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Saturday January 24, 2026
Local Connection
The North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE) is hiring temporary employees beginning Monday, Oct. 31 at 8 a.m. More than 300 temporary employees are needed for the duration of the world’s largest livestock event, which runs Nov. 1-17 at the Kentucky Exposition Center.
Positions include maintenance, grounds and housekeeping, and wages start at $8.25 an hour. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and provide proper identification — such as a photo ID and Social Security Card — to verify work eligibility.
Applicants must apply in person at the employment trailer located off Crittenden Drive at Gate 4 of the Kentucky Exposition Center. The employment trailer is open daily Oct. 31-Nov. 16 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Nov. 17 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
For more information, call the Employment Office at (502) 367-5235 or visit the NAILE website at www.livestockexpo.org.
This year is shaping up to be an important election year. Most importantly, we, the people, will be electing our next President of the United States. This one race tends to overshadow the rest of the races that are just as important. There are a lot of local and state races that are competing for your attention in addition to the federal races. It is important to know that there is always an option to “write-in” a candidate, but for your write-in vote to be counted, the person being listed must have filed paperwork with the State Board of Elections. You can check candidate filings online or you can ask the election officers at your polling location for a list of the write-in candidates. Candidates will be listed below for the federal, state, and some local elections. You can check a sample ballot for your precinct online through the Jefferson County Clerk.
President and Vice President of the United States
- Rocky Roque De la Fuente/Michael Steinberg (American Delta)
- Donald J Trump/Michael R Pence (Republican)
- Hillary Rodham Clinton/Timothy Michael Kaine (Democratic)
- Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka (Green Party)
- Evan McMullin/Nathan Johnson (Independent)
- Gary Johnson/Bill Weld (Libertarian Party)
- Cherunda Fox/Roger Kushner (Write-In)
- Denny Carroll Jackson/Michelle Faye Hicks (Write-In)
- Lawrence Kotlikoff/Edward Leamer (Write-In)
- Joseph Maldonado/Douglas Terranova (Write-In)
- Michael A Maturen/Juan A Munoz (Write-In)
- David Perry/Eric Seiley (Write-In)
- Marshall Schoenke/James Mitchell Jr (Write-In)
- Mike Smith/Daniel White (Write-In)
- Sheila Tittle/R Charles Casper-Kacprowicz (Write-In)
- Jerry White/Niles Niemuth (Write-In)
- Daniel Paul Zutler/Valerie M Michaels (Write-In)
United States Senator
- Jim Gray (Democratic)
- Rand Paul (Republican)
- Billy Ray Wilson (Write-In)
United States House of Representative – 3rd District
- Everett Corley (Forefathers Party)
- John Yarmuth (Democratic)
- Harold Bratcher (Republican)
These following elections are state elections and your district is based on your address:
State Senator – District 19
- Morgan McGarvey (Democratic)
- Larry West (Republican)
State Senator – District 33
- Gerald A Neal (Democratic)
- Shenita Rickman (Republican)
State Senator – District 35
- Denise Harper Angel (Democratic)
State Senator – District 37
- Perry B Clark (Democratic)
State Representative – District 28
- Michael Payne (Republican)
- Charles W Miller (Democratic)
State Representative – District 29
- Kevin D Bratcher (Republican)
State Representative – District 30
- Waymen Eddings (Republican)
- Tom Burch (Democratic)
State Representative – District 31
- Sarah Provancher (Republican)
- Steve Riggs (Democratic)
State Representative – District 32
- Phil Moffett (Republican)
State Representative – District 33
- Jason Michael Nemes (Republican)
- Rob walker (Democratic)
State Representative – District 34
- Mary Lou Marzian (Democratic)
State Representative – District 35
- Jim Wayne (Democratic)
State Representative – District 36
- Jerry T Miller (Republican)
State Representative – District 37
- Jeffery M Donohue (Democratic)
- Mark Wilson (Republican)
State Representative – District 38
- McKenzie Cantrell (Democratic)
- Denver Butler (Republican)
State Representative – District 40
- Dennis L Horlander (Democratic)
- George Demic (Republican)
State Representative – District 41
- Attica Woodson Scott (Democratic)
State Representative – District 42
- James F Howland (Republican)
- Reginald K Meeks (Democratic)
State Representative – District 43
- Darryl T Owens (Democratic)
- John Mark Owen (Republican)
State Representative – District 44
- Joni Jenkins (Democratic)
State Representative – District 46
- Eric Crump (Republican)
- Alan Gentry (Democratic)
State Representative – District 48
- Maria Sorolis (Democratic)
- Ken Fleming (Republican)
District Judge – District 30
- Tom Van De Rostyne
- Jim Lesousky
- Sephanie C Willis
- Tanisha Ann Hickerson
- Bob Heleringer
- John A Cook
- Sara Michael Nicholson
Circuit Judge “Family Court” – District 30
- Gina Kay Calvert
- Lauren Adams Ogden
There are a lot of city elections as well for Louisville this year, such as city council, and various small city commissioners and council members . There are too many local elections to list here, so be sure to check a sample ballot for your precinct online through the Jefferson County Clerk.
The rate of fatalities on Kentucky’s roadways is increasing in 2016, according to preliminary numbers from the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety (KOHS). As of Oct. 24, there were 640 fatalities – 29 more than at the same time last year.
“With only two months left in the year, we are encouraging drivers to take responsibility for their driving behaviors,” said KOHS Executive Director Dr. Noelle Hunter. “More people are traveling our roadways, which might explain the fatality increase; however, it does not explain why people are not making safe decisions behind the wheel.”
Of the 640 people killed on Kentucky roadways so far this year, 238 were not wearing seat belts, 110 died in crashes involving alcohol, 90 occurred due to speeding, 154 were a result of driver inattention and 59 were pedestrians. Motorcyclists accounted for 81 fatalities, 50 of which involved a rider not wearing a helmet.
Roadway fatality numbers are increasing nationwide as well. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 2015 marked the largest increase in traffic deaths since 1966. Preliminary estimates for the first half of 2016 show an increase of approximately 10.4 percent, compared with the number of fatalities in the first half of 2015.
“Recent roadway tragedies have put highway fatalities and injuries back in the headlines, but it is what we deal with on a daily basis,” said Hunter. “It is our goal to bring highway safety awareness to all Kentucky motorists and support law enforcement in their effort to remove anyone from the roadway who is endangering the lives of others.”
The KOHS distributes federal grant money to state and local law enforcement agencies for enforcement and awareness campaigns throughout the year. The “Click It or Ticket” seat belt enforcement campaign occurs yearly through the Memorial Day weekend, and the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign occurs through the Labor Day weekend and again during the Christmas and New Year’s holiday.
“Contrary to popular belief, officers are not required to write a specific number of tickets,” said Hunter. “It’s not about a quota – it’s about saving lives.”
According to NHTSA, more than 90 percent of crashes are due to driver error. Also according to NHTSA, one of the most effective countermeasures in reducing highway traffic fatalities is creating general deterrence through a combination of high-visibility enforcement and public awareness. When the perceived risk of getting caught by law enforcement goes up, the likelihood that people will engage in unsafe driving behaviors goes down.
For more information, visit http://highwaysafety.ky.gov.
Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory is branching out in a special way to celebrate its 20th anniversary. In partnership with Brightside, the popular local attraction will sponsor the planting of twenty trees in a vacant lot in the Smoketown neighborhood. After the trees are planted this fall, the project will blossom into an entirely new park with walkways, benches, and more next spring.
On Wednesday, November 2, from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m., volunteers with the museum and Brightside will plant the trees at 813 S. Jackson Street. The lot is owned by the Louisville Metro Housing Authority and is across the street from the main entrance of Meyzeek Middle School.
“Because of our wood bat business, we have a great history with and appreciation for trees. We also know how much Louisville needs to revitalize its canopy. As we thought about ways to thank the community for its support over our twenty years, planting twenty trees and creating a new urban park seemed like the perfect way to combine a passion of ours with a local need,” said Anne Jewell, Vice President and Executive Director of Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. “We’re thrilled that Brightside found a location in the Smoketown neighborhood that will benefit students and families. Brightside did a great job getting creative with our funding and recycling materials to build-out an entire park around these trees.”
Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory has welcomed more than 4.5 million visitors since it opened in 1996. The attraction is owned by Hillerich & Bradsby Co., which operated a production plant in Smoketown at Jacob and Finzer Streets from 1901 to 1974. The two-acre property that housed the production plant was donated to the Community Foundation of Louisville in 2015 for development to enhance the 150-year-old neighborhood.
“Brightside is so thankful to work with Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory on this project,” Brightside Director Gina O’Brien said. “Their act of community service will result in new trees for a deserving neighborhood and a new park for students of Meyzeek and children of the neighborhood to use.”
For more information on Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, please visit https://www.sluggermuseum.com/
For more information on Brightside and their mission to make Louisville clean and green, please visit www.brightsideinc.org
George Ella Lyon’s term as Kentucky Poet Laureate has only a few months remaining, but the Harlan County native’s story collection project, “‘Where I’m From’: A Poetry of Place,” will live beyond her tenure as the state’s literary ambassador.
Lyon’s goal with the project is to collect, from each of Kentucky’s 120 counties, individual stories fashioned on “Where I’m From,” her iconic 1993 poem that has been used as a model for poetry writing in communities around the world.
Groups in several Kentucky communities have accepted Lyon’s challenge with enthusiasm. Janine Musser of the Appalachian Heritage Alliance in Campton has collected a dozen poems from women of a wide range of ages and backgrounds. She also leads a group of senior women that meet once a month to collaborate on a group poem.
“‘Where I’m From’ is a beautiful way to realize that each of our personal stories is a poem, and the simplicity of the format gives the encouragement to write it,” Musser said. “In my community, where the oral tradition is the standard of remembering, ‘Where I’m From’ has served as a reminder that it is important to write it down to preserve a way of life that is no longer common. It also reminds us that you don’t have to be a scholar to write your own story.”
Suszanne Jones, a paraeducator for the Morehead Youth Development Center, which serves at-risk young women between the ages of 15 and 18, said the poem has been helpful to her students. Jones herself wrote a “Where I’m From” poem, adding hers to the 11 contributed by young women at the center. The exercise was enlightening for students and staff.
“In the students own words, their lives were a touchy subject, and for others it forced them to remember things that they had forgotten, and it made them cherish them even more,” Jones said. “Our greatest and most appreciated responses, though, were from our staff. It opened a door for many of them into our students’ backgrounds.”
The project has been helpful in educating the community at-large about her students, Jones said.
“Many people, though I cannot speak broadly for all, see our students as criminals, truants and sometimes bad kids. This project isn’t going to change that overnight, but it did allow some people to see, through their written words, that these students are just like any other teenager. They remember sweet memories of where they came from. It also allowed us to see a small glimpse of the hurt and feeling of being unwanted.”
People interested in participating in the “Where I’m From” project can do so by emailing their county contact. If there is no contact listed for your county or you are interested in being the county contact, email Tamara Coffey, individual artist director, at tamara.coffey@ky.gov.
Louisville’s adult population has set a new record for college attainment, according to 2015 data released this week from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Highlights of the data include: The percentage of working-age adults with at least an associate degree now stands at 44.7 percent, up 3 percentage points over the previous year.
The percentage with at least a bachelor’s degree was also up to 35.7 percent, a 2.4 percentage point increase.
In addition, in the annual ranking of 15 “Peer Cities” tracked by the organization, Louisville moved up to the No. 9 position for adults with at least an associate’s degree, passing Greensboro, N.C. These are the most significant gains since 55,000 Degrees was created in 2010.
“This is the kind of news we’ve been working toward,” said Mary Gwen Wheeler, the executive director of 55,000 Degrees, Louisville’s education movement. “We are optimistic for the future as our partners continue to make positive progress toward our community goal. Louisville is continually developing the type of workforce we need for a 21st Century economy. There is still work to be done – we can’t get complacent.”
55,000 Degrees started six years ago, with a simple goal: By 2020, 50 percent of working-age adults in Louisville should have at least an associate degree. In 2010, just 40.1 percent of Louisville adults had a college degree.
“To compete in today’s economy, you need a highly skilled workforce,” said Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, chairman of the 55,000 Degrees board. “We are encouraged to see progress being made, but we know we have to keep working.”
Education attainment has become a key measure of whether cities have the skilled workforce needed for a 21st Century economy. Growth in college attainment comes from increasing the percentage of high school graduates who go on to complete college degrees, from encouraging adult workers to return to school, and from attracting college-graduates to the region because of quality of life and work opportunities.
Citing a suicide rate that is higher than the national average, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, the city’s Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods and several community partners announced a suicide prevention summit on Nov. 9-10 that aims to champion “Zero Suicide” as a community goal, while educating citizens and community leaders, and arming them with the tools and resources necessary to reach that goal.
“The number of suicides in our community is tragic and unacceptable,” Mayor Fischer said. “Our Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods is working closely with the Louisville Department of Public Health and Wellness and other members of the Louisville Health Advisory Board to get at root causes and find solutions to avoid such senseless losses.”
The first day of the summit includes keynote conversations with suicide survivor Kevin Hines, and activist Becky Stoll. Hines will share his compelling story and talk how community transformation can truly be the difference between life and death (http://www.kevinhinesstory.com ). Stoll, part of the national Zero Suicide initiative (http://zerosuicide.sprc.org/), will engage attendees in a conversation about achieving this bold goal in Louisville.
The summit’s second day includes Mental Health First Aid Training for 250 adults to create an army of people able to intervene on behalf of adults and youth in our community. This nationally recognized eight-hour course helps those trained to identify, understand and respond to signs of addiction, mental illness and suicidal ideation.
Organizers hope to engage 250 community leaders in the discussion, including clinicians, educators, social service providers, non-profits, faith-based organizations and anyone concerned with the health and well-being of our residents.
“One suicide is too many. Embracing the goal of Zero Suicide is another visible step in continuing to make Louisville the most compassionate city,” said Kelley Gannon, COO of Seven Counties Services and co-chair of the Suicide Summit steering committee.
Organizers are seeking donations and sponsorships for the Summit so attendance can remain free. Various investment opportunities are available; please contact Kelley Gannon at (502) 589-8615 ext1305 or via email kgannon@sevencounties.org for sponsorship information.
The Bold Moves Against Suicide Summit will take place at Spalding University November 9 and 10. To register: Click Here