Thursday January 29, 2026
Local Connection
Weather
Traffic
@LouisvilleDispatch
@LouisvilleDisp
Subscribe
Photo: Louisville Metro Parks and Recreation
The Louisville Metro Parks and Recreation department and Jefferson Memorial Forest has been selected to receive a $30,000 play space grant from the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) and The Walt Disney Company. This investment supports NRPA and Disney’s combined goal of providing one million kids and families with greater access to play.
Part of the national Meet Me at the Park healthy living program, park and recreation agencies across the country were invited to share their best ideas on increasing access to play spaces for children and families in their communities. Agencies with the most innovative and impactful project ideas were chosen to receive grants ranging from $10,000–50,000 to build their projects.
Louisville Metro Parks and Recreation and Jefferson Memorial Forest will use the grant funding to create a mobile nature play component to its award-winning Louisville is Engaging Children Outdoors (Louisville ECHO) initiative.
Louisville ECHO is holistic initiative designed to increase equitable access to nature through complementary activities for youth including school field trips to nature for local fourth-grade students; out-of-school time (OST) outdoor recreational opportunities for youth from partners organizations; free community events such as the annual “Canoemobile” that engage children; and a job-training/mentor development component to create “green-facing” career opportunities for youth.
The mobile nature play unit, deemed the “ECHO Mobile” will include a modified box truck and enclosed trailer that will allow staff and community volunteers to bring the Louisville ECHO initiative further out into the community with activities and programs.
The ECHO mobile will be geared towards children age 3 to 11 and in addition to supporting recreation based-activities such as biking, archery and fishing, it is intended children to express themselves creatively through free-play with natural materials at a local park within urban neighborhoods.
“For nearly a decade, Louisville ECHO has provided positive experiences to thousands of children who don’t have ready access to nature,” said Seve Ghose, Director of Parks and Recreation. “Thanks to NRPA and The Walt Disney Company, this will ensure that this program continues to grow and extend its impact further across Louisville.”
“NRPA is proud to collaborate with The Walt Disney Company to help more children and families experience the benefits of play,” said Kellie May, NRPA director of health and wellness. “By increasing access to play spaces, this program will also provide new activities that support healthy lifestyles in local communities.”
The Meet Me at the Park program includes an Earth Month campaign as well, where funding is awarded for local park improvement projects that connect kids to nature, inspire healthy living and provide access to sports. The campaign celebrates Earth Month and the importance of local parks.
This grant is supported local through generous cash and in-kind donations from Wilderness Louisville, Inc., the Louisville Parks Foundation, Bike Sense Louisville, and YouthBuild Louisville. Metro Parks & Recreation is actively seeking additional sponsorships.
The Department of Public Health and Wellness has found West Nile infected mosquitoes in surveillance traps in six Louisville ZIP Code areas. The ZIP Codes are 40204, 40205, 40206, 40208, 40212 and 40214.
“It’s common for us to find mosquitoes infected with West Nile in Louisville around this time each year,” said Public Health and Wellness director Dr. Sarah Moyer. “What this means is people should take the appropriate precautions. They should wear insect repellant if going outside at dusk and at dawn, and should remove standing water around the home.”
Last year one person died of West Nile in Louisville, and there was one other non-fatal case. In 2015, there were three human cases in Louisville, with no deaths. In 2014 there were no cases and in 2013 there was one non-fatal human case.
In most instances, people infected with West Nile virus either show no symptoms or relatively mild symptoms. However, less than one percent of infected people develop a serious neurologic illness such as encephalitis or meningitis. Serious illness can occur in people of any age. However, people over 60 years of age are at the greatest risk for severe disease. People with certain medical conditions, such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease, and people who have received organ transplants, are also at greater risk for serious illness.
The Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness has operated a mosquito control program for more than 50 years. The department does surveillance of mosquito populations with traps strategically located throughout the community, and tests mosquitos for such diseases as Zika and West Nile virus. In the spring the department pre-treats potential mosquito breeding sites with larvicide to prevent hatch offs. In the summer it treats catch basins and fogs to control adult mosquito populations.
To check on areas to be fogged each week or to sign up for fogging alerts, call the mosquito hotline, 574-6641, or visit https://louisvilleky.gov/government/health-wellness/mosquito-control-and-prevention.
To log a complaint about mosquito problems in your neighborhood, call Metro Call by dialing 311 or 574-5000 or reaching them via Twitter @LouMetroHealth.
The Department of Public Health and Wellness also advises people to take the following precautions:
Avoid Mosquito Bites
Use insect repellents when you go outdoors. Repellents containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, and some oil of lemon eucalyptus and para-menthane-diol products provide longer-lasting protection. To optimize safety and effectiveness, repellents should be used according to the label instructions. More information about insect repellents can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/westnile/faq/repellent.html.
When weather permits, wear long sleeves, long pants and socks when outdoors. Mosquitoes may bite through thin clothing, so spraying clothes with repellent containing permethrin or another EPA-registered repellent will give extra protection. Don’t apply repellents containing permethrin directly to skin. Do not spray repellent on the skin under your clothing.
Take extra care during peak mosquito biting hours. Take extra care to use repellent and protective clothing from dusk to dawn or consider avoiding outdoor activities during these times.
Mosquito-Proof Your Home
Install or repair screens on windows and doors to keep mosquitoes outside. Use your air conditioning, if you have it.
Help reduce the number of mosquitoes around your home by emptying standing water from flowerpots, gutters, buckets, pool covers, pet water dishes, discarded tires and birdbaths on a regular basis.
Louisville Metro Government has filed a federal lawsuit against the three largest wholesale opioid distribution companies – Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, and McKesson – for dumping millions of pills into Louisville neighborhoods while refusing to fulfill their obligations to monitor, identify, report and halt suspicious shipments of opioids.
The suit, filed today in U.S. District court under the direction of Mayor Greg Fischer and Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell, seeks damages to help Louisville combat the opioid public health crisis that has impacted Louisville and has led to everything from overdose deaths to increased crime in the city.
Wholesale Distributors Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, and McKesson, which together have annual revenues of $400 billion and which control 85 percent of the wholesale market share, profited greatly from the opioid epidemic. In the meantime, Louisville is struggling with the toll opioid abuse is taking on family, friends, neighbors, and public resources.
From 2012 through the middle of 2017, more than 197 million doses of prescription opioids were dispensed in Jefferson County. That is more than 258 doses of prescription opioids for every man, woman, and child in Louisville. During this same time period, more than 3.5 million doses of overdose antidotes, including naloxone, have been dispensed in Jefferson County, nearly 5 per person. There were 364 overdose deaths in Louisville in 2016.
“There is no question our taxpayers — all 760,000 Louisville citizens — are shouldering the financial responsibility for the opioid crisis,” Fischer said.
Kentucky has seen a deadly spike in opioid overdoses and deaths that are impacting families and local communities, with Louisville hit especially hard. In January of 2017 alone, Louisville’s Metro Emergency Services answered 695 opioid related overdose calls, an average of 22 a day. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have seen drug overdose death rates increase more than 72 percent, from 2014 to 2015. Drug overdose is now the leading cause of death for those under 50.
In addition to the cost in human life, researchers estimate the nationwide total economic burden of the prescription opioid epidemic at $78.5 billion. The opioid epidemic is creating pressure on health care facilities as well as law enforcement agencies, resulting in rising costs, a strain on resources, and concerns about public safety.
Congress put Wholesale Distributors in a position of trust as gatekeepers because opioids are highly addictive and Congress knew there was a significant likelihood for abuse. As the gatekeepers of highly addictive opioids, the Wholesale Distributors breached their duties to monitor and report suspicious shipments of opioids and instead profited from the flood of pills into our community, leaving our taxpayers to clean up the mess they caused, according to the lawsuit.
Fischer and O’Connell want to put a stop to the problem by dramatically reducing the flow of prescription opioid painkillers into the community and making the wrongdoers pay for the treatment. The opioid epidemic has grown worse as people who were addicted to prescription pills have, thanks to heightened enforcement efforts, found them harder to come by. But the residents of Louisville and Jefferson County continue to bear the burden of the cost of the epidemic, as the costs of treatment for addiction, education and law enforcement have continued to rise. According to a federal study, roughly 1 in 7 people who received a refill or had a second opioid prescription authorized were still on opioids one year later.
“We have a lost generation of people addicted to opiates, and many have now migrated to heroin,” said Mayor Fischer. “Wholesale Distributors need to be held accountable for this epidemic by cleaning up the mess they’ve created through treatment for those struggling with addiction, educating our youth to understand the danger of opioid abuse, and keeping our communities safe.”
The issue is personal for O’Connell, whose son died of an overdose in 2014 at the age of 33.
“Matt’s death left a hole that, for a parent, I don’t think can ever fully heal,” O’Connell, said. “This lawsuit is a chance at some small piece of justice for my son Matt, and for the countless families who have been decimated by the opioid plague and the grip of addiction.”
“Our citizens are being hospitalized and are dying because of opioid addiction, and city government is struggling to respond and help,” Mayor Fischer added.
The city has hired a number of highly successful law firms, experienced in holding the powerful pharmaceutical industry accountable. Those firms include Levin Papantonio, Greene Ketchum, Baron & Budd, McHugh Fuller Law Group, Hill Peterson, Bowling and Johnson PLLC and Gray & White Law.
The law firms are taking the case at no cost to taxpayers. The firms will be paid only if they are successful in the lawsuit, O’Connell said, and would be awarded 30 percent of any monies recovered.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 75 percent of the new diseases that have affected humans over the past 10 years originated from an animal or an animal product.
As the new state public health veterinarian, Dr. Kelly Giesbrecht, DVM, will provide leadership and supervision regarding issues related to the identification and evaluation of human health hazards of animal origin that could potentially impact the health of Kentuckians.
“We are very pleased to have Dr. Giesbrecht join our staff at the Cabinet for Health and Family Services,” said CHFS Cabinet Secretary Vickie Yates Brown Glisson. “Her wealth of experience in public health and veterinary science is a perfect fit for this extremely important role and will be a tremendous asset to our work to improve the public health of Kentucky.”
Among other things, the state public health veterinarian is tasked with;
- Identifying and evaluating hazards to human health of animal origin.
- Developing policies, guidelines, and strategies for the control of zoonotic and foodborne diseases.
- Disseminating relevant information to experts in public health, veterinary science and other scientific disciplines, as well as to consumer groups and the public.
- Contributing to field and laboratory investigations of zoonotic and foodborne diseases.
As state veterinarian, Dr. Giesbrecht will be a part of the Division of Epidemiology and Health Planning in DPH. She comes to the department with over 22 years of combined experience in veterinary medicine and public health. She has a doctorate in veterinarian medicine from the University of Florida and a masters of public health from the University of Texas.
After clinical practice, she spent 11 years in the Air Force as a public health officer and most recently worked at the Northern Kentucky Health Department where she served as a regional epidemiologist.
Additional information is available at http://chfs.ky.gov/.
The Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet’s Workforce Intelligence Branch is now a part of the Kentucky Center for Education and Workforce Statistics (KCEWS) following an alignment of the two state organizations that was finalized this month.
“KCEWS’ existing partnerships within the education and workforce community will allow the Workforce Intelligence Branch to build upon their current relationships and cultivate new ones,” said Education and Workforce Development Cabinet Secretary Hal Heiner. “KCEWS has been nationally recognized for its data collection, and this new alignment with the Workforce Intelligence Branch will serve to maximize its already great potential.”
The Workforce Intelligence Branch is responsible for developing and maintaining a comprehensive system of labor market and workforce data, including producing occupational projections and state and local employment rate data. KCEWS maintains the Kentucky Longitudinal Data System (KLDS) which integrates data from multiple state education and workforce sources. KCEWS’ data is utilized by policymakers, employers, local workforce areas, trainers, educators, students, career counselors, economic developers, job seekers and other government agencies.
Dr. Kate Akers, executive director of KCEWS, said the alignment provides the opportunity for use and analysis of data beyond the scope of that traditionally published in the Workforce Intelligence Branch.
“The integration of the Workforce Intelligence Branch into KCEWS will expand both the scope and quality of services and products provided to its customers so that they can make informed decisions when it comes to making education and career choices,” said Akers.
The alignment of the two offices has afforded the opportunity for KCEWS to overhaul its existing website, kcews.ky.gov. The site stores and makes available Kentucky’s labor market information and interactive reports such as KCEWS’ Kentucky Future Skills Report, which provides five-year projections on hiring and salary information for specific careers. A new platform constructed within the existing KCEWS website now highlights interactive maps filtered by local workforce areas and key workforce indicators. The tool allows the public to produce results at a county and industry level.
Traditional labor market information as well as historical data such as unemployment rates from previous years can be found on the newly improved site. New interactive products will also continue to be designed around feedback received from stakeholders and data users.
Before you head to Churchill Downs Racetrack for Twilight Thursday racing, join the Kentucky Derby Museum and Woodford Reserve for a Bourbon Mix & Mingle on Thursday, September 28th beginning at 4p.m. It’s the perfect bourbon experience to enhance your evening before enjoying an evening at the races!
Learn about Woodford Reserve first-hand from the brand’s ambassadors, and then learn how to craft the perfect Mint Julep and Old-Fashioned cocktail during a personalized demonstration.
Guests will be able to create two cocktails and enjoy signature Derby Café appetizers. The evening also includes a general admission ticket to Churchill Downs for live evening Thoroughbred racing at Twilight Thursday.
The Kentucky State Fair runs Aug. 17-27 at the Kentucky Exposition Center. It’s the Commonwealth’s largest summertime attraction – and America’s largest indoor fair. The celebration’s popularity draws nearly 600,000 visitors for the once-a-year opportunity to experience fair food, music, animals, exhibits, entertainment and more.
The Kentucky State Fair offers money-saving discounts, promotions and programs to ensure all residents are able to enjoy the festivities.
- EXPRESS LANES: AUG. 17-27 Fairgoers save time and money by pre-purchasing both parking and admission tickets – only they can use the express lanes at Gates 1, 3, 4 and 6.
- ADVANCE DISCOUNT ADMISSION: ENDS WEDNESDAY, AUG. 16 Fairgoers of all ages – adults, children and seniors – pay $7 for advance tickets and $10 at the gate. Children five and under are free. Advance discount tickets are available on Kentucky State Fair’s new app and website until midnight Aug. 16, plus participating Kroger locations until 10 p.m. Aug. 16.
- ADVANCE DISCOUNT PARKING: ENDS WEDNESDAY, AUG. 16 Fairgoers pay $5 for advance parking and $10 at the gate. Advance discount parking is available on Kentucky State Fair’s new app and website until midnight Aug. 16, plus participating Kroger locations until 10 p.m. Aug. 16.
- FREE WEEKEND PARKING: FRIDAY 5 P.M. – SUNDAY From Friday at 5 p.m. through Sunday, fairgoers can park for free in the lot on Phillips Lane across from Gate 1, the main entrance to the Kentucky Exposition Center. Free parking is first come, first served.
- TARC RIDER PROGRAM: AUG. 17-27 Riders can take TARC to a regular stop at the Kentucky Exposition Center, ask the driver for a State Fair card, redeem it at the gate and pay only $7 admission to the Fair.
- ADVANCE DISCOUNT THRILL VILLE WRISTBANDS, ENDS WEDNESDAY, AUG. 16 at 5 P.M. Fairgoers save with advance Thrill Ville wristbands: $20 for adults and $12 for children 46″ and under. Advance wristbands are available on the Kentucky State Fair website. Onsite prices are $25 for adults and $12 for children.
- MILITARY SUNDAY SALUTE: SUNDAY, AUG. 20 A special ceremony honoring the military will be held during the Oak Ridge Boys’ concert Aug. 20 at 8 p.m. in Cardinal Stadium, featuring the presentation of colors, national anthem and guest speakers. Active and retired military and their families receive free passes for Aug. 20. There is a limit of four passes and parking is not included. Passes are available on the Kentucky State Fair website. Thrill Ville wristbands will be available to military onsite for $10 with military ID.
- SENIOR DAY (55 AND OVER): TUESDAY, AUG. 22 Seniors are admitted free before 5 p.m. Parking is not included. Seniors are invited to Heritage Hall for a free cup of a coffee – and singing, games, dancing, bingo, music and more. DirecTV (Streamline Communications) sponsors the day and will offer a free lunch from the Pork Producers to the first 1,000 seniors in Heritage Hall.
- ALL IN: CARLOAD DAY: THURSDAY, AUG. 24 Admission and parking are just $20 per vehicle before 5 p.m. Vehicles with 12 or more passengers pay $100.
The 2017 Kentucky State Fair is Aug. 17-27 at the Kentucky Exposition Center. For more information, visit www.kystatefair.org or find the Fair on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or its blog.
