Saturday October 18, 2025
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Attorney General Andy Beshear today joined with 33 attorneys general to send a letter demanding that Equifax take immediate steps to strengthen customer protections and improve services to the nearly 143 million people impacted by the massive data breach.

“I share Kentuckians frustration surrounding this data breach and that is why I am asking Equifax to move quickly to alleviate unnecessary confusion and improve customer service,” said Beshear. “The victims of a data breach should never have to pay to freeze their credit, nor should they have to face inadvertently signing up for a costly program instead of the free service.”

In the letter, Beshear demands Equifax stop using its own data breach as an opportunity to sell services to victims, and specifically requests the company disable fee-based credit monitoring services and reimburse customers for any fees they have paid to other credit reporting agencies for a credit freeze.

Beshear said in the wake of the data breach, Equifax is asking customers to visit their website where they can enroll in a free credit monitoring service – yet, the website also offers customers a fee-based credit monitoring service, thereby causing confusion and creating the potential for a customer to incur unnecessary fees.

General Beshear has demanded that Equifax resolve this issue by disabling information that leads to the fee-based services until the sign-up period for the free service has ended.

Beshear said Equifax has also agreed to waive credit freeze fees for customers, but the other two credit bureaus, which are not responsible for the breach, Experian and Transunion, continue to charge fees. The attorneys general are asking Equifax to take steps to reimburse consumers who incur these fees as a result of the breach.

The letter also relays consumer complaints expressing difficulty locating the Equifax breach hotline number and long wait times reaching customer service. In response, the AGs ask Equifax to properly staff the hotline and make it available 24 hours a day.

Earlier this week, Beshear issued a Scam Alert to help make Kentuckians aware of the Equifax data breach, and provided instructions on how to sign up for the free credit monitoring service and guidance on how to avoid and respond to identity theft.

Beshear wants Kentuckians to know that his office will continue to monitor the company’s response and asks Kentuckians to take immediate steps to closely monitor their credit and report any suspicious credit activity to his office’s Security Breach hotline, 855-813-6508.

Mayor Greg Fischer and Louisville Free Public Library officials welcomed the public today to the new $14.5 million South Central Regional Library located at 7300 Jefferson Boulevard near Jefferson Mall in Okolona.

The 40,000-square-foot facility, which replaces the much-smaller Okolona branch, enhances service for more than 160,000 people in south central Jefferson County, with new books and cutting-edge technology that encourages learning at all stages of life.

The library the second of three regional libraries included in the Louisville Free Public Library’s Updated Master Facilities Plan; the Southwest Regional Library opened in 2014, and construction on the third regional library in Northeast Jefferson County will begin this year.

“Lifelong learning is one of our core city values,” Mayor Greg Fischer said during today’s ribbon cutting. “And the gorgeous new South Central Regional Library is another example of how we’re bringing that value to life for the people of Louisville.”

The new eco-friendly library features more than 120,000 books and other materials – including more bestsellers, DVDs, large type, materials in multiple languages, books for youth, and graphic novels – as well as two large community meeting rooms; several smaller rooms for studying, reading, and collaborating; and dedicated spaces for teens and children. New technologies at South Central include plenty of computers and free internet access, plus, for the first time, a laptop kiosk for patrons to checkout laptops for use within the library.

“Our new South Central Regional Library provides the community with a world-class resource that will energize and expand opportunities for learning, growth, and engagement,” said Library Director Jim Blanton. “I challenge everyone in Louisville to take advantage of these new opportunities and seize them with excitement. I know I will.”

Overall, the South Central Regional Library project utilizes green building construction methods and materials and has been designed to save energy, improve quality of life, and reduce operating costs through such elements as geothermal heating and daylight harvesting interior lighting.

Walls of glass and clerestory windows fill the space with abundant natural light and offer incredible views of more than an acre of preserved woodland. The Library was committed to keeping as many trees as possible in order to preserve the beauty of the site and to minimize environmental impact, and while some of the hardwood trees had to be removed, many were milled and reused on the interior of the new library. The design team for the South Central Regional included JRA Architects of Louisville, Meyer Scherer & Rockcastle Ltd. of Minneapolis, and library staff, in consultation with neighborhood residents and leaders.

“District 24 is honored to have been chosen to host the Regional Library for this area of Metro Louisville,” said Councilwoman Madonna Flood. “For years we have dreamed of what the building would look like, what kind of technology would fill the space, and what kind of programs would be presented here. We can now see it, work in it and learn in it; our dreams have become reality. We are very excited for the Grand Opening of this grand Regional Library in Okolona.”

The South Central Regional also offers another LFPL first: the COLLIDER artist-in-residence program. The COLLIDER will host an array of artists and craftspeople from across the community – rotating monthly – including those working in visual arts, traditional crafts, music, dance, and digital art. Generous funding from Councilwoman Flood enabled the creation of the necessary space, artist equipment and materials, as well as a stipend for participating artists. The special studio space within the Library allows the artists to create on-site, while encouraging patrons to drop in, interact, and learn about a given artistic process. The program also features scheduled workshops for the public during each artist’s month in residence. To learn more about the COLLIDER’s artists-in-residence, visit LFPL.org/Collider.

Councilwoman Vicki Aubrey Welch, whose District 13 is near the library said she was thrilled about its opening. “This location is about a mile from the border of District 13, so I anticipate great usage from my constituents in the Okolona, Hillview, and Yorktown areas,” she said. “The unique features such as lap top check out and artist in residence provided by Councilwoman Flood are expected to be a huge asset for our people!”

James Peden of District 23 agreed the new library is a tremendous asset to the community. “It will serve as the perfect place for checking out a book, holding meetings, and gaining knowledge,” he said. “We encourage everyone to stop by and check it out as soon as they can.”

Construction of the South Central Regional Library began in September 2015. The total cost for construction, books, computers, and furnishings was estimated at $14.5 million, with $6 million coming from the state, $6 million in capital funds allocated by Mayor Fischer and approved by the Metro Council, and an additional $2.5 million raised from private donors through the Library Foundation.

Mayor Fischer, Blanton, and Metro Council members were joined at today’s event by Congressman John Yarmuth, Library Foundation Vice Chair Bill Dunbar, and Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives representative Paige Davidson.

The opening weekend celebration continues on Saturday, July 22, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with artist-in-residence demonstrations, a family scavenger hunt, storytimes, and refreshments. For more information on the new South Central Regional Library, please visit LFPL.org/SouthCentral, or call (502) 964-3515.

If you visit the South Central Regional Library

The hours of operation are: Sunday: 1–5 p.m., Monday–Thursday: 9 a.m.–9 p.m., Friday and Saturday: 9 a.m.–5 p.m. The library hosts a variety of free programs, classes, and events every month for adults and youth including weekly storytimes, computer classes, and multi-cultural programs. Search the library’s online calendar at LFPL.org for upcoming program dates and times.

In addition, the South Central Regional’s meeting rooms are available for use by community groups and organizations; it’s free but reservations are required. For more information call (502) 964-3515 or visit LFPL.org/meeting-rooms.htm.

The Kentucky State Fair announces the release of its new mobile app, now available free on both Google Play and the App Store.

The app is designed so that fairgoers can make the most of their experience. From saving money by purchasing advance tickets, to discovering “Tastes of the Fair” favorites, to reminiscing over Fair photos with fun filters, visitors appreciate the app’s benefits before, during and after the Kentucky State Fair.

Highlighted features include: 

  • Tastes of the Fair: find those once-a-year Fair food favorites
  • What’s Hot: see what’s “trending” at the Fair
  • My Schedule: create daily schedules of “must-see” music and entertainment
  • News: get weather, parking and breaking news updates
  • Now and Next: see what’s going on now, and later
  • Main Stage: order tickets for I Love the 90s Tour, Alabama and Southern Uprising Tour
  • Fun Photo Filters: use filters to create unique Fair photos
  • Find Your Fun: check out which entertainers are on stage and what animals are in the stalls

A video introducing the app is available on the Kentucky State Fair’s Twitter, Instagram and  Facebook page.

Advance tickets and parking for the Kentucky State Fair go on sale July 9 and can be purchased online via the app through 10 p.m. Aug. 16, as well as at participating Kroger locations. During the Fair, full-price tickets and parking can be purchased via the app.

Prices: In Advance/ During the Fair

  • Adult/Senior/ Child (6-12) $7/ $10
  • Parking  $5/ $10
  • Children 5 and under are free

The 2017 Kentucky State Fair is Aug. 17-27 at the Kentucky Exposition Center. For more information, visit www.kystatefair.org or find the Fair on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or its blog.

Building upon their own successes, two of the city’s major players in Louisville’s IT education marketplace have cracked the code of how to strengthen their students’ work-ready skills.

Jefferson Community & Technical College and Code Louisville announced today a collaboration that provides Jefferson students credits for courses completed through the Code Louisville web development program.

“Web development is one of our high-growth, high-demand sectors, providing jobs with a future that you can support a family on,” Mayor Greg Fischer said. “In an increasingly competitive job market, this partnership gives Louisville students more accessibility to securing a career in software development.”

The courses Jefferson offers align perfectly with Code Louisville’s classes and will provide a seamless transition to completing a credential.

Each 12-week Code Louisville course is worth three credit hours towards a Jefferson certificate or degree in Computer and Information Technology. This means a student can take one course at Jefferson plus three Code Louisville courses and earn a Programming Certificate or be well on their way to completing the Software Development Specialization sequence as part of an associate’s degree.

“As the community’s college, it is up to us to ensure our community’s employers have the workforce they need to grow their business, and, in turn, grow Louisville’s economy,” said Jefferson president Dr. Ty Handy. “Jefferson is expanding its Computer and Information Technology programs to keep up with the demand and we are eager to break ground on a new IT facility that will foster an exponential increase in developers.”

Jefferson’s plan for a new Advanced Manufacturing and Information Technology Center was recently approved by the governor’s Work Ready Skills Committee. The group appropriated more than $15 million for construction and the college is looking to raise several million more. It could open as soon as Spring of 2019.

Code Louisville, a free training program of KentuckianaWorks, was launched in late 2013 to expand the pool of web developers in the region. Students learn web development using the latest technology and practices. Aided by expert mentors and online software, students complete coding projects and build portfolios of their work. More than 500 students have graduated Code Louisville with a quarter of those now in new jobs or advancing with their current employer.

“Virtually every business is now a ‘technology company’ and Code Louisville is designed to quickly provide people the skills that employers are demanding,” said Michael Gritton, executive director of KentuckianaWorks. “Partnering with Jefferson will help individuals launch strong technology careers and help our region’s employers keep pace with their rapidly growing and changing technology needs.”

For more information about Code Louisville, including applying for courses, hiring graduates or mentoring students, visit codelouisville.org. For more information about the IT classes offered at Jefferson, visit www.jefferson.kctcs.edu/academics/programs_of_study/cit.

Attorney General Andy Beshear has joined a broad, bipartisan coalition of attorneys general in opposing a cable and telecommunications industry petition to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) intended, in part, to halt states from enforcing false advertising laws related to internet speeds.

Beshear said part of his duty is to protect Kentuckians from unfair and deceptive business practices and to ensure consumers are receiving the internet speeds purchased from their cable providers.

Under Kentucky’s Consumer Protection Act, Beshear’s office works with consumers through the complaint process on whether fixed and wireless broadband providers have been truthful in their contracts with consumers.

Beshear said if the FCC “improperly guts” state and federal requirements that bar deceptive advertising of internet speed, his office and Kentuckians will be helpless against false and misleading claims by broadband providers.

“We believe the industry is seeking a ruling that exceeds the authority of the FCC,” Beshear said. “We believe the request is procedurally improper, and would upend the longstanding dual federal-state regulation of deceptive practices in the telecommunications industry. Like other industries that provide goods and services to Kentuckians, providers of broadband internet service must be truthful in their advertisements and be held accountable when they are misleading.”

USTelecom and NCTA (The Internet & Television Association) submitted the industry’s petition to the FCC in May. The industry, specifically, is asking the FCC to convert a limited safe harbor from FCC’s own enforcement, into blanket federal and state immunity for fixed and wireless broadband companies from liability for false statements contained in advertisements and marketing.

A total of 35 attorneys general oppose the industry’s petition. Nearby states include Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee and West Virginia.

Louisville Metro tops the list in the 2017 City on a Cloud Awards’ Dream Big category for large cities, presented and announced this month by Amazon Web Services.

The award was given to the Office of Civic Innovation (part of Performance Improvement and Innovation), which focuses on developing innovative ideas to improve access to city services. The city’s 2017 Dream Big Award submission — titled “Transit Equity: Automation, Inclusion, and Safety” — focused on improving traffic flow through real-time traffic data that automatically adjusts when it senses detrimental systematic changes, a project that is currently under development.

“Cloud services are a key component to Smart City technologies and advancing intelligent traffic management and logistics that improve the daily lives of residents in big and small ways. This award recognizes ambitions that can be achieved through Louisville Metro’s team, our partners and initiatives such as the Louisville Fiber Information Technology project, an overbuild partnership with KentuckyWired,” said Grace Simrall, Chief of Civic Innovation.

In 2015, Louisville won Amazon’s City on a Cloud contest for Best Practices. For part of that project, the city used Amazon Web Services to store Waze real-time data and transformed it for use. It was successful for Metro and this new award allows the city to expand on that success with a larger mobility project with the Traffic Engineering department.

Metro has an on-going, small pilot group of internal data consumers for the Waze CCP traffic data.

“By using Amazon Web Services to build out the city’s first data warehouse, we can centralize, share, analyze and take action on transportation data across departments. Much of this will also be sent to our Open Data Portal for the public,” says Michael Schnuerle, the city’s Data Officer.  Area data sharing partnerships will include the city, state, and regional transportation agencies to improve and connect all transit.

“We continue to be amazed by the work that our customers are doing around the world to better serve citizens. This year’s City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge produced inspiring applications from cities, police departments, school districts, and our partners that use real-time data analytics, IoT services, and open data projects, all on the AWS Cloud,” said Teresa Carlson, VP of Worldwide Public Sector for AWS. “AWS is proud to recognize this year’s winners and showcase the innovation to improve our roads, provide digital learning to all students, and benefit first responders.”

More details about all the awards is available on the AWS website at:
https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/publicsector/city-on-a-cloud-innovation-challenge-winners-announced/

Mayor Greg Fischer today joined PNC, the Louisville Central Community Centers and other partners to celebrate the grand opening of the pilot PNC Gigabit Experience Center in Russell.

The PNC Gigabit Experience Center, located in the Old Walnut Street development of Louisville Central Community Centers, 1300 W. Muhammad Ali Blvd., gives Louisvillians access to wireless super-fast internet speeds in a modern, collaborative setting.

The center will have laptops available for use there, free of charge. The city, LCCC and other partners also plan to offer technology courses and related events at the center.

(Learn more about Louisville’s Digital Inclusion Strategy)

Mayor Fischer is urging all Louisvillians to visit the center.

“The growth of Louisville’s digital economy must be inclusive of all residents no matter their ZIP code — for the budding entrepreneurs and innovators of today and for the families of tomorrow,” Mayor Fischer said. “The PNC Gigabit Experience Center allows residents of Russell and the entire city realize the potential that technology has for the future of our community and economy.”

The pilot version of the PNC Gigabit Experience Center will be open through July, providing the partners an idea about how best to offer free super-fast Wi-Fi in the Russell neighborhood in the future. They’ll do that in coordination with Vision Russell, a neighborhood redevelopment project, funded through the $29.5 million HUD Choice Neighborhoods grant.

This pilot version of the Gigabit Experience Center will be open at LCCC from:

  • Monday, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
  • Tuesday, 9 a.m.-8p.m.
  • Wednesday, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
  • Thursday-Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
  • Saturday, 9 a.m. -2 p.m.

Thanks to the generous support of Heine Brothers, the center will provide free coffee for up to 50 people every weekday morning in the month of May.

“The Gigabit Experience Center will help attract entrepreneurs and support job creation strategies at the Old Walnut Street complex,” said LCCC CEO Kevin Fields. “We appreciate Mayor Fischer’s vision to bring this critical investment to our Center.”

The PNC Gigabit Experience Center is part of Louisville Metro’s digital inclusion strategy, which includes efforts to increase home internet access and train residents with fundamental skills of the 21st Century. Other efforts include the launch of free public Wi-Fi in the Russell neighborhood, an interactive data map and community dialogue on redlining, and the Kentucky Wired projects recommended in Mayor Fischer’s 2017-18 budget. The ultimate goal of the digital inclusion strategy is to create equity in access to technology and the internet for all Louisvillians.

The city’s Digital Inclusion Strategy, which was released today, can be found at http://digitalinclusion.louisvilleky.gov.

“The Gigabit Experience Center is the most recent step of many promoting equitable access to technology and the internet in Louisville,” said Grace Simrall, Chief of Civic Innovation for Louisville Metro. “We are excited to have gigabit access publicly -available in Russell and encourage the community to come to LCCC to experience this amazing space and gigabit speeds.”

Meanwhile, Louisville Metro’s efforts to extend super-fast internet access were boosted last month with Google Fiber’s preparations to begin construction in the city.

The Gigabit Experience Center was made possible through support from the PNC Foundation, Next Century Cities, Living Cities and the Louisville Metropolitan Housing Authority.

“Next Century Cities is proud to support the city of Louisville and Mayor Fischer as they open the Gigabit Experience Center,” said Deb Socia, Executive Director of Next Century Cities. “The Center will provide the resources, training, and internet access that Louisvillians need. It will help to build the city’s technology ecosystem and arm residents with the digital skills necessary for full participation in the 21st Century economy.”

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