Thursday October 16, 2025
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Following last night’s announcement of a Ferguson, Missouri, grand jury decision to return a “no true bill” on each of the five indictments – meaning that officer Darren Wilson will not go to trial for the shooting of Michael Brown – demonstrations were seen in Ferguson and many of the nation’s larger cities.
Although St. Louis Prosecutor Bob McCulloch spent more than 45 minutes in a press conference explaining that the grand jury saw all available evidence – including more than 70 hours of testimony from about 60 witness (including those witnesses who contradicted the evidence or each other) -and made their own decision, many of the demonstrators claimed that justice had not been served. Despite calls for peace from police, Brown’s family, and even the president, demonstrations quickly turned violent as protesters taunted the police, broke windows, looted businesses, and set fire to vehicles and buildings, leaving much of Ferguson smoldering this morning.
A Tumblr webpage called Ferguson National Response Network claims to have compiled a “Listing of planned responses to the Darren Wilson Grand Jury Annoouncement“, with Louisville and Lexington being among the planned demonstration cities. The website indicates that a demonstration will take place in downtown Louisville at the LMPD headquarters at 7th & Jefferson at 5pm the day after the announcement (today). Demonstrations are also planned in Lexington on the 200 block of Limestone at 6pm the day after the announcement (today).
Given the events that unfolded in Ferguson following the announcement, these planned activities may some Louisvillians worried. However, one LMPD officer with whom a Louisville Dispatch editor spoke said that they did not anticipate anything happening, but suggested that citizens may want to begin avoiding the area at 3pm if they are concerned.
Former Louisville Mayor Resigns as Lt. Gov. to Fill Federal Position – Luallen to Fill Second-in-Command Role
Jerry Abramson is stepping down from his position as Kentucky’s Lieutenant Governor after Barack Obama tapped the democrat for the role of White House Liason to Staet and Local Government. Abramson earned the nickname of Louisville’s “mayor for life” after occupying the office for 21 years – the longest tenure in the position’s history.
One of Abramson’s duties in his new role will be to help coordinate with states on Obamacare’s upcoming second open enrollment period which begins on November 15 and lasts for three months. Abramson was tapped, in part, due to his experience as chairman of Kentucky’s health care initiative, one of the more successful state exchanges under Obamacare with more than 400,000 people enrolled. This announcement comes at an interesting time, as John Boehner and Mitch McConnell renew efforts to repeal the Obamacare law following the “shellacking” suffered by democrats in the midterm elections.
Additional duties for Abramson include work on education and economic issues, including work toward raising the minimum wage in states and cities as Congress rejects Obama’s call for a national increase.
The appointment, not subject to Senate confirmation, sees Abramson replace departing David Agnew. The position reports to Obama consigliere, Valerie Jarrett. Former state auditor Crit Luallen will step up to fill the state’s vacated second-in-command role. Luallen has also served in various positions in the Commonwealth, including state budget director, secretary of the Governor’s Executive Cabinet, secretary of the Finance and Administration Cabinet and secretary of the Tourism Cabinet.
Abramson’s resignation will be effective November 13 and he will begin his new position the following day, one day before the open enrollment period begins.
U.S. SENATE, KY
| Mitch McConnell | 806,015 | 56% |
| Alison Lundergan Grimes | 584,444 | 41% |
| David Patterson | 44,253 | 3$ |
U.S. HOUSE, KY 2nd DISTRICT
| Brett Guthrie | 156,992 | 69% |
| Ron Leach | 69,877 | 31% |
U.S. HOUSE, KY 3rd DISTRICT
| John Yarmuth | 157,045 | 63% |
| Michael Macfarlane | 87,972 | 36% |
| Gregory Puccetti | 2,317 | 1% |
U.S. HOUSE, KY 4th DISTRICT
| Thomas Massie | 150,463 | 68% |
| Peter Newberry | 71,693 | 32% |
LOUISVILLE METRO MAYOR
| Greg Fischer | 172,766 | 69% |
| Bob DeVore | 78,851 | 31% |
Residents Ordered to Shelter in Place as Thick Black Smoke Fills Area
Liberty Tire Recycling, in the 14000 block of Bohannon Dr in southwest Jefferson County, is the site of a large fire that is engulfing the area in thick, black smoke.
At around 11:20AM, area residents who have signed up for CodeRed Alert notifications received a call from PRP Fire Department advising them to shelter in place due to the large fire and billowing smoke. The message further advised to turn off HVAC systems and avoid going outside, especially for those with respiratory problems.
Louisville Dispatch was able to get some photos of the area before being turned back by LMPD personnel who are controlling access to the affected area, which is approximately two miles south of Gene Snyder at Dixie Highway. At last word, only one fire truck is on scene pumping water onto the large pile of burning shredded tires.
Citizens are urged to call 311 if they need information or to report issues regarding the fire and to only dial 911 in the case of actual, immediate emergencies. Air monitoring is in place in the area and residents are being told not to travel or evacuate unless told to do so. Officials say that the fire may burn for two days as extinguishing efforts are complicated by the fire burning from the bottom up.
More information will be posted on LouisvilleDispatch.com, as well as our Facebook and Twitter feeds, as it becomes available.
Are you ready to start paying to cross the Ohio River between Louisville and Southern Indiana?
The $2.3B Ohio River Bridges Project will result in tolls for drivers crossing the Kennedy Bridge – which will be turned into a southbound-only route, the new downtown bridge next to the Kennedy, and a new upriver Prospect bridge that connects with Utica, Indiana. Drivers won’t start paying tolls until 2016, but transportation officials are ready to choose a toll operator this week to begin implementing the new system.
Rather than manned tollbooths, the automated system will use in-car transponders to pay tolls from a pre-paid toll account. Cameras with license plate recognition will be used to mail toll bills to drivers without an account.
The six finalists managing the toll operations include the 3M Company, Portuguese-based Brisa Inovacao e Tecnologia, S.A., Austrian Kapsch TrafficCom IVHS Inc. – which was selected earlier this year to provide transponders for the toll system, French Sanef Operations America Inc., TransCore LP of Nashville, and Xerox State & Local Solutions, Inc.
The result of this selection process would be a move toward final selection of the operator, who would oversee camera installation, violation processing and managing the toll-operations center. The recommended operator would then need to be approved by the Indiana Finance Authority.
The last of the 22 silos remain standing, ready for demolition.
The last of the 22 silos overlooking I-65 from Floyd Street, where they have stood for nearly a century, are coming down.
The silos were owned by DuPont subsidiary Solae until their $3.3 million purchase by the University of Louisville Foundation in December 2013. Although long-term plans are not certain, the 15-acre property will temporarily be used for additional parking for U of L football games and other events at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.
In addition to the land use benefits, Kathleen Smith, chief of staff to U of L President James Ramsey, said that the project “will give the university options to expand while clearing the view for I-65 travelers to see our spectacularly beautiful Belknap campus.”
Demolition of the silos began in late July and is expected to be completed in the coming weeks, with cleanup and new construction taking longer. The tear down is being done in stages to allow for debris to be hauled away before proceeding with further demolition. The work comes with a $687,800 price tag with the Foundation receiving half of the proceeds from the sale of salvageable equipment and materials from the site – the other half of which will go to the demolition company, NorthStar Group Holdings, LLC.
Click the silo demolition photos below to see them fullsize. Continue reading
Today is the first day of school for JCPS students throughout the metro area.
Nearly 100,000 students will be headed back to school throughout Jefferson County today as the 2014-2015 school year begins for JCPS. Almost 70,000 of those students will be transported by the 975 buses that will be on the road starting today. School officials stress that parents should be patient as the new school year, complete with some route changes, gets rolling and expect their children to arrive up to 30 minutes later than they might usually get home. Parents or students with questions can call the transportation hotline at 485-RIDE.
Drivers throughout the metro area should exercise caution, watching for children walking to school, and boarding or exiting school buses. With the large number of buses on the streets, drivers may want to plan their routes ahead of time. Live traffic conditions and drive times are available on the Louisville Dispatch traffic page.