It is one of the many popular attractions in Metro Louisville and for 50 years it has focused on the wonders of the Animal Kingdom and the environment most animals inhabit.

Councilwoman Madonna Flood (D-24) announces the next South Central Regional Forum will feature the Louisville Zoo on Wednesday, June 19th.

“This year, the Louisville Zoo is celebrating its 50th Anniversary. It is the only zoo located in the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” says the Councilwoman. “It is a popular tourist attraction but also an educational opportunity for both young and old.”

The forum is set for the South Central Regional Library at 7400 Jefferson Boulevard from 6:00pm to 8:00pm.

Representatives of the Zoo will be on hand to answer questions and talk about upcoming events and programs that are offered this summer for the whole family. It is a chance to learn what all is going on with our furry and feathered friends of the wild.

“These forums are designed to highlight various services and operations of Metro Government. The Zoo is an important part of our quality of life in Metro Louisville and I hope everyone takes advantage of this forum to learn more about it,” says Flood.

The South Central Regional Forums are sponsored by Councilwoman Flood and Council members Mark Fox (D-13), Barbara Shanklin (D-2) and James Peden (R-23).

For more information about this South Central Regional Forum, contact Councilwoman Flood’s office at 574-1124.

Hamilton Fest!
Sunday, June 16, 10:00 am – 4:30 pm

Join us for the conclusion of our Age of Hamilton season with Hamilton Fest! This celebration of the Revolution will feature student performances of original pieces, a re-creation of the Hamilton-Burr Duel of 1804 and the Clay-Wickliffe Duel of 1841, a sing-a-long, and presentations on clothing of the period, Aaron Burr’s time in Louisville, and more. Shop with vendors of period goods, talk with Colonel George Rogers Clark, learn about the protocol of a duel and tour the historic house.

Admission: $8 for adults/$4 for children 12-6/free for under 6

Part of The Age of Hamilton series at Locust Grove.

Special Exhibition

Alexander Hamilton: Immigrant, Patriot, Visionary
Wednesday, May 29 – Friday, July 5

This exhibition from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History examines Hamilton’s central role during the Revolutionary War and Founding period in creating the economic, constitutional, social, journalistic, political, and foreign policy templates for modern America. Using reproductions from the Gilder Lehrman Collection and the Library of the New-York Historical Society, and drawing on recent scholarship about Alexander Hamilton, this traveling exhibition helps students learn that Hamilton was a statesman and visionary whose life shaped the America we live in two hundred years after his death. On view daily: May 29 – July 5, 2019

Locust Grove is located at 561 Blankenbaker Lane (between Brownsboro Road and River Road), Louisville, KY 40207.

The Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness, in partnership with Louisville Grows, is holding a free Lead Poisoning Prevention Class focusing on which foods can help to prevent lead from being absorbed into the body. The class is targeted to parents of children under age 6 and pregnant women. 

The class will be held at Louisville Grows’ Healthy House at 1841 Portland Ave from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. on the following dates:

• Monday, June 24
• Thursday, June 27
• Monday, July 8
• Thursday, July 18

The class is free, but registration is required. Register at http://bit.ly/fightlead or at (502) 574-6599.

A major cause of childhood lead poisoning in Louisville is lead paint found in homes built before 1978. When absorbed by the body, lead can cause learning disabilities, lower IQ’s and behavior problems and issues with growth and development. Infants and young children are at a higher risk because they absorb lead more quickly than adults, in addition to being more likely to put non-food items that might contain lead in their mouth.

“A healthy diet rich in important nutrients such as calcium, iron and vitamin C can help reduce lead’s absorption by the body,” said Dr. Lori Caloia, family physician and medical director for the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness.

The Lead Poisoning Prevention Nutrition Class will include a free cooking demonstration, information on the services of the Louisville Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program and other free materials.

“Louisville Grows encourages our partners to use the Healthy House community space for classes that educate families on good nutrition and healthy eating,” said Lisa Dettlinger, program director for Louisville Grows. “We are happy to support this approach in protecting our children from lead absorption in their bodies”

Mayor Greg Fischer announced today that he’s appointed Dwayne Clark as the new Director of the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections (LMDC).

Clark replaces Mark Bolton, who announced his retirement in May, after serving as jail director since 2008.

Clark previously served as Bolton’s chief of staff from 2009 through February 2019, when he retired. He had joined the LMDC in July 2004 as Deputy Director, after moving here from Illinois, where he worked for the state Department of Corrections for nearly 25 years.

In the 1970s, he studied Criminal Justice at A. Logan College in Carterville, Illinois.

“I am pleased that Dwayne has agreed to take on this critical job,” said Mayor Greg Fischer. “Like his predecessor, Dwayne has proven himself over the years to be more than capable of dealing with a challenging population in a professional and compassionate manner. And I believe he will continue our efforts at offering jail inmates more opportunity when they leave than when they come in.”

Clark said he is honored by the appointment and the opportunity to lead the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections.

“I am looking forward to working with the LMDC staff and senior leadership team to continue their good work and commitment to sound, compassionate correctional care,” he said. “I am pleased to return to Louisville Metro Government, working with Mayor Fischer and his staff and serving the Louisville Metro community.”

As LMDC Chief of Staff, Clark was responsible for jail operations and security, and served as director when Bolton was away. Clark also worked with Bolton and the rest of his senior leadership team to earn accreditations from the American Corrections Association and the National Commission on Correctional Health Care.

He begins his new role on Aug. 1, 2019.

 For the tenth year in a row, the Shawnee Ministries and Community Collaborative is bringing a community celebration to the Shawnee neighborhood!

“The Shawnee CommUNITY Celebration is for the whole family,” says Councilwoman Donna Purvis (D-5). “It is a great way to start Father’s Day weekend off on Saturday, June 15 by celebrating with family and friends at this fun-packed afternoon event.”

From 1:00pm-4:00pm you can enjoy a car show featuring the 502 Corvette Club and the Derby City Truckers, free grilled hot dogs provided by the American Legion, music and entertainment from Louisville’s own band, The Connection, as well as other local musical and spoken word artists. 

There will also be kids’ games, health screenings including mammograms, health and information booths, a yard sale, and lots of door prizes! The car show and other activities will be at French Plaza, located at the corner of West Market Street and Amy Avenue in the Shawnee neighborhood.

Louisville Metro Government’s work to replace and improve the city’s work order system, business portal and 311 reporting system is nearing completion and will launch on June 19. 

The new systems from Accela will: 

• Greatly improve the efficiency of the city’s work order system used by multiple agencies, including Construction Review, Codes & Regulations, Planning & Design, Air Pollution Control, Public Works and Metro Parks.
• Improve how business customers submit and track progress on permits, licenses and applications.
• Improve how citizens report and track issues to Metro 311 online and use a new mobile app, such as property maintenance cases, reporting potholes and traffic light issues.
• And allow Louisville Metro to more easily bring new services online in the future.

Before the launch, outages for all systems are planned on the following schedule: 

Louisville Metro Business Portal
Our current business portal will be offline from Thursday, June 13 at 5 p.m. until Tuesday, June 18 at 8 p.m.  During the outage period you can reach these Metro departments the following ways:

Construction Review: (502) 574-3321
Codes & Regulations: (502) 574-2508 (Rental Registry accounts)
Public Works (Right of Way): (502) 574-3121
Planning & Design Services: (502) 574-6230
Special Events: (502) 572-3467

Note: Users with existing business accounts can expect to receive log on information late Tuesday evening, June 18.

Metro311 Service Request Portal
The current Metro311 portal and the Metro311 mobile app will be offline from 7 p.m. tonight until Tuesday, June 18 at 8 p.m. After June 18, there will be a new mobile app for reporting issues to 311.  The link to download the app will be available on the Metro311 website.  During the outage period you can reach Metro311 at:

• Call: Just dial 311
• Email: metro.311@louisvilleky.gov
• Chat: Look for the chat link in the lower right corner on every page of this site.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is this Saturday, June 15, 2019. This annual day of awareness calls attention to a growing population of elderly people and some of the abuses they face. As longevity increases, abuse of the elderly is an increasing and serious problem that affects health and human rights and can cause death, so it is vital to raise awareness to prevent it whenever and wherever possible.

Older people are often dependent on the care of their relatives who might be unable to cope with the challenges that often come with caring for an older adult. Many times, the older adult is seriously ill and not able to defend themselves. World Elder Abuse Awareness Day aims to encourage the public’s awareness so more people can identify and report elder abuse. 

Elder abuse can take different forms: physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and financial exploitation. Knowing a few simple signs can help community members identify potential abuse. Possible signs of elder abuse include:

• Physical abuse: Frequent injuries; multiple bruises in various stages of healing; individual appears frightened.
• Sexual abuse: Fearful of a particular person; upset when changed or bathed; irritation or injuries of the mouth, genitals or anus.
• Neglect: Obvious malnutrition, dehydration; dirty and offensive body odor; lack of glasses, dentures or hearing aid.
• Financial exploitation: Unusual activity in bank account; lack of food, clothing and personal supplies; missing personal belongings such as jewelry, TV, art.

Age-Friendly Louisville, through their Social Participation, Respect and Inclusion Workgroup has been working to raise awareness of elder abuse in Louisville. Specifically, this group seeks to improve community cohesion to guard against elder abuse by identifying and improving elder abuse trainings. This effort is being done in coordination with a wide variety of stakeholder and social service agencies.

“It can be hard to imagine that anyone would deliberately want to harm an elderly person, but unfortunately, elder abuse does occur” says Chris Clements, Louisville Metro’s Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) coordinator and facilitator for Age Friendly Louisville. “Some instances of elder abuse are intended to exploit the person, such as scams, and in other cases, neglect can be unintentional, as when sometimes an older adult’s caretaker does not provide them with basic necessities.” says Clements. “World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is an opportunity to educate each other on the signs of elder abuse so that we can all be advocates against potential harm to older adults,” he says.

Join Age-Friendly Louisville this World Elder Abuse Awareness Day by doing the following:

• Wear a purple solidarity ribbon
• Learn about the types and signs of elder abuse
• Submit an editorial to discuss elder abuse to radio station, television show or newspaper.
• Host a training or have a community gathering to focus and discuss the issue.
• Establish or join a local group or network that is addressing elder abuse, such as the Age-Friendly Social Participation, Respect and Inclusion Workgroup.

The Age-Friendly Louisville Social Participation, Respect and Inclusion Workgroup, supported and facilitated by staff with Louisville Metro Office of Resilience and Community Services, meets on the second Tuesday every month from 2 – 4 p.m. at the Thrive Center, 204 E. Market Street. To learn more about elder abuse and other Age-Friendly Louisville initiatives please visit www.agefriendlylou.com or by contacting Natalie Pope at (502) 852-7733 or Natalie.pope@louisville.edu