Our next Community Conversation is scheduled for Thursday, February 19 at 6:30 p.m. at United Crescent Hill Ministries, 150 State Street in Clifton. The date was changed due to a religious holiday. We’ll hear a short report from Kroger regarding the upcoming renovations at the Clifton Kroger on Brownsboro Road and you will have an opportunity to ask questions and make suggestions to Kroger representatives. But most of the time and focus at the meeting will be on you.  We are hoping for unscripted, open conversations about your vision for D9 and the City. Please mark your calendar and join us – and bring along a friend or neighbor!

My office was recently contacted about loose animals encountered during neighborhood walks. Here are a few reminders:

• Restraint required – all animals, excluding community cats, shall be kept under restraint at all times. (It is illegal to exclusively restrain a dog or puppy by a fixed point chain or tether between the hours of 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. for a period exceeding one hour in any eight-hour period.)
• Sanitary disposal of animal feces is required.
• Licenses and vaccinations must be up to date.
• No person is allowed to abandon an animal for a period in excess of 24 hours.

For more information or to read the entire animal ordinance please click here.

My office is partnering with the Louisville Asset Building Coalition to provide FREE tax preparation services again. The service is FREE if you earned $58,000 Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) or less in 2014 or if you quality for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Call the office today to see if you qualify and make your appointment – 574-1109! Appointments are available on four Fridays in February and March (Feb 6, 20 and Mar 6, 20) between 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at United Crescent Hill Ministries, 150 S. State Street. 

Louisville Metro Meals on Wheels recipients are getting handmade Valentine’s Day cards created by youth volunteers.

“These handmade cards will help brighten the lives of hundreds of seniors in our community,” said Katina Whitlock, director of the Louisville Metro Department of Community Services, the organization which administers the Meals on Wheels program locally. “Social interaction is a very important component of the Meals on Wheels program, and our seniors will love receiving these special keepsakes from caring young people.”

Last year over 100,000 hot noontime meals were delivered to homebound Louisville residents. In District 9, volunteers deliver meals from United Crescent Hill Ministries (UCHM) in Clifton and the Jewish Community Center (JCC) on Dutchmans Lane.   The support of the volunteers and meals they provide are critical to helping homebound residents maintain enough independence to stay in their own homes.  Another 106,000 meals were served last year to active seniors at more than 20 congregate meal sites across the community,  which offer seniors an opportunity for a nutritious lunch, socialization and activities.  UCHM and the JCC are also congregate meal sites.  To learn more about eligibility or how to volunteer, click here:  http://louisvilleky.gov/government/community-services/senior-nutrition-congregate-meals-and-meals-wheels or call (502) 574-6325. 

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

Case Number: 15Variance1002
You are invited to attend a Board of Zoning Adjustment review for a variance from the Development Code to allow a proposed addition to encroach into the required rear yard.
Subject Property: 113 N Sherrin Avenue
Case Manager: Jon Crumbie (jon.crumbie@louisvilleky.gov)
Meeting Type: Board of Zoning Adjustment
Date: Monday, February 12, 2015
Time: Meeting will begin at 8:30 A.M. and continue until all cases are heard
Location: Old Jail Building Court Room, 514 West Liberty Street, Louisville, KY 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.

Kick-off for the Mayor’s SummerWorks Program on Saturday, February 14 at the Kentucky International Convention Center, 221 S. 4th Street, exhibit hall 1A/B from 10:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. This is a job fair for young adults (ages 16-21). FREE to job seekers and employers. Dress for an interview and bring your I.D. and copies of your resume. FREE parking available only at the 4th Street LIVE garage, 425 S. 5th Street & Skips Lot, Liberty Street between 2nd and 3rd Streets. Do you want to stand out to employers and have a chance to earn VIP access? Go to www.kentuckianaworks.org and register for the Showcase by February 10. For more information contact 574-4657.

Mayor Fischer delivered the annual State of the City Address last week at the spectacular new Southwest Regional Library at 9725 Dixie Highway. 

I was pleased to hear the Mayor outline a community vision for investments in both place and people that would create a more innovative, skilled, independent and successful Louisville.  Of particular interest was the Mayor’s support for more and better early childhood education initiatives, a need highlighted by the recent release of Kindergarten readiness scores.  

The Mayor closed with a call for personal investment by Louisvillians in our communities.  Volunteering as a mentor as part of the Mayor’s mentor challenge is one way to help. “All of us have the ability to touch the future by investing in our community, by investing in the young people around us, by investing in the tools our community needs and in the quality of the places that we gather,” he said.

If you are interested in talking one-on-one with mentoring organizations, hearing from long-term mentors or selecting the mentoring program that works best for you, click here for details.

Louisville Business First
By: Caitlin Bowling

The long-awaited Mesh restaurant finally has an opening date. The fine dining restaurant owned by Indianapolis-based Cunningham Restaurant Group was supposed to open at 3608 Brownsboro Road in Crescent Hill last year, but as Business First reported in October, the opening was postponed. At that time, Mike Cunningham, owner of Cunningham Restaurant Group, said nothing unusual caused the delay.

"Things got pushed back and delayed, and that is just the way things are sometimes," he said then. Now, the company said it will officially open on Feb. 25. Cunningham Restaurant Group is in the process of hiring more than 125 employees.

Mesh is located at the former site of Azalea restaurant and, before that, Bauer's 1870 Tavern. The building was demolished, with a 7,600-square-foot restaurant erected in its place, Business First previously reported. The restaurant will seat about 240 people, with additional outdoor patio seating. Cunningham Restaurant Group invested about $2.8 million in Mesh. The company owns 13 restaurants in Indiana and Ohio, including a Mesh in Indianapolis and Moerlein Lager House in Cincinnati.

Photo by: Tim Harris

By: Sheldon Shafer, Courier-Journal

Five "women of distinction" will be honored at the 28th annual "Celebration of Service and Survival," a fundraiser for the non-profit Center for Women and Families.The center, which helps victims of intimate partner abuse or sexual violence to become survivors, has been recognizing outstanding women in the community through its awards program since 1988, a total of more than 150 women who have made significant contributions to education, health care, civil rights, the arts, human services or the advancement of the welfare of children and women, said Marta Miranda, the center CEO.

One of the five honorees is a D9 resident, Dorothy "Dot" Ridings, who has developed a passion for education, information and advocacy throughout her career, the center said. She is a past president of the Council on Foundations, the Washington-based membership association for grant-making foundations and corporate-giving programs. Ridings has worked as a newspaper reporter and editor and served four years as president of the League of Women Voters of the United States.

Funds raised through the Celebration of Service and Survival event allow the Center for Women and Families to continue serving more than 30,000 individuals who need its services annually. The event will be at the Churchill Downs Millionaires Row section, with cocktails and a silent auction at 5:30 p.m., and dinner and program at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $175, and a table of eight starts at $2,000. For information, contact Mary Dorrell at mary.dorrell@cwfempower.org or (502) 581-7209.

To read the entire story and see other honorees, please click here.

The Comfy Cow celebrates their 5th Annual Chocopalooza the month of February. Enjoy delicious chocolate flavors made from sustainably grown cocoa like: Curry Curry, Chocolate Lavender, Intense Dark Chocolate, Chocolate "Marsha Marsha Marsha!"-Mallow Chocolate "Brownie Points" and Cinnamon Smitten.

Over the last four years The Comfy Cow has donated thousands of dollars to local charities with Chocopalooza. Ten percent of all sales during Chocopalooza will be donated to 4 local charities and this year they are proud to partner with Make-A-Wish, Gilda’s Club, Boys & Girls Haven and The Fund For The Arts. See below schedule.

2/1 - 2/7 - Make-A-Wish
2/8 - 2/14 - Gilda's Club
2/15 - 2/21 - Boys & Girls Haven
2/22-2/28 - Fund for the Arts

The Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund (LAHTF) is looking for a bookkeeper as an independent consultant to perform basic monthly bookkeeping for the organization including financial reports, reconciliations, preparing checks, entering transactions, tracking grants and loans, and working with their accountant on their annual fiscal reports. The position will be filled by March 2015. Submit bids including list of relevant experience with similar organizations and nonprofit accounting practices, references, and hourly rate to Executive Director Rachel Hurst at info@louisvilleahtf.org by February 28th. For more information, call 502-637-5372.