The
Old Louisville Journal
A Monthly Summary of
News and Events in Old Louisville
Published by OLIC, Inc., a 501(c)(3) Corporation |
Volume 29, Issue 8 |
August 2007
|
2nd Annual Music in
Central Park Festival & Tennis Tournament
By Donna Sandaers Councilman George Unseld,
along with Legacies Unlimited, will be sponsoring the 2nd Annual
Music in Central Park Festival and Tennis Tournament August 24-26,
2007. Friday night’s entertainment is “OLD SCHOOL” with national
headliner Ronnie Laws; Saturday night is jazz and funk with Tom
Brown instrumentalist on horn of Funkin in Jamaica fame; Sunday will
conclude with top local artists of Gospel. Deadline to sign up for
the Tennis Tournament is August 18th. Last years crowd drew over
2,000 fans during the weekend.
All events will start at 7:00PM, except on Sunday at 5PM. This is a
free concert for the City-wide community to enjoy. There will be
food, art, music, clothing and jewlry vendors to say the least. All
6th District neighborhood associations are invited to participate as
vendors with no vendor charges and all proceeds to the association.
Any questions please call Councilman George Unseld office at
574-1106.
TOURLOUISVILLE TO ADD WALKING TOUR TO ITS
REPERTOIRE
In
addition to its regular driven ghost tours and historical tours,
TourLouisville will start offering a weekly walking tour of Old
Louisville. The 90-minute tour will depart the Visitors Center in
Old Louisville at 218 West Oak Street Saturday mornings at 11:00 and
the cost will be $15 per person. The informative tours, led by a
knowledgeable Old Louisville resident, are designed to showcase the
colorful history and wonderful architecture of our unique
neighborhood. Particpants will learn about important structures
along Millionaire’s Row on Third Street and will then walk through
the charming Belgravia and St James Court area before discovering
the charms of Floral Terrace and Ormsby Avenue. For more information
call 502.637.2922 |
First Sunday Music Concert
August 5
The Old Louisville Neighborhood Council’s 2007
“Sunday Concerts in Central Park” series will commence on
Sunday, June 3rd. The Concerts are scheduled from 4:00PM to
5:30PM with the exception of the concert offered during the St.
James Court Art Show weekend when the concert will be held from
2:00PM to 3:30P
Here is the line-up for this year’s concerts:
August 5, 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Paradigm
Jazz/Rock
Sept. 2, 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Zongo
Space Funk Jam Stuff
Oct. 7, 2:00-3:30 p.m.
Bedrockerz
Classic Rock
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Garden
Buddies!
Need some help in the garden? We’ll do the work for you!
Weeding, planting, mulching, deadheading, light
pruning, etc.
Call Joan or Linda 634-3813 •
635-1251
|
Editorial Policy:
Letters and articles submitted to The Old Louisville Journal may
be edited with regard to space and/or content. Letters to the
Editor must be signed with a verifiable signature and address |
Dear Editor:
On May 9th, supporters of the Louisville Free
Public Library announced an initiative to place, on this
November’s ballot, a vote to increase Jefferson County’s
occupational tax by two tenths of one percent to raise $38.9
million to revamp a library system that was once one of the
nation’s best but which has, in recent years, fallen on hard
times.
Many communities - most, in fact - struggle to fund their
“community assets” - especially these days of tighter budgets
all around. Most strive to solve one problem at a time, like
the library proposal or, just last year, the Louisville
Orchestra funding shortfall. A smaller number, however, have
boldly decided to address funding issues for multiple projects
simultaneously as part of a grander, more comprehensive package,
sometimes called Quality of Life initiatives.
Seattle, Denver and Pittsburgh among them, these communities
have enacted far-reaching, tax-supported programs that establish
funding mechanisms through which a multitude of projects are
supported, enabling each community to provide an ongoing revenue
stream to support everything from parks to zoos to sports
facilities to light rail systems to the arts.
Louisville should do the same.
Not only would the successful implementation of such an
initiative make us instantly more competitive, I believe that a
grander program would actually have a better chance of passage
since, unlike the narrow focus of the library proposal, almost
every voter would likely have a special affinity for one or more
of the numerous beneficiaries of a broader plan.
The effort, energy, money and political capital it would take
to get the library tax passed would be not be significantly
different from that needed to pass a much broader, more
visionary alternative - so why not go for the gusto?
Further, the Library vote, successful or not, would effectively
poison the well for any other initiative down the road. Once
that political capital was spent, it is unlikely that anyone
would dare consider another attempt for anything else in the
foreseeable future.
Raising the occupational tax rate by five tenths instead of two,
for example, would garner $99.5 million annually. Or, another
alternative, adding a penny to the sales tax in Jefferson County
would garner at least $100,000,000 per year according to
University of Louisville economist Paul Coomes. Many consider
the sales tax option to be less regressive since only those who
spend actually pay the tax therefore reducing the burden on
folks with lower incomes.
Each initiative in each city is like a fingerprint; unique to
local needs, local desires and local or state governmental
structures and limitations. Some have a time limit and some are
perpetual. They can be based upon property, occupational or
sales taxes or some combination.
As an example for consideration, I would like to share some
details of the Allegheny Regional Asset District in Pittsburgh
primarily because it included, from its inception, funding for a
wide variety of programs and projects, large and small –
including libraries.
Created in 1994, the Allegheny Regional Asset District is a
special purpose unit of local government but has no independent
taxing authority. Allegheny County was authorized by the
Pennsylvania Legislature to levy a 1% sales tax in addition to
the state sales tax in order to fund the activities of the
District and provide funds for county and local government tax
reform. Allegheny County is not able to increase the tax levy
without additional state approval.
Jefferson County would also have to get legislative approval for
a broader plan based upon the occupational tax. Some say that
permission is unlikely to be granted. They forget, however,
that twice in the last 5 years the Legislature did exactly that
with Merger in 2002 and the hotel tax in the 2007 session. The
sales tax option, while less regressive, would also require a
constitutional amendment. Amendment language for a “local
option” is currently under consideration.
One important note regarding the Pittsburg plan: of those taxes
collected in Allegheny County, 25% goes directly to County
government and 25% goes to the other municipal governments
within Allegheny County – a component that we would likely
choose not to emulate.
The remaining 50%, which is directly relevant to this
conversation, goes to the Asset District and is distributed to
libraries, parks, sports facilities and civic, cultural and
recreational entities of all sizes.
That distribution is made by a Board of Directors composed of
four persons appointed by the County Chief Executive, two
appointed by the Mayor of Pittsburgh and one person elected by
those six appointees. Each proposed allocation requires the
support of six of the seven Board members.
The Board also appoints a 27-person Advisory Board to provide
public input and comment on policies and procedures for maximum
accountability.
The final budget allocation for 2006 totaled $74 million of
which 31% supported libraries, 27% for parks, 10% for special
facilities (zoo, aviary, conservatory), 22% for sports
facilities and 9% for art and cultural organizations.
In the eleven years of its existence, the Allegheny Regional
Asset District has distributed over $826 million to almost 150
projects and organizations. Little wonder Pittsburgh’s star has
been consistently rising.
We would need to follow a similar path in this state. Unlike
California and Oregon, and similar to Pennsylvania, Kentucky is
not a referendum state. In order to attain the ability to vote
on such a tax, Jefferson County would first need to be granted
permission to do so by the General Assembly either for a single
opportunity on a single issue like merger or, as many would
prefer, to have the ongoing opportunity, the local option, in
place as needs occur.
Yes, it would take longer than the library tax vote planned for
this Fall, but the payoff would be worth the wait.
If a program is presented to the public properly, if the
long-term benefits are clearly demonstrated and if the
subsequent expenditures are very detailed, many believe that the
public would respond favorably. Thirty-four years ago, the
last time we passed a tax increase by referendum to create TARC,
Mayor Harvey Sloane and County Judge Executive Todd Hollenbach
led just such an effort.
Almost two decades ago, the people of Kentucky, hardly a
tax-and-spend state, voted to raise the state sales tax by a
penny, primarily to benefit our educational system. A
compelling case was made and Kentuckians responded. And, we
will again. As a community, a state or a nation, we have to
decide what we want and then we have to pay for it. Initiatives
like the Allegheny Regional Asset District, and others like it
across the nation, provide a template for our future.
Louisville has spent the better part of a generation sticking
its toe in the water while other communities have left us in
their wake. Isn’t it time that we jumped in, body and soul, and
made the big splash we need and deserve?
Ken Herndon
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Yard
Service
Mowing, Trimming, Blowing, Raking, Tilling, and Small
Tree Service.
Call Joe at
635-1251 or 377-6600 |
Adventures In New Kentucky Cooking
David
Dominé’s latest project, “ADVENTURES IN NEW KENTUCKY COOKING
with the Bluegrass Peasant,” has gone to print and should
hit the shelves sometime in September. The 184-page,
hardcover book features color photographs and more than a
hundred recipes showcasing the bounty of Kentucky kitchens
and local farmers. David is a food writer and restaurant
reviewer for Kentucky Monthly and Arts Across Kentucky
magazines, and he has put together this collection of unique
recipes after years of traveling the back roads and byways
of his adopted state in search of the perfect meal. Popular
recipes include Bourbonnais filet mignon, white corn and
hominy fritters, bourbon bleu cheese slaw, white asparagus
vinaigrette with country ham crumbles, butter lettuce with
Benedictine dressing, sorghum-wheat rolls, Four Roses apple
kuchen and raspberry bourbon shrub. To purchase your
autographed copy, stop by the Visitors Center in Historic
Old Louisville at 218 West Oak Street (502.637.2922) or
check your favorite bookseller. Watch the Old Louisville
Journal and local newspapers for dates of upcoming signings
and appearances.
For more information, contact McClanahan Publishing House at
(800)544-6959 or
books@kybooks.com.
ISBN 978-0-913383-97-1 Price: $24.95

Toonerville Fundraiser
The Toonerville Trolley Neighborhood Association is selling Note
Cards using its logo and tagline – Old Louisville’s East End –
to assist with neighborhood-wide improvements, such as
purchasing and installing “Old Louisville” trash receptacles.
The blank inside note cards w/envelopes come packaged 10/each to
a shrink-wrapped set and sell for $10/set: $7.50/set to members
of the Toonerville Trolley Neighborhood Association.
The cards can be purchased at both Carmichael’s Bookstores, or
contact Dennis Lisack at 635-7503.

If it’s Wednesday – between
7:00PM and 10:00PM…we invite you to join us for a walk on Oak
Street.
Initiated by Mr. Lee Jones of the Oak Street Hardware Store we
have started to walk along Oak Street: it has been fun. We have
offered to escort folks from the senior Homes, the Puritan, the
Baptist Towers and the Hildebrand House. We’ve met old familiar
faces/neighbors. We’ve met new ones as well.
The word is spreading by mouth and via a multilayer E-mail Tree.
From time to time special events are being offered by either the
local restaurants or by others interested in making this a
social success for all.
We are working on improving wheel chair access where it is
needed.
Often we are joined by walking police officers when their time
permits. Major Green is a very familiar face on the sidewalks of
Oak Street, indeed.
Mostly we are having fun, we are getting exercise and we are
irritating those unwanted elements/panhandlers. We are also
patronizing our local businesses on Oak Street.
Please join us, won’t you?
Walk your dogs!
Helga, Mr. Lee’s secretary or, as he calls me,
“his Wednesday Night wife”
TOURLOUISVILLE NEEDS YOU!
Do you have a commercial driver’s license? Are you
interested in helping show off your neighborhood to the many
tourists who are checking out the sights in America’s
Largest Victorian Neighborhood? If so, please contact David
Domine at 502.718.2764 and volunteer your services as driver
of TourLouisville’s 22-seat tour bus. Drivers are especially
needed for the ‘Friday evening Ghost Tour of Old Louisville’
from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and the Friday and Saturday
‘Mansions and Milestones’ tour from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Are you a natural storyteller? Do you have acting skills?
TourLouisville also needs volunteer tour guides and
interpreters for its various tours. Training will be
provided. Call now and help make your neighborhood a better
place!
BJB
Restoration & Remediation
Masonry Historic Painting
Mold remediation
Tuck pointing Cornice repair
Detecting, cleaning
Waterproofing & caulking wood repair Removal & Stucco Plaster
treatment
Dennis Bolton
502-582-2833 office
502-648-7682 cell
bjbbolton@aol.com
785 S. Shelby St.
Louisville, Kentucky 40203
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Notes from the Crime and Safety committee
By Helga Ulrich
Report Graffiti – procedure
Please be timely in reporting any graffiti as it is often
gang related; it is undesirable and should be removed or
covered up within days that it appears.
Call Metrocall at 311 or write to Metrocall@louisvilleky.gov
about ALL Graffiti.
As with most complaints Metrocall logs and forwards to the
appropriate department for resolution and you will get a
service request number that you can follow up.
FYI there are different departments within Louisville Metro
that will be removing/covering up graffiti so it is
important to report graffiti exactly where it is located
I confirmed that it is not legal to cover up graffiti on
either private property (owner can consider this as much
defacing as the graffiti itself) and based on what the
manager of Facility Management (Matt Riggs) told me NOT
legal to paint over graffiti yourself.
Here are examples where you might find graffiti and who will
remove it or cover it up:
· On private property — IP&L or Facility Management which is
part of Public Works
· On Street signs, the electrical boxes that control traffic
lights, the column and sides of Railroad overpasses —
Facility management
· On the upper support beams of railroad crossings – the
Railroads are responsible
· On fire Hydrants — the fire department
· On Bus stops — TARC
· On Power Poles — LG&E
August Calendar
Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday
|
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
|
|
|
1 Oak Street Neighborhood Walk
7:00-10:00 p.m.
Old Lou Farm Works Mkt, 3-6pm; Walnut
St. Ch. lot |
2
ZALU 7p.m. OLIC
|
3
TourLouisville
2:30pm Mansion & Milestones Tour, $25,
637.2922
7:30pm Ghost Tour, $25, 637.2922
|
4 TourLouisville 11:00am Old Louisville
Walking Tour, $15, 637.2922
2:30pm Mansion & Milestones Tour, $25,
637.2922
|
5
Concert in Central
Park, 4:00-5:30 pm
|
6
|
7
|
8
Oak Street Neighborhood Walk
7:00-10:00 p.m.
Old Lou Farm Works Mkt, 3-6pm; Walnut
St. Ch. lot |
9
PIC Meeting
7:00 p.m.
OLIC
|
10
TourLouisville
2:30pm Mansion & Milestones Tour, $25,
637.2922
7:30pm Ghost Tour, $25, 637.2922
|
11 TourLouisville 11:00am Old Louisville
Walking Tour, $15, 637.2922
2:30pm Mansion & Milestones Tour, $25,
637.2922
|
12
|
13
|
14 |
15 3rd St. NA, 7p.m.
Oak Street Neighborhood Walk
7:00-10:00 p.m.
Old Lou Farm Works Mkt, 3-6pm; Walnut
St. Ch. lot |
16
Toonerville NA
St. Philip Chapel,
7 p.m.
|
17
TourLouisville
2:30pm Mansion & Milestones Tour, $25,
637.2922
7:30pm Ghost Tour, $25, 637.2922
|
18 TourLouisville 11:00am Old Louisville
Walking Tour, $15, 637.2922
2:30pm Mansion & Milestones Tour, $25,
637.2922
|
19 |
20
Crime & Safety
7 p.m., OLIC
|
21
|
22 CPW NA,
7:00 p.m.
Haskins Hall
Oak Street Walk
7:00-10:00 p.m.
Old Lou Farm Works Mkt, 3-6pm; Walnut
St. Ch. lot |
23
|
24
2nd
Annual Music in Central Park Festival and Tennis Tournament
"OLD
SCHOOL" Concert 7p.m. |
25
2nd Annual Music in Central Park Festival and Tennis Tournament
Jazz
& Funk Concert 7p.m.
|
26
2nd Annual Music in
Central Park Festival and Tennis
Gospel Concert 5p.m.
SSNA 5:00
Kling Center |
27 Project PickUp
Week
|
28 OLIC 6
OLNC 7
|
29
Old Lou Farm Works Mkt, 3-6pm; Walnut
St. Ch. lot
|
30 |
31
TourLouisville
2:30pm Mansion & Milestones Tour, $25,
637.2922
7:30pm Ghost Tour, $25, 637.2922
|
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The Old Louisville Journal is
published monthly by the Old Louisville Information Center, Inc.
(OLIC), a 501(c)(3) corporation, incorporated in 1984, for the
purpose of receiving tax deductible contributions. OLIC is
affiliated with the Old Louisville Neighborhood Council (OLNC), a
501 (c) (4) non-profit association incorporated in 1976 to serve as
the recognized voice of the Old Louisville Neighborhood.
Submit Journal
contributions to the Editor:
Old Louisville Information Center
1340 S. Fourth St., Louisville, KY 40208.
Phone: (502) 635-5244
E-mail: olnc@bellsouth.net
Advertising rates available upon request.
Please submit “Letters to the Editor” to the above address.
The 15th of each month is deadline for submission of all ads and articles.
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