WFPL News: The Next Louisville

Friends, family & fans remember Louisville artist Mark Anthony Mulligan

Stephanie Wolf — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 17:43:10 +0000

Mark Anthony Mulligan, a beloved Louisville folk artist, died Monday at Wedgewood Healthcare Center in Clarksville, Ind., according to his obituary. He was 59.

Mulligan was a visual artist and performer, perhaps most known for his vibrant illustrations of street scenes, packed with signs and logos.

The remembrance said Mulligan “loved telling jokes and stories, and he loved to eat. He loved God and loved singing.”

In the past few days, there’s been an outpouring of love for Mulligan online, with community members, artists and the social media accounts of art institutions sharing memories of him.

“He meant so much to people here in Louisville, for his art, his spirit, his joy, his sense of humor. He’s really fun to be around, all the way up to the end,” said Gregory Luchini Maddox, who visited with Mulligan on Thanksgiving.

On the holiday, Mulligan shared a 57-page work – a mix of poem and song, accompanied with sketches, he had written over the last several months of his life with Maddox, who said it was a testament to the artist’s drive to create art no matter his circumstances.

Maddox first met Mulligan in the early 90s along Bardstown Road, where Mulligan was seen frequently. At the time, Maddox was a social worker involved in local outreach efforts to people experiencing homelessness, “so I got to know him in that capacity.” Struck by Mulligan’s art, Maddox directed a film about him called “Peacelands/Mark Anthony Mulligan,” which debuted in 2015.

“When he was very young, he would drive around Rubbertown with his family,” Maddox said of Mulligan’s recollection about his childhood. “And he would see these big gasoline containers, the real big ones that had the signs like Gulf [Oil] and Standard Oil. And I think it really caught his imagination.”

He started sketching the logos and signs he saw as a kid, and stuck with it.

Courtesy the artist/Gregory Maddox

A piece of artwork made by Mark Anthony Mulligan.

Local artist and curator Albertus Gorman described Mulligan’s work as versatile and “amazingly conceptual.”

“There was just this creative drive that you could see that manifested itself in these drawings and paintings, and actually some of the performances he would do singing songs that he would also compose,” he said.

Gorman helped organize an early exhibition of Mulligan’s at the University of Cincinnati and curated a 2005 show of the folk artist’s work at the Kentucky Folk Art Center in Morehead. He said Mulligan’s work was deep, perhaps even deeper than many realized, inviting people to challenge their preconceived notions of what they saw.

“Something we see every single day and pay absolutely no attention to, in fact we may decry the fact that all this stuff is there, but Mark Anthony goes beyond that,” Gorman said, adding that Mulligan invoked spirituality into his work to say these signs and urban logos exist for a reason.

In a Gulf Oil sign, Mulligan would see the message, “God’s unique, undying love forever.”

“The fact that he was able to kind of see much more of what was happening in the urban landscape here, that he was able to kind of plug into the visual excitement,” Gorman said.

Julia Finch, the interim director at the Kentucky Folk Art Center, said visitors have told her Mulligan’s work helps them feel connected to the urban landscapes that they call home.

“He gives it a sense of intimacy by talking about his journey… his world is marked by these monuments,” she said.

The artist found ample inspiration on his lengthy TARC rides – his obituary cites his love of seeing the city “while on his many long TARC bus tours.”

TARC assistant director of transportation Darlene Franklin, who got to know Mulligan over the course of her decade as a coach operator, said she never saw him without a smile on his face.

“It was nice to be able to get him where he needed to go,” Franklin said. “As drivers, we don’t always get a chance to see people who are smiling and can pass along that smile. So to actually see that every day, it was welcoming. And I just know he’ll be missed.”

As an adult, the artist experienced homelessness for years. Friends and colleagues said he also struggled with some health problems, and contracted COVID-19 last year and doctors put him on a ventilator.

Gregory Luchini Maddox hopes Mulligan is also remembered for his love for living.

“Mark proved that, despite challenges, great challenges, you can still enjoy your day,” Maddox said. “You can still get up and find things that you are excited about, relate to people, spread joy… You’re never too hopeless that you can’t enjoy your life and do good things.”

That perpetual desire to find the good in life is evident in a video posted to the “Peacelands” film Facebook page. Mulligan shared these words for his fans, friends and family: “Don’t give up on life. No matter what problem you have, take it to the Lord above… Waking up and seeing the sun shine, that’s a miracle right there.”

Mulligan’s family is organizing a way for the public to pay tribute to him at the Calvary Apostolic Church in Jeffersonville, Ind. Visitation is at noon on Saturday, and the celebration service begins at 1 p.m.

Kentucky coal ash is contaminating groundwater, but companies argue they’re in compliance

Ryan Van Velzer — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 22:16:55 +0000

At least a half-dozen power plants in Kentucky have long-term plans to store toxic coal ash in unlined storage ponds sitting in or near groundwater, threatening water supplies and potentially violating federal regulations.

After burning coal to produce electricity, utilities store the resulting ash in massive landfills and ponds that often leak hazardous levels of pollution into the environment, often in disproportionately low-income communities and communities of color.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency denied a deadline extension for an Ohio utility that wanted to continue dumping coal ash into a pond with waste sitting in groundwater. Although the Nov. 18 announcement only applied to the Ohio plan, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said the EPA expects other utilities to follow suit.

“Today’s action reaffirms that surface impoundments or landfills cannot be closed with coal ash in contact with groundwater, ensuring safe water resources for these communities while protecting public health and ensuring a reliable supply of electricity,” Regan said in a press release.

But five Kentucky utilities that spoke with WFPL News disagree. Louisville Gas and Electric, Kentucky Utilities, Big Rivers Electric Co., Kentucky Power and Tennessee Valley Authority all say they are complying with federal regulations, despite having ash storage sites sitting in or near groundwater.

“EPA’s interpretations of the rule have changed from time-to-time and some of those interpretations are currently subject to legal challenge,” Chis Whelan, LG&E’s vice president of communications and corporate responsibility wrote in an email. “The determination you have referenced relates to one particular facility and is based on the specific facts of that case.”

At least 15 coal-fired power plants in Kentucky have polluted groundwater with arsenic, lead, mercury and other hazardous metals found in coal ash, according to an analysis of industry data from environmental advocates Earthjustice and the Environmental Integrity Project.

Much of the environmental focus on coal power plants relates to climate change and air pollution, but coal ash remains one of the largest industrial waste streams in the country. At least 91% of U.S. coal plants have coal ash landfills and ponds that are leaching harmful levels of pollution into groundwater, according to the Environmental Integrity Project.

“The Kentucky plants have all the same problems as the plants throughout the rest of the country, but the situation is worse in Kentucky because of the number of very large plants and the amount of coal ash that’s generated,” said Lisa Evans, a senior attorney for the environmental group Earthjustice.

Evans said six Kentucky power plants are violating coal ash rules that require power plants to close storage sites and remove ash when it’s within five feet of groundwater. None of these sites have liners that could help limit groundwater pollution and all of the plants are nearby disproportionately low income communities or communities of color, according to the industry analysis.

In nearly every case, utilities have told regulators they plan to leave the ash in place, meaning they’ll remove the existing water and install covers that prevent water from infiltrating the storage site. But environmental advocates, including Evans, say capping the storage site while leaving the ash in place in or near groundwater could make the contamination even worse.

“Once you put the cap on it, that groundwater is going to sit in a more concentrated solution because it won’t be diluted by any percolation from above,” she said.

Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities

Power plants around the country began monitoring for coal ash pollution under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2015 coal ash rules. Former President Donald Trump’s administration weakened those rules in 2020, allowing utilities to delay deadlines for cleanup and closure.

The Earthjustice and Environmental Integrity Project report listed two Kentucky power plants as having among the worst contamination in the U.S.

Kentucky Utilities’ Ghent Generating Station and Louisville Gas & Electric’s Trimble County Generating Station have both demonstrated significant levels of pollution with coal ash storage sites in contact with, or near, groundwater.

Whelan, with Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities, did not deny that coal ash has polluted groundwater but said the utility has not violated EPA coal ash rules.

“When corrective measures are triggered, that does not mean that a company has violated the rule,” Whelan said. “We manage our business, not to just meet stricter regulations, but to ensure that we are being mindful of the environment, and, in this case, that our operations are not negatively impacting water quality for drinking or recreational activities.”

Whelan said LG&E and KU have stopped storing additional coal ash into their ash storage ponds and expect to fully close all wet storage sites by 2024.

Tennessee Valley Authority – Paradise Fossil Plant

The Tennessee Valley Authority retired the final coal-fired generating unit at the Paradise Fossil Plant in 2020. Last month, they imploded three cooling towers at the former coal plant in Muhlenberg County.

Coal ash compliance data from Earthjustice and EIP show TVA plans to close five ash ponds sitting in or near groundwater. The utility plans to leave the coal ash in place at three of the storage sites that are leaking arsenic and boron into the environment.

TVA Spokesperson Jim Hopson said the utility’s plans to leave the ash in place at the retired Paradise Fossil Plant are just as protective of the environment as ash removal.

“While EPA Administrator Michael Regan suggests in the press release you provided ‘that surface impoundments or landfills cannot be closed with coal ash in contact with groundwater,’ this is not what the electric utility industry has understood the CCR rule to mean,” Hopson wrote in an email.

Big Rivers Electric Co. – Sebree Generating Station

Big Rivers Electric Co. has two coal ash ponds it plans to close in place at Sebree Generating Station near Henderson. Both sit in or near groundwater. The company’s own monitoring has demonstrated mercury from the ash contaminating groundwater at 135 times federal standards.

Spokesperson Jennifer Keach did not respond to questions and instead replied with a statement.

“Our activities to close the pond will be in full compliance with all state and federal regulations,” she wrote.

Kentucky Power – Big Sandy

The retired Big Sandy coal plant near Louisa in eastern Kentucky has a coal ash storage site the utility closed with the ash in place despite being in or near groundwater. The contamination at the site includes levels of lithium, radium, boron and other pollutants above federal standards.

Spokesperson Cynthia Wiseman said the utility removed water from the storage site and capped it with a special material designed to prevent water infiltration.

“The bottom ash pond closure was completed in February 2020 and the fly ash was completed in November 2021. To date we have not identified any groundwater impacts that have been attributed to either of the sites,” Wiseman said.

Repairing the Damage

Earthjustice and EIP say there are further steps the government can take to address coal ash pollution. Their report calls on the EPA to increase federal oversight, test drinking water near ash sites, enforce cleanup schedules and ensure that utilities are following the federal coal ash rules.

There are also a number of loopholes the EPA could close that currently allow utilities to avoid cleanup. For example, several coal plants around the country were able to avoid cleaning up contamination because they demonstrated the pollution was actually caused by a different coal ash storage site not covered under the 2015 rules.

Eric Dixon, a senior researcher at the nonprofit Ohio River Valley Institute, said renewable energy is pushing the country in a new, healthier direction, but utilities need to repair the damage that remains from fossil fuels.

“There’s a lot of coal ash across the state, there’s a lot of coal ash that is contaminating the water beneath our feet, and that water could now or in the future make its way into the water we drink or the water we swim or fish in,” Dixon said.

Dixon said the cleanup could also benefit local economies if utilities employ local companies.

“There is an opportunity to create jobs cleaning up the damage from the past at these coal ash plants,” he said.

Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify Chris Whelan’s organizational affiliation and to confirm that the Big Sandy coal plant is retired.

Worker who died in trench collapse at Southern Indiana construction site identified

Aprile Rickert — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 21:52:55 +0000

The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office has identified the construction worker killed after a trench collapse earlier this week in Clarksville as 22-year-old Emmanuel Martinez Moran.

Moran was working with Dan Cristiani Excavating, a Clarksville-based company contracted by the town for a sewer relocation project on McKinley Avenue, when the trench collapsed Monday morning.

Martinez was taken to University of Louisville Hospital, where he died around an hour later. The coroner reported blunt impact injuries as his cause of death.

The excavating company said in a statement they were mourning the unexpected loss.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and our DC team as we all navigate this heartbreaking tragedy,” the statement reads, in part. “We appreciate the community’s support of our Dan Cristiani Excavating team during this trying time.”

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the death. Dan Cristiani Excavating has stopped all trenching work for its projects during the investigation.

Former Ky. Rep. Jonathan Shell files to run for agriculture commissioner

Divya Karthikeyan — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 19:16:59 +0000

Jonathan Shell, a former Republican leader in the Kentucky legislature, formally filed to run for agriculture commissioner this week.

Shell was the majority floor leader of the state House of Representatives from 2017 until 2019 before he was ousted during a primary election.

He’s a fifth-generation farmer who will be running for the office which will be vacated by current Republican Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, who is term-limited. Quarles is a candidate in the 2023 gubernatorial race.

During an interview, Shell said his legislative experience makes him a good candidate for the job.

“As House majority leader, I saw a lot of issues that we’ve got and problems and challenges, but also opportunities. I’d like to be a voice to try and help fix some of those things – whether it be connectivity through broadband, rural healthcare which is a big issue in the state, or infrastructure in general,” he said.

On his campaign website, Shell refers to himself as a “proud conservative and will put his pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, pro-growth and pro-farmer values to work for Kentucky families in Frankfort.”

The role of Kentucky’s agriculture commissioner includes promoting the state agricultural industry and regulatory duties such as inspecting gas pumps across the state and issuing hemp growing licenses.

In 2021, the Republican-led Legislature expanded powers by giving the commissioner the authority to appoint all 13 members on the State Board of Agriculture and a majority of seats on the state fair board—two powerful agencies in the state.

Shell said he wants to focus on creating jobs in the agricultural sector.

“In Kentucky, we’ve got the best farmers in the entire country. Creating more secondary businesses off of agriculture, more manufacturing jobs in rural and urban communities alike and really finishing more products here, that’s some of my goals,” he said.

Shell graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business. First elected in 2013, he represented House District 71, which includes Garrard, Rockcastle, and a portion of Madison Counties.

He helped recruit Republican candidates for House races in 2016, when the GOP took control of the chamber for the first time in nearly a century.

Republican leaders rewarded his efforts by making him the youngest ever House majority floor leader at 30 years old, a post he held from 2017 to 2019.

Shell lost his Republican nomination in 2018 to Travis Brenda, a teacher who campaigned against pension reforms put forward by Republican lawmakers and then-Gov. Matt Bevin. Shell was one of the authors of the controversial bill that sparked thousands of teachers to protest in Frankfort in 2018.

U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell tapped Shell to chair his 2020 reelection campaign, in which he defeated Democratic rival Amy McGrath by about 20 percentage points.

Republican Rep. Richard Heath of Mayfield has said he will also run for the position, but he hasn’t officially filed yet. Heath is the chair of the Kentucky House Agriculture Committee. He ran for the post in 2015, but lost to Ryan Quarles during the primary election.

JCPS employees to get 5% pay raise

Jess Clark — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 19:05:20 +0000

The Jefferson County Board of Education has given final approval to a three-year contract extension with the teacher’s union. It includes a 5% pay raise for district employees next year.

The decision makes two years in a row Jefferson County Public Schools has raised pay. JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio said the pay increase is a “critical step” to recruit and retain employees as the district grapples with a staffing shortage.

The bump will cost JCPS about $40 million a year, which Pollio said is possible because of tax increases the board approved in previous years.

Combined with a 4% raise approved earlier this year, the pay boost will lift JCPS’ average teacher salary to about $71,000 a year.

Employees will begin to see the raise reflected in their paychecks in July.

The contract extension includes a “memorandum of understanding” for the Jefferson County Teachers Association and the district to continue negotiations on any other issues of interest to either party.

Pollio said the district is in the midst of negotiations with union leaders over offering paid parental leave.

“We’re working on that now and hope to solidify that in the next eight to 10 weeks,” Pollio told board members during their meeting Tuesday.

The superintendent said leaders were discussing “considerations around bereavement leave” as well.

Republican leaders denounce Trump’s dinner with white nationalist Nick Fuentes

Dustin Jones, NPR — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 18:34:00 +0000

House and Senate Republicans are speaking out against former President Donald Trump’s dinner last week with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, and white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes.

“There is no room in the Republican Party for antisemitism or white supremacy,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday. “And anyone meeting with people advocating that point of view, in my judgment, are highly unlikely to ever be elected president of the United States.”

Earlier in the day, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy denounced Fuentes, who is labeled as a white supremacist pundit and organizer by the Anti-Defamation League, in language similar to McConnell’s, though he stopped short of condemning the former president.

“I don’t think anybody should be spending any time with Nick Fuentes. He has no place in this Republican Party,” McCarthy said. “I think President Trump came out four times and condemned him and didn’t know who he was.”

When a reporter pointed out to McCarthy that the former president only denied knowing Fuentes — not condemning his ideologies — McCarthy responded, “Well, I condemn his ideology, it has no place in society; at all.”

The former president dined with Ye and Fuentes at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last Tuesday, where, according to Ye’s official Twitter account, the rapper asked Trump to be his running mate for the 2024 presidential race.

Trump, who recently announced his 2024 presidential bid, took to his social media platform Truth Social on Saturday to try and clear the record. He said in a post that Ye had requested the meeting for “advice concerning some of his difficulties,” noting that he doesn’t know Fuentes.

Pence also strongly denounced the dinner with Fuentes

The leaders’ reactions to the dinner came a day after former Vice President Mike Pence said that Trump should apologize for even sitting down with Fuentes.

“Trump was wrong to give a white nationalist, an antisemite and Holocaust denier a seat at the table,” Pence said in an interview with News Nation Now. “And I think he should apologize for it, and he should denounce those individuals and their hateful rhetoric without qualification.”

Pence, who is mulling his own presidential run, also noted that he doesn’t believe Trump is an antisemite.

U.S. Sen. Mike Braun files paperwork to run for governor

Brandon Smith, Indiana Public Broadcasting — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 17:42:56 +0000

U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) filed paperwork with the state Tuesday to run for governor in 2024.

Braun is currently in the middle of his first term in the U.S. Senate. Prior to that, the Jasper Republican was a state legislator for three years and served a decade on a local school board.

A Braun run for governor had been rumored for months. The seat will be open in 2024, with current Gov. Eric Holcomb term-limited. The race is expected to attract several hopefuls, particularly in the GOP primary. Fort Wayne businessman Eric Doden is the only announced candidate currently in the campaign.

Braun’s Senate seat is also up for election in 2024 – meaning the current incumbent’s gubernatorial run would open up that office.

That could have a domino effect throughout Indiana politics. U.S. Rep. Jim Banks (R-Columbia City) and U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Noblesville) are among the names rumored for a Senate bid, should Braun make his move for governor.

Contact reporter Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Kim Schatzel named next University of Louisville president

Breya Jones — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 15:50:22 +0000

Last updated at 5:01 p.m.

The University of Louisville Board of Trustees has named Kim Schatzel as the institution’s next president.

Schatzel comes most recently from Towson University in Maryland. She is the 19th president to lead the university. The board approved Schatzel in a unanimous vote. She’ll start her new job Feb. 1.

Schatzel’s salary will be $925,000 a year, in addition to $200,000 annually into a retirement plan. Her contract, which includes benefits, extends for five years. After that period, the Board of Trustees can choose to renew it.

“My husband Trevor and I are thrilled to be joining the U of L community and look forward to embracing the university community, the City of Louisville and the commonwealth of Kentucky as our new home,” Schatzel said in a news release. “And we look forward to joining the more than 169,000 U of L alumni from around the globe in cheering on our Cardinals.”

Schatzel is a first-generation college student. She grew up in New York and attended Washington University in St. Louis, where she got a bachelor’s degree in biology and economics. She received a doctorate in business administration with focuses in marketing and management of technology. She is also a marketing professor.

A key part of the Board of Trustees search was finding a person who would commit to the university long-term. Schatzel said she was ready to do that.

“You’re stuck with me. This is a fabulous institution, this an opportunity of a lifetime,” Schatzel said. “I also know to make the kind of transformational change everyone wants to participate in … it takes time, so I am committed for that time.”

Schatzel said she plans to use her first few months as president to meet with faculty, staff, students and the Louisville community to identify the university’s needs.

One ongoing challenge Schatzel will be tasked with is diversity, equity and inclusion, particularly in the wake of the police killing of Breonna Taylor and the subsequent racial justice uprisings.

She was awarded by Maryland’s Associated Black Charities for her work in diversity and inclusion at Towson.

While under her leadership, Towson saw an increase in equity, including Black, Latino and Pell Grant students having the same graduation rate as the overall student population.

Schatzel said she plans to bring the same work to U of L.

“The first and most important thing is to make a commitment to the fact that you want inclusive excellence on a campus — that all students, inclusive of all demographics and all identities, thrive inclusively and that they succeed at the institution itself,” Schatzel said.

U of L has been looking for a new president since last December when Neeli Bendapudi left the role to accept the president position at Penn State University.

Following Bendapudi’s departure, the Board of Trustees named Executive Vice President and University Provost Lori Stewart Gonzalez as the school’s interim president.

Gonzalez held leadership positions at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, the University of North Carolina, Appalachian State University and the University of Kentucky.

“While this is a period of change and transition, I can speak with absolute confidence that our work will continue and that the spirit of the U of L community will continue to shine as it has throughout centuries,” Gonzalez said when she was appointed to the position.

Gonzalez had been at the university since April 2021 when she was appointed interim president in December.

“She has proven already in the short time that she’s been here to be a courageous, principled leader. She’s developed deep relationships everywhere she’s been,” Board of trustees chair Mary Nixon said at the time of Gonzalez’s appointment.

Gonzalez said, at the time, her focus would be addressing the ongoing funding challenges and issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gonzalez also planned to focus on the school’s anti-racism work.

“We want to make sure that it’s an equitable campus, where no matter where you start or where you come from, you will thrive on this campus,” she said.

As her first act as interim president, Gonzalez appointed Deputy Athletic Director Josh Heird as interim athletic director. Heird has since filled that role permanently.

Gonzalez will return to her role as executive vice president and university provost for U of L.

Those weren’t the only shake-ups in key positions at the university in recent months.

In January, U of L men’s basketball former head coach Chris Mack left his position. Heird later appointed former U of L and NBA player Kenny Payne to the head coach position.

Rebecca Feldhaus Adams contributed to this story.

Louisville Collegiate School looks to demolish apartments for parking space

Jacob Munoz — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 15:11:35 +0000

A Louisville private school is seeking approval to destroy three occupied apartment buildings on its Cherokee Triangle campus to build a parking lot.

Representatives of the Louisville Collegiate School say the Yorktown Apartments, which it took over in 2015, are deteriorating. They aim to use about an acre of the property to add 56 parking spaces, which they say will ease road congestion.

But others worry how the decision will impact current tenants amid a shortage of affordable housing across the city.

A public hearing for the school’s plan is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon during the Cherokee Triangle Architectural Review Committee meeting. The government group will determine if the project violates the neighborhood’s historic preservation requirements and whether to grant a certificate that would allow the planned demolition to move forward.

Jacob Munoz | wfpl.org

The Louisville Collegiate School is looking to build a parking lot where the Yorktown Apartments currently stand in a bid to reduce traffic and street congestion.

A recent report by the city’s Planning and Design agency recommended the committee provide the certificate, saying taking down the apartments would not harm local preservation goals.

The school’s certificate application said that the three apartments, which have 48 total housing units, are “in a dire state of disrepair and unusable for habitation.”

Alltrade Property Management, a local organization, operates the apartments. An Alltrade employee on Tuesday said Trish Lee, the property manager for the buildings, was out sick and unavailable to comment.

Cullen Jones, the group’s vice president for business development, said in an email that two-thirds of all units were occupied as of Tuesday afternoon, and that the average cost of rent was $650.

Elizabeth Post, a public relations executive representing Collegiate, said the school’s student body and staff have grown over recent years. There were 647 enrolled students and 132 employees during the 2018-19 school year, she said, and those numbers have increased by about 20 and 17 percent, respectively.

While the school has a main parking lot accessible on Ray Avenue, Post said parked cars now crowd onto nearby streets. She added that traffic near the school has become a safety concern for residents.

“Due to the school’s growth, it has really put a burden on the neighbors,” she said.

Collegiate has among the highest tuitions in the state, with high school costs topping $26,000 a year.

The project would provide more parking space through a lot connected to Grinstead Drive, a wider road with a center turning lane. Post said the lot would be prioritized for the school’s faculty and staff.

A slideshow presentation for the project also shows a possible one-way vehicle path connecting Glenmary Avenue, parallel to Grinstead, with the planned lot. It would use another school-owned property.

“It has been the practice of Louisville Collegiate School to acquire properties adjacent to its campus as they become available, simply because Collegiate is in a landlocked position,” Post said.

She said plans to demolish the Yorktown Apartments came after years of discussion among school leaders, architects and planners, and feedback from local residents.

Jacob Munoz | wfpl.org

The Cherokee Triangle Architectural Review Committee is expected to weigh in Wednesday on the Louisville Collegiate School’s plan to demolish the Yorktown Apartments.

But renters living in the buildings will have to find somewhere else to go.

Post said Alltrade notified tenants in early October about the need to relocate by January 31. Jones said the company has been working to help them do so.

George Brian Baker and Lisa Baker were residents of one of the apartments. They were recently served a 14-day notice to vacate, and on Monday afternoon were packing up their unit.

They said they had not received Section 8 support on time due to housing officials missing an inspection. WFPL News was not able to independently verify those claims.

Lisa Baker said many residents at Yorktown Apartments are low-income, and that they should’ve received guaranteed housing or more time to find a new place to live.

“I agree that it is worn down and everything, and it does need to be taken care of. But the thing is, is that throwing people out on the street is not the way,” she said.

Lisa said she and George Brian, who is disabled, will not have a place to live if evicted.

The Coalition for the Homeless, a local advocacy group, said in a statement that Louisville Collegiate School’s plan would contribute to the city’s housing and homelessness crises and urged the school and the architectural review committee to dismiss it.

The availability of low-income housing in Louisville has been a concern for years. A 2019 report commissioned by the city found that more than 30,000 homes needed to be built to support households at the lowest income levels.

Correction: A previous version of this story inaccurately referenced the Louisville Urban League as being involved with helping to relocate residents.

Study: Alzheimer’s drug shows modest success slowing declines in memory, thinking

Jon Hamilton, NPR — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 15:00:06 +0000

An experimental drug that removes a substance called amyloid from the brain appears to slow down Alzheimer’s disease.

The drug, called lecanemab, reduced the rate of cognitive decline by 27% in a study of nearly 1,800 people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, scientists reported at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease meeting in San Francisco.

The study was published simultaneously in The New England Journal of Medicine.

People who got infusions of lecanemab scored about half a point better on a zero-to-18-point scale of mental functioning, a slight but statistically significant difference.

The results are “real and robust,” says Dr. Christopher van Dyck, who directs the Yale Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and presented an overview of the study at the meeting.

But Dr. Madhav Thambisetty of the National Institute on Aging, who was not involved in the study, called the results “a very small effect.”

“It’s very unlikely that these differences are going to be noticeable by individual patients in their everyday lives,” Thambisetty says.

Thambisetty emphasized that his views are his own, and that he is not speaking for the NIA, which is part of the National Institutes of Health.

About one in five people who got lecanemab in the study experienced an adverse event, such as swelling or bleeding in the brain. People also reported symptoms including headaches, visual disturbances, and confusion.

The treatment has been linked to two deaths.

But most side effects are “mild to moderate,” says Dr. Marwan Sabbagh of the Barrow Neurological Institute, who gave a presentation on lecanemab’s safety. And the number of abnormalities detected on brain scans was “within expectations,” he says.

Even so, lecanemab is “not a benign drug,” Thambisetty says, adding that its risks may outweigh its benefits for some patients.

Lecanemab is being developed by the Japanese company Eisai along with the U.S. company Biogen.

The apparent success of lecanemab comes after many years of frustration and failure for companies developing drugs designed to clear amyloid from the brain.

So far, only one amyloid drug, Aduhelm, has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

That drug, also developed by Eisai and Biogen, was approved in 2021 despite conflicting evidence about whether it worked, and after an FDA advisory committee voted against approval.

Sales of Aduhelm have been slow, largely because Medicare will only cover the drug for patients participating in a clinical trial.

But Alzheimer’s patients and their families are already anticipating the arrival of lecanemab, despite its limitations.

“I’m a person living with a progressive and fatal disease,” says Michael Zuendel, 68, who has been taking Aduhelm since he was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, an early stage of Alzheimer’s. “I do not have time to wait for the perfect research study.”

“I’m extremely hopeful that the FDA will approve [lecanemab],” Zuendel says.

The Food and Drug Administration is expected to make a decision by January 6, 2023.

Kentuckians come to Frankfort to honor former Gov. John Y. Brown

Stu Johnson, WEKU — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 21:47:54 +0000

Kentuckians had an opportunity to pay their respects to former Gov. John Y. Brown Jr. Tuesday at the state Capitol.

Grady Stumbo served as secretary of, what was then called, Cabinet for Human Resources during the Brown administration. He said, after leaving office, Brown still had, “Kentucky in his heart and he wanted Kentucky to excel and do well.”

“He helped people to try to aspire to making Kentucky a better place and a better state and he embodied that himself and he encouraged Kentuckians to think that way,” Stumbo said.

Stumbo said he and Brown became personal friends and were raising children about the same age at the same time. The 77-year-old eastern Kentucky doctor said he spoke with Brown within the last few weeks. Stumbo noted Brown indicated he wished he had enough energy to run for governor again.

The governor died a week ago at the age of 88. One of those paying respects in the Capitol Rotunda was Cary Whayne. Whayne said she was a good friend of Sandy Brown, one of the governor’s daughters.

“And I remember going to the Colonels games and playing in the pool and sliding down the banister when John Y. and Ellie Brown weren’t there. I have a lot of fond memories growing up in that white house on Orion Road,” said Whayne.

Stu Johnson/WEKU

Whayne said she now lives in a home in Prospect, Ky. that was once owned by Brown’s first wife Ellie Durall Moore. Also visiting the Capitol Rotunda Tuesday was James Goff who said Brown was a successful businessman and added that’s a benefit in filling an executive job of governor. A private memorial service is planned Wednesday.

Tripled pay is great for travel nurses – not for hospitals

Holden Abshier, Side Effects Public Media — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 21:06:21 +0000

Enid Bedford is grateful her nursing career has given her the opportunity to be closer to family.

Bedford, a registered nurse in Memphis, Tennessee, entered the field at age 50 after all her children left home. During the pandemic, she started traveling for better pay and a better schedule.

“I typically work maybe a 13- or 26-week assignment, and then I can go home for two months and be able to sit down and relax and spend time with my husband or family,” she said.

Bedford’s youngest son plays football for Indiana University – a more than six-hour drive from home. When he tore his ACL in the first game of the season, Bedford was able to land a travel nurse contract at a hospital nearby, in Bloomington.

“I wasn’t here to intrude on his life as a 21-year-old college student, but to help him transition with his injury,” she said. “And now that he’s doing so well, I’ll finish my assignment and then I’ll be on my way.”

Travel nurses fill temporary openings in hospitals across the country, often signing contracts for a few months at a time before moving on to experience a new city. The travel nurse industry skyrocketed in 2020 as hospitals struggled with staffing shortages.

Travel nurse pay varies widely depending on the assignment. Estimates show hourly wages can be at least double if not triple the $39 per hour that the average staff nurse makes. But the price hospitals pay for travel nurses is significantly more than what the nurses themselves are paid, because nurses sign on with staffing agencies that enter contracts with hospitals, negotiating prices based on demand.

It’s why about a quarter of hospitals say they’re looking to decrease their dependence on supplemental staffing over the next year, according to the 2022 NSI National Health Care Retention and RN Staffing Report.

“For every 20 travel RNs eliminated, a hospital can save, on average, $4,203,000,” according to the NSI report.

Weekly pay for travel nurses has dropped since the height of the pandemic, but reliance on travel nurses continues to take a financial toll on hospital budgets, forcing many to take a deeper look at employee benefits and other retention efforts.

Higher pay, greater flexibility

Higher pay was cited as the top reason nurses chose to take on travel contracts, according to a survey conducted by the health care company Relias. Other top reasons included dissatisfaction with management, interest in exploring new locations and greater flexibility.

Patrick Smith spent two years as a staff nurse in his hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, prior to becoming a traveling nurse. He said Bloomington, Indiana, is the third city he’s lived in on a travel contract.

“I enjoy getting to meet new people. I get to experience a new area that I’ve not been in,” Smith said. “And it’s not like, oh, I visited this place. Like I actually got to live there for a couple months.”

Others have even figured out how to get the benefits of being a travel nurse without ever going too far from home. They’re known as “local travelers,” and – like Brakayla Hillis – they tend to take contracts within 90 minutes of home.

Hillis has completed contracts in several Indiana cities, including Fort Wayne and Bloomington, and now works in her hometown of Greenwood. She never expected traveling would be her life. But she said the financial and scheduling benefits were too good to refuse, especially since she’s in school to become a nurse practitioner.

One of her recent assignments was at a hospital that was transitioning to a new location and hoping to cut back on its reliance on travel nurses.

“We were very heavily staffed with travelers, and then when we moved to the new hospital, they kind of were trying to get back to where it was just the staff nursing and kind of weed out the travelers,” Hillis said. “So they did a major pay cut by about $2,000 a week.”

The pay cut in future contracts meant it was time for Hillis to move on. Her next contract was with another central Indiana hospital that she said offered its staff nurses triple bonuses to compete with traveler pay.

“Hospitals are trying to basically reward the staff just so that they don’t have to use travelers, but it still seems to happen,” she said.

Can boosting staff morale lessen hospitals’ reliance on travel nurses?

Turnover rates for U.S. nurses vary by geographic location and specialty, but range from 9 percent to 37 percent. In 2021, more than 1 in 3 hospitals reported a nurse vacancy rate greater than 10 percent.

Another concern: Burnout seems to be contributing to a greater desire to leave the profession entirely. According to the Relias report, 29 percent of respondents surveyed in late 2021 said they’re considering leaving nursing, up from 11 percent of respondents in 2020.

The issue of understaffing is known to contribute to burnout and also raises concerns about patient safety. It’s a big part of why hospitals continue to contract with nurse staffing agencies to plug gaps.

But the high costs associated with travel nursing are causing many in the industry to take a closer look at the value of contracts between hospitals and staffing agencies, said Rachel Culpepper with the Indiana Association for Nursing Leadership.

Staffing agencies sometimes walk away with double or triple what nurses make, she said.

The “market war” between hospitals and staffing agencies is also forcing hospitals to consider ways to improve job satisfaction – by improving employee culture, increasing paid time off, or even changing standard shift hours.

“We’ve been doing 12-hour shifts for a long time,” Culpepper said. “And we’re hearing from our team members, that might not be what they want any longer.”

Throughout the pandemic, travel nurses have helped fill “critical position vacancies,” said Cindy Herrington, south-central region chief nursing officer for IU Health, Indiana’s largest hospital system.

“We are very thankful to our temporary agency nurses for helping during times of increased need for nurses,” she said in an email. “Hospitals across America could not have gotten through the pandemic and this labor market without their great work.”

This story comes from Indiana Public Media, in collaboration with Side Effects Public Media. Follow Holden on Twitter: @AbshierHolden.

Local landmark in Cherokee Park will remain closed indefinitely

Roberto Roldan — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 20:03:45 +0000

The much-loved pavilion near Hogan’s Fountain in Cherokee Park will remain closed into the new year, as city officials debate whether to tear it down or make costly renovations.

The Hogan’s Fountain Pavilion, known colloquially to Louisville residents as “the teepee” or “witch’s hat,” opened to the public in 1965. After undergoing repairs in the 1970s and early 2010s, it was designated a local landmark in 2012. Officials announced the temporary closure of the 56-foot-tall pavilion and part of a nearby playground back in May because of concerns about the stability of wooden beams that hold up its roof.

At a Metro Council committee meeting last week, Parks and Recreation Department officials said an engineering assessment showed the pavilion is not safe to use in its current state.

“The wood [beams] are so rotted, it’s basically turned to mulch,” said Jason Canuel, the assistant director of the Parks Department. “There is no structural integrity left in the eight base columns.”

Canuel said the solution for the wood rot in the 1970s was to encase the beams in half-inch steel. While the steel has not shown signs of buckling, he said the roof of the pavilion has started to slide as much as six inches in some places because they aren’t properly transferring the weight of the roof to the footing of the structure.

According to the city-contracted engineers, the Hogan’s Fountain Pavilion needs to be shored up or demolished as soon as possible “to prevent an unexpected or uncontrolled collapse.”

Metro Council, which controls the city budget, is expected to put aside $100,000 Thursday night for some sort of immediate action, ahead of fortifying the pavilion or demolishing it entirely.

Repairs would be the significantly more expensive option, Parks officials said. Completely fixing the structural integrity issues would cost anywhere from $900,000 to $1.3 million.

Even then, Canuel and the engineers who’ve assessed the pavilion said repairs and fortifications would leave the Hogan’s Fountain Pavilion unrecognizable.

“The repairs that would need to be made, we believe, would be so drastic that the original character of what you see there today would be completely changed,” Canuel said.

For example, he said, numerous support beams would have to be added inside the bottom of the pavilion in order to stabilize it. The current support pillars splay out, following the curve of the roof but providing insignificant support.

The cost of demolishing the structure would be an estimated $56,000. Metro Council members, however, remain hesitant to go that route because they say the pavilion is so popular.

District 23 Council Member James Peden, a public school teacher, recently recounted taking kids on class field trips to the Hogan’s Fountain Pavilion.

“It is a beloved part of our community,” Peden said during last week’s committee meeting. “But, if it’s unsafe, it’s unsafe.”

District 8 Council Member Cassie Chambers Armstrong said the city will not take any action on the pavilion until residents have an opportunity to weigh in. Chambers Armstrong’s district includes Cherokee Park and the surrounding neighborhoods. With the holiday season already here, she said public meetings won’t be scheduled until early 2023.

“This is something the public needs to have a say in and more than just, ‘Are we going to demolish or not?’” she said. “Before we even head down that road, we need to hear from the community about all the different options that are on the table.”

Chambers Armstrong said she believes it’s important to make a decision on demolition or fortification as soon as possible, and not just because of the imminent threat of collapse. She said the instability of the pavilion has closed parts of the only playground in Cherokee Park that’s designed for families with small children.

“That’s something that parents in the community are really frustrated about,” she said. “I would love to have that playground open again by the time the weather starts to get warm next spring.”

If the Hogan’s Fountain Pavilion is demolished, the city could replace it with a similarly large structure, but it would probably look less unique. Based on recent projects in other parks, that would likely cost more than $500,000.

Chambers Armstrong has asked the Parks and Recreation Department to also explore a third option: demolishing the pavilion and replacing it with something that incorporates some iconic parts of the old structure, like its stone stairs.

Members of the public would have an opportunity to weigh in on whatever may replace the pavilion.

Because it’s designated as a local landmark, any decision to demolish or replace the pavilion will have to be approved by Louisville Metro’s Landmarks Commission. The Commission is required to get public input before making decisions.

Indiana medical facilities must bury or cremate fetal remains, appeals court rules

Brandon Smith, Indiana Public Broadcasting — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 19:43:06 +0000

After six years, it appears Indiana is finally able to force medical providers to bury or cremate fetal remains.

Indiana passed a law in 2016 that required medical facilities to bury or cremate fetal remains. Prior to that, they were disposed of as medical waste.

Federal courts halted that provision before it took effect. But eventually, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was constitutional. The legislature followed up in 2020 by creating procedural rules facilities must follow for burial and cremation of fetal remains.

Then, a second lawsuit. A group of anonymous Hoosier women said they don’t believe the fetus is the same as a person – and therefore, its remains shouldn’t be treated the same.

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A federal judge agreed, halting the law again. But now, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision, putting the requirements into effect.

A three-judge panel ruled that the U.S. Supreme Court already OK’d the fetal remains provisions, and that the women’s individual beliefs were not violated because the requirements applied only to the medical facilities.

That decision could be appealed.

Contact reporter Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Senate passes bill to protect same-sex marriages

Ximena Bustillo, NPR — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 16:41:21 +0000

Updated November 29, 2022 at 6:50 PM ET

With bipartisan support and a 61-36 vote, the Senate passed the Respect for Marriage Act, which codifies same-sex and interracial marriages.

Lawmakers moved forward with the vote Tuesday after securing essential Republican support during a procedural vote a day earlier.

It now heads back to the House where it is expected to be passed quickly and sent to the president’s desk to be signed into law.

“By passing the bill, the Senate is sending a message that every senator needs to hear,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., ahead of the vote. “No matter who you are, or who you love, you too deserve dignity and equal treatment under the law.”

The bill would require that all states recognize same-sex and interracial marriages performed in any other state. It would not require that states individually allow these marriages to be performed. The measure also would recognize these marriages for consideration of federal benefits such as Medicare and Social Security.

Amendments to the original House-passed bill, led by GOP negotiators Sens. Susan Collins, Thom Tillis and Rob Portman, make sure that nonprofit religious organizations are not required to help perform a same-sex marriage.

Earlier this month, 12 Republicans joined 50 Democrats in a vote that ended debate on the measure, avoiding a filibuster, and permitting the legislation to advance toward a final vote in the chamber.

It quickly became clear that there might be a critical mass of Senate Republicans willing to support the legislation, and party leaders held off scheduling a final vote to give negotiators time to find the deal, which they reached this week.

The measure was first born out of the House this summer following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, which held that access to abortion was not a constitutional right. Marriage rights advocates and Democrats expressed concern that the reversal could call other decisions regarding civil liberties into question, including marriage equality.

In his concurring opinion of the Dobbs case, Justice Clarence Thomas made a point to say that the landmark 2015 case that legalized same-sex marriage, Obergefell v. Hodges, rests on the same legal principles that underscored Roe.

While no case challenging the right to marry has yet made it to the Supreme Court, advocates feared Thomas was setting the stage for Obergefell‘s reversal.

The legislative victory comes as a surprise. House Democrats brought up the legislation ahead of the election with little to no expectation that it would become law so quickly, but rather to put Republicans on record on a social issue that has the vast support of American society. A notable number of House Republicans joined with Democrats to pass the bill, ultimately forcing the Senate to act on legislation that Democratic leaders did not initially have on their fall agenda.

The bill now heads to President Biden, who as vice president publicly broke with then-President Barack Obama to voice support for same-sex marriage rights in 2012. Obama ultimately joined him.