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Mayor Greg Fischer has signed into law an ordinance that would require Louisville Metro Police to report allegations of child abuse against one of their own to state authorities.
The law codifies a policy Mayor Fischer put into place this spring requiring an extra layer of reporting when it comes to Metro employees accused of child sex abuse. The policy and ordinance, passed recently by Metro Council, was spurred by the abuse allegations in the LMPD Explorer case.
The Mayor cited the Metro policy and ordinance as examples of the city’s process working correctly. Once a weakness in reporting requirements was identified, the city strengthened the process through internal policy change. Meanwhile, Metro Council passed the ordinance, which the Mayor has now signed.
“This was an example of all of us working toward a better, more in-depth reporting requirement when it involves law enforcement and children,” Fischer said.
A long-awaited project to make a Watterson Expressway exit safer is underway, making travel into Shively and Dixie Highway more efficient and less hair-raising for drivers and pedestrians.
The construction is the first phase of an accelerated plan to improve safety and traffic efficiency throughout the Dixie Highway corridor – a comprehensive set of projects that will invest more than $50 million along the highway over the next two years in the city’s busiest highway.
Mayor Greg Fischer joined Congressman John Yarmuth and representatives from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and Metro Council to announce the beginning of the ramp realignment, and to preview the additional projects that will make the entire highway safer and easier to travel for both drivers and pedestrians.
“Traffic-choking designs like the current exit ramp make it difficult to get to our thriving businesses in south and west Louisville. This realignment will be a relief for every driver who travels in this area,” said Mayor Greg Fischer. “This project is the jump-start for a series of improvements that will transform Dixie Highway and our neighborhoods in the south and west.”
About the realignment project
The current exit from I-264 westbound onto northbound Dixie Highway is short, and funnels directly into Dixie Highway without a designated merge lane or stoplight. Traffic often backs up along the ramp as drivers wait to safely move onto Dixie.
The project will realign the I-264 westbound ramp to Dixie Highway (US31) north into a T-intersection, including a traffic signal to safely move vehicles off the exit. The southbound lanes of Dixie are unaffected by this project. A new sidewalk under the Watterson Expressway will be added later.
“This exit ramp is a white-knuckle journey for drivers, and it’s tricky for northbound Dixie vehicles to navigate as well,” said Matt Bullock, chief district engineer for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. “By improving this ramp, we’ll make arriving on Dixie Highway a safer, more welcoming experience for drivers and pedestrians.”
The realignment project will require the exit ramp to be closed for a total of nine consecutive days (including two weekends to limit traffic impacts). The contractor, Milestone, has not yet identified those closure dates. The $724,000 project is scheduled to be completed by November.
“The City of Shively is excited for the project to begin, and we are looking forward to the changes it will create for us and all of Dixie Highway,” said Shively mayor Sherry Conner. “We are thankful for all the support we have received from all parties – whether it was financial or moral, we appreciate it.”
More Dixie improvements to come
The ramp realignment is the first phase of a two-year construction plan for significant improvements throughout the corridor, called the New Dixie Highway Project. Those improvements will fuel transformation of a major economic corridor for southwest and west Louisville.
The New Dixie Highway Project is the first major construction project from Mayor Fischer’s “Move Louisville” initiative.
Fueled by a nearly $17 million federal TIGER grant, the New Dixie Highway Project will include new fiber-linked traffic signals, new concrete and landscaped medians, and a first-in-the-city bus rapid transit line from TARC to run between downtown and the Gene Snyder Freeway.
“The New Dixie Highway project is the largest concentrated investment in Louisville’s transportation network since we began the Ohio River Bridges Project,” Fischer said. “When complete, the new Dixie Highway will be safer for everyone, more efficient for motorists, more reliable for transit users and more enticing for business owners, consumers and investors.”
“This is another important step forward in making Dixie Highway safer and improving the commute for drivers and pedestrians alike,” said Congressman Yarmuth. “Transportation goes hand and hand with economic growth, so I’ll continue to work with federal, state, and local leaders to make sure we pursue every opportunity available to fund these critical projects.”
The project is currently up for bid through the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and construction may begin as early as this fall, with completion expected in December 2019.
Find more information about the project at www.TheNewDixieHighway.com or by following Facebook (search for The New Dixie Highway), and on Twitter @NewDixieHighway or Twitter @NewDixieHighway.
Business leaders and elected officials join the development partners in breaking ground on one of the city’s newest and largest intergenerational communities – Riverport Landings. This intergenerational community will be home to families, senior citizens, single parent families and young adult foster alumni enrolled in FSH’s educational program. Situated on a 36-acre site, Riverport Landings includes various retail services and residents of Riverport Landings will have access to a 2.5 acre community park and other shared amenities conveniently located on a shared site.
“I want to congratulate the development team—LDG, Marian, the funders and many more—who have pushed this project forward,” Mayor Greg Fischer said. “This tremendous asset to southwest Louisville will provide stable housing for seniors and families, while spurring commercial development along Cane Run Road, and establishing a community center and a park that will be excellent resources for those living in these units and in the surrounding neighborhoods. I am especially pleased to see private-sector investment in affordable housing, and the recognition that safe and reliable housing leads to more productivity and security for all members of the family. I look forward to seeing this investment progress and returning once it is complete.”
Riverport Landings is a joint venture between Marian Development and LDG Development—two of the nation’s largest developers of affordable housing. Combined, the companies have provided more than 9,000 affordable housing units for seniors, students and families in various cities across the country. Riverport Landings will include three types of affordable housing developments: Riverport Senior Living—a 108 unit senior property; Riverport Family Apartments—a 240 unit affordable family property and Riverport Scholar House—a 64 unit community for low-income single parent families and young adult foster alumni enrolled in FSH’s educational program. The development will also include a community park, retail space and other amenities that residents from all three properties will be able to access.
The need for more affordable housing in Louisville and throughout our country is well documented and is essential to attracting and retaining the diverse workforce needed for communities to grow,” said Jacob Brown, Chris Dischinger and Mark Lechner, principals for Marian Development and LDG Development. “The addition of Riverport Landings to southwest Louisville not only fills a need for more housing choice, but allows a nationally recognized non-profit—Family Scholar House— to fulfill its mission to end the cycle of poverty and transform our community by empowering families and youth to succeed in education and achieve lifelong self-sufficiency.”
Cathe Dykstra, Chief Possibility Officer and President and CEO of FSH, agrees. “Partnerships with high quality developers like Marian and LDG drive the expansion of physical sites to fulfill the needs of our families and young adults. We are not a housing program. We are an educational program with a housing component. Our partners allow Family Scholar House to focus on its mission and the housing component helps disadvantaged single parent families and young adult foster alumni transition from poverty and homelessness to financial independence and gratitude. Access to stable, affordable housing means these families and young adults can focus on graduating from college and looking forward to a future that includes self-sufficiency, home ownership and success.”
Funding for this $71,000,000 development was secured through Tax-Exempt Bonds, 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credits, and HOME and AHTF funds provided by Kentucky Housing Corporation, traditional construction and capital loans provided by RedStone Tax Exempt Funding, PNC Bank and U.S. Bank, Louisville Metro Government’s HOME and Louisville CARES programs, FSH’s capital fundraising which includes grants from James Graham Brown Foundation and Frank and Paula Harshaw, and capital contributions from The Ezekiel Foundation. Edwin King, Executive Director of Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC) believes the mix of funding being used for this project demonstrates the support and need for this type of development within the area.
“KHC wants to engage in innovative solutions to problems related to housing. Part of the solution is leveraging partnerships and resources to achieve this goal and produce impactful outcomes. This mix of funding and partnerships allowed partners to increase the scope of this development and produce a greater number of affordable housing units while adding intrinsic community value to the project by including a community park, retail services and a community service facility.”
Construction of Riverport Landings is underway and is expected to be complete by January 2019.
Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) and McDonald’s® Restaurants of Kentuckiana announced the continuation of a partnership that will recognize teachers at the district’s eight transformation schools.
The program at transformation schools rewards teachers for being in class and ready to increase student achievement. Each month (August-May), a teacher with perfect attendance from each of the eight schools will be randomly drawn to win a gift package, valued at $20, courtesy of McDonald’s Restaurants of Kentuckiana. The eight teachers chosen each month will also be recognized on the district’s social media as the McDonald’s Teacher of the Month.
“These attendance incentives help recognize and reward our staff who are focused on being in the classroom ready to teach some of our most vulnerable students,” JCPS Acting Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio said. “We have the best teachers in the country right here in JCPS. I appreciate the local McDonald’s owner/operators for helping recognize their hard work and dedication to the district and its students.”
“At McDonald’s, we recognize the importance that educators play in strengthening our community,” said George Saliba, local McDonald’s owner/operator and president of the Kentuckiana Co-op. “We appreciate everything they do and are proud to show our appreciation for local teachers who are making a difference through learning.”\
Schools participating in the program include:
- Wheatley Elementary
- McFerran Preparatory Academy
- Camp Taylor Elementary
- Wilkerson Elementary
- Blue Lick Elementary
- Coleridge-Taylor Montessori Elementary
- Trunnell Elementary
- Blake Elementary
Be sure to follow JCPS on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @JCPSKY. To learn more about how local McDonald’s owner/operators are making a difference in the Kentuckiana community, follow on Twitter and Instagram @McDKentuckiana or any of the 100 McDonald’s Restaurants of Kentuckiana Facebook pages.
Mayor Greg Fischer is inviting all local faith leaders to sign on to a new online tool designed to better connect faith-based organizations with each other and Louisville Metro Government.
The Mayor’s new Faith Directory also will allow city leaders and staff to communicate information; hear concerns and suggestions; and to establish a list of venues for possible events and programs.
The Mayor will announce the new directory during a press conference at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 8 at Metro Hall, just before a 1:30 p.m. forum for area faith leaders. All faith leaders are invited to join.
(Sign on to the new directory)
The Mayor said the new directory is an extension of the city’s #BeThe1 efforts to engage citizens, business leaders and faith organizations in ways to help prevent violence in our community.
“Our faith leaders are at the forefront of our compassion efforts in Louisville, and they are important partners in sharing and supporting our long-term violence prevention efforts,” the Mayor said. “This directory will create a more sustainable mechanism for communication. We will use it to keep the leaders and their congregations and constituents apprised of what we’re doing, including faith forums and other events where they can share their advice on what else we can be doing.”
Metro’s Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods is working with the Mayor’s community engagement team and others to establish the directory, which invites faith groups to provide information ranging from their leadership, contact information, available meeting space and location.
Faith leaders can sign on by completing a survey at http://louisvilleky.gov/BeThe1.
For more information or to RVSP for Tuesday’s forum, contact Community Engagement Specialist Althea Jackson at (502) 574-1050, or althea.jackson@louisvilleky.gov.
Surrounded by young people who spent their summer working, Mayor Greg Fischer today declared the 2017 SummerWorks season a big success, with more than 5,200 youth ages 16-21 employed – breaking last year’s record total.
That number includes 800 youth employed by companies and organizations that directly teamed with the city and KentuckianaWorks to provide more extensive career training, led by a new SummerWorks partner, YouthBuild. Overall, a record 150 employers hired youth this summer.
“This year’s program was focused on creating deeper, more effective learning experiences for our youth participants, and YouthBuild did a phenomenal job in leading this effort,” the Mayor said. “Our 800 core placements received training to create résumés and prepare for job interviews, as well as coaching throughout the summer from YouthBuild staff or key private sector employer-partners. This effort helps us ensure that Louisville is a city of opportunity for all our young people.”
At a season-closing event at Kentucky Kingdom, two of those 800 young people shared their summer job experiences.
Munirah Sajjida, 17, said she has “loved my work” at the non-profit Plymouth Community Center. Munirah, who had been struggling with school attendance issues and other problems, also participates in the city’s ReImage program, designed to keep court-involved youth from getting into further trouble. She credited the SummerWorks program and ReImage with helping to get her life headed in a positive direction.
Jon Russell, who was hired back for a second summer as an assistant in human resources at Fourth Street Live! said his SummerWorks job “has given me skills that will be valuable to my dream of opening my own department store.”
Fourth Street Live! presented him with a scholarship, which he will use to attend the University of Kentucky. The company plans to award a scholarship yearly to a SummerWorks youth.
Mayor Fischer said such SummerWorks’ “employer champions” hired youth, ages 16-21, for jobs in hospitals, restaurants, groceries, banks and hotels. Working closely with supervisors and mentors, young people worked on manufacturing assembly lines and grocery check-out lanes, assisted companies with their IT and human resources needs, helped process insurance claims, worked in pharmacies and helped ship packages around the world.
Several of Louisville’s largest companies greatly increased their hiring, including GE Appliances, Ford, Humana and Kindred Healthcare.
Employers new to the program included 21st Century Parks, Coastal Cloud, Hilliard Lyons, Hyatt Hotel, McDonald’s local franchises, MedAssist, MSD, Speed Art Museum, University of Louisville and Workwell Industries.
A combination of public and private funding sponsored SummerWorks jobs at more than 85 non-profit organizations and city agencies, including Boys and Girls Clubs, Kentucky Shakespeare, the Food Literacy Project, Louisville Metro Police, Louisville Fire, EMS, Metro Parks, Family Health Centers, Americana Community Center and Louisville Grows.
Funding for those jobs included $600,000 that the Mayor and Metro Council placed in last year’s city budget, as well as $100,000 each from the James Graham Brown Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation and the family of businessman Paul Diaz.
This year, SummerWorks expanded its focus on creating job experiences that build entrepreneurial skills in young people. Small grants were provided to six partner organizations that helped youth learn to start their own business, learn computer coding, and gain invaluable on-the-job training in the medical field, building trades, and technology.
“We are thrilled to see this initiative grow and evolve in both the quantity of and quality of the job opportunities young people are able to experience,” said Michael Gritton, executive director of KentuckianaWorks, which operates the SummerWorks program.
Many of the companies joining SummerWorks this year were recruited by Greater Louisville Inc., the Metro Chamber of Commerce.
“GLI was pleased to partner with the Mayor’s SummerWorks Program and successfully recruit 30 new GLI investor companies and create 225 summer jobs for youth in our community,” said Kent Oyler, president & CEO of Greater Louisville Inc. “Hands-on experience in the workplace is critical for raising young persons’ expectations and building a quality workforce.”
The Mayor launched SummerWorks right after taking office in 2011, in response to the elimination of federal funding for summer jobs. That first year, 200 young people were placed in jobs. The program was recognized by the U.S. Conference of Mayors in 2014 as one of the nation’s best summer jobs programs for young people.
SummerWorks continues to work closely with Jefferson County Public Schools to place students in jobs that match up with what they are learning in school, and jobs in the key business sectors the city is strategically growing, such as technology, healthcare and business services.
Other companies participating included the Belle of Louisville, GlowTouch Technologies, Harland Clarke, Louisville Urban League, Louisville Zoo, Norton Healthcare, Oxmoor Auto Group, Speedway, Thorntons and YMCA of Greater Louisville.
The Mayor urged employers to make plans now to hire or support summer jobs for 2018. More information is at https://www.summerworks.org/
Photo: The Kentucky Center
COMPLEXIONS CONTEMPORARY BALLET
Friday, October 13, 8 p.m.
Brown Theatre on Broadway
315 W. Broadway, Louisville 40202
Don’t miss the Louisville premier of STARDUST, an “utterly transfixing” tribute to the life and music of David Bowie, full of glitter and glam!
Tickets start at $20, reserved seating, fees apply. Tickets go on sale Friday, August 4, at 10 a.m. through The Kentucky Center Ticket Service (501 W. Main) online, by phone (502.584-7777), and at The Kentucky Center Box Office (501 W. Main).
DANCE Magazine raves “Complexions Contemporary Ballet makes it sensationally, jaw-droppingly clear that we live in the age of the super-dancer, at a time when technical virtuosity is being redefined as an expressive state.”
Complexions transcends tradition with a groundbreaking mix of styles ranging from ballet to Hip Hop. The company, founded by former members of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden, has been featured multiple times on So You Think You Can Dance.
Please note this performance does not take place at The Kentucky Center. The historic Brown Theatre on Broadway is located several blocks away from the river, near the intersection of Broadway and Third Street.