Tuesday October 14, 2025
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Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer today joined agency officials and public health advocates to remind those without health insurance that they can enroll for a Qualified Health Plan under the Affordable Care Act starting on Wednesday, Nov. 1.
The open enrollment period is much shorter than in years past, ending on Dec. 15.
“With all the news about what’s been going on and not going on in Washington in regard to the Affordable Care Act, people may not realize that they can still enroll,” the Mayor said. “This is quality insurance. It covers hospital stays, doctor visits, preventive screenings and well child visits. It even covers mental health and substance abuse treatment. So if you don’t have health insurance, enroll before December 15th. Better yet, don’t wait. Enroll this Wednesday. It may save your life!”
“Insurance under the Affordable Care Act is helping the people of our city to get healthier,” said Dr. Sarah Moyer, director of the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness. “More people are getting health screenings for things like breast cancer and high blood pressure, and death rates for cancer, heart disease and diabetes are going down. In the midst of the opioid crisis, it’s also more important than ever that people who need it have access to insurance that will cover drug treatment.”
To help people understand their options and enroll, in-person help is also available from unbiased, trained and certified application assistors provided by Family Health Centers, the Kentuckiana Regional Planning & Development Agency (KIPDA) the Park DuValle Community Health Center; and the Shawnee Christian Healthcare Center. To find an assistor go to Getcoveredlou.org.
“We encourage people to take advantage of the free help that’s available to them,” said Kelli Cauley, supervisor of the KIPDA Assister Program. “Our assisters can walk you through every step of the enrollment process. If you already have health insurance, we can help you look at your options. Plans, prices and financial assistance change every year so we can work with you to find the best plan for you and your family.”
People can also enroll at HealthCare.gov or at 1-800- 318-2596.
“Having health insurance under the Affordable Care Act is having a profound effect on the lives of real people throughout our city and our state,” said Emily Beauregard, executive director of Kentucky Voices for Health. “Access to long deferred health care is not only saving lives, its giving people job mobility and financial stability,” she said.
The open enrollment period from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15 is for Qualified Health Plans in the individual marketplace. Those with insurance under Medicaid can enroll throughout the year and, for those wishing to change provider plans, a separate open enrollment period will be announced.
Here’s your opportunity to get rid of those old worn out tires and keep them from housing mosquitoes and other pests, posing safety hazards or ending up in landfills, creeks, ditches and ravines. Bring them to the Louisville/Jefferson County Waste Tire Collection Event for free environmentally friendly disposal. This event is for private citizens only. Tires will not be accepted from businesses.
Bring tires to 1030 Phillips Lane (at Fontaine Avenue)
- Thursday, November 2 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Friday, November 3 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Saturday, November 4 from 8 a.m. to noon
We’ll take tires on or off the rim from:
- trucks
- cars
- tractors and other farm implements
- bicycles
- motorcycles
- ATVs
We won’t take tires that are:
- foam filled
- calcium filled
- from off-road construction equipment
- have a bead greater than 1.75 inches
- coming from outside of Kentucky
- from businesses, including tire sellers, salvagers, scrappers and recyclers
The Waste Tire Collection Event is sponsored by the Louisville/Jefferson County Waste Management District, Louisville Metro Department of Public Works and the Kentucky Division of Waste Management.
Mayor Greg Fischer announced that Louisville has earned an A grade from small business owners through Thumbtack’s 2017 Small Business Friendliness Survey, which is the largest continuous study of small business perceptions of government policy in the United States.
Louisville ranked No. 7 out of the 80 cities surveyed and is the only city in Kentucky to receive this top ranking. The state received a grade of A-, ranking 17 out of 50 states surveyed.
“This recent ranking affirms that Louisville’s entrepreneurial community is thriving,” said the Mayor. “We pair our strong pro-business culture with a strong collaboration with small business stakeholders, and our goal is to find innovative ways to help small businesses move forward.”
Louisville scored an A+ in the employment, labor and hiring regulations and licensing regulations categories and scored above the national average in the tax regulations and government website categories.
“The small business owners we heard from in Louisville were six percent more positive about their city’s support for small businesses than the national average, leading to their A grade overall,” Thumbtack Economist, Lucas Puente, PhD, said in a news release.
Louisville’s ranking was higher than some peer cities, including Nashville at 17, Charlotte, N.C. at 27, Indianapolis at 29, and Columbus, O.H. at 66.
According to a news release, Thumbtack surveyed more than 13,000 small business owners in 50 states and 80 cities to evaluate how easy local governments make it to start, operate and grow a small business.
To view Louisville’s full score card, visit https://www.thumbtack.com/ky/louisville/#/2017/1
Louisville residents are invited to bring unneeded documents and prescription drugs to be shredded and disposed of at a free event on October 28, 2017. The Drug Toss/Shredding Event is a joint operation of Metro Public Works and Louisville Metro Police.
Citizens 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
Lot W Phillips Lane
Saturday, October 28, 2017
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Businesses may not participate in this event. All paper materials will be shredded on site and recycled. Shredding donated by the Louisville Branch of Shred-It Louisville. The Drug Toss will be done as a drive-through event.
Black out all personal information on all medication containers that will be tossed. For safety reasons, we cannot accept sharps, needles, lances, cosmetics, personal care or hygiene items. 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 they get into the drinking and ground water.
The Louisville Cricket Club, part of the 42-team MidWest Cricket Tournament, has teamed up with Mayor Greg Fischer’s office to create a new playing facility at Hays Kennedy Park.
The facility is being named for Sunil M. Gavaskar, a legend in the sport who is known as “the Muhammad Ali of world cricket.” Gavaskar will be in Louisville for the fields’ grand opening at 10 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 15.
Mayor Fischer said he expects the city’s $150,000 investment in the fields will reap great rewards.
“We are an increasingly global community, and cricket is already part of our city’s sporting landscape,” he said. “We hope the investment at Hays Kennedy Park will open the sport to more local participation, and the city to even more global opportunities.”
The facility at Hays Kennedy will be the first outside India to be named after an Indian player. In an interview with the Times of India before his visit to Louisville, Gavaskar, who represented India in international matches for more than 16 years before retiring in 1987, said: “It’s a wonderful honor to have a ground named after you, especially in a country where cricket is not the premier sport.”
Photo: Louisville Metro Parks and Recreation
The Louisville Cricket Club has produced a quick guide to the sport, which is one of the most popular sports in the world but is relatively unknown by many Americans. You can view the guide here.
Metro Parks and Recreation director Seve Ghose said the long-term goal is for Louisville to become a destination for national and even international cricket competitions, with plans to eventually build a pavilion and practice facilities.
Ten percent of the funding to create the new fields was raised by Louisville Cricket Club’s 50 active playing members.
“We are very grateful to Mayor Fischer and Seve Ghose, for their support,” said Jai Bokey, president of the Louisville Cricket Club.
“This is about much more than just creating a purpose-built space for Louisville Cricket Club to play,” he added. “Cricket is an important part of culture and community life in places like England, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and throughout the West Indies. Having such a superb facility will help to bring people and business to Louisville from all over the cricket-playing world.”
Louder Than Life will be making it’s annual appearance at Champions Park this weekend and weather will be just about perfect. The two-day festival features music, food and drinks. Headlining performances will feature Ozzy Osbourne with Zakk Wylde, Rob Zombie, Incubus, Stone Sour, Halestorm, and many more. For the foodie, food will be showcasing many local and regional favorites ranging from fried chicken, barbecue, grilled cheese, hot dogs, tacos and gelato. For the bourbon lover, many Kentucky bourbon distilleries will be featured, including Angel’s Envy, Jim Beam, and Buffalo Trace.
Gates open at 11:00 AM on both days. Tickets are still available and prices range from $69.50 for Sunday only, $90 for Saturday only, $120 minimum for the entire weekend, to $280 for a VIP package. If you are planning to attend, be sure to check the information page for what items are allowed to be taken in with you, pay close attention to the bag size restrictions.
If you have not attended the show before, check out last year’s Louder Than Life Festival.
Photo: Louisville Housing and Community Development
Louisville Creating Affordable Residences for Economic Success (CARES) and the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund (LAHTF) will be jointly hosting four informational meetings regarding the upcoming round of funding available for these two sources. This round of funding is comprised of $14.5 million dollars and is designed to provide gap and/or bridge financing to developers building affordable workforce housing or incorporating affordable workforce housing into market rate projects.
CARES and LAHTF encourage adaptive re-use of vacant and abandoned properties, energy efficiency, universal design and mixed income projects integrating low-income housing.
Meetings will be held at the following dates, times and locations:
- September 27 at 10:00 am at Middletown Firehouse (108 Urton Lane)
- September 28 at 9:00 a.m. at Edison Center (701 W. Ormsby Lane)
- September 28 at 2:00 p.m. at Southwest Regional Library (3920 Dixie Highway)
- September 29 at 10:00 a.m. at South Central Regional Library (7300 Jefferson Boulevard)
For more information, please visit https://louisvilleky.gov/government/housing-community-development