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Saturday December 6, 2025
Local Connection
How can the Louisville area ramp up an inclusive, tech-savvy workforce ready to tackle the rapidly developing knowledge economy? That’s one of the key issues bringing together national and local experts and innovators at the 4th annual Tomorrow’s Talent workforce and education summit.
The summit will also include breakout sessions and TED-style presentations featuring an eclectic lineup of presenters and topics. Mayor Greg Fischer, who has championed inclusiveness and has made scaling up Louisville’s tech-talent pipeline a top education and workforce priority, will attend and present.
The event is Friday, Dec. 14, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., at the Muhammad Ali Center, 144 N. Sixth St. Registration is free at www.kentuckianaworks.org/summit.
The keynote speakers will be:
- Neeli Bendapudi, President, University of Louisville, who was selected earlier this year to lead the university following a nationwide search. She most recently served as Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor at the University of Kansas. Her vision is to ensure that the University of Louisville is a great place to learn, work, and invest because it celebrates diversity, fosters equity, and strives to achieve inclusion;
- Heather Cox, Chief Digital Health and Analytics Officer, Humana, who is accountable for building the company’s digital care delivery operations and leading enterprise analytics. Prior to joining Humana, Cox served as Chief Technology and Digital Officer at USAA, and as CEO of Citi FinTech at Citigroup, helping that company adapt to a future dominated by mobile technology.
Tomorrow’s Talent is presented by KentuckianaWorks, 55,000 Degrees, Greater Louisville Inc., and the Greater Louisville Project, with funding from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, Humana, and UPS. Light refreshments begin at 8 a.m., and lunch will be provided.
Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) today opened a survey to gather input from parents, students and community members as the district reviews and considers changes to its student assignment plan. The survey runs through Friday, Dec. 21.
“Community input is absolutely vital to this process,” JCPS Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio said. “The survey offers another avenue for families and stakeholders to weigh in on the issues and values that are important to them as the district reviews and updates how students are assigned to school. Our goal is clear: maintain our commitment to a diverse learning environment and meet the needs of the community; to do that effectively, we need to hear from as many voices as possible.”
Information from the survey, and from a series of community listening sessions held earlier in November, will help form a recommendation to the Jefferson County Board of Education in early 2019. Changes to the plan would begin being implemented in the 2020-21 school year.
The district reviews its student assignment plan every five to seven years and makes changes as necessary. Since the current student assignment plan was approved, multiple factors have changed, including population shifts and changing student demographics; passage of a racial equity policy; a districtwide review of JCPS facilities and magnet programs and policies; and the state audit.
The survey is available here. In addition, students, parents and community members will be selected at random to complete the survey, making sure to include respondents from specific groups and organizations to ensure an accurate report.
Coroner seeking next of kin for Lester Shoftshall, white male, age 64, of Louisville. Please contact the coroner’s office at 574-6262.
By Laura Mullaney
Actors Theatre of Louisville proudly announces the lineup for the 43rd Humana Festival of New American Plays. A cultural highlight for theatre lovers, artists and producers across the country, the Humana Festival runs March 1 through April 7, 2019 in Louisville.
This year’s Festival program will feature five world premieres, listed in order of first performance:
- We’ve Come to Believe by Kara Lee Corthron, Emily Feldman and Matthew Paul Olmos
- The Corpse Washer adapted by Ismail Khalidi and Naomi Wallace, from the novel of the same name by Sinan Antoon
- The Thin Place by Lucas Hnath
- How to Defend Yourself by Lily Padilla, co-world premiere with Victory Gardens Theater
- Everybody Black by Dave Harris
By investing in the future of playwriting, Actors Theatre makes a significant impact not only on the national theatre canon, but also on the economic prosperity and cultural vibrancy of Louisville. The 2018 Festival was attended by more than 38,000 people, with visitors from 41 states and 52 colleges and universities represented in the audience.
For over four decades, Actors Theatre of Louisville has been a driving force in new play development, introducing more than 450 plays into the American theatre repertoire and representing the work of more than 400 playwrights and ensembles. The internationally acclaimed Humana Festival is recognized as a crucial incubator for new work and a launchpad for myriad subsequent productions around the country and the world. Plays that have recently premiered at Actors Theatre—including Molly Smith Metzler’s Cry it Out, Leah Nanako Winkler’s God Said This, Jen Silverman’s The Roommate and Colman Domingo’s Dot—have continued to be produced on stages far and wide.
This year’s lineup of plays will be performed in rotating repertory in three theatres located in Actors Theatre’s downtown Louisville complex: the 633-seat Pamela Brown Auditorium, 318-seat Bingham Theatre and 159-seat Victor Jory Theatre. The 2019 Humana Festival schedule also offers a weekend of enrichment events for college students, and features special weekend packages for theatre lovers and practitioners alike. These weekends are packed with discussions, networking opportunities and parties, making Louisville an exciting destination for the American theatre this spring.
Weekend packages for the 2019 Humana Festival of New American Plays are now on sale and are available for the following weekends, enabling you to see a variety of Humana Festival plays and access special events: March 15-17, March 22-24, March 29-31 and April 5-7, 2019. Packages are available for theatre lovers and practitioners on all Festival weekends, and for college students and professors the weekend of March 22-24.. Single tickets prices start at $25, and go on sale January 3, 2019. For more information, please visit ActorsTheatre.org or call our Box Office at 502.584.1205.
Actors Theatre celebrates the 43rd Humana Festival with underwriter the Humana Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Humana, Inc. Additional support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.
Photo: Kentucky Department Fish And Wildlife
The first snippets of snow fell this week, making most people frown, but put a smile on the faces of Kentucky waterfowl hunters. The cold weather the week before the waterfowl season opener on Thanksgiving Day is a good sign.
“Waterfowl hunting in Kentucky is nearly 100 percent weather dependent,” said Wes Little, migratory bird biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “We will have more birds to hunt if we get cold weather to the north of Kentucky. If we continue with this cold weather, we should have a good opener.”
Little said fantastic habitat conditions for waterfowl await those birds. “The moist soil vegetation such as wild ryes, annual smartweeds, millets and sedges are looking great across the state. The habitat is here and population wise, we are living the glory days.”
A slight dip in duck numbers in 2018 resulting from adverse weather conditions during breeding season in the prairie-pothole region on the northern Great Plains and Canada in 2017 should not concern waterfowl hunters. “We are still well above the long term average for duck numbers,” Little said. “This trend is basically a blip and should not impact hunting at all.”
New public waterfowl hunting opportunities on Sloughs Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Henderson and Union counties offer a chance for excellent hunting each week of the season. Little explained hunters who have not put in for a quota hunt on the area may try for a minimum of 10 slots via a weekly draw each Monday night of the season.
“Nine of those slots are on the Jenny Hole Unit with one on the Sauerheber Unit,” Little explained. “More slots may be available if those drawn for quota hunts on the area don’t check in on the Sunday before their hunts.”
Waterfowl hunters on Ballard WMA in Ballard County, an anchor of Kentucky waterfowl hunting for decades, no longer have to hunt from blinds. “For the first time, a few boat-in hunting spots are available on Ballard WMA,” Little said. “There are many wade and shoot opportunities as well.”
Boatwright WMA, also in Ballard County, and Doug Travis WMA in Carlisle and Hickman counties, offer daily walk-in waterfowl hunting. For more information on these opportunities, refer to the 2018-2019 Kentucky Waterfowl Hunting Guide available in a printable PDF format at the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife webpage at www.fw.ky.gov. There is no longer a paper version of this guide.
Little said Cedar Creek Lake in Lincoln County, Barren River Lake in Allen and Barren counties and Green River Lake in Adair and Taylor counties offer some of the best waterfowl hunting in the central Kentucky region. He also recommended Cave Run Lake for duck hunting in east Kentucky, especially later in the season. Goose hunting is not permitted on most of Cave Run Lake. The Ohio River also offers good later season duck and goose hunting.
Hunters without a boat and other gear needed to hunt large bodies of water should try farm ponds. “Farm ponds always provide opportunity,” Little said. “You must get permission from the landowner. Do not be afraid to ask, many landowners with resident goose issues are open to waterfowl hunters. Do not forget to close the gate behind you; that is the number one way to lose hunting permission on a farm.”
Steel shotshells in No. 2 through No. 4 work well for ducks while those in BB through No. 2 make good goose loads. “The modern non-toxic loads with tungsten or bismuth allow hunters to use smaller shot sizes,” Little said.
“I mostly use 3-inch, steel shotshells with 1 1-4 ounces of shot for waterfowl hunting,” Little said. Waterfowl hunters may not use or possess lead shot while hunting.
Duck, coot and merganser season opens Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22 and closes Nov. 25. This season opens again Dec. 3 and closes Jan. 27, 2019. Goose season also opens Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22 and closes Feb. 15, 2019.
As a reminder, waterfowl hunters must complete a short survey and get their Harvest Information Program (H.I.P.) confirmation number before hunting. Visit the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife homepage at www.fw.ky.gov and click on the “My Profile” tab to begin. The process takes less than 5 minutes.
In addition to the H.I.P. confirmation number, waterfowl hunters need a valid Kentucky hunting license as well as a Kentucky Migratory Bird – Waterfowl Hunting Permit along with a signed Federal Duck Stamp to be legal waterfowl hunters.
Waterfowl hunting provides a fun reason to get outside in winter while providing excellent tasting, nutritious table fare. A meal featuring properly cooked duck is as good as any expensive restaurant
Louisville Parks and Recreation is accepting team registrations for its adult men’s winter basketball leagues. Games will be played Sunday afternoons at the Cyril Allgeier Community Center, 4101 Cadillac Court, beginning January 6, with game times of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 p.m.
The fee is $500 per team, and participants must be 18 or older. Deadline to register is December 15, or until leagues are filled.
For more information on how to register, please click here. Payments can be made by credit card over the phone at 502/574-4515. You may also pay by cash or check at the Parks and Recreation athletics office located at the Cyril Allgeier Center, 4101 Cadillac Ct., 40213.
Payment must be made in full at the time of registration in order to reserve your place for the season. Registrations received after deadline will be subject to $35 processing late fee.
All information concerning league offerings, rules, and team roster sheets can be found here. For more information, e-mail athletics at athletics@louisvilleky.gov or call 502/574-4515.
By Jennifer Brislin – JCPS Communications
Some students gear down their learning when they leave the classroom, but Saif Haqi revs his up.
That’s when the Southern High School senior, a student in the school’s Automotive Engineering Academy, heads to the Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) bus garage, where, as part of his yearlong co-op, he immerses himself in the workings of a professional auto maintenance facility and shadows seasoned mechanics as they maintain the district’s vast fleet of buses.
The job earns him $10 an hour, valuable industry experience, and the opportunity to get his foot in the door with a potential employer.
“I’m learning a lot things, and I’m 70-80 percent certain I want to stay in this job. I really love it,” he said, adding that the work means more to him because “I’m basically doing something for my school.”
That’s just the reaction JCPS is hoping for.
The auto mechanic co-op is just one of 10 apprenticeship programs that JCPS will launch this year in a broad scope of fields, ranging from early childcare and graphic design to information technology and culinary arts.
In fact, “JCPS is offering registered apprenticeships in more industry sectors than any other program sponsor in Kentucky,” according to Diana Jarboe, registered apprenticeship program coordinator with the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet.
The apprenticeships will give students an opportunity to ‘earn as they learn,’ and offer JCPS the chance to develop and hire home-grown talent.
“The talent we’re seeing in our kids is incredible,” said Christy Rogers, JCPS assistant superintendent of transition readiness. “We have a tremendous opportunity to not only reinforce what they’re learning in the classroom with actual hands-on experience, but we can benefit by preparing our own future employees to succeed by training them in the settings they’ll be working under.”
Apprenticeships are one of the core tenets of the JCPS Academies of Louisville initiative, offering students the chance to earn money while they gain vital industry-specific experience.
The move underscores the importance of apprenticeship programs to businesses, which depend on the continued development of workers adept in increasingly technical and high-skilled fields. Employers not only gain experienced workers who are trained to industry and employer-specific quality standards; professional apprenticeship training also reduces turnover, increases productivity and lowers job training costs. Businesses across the country are highlighting the impact of apprenticeship programs as part of National Apprenticeship Week, which runs through Nov. 18.
Randy Frantz, director of transportation for JCPS, said auto mechanics are in high demand, and, with an unemployment rate around 4 percent, it’s difficult to find trained and certified mechanics.
“Hopefully, we’re producing a pipeline for future mechanics,” he said. “And at the end of the co-op, they may just decide to make a career out of being a JCPS mechanic.”
It’s a similar goal in the area of early childhood, where there’s a shortage of highly skilled, qualified educators, according to coordinator Stephanie Johnson. The apprenticeships will lessen the impact of vacancies in the district while allowing students to work with mentors and gain hands-on experience.
“Our hope is to grow our own employees and resolve our own staffing issues through the utilization of our students while they’re in high school,” she said. “And when they graduate, they’ll have the skills necessary to seek gainful employment, and maybe they’ll stay with JCPS.”
John Owen, an automotive instructor at Southern High School, said the apprenticeship opportunities bring real meaning to what students have learned in the classroom. “They’ll be working with an employer who is continually educating these kids; they’re going to grow leaps and bounds,” he said.
The pay may be what entices them, he said, but the practical experience is just as valuable. “An apprenticeship is the end of that long four-year process, where everything comes to fruition. I think it matures them a bit.”
Perhaps most significantly, the students themselves see the benefit of an apprenticeship program. “The students talk about what a great opportunity this is,” said James McCabe, the talent development academy coach at Southern. “This is a success because I know it can lead to a career job for our kids. They could literally work for JCPS if that’s what they want to do.”
JCPS apprenticeship fields include:
- Accounting Technician
- Automotive Technician Specialist
- Cook
- Early Childcare
- Graphic Designer
- Information Technology
- Kentucky Diesel Mechanic Work
- Kentucky Office Manager/ Administrative Services
- Maintenance Repairer, Building
- Medical Assistant
