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Sunday January 25, 2026
Local Connection
Abbey Road of the River, the five day Beatles festival opened yesterday, is also saying good-bye to Louisville. The bands start today at noon and go until midnight. The show opens at 10:00 AM on Saturday and Sunday and 12:30 PM Monday. Shows will go on regardless of the weather, so go prepared. For a list of items you can and cannot take into the venue, please visit the AROTR website.
Tickets are available online and at the walk-up box office. Price is $35 per day for adults and $15 for people under 21. Children 10 and under are free. Packages are available for multiple days and for the ticketed events. Priority seating tickets are available for an increased price.
The NRA Annual Meeting and Exhibits that was held this past weekend was the second largest convention in the NRA’s history. More than 80,000 arrived in Louisville for the four day show, which brought in approximately $53 million to the local economy. According to the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau, that makes this one of the most profitable conventions to come into the city.
Last night, Louisville mayor Greg Fischer proposed the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The overall budget is $822 million, which reflects an increase from last year due to an improving local economy. The city says they are anticipating a 4%, $20 million, increase in revenue this year.
58% of the budget is dedicated to public safety and related agencies. This approximately $475 million will be used to hire new firefighters and new metro police officers. Some will go to replacing city vehicles, such as police cars, ambulances and snow plows. $300,000 will be used to add more public cameras to the city and $640,000 will used to pay metro police officers working in areas where crime is higher overtime.
$20 million will be used to repave streets and roads in the city with no word at this time on which roads will be improved. There is also $500,000 set aside to increase the number of bike lanes throughout the city. $100,000 will be used to redesign parts of Broadway and $1 million will be used to purchase vacant and abandoned properties.
Other points of interest are $4 million which will be used for repairs at Slugger Field, $1 million for repairs at the Louisville Zoo, a 2% raise for non-union city employees and $6.1 million to upgrade computers and software for the city government.
The entire budget proposal can be viewed on the City of Louisville website. Anyone wishing to comment on the budget will have the opportunity on Wednesday, June 1st at 5:00 PM. The meeting will be held in the Council Chambers, which are located at 601 West Jefferson Street. Sign-ups will begin at 4:00 PM on the third floor of City Hall. Speakers will be given 3 minutes to make comments and may submit a written statement as well. For more information on the meeting, you can contact Tony Hyatt at 502-574-4137 or Stephen Haag at 502-574-1204.
Daphne Woolridge, senior at Louisville Male, has been awarded more than $1 million in scholarships to attend college. This accounts for ~13% of the total scholarships awarded to Louisville Male seniors this year. S
he was accepted to every college to which she applied and has decided to attend UofL. On top of all of this, she has a perfect attendance record – from first grade all the way through high school. She is one of 10 students to be recognized this year for this accomplisment.
The Jefferson County Board of Education approved a $1.4 billion tentative budget for the upcoming school year. The school board approved the budget 6-0.
The budget includes a $5 million item to help schools deal with student behavior. During this past school year, JCPS has seen an increase in complaints from parents and teachers alike regarding behavioral and discipline issues. It is unclear at this time on how the district will spend the money on this issue, but the school board is considering all options.
The budget also includes $19 million for the Vision 2020 plan, $2 million for new buses and bus maintenance, $3.1 million for early childhood education, and $3.2 million for individual school requests.
The budget is not final and it could still change. It is unclear at this time if there will be a tax proposal to help fund the budget since the property tax rates have not been released as of yet.
The Metropolitan Sewer District voted to increase the rate on sewer bills by 20%, which averages to an additional $9.82 per customer per month. MSD now sends the proposal to Metro Council for approval and they hope to have it approved by July.
MSD has plans to spend over $1 billion to update the sewer and flood-protection systems in the metro area. The extra revenue will be used for maintenance and repair of areas that they say are long overdue. According to the MSD Executive Director, Tony Parrott, many of the sewer systems in the area are 75 – 150 years old and some of the flood pump stations are 70 years old.
The Louisville Independent Business Alliance will be hosting its Buy Local Fair at the Louisville Water Tower Park.
The fair will have over 200 booths that will showcase local businesses, including artists and farmers. There will be food and drink vendors available and a silent auction.
The event is Sunday, May 22nd. It starts at 12:00 PM and goes until 6:00 PM. Admission is free, but parking will cost $5 per vehicle. Bicycles will be admitted free.
