The 9th District and the Energy Pros are holding a One Stop Drop Responsible Recycling Event this Saturday, May 9th from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm at Louisville Water Tower Park, home of the WaterWorks Museum, 3005 River Road. This drive-thru event is FREE.  While sponsored by District 9, any citizen in Louisville may participate at this FREE event. Businesses may not drop off items at this event. We will be accepting a multitude of items to be reused or recycled. Please click here for the event flyer and a list of what will be accepted. For detailed information please visit our website at www.louisvilleky.gov/district9 and click on “Annual Responsible Recycling Event” photo and story. * PLEASE NOTE TIME CHANGE*

The Shakespeare in the Park tour is returning to Story Avenue Park in Butchertown on Sunday, May 10! Bring your lawn chairs (and picnic foods, if you wish) at 6:00 p.m. for an abbreviated (90-minute) performance of Macbeth followed by a reception at nearby White Clay (1515 Story Avenue). Barbecued meats, vegetarian options, sides and drinks will all be provided at the 7:45 p.m. reception, which will be attended by cast and crew. The play is being performed at 20 parks in the Louisville area this spring with the full version scheduled for this summer in Central Park. The Story Avenue Park production is funded in part by your District 9 Neighborhood Development Funds.

Derby Day is the traditional time to plant tomatoes in Louisville and we noticed that Ray Ely's are in the ground.  Ray lives at Dayton and Bauer Avenues in District 9 and has had a garden for fifteen years or more. His passions are gardening, seed saving, urban orchards, water catchment (collecting water from his house and garage), community building and food preservation.  He is an active member of the Louisville Permaculture Guild, which meets periodically to teach sustainability techniques to anyone who wants to join. http://www.meetup.com/Louisville-Permaculture-Guild/

Ray grows heirloom tomatoes and peppers, starting seeds in February and planting outdoors around Derby.  Everything in his garden is edible.  His neighbors enjoy his gardening (and the occasional vegetable) and Ray especially likes to show it off to neighborhood  children who learn where their food comes from and how it grows.  Look for Ray's garden as you pass by Dayton and Bauer!

We’d like to feature your sustainability story - a resident or business doing good things for the environment.  Riding the bus, bicycling, walking, gardening and more - our eNews will feature practices which can benefit all of us.  Send you story to Bill Hollander or Kyle Ethridge.

Work is underway on two neighborhood traffic circles on Nanz Avenue at Iola Road and Macon Avenue and sidewalk improvements at both intersections.  The traffic circles are designed to control neighborhood traffic and improve safety by, among other things, attracting bicycle traffic away from Willis Avenue, creating a “Neighborway” for bicycle traffic.  Shared lane markings are also being placed on streets which link the Westport Road bike lane with the Seneca Park shared use path around Bowman Field.

Metro Louisville is funding the traffic circles at a total cost of $22,000, including $9,000 in District 9 Community Infrastructure Funds appropriated last year, $6,500 this year and the remainder from Metro Public Works.  The City of St. Matthews has agreed to maintain the landscaped circles.  Sidewalk improvements are being funded with $1,865 in District 9 Community Infrastructure Funds. 

Look for more information when the traffic circles are completed. Stop signs will remain up for a short period, before they are replaced with yield signs. At that time, slow down and yield to traffic on the left as you enter the new circles. 

We are always happy to hear from constituents.  To make meeting with us in person more convenient, we’ll be holding office hours at various places around District 9. Join us on Wednesday, May 13, from 2:00-4:00 p.m. at the Beargrass Creek Pumping Station near Karen Lynch Park at Brownsboro & Story Avenue. Stop by with any questions or concerns.

The next D9 Community Conversation is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 26, at the Clifton Center, 2117 Payne Street. Jessica Montgomery, Director of Animal Services, will give an update on that department’s activities and be available to answer questions. We also want to hear from you on any topics, an unscripted, open conversation about your vision for D9 and the City. Please mark your calendar and join us – and bring along a friend or neighbor!

Louisville's Bike to Work Day Celebration is taking place on Friday, May 15th at 4th Street Live! from 11:30 am until 1:00 pm.  Leading up to the event, there are tons of fun things going on. If you're participating, you can register on this site to win a free bike!  And the Louisville Bicycle Club, the local bike education organization, is offering free education classes. Check it out below, join in the fun and SAVE your gas money! Register now! 

Increase your biking skills with the Louisville Bicycle Club's New Rider / Bike handling Classes: Classes start April 27 through May 25 and are on Mondays from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Yellow Parking Lot, Waterfront Park.

Meet & Ride Locations on Bike to Work Day Friday, May 15th
The official Louisville Bike to Work Day is Friday, May 15.  The Meet & Ride locations feature parking if you are driving and will allow you to ride with other riders and ride captains. Riders must have a helmet. You can also meet to ride home at Fourth Street Live! at 5:15pm.

In District 9, cyclists will leave from Seneca Park; meeting at the basketball court parking lot, just west of the tennis courts at 7 a.m. District 9 cyclists can also join the group at the parking lot at Lexington Road and Ledge Road at approximately 7:20 a.m., other groups leave from Iroquois Park, Shawnee Park and Southern Indiana.

Bike to Work Day Celebration
Celebration at 4th Street Live! Join Bike Louisville at noon on Friday, May 15th at 4th Street Live! to meet up with other commuters, learn more about bicycle commuting, visit with vendors and just celebrate the bicycle! And one of the lucky bike to work day registrants will win a new, fully-loaded commuting bike from Parkside Bike Shop-- no purchase necessary!  We will also be giving out Louisville's new printed bike map and drawing for other prizes!

MSD is hosting a public meeting regarding the Clifton Heights storage basin on Tuesday, May 19 at 6:00 p.m. at the American Printing House for the Blind, 1839 Frankfort Avenue. This is the second in a series of four public meetings. This meeting will provide information concerning the conceptual design of the basin and how it will benefit the area. You will have an opportunity to provide input and comments about the use and look of the area above this covered underground basin. Questions or comments may be submitted via email to commentsIOAP@msdlouky.org, or mailed to MSD IOAP Project Comments, Attn: Project WIN Program Manager, 700 W Liberty Street, 40203.

Residents of Louisville who suffered damage from the severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides of April 2-17, 2015 may be eligible for federal disaster assistance.

Emergency Services Emergency Management Agency (EMA) has been working closely with The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to determine damages throughout the community caused by these storms.

EMA is encouraging all members of the community who registered a preliminary damage assessment as well as all area residents possibly affected to apply for assistance. Individuals and business owners who sustained losses can begin applying for assistance by registering online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621- 3362 (FEMA) or by web-enabled mobile device at m.fema.gov.  Disaster assistance applicants who have a speech disability or hearing loss and use TTY should call 1-800-462-7585 directly; those who use 711 or Video Relay Service may call 1-800-621-3362. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time seven days a week, until further notice.

Residents who have registered for assistance will be contact by a FEMA representative for individual housing assessment.

There will be three disaster recovery centers in the Metro Louisville area staffed by FEMA representatives.  The first center will be open at Okolona Fire Station #1, 8501 Preston Highway, Louisville, KY  40219 where individuals can go to discuss their case after they’ve registered.  Operating hours for this Friday, May 8th are 12:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. and Saturday hours from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.  The following week they will be open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.  The additional two centers will open soon after and the community will be notified of these locations once they are determined by FEMA.

Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

FEMA representatives encourage applicants to collect the following information ahead of time to speed the process:

• Social Security Number
• Telephone number
• Address of the damaged property and current address
• Brief description of disaster-related damages and losses
• Insurance and bank account information

Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status. If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, call FEMA toll-free at 800-621-FEMA (3362). For TTY call 800-462-7585.

Louisville Metro Government Department of Public Works & Codes & Regulations present the 3rd Blight Out - Brighten Up event on Saturday, May 16, from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm at 600 Meriwether Avenue.

Volunteers will paint 8’x4’ plywood boards that secure abandoned properties.  This event began in 2012 in the Department of Codes & Regulations with an overwhelming response from citizens who just wanted to come out and be creative. If you are unable to volunteer on May 16th, please consider donating:  paint, brushes, drop cloths, coffee, donuts, snacks, water, sodas, ice, pizzas, rollers, and containers for paint distribution.

For more information contact please contact C. J. Fletcher, Administrative Specialist SWMS at 574-3584 or (502) 552-2262.

I was recently contacted by a constituent regarding recent debit card fraud. She learned of the fraud due to an alert set up through a bank account. If you are a victim of identity theft, please place a fraud alert with the credit reporting companies, get a free credit report and create an official report complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. More information and helpful links are below.

• http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/feature-0014-identity-theft
• www.Fraud.org
• http://ag.ky.gov/civil/consumerprotection/scams/Pages/default.aspx
• http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Internet-Fraud.shtml
• http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx