising concerns over massive inflation driving up the cost of living City Council has worked diligently to reduce or hold the tax rate steady every year since 2018 while continuing to invest in infrastructure and improve services to our community Revenue generated from property tax receipts helps pay for essential City Services including Police and Fire Protection modern life-saving equipment such as a new ambulance and police body cams; superior snow removal street repairs and maintenance; infrastructure improvements; and much “Our low tax rates and high property values help us attract and retain commercial businesses that create other revenue streams which assist in offsetting the cost of operating a full-service community that is focused on serving the needs of those who live and visit Fort Wright,” Mayor Dave Hatter said Higher property values create both short-term and long-term benefits for property owners including increasing the equity and the return of investment dollars when the property is transferred to a new owner The city works diligently to provide residents with world-class services and infrastructure that assist in the retention and growth of residents’ investment in our community Increasing and/or retaining investments in real property while reducing the tax burden and providing top notch services has been and will remain the goal of the Fort Wright City Council It is important to note that despite this historic tax rate reduction some property owners may notice an increase in their overall property tax bill it is the result of a reassessment of property values in the City and the direct impact of rising property valuations on individual property property valuations and assessments are determined by the Kenton County Property Valuation Administrator’s Office The PVA is an independent state governmental agency with branches in each Kentucky county who follows a predetermined process to value each and every parcel of property in the Commonwealth nor any other local government jurisdiction has any ability to control or influence the operations and processes established by the PVA to determine the value of any property “The assessment of your residential property is based on the market value as of January 1 The Property Valuation Administrator gathers characteristics about each property and utilizes valuation models to determine your property assessment.” the property within the City of Fort Wright was re-evaluated by the PVA and increased by a whopping $129,025,405 from $631,935,920 to $760,961,325 City Council realized that an increase that large was much too painful for residents to handle and moved quickly to substantially cut the tax rate to offset this increase The Commonwealth of Kentucky’s Department of Revenue calls for an annual review of property rates due to the complexity of various cities and the size of Kenton County property re-evaluations actually only occur every four years rather than annually the City of Fort Wright is not scheduled to receive another city wide re-assessment of valuations until 2028 new valuations and assessments will be based upon property values as of January 1st — Hundreds of cars travel Amsterdam Road in Fort Wright each day Residents have noted to Mayor Dave Hatter that speeding is an ongoing issue on the road I walk in this neighborhood all the time and I see it firsthand," Hatter said Hatter said recently the issue was brought up to him by multiple residents who live along Amsterdam Road "A lot of residents in this area are frustrated I hear the complaints and I know they're legit cause I see it myself," Hatter said The speed limit on Amsterdam Road is 25 mph Fort Wright police say it's not uncommon to clock drivers going more than 40 mph You can hear more about the ongoing concerns in the video below: A study by the police department last year found that during one week in January roughly 70% of drivers were speeding on the road A similar study was conducted in August. While the number of speeding drivers decreased, it still showed nearly a quarter were going over the speed limit It's not just speeding concerns; Hatter said his biggest issue is people ignoring the stop signs "People won't even tap the brake sometimes they'll go right through the stop signs," Hatter said That's why he's working with police to increase patrols in the area "We just want people to slow down and think about safety again for themselves and others," Hatter said Fort Wright police say a "heavy police presence" will be seen in the area for the "foreseeable future." Hatter wants to make it clear it's not to meet some sort of quota. He said the city doesn't benefit financially from police citations. "Almost none of that money comes back to the city of Fort Wright," Hatter said. Hatter said it's simply a matter of keeping people safe. "Let's not create a situation where someone gets injured or killed simply due to bad driving behavior when it's something so simple to stop," Hatter said. CalendarEventsResultsAllHomeAwayAllHomeAwayComposite CalendarSaturday 7at9Wright State Joe Chrapliwy Photo by: Mikayla HoganMiddle Game Goes to Wright State4/12/2025 5:03:00 PM | Baseball Residents are asked to step outside on their porches, front lawn, or wave from your windows to greet the bunny when they hear sirens and horns as the motorcade passes. For those not living directly along the route of passage, a schedule has been so they can make sure to park or walk to a more accessible location. Everyone is asked be safe and stay clear of all moving vehicles. • Straight to Kyles, left on Highland, left on Henry Clay • Cross Kyles to West Henry Clay, right on Rosa, left on Augusta, right on Barbara to West Crittenden • Cross Kyles to Cumberland, left on Basswood, left on East Crittenden • Right on Kyles, right on St Anthony, left on Marcella, right on St Anthony • Lorup to Werner, right on Highland, right on Reeves. • Left on Highland, right on Beaumont, right on Mt Vernon • Left on Kyles, left on Mt Vernon, right on Ashwood, right on Highland/Kyles • Left on Dixie, left on Highland in Ft Mitchell, left to Longmeadow, left on Stonewell, right on Parkside • Parkside to left on Stonewell, right on Long Meadow, right on Highland, right on Dixie • Right on Orchard, left on Pieck, right on Orchard, right on Dixie • Left on George Huser, left on Park, right on Morris Pl., right on Glazier • Right on Morris, right on Amsterdam, left on Ft Henry, left on General, left on Pickett • Right on Ft Henry, left on Amsterdam, left on Diamond, right on Sleepy Hollow, right on Amsterdam • Left on Birchwood, right on Park, right on Hazelwood, left on Redwood • Left on Park, right on St Agnes, left on Vidot, right on Amsterdam, right on Sleepy Hollow • Right on Dixie, left on Kyles, right to City Hall Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); CalendarEventsResultsAllHomeAwayAllHomeAwayComposite CalendarThursday, March 6Fort Wayne, Ind.7 PMPurdue Fort Wayne Sydney FreemanMastodons Welcome Wright State For #HLWBB Quarterfinal3/5/2025 11:45:00 AM | Women's Basketball I am humbly asking you to re-elect all six incumbent Fort Wright City Council members: Jay Weber and all of them chose to raise their families here they have a vested interest in the success of our community due to decades long family and community roots The current members of the City Council are servant leaders deeply committed to our community and it’s demonstrated in their voting records They will stay the course that has made Fort Wright a great place to live the incumbent Council members are endorsed by former Fort Wright Mayors Joe Nienaber and Tom Litzler as well as Kenton County Judge Executive Kris Knochelmann These distinguished community leaders understand and appreciate the great work being done by this team on behalf of our community I’ve had the opportunity to work with the incumbent Council members in a variety of contexts throughout our community over many years Let me tell you a little bit about each of them: • Jay Weber: A successful businessperson who raised his family here and has lived in the city for more than 50 years He’s an engineer and president of a local manufacturing company • Margie Witt: Owns of a landscaping business and has lived here for about 25 years • Bernie Wessels: A successful business owner whose business is in Fort Wright • Jason Collins: Works in insurance for a business located in Fort Wright He raised his family here and has lived here for more than 20 years • Scott Wall: Works in sales and grew up in Fort Wright has lived here for more than 60 years and has served on Council for 17 years YOUR Council team brings enormous business and government experience we have more than 300 years of Fort Wright residency and nearly 80 years’ collective service on City Council This team of servant leaders deeply understand our community and they fully understand and demonstrate our community values Fort Wright is a Kentucky League of Cities Certified City of Ethics; one of less than fifty cities statewide out of roughly four hundred cities you can view every financial transaction on our Financial Transparency Portal The City is in the best financial condition ever despite crushing inflation expansion of services and significant tax rate reductions over time including a 13% reduction this year which puts us at the lowest property tax rate since 2009 Fort Wright has some of the lowest property tax rates in Kenton County and the lowest payroll (income) tax rate in Kenton County We have aggressively pursued grants producing about 5 million dollars over the last 10 years implemented a prudent investment plan that protects our initial investment while generating significant additional revenue to offset taxes and we’ve added franchise fees to level the playing field for organizations using our rights-of-way while generating significant new revenue We continue to come in under budget year after year we’ve built sufficient reserves to run the City for a year with no income and we have a Capital Improvements Plan (CIP) we pay cash for large capital items like the street program and you can review our entire budget on our website I strongly encourage you to check out the budgets the audits and the Financial Transparency Portal Despite low taxes and a focus on allowing residents to keep as much of their own money as possible Council continues to make significant investments in infrastructure and equipment that improves safety increases property values and improves the community Examples include upgrades to the South Hills Civic Club a rolling five-year Street program that has seen more than $12,000,000 in street and sidewalk improvements over the last 20 years (about $650,000 per year on average) and other upgrades planned including sidewalk improvements to make the city more walkable This also includes significant investments in Staff; we’ve added positions in the Police Department and the Fire Department and continue to adjust pay and benefits in alignment with our neighboring cities to ensure that we can attract and retain the best employees to serve you You can view a comprehensive list of recent accomplishments and enhancements here Smart Asset recently ranked us as the number six suburb in a large U.S and livability which further validates Council’s work and dedicated to the long-term success of our community and we will continue to ensure that Fort Wright is the best place to live I’m proud to serve with this team and to call these folks my friends I humbly ask you to vote to re-elect all six incumbents: Jay Weber and Jason Collins to continue the good work on behalf of the awesome residents and businesses of Fort Wright thank you to my friends and neighbors for the privilege to serve as Mayor God bless you and your family and be sure to vote on November 5th Dave Hatter is the 3rd-term Mayor of the City of Fort Wright He is also a Cybersecurity Consultant at Intrust IT an independent public accounting firm located in Northern Kentucky The firm achieved a milestone in December 2024 The company also saw a 13% employee growth rate last year and an average revenue growth rate of 12.75% over the last four years due to an accelerated focus on company culture the firm also is currently undergoing an expansion of its Ft slated for completion in the first quarter of 2025 I’m incredibly proud that our team helped us reach the $10M mark a truly remarkable milestone for a firm our size,” said Alex Weidner “I often think about how far we’ve come since Mr We wouldn’t be here without the amazing people — both our team members and our clients — who have supported us along the way.” Rudler also collected multiple industry accolades in 2024 including “2024 Best Firm to Work For” by Accounting Today Rudler was selected as the 4th best firm on Accounting Today’s list of “Best Firms for Young Accountants.” These successes may be credited to recent efforts to create a company culture that prioritizes relieving workday stress they’ve refined recruiting and training tactics as well “We’ve made a deliberate effort to foster our culture here at Rudler and find unique ways to bring in fresh talent while prioritizing the growth and development of our existing team through new professional development programs and internal promotions,” said Kendra Anderson “Providing our team with flexible work environments and spaces are a key piece of that These awards highlight the success of our approach but also showcase what a special place we’ve built here as a team.” Rudler has 58 employees based in the Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati region who work under a hybrid model and 7 current remote employees that span across Texas Wright office expansion will give the Rudler team a place to gather for meetings With dedicated workstations for remote employees Wright office will be able to hold larger team events and open houses Rudler, PSC is a private, full-service accounting, tax, compliance and business management advisory firm for closely held businesses, individuals and families. For more information about Rudler, PSC and the leadership team, please visit www.Rudler.cpa. CalendarEventsResultsAllHomeAwayAllHomeAwayComposite CalendarWednesday 87vs64Wright State 2/5/2025 10:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball council passed a resolution hoping to ward off payroll tax centralization by making their objection lawful and legitimate “Kenton County already has a system for the cities in Kenton County and we do work with them to streamline the processes for the local businesses,” Hatter said “I know that this is probably coming from various business associations I understand that if you work in many cities you would like to fill out just one form instead of repeating it in several cities He stated that Ft Wright’s payroll tax rate is the lowest in Kenton County “It is a competitive business advantage for us,” he explained “More than 50 percent of our revenue comes from business-related taxes and fees I want residents to keep as much of their money as possible.” had been meeting with other city administrators and with JD Chaney from the Kentucky League of Cities and the subject of centralized payroll tax collection had been discussed so he thought it would be a good idea to get out in front of the issue “I don’t want to set off red flags,” he said but I think that organization is less persuasive than it used to be There are no bills that I have seen yet that have been introduced We are fighting against lobbyists and chamber types Hatter asked his attorney to draw up a resolution that states that the city opposes any bills brought forth in the 2025 Kentucky General Assembly session by any member of the Kentucky Legislature that provides for the centralized collection of local occupational business fees or taxes by the Commonwealth of Kentucky Hatter believes it would be detrimental to local cities to have the state take over the collection of the payroll taxes He would like some other cities to speak up and possibly pass a resolution as well “I would like for our city to keep our rate,” said Hatter “This resolution will make us take a stand.” Im a Realtor and we should not have to pay a fee in every county we sell a property in The state of KY is the worst as far as taxes Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 2/8/2025 7:00:00 PM Thanks for visiting ! CalendarEventsResultsAllHomeAwayAllHomeAwayComposite CalendarWednesday, February 5Fort Wayne, Ind.7 PMPurdue Fort Wayne Chris Morgan'Dons Welcome Wright State to Fort Wayne After 2 OT Win in Dayton2/4/2025 10:10:00 AM | Men's Basketball Thanks for visiting CINCINNATI (WKRC) - Northern Kentucky is not immune to the problems facing local Frisch's restaurants According to the Lexington-Herald Leader, at least a dozen Frisch’s Big Boy restaurants have been ordered to vacate throughout the state The issue is the same with the Ohio restaurants - non-payment of rent to landlord NNN REIT Several restaurants in the Cincinnati area have already closed. According to the Lexington-Herald Leader the following restaurants have been ordered to close: Winchester and Shepherdsville were also ordered to shut down The Dixie Highway location in Erlanger closed earlier this year. The fate of other corporate-owned Kentucky Frisch’s restaurants in Dry Ridge CINCINNATI — It was a chaotic afternoon at the Kyles Lane Frisch’s in Fort Wright Monday A moving van was parked at its front door as two customers argued about their bill inside letting employees catch their breath between the lunch and dinner rush The movers brought equipment into the building instead of vacating the place as so many other Frisch’s stores have done This is one of the Frisch’s locations most likely to survive according to the WCPO 9 I-Team’s analysis of property records and dozens of conversations with current and former Frisch’s employees who requested anonymity because they were worried about keeping their jobs said they were told Frisch’s would emerge from its string of eviction filings next year with fewer than 20 locations They expect the surviving stores to be purchased by long-time company managers Kyles Lane was among eight Greater Cincinnati locations they specifically identified as being part of the management-led buyout The I-Team was not able to reach White by leaving messages for her at several stores did not respond to the I-Team’s questions via email But employees told us Short and White have made regular stops in the stores they’re acquiring in hopes of unveiling the new Frisch’s lineup early next year Here is a list of local stores that appear likely to be part of Frisch’s next phase: Frisch's strategy makes sense to Jake Sigler an assistant professor of accountancy at Xavier University "The owners that are looking to purchase are people who know Frisch’s," Sigler said And it seems like they know what they’re doing in this area." The ownership change provides some continuity to a brand that endured lots of turmoil in 2024 But it also represents an opportunity to modernize the Frisch's brand "Having a new face to an organization allows them to take new courses of action," Sigler said "They can look to align themselves with better suppliers better vendors and change the direction of the company Search for survivorsThe I-Team has been trying to learn details about Frisch’s recovery plans since Nov. 18, whenthe company announced two of its executives “acquired multiple locations and future development rights of the brand.” The announcement left many questions unanswered including the location and number of surviving stores then abruptly told to sign transfer papers or resign the I-Team compiled a list of all Frisch’s locations in Ohio We looked up the owners of every property and tried to determine which sites were most at risk for closure One major risk factor immediately became apparent Every restaurant that was closed after eviction - or was served notice to vacate this year - was named in a 2015 master-lease agreement between Frisch’s and NNN REIT LP of Orlando Many have pointed to that 2015 sale-leaseback agreement as a major reason for Frisch’s demise this year The deal provided a cash infusion of more than $145 million to Frisch’s in 2015 but required 20 years of lease payments at ever-rising rents Frisch’s proved unable to pay those rents as it navigated the pandemic labor shortages and changes in consumer taste away from casual dining concepts Frisch’s was $4.6 million behind on its rent NNN REIT has argued in dozens of eviction lawsuits since October Flurry of closures to end the yearBy our count on Dec Frisch’s has already closed 57 restaurants owned by NNN REIT Of the 19 still listed on its website as open based on calls to individual stores and social media posts Several additional calls resulted in operator messages that the store was “not available.” Assuming all NNN REIT stores ultimately close Frisch’s would be left with 22 stores on real estate owned by others That includes the CVG Airport store operated by Cleveland-based United Concessions Group and the eight local stores listed above The remaining 11 are outside the 13-county region surrounding Cincinnati Future uncertaintiesHow many of these stores will emerge as long-term Frisch’s survivors will landlords sign off on the ownership change Frisch’s biggest landlord is another real estate investment trust The New York-based company owns four Frisch’s locations three of which are among the local sites that employees expect company managers to purchase That might be an indication that it’s willing to work with Frisch’s on the ownership transition But we don’t know because Broadstone didn’t return our calls One of Frisch’s local landlords said the company has reached out to modify its lease for a store at 5570 Liberty Fairfield Road but the matter has yet to be resolved by his attorneys “They’re current on their rent,” said Butler County Commissioner Don Dixon who owns the real estate for Frisch’s Liberty Township store through his development company Frisch’s has some legal and operational issues that could make it harder for a smaller group of restaurants to survive Frisch’s has four pending lawsuits filed by business partners: FC Cincinnati Schreiber Foods and Joffrey Coffee & Tea Company The lawsuits seek combined damages of more than $280,000 It alleged a $101,000 invoice went unpaid since May according to a document obtained by the I-Team Frisch’s recently modified its commissary operations to reduce its warehousing and distribution staff Frisch’s restaurants now receive their food shipments from the wholesaler Although Frisch’s continues to produce food for its restaurants and others its commissary is also subject to a sale-leaseback transaction with a California-based investment company Hamilton County records show NGCRE bought the commissary from another investor that paid Frisch's $6.5 million for the property in 2020 Cincinnati Public Schools asked the Hamilton County Auditor to increase its valuation to the purchase price During a public hearing to consider that increase witnesses told the Hamilton County Board of Revision that Frisch's plans to use the commissary for dry storage only "They’re already using Sysco to start supplying various items," said Ray Jackson "The plan is to do away with the food operation." Witness also told the board that NGCRE increased its rent by 7% to $657,000 per year and Frisch's wanted to avoid an increase in property taxes which its lease requires the company to pay Let the I-Team investigateSend us your story tips today to iteam@wcpo.comOr call 513-852-4999