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Saturday December 6, 2025
Local Connection
Action will save Kentucky businesses $34 million annually
Gov. Matt Bevin announced today that the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet will suspend the current unemployment insurance (UI) surcharge for contributing employers, effective immediately.
The state’s approximately 91,000 employers have been paying a surcharge assessment — currently 0.21 percent of their taxable wage base of $10,200 per employee — since January 1, 2014.
Cabinet officials estimate that this action will save Kentucky companies as much as $34.2 million annually.
“Our administration is committed to making Kentucky the best place in the nation to do business,” said Gov. Bevin. “Whether through sweeping initiatives like Red Tape Reduction or incremental steps like this one, we are doing everything we can to help our employers thrive and grow.”
During the Great Recession, the state’s UI trust fund balance fell far short of the amount required to pay benefits to unemployed individuals.
Beginning in Jan. 2009, Kentucky — along with roughly half of U.S. states — had to borrow from the federal government to pay UI benefits. Eventually, this borrowing (formally referred to as a Title XII advance) reached nearly $1 billion. Continue reading
Business investments growing, strengthening corridor
More than $50 million in transportation improvements under way and planned over the next two years will create a New Dixie Highway and fuel transformation of a major economic corridor for southwest and west Louisville, Mayor Greg Fischer announced today.
The New Dixie Highway, the first major construction project under the Mayor’s MOVE Louisville initiative, will include safety design enhancements, signal improvements, sidewalks, crosswalks and resurfaced lanes.
The city’s busiest transit corridor will also get the region’s first “bus rapid transit” line, including distinctive TARC buses and high-visibility shelters to help move thousands of people daily and better define the 14-mile corridor.
“The New Dixie Highway project is the largest concentrated investment in Louisville’s transportation network since we began the Ohio River Bridges Project,” Fischer said. “Over the next several years, we will create a new Dixie Highway that’s safer for everyone, more efficient for motorists, more reliable for transit users and more enticing for business owners, consumers and investors.”
Fischer, Congressman John Yarmuth, Metro Council members and other leaders provided the New Dixie Highway update at the soon-to-be-completed Kroger Marketplace, a $23 million grocery and retail superstore at 4915 Dixie Highway. The location is appropriate, Fischer said, because the project builds on the renaissance already under way on the corridor, with tens of millions of dollars in private investments in new restaurants, retail businesses and other developments.
Safety improvements will include new signal technology throughout the corridor, and median enhancements, dedicated turn lanes and defined crosswalks concentrated in the Crums Lane to Greenwood Road segment. Future phases will address other segments of the road.
Fischer thanked state legislators and Metro Council members for their commitment to improving safety and mobility along Dixie Highway, noting that without their work to secure state and local matching funds, the city would not have been able to leverage the federal grant to jump-start the project. Continue reading
People, Real Simple, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and Sports Illustrated—these are just a few of the popular magazines being offered free of charge through the Louisville Free Public Library’s new online serviceFlipster. Flipster is a digital magazine service where library card holders can access some of today’s most popular magazines through the Library’s website. Each magazine is recreated page-for-page and a simple sign-in process—just your library card number and pin—gets you reading fast. Patrons using the Flipster app can even store downloaded magazines on their personal devices or phones for offline access, and Flipster is compatible with PC and Mac computers, tablets, color eReaders, and other Internet-enabled devices.
The new Flipster service is an addition to the Library’s popular eMagazine offerings. Patrons will continue to have access to the more than 150 magazine titles through Zinio for Libraries. Flipster and Zinio are free and available 24 hours a day through the Library’s website. To access, visit www.LFPL.org/eMagazines, or click on the “eMagazines” button on the home page. For more information, call the Library at (502) 574-1611.
70-mile section of the Natcher Parkway to eventually become an interstate spur
Gov. Matt Bevin and U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie today announced plans to designate a 70-mile section of the William H. Natcher Parkway from Bowling Green to Owensboro as the “Future Interstate 65 Spur.”
The partnership between federal and state officials to upgrade the Natcher Parkway to an interstate spur was forged during a sign unveiling ceremony at the Owensboro Riverport this afternoon.
“Today, we stand firm behind our commitment of unlocking the infinite economic potential that this spur will have. Not only will it attract key investors to Western Kentucky, but it will improve the commute for motorists across the region,” said Gov. Bevin. “From its inception, Congressman Guthrie has championed this project each step of the way. I applaud his diligent efforts as well as our federal and state partners to help secure the necessary funding to begin the process.”
The designation of an interstate spur elevates the prominence of a highway into a federally-recognized corridor. In turn, businesses and other entities look to locate along a major federal thoroughfare. In addition, upgrading the parkway to interstate standards enhances the safety and mobility of the route.
“Nearly two years ago I joined state and local leaders to discuss a path forward for the Natcher Parkway and the designation as a future I-65 spur was a top priority for me in the latest highway bill. I am pleased to see that today we are one step closer to making this designation a reality and I look forward to the opportunities that it will create for Western Kentucky,” said U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie, of Bowling Green.
On Aug. 2, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) approved the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s (KYTC) plan to designate the Natcher Parkway as a future interstate spur. A future agreement between FHWA and KYTC will identify and outline the requirements needed to upgrade the parkway to interstate standards.
The work will include upgrading bridge rails and guardrails; improving exit and entrance ramps; constructing new and/or modifying existing interchanges; and raising some overpass bridges to increase vertical clearance. Continue reading
Two top leaders in Mayor Greg Fischer’s administration who helped build a data-driven culture of innovation have accepted new roles in the community that will allow them to continue their focus on making the Louisville region more entrepreneurial.
Chief of Civic Innovation Ted Smith, who is passionate about healthcare and technology, will become a full-time entrepreneur again as CEO of Revon Systems, a young health technology company in Crestwood that is revolutionizing clinical trials while empowering patients to seek appropriate care through artificial intelligence technologies. Revon was founded by Dr Cedric Francois and the co-founders of Potentia and Apellis Pharmaceuticals.
Theresa Reno-Weber, Chief of Performance & Technology, has leveraged her private sector experience to bring Louisville to the cutting edge of government performance improvement. She has accepted the position as President and CEO of Metro United Way beginning in January, where she will continue her work driving data-driven policies and collective impact across our community.
Fischer today also named their replacements.
Grace Simrall, founder of iGlass Analytics and most recently executive director of innovation for Intel Care Innovations, will be the city’s new Chief of Civic Innovation. And Daro Mott, currently Chief Innovation Officer for Cuyahoga County (Cleveland, Ohio), will be Chief of Performance Improvement.
Simrall starts this week, and Mott, who previously was director of quality and performance for Louisville Metro Government and integral to the success of the LouieStat program, will return this fall/winter.
Simrall has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago and a master’s from the University of Louisville. Mott earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and has two master’s degrees from the University of Louisville.
“Daro and Grace will make a powerful team and will continue to create a culture of innovation and continuous improvement in Metro Government,” Fischer said.
“It’s an honor to have the opportunity to serve the community,” Simrall said. “I look forward to continuing the work of my predecessor, Ted Smith, and welcome new collaborations across all channels.”
“Louisville leads the nation in local governments which have fostered a culture of data-driven innovation,” Mott said. “It is an honor to return to Louisville to lead its continuous improvement journey and help Louisville win a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.”
Fischer today thanked Smith and Reno-Weber for their exemplary service to the citizens of Louisville, calling them pioneers, both locally and nationally. “Ted and Theresa have helped make Metro Government more innovative and have taught others nationwide and globally how to transform their city governments,” the Mayor said. Continue reading
University of Louisville researchers will serve up a buffet of diverse subjects — urban conservation, handcrafted glass, tobacco-use perceptions and capital sentencing – through a luncheon lecture series this fall.
The College of Arts and Sciences and the Liberal Studies Project offer the monthly Meet the Professor series to highlight the college’s research and cultural offerings.
The Thursday luncheon talks begin at noon in the University Club. Reservations are required, with $15 payment in cash or check. To reserve a spot, contact Janna Tajibaeva at 502-852-2247 or janna@louisville.edu no later than the Monday before each event.
Here are the fall 2016 semester talks: Continue reading
Councilman Tom Owen will be meeting’s featured speaker August 29
Metro Parks and Recreation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will host the first in a series of three public meetings on Beargrass Creek restoration efforts from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Monday, August 29 at the Douglass Community Center.
Metro Parks and the Corps are partners in a planning effort entitled: “Beargrass Creek Trail Conceptual Shared Use Path and Ecological Restoration Plan.”
The plan area will extend generally along Beargrass Creek from its confluence with the Ohio River to the area of the Grinstead Drive/Lexington Road intersection.
As part of the planning effort, there will be three public meetings over the next five months to gather public input and to share the planning team’s findings, alternate courses of action, and final recommendations.
The Douglass Community Center is located at 2305 Douglass Blvd, 40205.
The intent of this meeting will be to seek public input on potential shared use path segments in the study area. A highlight of the meeting will be Eighth District Metro Councilman Tom Owen discussing the history of Beargrass Creek.
