It’s Earth Week and this week’s edition of the eNews features many ways to celebrate and to help the environment. 

On Saturday, April 21, many organizations working toward a more sustainable city come together for Earth Walk at Iroquois Park.

Also on Saturday, free trees are available.  

Friday and Saturday, you can help Brightside by buying premium compost.

On Earth Day itself, Sunday, April 22, distillery tours at Copper & Kings will highlight the distiller’s sustainable features and benefit the Waterfront Botanical Gardens, and there will be an Earth Day celebration at Louisville Water Tower Park (see the calendar listing).

Finally, make your plans (and volunteer if you can) for our annual Responsible Recycling event on May 12.  Stories on all of that are below.  Happy Earth Week!  

This Saturday, April 21 is the second annual Louisville Earth Walk, a family-friendly event centered around a 5K walk. The event celebrates the planet and raises awareness about how we can all help make Louisville a healthier, cleaner place, while also serving as a fundraiser for many local nonprofit organizations working towards a more sustainable city.  

The event is from 9-12 a.m. in Iroquois Park. 

Individual registration for the walk is $15 in advance, or $10 as part of a team.

The Louisville Earth Walk will include music, information tables, brief inspirational talks, and more.  Musical groups performing at the event include local favorites Troubadours of Divine Bliss and Bendigo Fletcher. It will also feature activities designed to engage and educate the public on “steps they can take” to promote a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable community. 

Proceeds will be distributed among participating 501(c)(3) organizations, including  350 Louisville, Cultivating Connections, The Food Literacy Project, Greater Louisville Sierra Club, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, Kentucky Conservation Committee, Kentucky Interfaith Power and Light, Kentucky Waterways Alliance, Louisville Climate Action Network, Louisville Grows, Louisville Nature Center, Louisville Sustainability Council, Passionist Earth & Spirit Center, Project Warm, and West Jefferson County Community Task Force.  Each of these organizations will be on site to interact with the public during the event.

Register here now!

Get ready for spring with Brightside and Waste Management of Kentucky’s Premium Compost Sale on Friday, April 20 & Saturday, April 21 and Friday, April 27 and Saturday, April 28 from 9:00 a.m. – Noon at Joe Creason Park, 1297 Trevilian Way. Cost is $2.50 per bag or $40 per cubic meter scoop.

Compost helps in a variety of ways by keeping weeds down, keeping the soil cool, helping winter root development, top dressing for fertilizing lawns, providing an aesthetically pleasing landscape and improving soil texture and pH. 

Municipal compost is a mixture of leaves, chipped tree limbs and yard waste composted into an earthy, well mixed organic soil amendment. 

Celebrate Earth Day at Copper & Kings American Brandy Company, 1121 East Washington, with tours focused on sustainability in the production there. Experience firsthand the distillery’s commitment to environmental protection including a monarch butterfly garden, the use of solar energy, the repurposing of shipping containers, the promotion of cycling in Louisville, and the salvaging of wood from the distillery construction for furniture used in the building.

Tours run on the hour from 11:00am -4:00pm. $15/person includes hour-long tour and tasting. A cash bar is available in the distillery’s outdoor courtyard (weather permitting) with nature-inspired brandy and gin cocktails.

A portion of proceeds from cocktails will benefit the Waterfront Botanical Gardens.

Mayor Fischer presents his recommended budget on Thursday, April 26 and the Council Budget Committee begins its review of the proposal immediately.  I chair the Council’s Budget Committee this year and will be involved in dozens of hearings before a budget is finally approved on June 26. 

We will soon be announcing three Metro Council public hearings on the budget where we want to hear what residents think. 

We will also be hosting our own D9 conversation about it on Monday, April 30, beginning at 6:30 pm at the Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana, 2115 Lexington Road.  Please mark your  calendars and come with comments, questions and suggestions.  We want to hear from you! 

The D9 Annual FREE Responsible Recycling event is Saturday, May 12, from 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM at Louisville Water Tower Park, 3005 River Road.

We need volunteers to make this event a success! If you are interested in volunteering, please contact the office at 574-3908.

This is a FREE drive-through event open to residents in Louisville Metro. Most of the same partners have joined us again this year. Please review the following flyer for accepted donations and plan to donate items on May 12!

Thank you to our recycling vendors for participating in this year's event.

All Shred
Genie Recycling
Habitat for Humanity ReStore
Louisville Metro Department of Public Works
Louisville Metro Police Department
Supplies Over Seas
WaterStep

Please click on the flyer link for a list of items that will be accepted: 2018 Responsible Recycling Flyer. Attached to the initial flyer is a complete listing of all accepted items. Please note: TVs will not be accepted this year onsite, but may be recycled at the Waste Reduction Center at 636 Meriwether Avenue, https://louisvilleky.gov/government/public-works/electronics-recycling. 

Thunder Over Louisville is this Saturday, April 21. Check out the Kentucky Derby Festival website, https://thunderoverlouisville.org/, for more information on the air show, kid events, tips and much more.

Looking for a place to park? Louisville Parks and Recreation is selling passes for Thunder weekend at Eva Bandman Park, 1701 River Road. Eva Bandman Park is located along the Ohio River near Frankfort Avenue, less than a 10-minute stroll from the eastern edge of Waterfront Park.

Overnight visitors in tents and RVs can stay through Sunday morning. Parks staff will be available around the clock. A reservation form can be found here. After staging their site on Friday, those not wishing to camp overnight may exit the park using their extra vehicle and return on Saturday. Previous parking spaces are not guaranteed. Spaces may become limited as Saturday progresses; no other re-entry is authorized.

Advanced registration is highly recommended as the Louisville Police Department will be organizing street closures in the area. For more information, call 502/574-7275 (PARK).

Photo: Louisville.com

Ride TARC to Thunder Over Louisville

TARC is increasing service into downtown Louisville and designating six post-event boarding areas for Thunder Over Louisville on Saturday, Apr.  21. The service plan mirrors TARC service for Thunder in recent years with the exception of an added boarding location on Broadway at 11th.

About 10,000 passengers are expected to take TARC for the annual fireworks and air show on the river. Passengers are encouraged to plan ahead and know their route number and stop locations. Yellow signs with route information will be posted on board all TARC buses, designated bus stops and shelters in upcoming days.

Post-event boarding in downtown Louisville will be restricted to six locations, most within blocks of the waterfront. Eastbound 15, 19 and 31 buses serving District 9 will board on Market near Floyd. Buses will operate until 11 p.m. at those locations. Due to traffic, buses have limited access on downtown streets after the event.  The boarding locations are designed to keep buses out of heavy traffic as much as possible and to get people home as quickly as possible.

Beginning at 3:30 p.m., on the day of the fireworks, more buses will be added on routes serving downtown, improving the frequency of bus arrival times at stops and adding capacity. However, as the event draws closer, downtown routes may be delayed due to police barricades and heavy pedestrian traffic.

Regular TARC fares will apply.  A one-way fare is $1.75 or 80 cents for passengers over the age of 65, riders with disabilities and ages 6-17. TARC ID is required for reduced fare. Children under the age of 5 ride free.

More information on TARC’s Thunder service is here.

Easy trip planning, maps and schedules are available at ridetarc.org, on the “Transit” app (free download) or Google Maps.  TARC customer service can also be reached at 502-585-1234; TTY 502-213-3240.

The deadline for registering to vote in Kentucky before the May Primary Election is rapidly approaching and it’s easier than ever to do so.

Monday, April 23, is the last day to register to vote in the May 22 election. Kentuckians can now register to vote, and check and update their registrations online, at this website.  

Voters who will be outside Jefferson County on Election Day are among those who can vote absentee.  More information about voting absentee, both by mail and in-house, is here.

If you qualify to vote by absentee ballot, you can do that now at the Jefferson County Clerk’s Election Center, which has moved to 701 West Ormsby Avenue, Suite 301. In-house absentee voting is available for qualified individuals on Monday through Friday from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm, and on Saturday, May 12 and Saturday, May 19 from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm. 

Exercise your right to register and vote in 2018!  

For the past eight years, the D9 office has partnered with the Louisville Asset Building Coalition to offer free tax preparation appointments at United Crescent Hill Ministries (UCHM) to individuals and families that are income eligible. This season volunteers processed over 135 tax returns at the UCHM site!

A BIG thank you to all the volunteers that participated this year: Darrell Anne Driskill, Toni Graves, Karen Gresh, Todd Gruenig, Anne Harrington, Bob Marcellino, Leslie Marcellino, Wayne Rudloff, Philip Samuel, Anetta Shaw and Jared Sigler.

The 2018 U.S. Bank Great BalloonFest will take place April 26 – 28 at Bowman Field in D9. Please mark your calendars for the below events. 

Great Balloon Charity Race Lift Off
Thursday, April 26 / 7:00 AM Launch 

Great Balloon Rush-Hour Race Lift Off
Friday, April 27 / 7:00 AM Launch 

Great Balloon Race Lift Off
Saturday, April 28 / 7:00 AM Launch

Great Balloon Race Contingency Windows
Due to inclement weather (high winds, rain, etc.)
Saturday, April 28 / 6:00PM (ONLY if NO Race has taken place)
Sunday, April 29 / 7:00AM (ONLY if NO Race has taken place)

As the weather begins to warm up and we are spending more time outside, please remember the following while walking a pet.

• Before leaving the house, grab a couple of bags for the collection of pet waste. Don’t forget to throw them away in a waste basket.
• Animals must be restrained by a lead or leash when off the premises of the owner.
• Don’t forget to license your pets through Metro Animal Services, click here for more information.
• Finally, make sure there is plenty of water available for pets, especially on hot days.

If you have driven or walked by the Crescent Hill Treatment Plant, you have definitely seen evidence of Louisville Water’s work to construct an emergency standby generator.  The project, which started in March, is expected to last 24-30 months. 

The generator building is being constructed in the northwest corner of Louisville Water’s property near Frankfort and Stilz Avenues.  The construction entrance has been built and temporary fencing has been installed around the construction area.  Currently contractors are drilling holes for the concrete piles that will be used as support for the foundation of the two-story building.  The large blue piece of equipment is the drilling rig.  The construction trailers are in place and other activity includes digging for the electrical conduits. 

As the project continues, Louisville Water will continue to provide updates.  For further information, click on the following link http://www.louisvillewater.com/newsroom/generator-project-begin-crescent-hill-plant