Weather
Traffic
@LouisvilleDispatch
@LouisvilleDisp
Subscribe
Saturday January 24, 2026
Local Connection
Six popular authors, each of whom has spent time on the New York Times bestseller list, will be appearing at the Louisville Free Public Library in the coming months. Chris Tomlinson, Gail Sheehy, Steven Johnson, Dan Jones, Azar Nafisi, and Jonathan Eig each have new books coming out this fall.
The events, all at the Main Library, are free for attendees to come and meet the authors, but advance tickets are required. Visit the LPFL Events page for ticket information. The series begins on September 10th with Chris Tomlinson and continues through early November.
About the Authors
It might be hard to believe with the relatively cooler weather that Louisville has been enjoying, but the Kentucky State Fair is upon us.
The 2014 Kentucky State Fair runs from August 14 through August 24. Gates open at 7 a.m. with exhibits opening at 9 a.m. The midway and tents will close at midnight while exhibit halls close at 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and at 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Admission at the gate is $10 for adults and $6 for children and seniors (55+) with several special discount days including half price admission for active duty and veteran military members and their family on Military Monday (August 18), and $1 admission for patrons 55 years of age and older on Humana Seniors’ Discount Day (August 19).
Popular events include concerts (see schedule below) with performers including Billy Currington, Styx, Foreigner, Joan Jett, and locals Plain White T’s. There are also Civil War and War of 1812 exhibits and an exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the US Congress’s recognition of Kentucky’s favorite spirit, Bourbon, as a distinctive product of the United States. See the full daily schedule here.
While at the fair, visitors can use the Kentucky State Fair mobile site for easier navigation of fair information.
Parking is available at the Kentucky Exposition Center, with room for 19,000 vehicles, at a cost of $8 per vehicle. Access Fair gates 1-6 from Phillips Lane, Crittenden Drive and Preston Highway. Free off-site parking is also available both weekends of the fair starting at 4:00 p.m. in lots B, C and D of the Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium green lot off of Floyd Street. A free shuttle is available with purchase of gate admission or presentation of advance tickets.
Given the large number of Fair visitors from around the state and beyond combined with local construction projects, be sure to keep an eye on the Louisville Dispatch Traffic page for live traffic conditions and drive times.
The Kentucky State Fair begins tomorrow; visit Louisville Dispatch and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for highlights from the 2014 State Fair. Continue reading
Today is the first day of school for JCPS students throughout the metro area.
Nearly 100,000 students will be headed back to school throughout Jefferson County today as the 2014-2015 school year begins for JCPS. Almost 70,000 of those students will be transported by the 975 buses that will be on the road starting today. School officials stress that parents should be patient as the new school year, complete with some route changes, gets rolling and expect their children to arrive up to 30 minutes later than they might usually get home. Parents or students with questions can call the transportation hotline at 485-RIDE.
Drivers throughout the metro area should exercise caution, watching for children walking to school, and boarding or exiting school buses. With the large number of buses on the streets, drivers may want to plan their routes ahead of time. Live traffic conditions and drive times are available on the Louisville Dispatch traffic page.
In case you missed the action, memorabilia, and celebrities of the 2014 Fandomfest, here is a selection of photos from the event: Continue reading
The FandomFest Comic and Toy Expo is drawing large crowds to the downtown Kentucky International Convention Center as movie and TV stars, artists, authors, vendors and fans gather to celebrate all things comic, sci-fi, pop, steampunk, horror and more. The event was expected to draw record numbers and, based on the first two days, it appears to be on track to do just that.
The weekend-long event kicked off with the FandomFest FANtastic Parade which looped through downtown on Thursday. The expo itself opened Friday evening at 5PM, allowing visitors to roam the vendor hall and participate in events such as celebrity Q&A, games shows, photo ops, masquerade balls and more.
Fans enjoyed extended hours today from 10AM until 7PM, when the after-hours festivities start. Celebrities at the event include big and small screen stars such as the cast of Star Trek, Walking Dead, Defiance, Being Human, Star Wars, Lost Girl, Clerks and others as well as popular comic artists, authors, anime panels and more. After spending the day rubbing elbows with fellow fans, gamers and cosplayers and meeting their favorite heroes (or villains), fans participated in after-hours events including the film fest awards ceremony, a drive-in movie event featuring Transformers: Age of Extinction with Mark Ryan (Lockdown) and Bumblebee in attendance, the rave afterglow dance and a VIP party.
Some of the celebrities on hand Saturday included Brent Spiner, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, LeVar Burton, Denise Crosby and other stars of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Grant Bowler, Julie Benz and Tony Curran from Defiance, Karl Urban, Eliza Dushku, George Wendt, and Ksenia Solo.
For fans who haven’t made it out to FandomFest yet – or visitors who didn’t get enough the first two days – the event continues Sunday from 11AM through 5PM. Sunday’s activities include vendor hall hours, more celebrity photo ops and Q&A sessions, and special sessions and talks ranging from True Blood and Walking Dead discussions to cosplay makeup and wardrobe lessons to writing and illustration pointers. Click here for the full FandomFest schedule.
Single day tickets are $30 and can be purchased from the FandomFest website or the registration booth at the Kentucky International Convention Center at 221 Fourth St. in downtown Louisville.
Check back later for more photos from FandomFest 2014 Louisville.
Young woman with local connections among the 298 victims aboard downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17
Karlijn Keijzer, a 25 year old Indiana University graduate student from Amsterdam was aboard MH17 when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine Thursday. Keijzer was working toward her doctorate in the chemistry department at the southern Indiana university.
IU president McRobbie described Keijzer, a Dutch Citizen, in a press release as “an outstanding student and a talented athlete, and her passing is a loss to the campus and the university,” referring to her membership on the university’s successful 2011 varsity rowing team. McRobbie offered condolences to Keijzer’s family on behalf of the Indiana University community and went on to say that “Our hearts also go out to the families of all the victims of this senseless act.”
IU’s head rowing coach, Steve Peterson had kind words about the “stroke” rower of the Varsity 8 boat: “Academically, she was straight A student, so she was outstanding there. But her biggest strength was her personality on the team. Any picture she you see of her, she was always smiling or happy or joking around with someone. She was extremely supportive of her teammates and had a tremendous enthusiasm. She was exactly the type of student-athlete any coach would want on their team.”
In the chemistry department, Keijzer was part of a research team that uses large-scale computer simulations to study small-molecule reactions involving certain metals. She was co-author of a research article published this year in the Journal of the American Chemistry Association […] She also served as an associate instructor in the chemistry department, teaching introductory organic chemistry as well as 400-level courses in biochemistry and biosynthesis.
Other comments from the IU community included those from executive dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, who called Karlijn “a bright star in the IU constellation, a gifted student and athlete, and a talented researcher with a passion for making the world better through science.” Keijzer’s doctoral advisor, Mu-Hyun Baik described her as a “bright, talented doctoral student, a diligent researcher and a dear friend to all of us who worked with her in our research group” who “inspired us all with her optimism about how science will make Earth a better place.”
Cedar Lake, the region’s largest private non-profit care provider for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, is pleased to announce that it has received $5,500 for new multi-sensory tools for the organization’s Enrichment Center. The new equipment, specifically bubble columns and fiber optic curtains, was financially assisted by Good Samaritan Foundation, Inc., a ministry of the Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
The Cedar Lake Enrichment Center (CLEC), a licensed adult day health program, provides a person- centered, structured environment for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. CLEC offers a choice of scheduled classes with curriculum designed to enhance the quality of life. Vocational training and community inclusion are offered as well. The Direct Support Professionals strive for all 75 clients to gain independence and continually grow, with a staff to client ratio of 1:4. CLEC has nurses on staff that support those who are medically fragile. The program originated in 2002 at Cedar Lake Lodge and has seen steady growth since its inception, causing need for expansion. In 2010, Cedar Lake built a new facility in LaGrange to accommodate for its growth. Phase II quickly followed with completion in May 2012. Continue reading
