Public Hearing Set For Cane Run Ash Dump

On Tuesday, May 25, the Kentucky Division of Waste Management will conduct a public hearing on LG&E's request to build a toxic coal ash landfill at the Cane Run power plant. The hearing will take place at 7pm at Conway Middle School.

From the Courier-Journal:

The proposed 60-acre, $54 million dump would eventually extend as high as a 14-story building in an area now largely occupied by transmission lines.

The complete Courier Journal story is HERE.
More detailed information on the dump and the hearing can be found HERE.

Meet The New Boss...Same As The Old Boss

Louisvillians said to suffer from "Abramson Fatigue" elect Fischer, Heiner; Get Fooled Again.

The majority of primary voters that bothered to show up at their polling places today made themselves clear: "More of the same, please." So much for that "voter anger" the media was peddling.  Here are the results for Mayor and Southwest Louisville council primaries. There will be additional analysis when the numbers by precinct are available.

- Hal Heiner and Greg Fischer are the two party's mayoral candidates for November.  Burrel Farnsley finished last. That means no bars open 24/7.  And an ocean of concrete poured downtown for a 23-lane superhighway. And a couple of bridges. And an Abramson clone in Greg "Ice, Ice, Baby" Fischer. Because that's what the old-money Louisville elites want. This should help put an end to all this talk about Louisville and that pesky "positive future" nonsense. Are you ready for four (4) more years? I hope so.

- John Brewer beat Ed Springston like a 10-cent hooker in the 28th District State House Republican Primary. I do not know John Brewer and I have never met him, but a man I spoke with this evening told me he thought John was "about as sharp as a sack of wet mice." Interesting.

- Robert Thrasher's message went over like a fart in church as Doug Hawkins whipped the good Doctor and will face David Yates in November for the 25th Metro Council District seat.

- Vicki Aubrey Welch turned back negative robo-calls and handbills from you-know-who as she beat Larry Roger Price like a gong in the 13th Metro Council District primary.

All Jefferson County results can be seen by clicking HERE, courtesy of the folks at the once-proud Courier Journal.

Thanks for making The Valley Report a part of your day.  The site has, over the last few weeks, registered some pretty hot stats for such a low-rent operation. How hot? Hotter than a three-peckered billy goat. It's so hot around here, I might have to invent an ice machine to cool it off.

Keep the faith, people.

2010 Primary - News of the Weird

It has been a strange and exciting primary election season.  I hope you took the time to vote today.  Until the results come in I thought it might be fun to list some of the more bizarre tales surrounding the campaigns for Louisville mayor.

- Greg Fischer invents ice machine. Maybe. 

- Chris Thieneman exchanges yard work for votes.

- Greg Fischer's son steals Jim King signs.

- Connie Marshall is being followed by the FBI.

Feel free to add to this list.

News From The Department of WTF

- The second worker death this week has been reported at Jeffboat.  Both victims fell to their deaths, the first on Monday.  More on the sad, sad news at the CJ. [LINK]

- Burglaries are rising sharply in South/Southwest Louisville.  No one knows why. Go home and lock up all your stuff.[WHAS11]

- Doug Hawkins brags of endorsement from "Miss Wheelchair KY" in his latest campaign email. Laura Reynolds points to improvements in Waverly Park, saying "Hawkins made sure it was all handicapped accessible."

Isn't that part of the deal? I mean, is that an option? To make it inaccessible?

- Councilman and mayoral candidate David Tandy claims he's really standing on that construction crane in his campaign commercial. Take a look. What do you think?

The Fight Is On

- The Republican primary election for Metro Council District 25 has turned red-hot following today's write-up in the Courier Journal.  Dr. Robert Thrasher deals incumbent Doug Hawkins a savage beating in the paper's analysis, calling him a transplant from the Highlands "who doesn't really know what's going on in southwest Jefferson County".

In an email blast yesterday, Hawkins called the Courier "anti-God" and "anti-American" for endorsing Thrasher. Hawkins then goes on to mischaracterize his Republican opponent's views in a disparaging way that reveals the mark of a bully and a loser. Hawkins feels so good about his chances of winning the primary he has focused his efforts on the Council's 13th District race, where he has robo-called and trash-talked on behalf of his staff assistant Renay Davis.

In the article, Thrasher repeats what was reported here yesterday: If he fails to beat Hawkins Tuesday, he will support Democrat David Yates in November. I think that just about says it all.

- Councilman Rick Blackwell's District 12 Dialogue for May will be held in conjunction with the Mayor’s Community Conversation at Butler High School on Monday night, May 17th beginning at 6:30pm.

For more information about the May District 12 Dialogue, contact Councilman Blackwell’s office at 574-1112. For more information about the Mayor’s Community Conversation call Metro Call at 311 of 574-5000

- Mayoral candidate Jim King has sent out the campaign's best and most hilarious mailer of the entire race:

Hat tip to The Ville Voice.

Primary Election News: 6 Days and Counting

- My friend Steve Magruder of Louisville History & Issues has compiled a list featuring podcasts and videos of several of the mayoral candidate forums that have been held this year. If you are still one of the many undecided voters, this resource should help.  Click HERE for the list.

- Republican candidate for Mayor Hal Heiner, seeking mileage out of the city's financial audit fiasco, said today Louisville's audit plan doesn't go far enough with regard to outside assessments.  Heiner wants additional outside help in reviewing the city's own internal audits. Abramson's spokesperson lunged for Hal's throat like a jackal, saying the city already has outside help (the state) and shot back rather snootily: “As a councilman who's been part of that process and observed that process every year, he ought to understand that,”. [CJ]

-  I spoke with Dr. Robert Thrasher about his upcoming primary election against incumbent Doug Hawkins in Louisville's 25th District.  Saying "never give up...never give in", he relayed to me the following, which I found to be monumentally interesting:

I am winding down the campaign. The signs are up the doors have been knocked on and the weather is great. I feel that if I don't win the primary I will throw my support behind Mr. Yates. Mr. Hawkins has to go!!!!!!! Whether by me or by someone else. I have enough commitments in the community to help defeat him in the fall. I think that fears the party because I have been open in telling them my plans. I plan on spending next week in Windsor Forest and the following weekend at the Prairie Village Little League. I think that to beat Mr. Hawkins I must carry Windsor Forest, Prairie Village and Villa Anna Subdivisions. I have talked at many different events and I think most of the candidates are missing the boat when it comes to where are problems lie. I agree with the bridges and the arena and the need for downtown expansion, however to make our community strong we must put partisanships aside and work to better our school system and provide a work force that best meets the needs of the 21st century. People ask me about my political experience, I reply I have the same amount of experience Mr. Hawkins had when he ran in 2002. I believe I have more common sense and I know I have more educational experiences.

There is certainly not much in the way of putting partisanship aside in order to accomplish a common good these days, mostly because I don't think we can agree on what the common good is. Dr. Thrasher has this one correct: Education is the key to job creation. How we, as a community, achieve that goal is still up in the air. But it is nice to agree once in a while, isn't it? Good luck to all worthy candidates on Tuesday.