Tuesday January 27, 2026
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Photo: Louisville Metro Parks and Recreation
Louisville Parks and Recreation is providing four opportunities next week for those seeking a part or full-time job with the city’s largest health club.
“We have some great opportunities available. You might be a college student looking for some experience during the summer, or maybe even looking for a new career. We encourage those who are looking at their employment options to come and check us out,” said Seve Ghose, Director of Parks and Recreation.
Ghose mentioned that the department employs engineers, architects, planners, naturalists, and horticulturalists among other positions. “Some of these positions are a great way to get a foot in the door in the parks and recreation industry and can lead to long-term success in the field,” he said.
Job seekers are encouraged to dress professionally and bring a copy of their resume, if possible.
The job fairs and locations are as follows:
- Portland Community Center, 640 North 27th Street, 40212
Monday, April 2, 1-4 p.m. - Vettiner Maintenance Facility, 7201 Outer Loop, 40228
Tuesday, April 3, 9 a.m. – noon - Iroquois Amphitheater, 1080 Amphitheater Road, 40214
Thursday, April 5, 9 a.m. – noon - Mary T. Meagher Aquatic Center, 201 Reservoir Avenue, 40206
Friday, April 6, 1-4 p.m.
Mayor Fischer, the Southwest Dream Team and Metro Council members were joined by local business owners and residents to unveil the 2018 edition of the South Points Scenic Area Map. It is the fourth rendition of the map, which has expanded its outreach year over year to include more local businesses and attractions, including this year, Kentucky Kingdom and Hurricane Bay.
Also new to this year’s map is an inaugural food district, called “Dine South Points,” which highlights the cultural eateries of the South Points Scenic Area, near Iroquois Park and south to Fairdale. Some new restaurants to be featured in the food district are: Vietnam Kitchen, Binh Phuoc Market, Cocoberry Pops, Shack in the Back BBQ, Golden Wall, La Riviera Maya, Sunergos Coffee and Vietnam Oriental Food Market.
The diverse range of businesses included in the map shines light on the wealth of cultural diversity that lies within the South Points Scenic Area. Louisville Metro and the Southwest Dream Team are proud to support these businesses and invite new businesses to consider participating in next year’s map.
“South and southwest Louisville continues to experience positive economic development, and is a tremendous source of pride for our entire community,” said Fischer. “The number of locally owned businesses and attractions continues to grow, with attractions serving residents and visitors from near and far.”
It is the mission of the Southwest Dream Team to promote economic development in south and southwest Louisville. The South Points Scenic Area was created in 2013 to promote the many tourism-related business and cultural and natural attractions that the area has to offer.
”The Southwest Dream Team is celebrating 10 years of continued efforts to make Southwest Louisville a healthier and more prosperous region of Louisville, and is currently in a strategic planning period,” says Vince Jarboe, President of the Southwest Dream Team. Jarboe also announced their recent hiring of an Executive Director, Charlotte Caldwell, who has extensive experience in nonprofits through her service as an AmeriCorps VISTA and volunteering on several committees for various nonprofits. “The Southwest Dream Team thanks the sponsors and Metro Council members who have been supporting us since the inception of the South Points Scenic Area.”
A mobile version of the map can be viewed at www.southpoints.org, and @SPScenicArea on Facebook and Twitter. For more information and to join the conversation visit www.swdreamteam.org, and follow @SWDT on Twitter to stay updated on the work of the Southwest Dream Team
Mayor Greg Fischer proclaimed that Friday will be Wear Red Day in Louisville to support the Louisville Cardinals women’s basketball team in the Final Four.
The Mayor is asking citizens across the community to wear Cardinal red on Friday, when the team takes on Mississippi State for a spot in the women’s NCAA Tournament championship game. If UofL wins, the Mayor asks that citizens again wear Cardinal red on Sunday to support the team as they play for the national championship.
“What the Cardinals have achieved this season is absolutely extraordinary — an ACC Championship, No. 1 seed in the Big Dance, a first team All-American in Asia Durr, and now a spot in the Final Four,” Mayor Fischer said. “Let’s show UofL women’s basketball that we stand with them and are ready to cheer like crazy this weekend.”
The Cardinals play Mississippi State at 7 p.m. Friday. The winner faces Notre Dame or Connecticut for the National Championship on Sunday.
The National Archery in the Schools Program State Tournament aims to bring 6,600 student archers grades four through twelve to the Kentucky Exposition Center March 30-31. The record breaking registration makes the Kentucky NASP tournament the largest state archery tournament in the country.
NASP promotes archery as part of in-school curriculums, with the goal of improving motivation, attention, behavior, attendance and focus. It originally began as the Kentucky Archery in the Schools Program in 2001, and has grown to include 14,000 schools in five countries. More than a million students will have learned archery by the end of this school year.
The NASP Kentucky State Tournament runs 7:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily. A full schedule can be found online at www.nasptournaments.org.
Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children (ages 13-18). Children 12 and under, registered archers and coaches are free. Parking at the Kentucky Exposition Center is $8 per vehicle and $20 per bus.
For more information about NASP and the tournament, visit www.nasptournaments.org.
After an extensive review of city programs and policies, Mayor Greg Fischer announced that Louisville Metro Government (LMG) is expanding its internal policies to better prevent and respond to child abuse in any youth-serving city program.
The Mayor ordered the review last spring, following abuse allegations related to the LMPD Explorer program. Noting at the time that Louisville Metro offers programs and partners with many local agencies on children and youth programming, he said a fresh perspective was important to strengthen city policies to ensure they are as comprehensive as possible.
Metro’s Department of Human Resources hired an outside agency, the McNary Group, to assess current youth-serving program policies in Louisville and to identify best practices.
All city employees are required to adhere to the city’s Code of Ordinances, which states, “Any Louisville Metro employee who knows or has reasonable cause to believe that a child is abused shall immediately cause an oral or written report to be made in compliance with KRS 620.030.”
Some agencies had additional policies or practices based on their own program requirements, accreditation or agency oversight, the review found, but the policies varied, often based on program interactions with other entities, such as Jefferson County Public Schools.
McNary made four recommendations to enhance LMG’s commitment to prevent and appropriately respond to allegations of child abuse within government programs, and noted that the adoption of these recommendations “could set Louisville apart as a model and a leader among other cities.”
The recommendations:
- Create Comprehensive Youth Protection Personnel Policy
- Louisville Metro Government should create a comprehensive and holistic youth protection policy for all employees that includes best practices for employee screening, a code of conduct that elaborates on “duty to report” fundamentals, and explicit reporting procedures.
- Training for All Employees
- All employees should receive youth protection training that communicates a culture of zero tolerance and provides a platform to discuss cultural and systemic barriers to understanding and reporting child abuse. Training should define youth protection and child abuse, provide discussion of healthy boundaries, and reinforce the LMG Personnel Policy.
- Educational Campaign
- Efforts should be taken to regularly engage employees and to reinforce a policy and culture that will not tolerate child abuse, including an internal communications campaign and sharing of materials generated through a partnership with national or local organizations working to end child abuse.
- Specific and Relevant Departmental Code of Conduct
- LMG should convene a cross-functional team to further enhance program-and department-specific youth protection policies and practices, including accountability measures.
The next step will involve working with the McNary Group to implement their recommendations.
J.P. Hamm, Metro’s director of Human Resources, said work already is underway to establish a more comprehensive code of conduct and build an educational campaign around it.
Mayor Fischer thanked the McNary Group and Metro’s HR staff for its work, adding that while he believes the vast majority of LMG programs operate effectively and safely, implementation of the new policy will further ensure that all employees know what is required, and all children are safe.
“My concern has always been ensuring that children in our care are protected,” the Mayor said. “These additional safeguards should assure the community that we take the welfare of children seriously.”
Mayor Greg Fischer was joined by officials from LMPD, Louisville Free Public Library, the Kentucky Science Center, Louisville Parks and Recreation and Jefferson County Public Schools to encourage local children to take advantage of the dozens of free and low-cost activities offered by those organizations during the upcoming spring break April 2-6.
“We want kids to enjoy the time off with their family and friends, and to come back ready to finish the school year strong,” Fischer said. “If parents and kids are looking to keep their minds and bodies stimulated the week of April 2, we have some great local programming that’s being offered through parks and recreation, the library and JCPS at low or no-cost.”
Those include camps run through parks and recreation community centers, including a free basketball clinic by former University of Louisville basketball player Robbie Valentine on April 4-5 at the South Louisville Community Center; activities that include free movie viewings, STEAM instruction, workshops, classes and more at local Louisville Free Public Library branches; and literacy classes for 3rd, 4th and 5th graders through JCPS.
“We want kids to have fun, stay safe and out of trouble during the break from school,” Fischer said. “There are several opportunities daily for them to remain active and engaged through guided programming. Hopefully the weather’s nice and they’ll be able to spend some time enjoying the outdoors as well.”
Metro Government has created a guide to the assorted spring break activities.
The Kentucky Arts Council invites Kentucky schools to be part of the fun and excitement of the Kentucky Derby by decorating canvases for the Governor’s Derby Celebration.
Picnic tables on the Old State Capitol grounds will be fitted with horse heads and tails, and the canvases, or “Derby blankets,” will be placed over the tabletops like a blanket over a horse. Any Kentucky school, public or private, can participate.
Schools must provide their own supplies to complete the project. Blankets need to be 36 inches wide and 60 inches long and made of durable, water resistant material. Paint must be outdoor latex and able to withstand inclement weather.
There are no theme requirements, but painted canvases must be sent to the arts council by April 23 for consideration to be part of the Governor’s Derby Celebration. The arts council reserves the right to select which canvases to display at the event, but each blanket will appear in an online slideshow on the arts council website as well as on arts council social media platforms. Schools that participate are acknowledged at the celebration.
Ship blankets to:
Kentucky Arts Council
1025 Capital Center Drive
Third floor
Frankfort, KY 40601
For more information contact Jean St. John at jean.stjohn@ky.gov or 502-892-3124.
