Tomorrow, during Father’s Day and courtesy of the Ford Motor Company of Louisville, dads will be able enjoy the Louisville Zoo free tomorrow.
The zoo opens at 10:00 AM and gates close at 5:00 PM.
Governor Matt Bevin, after months of talking with University of Louisville President James Ramsey, issued an executive order that dismissed the UofL Board of Trustees that were appointed. The members that were elected by students and faculty will remain. Governor Bevin will appoint a three-member team to serve for two weeks until the new board can be appointed.
The new board will consist of 13 members; 10 of which will be appointed by the Governor. Along with the dismantling of the board, President Ramsey also submitted a letter of resignation to the Governor, which will take effect as soon as the new board is appointed.
The order comes after multiple scandals at the university: the basketball-escort scandal, the dean at the school of education being indicted for defrauding the university, an FBI probe into misuse of federal grant money and a state audit into the relationship between the UofL Foundation and the Board of Trustees.

Credit: Louisville Metro Police
Security has been increased at the Humana Waterside Building and the FBI has been called in to handle the investigation. Some employees found graffiti on the floor in a bathroom. Exact details of the incident have not been released.
Several Humana employees reportedly said that the message referenced the attack in Orlando and suggested a similar type of attack will occur in here in Louisville. Many employees were allowed to go home.
LMPD and the FBI are working together to determine if this is a hate crime. John E. Kuhn, the US attorney for the Western District of Kentucky stated that they first need to identify the culprit before they can determine the actual extent of the threat.
The results are in. Louisville’s own Slugger Field has been declared the winner of the Best Triple-A Ballpark in the US for 2016.
The contest, held by Ballpark Digest, ranked fields in a bracket style tournament. Then, fans were given the opportunity to vote for their favorite in each round. Over 14,000 fans voted for their favorite ballparks throughout the tournament.
The final round, came down to Louisville Slugger Field and Indianapolis’s Victory Field. In a narrow margin of 51% to 49%, Louisville won.
A complete list of all fields with rank as well as the results for each round of voting can be found at Ballpark Digest.
Last night, Louisville mayor Greg Fischer proposed the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The overall budget is $822 million, which reflects an increase from last year due to an improving local economy. The city says they are anticipating a 4%, $20 million, increase in revenue this year.
58% of the budget is dedicated to public safety and related agencies. This approximately $475 million will be used to hire new firefighters and new metro police officers. Some will go to replacing city vehicles, such as police cars, ambulances and snow plows. $300,000 will be used to add more public cameras to the city and $640,000 will used to pay metro police officers working in areas where crime is higher overtime.
$20 million will be used to repave streets and roads in the city with no word at this time on which roads will be improved. There is also $500,000 set aside to increase the number of bike lanes throughout the city. $100,000 will be used to redesign parts of Broadway and $1 million will be used to purchase vacant and abandoned properties.
Other points of interest are $4 million which will be used for repairs at Slugger Field, $1 million for repairs at the Louisville Zoo, a 2% raise for non-union city employees and $6.1 million to upgrade computers and software for the city government.
The entire budget proposal can be viewed on the City of Louisville website. Anyone wishing to comment on the budget will have the opportunity on Wednesday, June 1st at 5:00 PM. The meeting will be held in the Council Chambers, which are located at 601 West Jefferson Street. Sign-ups will begin at 4:00 PM on the third floor of City Hall. Speakers will be given 3 minutes to make comments and may submit a written statement as well. For more information on the meeting, you can contact Tony Hyatt at 502-574-4137 or Stephen Haag at 502-574-1204.
Mayor Greg Fisher will deliver his proposed 2016-2017 Capital and Operational Budget Address on Thursday, May 26th at 4:00pm during a special meeting of the Louisville Metro Council. As a result of this special meeting, the Democratic Caucus will not meet on Thursday.
The Committee of the Whole will meet prior to the Mayor’s address at 3:00pm in the First Floor Conference Room to review the Council’s agendas for the evening.
The Louisville Metro Council will hold its last regular meeting of the month of May at 6:00pm in Council Chambers. The meetings are open to the public, who may enter City Hall using the Sixth Street entrance. Anyone needing assistance may enter City Hall from the Jefferson Street entrance.
Louisville is one of five cities selected by national funder Living Cities and the Government Alliance on Race and Equity to join an effort, Racial Equity Here, to improve racial equity and advance successful outcomes for all in America’s cities.
“Louisville is a compassionate city, dedicated to offering each and every individual the opportunity to reach their full human potential,” Mayor Greg Fischer said. “We have taken many steps to improve our city through innovation and regular analysis of our daily work and are focused on system-wide change.
“Racial Equity Here will help us develop even more tools to address disparities that seriously affect individuals across our community. We look forward to further advancing racial equity here in Louisville and taking a lead in closing the opportunity gap.”
Louisville will join Albuquerque, Austin, Grand Rapids, and Philadelphia as part of this effort.
Government leaders in each city will complete a racial equity assessment of their core government operations. This assessment will include an intentional focus on operations as they relate to adults and youth of color aged 16 to 24, who are disproportionally out of school or work.
By understanding how and where municipal operations affect young people of color, governments will not only better understand their role in perpetuating disparities but will also begin addressing them in transformative ways. Over a two-year period, the jurisdictions will develop a blueprint of government-wide strategies and begin executing the skills, tools and processes they develop through this work.
The cities participating in Racial Equity Here were selected based in part on a demonstrated commitment to improving racial equity and improving outcomes for young people of color, and to expanding efforts across the breadth of outcomes that government influences.
A cross-functional team of Louisville government leaders, led by the Office of Performance Improvement & Innovation (OPI2), submitted the application to participate in the initiative. The Center for Health Equity, Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods, Office for Globalization, Departments of Community Services and Human Resources and the Human Relations Commission will all participate in the 24-month cohort, alongside OPI2. Continue reading