Thursday October 16, 2025
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SubscribeYoung woman with local connections among the 298 victims aboard downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17
Karlijn Keijzer, a 25 year old Indiana University graduate student from Amsterdam was aboard MH17 when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine Thursday. Keijzer was working toward her doctorate in the chemistry department at the southern Indiana university.
IU president McRobbie described Keijzer, a Dutch Citizen, in a press release as “an outstanding student and a talented athlete, and her passing is a loss to the campus and the university,” referring to her membership on the university’s successful 2011 varsity rowing team. McRobbie offered condolences to Keijzer’s family on behalf of the Indiana University community and went on to say that “Our hearts also go out to the families of all the victims of this senseless act.”
IU’s head rowing coach, Steve Peterson had kind words about the “stroke” rower of the Varsity 8 boat: “Academically, she was straight A student, so she was outstanding there. But her biggest strength was her personality on the team. Any picture she you see of her, she was always smiling or happy or joking around with someone. She was extremely supportive of her teammates and had a tremendous enthusiasm. She was exactly the type of student-athlete any coach would want on their team.”
In the chemistry department, Keijzer was part of a research team that uses large-scale computer simulations to study small-molecule reactions involving certain metals. She was co-author of a research article published this year in the Journal of the American Chemistry Association […] She also served as an associate instructor in the chemistry department, teaching introductory organic chemistry as well as 400-level courses in biochemistry and biosynthesis.
Other comments from the IU community included those from executive dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, who called Karlijn “a bright star in the IU constellation, a gifted student and athlete, and a talented researcher with a passion for making the world better through science.” Keijzer’s doctoral advisor, Mu-Hyun Baik described her as a “bright, talented doctoral student, a diligent researcher and a dear friend to all of us who worked with her in our research group” who “inspired us all with her optimism about how science will make Earth a better place.”
WANTED in connection to June 7 shooting on I-265/Smyrna. WANTED JASMIN OSMANOVIC. Pease contact 574-LMPD with any information.
Shooting Victim Treated and Released
UPDATE: Suspect Sought in Connection with Highway Shooting
A male in his late-40s was treated and released from University Hospital after being shot while driving on the Gene Snyder Freeway Saturday evening.
The victim was driving south on I-265 near Smyrna Parkway in southeast Louisville when he was struck by a bullet from a large caliber handgun that entered the vehicle through the passenger door. The two children in the vehicle with him were not injured.
The man reported that he did not see the shooter. Instead, he said that he just heard a ‘pop’ and then realized that he had been struck.
LMPD searched the area but have, thus far, have been unable to locate any further evidence or witnesses. Anyone with information is asked to call the Crimetip Hotline at 574-LMPD (5673).
In the wake of recent downtown violence and LMPD shortcomings, Metro Council has given the green light to a 2% LG&E fee with a relatively narrow 12-10 vote.
The council received hundreds of emails opposing and only four supporting the agreement, which will charge the utility provider up to 2% of its gross natural gas sales in exchange for using city right-of-ways. These additional fees will undoubtedly be passed along to LG&E customers, piling on to rate increases from MSD and an upcoming JCPS tax hike.
The next stop for the agreement is Mayor Greg Fischer’s desk for his signature. Fischer, who recently proposed an even higher 3% fee, called the vote “a strategic investment in our city that will put more police officers on the street and increase programs for youth while benefiting our entire community,” saying that the “small fee” – approximately averaging an extra $12-18 per year per family – will help us continue to have a safe city by helping to pay for new police officers and upgraded community centers, among other things.
The LG&E franchise fee increase was approved by Metro Council for a period of 16 months. The meeting agenda minutes and video may be found online here.
Louisville Metro Council recently outlined the impact that various taxes and fees have on area residents.
Republican Members Outline Cumulative Cost of Various Proposed Taxes and Fees
Nine members of the Louisville Metro Council have declared their opposition to the proposed $3.8 million Louisville Gas and Electric (LG&E) Franchise Fee Proposal. To illustrate their opposition, members present at the press conference distributed information showing how government gradually takes more money from each household despite slow economic time
“Since 2013, the average household in Louisville has been asked to pay $403.22 in additional state and local taxes and fees. These fees include requests for additional funding for MSD and JCPS, not to mention efforts to increase taxes through the establishment of a new Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) and a tax on Insurance for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Each of these changes was presented as minor taxes or fees that will not adversely hurt the population. Unfortunately, the cumulative effect can crush a family budget and force people to make cuts to essential household needs.” – Councilman Kevin Kramer, District 1
“Many people have written to the Council to ask us to live within our budget, just as they are required to live within their own budget. This caused us to focus on all the ways government and quasi-governmental agencies have tried to add to the burden of taxpayers, usually sold under the premise of costing taxpayers only about the same as a cup of coffee. The information provided today shows how all these additional taxes and fees add up to really hurt our families.” – Councilwoman Marilyn Parker, District 18
“We are being nickel and dimed to death by a constant flow of new government regulations, taxes and fees. Taking each as an isolated case doesn’t sound bad, but in its totality, we are losing our freedom to control our own destinies. The political mindset of those in government is hypocritical, as they claim to be for the working families, yet regularly focus on reducing their power to provide for their family.” – Councilman Ken Fleming, District
“Our citizens have spoken loudly on this issue. They want government at all levels to live within its means, just as they do. People have to make hard decisions, after meeting their basic needs, on how they might afford things they want. They know how to do without the extras. Metro needs to follow that example and live within our expected 3.8% revenue increase, which is greater than the overwhelming majority of our citizens will see in their checks.” – Councilman Jerry Miller, District 19
Nine members of the Louisville Metro Council, including eight members of the Minority Caucus, have announced their opposition to the proposed LG&E franchise fee being imposed on residents of the community.
View the PDF of the council’s materials on the taxes & fees’ impact on individuals.
Police are calling the Saturday night shootings at a Shively Thornton’s convenience store in the 4100 block of Cane Run Rd. a murder-suicide and have released the identities of the victims.
Reports say that Scott Joslin, 45, and his wife, Christina Joslin, 43, exchanged words after arriving separately at the gas station shortly around 11 PM Saturday night. Witnesses claim that Scott waited outside as Christina went into the store. After she emerged from the store, Scott shot her before turning the gun on himself.
Christina died on scene while Scott died Sunday afternoon at University Hospital.
This week the state Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources auctioned off 29 custom firearms and knives purchased by former agriculture commissioner Richie Farmer. Farmer, a former shooting guard from the UK Wildcats’ “Unforgettables” lineup in the early ’90s, is currently serving a 27-month sentence in West Virginia’s Hazelton Federal Prison.
The 13 Remington rifles and 16 Case knives were purchased by Farmer as gifts in 2008 using taxpayer money but he kept them for himself instead. Bidders drove prices well above their retail value as they sought to take home a piece of what has become Kentucky history. The $80 custom knives sold for several hundred dollars each while the rifles, valued around $500, sold for roughly twice that. Farmer’s personal rifle sold for $1,400. The nearly $22,000 raised by the auction will go toward the Boys and Girls urban garden project in west Louisville.
Farmer’s prison sentence stems from a 2013 guilty plea to two of the five federal corruption charges he faced.
