This is the last call for regular yard waste pickup before is it suspended for the winter!

Louisville Metro Solid Waste Management will be suspending the collection of yard waste in the Urban Services District (USD) beginning on January 21 through April 1, 2019 (the end date is new, changed since the first notice in our eNews). While individuals may request collection as needed during this time through MetroCall at 574-5000, please plan to set out your yard waste – including Christmas trees – BEFORE January 19.

Metro Public Works is providing curbside pickup of Christmas trees within the Urban Services District (the old City of Louisville boundaries) until yard waste pickup is suspended for the winter. Residents with City curbside yard waste pickup may set their Christmas trees and greenery out on their regular collection day. Trees must not be in plastic bags, and all decorations and lights must be removed. With yard waste collection suspended after January 18, don’t delay!

In St. Matthews, trees can be set out by the street on your regularly scheduled trash day.

Residents normally serviced by private waste haulers should check with those companies to see whether and when tree pickup is available.

Drop-off Christmas tree service is also available for all Louisville/Jefferson County residents at 636 Meriwether Avenue through January 31.

DROP OFF LOCATION from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

• Waste Reduction Center - 636 Meriwether Avenue through January 31

One of the many ways Louisville commemorates the Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the annual “Keepers of the Dream” celebration on Sunday, January 20.  

The event is organized by the Kentucky Center ArtsReach program, in collaboration with the office of Mayor Greg Fischer and River City Drum Corp. This annual community arts celebration honors Dr. King's vision. Come enjoy an evening of wonderful performances as well as the presentation of the Freedom Award by Mayor Fischer. The Freedom Award recognizes citizens who have dedicated their lives to promoting justice, peace, freedom, non-violence, racial equality and civic activism. This year it will be presented to Diane Porter, educator and Jefferson County Public Schools board chair.

A native and lifelong resident of Louisville, Porter’s immense impact on our community’s young people as an educator and leader spans generations. During her remarkable 39-year tenure with JCPS, Porter demonstrated a tremendous commitment to educating youth in many roles, where she gained an expansive viewpoint on our city’s education system. Following her retirement in 2009, she has continued to offer her wealth of knowledge as a JCPS board member representing District 1. She made history when she became the first African American woman to serve as JCPS board chair in 2012. I served with Chair Porter as a Bingham Fellow in 2014, working particularly on education issues in West Louisville neighborhoods.

Mayor Fischer will present the Freedom Award on Sunday, January 20 during the “Keepers of the Dream” community arts celebration dedicated to Dr. King, at the Brown Theatre, 315 West Broadway. The event features a variety of speakers and performances. It is free and open to the public, and begins at 5 p.m.

There will be no residential garbage, yard waste or recycling collection on Monday, January 21 in the Urban Services District (former Louisville city limits) in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Residents who normally have garbage/yard waste/recycling collection on Monday will have service instead on Tuesday, January 22, and collections for the rest of the week will be delayed one day.

Collections in St. Matthews will follow the regular schedule, with no delays. Residents in other areas normally serviced by private waste haulers should check with those companies for holiday collection schedules.

Louisville Metro offices, including the D9 office, will be closed on Monday, January 21.

The following facilities will also be closed Saturday, January 20:

• All staffed recycling centers
• Waste Reduction Center, 636 Meriwether Avenue

• EXCEPT that Electronics Drop-off Service is available 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• HAZ BIN, the hazardous waste drop-off facility, 7501 Grade Lane

For more information visit www.louisvilleky.gov/recycling or dial Metro311 at 311 or 574-5000.

The D9 office has a limited number of free tickets to the Frazier Kentucky History Museum located at 829 W. Main Street. The museum is open Monday – Saturday from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from Noon – 5:00 p.m. Tickets are available for D9 constituents on a first come, first served basis. Click here to request your free tickets. For more information about the museum, please visit their website at https://fraziermuseum.org.

On December 21, 2018, Mayor Greg Fischer announced that Louisville is joining cities across the globe by setting a goal of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.

In May 2016, Mayor Fischer signed the Global Covenant of Mayors, committing Louisville to a three-step process including conducting an inventory, setting a reduction target and creating a strategy to meet that target. The 2016 Community Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report indicated a 10.1% reduction in emissions between 2010 and 2016.

For Louisville, the next step is to develop a strategy on how we as a community will achieve the reduction target and support our goals for creating a more resilient, equitable and environmentally just city. Staff from the Office of Sustainability will meet with community groups in the coming months to gather feedback and further elaborate on next steps. For more information on Louisville’s effort to reduce GHG emissions, including access to a survey and a way to request a speaker in your neighborhood, click here.

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.

The Slow Food Bluegrass School Garden Grant supports a school garden project based in Louisville, KY with $5,000 distributed over the course of three years: $2,500 in year one, $1,500 in year two, and $1,000 in year three. To be eligible for a Slow Food Bluegrass Garden Grant, applicants must be a (a) 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization or (b) nonprofit (public or private) K-12 school, developing a student garden project focused on connecting and engaging children with fresh fruits and vegetables. Priority is given to both limited-resource communities and to projects clearly demonstrating strong buy-in from stakeholders. Please email your application to info@slowfoodbluegrass.org; applications are due by March 10th. For more information please visit http://www.slowfoodbluegrass.org/schoolgardens/.

The League of Women Voters is hosting Dinner & Democracy, a monthly community forum, on Monday, January 21, and on Tuesday, January 22 (hosted recording of Monday’s session). The topic for discussion is the 2020 Census-Redistricting. What do we know? What don’t we know? What do we need to know and do? Meetings will be at the Lang House, 115 S. Ewing Avenue.

• Monday, January 21 – dinner at 5:30 and program at 6:00 p.m. (reservations are not required and donations are accepted)
• Tuesday, January 22 – program is at 10:00 a.m. (hosted recording of Monday’s session & discussion)

Questions, please call 895-5218 or email lwvlouisville@gmail.com.

Meet your legislators at the Louisville Free Public Libraries in 2019. The purpose of Café LOUIE is to provide constituents and their elected representatives a chance to engage and “get-to-know” each other in an informal setting.

From 9:00 am to 10:00 am each Saturday morning from January 19 through March 30, attendees will be able to meet and interact with their elected officials. Elected officials will be given a brief time for prepared remarks and to answer a few pre-selected questions submitted by attendees. The focus of these meetings is engagement through personal conversations.

Mark your calendars for two District 9 opportunities I will attend:

• Saturday, January 26 – St. Matthews Community Center, 310 Ten Pin Lane
• Saturday, February 23 – Crescent Hill Library, 2762 Frankfort Avenue

For a complete listing of Café LOUIE events, please click here.

My office is partnering with the Louisville Asset Building Coalition (LABC) to provide FREE tax preparation services again in 2019. The service is FREE if you earned $64,000 Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) or less in 2018 or if you qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Call the appointment line today to see if you qualify and make your appointment! Appointments are available every Friday beginning February 1 through the end of tax season between 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. at United Crescent Hill Ministries, 150 S. State Street, in Clifton. Please call the appointment line at 502-305-0005 to make an appointment and please share this with anyone you think may be eligible. Click here to view brochure.

Do you instead file your own taxes? Through the LABC website there are two options to self-file online. The “Turbo Tax Freedom Edition” is available if you have $33,000 or less in income. The software has a well-designed interview process that guides you through the process of making decisions about your filing status, inputting your income and making decisions about deductions and tax credits for which you may qualify. The other option is “My Free Taxes”, which is available if you make $64,000 or less. This program is developed by H&R Block and uses an interview process. Please visit, http://labcservices.org/index.php/free-tax-filing-at-labc-services, for more information.

You’ve proved you know how to shop local for holiday gift giving, but now let’s talk business. Where do you buy your printer paper? Who does your taxes? How do you market your service or product? Do you shop local for these services also? An upcoming event will give attendees the chance to ‘walk the talk’ and find quality, local vendors for their business purchases.

The Louisville Independent Business Alliance (LIBA), an organization with 900 local and independent business members, will host the fourth annual Louisville Local Business Expo on Tuesday, January 22 from 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm at the Mellwood Arts Center (Picasso Room), 1860 Mellwood Avenue. The Expo will showcase over 60 local and independent “Business to Business” companies, giving purchasing decision makers the opportunity to explore local options for their needs. Admission is free with a business card.

For more information and to register, visit www.keeplouisvilleweird.com.