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From decreasing the amount of garbage put into the landfill to increasing the number of electric TARC buses and beginning work on recommendations in a groundbreaking urban heat study, Louisville Metro Government and its partners have made important environmental strides in the past year, according to the city’s annual Sustain Louisville progress report.
The report, released today, summarizes achievements that occurred in 2016 and updates the public on projects that are planned or underway.
“We continue to make progress on our sustainability goals, and I commend Metro agencies, business owners, faith leaders, residents and individuals for their efforts to make Louisville a more sustainable city,” Mayor Greg Fischer said. “But we have much more work to do to become a city that is healthier, cleaner and more attractive for visitors and businesses, as well as for residents.”
Two key city actions on sustainability in 2016 were signing onto the Global Covenant of Mayors, in which Louisville joins cities around the world in committing to reduce contributions to climate change and plan for its impacts; and the release of Louisville’s Urban Heat Management Study, the country’s most comprehensive urban heat study to date, which provides a framework for developing urban heat management strategies.
The Sustain Louisville plan, developed with input from the community and was released in March 2013, presents a comprehensive approach to accelerate city-wide sustainability accomplishments. Focus areas include energy, environment, transportation, economy, community and engagement.
Other 2016 successes in the fourth-year progress report include:
- Louisville Metro Government was selected to participate in the global 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) program. As a member of 100RC, Louisville will gain access to tools, funding, technical expertise and other resources to build and improve the city’s capacity to respond to shocks, such as weather events, and ongoing stresses, such as poverty and inequities.
- TreesLouisville, a non-profit organization, launched a One Million Dollar Challenge Grant, with the goal of planting more trees on private property.
- Louisville Metro Council passed an ordinance that enabled the Office of Sustainability to establish an Energy Project Assessment District (EPAD) program. The EPAD program is a unique financing vehicle for renewable energy, energy efficiency and water conservation projects.
- Louisville Metro Government implemented new policies that pause most mowing by city crews on Air Quality Alert days to help avoid the contribution to ozone made by power mowers.
- Metro Parks established a new initiative to convert 300 acres of mowed turf to more sustainable management practices by 2025. Metro Parks increased the acres of land under active management over 70 percent from 2014 to 2016, which means that 404 acres in Jefferson County are being actively restored to healthy ecological standards.
- Transit Authority of River City (TARC) introduced six new zero emission electric buses, for a total of 15 in the TARC fleet. Twelve new clean-diesel buses were also added to the fleet in 2016.
- An effort was completed to retime and coordinate traffic signals on six corridors to reduce delays, fuel consumption and vehicle emissions. As a result, drivers saved $1,480,963 by not using 658,206 gallons of gasoline.
Since Sustain Louisville’s release in 2013, progress has been made on several goals, including increasing landfill diversion rates. Diversion rates for all sectors citywide have increased from 48 percent between 2008 and 2011, to nearly 53 percent between 2013 and 2016. Louisville’s urban bike network has increased by nearly 100 miles of bike lanes and shared lane miles since 2013.
The purchase of local food by institutions has increased from $150,000 in 2011 to $1.1 million in 2016. MSD has continued to implement programs and projects with a goal to provide safe, clean waterways in Louisville Metro, and has been able to help remove seven impairment parameters on stream or Ohio River segments on the Kentucky Division of Water’s impairment list since 2010.
Sustain Louisville has evolved since its release, now featuring 17 goals and over 80 initiatives.
“The Office of Sustainability and its partners have been laying the groundwork for several major projects over the past few years, and I’m proud that they came to fruition in 2016,” said Maria Koetter, Director, Office of Sustainability. “The Urban Heat Management Study was completed and will help us effectively reduce temperatures citywide; Metro Council allocated funding for a greenhouse gas inventory and for developing a plan to help mitigate climate change impacts; and the Division of Community Forestry, along with many partners, used the 2015 Tree Canopy Assessment findings to make progress on increasing our tree canopy. I look forward to continuing work with our partners to help achieve even more success in the year ahead.”
To view the full progress report, please visit https://louisvilleky.gov/government/sustainability/sustain-louisville
As a way to start a new school year off right, Councilwoman Barbara Shanklin (D-2) and 1st Neighborhood Place will host Back to School Fest 2017 on Saturday, August 12th.
“It is important that children be ready to learn and have the tools they need in order to get off on the right foot this year,” says Shanklin. “This event will not only help with school supplies but it will be a chance for parents to get information about the new school year and have some fun.”
The Back to School Fest 2017 will be held at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, 1501 Rangeland Road from 10:00am to 1:00pm.
Joining the Councilwoman and 1st Neighborhood Place is the Family Resource and Youth Service Centers of the Jefferson County Public Schools.
Some 1200 backpacks containing school supplies will be distributed on a first come first serve basis. A parent or adult must be with the child to receive a backpack. Councilwoman Shanklin and several Metro Council members provided funding for the backpacks and supplies.
Louisville Metro Police and the Okolona Fire Department will be on hand with local churches to provide fun activities. There will be a clothing giveaway and free hot dogs for everyone who attends.
For more information about the Back to School Fest 2017, contact the Thomas Jefferson Youth Services Center at 502-313-4541.
Councilwoman Mary C. Woolridge (D-3) is inviting everyone to come out to the Annual Community Unity and Back To School Festival on Saturday, August 12th in Algonquin Park for some great summer fun. It will be a fun filled afternoon and evening for the entire family and a way to help kids get ready to go back to school.
“I am very pleased that the community once again sees Algonquin Park as an important place for all the neighborhoods in the area. The individuals who love the community stepped up to be lifeguards so the Algonquin Pool could be opened when all the other pools were opened and the pool would not open late,” says Woolridge. “As a way of saying thank you, we want to have a little fun and help children in need have a good start to the new school year.
The Annual Community Unity and Back To School Festival will get underway from 1:00pm to 8:00pm in Algonquin Park located at Cypress and Burwell Streets.
There will be a Back to School Back Pack and School Supply giveaway starting at 2:00pm. 500 back packs will be given away while they last. The backpacks will include rulers, notebooks, folders, pencil pouch, glue stick and more supplies.
All children must be accompanied by an adult to receive a backpack and supplies.
The festival will also feature food from Mack Bar-B-Que and free hot dogs beginning at 2:00pm until they are gone, compliments of Councilwoman Mary C. Woolridge.
There will be music from Eddie Abraham 4:00pm to 5:30pm and the very popular Unlimited Band 6:00pm to 8:00pm.
Metro Parks will be on hand providing inflatables, face painting, balloons and other activities for the kids.
Everyone is encouraged to bring their lawn chairs, kick back and enjoy a great summer day in Algonquin Park.
“This is truly a community event with a purpose: making sure our children are ready for school and helping our families. We also want the community to have a chance to enjoy themselves with a little fun in Algonquin Park which is such a great asset to the community,” says Woolridge. “I hope everyone will come out and join us.”
For more information about the Annual Community Unity and Back To School Festival, contact Councilwoman Woolridge’s office at 574-1103.
Councilman David James will join volunteers with the 1st Gethsemane Center for this year’s Back to School effort to get school supplies to needy students in District 6 schools on Friday, August 11th. “The best way to ensure children in need get the things they need for learning for the new school year is to make sure school supplies are delivered to the schools in need,” said James. James and the volunteers have been collecting donations of schools supplies from Walmart and Kosair Charities. Those donations will be sorted on Friday and then delivered to six schools on Monday, August 14th. The schools are Cochran, McFerran, Engelhard, Wheatley and Frasier Elementary Schools and Noe Middle School. “We are happy to partner with Councilman James, Walmart and Kosair to once again to take care of children in need who live in our neighborhoods,” says Keith A. Bush Sr., Director of the 1st G. Center for Family Development”
On Friday, the volunteers will begin the sorting process of supplies at 12:30pm. The donated supplies include:
- Crayons
- Notebooks
- Pencil boxes and pouches
- Backpacks
The sorting operation will start at 12;30pm at 1st Gethsemane Life Development Center located at 1221 First Gethsemane Ave.
Photo: Kentucky Labor Cabinet
The Kentucky Registered Apprenticeship Summit, a collaborative effort between the Kentucky Labor Cabinet, Cabinet for Economic Development, Education and Workforce Development Cabinet and the Department of Education, will be held at the Seelbach Hilton Hotel in Louisville from September 11 – 12, 2017.
The inaugural Kentucky Registered Apprenticeship Summit will bring apprenticeship stakeholders together with business, education, and civic leaders from across the Commonwealth to discuss ways this proven training model can transform our state’s workforce. These goals are accomplished by: (1) providing a forum for businesses and education leaders to gather and exchange ideas; (2) delivering access to thought-provoking speakers; (3) and creating the opportunity for exceptional networking. Attendees will experience sector-focused breakout sessions to discuss Registered Apprenticeships and their impact on workforce development.
Additionally, the Summit will recognize upcoming graduates of certified apprenticeship programs. In order to graduate such programs, individuals completed 2,000 on-the-job training hours and 144 classroom hours per year.
Since last November, the number of apprentices in Kentucky have increased by 39 percent. The Kentucky Labor Cabinet has registered nearly 182 different programs that apprentice 3,100 people across the state.
REGISTRATION: Click here
WHAT: Kentucky Registered Apprenticeship Summit
WHEN: September 11-12, 2017
WHERE: Seelbach Hilton Hotel
500 S 4th St.
Louisville, KY 40202
Attorney General Andy Beshear today announced a Louisville man has pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol while transporting an adult in his care.
Othello Grant, 40, of Louisville, a former caregiver at Community Alternatives Kentucky, which managed a group of Louisville-area facilities for intellectually disabled adults, entered the plea Aug. 4.
Grant’s plea includes one count of wanton endangerment in the first degree, a Class D felony; one count of criminal mischief in the third degree, a misdemeanor; and one count of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicants, first offense.
According to investigators, while transporting an adult with intellectual disabilities who was in his care Jan. 2, 2016, Grant was allegedly operating a vehicle while intoxicated – having a blood alcohol level at more than four times the legal limit.
Grant was indicted by a Jefferson County grand jury March 16, 2016, and was arraigned March 21, 2016.
“Protecting our most vulnerable citizens means safeguarding them from neglect or abuse by those paid to care for them,” Beshear said. “Abuse or neglect of any kind is unacceptable, and my office will prosecute violations to the fullest extent of the law.
Grant will appear before Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Angela McCormick Bisig on Sept. 22 for sentencing.
The Louisville Metro Police Department, the Department for Community Based Services Cabinet for Health and Family Services, and the AG’s Office of Medicaid Fraud and Abuse investigated this case.
The Attorney General’s tip line for reporting allegations of abuse, neglect or exploitation is 877-ABUSE-TIP (877-228-7384). It is staffed 24 hours a day. Reports may be made to Adult Protective Services by calling 800-752-6200. Complaints involving a nursing home may be made by contacting the Office of the Inspector General, who is responsible for licensing nursing homes, by calling 502-564-7963.
Attorney General Andy Beshear today announced that Kentucky’s General Fund will receive $80,000 from a settlement with the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and its subsidiary, Allied Property & Casualty Insurance Company, concerning an October 2012 data breach.
The data breach was allegedly caused by the failure to apply a critical security patch. It resulted in the loss of personal information belonging to 1.27 million consumers.
Beshear said the company collected the personal data to provide insurance quotes to consumers applying for insurance.
Beshear said the settlement requires Nationwide to take a number of steps to both generally update its security practices and to ensure the timely application of patches and other updates to its security software.
The settlement involved 33 attorneys general. Neighboring states participating in the settlement include Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Tennessee.
A total of 720 Kentuckians were affected by the data breach and received letters from the company. There is currently a private consumer protection class action lawsuit.
