* PLEASE NOTE TIME CHANGE TO 9:00 A.M. * The District 9 office recently appropriated funding to Whitehall House & Gardens for the purchase of 50 potted trees and shrubs for the hillside along Lexington Road at Top Hill Road. We need volunteers to help plant these trees and shrubs which will continue to help the stabilization of the hillside. Plan to meet on Saturday, November 22, at 9:00 a.m. at the corner of Top Hill and Lexington Roads. We will be blocking off one lane of the roadway to allow for safe working on Lexington Road. Please make sure you dress in layers. Gloves, tools, water and HOT coffee will be provided. 

The Local Affordable Housing Trust Fund (LAHTF) is now requesting proposals from both nonprofit and for-profit developers for the HOMEbuyer Program. The program makes homeownership affordable to low-income first-time homebuyers. Submissions are being accepted now through Friday, December 5, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. Applicants should submit proposals demonstrating their capacity to both develop affordable single family homes and to assist interested low-income first-time homebuyers in housing counseling and qualifying for first mortgage loans. Interested developers can find the application, guidelines, and details at www.louisvilleahtf.org. 

My office is partnering with the Louisville Asset Building Coalition to provide FREE tax preparation services again in 2015.  We are recruiting volunteers to help prepare taxes on four Fridays in February and March 2015 (Feb 6, 20 and Mar 6, 20).  Full training is provided by the Louisville Asset Building Coalition on select dates in December or January.  To volunteer or to obtain more information please contact our office directly at 574-1109 or email Kyle Ethridge for a list of training dates and information.

More information on tax preparation dates will be posted soon.  The service is FREE if you earned $50,000 Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) or less in 2014 or if you quality for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).  

Information provided by Louisville Metro Planning and Design Services, 444 S. 5th Street – Suite 300, Louisville, KY 40202-4313, (502)574-6230

Case Number: 14STREETS1009
You are invited to attend a review of a proposal for an alley closure on the north side of Eastbourne Avenue, running between the properties at 3301 Eastbourne Avenue and 135-141 North Crestmoor Avenue.
Subject Property: 3301 Eastbourne Ave.
Case Manager: David B. Wagner (david.wagner@louisvilleky.gov)
Meeting Type: Development Review Committee
Date: Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Time: Meeting will begin at 1:00 PM and continue until all cases are heard
Location: Old Jail Building, 514 W. Liberty Street 40202

For basic details for above case/s please visit http://www.louisvilleky.gov/PlanningDesign/.  Click on “Case Information – eCustomer Services” link.  Then select the “home” tab and select the type of case and enter the above case number.  For specific case information please call or email the above listed case manager.  If you have any questions please contact Planning & Design directly at 574-6230.

LMPD has partnered with CrimeMapping.com to provide Louisville citizens with a more robust solution for mapping crime.  You can expect more detail, better filtering and alerts on the site as well. Please click here to sign up for the new crime notifications. Enter your email address and the address around which you want notifications for, and then select the types of crime. 

Holiday Shopping Nights at Just Creations, 2722 Frankfort Avenue, help support local not-for-profit community groups while providing artisans throughout the developing world with fair and sustainable income.  There is a full slate of events for 2014.  Mark your calendar and plan to join them in support of these local organizations:

• Thursday, November 20 - Louisville Ballet Partners
• Friday, November 21 - Hospital Hospitality House
• Saturday, November 22 - Casting for Recovery
• Monday, December 1 - Hearts for Kenya
• Tuesday, December 2 - Project Warm
• Wednesday, December 3 - St Xavier High School Belize House
• Thursday, December 4 - Peace Education Program
• Friday, December 5 - The Center for Women & Families
• Saturday, December 6 - La Casita Center
• Monday, December 8 - At Liberty Hospitality Program
• Tuesday, December 9 - CrossRoads Ministry
• Wednesday, December 10 - Assumption High School Fair Trade Committee
• Thursday, December 11 - Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
• Friday, December 12 - Bridge Kids International
• Saturday, December 13 - Atherton High School Baseball Team

All Shopping Night hours are 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. 

Join the World Affairs Council (WAC) on Wednesday, December 3 at 6:30 p.m. for The Media: Shaping Cultural Attitudes and Policies featuring Jean West with Faceswest Productions, Jean West’s Medical Digest. Registration at 6:30 p.m. and the presentation begins at 7:00 p.m. at Moonshine University, 801 S. 8th Street. Tickets are $20 for non-members and may be purchased online here.

 

What a year for the media! Crimea, ISIS, Ebola - how do seemingly insignificant actors become such international headlines and alter/inform our perceptions about the world at large, our sense of security and affect government policy of global proportions? From the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s….to the Tiananmen Square of 1989, to the Arab Spring in 2010 which began in Tunisia and still reverberates today – look at how the media has played a role in shaping the cultural attitudes and policies both here and abroad.  Learn how social media played a part in that uprising, and continues to have an impact on societal activity as recently as protests in Hong Kong.

Jean West was Morning Anchor at WAVE –TV (NBC) during the uprising that erupted in Cairo. Via cell phone communication and Skype, she brought viewers in Louisville live eyewitness accounts of the activity with the help of Dr. Adel Elmaghraby – Chair of the University of Louisville Department of Computer Engineering and Computer Science. Dr. Elmaghraby was in Cairo at the time and provided real time analysis of what most other broadcasts had no access to.

The 19th Annual Santa Sprint & Stroll takes place on Saturday, December 6, 2014 at 9:00 am. They will kick off at Barret Traditional Middle School, 2561 Grinstead Drive (at Peterson Avenue). Join for a 5k Run or 1-Mile Walk along historic Frankfort Avenue! Registration Fees increase 11/25, so REGISTER TODAY! The event is sponsored by Frankfort Avenue Business Association (FABA) to benefit the work of United Crescent Hill Ministries (UCHM).

The event begins at 9:00 am—rain, snow, or shine. (Severe icy weather may cancel, so check our website for updates on Race Day. No refunds given.)

Age Group Awards for Top 3 Finishers in each age group for the 5k. Top Male and Female walkers in the Stroll will receive an Award. Door Prizes will be given out following the race. Photos with SANTA for a $5 donation, beginning at 8:30am.

WAYS TO REGISTER 

ONLINE: Register here

BY MAIL or DROP-OFF at UCHM:
Mail forms to: UCHM, 150 S. State Street, Louisville, KY 40206
Registration Brochure may be found and downloaded here.
Call (502) 893-0346 or Email uchm@bellsouth.net for more information.

 REGISTRATION FEES
EARLY Registration has been extended! Entries postmarked or completed online (preferably by Noon) before or on Monday, Nov. 24th are considered Early Registration. Only early registrants receive a long-sleeved T-shirt.

* YOUTH (13 years old & under): $15.00 (or $10 with one paying adult)
* ADULT (14 years old & over): $20.00
* Participants in Strollers are FREE.

LATE and DAY-OF Registration / Fees (Nov. 25 – Dec. 6): Add $6 to the above fees, per participant. Day-Of-Race Registration begins at 8:00 am at Barret Traditional Middle School.

Published Friday, November 7, 2014 by Caitlin Bowling, Louisville Business First

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has a hypothesis, and it wants to test it in Louisville. The national organization has been studying cities in the United States, including Baltimore, Seattle and Washington, D.C., to find the best places for developers, building preservation leaders and city to invest money. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded organization based in Washington, D.C., that works to save historic places in the United States.

During its research, National Trust workers break cities into neighborhoods and look at different variables, including sustainability, walk-ability, number of small businesses, number of small businesses owned by minorities and women, and anonymous cell-phone usage data. Once the variables are collected, they crunch the numbers and assign an "opportunity score" to each neighborhood, said Margaret O'Neal, senior manager of sustainable preservation with the trust.

The study aims to identify overlooked areas where investment could prompt new businesses to open and draw new residents to the area. A major focus is on building reuse and sustainability, O'Neal said. "We want to help people understand the value of these (older, historic) buildings and how they contribute to the livelihood and fabric of the community," she said.

The organization wants to take that work a step further in Louisville and see whether its formula works by gauging the local impact of investment in areas that the National Trust has identified. The research would take an estimated three years, and the project budget is $1 million. The Owsley Brown II Family Foundation will provide a majority of the funds.

"We really believe Louisville can be a proving ground for the work that we've done," O'Neal said. "Not only is Louisville well-placed to show how our work can have an impact … but we are also really thinking this will be a test case for our work nationally." To read the entire story click here.