Your News and Notes - November 2010

Following two identical burglaries and acts of vandalism against gay couples in the Germantown and Original Highlands neighborhoods last month, the Louisville Metro Police Department joined the Fairness Campaign, area clergy, and state and local elected officials – State Representative Jim Wayne (35th District), Councilman David Tandy (4th District), and a representative of Councilman Tom Owen (8th District) – to make a bold statement against anti-gay hate crimes in the city. The joint announcement was made on October 20 at the home of Bob Cundiff, a victim of the second burglary, at 1325 Winter Avenue. 

 

The two crimes, committed within a week and a half and within a mile of one another, were identical in their destruction of each couples’ property. The homes were vandalized with bleach, toilet bowl cleaner and liquid food items, destroying furniture, clothing and electronics. 

 

Metro Police continue to investigate the crimes, having reviewed all break-ins from the region and determining that identical burglaries had not been committed against heterosexual couples or single individuals. 

 

The perpetrators, if caught, may face the additional penalties associated with hate crimes under state, local and federal laws, including extended prison terms and additional fines.

 

New Roots is partnering with Nativity Academy to bring farm fresh local produce and education to the school’s lunch program. Nativity Academy at St. Boniface, 529 East Liberty Street, is a school in the Catholic tradition that serves middle school students of promise who are from low-income families of the Louisville area. New Roots is a non-profit organization in Louisville committed to building a just and sustainable food system. 

 

The project began September 20 with a “cooking from scratch” hands-on fresh food cooking class and is continuing every Monday for nine weeks. Participating students prepare the next day’s snack for the school’s 65 students. Over 95 percent of students attending Nativity receive free or reduced-price school lunches. 

 

Volunteers from the community include chefs, master food volunteers and lay people interested in cooking and eating from scratch and improving children’s health. Volunteers from New Roots, including Mark Clark and Chef Jim Whaley, are leading the classes. 

 

New Roots board member Mary Clark says the partnership is advantageous for all involved. “A disproportionate number of low-income families in Louisville suffer from obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes as compared to the rest of Jefferson County. Cooking fresh food from scratch together and discussing these issues with the children is what we are looking forward to,” she states. 

 

Produce is donated or purchased from local farmers and from Creation Gardens, a provider of local produce. The first deliveries of donated produce came from Fox Hollow Farm, Henry Burnside of the Bardstown Road Farmers Market, and the Jewish Community Center fall apple picking activity. 

 

To learn more about New Roots, call Karyn Moskowitz at (502) 475-8979 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

 

Kentucky Refugee Ministries, at 969-B Cherokee Road, is looking for donations of furniture and household items for refugees living in Louisville. 

 

Furniture items that are needed include a kitchen table and chairs, dressers, desks, couches (not sleeper sofas), coffee tables, end tables and lamps.

 

Blankets for the coming winter are also in demand, as well as towels, new pillows, full or twin mattress pads, and full or twin mattresses and box springs in good condition. Dishes, silverware and other kitchen items are also needed. 

 

Household items can be dropped off Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.  For furniture pickups, call (502) 479-9180 for an appointment. 

 

Avalon restaurant, located at 1314 Bardstown Road, is a winner in the Landscape Awards Program of the Beautification League of Louisville and Jefferson County.  The award, given for “outstanding landscaping and excellent maintenance of property,” was formally presented at the league’s 79th Annual Awards Ceremony in October. 

 

Avalon thanks and congratulates “Constant Gardener” Joey Clements for providing professional and thoughtful service in creating and maintaining Avalon’s organic landscaping. Clements uses local nurseries, native plants and natural solutions for pest and disease control.

 

Mayor Jerry Abramson, along with U.S. Representative John Yarmuth, (KY-3) and Kentucky Transportation Cabinet officials, recently announced thousands of sidewalk and paving improvement projects taking place throughout Louisville.

 

Since mid-May, crews have been working on more than 2,300 sites located in nearly every area of Louisville to repair or install new sidewalks and to resurface some asphalt on state and city roads. The work is being funded with more than $8.5 million in federal ARRA (American Reinvestment and Recovery Act) stimulus dollars.

 

“This is a win-win situation for the entire community,” Abramson says. “These projects are putting  people to work and we are making much-needed repairs to our sidewalks and streets that will benefit every citizen.”

 

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is administering the stimulus funding for these projects, and has awarded 47 contracts to complete the work.

 

“These investments are putting Louisvillians to work right now while improving our local infrastructure,” says Yarmuth. “That’s exactly the kind of impact the Recovery Act was intended to have – putting people to work immediately while addressing our community’s long-term needs.”

 

The work was expected to conclude by late October. All 2,317 locations for sidewalk and road improvements, each represented by a blue star, can be found on a searchable stimulus map (http://services.louisvilleky.gov/stimulusmap/). 

 

For more information about ARRA stimulus projects in Louisville and across Kentucky, visit http://www.louisvilleky.gov/recovery/ and http://kentuckyatwork.ky.gov/Pages/interactivemap.aspx.

The saint for whom Bellarmine University is named is getting a little more notice on the school’s picturesque campus these days. To celebrate the university’s 60th anniversary, a 10-foot sculpture of St. Robert Bellarmine has been prominently installed outside the W.L. Lyons Brown Library. 

 

The sculpture, by Bellarmine art professor Bob Lockhart, features Bellarmine standing over an Italian village modeled after his birthplace, Montepulciano. The village also includes elements from Rome, where he lived and worked.

 

The 2,400-pound sculpture has Bellarmine holding his influential book, “De Controversiis Christianae Fidei,” in which he addressed the major theological controversies of his day.

 

Lockhart created the sculpture in his Crescent Hill studio over the past three years. Starting with a smaller clay model, the artist agonized over details such as the texture of the hands and Bellarmine’s attire, which required consultation with Jesuits in Rome. Lockhart let his own beard grow for six months when we found himself dissatisfied with his first attempt to sculpt Bellarmine’s facial hair.

 

Lockhart found his subject fascinating. “St. Robert Bellarmine could have been royalty, but he lived as a pauper,” he says. “They say he ate water, bread and garlic. Everything in his home was given away to the poor. When you read about this individual, there are so many different sides to him that intrigue me as an artist.”

 

Dr. Joseph J. McGowan, president of Bellarmine University, says the sculpture “will delight and inspire Bellarmine students, faculty, staff, alumni and visitors for generations to come.” 

 

The bronze sculpture was cast at Louisville’s Bright Foundry, run by Jep Bright, son of noted Louisville sculptor Barney Bright. It is a gift from Colleen Liebert, a member of Bellarmine’s Women’s Council, in memory of her husband, Dennis Liebert, who was a close friend of McGowan.

 

Margaret’s Consignment is teaming up with the Frankfort Avenue Business Association to raise $12,000 by December 4, 2010, for Hosparus of Louisville. The money raised will bring an outdated Inpatient Care Center room at the Norton Healthcare Pavilion up to code for hospice patients. 

 

Hospice is a special concept of care designed to provide comfort and support to patients and their families when a life-limiting illness no longer responds to treatments. The Inpatient Care Center is designed to offer patients short-term inpatient care to address pain control and other symptoms associated with terminal illnesses that may not be managed in other settings. 

 

Margaret Browning, owner of Margaret’s Consignment and Collectibles, is leading the fundraising effort and has agreed to match up to $6,000 of the total with money from her business, located at 2700 Frankfort Avenue.

 

“Hospice personnel assisted my father in his last days. From that day on, I’ve been involved with the organization now for 10 years. This fundraiser is our way of helping Hosparus when they need it the most,” says Browning.

 

To learn more about this giving opportunity, call Margaret Browning at (502) 896-4706, or Bob Mueller of Hosparus at (502) 719-8921, or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Donations can be mailed to: Bob Mueller, CFRE, Hosparus of Louisville, 3532 Ephraim McDowell Dr., Louisville, KY 40205; or to: Margaret Browning, 2700 Frankfort Avenue, Louisville, KY, 40206. Be sure to write “FABA” in the memo field of your check.