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Photo: Louisville Metro Council
President David James (D-6) invites everyone to start their Halloween celebration a little earlier than usual by taking advantage of the haunted history of one of the city’s most unique and in this case scary neighborhood’s: Old Louisville.
“We are offering a great way to experience the beauty of Victorian Old Louisville this weekend by adding a little something extra to an annual event which may surprise some folks in a fun way,” said President James.
The Victorian Ghost Walk is an annual production of outdoor theater that celebrates the ghostly past of “America’s Most Haunted Neighborhood” amidst a stunning backdrop of gas-lit walkways and beautiful mansions. It is a progressive porch play bringing together a wide variety of talent and visitors every year in October as the Old Louisville historic district becomes a stage where haunted history comes to life.
“The South 4th Street Neighborhood Association is proud to partner with local author, chef, and professor David Dominé to celebrate “America’s Most Haunted Neighborhood.” A cast of real-life actors bring ghosts and characters from his books to life in this outdoor theatrical walking tour in the heart of historic Old Louisville,” says Susan C. Coleman Layman of the Association.
Among the highlights of this ghost walk the casual walker will see on the tour are the Resurrectionist, the millionaire and the woman who claimed she was “Queen of America”.
Along the way there will be goblins and the Witch at the Witches’ Tree, where a neighborhood witch from the 1800s shares the tale of how a curse led to its gnarled and twisted appearance; The Stick Witch, a crazed old hags jealously guards a cart full of sticks in the park; Jennie Bowman, a ghost of a young Irish woman who returns to tell the sad tale of a deadly encounter; Annie Whipple, who’s spirit returns to the mansion to warn against the dangers of trying to communicate with the dead; Lady Ross, a phantom who returns to her childhood home to recount the details of her unhappy marriage to an aristocrat.
Part walking tour, part porch play, David Dominé’s Victorian Ghost Walk brings together local acting talent to showcase the Old Louisville Preservation District and raise funds for neighborhood organizations.
“This is just one of the many great community events that Old Louisville sponsors as a way to continue this special neighborhood,” says James.
The Victorian Ghost Walk gets underway at 6:00pm on Friday, October 18th, Saturday, October 19th and Sunday, October 20th beginning at 1402 St James Court.
For more information about this event or if you need ticket information go to: https://louisvillehistorictours.com/victorian-ghost-walk/
Photo: Louisville Metro Council
Councilwoman Keisha Dorsey (D-3) will deliver the opening remarks at a very special event designed to help young women navigate the connections they need to be successful in the future.
The Mother Daughter Tea Event will help empower women from adolescent, young adult and young at heart by providing the opportunities for success in all facets of their lives.
“I look forward to speaking at this event because I know that women in the 21st Century are active in all areas of our community. Many of them are potential leaders and doers who just need to know how to begin that journey,” said the Councilwoman. “Many times, they may not be aware of all the resources available to help them succeed in business and community endeavors. Our goal is to help them find and use those resources.”
Participants in the event will learn more about networking, empowerment and etiquette. The event is also looking for those who would like to serve as mentors for young women.
Councilwoman Dorsey created this program as part of the upcoming 100Th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage and she is hopeful it will serve as a primer to not only commemorate and celebrate but educate and equip the next generation of women to continue the fight of equity and equality for all women.
The Mother Daughter Tea Event is set for Sunday between 5:00pm and 7:00pm at 4019 Dixie Highway – Union Hall.
The Department of Public Health and Wellness is reminding people that despite cooler weather, mosquitoes are still active and continue to pose a threat for transmitting diseases such as West Nile virus. People should continue to guard themselves by wearing insect repellant and long sleeves and pants when going outdoors, especially at dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are most active.
This year there has been one death reported from West Nile in ZIP code 40211 and one other non-fatal case in ZIP code 40215. Mosquitoes have tested positive for West Nile in ZIP codes 40204, 40205, 40206, 40211, 40213, 40214 and 40215. It is also important to note that we have had no mosquitoes test positive for any diseases other than West Nile virus.
The Department of Public Health and Wellness is continuing countywide mosquito control actions, including treating catch basins, monitoring mosquito traps and testing mosquitoes for diseases, and fogging when necessary.
“Even though we can expect mosquito populations to begin to decrease as the weather gets cooler, West Nile positive mosquitoes may continue to be present throughout the entire community until the first hard frost,” said Dr. Sarah Moyer, director of the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness. “If you go outdoors during dusk and dawn, you should wear long sleeves and pants and insect repellant to protect yourself. We advise everyone to take the appropriate precautions no matter what ZIP code you live in.”
The Department of Public Health and Wellness advises people to take the following precautions:
Avoid Mosquito Bites
- Use insect repellents when you go outdoors. Repellents containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, and some oil of lemon eucalyptus and para-menthane-diol products provide longer-lasting protection. To optimize safety and effectiveness, repellents should be used according to the label instructions.
- Wear long sleeves, long pants and socks when outdoors. Mosquitoes may bite through thin clothing, so spraying clothes with repellent containing permethrin will give extra protection. Don’t apply repellents containing permethrin directly to skin. Do not spray repellent on the skin under your clothing.
- Take extra care during peak mosquito biting hours. Take extra care to use repellent and protective clothing at dusk and dawn or consider avoiding outdoor activities during these times.
Mosquito-Proof Your Home
- Install or repair screens on windows and doors to keep mosquitoes outside. Use your air conditioning, if you have it.
- Help reduce the number of mosquitoes around your home by emptying standing water from flowerpots, gutters, buckets, pool covers, pet water dishes, discarded tires and birdbaths on a regular basis.
Last year there were four human West Nile cases in Louisville and no deaths. In 2017 there was one non-fatal human case. In 2016 there were two human cases and one death. In 2015, there were three human cases with no deaths.
In most instances, people infected with West Nile virus either show no symptoms or relatively mild symptoms. However, less than one percent of infected people develop a serious neurologic illness such as encephalitis or meningitis. Serious illness can occur in people of any age. However, people over 60 years of age are at the greatest risk for severe disease. People with certain medical conditions, such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease, and people who have received organ transplants, are also at greater risk for serious illness.
The Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness has operated a mosquito control program for more than 60 years. The department does surveillance of mosquito populations with traps strategically located throughout the community, and tests mosquitos for such diseases as West Nile, La Crosse, Eastern Equine and St. Louis Encephalitis.
In the spring the department pre-treats potential mosquito breeding sites with larvicide to prevent hatch offs. In the summer it treats catch basins and performs mosquito fogging in response to West Nile virus and other mosquito-borne diseases.
For more information on mosquito control and prevention, visit https://www.cdc.gov/westnile/index.html or www.louisvilleky.gov/health. If mosquitoes are bad in your neighborhood, file a complaint by calling MetroCall 311 or 502.574.5000.
Louisville residents are invited to bring unneeded documents to be shredded and prescription drugs to be disposed of at a free event on November 2, 2019. The paper shredding and drug toss event is a joint operation of Louisville Metro Public Works and Louisville Metro Police.
Residents can protect themselves from identify theft and divert unused medications from the waste stream or misuse by bringing items to:
Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center
1030 Phillips Lane
Saturday, November 2, 2019
8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Businesses may not participate in this event. All paper materials will be shredded on site and recycled. Shredding services are donated by the Louisville Branch of Shred-It Louisville. The drug toss is a drive-through event.
In advance, black out all personal information on all medication containers that will be tossed. For safety reasons, sharp items, needles, lances, cosmetics, personal care or hygiene items cannot be accepted. Medication products should never be flushed down the toilet or drain, burned in the open or thrown in the trash because they can contaminate the environment if exposed to drinking and ground water.
Dare to Care Food Bank broke ground today, on its new Dare to Care Community Kitchen in partnership with the Novak Family Foundation. The new Kitchen will be located at the site of a former grocery store at 28th and Virginia Streets in Louisville’s Parkland neighborhood. Opening in April 2020, the new Kitchen will triple the size of Dare to Care’s current kitchen, expanding capacity for existing and new programs to serve Kentuckiana’s 170,000 food insecure residents.
More than a new building, the Community Kitchen ushers in a new era of fighting hunger in the community according to Brian Riendeau, Dare to Care Executive Director.
“Since our founding 50 years ago, Dare to Care has grown and evolved to meet the changing needs of our hungry neighbors. This expanded capacity will equip us to launch innovative new programming designed to meet community needs in the next decade and beyond.”
To fund construction of the new facility, Dare to Care is launching a $7.1 Million capital campaign. The Novak Family Foundation continued its deep support of Dare to Care’s mission by providing the lead gift for the new facility.
“We believe that no person should ever go to bed hungry because of lack of access to food” Said David Novak, “We are honored to partner with such a forward-thinking organization like Dare to Care Food Bank. The new facility allows us to support the changing food insecurity needs of our community in new and expansive ways”
Yum! Brands, a longtime supporter of Dare to Care, is also stepping up to support the expansion.
“Dare to Care’s work around hunger relief is truly transforming people’s lives for the better, and Yum! Brands is honored to support their mission with this $1 million gift,” said Yum! Brands Chief Executive Officer Greg Creed. “In Yum!’s long history with Dare to Care, our partnership has always been focused on giving back to our hometown, helping those in need and making Louisville and the surrounding communities a great place for our local employees and their families. We’re excited to see how the new Dare to Care Community Kitchen will continue to achieve this goal.”
Together, Yum! Brands and its Louisville-based employees have contributed more than $16 million over 17 years to the Dare to Care Food Bank to end hunger in the Kentucky/Indiana region.
Louisville Metro Government owns the building and will enter into a long-term lease with Dare to Care.
“Dare to Care is a critical partner in the fight to end hunger in Louisville, and we are excited to partner with them on this expansion, which will spur innovative thinking around how to increase access to affordable and healthy food,” said Mayor Greg Fischer. “This project will breathe new life into this commercial node in the Parkland neighborhood, attracting other retail and services to the area.”
Plans for the new facility include new programming, moving several Dare to Care staff from its Fern Valley main distribution facility, and collaborating with Catholic Charities’ Common Table job training program, providing it with a more extensive curriculum and greater enrollment capacity. Dare to Care’s new programming includes growing Kids Cafe afterschool sites, creating meals in various formats for senior citizens, processing produce and recovered food to make it easier to use and lengthen its shelf life, expanding the reach of its nutrition education programming, and providing a platform for the creation of programs to meet future needs.
Construction is beginning at the new site and is expected to be completed in April 2020.
For more information and to learn how to join in the capital campaign, visit https://daretocare.org/learn-more/community-kitchen/.
Photo: Project Green Heart
At 1000 Stanley Avenue this week, the first of thousands of trees was planted as part of a major health study to determine the impact of green foliage on the community’s health.
Councilwoman Keisha Dorsey (D-3) was on hand for the first tree planted as part of the Green Heart Project, a program being conducted by the University of Louisville Environment Institute and The Nature Conservancy.
“We know Louisville Metro has been losing trees at an alarming rate. As the Green Heart Project moves forward in the coming years, we will be able to have a better understanding on how greenery impacts the health of the people of our community while replenishing our tree canopy,” said Dorsey.
The Green Heart Project will examine, for the first time, if increasing greenness in an urban community will reduce the levels of air pollution in the neighborhood, decrease the risk of heart disease, and increase outdoor activity and relationships between neighbors.
Green Heart will help discover:
- How to plant trees in urban communities to maximize the removal of air pollution,
- If increasing green space affects the risk of developing obesity, diabetes, and heart disease,
- If increasing urban green space reduces mental stress, enhances social cohesion, increases physical activity, and
- If urban green space affects crime rates, property values, storm water runoff, energy use, and heat island effect.
Research teams with the project have already conducted health screenings with neighborhood residents and will recheck their biomarkers over time to determine whether the additional trees and shrubs improve their health, including cardiovascular health, diabetes, and other health indicators.
The Green Heart Project has a specific timeline:
- Baseline measurements in 2018 and 2019
- Monitor levels of air pollution around roadways and residential areas.
- Recruit hundreds of people for the HEAL Health Study to see baseline health, stress levels, lifestyle and relationships, and disease risk.
- Greening in 2019 and 2020
- Plant thousands of trees, shrubs, and grasses to create a robust and sustainable ecosystem maximized to remove air pollution.
- Monitoring in 2020 and 2021
- Track changes in pollution, physical and mental health, and social change.
- Comparison in 2022
- Compare observed changes before planting and two years after planting
“Every neighborhood in our community is special and we all want a better quality of life,” said Dorsey. “Now, we will be able to see through the Green Heart Project if the beauty of trees and greenery not only improve our neighborhoods but our health as well.”
For more information about the Green Heart Project, go to: https://louisville.edu/greenheart/about
Photo: Louisville Metro Council
Over the last two years, much attention has been focused on efforts to help the homeless in Louisville Metro. One organization works with the Metro Council and other agencies to find ways to address the problem.
Councilwoman Madonna Flood (D-24) announces the next South Central Regional Forum will focus on the work of The Coalition for the Homeless on Wednesday, October 16th.
“Homelessness is a great challenge for many cities and Louisville Metro is no exception,” says the Councilwoman. “The Coalition knows first-hand the scope of the situation and resources the city uses to deal with the problem.”
The forum is set for the South Central Regional Library at 7400 Jefferson Boulevard from 6:00pm to 8:00pm.
Natalie Harris, Executive Director of the Coalition has been invited to talk about the group’s mission. The Coalition educates the community about homelessness and inspires action, advocates for system change and coordinates the community response to homelessness through efficient use of resources and funding.
“If you have a question or would like a better understanding of the homeless issue in the community, then I encourage you to come and join us” says Flood.
Code Enforcement Officers and LMPD Officers will also be present at the forum to answer public safety and other questions.
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.
