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Mayor Greg Fischer today announced a contest to celebrate the Louisville Orchestra’s historic performance this week with guest conductor Michael Tilson Thomas.
Tilson Thomas, also known as MTT, is the celebrated music director of the San Francisco Symphony. He will be among the most prominent guest conductors for the Louisville Orchestra since a mid-century visit by Shostakovich and Stravinsky, according to Louisville Orchestra music director Teddy Abrams. More about the concert, including ticket information, can be found at https://louisvilleorchestra.org.
As part of the contest, Mayor Fischer is asking residents to share on social media about how music and the arts changed their lives.
He has posted this question to Facebook and Instagram —residents will have until 5 p.m. Thursday to share their story. The commenter with the best answer will receive two free tickets to the concert conducted by Tilson Thomas and Abrams on Saturday, April 15.
“Promoting rock concerts in college was one of my first experiences as an entrepreneur, and so I’m a big believer in the profound ways art can change a life — and a city,” Mayor Fischer said.
“I’m urging citizens to tell us how music has helped shape their lives, and for music lovers throughout our city — the longtime classical fans, and the new — to make plans to experience this significant moment for the Louisville Orchestra on Saturday.”
MTT will conduct the orchestra for a celebration of American music that includes pieces by Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copeland, John Adams and George Gershwin, as well as his own pieces.
Louisville Metro Police and Public Health and Wellness officials are encouraging residents served by the LMPD Third Division to safely dispose of medications on April 12 from 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm. People can drive up and drop off any unused and expired medications at 7219 Dixie Highway, LMPD Third Division headquarters. LMPD’s Third Division includes the neighborhoods of Fairdale, Iroquois, Iroquois Park, Kenwood Hill, PRP, Southland Park, Southside, Yorktown and Valley Station.
“Drug “take-back” events provide a safe, convenient and responsible way of disposing of prescription medications,” said LMPD Chief Conrad. “It gives the public an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs.”
“This is a simple way to address a vital public safety and public health issue,” said Dr. Joann Schulte, director of the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness. “We have an opioid abuse epidemic in Louisville and around the nation. Disposing of prescription medicines properly is one of the best ways to ensure they aren’t accidentally used or intentionally misused by someone else. Most people who get addicted start with the narcotics they find in other people’s medicine cabinets.”
“It’s also important that people properly and safely dispose of medications,” Schulte added. “Flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash is not the best way. Our local police collect these drugs and ensure they are properly destroyed.”
LMPD’s last drug take-back event was in October. 700 pounds of medications were collected. More events to help residents safely dispose of medication will be hosted throughout the city this year.
For more information and links to permanent safe disposal sites that can be accessed year round, go to https://louisvilleky.gov/government/health-wellness/safe-medication-disposal.
Yesterday, Mayor Greg Fischer joined Councilwoman Cheri Bryant Hamilton, the Waterfront Development Corporation (WDC), the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD), and MKSK Studios to announce that a major piece of planning for Waterfront Park Phase IV is in place.
MSD has acquired 4.8 acres of land there as part of a tunnel basin project that is expected to begin construction in late summer 2017. Once completed, the bulk of the land will be turned over for the park, providing an important link with other parcels, creating a unified waterfront experience.
“Waterfront Park is Louisville’s front yard, our community living room. We’re enormously proud of it,” said the Mayor. “Projects like Waterfront Park Phase IV are critical because they strengthen the connection among our neighborhoods by giving people even more space to come together, take a walk, ride their bikes and enjoy our unique quality of life in Louisville.”
Phase IV will expand Waterfront Park west of 10th Street to provide a continuation of open space along the river and bring the prospect for new experiences and activities to the area. As part of the project, River Road will be extended west to Rowan Street, providing a vital connection between the existing park and Phase IV, downtown and the west.
The existing RiverWalk adds an additional pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly connection between the first three phases and Phase IV. The expansion will also refresh and update one of the early sections of the Louisville Loop.
“I am excited that today we are taking another important step in the westward expansion of Waterfront Park with the acquisition of all the 22-acres,” said Councilwoman Bryant Hamilton. “Louisville was founded here in the Portland neighborhood, and I’m glad that the residents of the community will soon have additional waterfront recreational access, as was originally planned back in the 1980s.”
In addition to announcing the land acquisition, MKSK unveiled new renderings of the amenities Phase IV will provide, centering on three components – Reveal, Play, Connect, where residents and visitors can experience the waterfront like never before.
The 22-acre site plan shows increased green space and interactive features that will connect Portland and downtown, becoming a catalyst for economic development, improved health and wellness for the city, as well as a regional attraction for visitors to downtown.
“The location of Phase IV offers both social and economic opportunities that few other sites in the city could afford,” said WDC VP Mike Kimmel. “This will be an exciting addition to Waterfront Park.”
The Waterfront Park master plan for Phase IV was approved by Metro Council in 2015, and the city allocated $950,000 in last year’s budget for planning and land acquisition. As with the first three phases of Waterfront Park, funding will be assembled from a variety of sources, including requests to government, corporations, individuals, and foundations. The team will work with the Jefferson County Legislative Delegation and the Congressional Delegation to help identify state and federal resources.
Waterfront Park has been a 30-plus-year project with planning beginning with creation of the Waterfront Development Corporation in 1986, extensive public meetings in the late ‘80s, and the adoption of the original Waterfront Master Plan in 1992. Completion of the first three phases of Waterfront Park, and plans for Phase IV, have sparked more than $1.3 billion in investment in the surrounding area and built a program of more than 150 special events per year with an annual park attendance of more than 2 million visitors.
As part of Louisville’s economic momentum and in anticipation of the new park extension, the city is already enjoying new investment in west Louisville, including Kentucky Peerless Distilling Co., Heine Brothers’ headquarters, Old 502 Winery, Over the 9, and other exciting projects in the Portland neighborhood.
Click here to view design renderings for Phase IV.
Public comments on the project are welcome, visit https://louisvillewaterfront.com/contact/
For more information on Waterfront Park, visit https://louisvillewaterfront.com/about-wdc/what-we-do/phaseiv/
30 Kentuckiana students ranging in age from 5 to 18 and their winning artwork from the 2017 Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation Student Art Contest Presented by The Fillies, Inc. will be honored Tuesday night. The awards ceremony will be held at 6:30 p.m. at duPont Manual High School. For the past 40 years, the Festival has offered this contest as a way for local students to showcase their artistry and creative skill. Students from public, private and parochial schools in all Kentucky counties, as well as Clark and Floyd counties in Indiana are invited to participate
Hundreds of area students from grades K–12 produced original artwork showing their interpretation of Derby Festival events. The result is an exciting mix of drawings, paintings, collages, mixed media, compositions and prints. Students used watercolor, acrylics, inks, crayons, oil pastels, felt markers or any combination of these to create their one-of-a-kind pieces of work.
Entries in the Student Art Contest were judged by art professionals from the community. The winners in each division will receive a medallion, t-shirt, certificate, ribbon, and a Student Art Contest Winner’s Pin. First-place finishers will receive a 2017 Kentucky Derby Festival framed poster created by the 2017 Official Poster artist Ron Jasin and get to ride in the Republic Bank Pegasus Parade. Teachers of the winning students are also invited to the ceremony and will receive special recognition.
The artwork by area students will also be on display at the Republic Bank Pegasus Parade Preview Party beginning at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 2.
The Foundation’s Student Art Contest is sponsored by Fillies, Inc. The Fillies, Inc. was founded in 1959 kicking off a tradition of volunteer service to the local community. They join Contributing Sponsor Kentucky College of Art + Design at Spalding University and Media Sponsor ARTxFM.
The Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation, a 501 C 3 not-for-profit charity, receives and manages charitable contributions on behalf of the Kentucky Derby Festival, Inc., its supporters and the general public. The Foundation perpetuates the Festival’s impact on the community by developing projects that highlight the Festival’s influence on the area’s cultural heritage. It works to further the Festival’s educational and charitable mission through exhibitions and performances.
Photo: Louisville Metro Office of Advanced Planning
The Louisville Metro Office of Advanced Planning will hold public meetings at 6 p.m. on April 19 and May 18 at Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana, 2115 Lexington Road, to discuss safety improvements coming soon to Lexington Road between Grinstead Drive and Payne Street.
The meetings are designed to allow citizens to view and to discuss the proposed improvements with Metro staff. The planned changes implement recommendations of the Lexington Road Corridor Transportation Plan, which was completed in 2015 after extensive community engagement.
Project details include:
- Extending the left turn bay on eastbound Lexington Road to northbound Grinstead Drive, for those traveling to I-64, to accommodate rush hour congestion. The number of lanes at this intersection will not be reduced.
- Lanes in the lower traffic volume area between Grinstead and Payne will be reduced from four to two so that a flush median (buffer zone) can be introduced to separate oncoming traffic and reduce the number of collisions.
- Dedicated left turn lanes will be introduced at Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana, The Woods at Lexington Road, and Payne Street.
- With the reduction in the number of lanes in the lower traffic volume areas, the pavement width will allow for painted, flush medians and bike facilities.
The safety improvements will be coordinated with a scheduled repaving of the Lexington Road corridor slated for later this year. The current Average Daily Traffic (ADT) count—a measurement of the volume of vehicular traffic per day—is currently 10,800 vehicles and has been decreasing since the completion of the Ohio River Bridges Project.
Typical roadway reconfigurations of four lanes to two lanes can accommodate up to 16,000 ADT.
Lexington Road is very similar in design to Grinstead Drive, which underwent a similar reconfiguration in 2012 and has shown a 67 percent reduction in collisions.
Lexington Road from Payne Street to Baxter Avenue is not part of this proposed project, though funding is available to study the Payne to Baxter segment. As part of this future study, additional opportunities for citizens input will be provided.
To view the Lexington Road Corridor Transportation Plan or provide a comment on this project, please visit https://louisvilleky.gov/government/advanced-planning/lexington-road-saf…
Four teachers from Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) have been selected for 2018 Valvoline Teacher Achievement Awards (TAA), the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) announced last week. The four join 20 other teachers throughout the state in competing for the 2018 Kentucky Teacher of the Year Award, which will be announced in May.
The teachers include:
· Mandy Ridenour, a fifth-grade teacher at Audubon Traditional Elementary School;
· Kim Joiner, a drama teacher at Noe Middle School;
· Apryl Moore, a science teacher at the Academy @ Shawnee; and
· Taylor Clements, a math teacher at Atherton High School.
“It’s always rewarding to be recognized for excellence in your field, but when that field is teaching our young people, the award takes on a special significance,” JCPS Superintendent Dr. Donna Hargens said. “I want to congratulate all the award recipients – I know you do the jobs that you do not for the accolades, but for the love of teaching, and that makes the real winners our students whose lives you touch.”
All 24 teachers will be honored at a May 16 ceremony in Frankfort, during which the Kentucky Elementary, Middle and High School Teachers of the Year will be named. The Kentucky Teacher of the Year will be selected from this group of three finalists, and will represent the state in the National Teacher of the Year competition.
The Kentucky Teacher Achievement Awards and the Kentucky Teacher of the Year programs are sponsored by Valvoline.
Photo: Attorney General Beshear’s Office
Attorney General Andy Beshear and his Cyber Crimes Unit today announced a Jefferson County man has been arrested for allegedly seeking sex with a minor.
Robert L. Tomlinson, 55, of Louisville, has been charged with one count of prohibited use of an electronic communication system for the purpose of procuring a minor for a sex offense, a Class D felony.
According to Beshear’s cyber investigators, Tomlinson became the subject of an investigation after seeking sex with a minor and asked for sexually explicit photos of a minor.
Beshear’s cyber investigators arrested Tomlinson April 5 in Louisville with the assistance of Louisville Metro Police and the United States Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force.
The work of the AG’s Cyber Crimes Unit, a division of the Department of Criminal Investigations, is part of Beshear’s core mission to keep sexual predators away from Kentucky’s families and children.
“The Attorney General is the chief advocate and protector of Kentucky families, and my office’s job is to ensure our communities are safe by taking off the streets anyone who would exploit children,” Beshear said. “I want to thank our cyber investigators, Chief Conrad and his officers, and the Secret Service for working on this case.”
Beshear’s work to prevent child abuse led to nearly 80 arrests, indictments and convictions of online child predators in 2016.
Tomlinson was transported to Louisville Metro Corrections where he remains on a $10,000 full cash bond. He is scheduled to appear in court April 14.
Beshear’s Cyber Crimes Unit partners with federal, state and local agencies to further their ongoing efforts in Operation Shielded Child, which targets those who would seek out children for sexual exploitation and those who promote the ongoing proliferation of child pornography.
