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Saturday January 24, 2026
Local Connection
The Kentucky Arts Council has awarded more than $1.2 million in operating support to 95 arts organizations across the Commonwealth for the 2018 fiscal year through its Kentucky Arts Partnership (KAP) program.
The KAP program provides nonprofit arts organizations with unrestricted operating support to ensure that year-round participation in the arts is available to the people of Kentucky.
“The Kentucky Arts Partnership organizations do the heavy lifting for the arts in their own communities, and we are grateful for their hard work and passion to serve, educate and invigorate the Commonwealth,” said Lydia Bailey Brown, arts council executive director. “These grants will help them as they continue their work growing the arts across the state.”
The competitive grants are awarded annually. A list of organizations that will receive funding for the 2018 fiscal year can be found on the arts council website.
The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, fosters environments for Kentuckians to value, participate in and benefit from the arts. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Don’t Miss the Last Day of the 2017 ComicCon in Louisville
The first two full days of vendors, panels, and celebrity guests at Fandomfest 2017 are over, but there is still one more day to head out to the ComicCon. The event has met with some challenges this year, but if they are preventing anyone – aside from several celebrity cancellations – from coming out to the event, it isn’t showing. The aisles and meeting rooms of the Jefferson Mall Event Center, formerly Macy’s, are packed with attendees, costumed and otherwise. Although the venue change was last minute, the new location offers many conveniences that were not previously available such as ample free parking and more affordable food options on site.
Attendees so far have been treated to a wide array of events, including a very interactive (and hilarious) Q&A session with Matthew Lillard, a trailer for an independent Star Wars film that will raise money for Norton’s Children’s hospital, Q&A panels with Paul Michael Glaser, Sean Gunn, and Brian Cummings, as well as more educational panels to help new authors, artists, and cosplayers, and much more.
There are plenty of vendors from all across the region sharing their art, books, toys, comics, memorabilia, costume pieces, and many other wares. If you walk around long enough, you may even see amazingly detailed, fully functional R2D2 or BB8 droids wandering the aisles, courtesy of the R2D2 and BB8 Builders Clubs.
Today marks the last day of the three day event and there is stilt plenty to see and do. There are more Q&A sessions including actors from the Kill Bill series, discussions about female superheroes, Supernatural, Star Wars, and Attack on Titan, a chance to see the aforementioned Star Wars trailer, and a children’s cosplay contest. Doors open at 11:00 AM. Continue reading
Louisville Metro Animal Services expected its Pay It Forward free adopton promotion to last about a month, but Louisvillians proved LMAS wrong! Six months later, the free adoption promotion is still going strong, thanks to Jefferson County’s compassionate animal lovers who continue to pay it forward.
The free adoption promotion got underway in January when LMAS offered $1,000 worth of free adoptions. LMAS asked adopters to pay it forward with donations to help cover adoption fees of other shelter pets. LMAS promised to continue offering free adoptions until the money ran out. Today, the Pay It Forward free adoption promotion is still going strong, thanks to those who continue to donate!
As a result, more than 400 additional animals have been adopted, compared to year-to-date 2016, in which 150 animals were adopted! LMAS hopes to continue this life-saving promotion indefinitely. Continued support from compassionate community members gives LMAS hope that this goal will become a reality.
Help save a shelter pet today and pay it forward! Click here to make a donation to LMAS’ non-profit fundraising entity, Friends of Metro Animal Services. FOMAS is dedicated to saving animals’ lives. Help them help the shelter pets of LMAS!
Pay It Forward FREE adoptions include vaccinations, spay/neuter surgery and microchip. All cats (6 mos. or older) and dogs (40 lbs. or more) are free. Puppies and kittens are not included in the Pay It Forward FREE adoption promotion. The promotion is meant to encourage the adoption of animals who are often overlooked in the shelter.
Festival Cuisine and Spirits and Falls City Brewing Company are hosting the inaugural Burnt Knob Music Festival at the Iroquois Amphitheater on Friday, July 28 and Saturday, July 29.
The festival is a celebration of local music and will feature seven acts over two nights, according to festival promoter Matthew Davis.
“It’s all about local. Local bands performing at an amazing local venue, with local sponsors and local food favorites,” Davis said. “These are awesome bands with great local and even regional followings, and $10 gets you in the door each night. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Custom brew by Falls City Brewing Company along with food from Festival Cuisine and Spirits and Lil Cheezers also will be highlighted during the festival.
“Local music and local beer have always been a perfect match. We’re beyond excited to be able to brew a limited release beer and team up with Iroquois Amphitheater to help support Louisville’s incredible music scene,” said Brian U’Sellis, Marketing Manager for Falls City. U’Sellis said that Falls City will be pouring a limited release beer – Iroquois IPA – during the show.
“We’re hoping that this becomes a new yearly tradition at the Iroquois Amphitheater,” Manager Mike Hallett said. “Two days of music, local food and beer – grab some friends and come out and enjoy a festival atmosphere at a really inexpensive price.”
The schedule is below. Admission is $10 per night. Tickets can be purchased at the gate or at iroquoisamphitheater.com.
Friday, July 28
Doors open at 6:30pm
- Pleasure Boys 8:00 p.m.
Electro-sync - James Lindsey 9:05 p.m.
Rap, Hip-hop - The Pass 10:10 p.m.
Rock
Saturday, July 29
Doors open at 5:30pm
- Powell 7 p.m.
Rock, Alt-Rock - The Dammit 8:05 p.m.
Classic rock, country, blues - Frederick the Younger 9:10 p.m.
Indie Rock - Nellie Pearl 10:10 p.m.
Americana rock
FandomFest is the largest Comic Con in this region that has been visiting Louisville since 2005. This year, Fandomfest will be July 28th-30th at the Kentucky Exposition Center.
This year’s Fandomfest schedule has not yet been finalized, but many celebrities are slated to make an appearance for a photo op, autograph, and maybe a Q&A. Some celebrities that attendees will have the chance to see this year include: Weird Al Yankovic, WWE Hall of Famer Sting, Steve Sanders, Tori Spelling, the cast of Disney’s animated Beauty and The Beast, Paul Michael Glaser, Matthew Lillard, Skeet Ulrich, and Ross Marquand.
The show will also feature a market place where new authors and artists will display their works, collector items, costumes, and anything else that you can imagine will be available as well. Though the schedule is still pending, the show usually features a variety of panel discussions, which will focus on different aspects of the comic con world, some demonstrations (such as improve comedy or condensed Shakespeare plays), and Q&A’s with the celebrities.
Attendees are encouraged to wear costumes to the show, but it is not required. Tickets can be purchased in advance online . Prices range from $30 to $325 depending on the package that is desired. Photo Ops (price range $40 – $160 per photo) and Autographs (price range $25 – $60 each) cost extra and can also be purchased online. It is recommended that you purchase your passes in advance since the show is cash only. No credit cards will be taken at the gate, but ATMs will be available. Attendees will also need to pay for parking at the Exposition Center, which is $8 per vehicle.
Louder Than Life will return to Champions Park in Louisville once again this year September 30th and October 1st. The two day festival will be returning for its fourth year of music, Gourmet Man Food, craft beer, Bourbon World, and more.
This year’s line-up will feature a variety of acts, including Lacuna Coil, Of Mice & Men, In This Moment, Halestorm, The Pretty Reckless, Eagles of Death Metal, as well as many other rock and heavy metal favorites. Headliner performances Saturday night include Mastodon, Five Finger Death Punch, Rob Zombie and the Prince of Darkness himself, Ozzy Osbourne with Zakk Wylde. Sunday’s feature performances will be Stone Sour, Rise Against, Incubus, and Prophets of Rage. Full details of the line-up are available on the website.
Tickets are currently available online ranging from single-day GA tickets starting at $69.50 to entire festival weekend VIP experiences that include hotel for up to $1450.
Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) Acting Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio announced that retired administrator Timothy “Tim” Hagan will assume the role of acting principal of Norton Elementary School on July 17.
“Tim is a longtime administrator with a history of increasing student achievement at high-performing schools,” Dr. Pollio said. “Recent events have created an emotional experience for the staff, students and families of Norton. Tim’s experience and leadership provide an opportunity for the school community to heal and immediately begin preparing for the upcoming school year.”
Hagan retired from JCPS after serving as principal of Hite Elementary School for 18 years. Under his leadership, Hite was named a Distinguished School of Distinction by the Kentucky Department of Education. He previously served as an intern principal at Frayser Elementary for one year. Prior to that appointment, Hagan was the band director at Eastern High School for 12 years. He began his teaching career at Hart County Schools in 1982. A proud graduate of Fern Creek High School, he and his wife, Cathy, have three grown children—all successful graduates of JCPS.
“I look forward to working with the staff, students and families at Norton to continue building on the tradition of excellence,” Hagan said. “We’ll be ready to hit the ground running on the first day of school, and I look forward to welcoming and meeting everyone at our back-to-school events.”
Norton’s School-Based Decision Making (SBDM) Council will name a permanent replacement for the school this fall.
