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Photo From KY Transportation Cabinet
The arrival of Memorial Day weekend signals the start of boating season at lakes and marinas across Kentucky.
The Kentucky State Parks and the Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction want your boating experience with your family to be a safe one. This May – National Electrical Safety Month — the two agencies want to alert boaters to the dangers of “electric shock drowning.”
Electric shock drowning occurs when faulty wiring, equipment or damaged cords on a boat or dock cause surrounding water to be energized with an electric current. There is no visible warning and the electricity is enough to paralyze the muscles of a nearby swimmer, causing them to drown. In some cases, there may be enough current to electrocute the swimmer.
Here are some tips to prevent electric shock drowning:
- Never swim in the water at marinas. Boats often plug into electric pedestals at the marina for power.
- Make sure all electrical devices on your boat are working properly. If you suspect a problem, contact a certified electrical inspector immediately. To locate a certified electrical inspector near you, visit https://ky.joportal.com/License/Search
- If you suspect an electric shock drowning is taking place, turn off the power, throw a life ring to the victim and call 911. Do not jump in the water – you could become a victim.
Kevin Ritz, whose son Lucas was electrocuted while swimming near a dock in 1999, has worked to raise awareness of electric shock drowning. He said the first step for parents is to avoid the danger.
“Let’s not swim in and around marinas,” Ritz said. Boat owners and marina operators also need to be aware of the issue and take the proper precautions. Ritz founded the Electric Shock Drowning Prevention Association and has worked with the American Boat & Yacht Council.
For information about boat and electric safety, visit these sites: www.electricshockdrowning.org; www.abycinc.org
To learn more about the Department of Housing, Buildings & Construction, visit http://dhbc.ky.gov/. For more information about Kentucky State Parks and marinas, visit www.parks.ky.gov
Breaking Barriers: Sports for Change exhibit, presented by ESPN® and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, opens to the public at the Ali Center on May 25th. The exhibit invites visitors to walk among giants like Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson, and Billie Jean King. Breaking Barriers: Sports for Change is included in the “I Am Ali” festival, the six-week, community-wide festival celebrating the life and legacy of Muhammad Ali, taking place from June 3-July 15, 2017.
Said Jeanie Kahnke, Sr. Director of Public Relations and External Affairs, “The Ali Center is honored to offer this exhibit, for it demonstrates ways in which athletes—including Muhammad Ali—have utilized sport as a platform to transform social issues and to raise awareness of how sport can be used to unite people and open doors.”
This traveling exhibit tells the story of how athletes have used their celebrity to fight for social change. It includes interactive displays that show how some of history’s super athletes like Muhammad Ali, Martina Navratilova, Jesse Owens and Terry Fox scaled to the heights of sports by defying expectations and restrictions levied by governments, advertisers, and spectators alike. In doing so, they became potent symbols that helped drive movements that changed sports and society.
Derreck Kayongo, CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights said, “Similar to Ali’s legacy, the exhibit shares how athletes have empowered people to stand up and protect human rights. Their courageous struggles in America and around the globe gave people everywhere the strength to persevere and make change happen in their communities.”
To learn more about Breaking Barriers: Sports for Change visit sports4change.net.
Six Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) District schools rank among the top public high schools in Kentucky and earned national recognition in the 2017 U.S. News and World Reports high school rankings.
“This is another example of the personalized deeper learning experience that JCPS provides to each student, and an affirmation of the positive impact that our strategic plan, Vision 2020, is having across the district,” said Superintendent Dr. Donna Hargens.
DuPont Manual High School is ranked the top public high school in the state, and earned a gold medal ranking from the publication. That’s followed by the J. Graham Brown School at No. 7; Louisville Male High School at No. 12; Atherton High School at No. 15; Waggener High School at No. 43; and Butler Traditional High School at No. 59.
Brown, Male and Atherton also earned silver medal recognition as high-performing schools based on college readiness, and Waggener and Butler earned bronze medal status as high-performing schools based on state exam performance.
For a full list of the Kentucky rankings, click here.
Gov. Matt Bevin announced that the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) has selected Kentucky as one of only 10 states to participate in a learning lab on state strategies to reduce childhood hunger.
“The Commonwealth has taken steps to begin addressing the unacceptable problem of childhood hunger,” said Gov. Bevin. “In 2016, Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles launched the Kentucky Hunger initiative. The objective of the initiative is to study the sources of hunger, identify the unique issues that affect different regions of the Commonwealth, and take and inventory of resources related to the fight against hunger.”
Through participation in the learning lab, state teams will examine how Virginia leverages public-private partnerships to ensure school age children have regular access to healthy meals and increased participation in child nutrition programs. They will discuss strategies such as communicating and collaborating to reduce hunger, expanding access to school breakfast, supporting innovation in summer meal programs, and streamlining eligibility determination for free meals.
“I am excited that Kentucky has been chosen to be a part of this important discussion,” said Commissioner Quarles. “By sharing some of the lessons learned from the Hunger Initiative, and seeing firsthand the efforts of other states in combating hunger, I know this experience will be a success.”
NGA learning labs provide an opportunity for a limited number of state teams to visit a state that is successfully implementing an innovative practice. States participating in the learning lab will have the opportunity to meet in Virginia to learn about best practices for providing healthy meals to school-age children, get an assessment of the degree of childhood hunger present in their own states for policymaking, and receive assistance developing a plan for reducing childhood hunger.
The NGA Center is conducting this learning lab in collaboration with Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit focused on ending child hunger through its No Kid Hungry campaign.
The Work Ready Skills Initiative Advisory Committee has selected recipients for its second round of funding. Approximately $33.1 million in bond money was dispersed to 15 projects aimed at developing a highly trained workforce to meet the needs of employers and to promote sustainable incomes for Kentuckians.
“The response to the Work Ready Skills Initiative has been truly astounding,” said Gov. Matt Bevin. “This important initiative is a key component in our pursuit to make Kentucky the epicenter for engineering and manufacturing excellence in America. This historic investment in training our workforce will truly be transformative for the Commonwealth.”
The 10-member committee met Wednesday in Frankfort, to review the results of applicant interviews conducted last week. Proposals came from several state workforce areas and addressed a wide array of key industry sectors including advanced manufacturing, healthcare, technology, transportation and construction trades. Earlier this year the committee awarded more than $65.5 million to 25 projects. The $65.5 million in first-round awards leveraged $84.5 million in matching funds, including approximately $64.1 million in cash and $20.4 million in-kind.
Second round recipients include:
- Gateway Community & Technical College, $95,000
- Logan County Schools, $932,000
- Russell County Board of Education, $5,700,000Garrard County Schools, $1,346,000
- Freestore Foodbank, $267,000
- Estill County Board of Education, $5,700,000
- Home Builders Association of Northern Kentucky, $2,690,000
- Kenton County Schools, $400,000
- Breckinridge County Area Technology Center, $3,325,000
- Taylor County School District, $2,375,000
- Adair County Board of Education, $238,000
- Green River/Hart County and Caverna Schools, $3,325,000
- Christian County Public Schools, $4,275,000
- Washington County Schools, $763,000
- Johnson County Schools, $1,710,000
In the second round, the $33.1 million in awards leverage $27,220,502 in matching funds, including approximately $17,365,041 in cash and $10,716,392 in-kind.
“Seeing the excitement build across Kentucky about improving our workforce has been an unforgettable experience. Since this process began in 2016, the committee has reviewed the requests of more than 150 applicants, covering the majority of our counties,” said Education and Workforce Development Cabinet Secretary Hal Heiner. “This program will bear fruit long after it ends, giving students the means to find jobs in a world exploding with technology.”
Forty-one applicants applied for the funding in April, totaling more than $165 million. Projects included requests for construction and equipping new facilities for the purpose of providing workforce training and education in top five industry sectors; renovation/upgrade of an existing facility; or purchase of new or upgraded equipment, software and furnishings. Applicants were required to be public-private partnerships that include private sector employers and high schools, secondary technical schools or postsecondary institutions.
For more information about the Kentucky Work Ready Skills Initiative, please visit www.KentuckyWorkReady.com.
In a united effort to promote history and tourism in Jefferson County and beyond, eight National Historic Landmarks representing the most historically significant sites in the area have united to form a new organization, National Historic Landmarks of Louisville.
The group includes Actors Theatre, Belle of Louisville, Churchill Downs’ Twin Spires, Life-Saving Station #10, Locust Grove, Louisville Water Company Pumping Station No.1 and Water Tower, the U.S. Marine Hospital and Zachary Taylor’s Boyhood Home.
“There’s only one Louisville, and Churchill Downs’ Twin Spires, the Water Tower, Actors Theatre and the other national landmarks are synonymous with who we are as a city,” said Mayor Greg Fischer. “I’m excited that National Historic Landmarks of Louisville will be promoting these places of culture and history. I encourage every citizen to learn more about the landmarks of Louisville, because their history is our history.”
National Historic Landmarks of Louisville is launching a new program to encourage people to visit six of the eight sites that are currently open to the public. (The U.S. Marine Hospital is closed to the public. Zachary Taylor’s Boyhood Home is a private residence).
“The eight National Historic Landmarks of Louisville will connect you to our nation’s vibrant past in a way that cannot be experienced through images, film or the pages of a book,” says Anna Gibson Holloway, PhD, Maritime Historian, with the Park History Program, National Park Service. “Local preservation efforts are key to keeping these Landmarks accessible to current and future generations of Louisville citizens and to those visitors from around the world who come to experience Louisville’s hospitality and heritage.”
Guests can get a special pass validated at each of the public National Historic Landmark sites when they visit, and then bring the pass to the Louisville Visitor Center at 301 S. Fourth St. to receive a gift. The passes are available at any of the landmarks and the Louisville Visitor Center.
Visitors are encouraged to use the hashtag #LandmarkLover to share their experiences via social media.
Five members of the Louisville Metro Council are seeking public comment on the proposed 2017 -2018 Capital and Operating Budgets at a special community meeting on Monday, May 22nd at the Louisville Urban League.
Councilmembers Jessica Green (D-1), Mary C. Woolridge (D-3), Barbara Sexton Smith (D-4), Cheri Bryant Hamilton (D-5), and David James (D-6) are inviting their constituents to come out and share their thoughts on what should be in the upcoming budget.
“It is important to me that the citizens of District 1 have a voice in this budget process because for far too long, they have felt ignored and left out,” says Green. “I want everyone to have an understanding not only of what the process is, but what is actually in the budget in order to be able to advocate for what citizens in my community want and need.
“Everyone knows there are not unlimited resources so we invite the community to help us set priorities for funding that improves the quality of life of our residents,” says Hamilton.
“We want to reach out to everyone. It is important that we hear from folks in the neighborhoods, homeowners, and business owners.” says Sexton Smith. “We have to rely on the public to give a perspective we may not be aware of when it comes to priorities and we want to make it easier for them to participate and ask questions.”
The Metro Council Budget Committee has already begun its hearings on the budget and will spend the months of May and June reviewing Metro Government needs before a vote on June 22nd.
The Budget public meeting will be held at the Louisville Urban League, 1535 W. Broadway from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.
“We need public input into the 2017-2018 Louisville Metro Recommended Budget from the community and I am happy to make the effort to hear from taxpayers. I know it is not always easy to come downtown to City Hall due to parking constraints,” says Woolridge. “I hope everyone will attend this community meeting regarding Mayor Greg Fischer‘s Budget. Tell us what you would like to see in this Budget.”
“Bringing the budget public input process from City Hall to the community to hear what the citizens have to say about the budget is a vital step in this process,” says James. “It’s your money and we need to know how you feel about how we are spending it.”