The gangster’s paradise of old Newport sleeps beneath the family-friendly veneer we’ve come to know in recent years. The brothels, speakeasies, wise guys (and girls) and bootleggers are fleshed out in an eight-block walking tour. Expect to learn how Newport almost trumped Las Vegas (nearly becoming the nation’s gambling capital), about the local man who was the inspiration for The Great Gatsby and hear stories of the people who ran the city as well as those who ran the gangsters out. Thursday-Sunday.  

Adolescent Ren has little at the start of the Good Thief: a stump in place of his hand, a first name but no last, a question mark in place of his past and an uncertain future. Orphaned as an infant, Ren's only family are the other lost boys at Saint Anthony's monastery.  

Only the classiest local ghouls will be haunting the Bite Me Ball, the Contemporary Arts Center’s vampire-inspired costume party. The ball follows the Cincinnati Ballet’s performance of Dracula at the Aronoff Center. Expect eerie, sexy ambiance with music by DJ Pillo and fantasy installations by Mexican artist Carlos Amorales. Prizes will be given for best costumes and there will be dancing, drinks and finger foods throughout the evening. To top it off, attendees will have the chance to learn some moves from Michael Jackson’s creepy classic “Thriller” video — with Cincinnati Ballet dancers, no less. 9 p.m.-1 a.m. $20 for CAC members and ballet ticket-holders; $25 general admission.  

EnterTrainment Junction is a model railroad entertainment complex, but its haunted house has nothing to do with trains. Instead, visitors find themselves thrown back in time to Jack the Ripper’s London, creeping through city streets that are deserted except for Jack and his victims.  

The Cincinnati Human Relations Commission (CHRC) is sort of the local equivalent to United Nations peacekeepers. Their community mon itors, decked out in royal blue CHRC T-shirts, work to mediate argu ments and diffuse racial tensions at public events and street festivals.   

That’s what Len Kerkhoff did and does every day. He hatches chaotic, two-wheeled beasts from the decaying corpses of yesterday’s motorcycles. He climbs on their backs and hurtles himself through the streets as fast as his rebuilt engine will take him.   

As the CEO of Game Day Public Relations, Jackie Reau promotes hip local events like the Flying Pig Marathon, the Downtown Tour of Living and Jeff Ruby’s joint venture restaurant with Bootsy Collins. She has an ongoing and intense love affair with Cincinnati and says it’s an excit ing time to live in the Queen City.   

Discuss health care reform with Cincinnati area legislators and candidates. Food, music and activities for kids provided. Theo Barnes, Louis Blessing Jr., Denise Driehaus, Adam Noe and Jeff Sinnard ar  

If I ever have a fire, I won't worry about my physical possessions. The family recordings, photos and writings are all I care about -- they're tangible memories and treasures that never tarnish.   

In the late 1990s, my mother's fascination with genealogy hit its peak. She traveled to her father's hometown in the Slovak Republic