Mower-Gate: City Spends While Citizens Suffer

In the face of mounting budget deficits and service cuts for Louisvillians, WHAS11 is reporting Metro Parks has purchased new mowing equipment. The cost of the mowers, over $600,000, is well beyond what the city hoped to save by closing Otter Creek Park.

You really cannot make this stuff up.

See the awful truth HERE.

Financial Peace University

South End resident and attorney David Yates will be volunteering as the course coordinator for the program below. David has worked in the Commonwealth Attorneyʼs office and served as an Assistant Attorney General. He is currently retained by the UAW legal service plan where he has gained significant experience in consumer protection litigation.

In a note attached to this information, Mr. Yates says, "I have witnessed the daily struggles that so many of our family, friends and neighbors are facing just to make ends meet. Week after week, I observe families collapse under the strain of financial debt. It is my hope that through this course some of our residents will learn how to get out of debt, stay out of debt, and build wealth."

Please do not miss this opportunity to make the most out of your money.

Financial Peace University is a life-changing program that teaches you how to make the right decisions with your money. You'll be empowered with the practical skills and confidence needed to achieve your financial goals and experience true financial peace

The class will meet 13 times from March 4, 2009 until June 3, 2009.
Classes will be held on Wednesday nights from 7:00 pm to 9:00pm at:

St. Lawrence Church Community Room
1925 Lewiston Drive, Louisville, KY 40216
Phone: 502-448-2122
www.lawrencelife.org

David Yates will serve as the volunteer coordinator for the course.

Change the Way You Think
Each of the 13 Lessons deals with a different topic that will change the way you think about personal finance. Dave teaches about how to save money, live on a budget, communicate about money, eliminate debt, find bargains, and experience the joy of giving.

Proven Success
Over 650,000 families have completed FPU with amazing success. On average, they pay off $5,300 in debt and save $2,700 in just 13 weeks. That's an $8,000 change in position in just 91 days!

Powerful. Enlightening. Fun.
In FPU, you will meet with your class each week to watch a video lesson and participate in discussion groups that will change how you think about money. Dave explains how money really works in a simple, easy-to-understand style. You'll actually have fun as you learn.

You join this FPU by purchasing a Membership Kit, which contains essential tools to guide you through the class. FPU Members receive a lifetime membership that will allow you to attend a class anywhere, anytime at no extra charge.

Class membership regularly cost $199. However, St. Lawrence Parish will be receiving the Church and Religious Organizations discount of $93.00 per family unit. Call the number above to order your Membership Kit in time for the first class.

Commentary on David Grider

Jefferson County Republican Party Secretary and JCPS teacher David Grider's current situation at Wilt Elementary has taken up much room in my thoughts of late. After reading all the available information and speaking with concerned parties, I offer you my opinion on the matter:

Grider is a gifted educator that has the respect of all his students, both past and present, that I have spoken with. He, like you and I, also suffers from a fatal flaw: He can't keep his mouth shut when he gets pissed off, and his outrageous comments routinely make a situation spiral out of control. But so what? We all have our quirks. Who among us has handled every situation perfectly with top-notch diplomacy? Not me, sure as hell. But at the end of the day, Mr. Grider is there to teach your kids, and if they are happy, you should be too.

Teaching is a noble profession, one of which most of us are spectacularly unqualified. But there are still some similarities in work life. I think we can all relate to the "office politics" that can make one's work life miserable. This is where Grider under-performs. But parents and the media need to get off this teachers back, because he is obviously fulfilling his commitment to his students, and that really is "Job 1".

This situation, like all the others of late, has been handled terribly by JCPS Superintendent Dr. Sheldon Berman, and speaks more to Berman's inability to handle crisis (real or not) than it does David Grider's inability to shut his mouth. Get rid of that ridiculous security guard, and get Grider a class in tact.

Case closed.
Class dismissed.

Defendants Added In Gilpin Case

Fox41 is reporting that three defendants have been added to the civil suit brought by the parents of Max Gilpin, the 15 year old PRP high school student who died following a football practice last August.

Click HERE for more.

Ex-Dixie Teacher Grider Getting Wild at Wilt

The nuttiness at Wilt Elementary is getting cranked up to unacceptable levels. To Wit: Nearly a week after the sentencing of ex-Dixie Elementary School principal Adrian Sanford on felony theft charges, there is another former employee of the school in the news. WHAS11 reports that teacher David Grider is being followed by a security guard at Wilt Elementary after allegedly making a threat against that school's principal.

Mr. Grider taught at Dixie Elementary under Sanford, and was once accused of hitting a student with his car during a protest and being verbally abusive to fifth grade students while at Dixie.

See the complete report HERE.

If there is anyone with additional information on the accused, please contact me. Confidentiality Assured.

Have You Read Your Paper Today?

Monday usually equals a terrible newspaper, but today's Courier-Journal has come alive with no less than four (4) hot articles. Look:

- Absent a miracle, Stumbo's slot bill will not receive a vote this session. It looks as though some legislators are content to wait until the state's economic condition is terminal before doing anything to bring revenue. Read the details HERE.

- National coal waste storage standards are badly needed and may become reality soon thanks to a series of environmental disasters involving the millions of gallons of liquid poison sludge stored in "ponds". James Bruggers has the story HERE.

- One year after Metro Public Works engineering supervisor Ali Ahmadi illegally constructed the building housing the Javanon Soccer Club, neighbors are still outraged, the structure still stands and the club still operating. More about the cronyism HERE.

- Joe Gerth writes about the "Mayor for Life" and his political future. Juicy gossip HERE.