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Saturday December 6, 2025
Local Connection
Credit: Louisville Metro Police
One year after its start as a pilot program limited to two Louisville Metro Police divisions, the Living Room program is now open to the public.
Mayor Greg Fischer joined partners from Centerstone, Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness, LMPD, Metro Corrections and Metro Council today for a special Open House and press conference to celebrate the Living Room’s one-year anniversary and newly expanded services.
The Living Room is a safe, calming space where adults in crisis can be connected with needed resources to address mental health and substance use disorder, as opposed to costly and often unnecessary stays in jail, emergency rooms or inpatient hospitalization.
The low-barrier facility, located at 708 Magazine Street, is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Since its soft opening on December 10, 2017, the Living Room has served more than 1,100 guests and provided more than 8,000 hours of care to people in crisis in our community.
“Adding the Living Room to the services we have available in Louisville has been a great achievement over the past year,” said Mayor Fischer. “Helping to connect people in crisis to support and services is just one more way that Louisville is proving itself to be a compassionate city.”
The Living Room first opened as a pilot project with two Louisville Metro Police Divisions, who tested the feasibility of bringing individuals in crisis to the center instead of jail or the hospital. By March 2018, all eight LMPD divisions had begun utilizing the program.
The Living Room has been able to expand services even more in recent months thanks to renewed funding from Louisville Metro Council. Updates include:
- Renovation of the space to be more user-friendly and secure;
- Addition of medical services at the site during certain hours of the day; and
- Addition of transportation to help get clients get to and from the Living Room and other services.
Last month, the Living Room completely opened its doors to the public. Guests no longer require a referral from police, hospitals or other sources. Now, they simply need to ring the doorbell to get assistance.
“We at Centerstone couldn’t be prouder of the work that has gone into establishing this valuable community resource,” said Abby Drane, President & CEO, Centerstone Kentucky. “Since opening to the public, the Living Room as seen a 25 percent increase in guest check-ins – illustrating the need this community has for low-barrier crisis diversion services.”
Centerstone staff expect to see continued growth as they launch a public awareness initiative to get the word out about available services.
Students from the University of Louisville Criminal Justice program will continue to be involved in studying the effectiveness of the program, to help determine how many resources are being saved by diverting people away from jails and hospitals.
The Louisville Metro Animal Services shelter has reached maximum capacity, so in an effort to reduce the kennel population, all redemption fees are waived for pets currently at the LMAS shelter starting, Friday, December 7th through the end of the month.
“We know that all of the dogs picked up as strays or turned into us have owners,” said Ozzy Gibson, LMAS Shelter Director. “The problem is people aren’t coming in to claim their pets. That’s the overall major contributor to the shelter being at capacity. Last year during the holidays the shelter was full; we want to take a proactive approach this year, in hopes of remaining a No Kill Shelter. We want them home for the Holidays!”
Jefferson county residents are required by a Louisville ordinance to license their dog or cat with LMAS. Unfortunately, many are not aware of the requirement. Pet owners can be fined for failure to purchase or renew a pet license, expired Rabies vaccinations or for a pet that is not spayed/neutered. LMAS will offer owners who come to the shelter to claim their dog a voucher to help with the cost of spay/neuter surgery, while the Blue Grass Boxer Club has made a donation to Friends of Metro Animal Services to cover all licensing for altered animals or ones that will be, saving the pet owner from having to pay the fee.
“We don’t want to be tasked with finding new homes for pets that already have one,” said Gibson. “The majority of dogs in the LMAS Shelter are over 40 lbs. We’d much rather return these dogs to their owners instead of letting them sit for months on end, hoping someone will adopt them. There are simply just not enough homes for all of them.”
Pets can be claimed at the LMAS Shelter located at 3705 Manslick Road, Monday-Friday 12-6pm; and Saturdays 11-2pm. All redemption fees are waived through December.
To view a list of fees associated with the impoundment of a stray pet, click here.
The Louisville Orchestra will present Star Wars: A New Hope In Concert featuring screenings of the complete film with Oscar®-winning composer John Williams’ musical score performed live to the film. The concert will be led by acclaimed conductor Keitaro Harada at the Kentucky Center on Saturday, February 2 at 7:30PM and Sunday, February 3 at 3PM.
Tickets start at $35 and are available by calling 502.584.7777 or visiting LouisvilleOrchestra.org.
Set 30 years after Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: A New Hope, the fourth episode of the saga, starts on the desert planet of Tatooine. A young Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) begins to discover his destiny when, searching for a lost droid, he is saved by reclusive Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness). A civil war rages in the galaxy, and Rebel forces struggle against the evil Galactic Empire, Luke and Obi-Wan enlist the aid of hotshot pilot, Han Solo (Harrison Ford). Joined by the quirky droid duo R2-D2 and C-3PO, the unlikely team sets out to rescue Rebel leader Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and make use of the stolen plans to destroy the Empire’s ultimate weapon.
In a legendary confrontation, the rogue group mounts an attack against the Death Star for a climactic battle with the evil Sith Lord Darth Vader. Since the release of the first Star Wars movie over 40 years ago, the Star Wars saga has had a seismic impact on both cinema and culture, inspiring audiences around the world with its mythic storytelling, captivating characters, groundbreaking special effects and iconic musical scores composed by John Williams. Legendary composer Williams is well known for scoring all eight of the Star Wars saga films to date, beginning with 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope for which he earned an Academy Award® for Best Original Score. His scores for The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, were each nominated for Best Original Score.
The Star Wars: Film Concert Series is produced under license by Disney Concerts in association with 20th Century Fox and Warner/Chappell Music. STAR WARS and related properties are trademarks and/or copyrights, in the United States and other countries, of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates. © & TM
The Metro Council’s Budget Committee has approved $546,791 in an effort to deal with the current homeless problem in Metro Louisville. The funding was found as part of the year-end budget adjustment after the completion of audits of the 2017 -2018 Operating and Capital Budgets.
“This appropriation will help us deal with a shelter system in crisis serving a population in crisis. The new services will serve as a bridge to a more permanent plan to address these needs,” said Councilman Bill Hollander (D-9), who chairs the Committee.
“The Metro Government has enough growth to allow the Metro Council to increase our funding for emergency homeless assistance. This is being done in a bipartisan manner as we recognized this is an issue we must address as a united community,” said Councilman Kevin Kramer (R-11), who is the Committee’s vice chair.
Pending full Council approval, the funding will support several partnerships with nonprofit groups who provide shelter and services for the homeless in Metro Louisville. The initial goal is to temporarily find additional beds and storage lockers for people experiencing homelessness as the city gets ready for another cold winter.
“We recognize these are complicated challenges and we are laser focused on common sense solutions. I am confident the emergency temporary sheltering plan will produce a collective impact. Our goal is to make sure anyone wanting to sleep inside has a place to go. Louisville – TOGETHER, we can do this!” said Councilwoman Barbara Sexton Smith (D-4).
“Let’s be clear. This is not yet a solid plan to address the problem, but rather earmarking and reserving funds for a concept for a plan to address the crisis. I have great faith in Eric Friedlander and the Office of Resilience and Community Services in providing us with this initial plan. We still have much work to do and little time to do it in order to try to make a timely impact to protect this vulnerable portion of our population,” said Councilman Brent Ackerson (D-26).
A longer term goal is to develop a low barrier shelter while expanding beds in existing facilities. A low barrier shelter relaxes some of the rules for those facilities which maintain programs, food and shelter for homeless men, women, and families.
The measure moves on to the full Council for a vote on December 13th.
Mayor Greg Fischer and other local leaders today reminded families of the many free and low-cost activities to keep students active and engaged during winter break.
Camps, movies, parties and sports clinics are among the dozens of activities available during the Jefferson County Public Schools winter break, Dec. 24-Jan. 4, and throughout the month of December.
“Parents who are looking for affordable, fun and festive ways to celebrate the holidays and keep their kids active during their winter break won’t have far to turn once again this year,” Mayor Fischer said. “We want students to enjoy their time off but also keep their minds sharp and bodies healthy.”
The Mayor spoke alongside Metro Councilman Pat Mulvihill and representatives of Louisville Parks and Recreation, JCPS, the Louisville Free Public Library and the Kentucky Science Center gathered at the Cyril Allgeier Community Center in the Camp Taylor neighborhood.
Louisville Parks and Recreation has published a Holiday Event guide that contains more than 30 events taking place during the month of December at community centers, the city’s two historic homes and more. The season is capped with a free winter break sports camp offered by University of Louisville basketball legend Robbie Valentine at Cyril Allgeier on Jan. 3-4. To register for Valentine’s camp, click here.
Also, The Louisville Free Public Library will offer more than 100 free programs for kids, teens, and families while school is out, including storytimes, crafts, film screenings, games, and more. As always, the library also offers a wide selection of books and DVDs to keep kids reading and entertained during the break—all for free. A complete list of library programs is available at http://www.lfpl.org/events.
The Southwest Regional Library will host the Winter Wonderland Train Show — presented by K & I Model Rail Road Club —Dec. 22-Jan 6. The show is free and open during regular library hours, for more information, click here.
In addition, the Kentucky Science Center is offering day camps for children ages Pre-K through grade 5. Children can attend as many days as they like or just do it a day at a time and learn about coding, robotics, engineering and more. For more information, click here.
The Croghan and Clark families and their friends welcome guests from near and far to Locust Grove for a special one-day only celebration of Christmastide, 1816. On Saturday, December 8, from 12pm to 7pm, Locust Grove will come alive with the sights, sounds, and smells of the season as Locust Grove’s corps of First Person Interpreters bring to life the residents of the historic house, as well as their friends and neighbors. Visitors will have the opportunity to converse with the Croghans about the news of the day—the recent election of James Monroe as the fifth president, the admission of Indiana to the union as the nineteenth state—and learn about life in the 19th century. Guests can join in the dancing and period games, and will have the opportunity to stop in the hearth kitchen to watch meal preparations for the festive occasion.
“Christmastide is a great opportunity to experience Locust Grove as it was alive with friends and family celebrating the season and being together”, says Program Director Brian Cushing. “The craftspeople we have pulled in to show you how the world around them worked in those days really rounds out the experience.”
In the Visitors’ Center, enjoy live music, shop in the museum store, and find gift-quality books for a special holiday edition of Locust Grove’s Used Book Sale. If you’re looking for 19th century gifts for your 21st century life, look no further than the Holiday Artisan Market. Here you’ll find vendors selling period wares, including stoneware, leather goods, textiles, and more. Children will have the opportunity to make period holiday cards and orange and clove pomanders. Christmastide is the perfect time to make a new holiday tradition as you learn about traditions of the past!
Christmastide, 1816 will take place on Saturday, December 8 from 12 pm – 7pm. Admission is $6 for adults, $3 for children, and free for children 6 and under. Locust Grove is located at 561 Blankenbaker Lane (between Brownsboro Road and River Road), Louisville, KY 40207. For more information call 502.897.9845 or visit www.locustgrove.org.
Photo: Louisville Metro Council
The holiday season is underway and President David James is once again hosting a special seasonal event for residents of District 6 when the Light up California Holiday Celebration gets underway beginning at 5:00pm on Friday, December 7th.
“It is always a joy to take the time to come together as a community and praise the true spirit of the season,” says James. “A new year is on the horizon and I am confident that good things lie ahead for one of Metro Louisville’s greatest neighborhoods.”
The fun begins in the festive atmosphere of California Leisure Park at 5:00pm. Santa Claus will be on hand to take the wishes and requests of children back to the North Pole.
The evening’s festivities will include live musical entertainment, free snacks, and refreshments will be available to all those who attend. There will be music, hot apple cider, a bike raffle, and Santa will be there to give out toys.
This year several groups and individuals have joined Councilman James to help spread holiday cheer for children and families in the District. Those sponsors include Kosair Charities, Al Schneider Inc., Play, 7NT Engineering, Henderson’s and Ronaldo Designer Jewelry.
“I want to invite everyone to come out and join this community celebration as a way to embrace the holiday season in a neighborhood that enjoys the togetherness this time of year brings,” says James.
California Leisure Park is located at 963 Dixie Highway.
For more information about the Light up California, please contact Councilman James’ office at 574-1106.