Dr. Blaine Hudson Receives League of Women Voters’ Outstanding Citizen Award
On June 4, Dr. Blaine Hudson, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Louisville, received The Louisville League of Women Voters’ Outstanding Citizen Award.
The League recognized Hudson at their annual meeting for continuing to contribute to local and regional racial and social justice organizations – especially for his work and commitment empowering Louisville’s African American citizens by establishing and teaching in the Saturday Academy at the Duvalle Education Center. Hudson has provided perspectives on African and African American history that empower African Americans and energize disenfranchised people to be more engaged citizens.
The LWV also elected new officers at the meeting, and voted to expand the study it began last year on the Equity and Effectiveness of JCPS Disciplinary Alternative Schools.
The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government. For more information, call the Louisville chapter at (502) 895-5218.
Public Health and Wellness Names Nurses of the Year
Each year, the Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness designates “Nurse of the Year” winners in two categories: Clinical Nurse and Outreach Nurse. This year, both winners are Highlands residents.
The 2012 Clinical Nurse of the Year is Kara Holman, RN. Holman joined the department in 1992 and works in the Kentucky Women’s Cancer Screening Program. She assists partnering clinics with women seeking services related to breast and cervical cancer screening and their follow-up care. Holman also ensures that those who have a positive diagnosis of cancer or pre-cancer get access to free treatment through the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program. During her career in public health nursing, Holman has also worked as a clinic nurse, as a cancer screening case management nurse and as a women’s health services nurse providing family planning and related health services.
The 2012 Outreach Nurse of the Year is Mary Beth Clements, RN. Clements joined the department in 1998 and is a case management nurse in the HANDS program. The goal of the HANDS program is to foster self-sufficient families. Clements performs home visits to first-time parents throughout Louisville to ensure healthy pregnancies and safe births, appropriate child development and safe homes. She has also worked as a nurse in the Healthy Start, Mommy and Me, and Healthy Child Care programs.
Highland Baptist Ordains Openly Gay Minister
The Fairness Campaign, Kentucky’s oldest operating broad-based community effort dedicated to equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, has announced that on May 27, 2012, Highland Baptist Church, at 1101 Cherokee Road, ordained to ministry an openly gay man.
Maurice “Bojangles” Blanchard, a Fairness Campaign Coordinating Committee member, co-chair of Faith Leaders for Fairness, and founder of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender inclusive True Colors Ministry at Highland Baptist is now one of only two dozen or fewer openly LGBT ministers ordained by the Baptist Church in the United States.
“He is a God-called man with deep integrity and a heart for finding God’s lost sheep,” says Highland Baptist Pastor Joe Phelps. “The deacons of Highland voted unanimously to send the recommendation to the congregation, and in April 2012 the church voted in business session to proceed with his ordination to ministry.”
Blanchard, who is currently a Louisville Seminary student, joined Highland Baptist several years ago and has served on the Fairness Campaign Coordinating Committee for over three years, during which time he has focused largely on the aspect of faith and fairness in his work.
To read Pastor Joe Phelps’ blog entry detailing Blanchard’s path to ministry at Highland Baptist, visit http://hbclouisville.org/HBC/content/welcome-ministry.
Local Group Launches Plea for the Trees Website
A group of residents, business owners, recreationists and elected officials have launched a website to provide information and promote involvement in the decision making that is affecting properties in the Bowman Field area.
The group, called Plea for the Trees, is working to preserve, retain and enhance the tree canopy in neighborhoods around the airfield in order to support the quality of the environment, property values, and to buffer the area from airplane exhaust and noise.
Plea for the Trees’ website, www.pleaforthetrees.org, expands upon their Facebook page (Plea for the Trees).
Michael Hayman, one of the group’s founding members, says the website is designed to provide up-to-date information and notices about the proposal by the Louisville Regional Airport Authority to cut mature trees and remove man-made obstructions to the airspace around Bowman Field. “We want to explain to our neighbors why this is happening, to identify the decision makers at the Federal Aviation Administration, LRAA, and Kentucky Airport Zoning Commission, and to make it easier to become involved and to comment on any proposals,” says Hayman.
New LRAA maps of the affected areas around the airport, including north of I-64, east into St. Matthews and south of the Watterson Expressway, can be accessed by clicking the “Bowman Field Proposal” link on the website’s home page.
According to Angela Burton, another co-founder of Plea for the Trees, the website will alert residents about a tree survey and inventory that is expected to begin this summer. It will also explain the environmental and historic landscape studies required under federal law, as well as provide basic information about laws and regulations that the LRAA has to follow before any “obstruction hazards” are removed. In addition, the website will inform homeowners and landowners of their rights and of opportunities to participate and provide opinions during the process.
“The website will also provide basic information about ‘avigation easements’ that homeowners may be asked to sign that gives permanent rights to the Airport Authority to remove mature vegetation and to allow noise, vibration, dust and aviation fuel emissions into the airspace above their houses,” says Burton. She adds that background documents and correspondence obtained under federal and state disclosure laws will be posted for public access – including correspondence from the LRAA committing that it will not approach any landowner to attempt to secure any avigation easement until after the studies are completed and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.
For additional information, visit www.pleaforthetrees.org.
Three Clifton Businesses Host Clifton Block Shop Contest in July
Lexie’s Trading Post is partnering with Clifton’s Pizza and Homemade Ice Cream & Pie Kitchen to host a Clifton Block Shop Contest during the month of July.
To enter the contest, start at any of the three locations – all located on Frankfort Avenue between South Clifton and South Rastetter avenues – and spend $10 or more. Let them know you want to participate in the Clifton Block Shop promotion and you will be given a card with the first location stamped. During the month of July, visit the other two locations, spend a minimum of $10 and have the card stamped. Once all three locations have been stamped, drop the completed card into a box provided at any of the three locations.
On Wednesday, August 1, three winners will be drawn from the collected cards. First, second and third place winners will receive a total of $75, $50 and $30, respectively, in combined gift certificates to the three participating merchants.
For more information, visit lexiestradingpost.com, their Facebook page, or call (502) 365-4438, Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Metro Animal Services Seeks Homes for Dogs, Cats, Puppies and Kittens
During the summer, Louisville Metro Animal Services takes in an average of over 1,000 animals each month. LMAS is calling for the community’s help in giving hundreds of dogs and cats a home.
“The kitten and puppy season along with the warmer weather has resulted in skyrocketing numbers,” says Justin Scally, director of Metro Animal Services. “We really need people to step up and give them a loving home.”
If you are thinking about adopting, visit Animal House Adoption Center at 3516 Newburg Rd. The center has animals of all breeds and ages. Adoption coordinators can answer all your questions and help you select the pet that’s right for you.
Animal House Adoption Center has adoption specials each month, including $9 for dogs and cats, so keep your eyes open. The center is open Tuesday through Sunday from noon to 6 p.m., Wednesday until 7 p.m., and is closed on Mondays and holidays.
LMAS encourages everyone to spay and neuter their pets to help fight animal overpopulation. They also encourage involvement by fostering, adopting or volunteering. Fostering provides a temporary home for an animal. For more information, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
or call (502) 473-7387.
Summer camp sessions for children ages 6-13 take place July 16-18 and August 1-3. For more information, or to register for camp, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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For more information, visit www.louisvilleky.gov/AnimalServices, or stop by Animal House Adoption Center.
Carmichael’s “Find Waldo Local” Contest
Carmichael’s Bookstore is bringing some extra fun to Louisville in July with a contest to find Waldo, the familiar red-and-white striped character of the children’s books series “Where’s Waldo.” This year marks the 25th anniversary of the publication of the first Waldo book, and Carmichael’s participation is part of a nationwide promotion sponsored by Candlewick Press and the American Booksellers Association.
Carmichael’s has recruited 20 other locally owned independent businesses, and each will have a 6-inch cardboard cutout of Waldo hidden somewhere in their store. Merchants will display a window cling of Waldo to indicate they are participating in the contest. Once Waldo is located in that business, the merchant will give out a card that reads, “I Found Waldo at (name of business).”
To participate, children should pick up a “Find Waldo in Louisville” search list at either Carmichael’s Bookstore locations, 1295 Bardstown Rd. or 2720 Frankfort Ave. After visiting the participating businesses and finding Waldo, children should collect the cards and bring them back to Carmichael’s.
Sixteen or more cards will earn a Waldo button, plus a coupon for a free kid-sized cone of special “Where’s Waldo” flavored ice cream at The Comfy Cow, and an entry for other, larger prizes to be drawn on July 29. The Grand Prize is a complete six-volume set of Waldo books. Those preferring a shorter version of the hunt can collect cards from eight businesses and turn them in for a Waldo button. The contest is open to everyone, but children must be accompanied by an adult.
The contest is free, and the game lasts for the entire month of July. For more information about hunting for Waldo in Louisville, call Carmichael’s at (502) 896-6950 or (502) 456-6950.
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