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Credit: KY State Parks
Plan a spring adventure on Tygarts Creek on a canoe or kayak with a 6-mile excursion hosted by Carter Caves State Resort Park.
The park is offering guided trips on six dates in 2018 – April 14, 21, 29 and May 2, 6 and 12.
The 3.5-hour trip down Tygarts Creek goes through one of Kentucky’s most beautiful limestone gorges. The park will provide canoes or kayaks, paddles, life vest, transportation shuttle from and back to the Welcome Center, and guides for your trip. The fee is $40 per person. (The fee is $30 a person if you bring your own canoe or kayak.)
Participants should have some paddle experience before signing up for these trips. Along the way participants will see high cliff sides and the natural beauty that the spring has to offer. There will also be a side trip into one of Kentucky’s largest natural limestone tunnels.
Guests should wear proper attire for cool weather paddling, a complete change of clothes, treaded footwear, flashlight (for natural tunnel visit), sack lunch, bottled water and a dry bag for your supplies. You must be at least 12 years old to participate and paddlers ages 15 and under must be with a legal guardian.
Participants will meet at the park Welcome Center and should be ready to leave at 9:30 a.m.
Registration is required. To register, visit: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Parks/CarterCavesPaddleTrips. For questions, call the park at 606-286-4411.
Carter Caves State Resort Park in Olive Hill has a lodge, cottages, restaurant, campground, gift shop, cave tours and many recreational activities. For more information about the park, visit www.parks.ky.gov
Photo: Louisville Metro Council
Councilman Brandon Coan (D-8) will host the last in a series of meetings for public discussion on the proposed Highlands Management District on Monday, April 2nd.
“We have had very good turnout and discussions about the proposed business improvement district for the Highlands. I want to make sure everyone has an opportunity to ask questions and learn more about what is being proposed as we move forward,” says Coan.
The last meeting will be held at the Douglass Community Center Gymnasium beginning at 6:00pm. The Community center is located at 2305 Douglass Blvd.
Councilman Coan believes the proposal to establish a Highlands Management District is a transformational opportunity to make Bardstown Road and Baxter Avenue safer and cleaner, and to ensure the economic vitality and sustainability of District 8’s – and Louisville’s – premier commercial corridor.
To learn more about the proposal go to: https://louisvilleky.gov/government/metro-council-district-8/highlands-m…
For more information about the meeting, contact Councilman Coan’s office at 574-1108.
It’s become a signature of the Derby Festival and a sign of spring in Louisville – the Festival’s official uniform jacket. In chameleon like form, the design of the jacket has changed through the years after first being introduced in 1973. Festival fans will see the newest rendition this spring, after it was officially unveiled tonight on the runway at the Festival’s annual Spring Fashion show. The jackets still feature the Festival’s Pegasus icon, while the former color scheme of khaki and black has been updated to a fuchsia and Caribbean blue.
“This time we’re returning to a bolder spring color palette and it’s sure to brighten your day,” said Mike Berry, Kentucky Derby Festival President and CEO. “It’s definitely one that will stand out, but still remains steeped in tradition.”
The Festival solicited the help of stylist André Wilson of Louisville-based Style Icon to design the new jackets. Meetings with the Festival started last fall, which lead to pencil sketches, choosing the colors and then creating a digital artist rendering. Wilson’s goal was to make it different, but stay within the brand, as well as have a versatile and iconic piece.
“I don’t like fashion that can’t be worn with everything else,” said Wilson. “I wanted to pick a color that would go with different colors and it had to stand out. Bright colors always work at Derby time.”
The jackets were manufactured and tailored in New York and St. Matthews. Derby Festival staff and board members wear jackets of the same style and color; current and past Festival chairs are distinguished by wearing jackets in a different design.
The Derby Festival’s official jackets made their debut in 1973. They were burgundy in color in their first incarnation, with pocket crests attached by military clasps. In 1976, a new jacket was unveiled: it was navy in color with gold Pegasus icons. A dozen years later the color scheme was again changed, this time to a teal color with pink Pegasus icons, and then again in 2006 to khaki and black colors.
Louisville Metro Government is announcing the details of a new opportunity for residents to provide input on monuments in public spaces. Residents are encouraged to write a letter to any monument in Louisville Metro Public Art’s inventory through social media and use the hashtag #monumentalletters. A template and examples, as paraphrased from public comments submitted to date, can be found below:
“Dear ________ (Monument),
I feel ________, because ___________________.”
Social media “letters” will assist Louisville Metro Government and the Public Art and Monuments Advisory Committee to understand the values that residents want artworks in public spaces to represent.
In addition, in the coming days, oversized letters from Louisville Metro Government to the public will be posted at the sites of the recently vandalized Castleman and Prentice monuments to update residents. The letter, specific to Castleman, reads:
“Dear Residents and Visitors: Public art, like any shared public space, reacts with time, conditions and individuals who engage with it. This monument represents John Breckinridge Castleman (1841–1918). It was privately commissioned and sited in public space in 1913. It was vandalized and subsequently conserved on multiple occasions, notably 1996 and 2017, and was most recently vandalized on February 7, 2018. A Public Art and Monuments Advisory Committee is hosting public meetings February–June 2018 for community input on principles that will guide decisions about public art and monuments. The current site conditions will not be addressed until after this process is complete. Louisville Metro Government remains committed to a public process with community input. We urge you to participate in public meetings. Write a letter. Get involved. Let your voice be heard. For more information please visit louisvilleky.gov/government/public-art.”
A similar “letter” will be placed by another recently vandalized monument, the monument of George Prentice at the main branch of the Louisville Free Public Library.
Residents may provide their letters on social media with the hashtag #monumentalletters, send them directly to Develop Louisville’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, or send letters through postal mail to Metro Development Center re: Monumental Letters, 444 S. 5th Street, Suite 600, Louisville, KY, 40202.
An additional Public Art and Monuments Advisory Committee meeting has been added to take place on April 12 at 6:00 p.m. at the University of Louisville, 111 Davidson Hall. Davidson Hall is located just south of Cardinal Boulevard & S. 3rd Street. Parking is available in the nearby Speed Museum garage.
Previously announced meetings include:
- April 14, 10:30 a.m. at the Cyril Allgeier Community Center
- May 18, 12 p.m. at the South Central Regional Library
- June 5, 6 p.m. at the Main branch of the Louisville Free Public Library (LFPL)
To date, two meetings have been held at the Main branch of the Louisville Free Public Library and the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage.
The Public Art and Monuments Advisory Committee is charged with developing a set of principles for evaluating Louisville’s existing public art and monuments. To view information pertaining to the Advisory Committee, please visit https://louisvilleky.gov/government/public-art/public-art-and-monuments-….
In an effort to combat the state’s opioid epidemic, Attorney General Andy Beshear and CVS Health teamed up to launch new safe medication disposal programs in Kentucky.
Beshear joined CVS Health’s Thomas M. Moriarty, Lexington Mayor Jim Gray, State Representative George Brown Jr., Police Chief Lawrence Weathers and Sharon Tankersley with Voices of Hope to urge Kentuckians to clean out their medicine cabinets and dispose of unused prescription drugs at a CVS Pharmacy.
In-store disposal units, now in nine 24-hour CVS Pharmacy locations allow Kentuckians to properly dispose of dangerous opioids and help reduce the nearly 80 percent of heroin users who begin their addiction with prescription drugs.
“One of the most dangerous places in a home is a medicine cabinet with unused opioids,” Beshear said. “Thanks to this initiative, many Kentuckians now have a convenient way to make their home safer and stop addiction before it starts by safely disposing of drugs at their local pharmacy.”
“CVS Health is dedicated to addressing and preventing opioid abuse in the communities we serve in Kentucky and across the country,” said Thomas M. Moriarty, executive vice president, chief policy and external affairs officer, and general counsel, CVS Health. “Expanding our safe medication disposal program to CVS Pharmacy locations in Kentucky is one of the many initiatives we support to fulfill that commitment and our purpose of helping people on their path to better health.”
Two of the new units are located at the Harrodsburg and Todds road CVS Pharmacy stores in Lexington, and in seven stores in Elizabethtown, Frankfort, Georgetown, Louisville and Paducah. In total, CVS Health will install units in 750 CVS Pharmacy locations across the U.S.
“Today we’re talking about a step everyone can take to help stem the opioid epidemic,” Mayor Gray said. “If you have unneeded medications in your medicine cabinet, dispose of them properly and safely. Keeping them can expose your family to unnecessary risks.”
“For many Kentuckians, opioid addiction starts with prescription pills,” Rep. Brown said. “We all know how tough it can be to overcome addiction, so I commend CVS Health and Attorney General Beshear for stepping up to help reduce the rate of new addiction by offering folks all across the Commonwealth new and easy ways to dispose of unused and dangerous opioids.”
“Each year Lexington Police collects more than a ton of unwanted and expired medication through a drop box at police headquarters and through our prescription take-back events in April and October,” Chief Weathers said. “So, the need is there. These CVS in-store disposal units will help meet that in a way that is convenient for residents all over Lexington.”
Sharon Tankersley, executive director of Voices of Hope an addiction recover center in Lexington said, “Safe disposal of unused medications is an important way that everyone can help in reducing accidental poisoning, misuse or even overdose death. We all have a role to play to help those who have struggled to heal from this disease.”
CVS Health also offers a community donation program, which invites local law enforcement to apply to receive a drug collection unit for their community. In Kentucky, the company has donated units in Campbellsville, Georgetown, Flatwoods, Frankfort, Madisonville, Maysville, Murray, Vanceburg and Wilmore.
Through CVS Health’s Pharmacist Teach program, CVS pharmacists have taught more than 2,000 students in Kentucky about the dangers of opioid abuse.
Since taking office, Beshear has made tackling the state’s opioid epidemic a core mission for his office and recently launched the state’s first initiative to allow Kentuckians to safely dispose of opioid medications at home.
Beshear’s Kentucky Opioid Disposal Program has the potential to dispose of more than 2.2 million unused opioids.
The pilot program includes Floyd, Henderson, McCracken and Perry counties, as well as the Green River Area Development District, Hardin County Sherriff Office, Johnson County Public Schools and Powell County Sheriff Office. Beshear’s Office of Senior Protection is also working with the faith-based community to distribute the pouches at senior events.
Thousands of volunteers will join together on Saturday, April 14 for the Brightside & Passport Health Plan Spring Community-Wide Cleanup to pick up litter and beautify sites across Louisville.
Youth organizations, neighborhood associations, businesses, elementary school classrooms, faith groups, families and more will be participating in the event, which serves as the kick off to Mayor Fischer’s Give A Day Week of Service, April 14-22. Last year, 17,500 volunteers participated in the Spring Cleanup. This year, a goal has been set of 20,000 volunteers cleaning every corner of our city.
“Banding together to clean our streets is a terrific example of an active and compassionate community,” Mayor Greg Fischer said. “We can all improve our quality of life and health of our neighborhood with a simple investment of time to pick up trash. Let’s all use the arrival of warmer weather to get outside, work with our neighbors and clean up our streets.”
To participate, volunteers choose cleanup sites and coordinate with Brightside to receive gloves, bags, and for the first 5,000 volunteers, t-shirts. Trash pick-up is coordinated with Louisville Metro Solid Waste Management Services. The cleanup is sponsored by Passport Health Plan. Additional sponsors include Heaven Hill, Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation and Kentucky Pride Fund.
“We are proud to continue as the title sponsor of the Brightside & Passport Health Plan Spring Community-Wide Cleanup,” said Mark B. Carter, CEO of Passport Health Plan. “We know that a healthy community includes a clean and vibrant environment where people can thrive. We’re pleased to partner with Brightside and the many volunteers across various neighborhoods to improve the overall health and quality of life of all our residents.”
Neighborhoods can hold their own cleanups at any point throughout the year, and Brightside encourages neighborhood associations, block watches, businesses and faith groups to play an active role in keeping their neighborhoods litter-free.
Registration for the April 14 Brightside & Passport Health Plan Community-Wide Cleanup is open. Visit the Brightside website at www.brightsideinc.org to complete the registration form or call (502) 574-2613 to register your team. Groups of any age, size or neighborhood are encouraged to participate.
Attorney General Andy Beshear is calling the passage of federal legislation amending the 1996 Communications Decency Act a “victory” in Kentucky’s fight to hold accountable those who promote and facilitate child sex trafficking online.
Online companies, like Backpage, profit from the promotion of child sex trafficking, but the 1996 Communications Decency Act has prevented the investigation and prosecution of these companies by state, territorial and local authorities, Beshear said.
Recently passed H.R. 1865 or Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 changes that, and Beshear hopes the President will swiftly sign the legislation into law.
“Every day in our county children are being sold for sex through companies like Backpage that are profiting from this horrendous child abuse,” Beshear said. “I commend the lawmakers who voted to help us stop this vile abuse.”
“Passing laws that hold those who profit from the victimization of others accountable for their actions is an important step in making survivors of sex trafficking whole,” said Angela Renfro, founder of the Kristy Love Foundation. “We are encouraged to see our Attorney General Beshear and other states’ attorneys general have this new weapon in the fight to end human trafficking.”
Beshear has established the Kentucky Attorney General’s office as the leading state agency fighting human trafficking, a modern-day form of slavery in which adults and children are forced into sex or labor services.
In the first three months of 2018, Beshear’s office has arrested a Louisville man and woman on human trafficking charges, and a Kansas man who attempted to purchase a Kentucky child for $250 and in exchange for drugs in a separate case. The office also secured the guilty plea of a Lawrenceburg man in March on human trafficking charges.
In February, Beshear’s office secured the guilty plea of former Campbell County District Judge Timothy Nolan on numerous felony charges, including human trafficking of adults, promoting human trafficking of minors and unlawful transaction with minors. He is scheduled to serve 20 years in prison.
The AG’s office, along with Catholic Charities of Louisville, received a federal grant in 2016, the first Department of Justice grant ever awarded to a Kentucky agency for human trafficking. The federal grant provides support to the statewide human trafficking taskforce in its efforts to develop a process for collecting and interpreting data on human trafficking and model protocols for victim-centered response, investigation and prosecution of these cases.
The funding allowed a specially trained human trafficking investigator to be hired.
The office offers training to organizations throughout the Commonwealth, and has trained over 4,000 individuals statewide, while forging partnerships with the trucking and hospitality industries and the Baptist Convention.
Human trafficking victims are often the most marginalized in society – victims of abuse and violence, runaways, refugees, immigrants or those who are homeless, Beshear said.
To learn more about human trafficking and efforts to fight it, contact the Attorney General’s Office of Child Abuse and Human Trafficking Prevention and Prosecution at 502-696-5300 or visit Catholic Charities of Louisville Rescue and Restore program website at http://www.rescueandrestoreky.org. The national human trafficking hotline number is 888-373-7888.
