Please plan to join me on Saturday, April 17, for the D9 Spring Community Cleanup. Volunteers should plan to meet for supplies at 9:00 a.m. at the corner of Brownsboro Road and Lindsay Avenue, to pick up bags, gloves and a limited number of trash grabbers. They are asked to follow social distance protocols and wear masks during the cleanup if not working with their immediate family members. For more information, please contact the D9 office at 574-1109 or email kyle.ethridge@louisvilleky.gov.

If you are interested in organizing your own cleanup at any time, please fill out the online form to make arrangements with Brightside here.  Volunteers can also contact my office about borrowing City-owned supplies.  

I was happy to join Mayor Fischer earlier this month at D9 non-profit SOS to kick off the annual Mayor's Give A Day Month of Service.  (Learn more about SOS and its great work here.)

You read that right—the entire MONTH of April will be devoted to community service, and you’re invited you to participate!

Nonprofit agencies from across the region have posted volunteer projects, and they need YOU to get the job done! It is easy to get involved; simply follow these two steps:

1. Click "Select a Project" below or visit mygiveaday.com to find a project that fits your interests and availability. Community groups, families, and individuals are encouraged to participate!
2. Log your acts of compassion below or at mygiveaday.com. Whether you give an hour or a day, serve at an in-person or virtual project, or call and check on your neighbor, no act of service is too small to be counted!

Ready to sign up, click here.

Already volunteering, log hours here.

Questions, click here to learn more.

Here’s some great news!  Vaccine supply has caught up with demand in Louisville. Vaccinations are now available for all Kentuckians ages 16 and older and the waits are very short.

As Louisville’s Chief Health Strategist, Dr. Sarah Moyer, wrote this week, “Getting vaccinated is one more tool each of us can use to protect ourselves and our loved ones. Once you’ve been vaccinated, you have the upper hand against the virus, because it means that even if you are exposed, you’ll be OK.  Getting most people in our community vaccinated will allow us to get back to travelling, attending birthday parties, baby showers, full attendance at sporting events, visiting and hugging grandparents…reclaiming all those moments we missed last year.”

Below are links to websites for information and appointments. New this week is the Cardinal Stadium site, which has many open appointments. Click here to view a video on the new site and learn how to schedule a vaccination.

Baptist Health
CVS Pharmacy
Kroger
Meijer
Norton Healthcare (call 502-861-4499 for assistance)
U of L Health (includes Cardinal Stadium and Brook Street)
Walgreens
Walmart

For residents who don’t have access to technology or have difficulty using an online process, the staff at Louisville Metro’s COVID-19 Helpline, (502) 912-8598, can assist with scheduling an appointment.

Need a ride to get a COVID-19 Vaccine? Please call (888) 848-0989 to schedule a free ride to your appointment.  Rides must be scheduled at least 72 hours in advance of your appointment.

To stay informed on vaccine efforts in Louisville, please sign up now for weekly Covid-19 updates.

To see Louisville’s COVID-19 data dashboard, including total number of cases, deaths, testing locations and more, click here. 

The latest news about COVID-19 in Kentucky is here.

This Saturday is the traditional time for Thunder Over Louisville, the air show and fireworks display typically held at Waterfront Park.  Because it's not safe to gather in large crowds during the pandemic, this year’s event is designed to be watched on television.  It will be carried on WHAS11. 

The original plan was for five fireworks locations to be “undisclosed.”  This week, the Courier Journal reported that the locations include Bowman Field in D9. The story is here.  

Kentucky Derby Festival responded with this statement: “Public health and safety remain our top priority and we want to emphasize that this year’s show is a made-for-tv event and not for spectators. Large crowds could put the show at risk. We strongly encourage fans not to make plans to gather to see the event.”  

Parking around Bowman Field, including on Pee Wee Reese Road, will be restricted beginning Friday night. 

The pandemic has affected everyone in Louisville, including first responders.  Just this week, the Department of Health and Wellness reported that eight members of LMPD, Louisville Fire, Metro EMS, Metro Corrections and the Sheriff’s Office are off-duty due to COVID-19.  Since the pandemic began, that group has received 559 positive test results.

LMPD continues to limit in-person response to many non-critical calls for service in an attempt to reduce the number of situations which could increase the risk of exposure to COVID-19,  both for its personnel and the public. Persons involved in non-injury traffic collisions, including hit-and-run collisions, are now provided information from call takers on how to obtain and complete the Kentucky Civilian Traffic Accident Reporting form online. Additionally, since the pandemic began, LMPD has not responded to some low-level calls for service involving non-violent behavior, where no one is in imminent danger.  

Reported crimes continue to be investigated in the same manner as before. The changes are designed to provide the community with a high level of service while protecting the safety of LMPD officers and the public. As more and more people are vaccinated and the threat of infection is reduced, the limitations on in-person responses will be reevaluated. 

Here’s how to contact LMPD if you need assistance. In an emergency, always call 911. If you don't feel it is an emergency, but you would like to report it to the police, you can always call the non-emergency line, 574-7111. You will hear a recorded message, you can press 5 and it will go straight to a call taker. If it’s a non-emergency issue and you would like to speak with someone, please call the 5^th Division at 574-7636.

A multisensory public art project is coming to the Clifton neighborhood. Local artist and D9 resident, Liz Richter, developed the idea. Richter is a former teacher at the Kentucky School for the Blind.

The project incorporates three energizing ideas: public art should welcome blind audiences, community-based public art means more, and collaboration can be a method and message. This project hopes to meet audiences that have been excluded for too long. Help re-imagine the way public art feels, sounds, smells and looks!

To read more about this project and how to get involved, please visit www.multisensoryart.org.

Louisville Grows' annual Seeds & Starts Sale has begun! This is a chance to buy locally grown, low-cost plants. The community can feel good about shopping at this fundraiser, knowing that purchases will go to support a sustainable food system through the Louisville Grows Community Garden Grant program.

This year, the sale will function a little differently for the safety of patrons. Louisville Grows will offer one in-person sale day. All other purchases will be online with curbside pickup dates. See below for a schedule.

• April 17: In-person sale date at greenhouse. Must register for a time in advance, tinyurl.com/inperson2021.
• April 20: Online sales for all other plants, trees, bushes and materials begin.
• April 22: Curbside pickup for online orders begins.

To look through the plant list and place online orders, visit www.seedsandstarts.org.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Louisville Metro Department of Parks & Recreation, TreesLouisville is excited to announce the opening of another round of its Residential Shade Tree Rebate Program!

Nearly 70% of available planting space in Jefferson County is privately owned. Planting a tree at home is one of the best and easiest ways you can help expand our community tree canopy and grow a greener, healthier neighborhood.

To participate, purchase and plant an eligible shade tree on your residential property and apply to receive $30 back on up to three trees. This program is open to residents of Jefferson County, KY on a first-come, first-serve basis until all funds have been claimed. For full eligibility requirements or to apply, visit treeslouisville.org/rebate or find a brochure at your local garden center.

April 22 is Earth Day, a time to consider how we can better protect and care for the planet that nurtures all life on it. 

Because that work needs to begin at a young age, I was happy to read that Field Elementary had received a “Do Something Green” microgrant from the Louisville Sustainability Council for a great new program at the school in Crescent Hill.

Field’s microgrant award was for $500 for its Garden Project. The Project includes the rehabilitation (or replacement) of raised beds, the purchase of rain barrel(s) and compost bin, soil, fertilizer, and seeds.  

Field plans to plant and harvest twice per year, with a "fall harvest" and a "spring harvest".  Grades K-5 will rotate responsibility for selecting what can grow, planting the seeds, caring for the beds by using recycled rainwater collected in the rain barrels and fertilizing the soil with compost from the kids’ apple cores, banana peels, and lunch scraps emptied into the compost bin.

Meanwhile, conversations about how plants can absorb carbon dioxide and heat will be incorporated into the experiences, along with talking about how supporting local and locally grown foods is beneficial in a multitude of ways, such as reducing carbon emissions from trucks carrying lettuce from California to Kentucky. A final component will be to prepare a snack/dish with the harvest, incorporating healthy food choices into the mix. 

Congratulations to Field and thanks to the Louisville Sustainability Council.  You can read more about it here.

Regular yard waste collection resumed last week.  Here are a few things to know about yard waste in Louisville‘s Urban Services District.

Yard waste is taken to a private industrial composting facility where it is processed, packaged, and sold back to our community. Watch this short video!

1. Never use plastic bags for yard waste. Using plastic bags to collect your yard waste means contamination at the facility. And it is against local ordinance! Use reusable containers, paper bags, or compostable bags instead. 
2. Never mix trash items with your yard waste. Collected yard waste is used to make compost and mulch products. Some trash could damage the chippers and put equipment operators in harm’s way. Plastic trash items would be chipped along with the yard waste and end up in the product. If pieces of glass get mixed in with the product, it poses a danger to the person that purchased it.
3. “Compostable plastic” products may not actually be compostable. The length of time can vary greatly among those products and some of them don’t break down in the time it takes to make compost.
4. It can take 6 months to 1 year to make good compost from yard waste. Having the correct mixture of carbon, nitrogen, water, and oxygen are important.
5. Compost is very good for your soil! It helps absorb and retain moisture and nutrients.

Learn more about yard waste collection guidelines at Louisvilleky.gov/YardWaste.

Please help us improve Louisville Metro streets and alleys by getting rid of the potholes formed this winter. Here's how you can report a pothole:

• On Twitter use the hashtag #502pothole. Just include the address or intersection where the pothole is located along with the hashtag in a tweet.
• Report a pothole online, click here, select “pothole” and continue with the required information
• Contact Metro311 in one of these ways:
• Call them at 311 or 574-5000
• Download the “Louisville Metro 311” app on your smartphone and use it to report a pothole.
• Email them at metro.311@louisvilleky.gov

United Crescent Hill Ministries (UCHM) will host a rummage sale on Saturday, April 24, from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at 150 S. State Street.

Donations of gently used household items are now being accepted and can be dropped off at UCHM between 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Please call UCHM at (502) 893-0346 or email Emily Purdy at epurdy@uchmlouky.org to set up a drop off time. No clothing donations, please. All proceeds will go to UCHM Senior Activities.

We’ve been asked about the date for the next large item collection. If you live in the 9^th District Louisville Metro Urban Services District (USD), you may begin setting out your junk on Friday, June 11, in the afternoon. All junk must be set out by Monday, June 14 at 6:00 a.m. Some items (hazardous materials, construction debris, etc.) are not collected and these guidelines are being strictly followed. For collection guidelines, please click here.

To sign up for large item set out reminders by email and text, or to find out if you are in the collection area,  click here and enter your address. After selecting your address from the list of suggested addresses, you can view collection dates by month, or sign up for reminders.

In an effort to improve the Metro website (www.louisvilleky.gov), please take this short survey (https://louisvilleky.wufoo.com/forms/2021-louisvillekygov-user-survey/) to let Metro know your thoughts and how improvements can be made. The survey will be open until Friday, April 23.