Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! Metro offices will be closed on Thursday, November 23 and Friday, November 24.

The eNews will take a break next week too. We’ll be back on November 30.

There will be no residential garbage, recycling or yard waste collection within the Louisville Metro Urban Services District (former Louisville city limits) on Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 23. Residents who normally have garbage/yard waste/recycling collection on Thursday will have service instead on Friday, Nov. 24. The regular Friday collection will be delayed until Saturday, Nov. 25. Collection will also be delayed in the City of St. Matthews.

Staffed recycling centers and the Metro Waste Reduction Center will be closed Thursday, November 23 and Friday, November 24. Leaf drop-off will also not be available those days. All three services will resume on Saturday.

The HazBin hazardous waste facility at 7501 Grade Lane will be closed on Saturday, November 25.

Residents who rely on private haulers for garbage, recycling and yard waste collection should consult those haulers about holiday collection schedules.

I recently had the pleasure of recommending United Crescent Hill Ministries (UCHM) and St. Matthews Area Ministries (St. MAM) for grants awarded to local non-profits by cable television provider Spectrum and was pleased to be present when Spectrum’s Ellen Call presented Mark Howell and Julie Abbott with checks for $1,000.  Thanks, Spectrum!

UCHM and St. MAM do great work in the 40206 and 40207 zip codes, helping people in need with food and other forms of emergency assistance.  

In this season of Thanksgiving, please consider supporting their important work right in our own neighborhoods!

You can find UCHM here- http://www.uchmlouky.org/ and here- https://www.facebook.com/unitedcrescenthillministries/.

Information about St. MAM is here – http://stmam.com/index.php and here- https://www.facebook.com/stmamcdc/. 

Next week marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season and an important time for local retailers. Stores and restaurants along Frankfort Avenue, Chenoweth Lane, Shelbyville Road, Mellwood Avenue and everywhere else in D9 are all counting on a big season – and they need your help to ensure our local economy stays strong
and vibrant.

You can start your shopping at a special Frankfort Avenue Holiday Hop on “Black Friday”, November 24.  Trolleys will run extended hours from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm to encourage hoppers to spend the day eating, drinking and shopping along Frankfort Avenue.  The trolleys run along the Avenue from Cannons Lane to River Road, and many businesses will host music, refreshments and special sales.  (I’ll be a guest book seller at Carmichael’s Bookstore at 2720 Frankfort Avenue from 10:00 am – 11:00 am and Mayor Greg Fischer will also be stopping by.)

On Saturday, November 25, the whole country celebrates Small Business Saturday and there’s no better place to do it than at D9’s many local shops.  Trolleys will be running along Frankfort Avenue on Saturday from Noon to 6:00 p.m.

Shop Small this holiday season to find unique items, keep your dollars here, and support the jobs created by local small businesses!

If you received a notice that Scouts would be picking up food donations, this Saturday, November 18, is the day.   Set out bags full of canned food, cereal, pasta, peanut butter, juice and other nonperishable items by 8:00 a.m. this Saturday.  The food will be picked up by the Scouts and delivered to central locations (including Crescent Hill United Methodist Church's "Praise Food Pantry” and St. Matthews United Methodist Church) for distribution to families in need throughout the area. 

Scouts know how fortunate they are to have a warm meal every night — whether around the campfire or at the kitchen table. And they know that not everyone is so lucky.  Help them by setting out food this Saturday morning. 

LG&E’s Plant for the Planet program is modeled after the United Nations Environment Program's (UNEP) Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign. The purpose of UNEP's tree-planting effort is to bring individuals, communities and businesses together to collectively plant over one billion trees worldwide each year. Similarly, LG&E and KU's program is designed to encourage nonprofit organizations and local government agencies with a record of successful tree planting to continue their efforts. The company has designated up to $75,000 each year toward this initiative.

Tree planting grant applications will be accepted through December 1. All applications and corresponding documentations must be submitted electronically. Click here for more information, and to submit an application.

LG&E and KU offer one-year grants of $500 to $5,000 for urban, suburban or rural projects in forests and parks, along parkways or roadways that meet program objectives. Applicants must demonstrate that mature trees resulting from their efforts will not interfere with utility lines.

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 your story to Bill Hollander or Kyle Ethridge. 

With several ravines on the property now filled in with truckloads of rock and dirt from several MSD sewage basin projects, the Robley Rex VA Medical Center can now park employee and visitor cars on 400 new parking places in its two new big parking lots. Cars belonging to employees and visitors began parking there August 29.

“This closes down the three leases on parking lots on Mellwood Avenue,” announced Irvon Clear, Chief Engineer and Facility Manager for the hospital. “Now a veteran or his family can show up and park in any of the 100 spaces available after employees fill approximately 300 parking spaces.”

Cars no longer need to park along Country Club Road (where most parking has already been prohibited) or on the Mellwood Avenue lot, and visitors do not need to take shuttle buses from Mellwood to the hospital.

The parking lots were completed at virtually no expense to the hospital through the use of rock from the MSD projects.  (Article reprinted from Clifton Heights News.) 

Light Up Louisville has been a tradition for more than three decades for thousands of residents and visitors to our city. Heading into its 37th year, Light Up Louisville will serve as a kickoff celebration to Louisville's Holiday in the City.

Light Up Louisville is held the day after Thanksgiving with the arrival of Santa Claus, who will help Mayor Fischer illuminate downtown Louisville at Fourth and Jefferson Streets.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

• 4:00 p.m. Children's activities inside Santa's Workshop - Metro Hall, 1st floor. Vendors booths open - Sixth and Jefferson Streets. Live entertainment - Main stage 

• 6:30 p.m. Lots of Lights Parade - Starts at Seventh and Jefferson Streets and heads east on Jefferson Street. The parade wil then turn down Fourth Street and disperse at Muhammad Ali. The Lots of Lights Parade is an evening parade of lights, bands, carolers, car clubs, floats, children's groups and civic organizations. Register for the parade here. 

• 8:00 p.m. Light Up Moment - Santa joins Mayor Fischer on the main stage at Metro Hall to light up the city Christmas tree located at Jefferson Square Park. Grab the best view of the lights, fireworks and action right in front of the stage on the west lawn of Metro Hall.

• 8:30 p.m. Free pictures with Santa - Metro Hall, 1st Floor

• 11:00 p.m. Holiday in the City ice skating rink closes - Fourth and Jefferson Streets   

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is hosting a public meeting regarding proposed safety and drainage improvements to Chenoweth Lane.  The purpose of the project, from the CSX railroad crossing to Brownsboro Road, is to (1) improve sight distance and safety for all users, (2) improve drainage along the corridor and (3) improve pedestrian safety and mobility. 

The public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 30 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. at the Broadway Baptist Church, 4000 Brownsboro Road.  An open house format will be used, so stop by anytime between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. A public comment period will be open until December 14.  If you have any questions, please contact Amanda Desmond, PE at KYTC, District 5, by phone at (502) 210-5400 or by e-mail at Amanda.Desmond@ky.gov.  

For the past several years, the District 9 office has hosted a mobile tax preparation site at United Crescent Hill Ministries, offering free tax preparation to individuals and families under a certain income bracket. Each year we depend on volunteers to help prepare taxes and greet clients at our mobile site. We have a few dedicated volunteers that help us out every year, but we need more! This year we are planning to offer additional tax preparation dates and hope you’ll consider joining our team! If you are interested in volunteering for the 2017 tax season (January 26-April 2018) please contact Kyle Ethridge or call 574-3908. The first volunteer training will be offered in December. Volunteers are needed to help prepare taxes AND greet clients. Click here to view a list of available positions. Click here to fill out a volunteer form.

VITA Tax Volunteer Informational Session on Friday, December 1 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. with short presentation at 7:00 p.m. at The Edison Center, 701 W. Ormsby Avenue. Plan to drop by to learn more about the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. 

UCHM's 22nd Annual Santa Sprint & Stroll will take place on Saturday, December 2nd, 2017. Join community members for a 5K (3.1 miles) race or walk along historic Frankfort Avenue to benefit the vital community programs at UCHM.  Details and registration information can be found online at www.uchmlouky.org. For more information, contact Mark Howell at mhowell@uchmlouky.org or 502-893-0346.

Light Up St. Matthews has been a tradition for decades for hundreds of residents and visitors to St. Matthews. This year the annual celebration launching the holiday season is expanding its light display by adding eight new displays.

The event is scheduled Saturday, December 2, from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. at Brown Park, 1000 Browns Lane.

Parking for the event will be at 4007 Kresge Way, a part of the Baptist Health Louisville Campus directly across from the hospital.

Enjoy cookies and hot chocolate, a live DJ, pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus, activities for the kids, and fun for the entire family. At 6 p.m., the event concludes with Santa turning on the lights throughout the park.

The lights will stay lit until after the New Year and visitors are welcome to visit the park throughout that time to enjoy the lights. 

On Friday, December 8, from 8:30 am – 3:30 pm, the 9th District office, in partnership with U of L Hospital and the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, will offer FREE mammograms at the Clifton Center, 2117 Payne Street.  To make an appointment, please contact my office at 574-3908.  Mammograms are for women age 40 and over. There is no cost to eligible women without insurance.  Women with insurance will need to bring their card so a claim may be filed. 

Louisville Metro residents not mulching autumn leaves into their lawns or putting them out in reusable or compostable containers for curbside collection now have the option to dispose of them at one of three drop-off sites.

Metro Public Works is offering a free leaf drop-off service through December 2. Drop-off will not be available on November 23 and 24 in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Only loose leaves will be accepted. Containers used to bring leaves to the drop-off sites must be disposed of off-site by residents.

Leaf drop off sites:

• Public Works Yard, 10500 Lower River Road (enter from Bethany Lane), Tuesday – Saturday, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
• Public Works East District Operations Center, 595 Hubbards Lane, Tuesday – Saturday, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
• Public Works Waste Reduction Center, 636 Meriwether Avenue, Tuesday – Friday:  9 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Saturday:  9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Mary T. Meagher Aquatic Center and Camp Quality are hosting a Christmas toy drive now through December 10. Camp Quality works with children who are fighting cancer.

To participate, please purchase a toy worth $15-$20 for a boy or girl and drop it off at the Mary T. Meagher Aquatic Center, 201 Reservoir Avenue by December 10.

Questions, please contact Keith Smith at 744-0556 or email keith.smith@louisvilleky.gov.