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Photo: State Treasurer website
Kentucky State Treasurer Allison Ball was selected as one of twenty-five participants for The Governing Institute’s 2018 Women in Government Leadership Program.
“It is an honor to be selected for The Governing Institute’s Women in Leadership Program,” Treasurer Ball said. “We need more women to run for office and I am proud to be a part of this program that encourages women to assume a greater level of leadership.”
The Women in Leadership Program brings together elected female leaders from across the nation to acknowledge their contributions, create a forum to discuss leadership, and seek their help in mentoring the next generation of female leaders to run for office. Each class also includes one rising star, a young woman not yet serving in elected office, but with the interest and potential to run in the future.
The Governing Institute is a division of e.Republic, the nation’s only media and research company focused exclusively on state and local government and education. Governing focuses on improving government performance and outcomes through research, decision support, and executive education to help public sector leaders govern more effectively.
“The women in the Class of 2018 are subject matter experts, negotiators, civic activists, and pioneers,” said Julia Burrows, director of the Governing Institute. Nominations were received for nearly 150 women for the Class of 2018. The class was selected based on career and educational accomplishments, personal recommendations, a commitment to actively participate and the goal of seating a diverse class. The 25 women in the program’s new class will be profiled in the February 2018 issue of Governing magazine and will participate in Governing events throughout the coming year.
More than 40 students from the Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) District are among the 16,000 across the country named 2018 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists.
Semifinalists in the 63rd annual National Merit Scholarship Program were announced today by the National Merit Scholarship Corp. and will compete for scholarships worth about $32 million. Semifinalists from JCPS include students from Ballard, Brown, DuPont Manual, Eastern and Male Traditional High. The students are:
- Ballard High School’s Claire Keum, Sarang Park and Alexander Reaugh
- Brown High School’s Sovann Chang
- DuPont Manual High School’s Alec Adamov, Anirudh Adavi, Tanner Bielefeld Pruitt, Priyadarshini Chandrashekhar, Emily Clark, Alice Deters, Caroline Foshee, Ryan Hassel, Micah Herndon, Brandon Huff, Charles Im, Benjamin Jiang, Jobi Jose, Govind Krishna, Sophie Lai, Lindsey Lapinski, William Morgan, Joshua Olliges, Alan Pascua, Riti Pathak, David Qiu, Saralee Renick, Haylee Richter, Camille Rougier, Amit Sahoo, Gregory Schwartz, Luke Sheridan-Rabideau, Elijah Shina, Harshini Sirvisetty, Madison Sneve, Lucy Suo, Spencer Thompson, Megan Wang, Shelby Young and Annie Zhang.
- Eastern High School’s Truman Smith
- Male Traditional High School’s Dylan Boone
“JCPS continues to produce some of the best and brightest students in the state and country, and the achievements of these talented students today are an example of that,” said JCPS Acting Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio. “I am very proud of what they are accomplishing both in and out of the classroom.”
The students were among approximately 1.6 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools who entered the program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which serves as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.
To become a finalist, the semifinalist and his or her high school must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received.
From the approximately 16,000 semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the finalist level. Finalists will be announced early next year.
Photo: Louisville Housing and Community Development
Louisville Creating Affordable Residences for Economic Success (CARES) and the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund (LAHTF) will be jointly hosting four informational meetings regarding the upcoming round of funding available for these two sources. This round of funding is comprised of $14.5 million dollars and is designed to provide gap and/or bridge financing to developers building affordable workforce housing or incorporating affordable workforce housing into market rate projects.
CARES and LAHTF encourage adaptive re-use of vacant and abandoned properties, energy efficiency, universal design and mixed income projects integrating low-income housing.
Meetings will be held at the following dates, times and locations:
- September 27 at 10:00 am at Middletown Firehouse (108 Urton Lane)
- September 28 at 9:00 a.m. at Edison Center (701 W. Ormsby Lane)
- September 28 at 2:00 p.m. at Southwest Regional Library (3920 Dixie Highway)
- September 29 at 10:00 a.m. at South Central Regional Library (7300 Jefferson Boulevard)
For more information, please visit https://louisvilleky.gov/government/housing-community-development
Mayor Greg Fischer today announced a $200 million economic development plan for about 35 underused acres in Butchertown that will be anchored by a 10,000-seat, 15-acre soccer stadium, allowing Louisville to compete for an MLS franchise.
“This is an exciting, worthwhile project that takes an underused, very visible swath of land and creates a vibrant new stadium district that builds on the momentum downtown, in Nulu and Butchertown,” the Mayor said. “This is a smart opportunity, and when smart opportunities to move our city forward come up, we’re going to grab them.”
(Listen to Mayor Greg Fischer Podcast segment about the development and stadium)
Louisville City Football Club (LCFC) will build the $50 million stadium and serve as developer of the overall project, which will include retail, a hotel and offices, built by private investment.
Louisville Metro Government’s sole investment is $30 million to purchase the land for the development and do brownfield remediation and public infrastructure improvements. The project is expected to increase hotel, restaurant and retail amenities nearby and create a “stadium district” where the soccer stadium, Louisville Slugger Field and the Yum! Center are all within blocks of each other, along the same line of sight.
The city’s $30 million portion will be covered by general obligation bond — $25 million to buy the land and $5 million as a contribution to brownfield remediation and public infrastructure.
No Metro tax dollars will be used for stadium construction. In fact, LCFC will pay $14.5 million back to the city over 20 years from sales of land, rent from leases of land, and stadium rent. In addition, if the stadium hits certain financial markers, the city has an opportunity to share in the upside of that growth, up to $2 million.
(See the factsheet about the development and stadium)
On behalf of Louisville City Football Club, Chairman and President John Neace, thanked Mayor Fischer and Louisville Forward “for their commitment to the growth of professional soccer in Louisville.
“Today marks another important step in our vision to be the best United Soccer League club in the country, with the ultimate goal of bringing Major League Soccer to Louisville,” Neace said. “We look forward to building a world-class soccer stadium and surrounding development that continues revitalization in the Butchertown neighborhood.”
With Metro Council approval, the city will work with LCFC on an application to the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) for a mixed-use TIF for the project.
To be eligible for state participation in a TIF, the local applicant (the city) must have some financial participation in the project; in this case, the city’s participation would be the money spent on land acquisition, brownfield remediation and debt service of the bonds to pay for the land.
The city will not commit any of its local property tax revenues to be included in the TIF.
Construction of the project will comply with Metro Ordinance 37.75 with respect to minority, women and local participation goals: 20 percent minority participation, 5 percent women participation, with 75 percent of the work going to residents of the Louisville MSA.
A city-commissioned feasibility study confirmed that a soccer-specific stadium is needed to maintain and grown professional soccer in Louisville. The study called for a soccer-specific stadium, with the ability to hold 10,000 seats, to be built by 2020.
A partnership between Kentuckiana Air Education (KAIRE) and Louisville Parks and Recreation has led to the creation of colorful advertisements stressing an anti-idling message that can be seen approximately a dozen parks throughout Louisville.
The message, “People Idle In Parks – Not Cars,” can be seen on pavement decals affixed to surfaces in high-traffic areas at some of Louisville busiest parks, including Joe Creason, Seneca, Thurman Hutchins and Sun Valley.
The advertisements have been placed in 16 parks with 14 more to follow in upcoming weeks.
“The advertisements are a reminder that parks are spaces where we promote the enjoyment of clean air and a healthy environment,” said Seve Ghose, Director of Parks and Recreation. “We’re encouraging our visitors to turn the engine off if they can, and possibly step outside of their car and go for a walk, and enjoy the surroundings.”
Unnecessary engine idling can create an air pollution “hot spot” in places like parking lots, school pick-up lines, and drive-thru windows. As Louisville’s overall air quality improves and vehicles become cleaner, idling is still a blind spot for many motorists.
“Modern cars don’t belch out black, smoky fumes anymore, but they still pollute the air,” said Air Pollution Control District Director Keith Talley Sr. “This is an easy way to reduce your personal pollution footprint.”
The Louisville Orchestra is delighted to announce that Jim James will perform with the Louisville Orchestra on Saturday, April 7, 2018 at 8PM at the Kentucky Center. Scheduled as part of the Orchestra’s “Classics Series” sponsored by Brown-Forman, the concert, titled “Kentucky Classics,” was already announced and is currently on sale.
James will perform with the orchestra in his original songs orchestrated by LO Music Director, Teddy Abrams. The two have hoped to collaborate for years in an orchestral performance.
The concert on April 7, 2018, also features the orchestra performing a Louisville premiere of “Natural History” by Michael Gordon under the direction of Teddy Abrams. The piece, written to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the United States National Parks Service, honors the beauty and grandeur of the American National Parks. A selection from the 2017 Grawemeyer Composition First Place Award winning work “Play” by Andrew Norman will also be performed by the Orchestra.
Tickets are $58 to $27 and are available at the only authorized LO ticket vendor: Kentucky Center Ticket Office (501 W. Main, Louisville) by calling 502.584.7777 or 800.775.7777 or online at KentuckyCenter.org. Concert details are available at LouisvilleOrchestra.org.
LOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA :: PLAY: FESTIVAL OF AMERICAN MUSIC 1 SAT 07 APR 2018 | 8PM | Kentucky Center
- Jim James, guest artist
- Teddy Abrams, conductor
- JULIA WOLF: riSE and fly
- ANDREW NORMAN: Play, Level 1
- JAMES/ABRAMS: Song Cycle with Jim James
- MICHAEL GORDON: Natural History
The Metro Council’s Public Safety Committee will learn more about Jefferson County’s “C.A.M.P” (Continuous Alcohol Monitoring Program) at its regular meeting on Wednesday, September 20th
“These kinds of programs are now a part of law enforcement and public safety in the 21st Century and I believe it is important that the Committee get a full understanding of how it operates and what the specific goals are to keep the community safe,” says Councilman David James (D-6).
Judge Stephanie Pearce Burke, Jefferson District Court, Jefferson County Drug/Specialty Courts, will be on hand to answer questions about the program as well as Matthew Mitchell, Director of Evidence Based Practices, SCRAM Systems, and Jen Rankin, Program Development Manager, SCRAM Systems.
Similar criteria-based programs across the country have resulted in the significant reduction of drunk driving and alcohol-related crashes. Research shows that the use of a continuous alcohol monitoring bracelet for a period of 90 days significantly reduces the probability of recidivism among high risk DUI offenders. Recidivism rates for repeat DUI offenders who wear the bracelet for at least 90 days are 50% less than those who do not utilize the technology.
“With the implementation of C.A.M.P., the Jefferson County courts are now utilizing technology in efforts to reduce recidivism in DUI offenders, with the goal of increasing public safety,” says Judge Burke.
Most repeat DUI offenders do not have the internal motivation to stay sober. C.A.M.P. will aid defendants by reinforcing sobriety. The certainty of detection is a powerful deterrent and motivator to stay sober when one does not have the internal motivation or tools to do so on their own. As a direct result, public safety is greatly improved and the offender is more likely to be successful in their recovery efforts.
The Public Safety Committee will meet at 3:30pm in the Council Chambers, Historic City Hall, 601 West Jefferson Street.
All Metro Council Committee meetings are carried live on Metro TV, Spectrum Cable Channel 184 and on UVERSE Channel 99.
You can watch the meetings online by going to the Metro Council home page at http://louisvilleky.gov/government/metro-council/metro-council-clerk and click the “Watch Meetings Online” button.
