Raving on Rusty #36: Shoni Schimmel, Dawn Yankeelov and an Update on Karen Faulkner Saturday, Mar 1 2014 

actors theatre and Bill Clinton and Business and Culture and David James and Dawn Yankeelov and Education and Events and Health and Humana Festival and I Was There and John Yarmuth and Karen Faulkner and Louisville and Louisville women's basketball and LoUnique and media and Mike O'Connell and Mitch McConnell and Parenting and Politics and Rick and Rusty Satellite Show and Shoni Schimmel and Sport Rick Redding 10:00 am

The Rusty Satellite Show is mostly a labor of love for me. I am grateful that Passport Health Plan sponsors the show, but my motivation is really tied to the fact that the show gives me an opportunity to meet and talk with some really cool local people and also to air my opinions about things. So this was a really great week.

LISTEN TO THE RUSTY SATELLITE SHOW HERE

The first time I became aware of Shoni Schimmel was her freshman year, the first that the Yum! Center was open, and I took my son Luke to a few games because we couldn’t get tickets for the men’s games. Watching Shoni dribble and shoot was pure entertainment. Luke and I went to several games, in which we didn’t really watch the game, but watched Shoni — how she moved without the ball to get open, how she would shoot it under any circumstance, how she made the difficult and risky pass, how even then she was the emotional leader of the team.

Dawn Yankeelov Shoni Schimmel

Since then, of course, she’s scored more than 2,000 points and become a national figure in the game. Not only that, but she’s an engaging and outgoing personality who has attracted the attention of Native Americans across the U.S. So it was a bit of a thrill to have her on the Rusty Satellite Show the week of her final regular season game Monday at the Yum! Center. You should go. The few tickets left are just $5.

Talking with Dawn Yankeelov after a trip to D.C., in which she led a team to talk technology with John Yarmuth and Mitch McConnell was equally cool. Of course, I’ve known Dawn for many years, going back to my Business First days, where she preceded me as a reporter.

In the News:  You should go Monday to Insider Louisville’s Meetup at Vincenzo’s, where you can hear more of the logical reasons we should have casino gaming in Kentucky from Johnathan Blue, a leader of the Kentucky Wins! campaign. But I pointed out on Rusty that stories like the one in which Mayor Fischer talked about a casino going downtown just don’t matter until the neanderthals in Frankfort pull their heads out of the sand and vote for gaming.

Once I posted my opinion about Bill Clinton coming to town, that Clinton’s popularity seems to really get under Republicans’ skin, I got a reaction on Twitter that proves my point:  Clinton committed a felony, he lied under oath. Did that while he was Prez. Does that qualify as dishonest?  

Kentucky is 49th in a health ranking, which is not really news.

I hope you get a chance to attend at least one of the performances in the Humana Festival of New American Plays. I’ll have a review of “Partners” that I attended Friday night soon here on LouisvilleKY.com.

THE UPDATE:  You may remember that a week ago one of my guests was Karen Faulkner, who found herself and her campaign in the news this week. Faulkner’s opponent in the May election for Jefferson County Attorney, incumbent Mike O’Connell, seems to have decided the time is right to go after one of her main supporters, Metro Council member David James (another ex-Rusty Satellite guest). O’Connell found an obscure rule that says James can’t be a sworn U of L police officer and a sworn Metro Council member at the same time. O’Connell’s political ploy here is pretty obvious to insiders,  as Faulkner told WFPL.

 

 

Rick’s Top Five, and a Love Song on Rusty Satellite Saturday, Feb 15 2014 

Bill Lamb and Brigid Kaelin and Courier-Journal and Culture and Events and I Was There and JCPS and Kentucky legislature and Louisville and Louisville Love app and LoUnique and media and music, and New2Lou and Parenting and Politics and Red Accordion Diaries and Rick and Rusty Satellite Show and Single Life and Stacey Servo and WDRB Rick Redding 6:24 pm

Valentine’s Day was a big success around here, despite those end-of-world predictions by weather-foolers and the panic of school officials across the region, who either cancelled or dismissed classes early for yet another “storm that wasn’t”.  I spent the evening with Paula at the new Laughing Derby at the Comedy Caravan listening to the entertaining and hilarious Heywood Banks. You should go.

Brigid Kaelin and Graham

Brigid Kaelin and Graham

Please take a moment (about 40 minutes) to listen to this week’s Rusty Satellite podcast. The first-ever live music happens on the show when Brigid Kaelin sings me her Eggs and Toast tune. (Hey, she could do a duet with Banks, who has a famous song about Toast). And if you were wondering about the New2Lou organization you see so much about in social media, listen as Stacey Servo explains. I went to the New2Lou party at the Yum! Center this week, met some great folks, and got to see the first half of the Shoni Schimmel show as the Cards beat Temple.

So on to my Top Five stories in the news this week.

Lamb vs. C-J: WDRB’s Bill Lamb once told me he loves it when people disagree with him, so he must be really happy this week. The conservative commenter seems to have it in for the Courier-Journal, (he did hire away at least five staffers) and made news when he claimed (the post has since been deleted from the WDRB web site) that the newspaper influenced a respected Survey USA poll to show that Alison Lundergan Grimes is leading Mitch McConnell in a hypothetical U.S. Senate election (McConnell has a primary against Matt Bevin). In reaction, WFPL media critic James Miller wrote a column criticizing Lamb, and a national journalism blog also took issue. Thursday Lamb did an on-air apology, saying he shouldn’t have used the word “rigged.” It was the right thing to do.

Gays Win, Gays Win:U.S. District John Heyburn struck down Kentucky’s same-sex marriage ban for legitimate marriages that originate in states where gay marriage is legal. This issue became a factor politically when Matt Bevin made a statement linking McConnell to Heyburn. I wonder when these right-wing politicians are going to figure out that the number of voters who go for the candidate who hates gays the most doesn’t usually win.  Bevin is going to lose, but unfortunately we have plenty of politicians in Kentucky (Stan Lee)  and others willing to do their gay-baiting in national

Stacey Servo

Stacey Servo

media.

Don’t Bet on It, At Least in Kentucky: I’ve been to two events recently in which respected business leaders (attorneys Ed Glasscock and Terry McBrayer, Jonathan Blue and Churchill Downs president Kevin Flanery) explain the elementary logic and tragic consequences if Kentucky doesn’t find a way to make casinos legal. For one, we are about to lose our signature horse industry and thousands of jobs associated with it, and more importantly we’re missing out on economic development opportunities while Kentuckians cross state lines to gamble. Doesn’t matter to Kentucky senators, who won’t put forward a bill to make it happen. Blame your state politician.

Guns in Bars: Meawhile, your Frankfort lawmakers have quickly sent a bill up the chain that would allow citizens to carry guns into bars if they promise not to drink. I don’t know what planet this logic comes from, but why would anyone go to a bar and not drink just so they can carry around a weapon? The Union Republican sponsor of the Senate bill (good news, it’s doomed in the House) has also written a bill that would allow (seriously, I’m not kidding) monkeys, as in primates, to be used as domestic help.

love appLove Louisville Online: The startup/tech/entrepreneur part of this city is really excited about the new Louisville Love app, developed by a local firm, Forest Giant. It’s fun you should check it out. I tested it out here.

 

 

Jackie’s a Write-In, and the Weekend Blogger’s Top Five Sunday, Feb 9 2014 

Bill Nye and Business and Crime and Culture and CVS and Dr. Hong Ye and Education and Events and Ford Fusion and Franklin Family Chevy and Green and Health and I Was There and Jackie Green and JCPS and Ken Ham and Louisville and LoUnique and media and Parenting and Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Politics and Rick and RIck Redding and Rusty Satellite Show and smoking and weather hype Rick Redding 1:55 pm

RS33HongYe

Dr. Hong Ye with her Earth-Blends herbal healing patch

RS33JackieGreen

Jackie Green at this bike shop

It was a big week for Jackie Green. When I went down to his Market Street bike shop to do this week’s Rusty Satellite interview (LISTEN HERE), he was trying to figure out how to make the announcement that he’d be running as an independent candidate for Mayor. It was Tuesday, and he was announcing on Thursday, so he wouldn’t come out and say he was running during our interview, in which he DID criticize Mayor Greg Fischer for his sustainability record.

Well Jackie made his announcement at First and Main, despite concerns about the weather. He didn’t get much media coverage, but the story that aired on WHAS-TV wasn’t the one he’d have liked. Former RS guest Joe Arnold points out that a law that says that as a registered Democrat, Green can’t be on the ballot as an independent. So Green re-directed, saying he plans to mount a write-in campaign. Not that he, or anyone else, has much of a shot at unseating Fischer, but not being on the ballot makes the campaign more of a sideshow. Bob DeVore, the Republican candidate, won’t make it much of a race either.

I like Jackie, and the bike he sold me, and I hope someone will listen to his ideas for the city. If you download and listen to the podcast, you’ll hear an interesting interview with Dr. Hong Ye, who’s selling a healing product I plan to try on my surgically-repaired knee soon.

In addition to the Rusty Satellite Show, I’m hoping to have the discipline to be a weekend blogger, sort of the like the old Fred Wiche Weekend Gardener, with my weekly Top Five stories. So here you go:

Rob Totten at the debate

Rob Totten at the debate

#1 Creation vs. Evolution: We’re still arguing about this? I watched the Ken Ham vs. Bill Nye debate online this week. It went on for 2 1/2 hours, complete with PowerPoint slides, convincing no one to change their mind about where we came from. I am, by the way, on the side of science. And smart people. My friend Rob Totten, pictured here, went up to the Creation Museum to see the spectacle and got in this great piece at Buzzfeed. I’d say that it’s silly that we’re still holding evolution debates in Kentucky, except I’m concerned that creationists believe we should be teaching our kids and changing textbooks to say the science is wrong, that Noah really could have built a vessel able to hold and feed 14,000 animals for 40 days and nights.

#2 Weather Hype:  After this show was produced, TV weather-foolers predicted a late Friday-early Saturday storm that prompted JCPS officials to cancel Saturday ACT testing. Around 10 we got a light dusting of snow. This weather hype is out of control. JCPS officials are scrambling to make up days when the kids should have gone to school. They let them out early Wednesday for another threat, a storm that didn’t arrive until after 4:30, when kids could have already been home. Stop it!

NEW CAR

NEW CAR

#3 Car Buying Experience: Yes, I got a new car. After helping my son Josh acquire a Ford Fusion, and driving a rental on my trip to New Orleans, I decided to buy one. My friend Chris Hammer works at Franklin Family Chevy in Bardstown, and he found me a great black one at a good price. Just for fun, I went to a local dealer and did the whole back-and-forth routine with a salesman, who eventually brought his manager over, who said he’d have to check with the GM to see if they could match my price. They didn’t.

#4 CVS and Smoking: It’s about time. Since Kentucky’s lawmakers refuse to adopt a statewide smoking ban, and Kentucky’s citizens are determined to rank last in health in the U.S. by having the highest rate of smoking, it was great to see CVS announce it’s not selling cancer sticks after October. It’s a decision to give up a billion-dollar business, but I think CVS executives are just being the boldest, first and smartest. Let’s hope Walgreen’s and Rite-Aid follow suit. Meanwhile, when I have a choice, my business is going to CVS.

#5 Hoffman and Heroin: No one criticized Phillip Seymour Hoffman as an actor. Brilliant, versatile, smart. But Hoffman was an addict, and his death at 46 on Super Bowl Sunday reminded America of the toll drug abuse is taking on our country.

 

Ashley Miller and Chuck Kaplan Stop at the Satellite Saturday, Feb 1 2014 

Ashley Miller and Beauty and Fashion and Business and C.D. Kaplan and Culture and Culture Maven and Events and gaming and I Was There and Kentucky House of Representatives and Louisville and LoUnique and media and Metro Council and music, and Politics and Rick and Rusty Satellite Show and Seedy K Sports and Sport and Steve Beshear and Super Bowl Rick Redding 6:52 pm

Rusty gets political this week with a promising Democrat, Ashley Miller, who’s running for the District 32 State House seat. She’s certainly got a lot going for her — former beauty queen from the West End, a nurse practitioner who is taking boxing lessons in her spare time. And she’s only 30.  As you’ll hear, Ashley knows the political language and has the backing of local Democrats, so it’ll be interesting to see how her race develops.

Guest 2 is the always entertaining C.D. (Chuck) Kaplan, who’s well-known around these parts for his take on movies, sports, media, music, history and well, we got his take on this year’s Super Bowl.

RUSTY SATELLITE SHOW LINK

In between, I tackle my Top Five news stories — the battle over gaming in Kentucky that illustrates why we can’t have nice things; a quick take on the Metro Council elections now that the candidate deadline has passed; Governor Beshear’s “mind-boggling” trip to see the President’s State of the Union address; the death of a local newspaper and my Super Bowl prediction. It’s all in another great edition of the Rusty Satellite Show.

 

rs31AshleyMiller RS31Kaplan

 

Bring on Bobby Baby Wednesday, Jan 8 2014 

Bobby Petrino and Charlie Strong and Education and I Was There and Louisville Football and LoUnique and media and Politics and Rick and Sport and Tom Jurich Rick Redding 6:18 pm

Everyone’s got an opinion on Bobby Petrino, but no one can argue the man’s ability to coach football. And that’s why he’s being re-introduced to the community to carry on the University of Louisville’s football tradition.

One thing that hasn’t changed is his ability of motivate young men to move a football into an end zone. Remember the ritual of fans getting angry at Bobby for having his offense take a knee in an opponents’ red zone with a 40-point lead? I do. He won 41 of 50 games in four years, a dropped interception away from a potential national championship. That brand of football was not only a winner, but it was fun to watch, much more so than cheering 3-point wins against Memphis under Charlie Strong.

And while a minority of U of L fans object to the hire on moral grounds, this news must be disheartening up in Lexington. Given the chance to hire Petrino last year, UK took the safe route and found a coordinator at a top school. Mark Stoops may eventually get UK back to the point it can win 5 or 6 games a season, he’s unlikely to beat a high-powered Cardinal attack headed by the innovative Petrino, who proved last year in Nashville that he could take average players (from Western Kentucky) and whoop the Cats soundly.  He never had a problem beating the Cats when he was here.

Let’s not cast stones at Petrino as if he were the first talented coach with a character flaw. Give Jurich credit – he stuck by Rick Pitino through a horrid scandal, from which The Rick produced the most successful run in Cardinal basketball history. In Lexington, fans overlooked the taint of teams John Calipari coached having their records deleted from the NCAA record books.  As Mark Coomes pointed out at Insider Louisville, “There are no vestal virgins in the bordello of college sports. Some are purer than others, but it’s mostly a matter of degree. And revelation.”

Thursday’s press conference, in which Petrino is expected to be announced as the coach, will create a mass of media coverage unlike anything we’ve seen. Already, sports radio talk shows have stretched their hours to become almost 24/7, just trying to give everyone with an opinion and a telephone a chance to get their two cents in. If you’re Facebook and Twitter feeds aren’t lit up by Petrino news, you’re just not connected to the pulse of the city.

Last year, when Petrino was hired at my alma mater, WKU, some loyal fans were angry right up to the first touchdown scored against Kentucky in Nashville. Critics will be heard this time, too, but the CardNation fan base is primed for a long run of prosperity with Petrino at the helm.

The bottom line is that Bobby is the best candidate for the job, uniquely qualified to keep the Ws coming, and Jurich is one of the few A.D.s in the country with the guts to hire him.

HERE’S MY AUDIO TAKE ON THE ISSUE, ALONG WITH INTERVIEWS WITH BOB SOKOLER AND JOHN WITTEN. ON THE RUSTY SATELLITE SHOW

 

New Bourbonism and Other Topics as a City Waits, and Waits Saturday, Jan 4 2014 

Adam Lefkoe and Beverage Warehouse and Bobby Petrino and Business and Charlie Strong and Greg Anastas and Greg Fischer and I Was There and Louisville and LoUnique and Mark Hebert and media and Politics and Rick and Rusty Satellite Show and Smoking Ban and Sport Rick Redding 4:30 pm

This week, I managed to sneak into the Mayor’s office for 15 minutes with Greg Fischer.  Here’s a link to our interview.

RUSTY SATELLITE SHOW INTERVIEW WITH GREG FISCHER

As you’ll hear, Fischer’s biggest obstacle is getting Frankfort to adopt a local option sales tax. This LIFT initiative he’s been pushing a long time, but the boneheads in Frankfort are still unlikely to pass it. Fischer explains it in a way that makes perfect sense, pointing to Oklahoma City as the type of conservative town that’s been using this form of fund-raising for pet projects for years. They have an NBA team there.

RRwithMayorFischercropped

Fischer points out that it’s simply giving voters an option to vote for a tax for specific projects. And we know (remember the library tax vote?) that citizens are unlikely to vote to tax themselves. But opponents, especially Frankfort Republicans, see it as a TAX, something to be defeated at all costs. The misinformation is overwhelming, and as Fischer told me, ”We need the media to get the facts out. We need to be like winners.”

On a lighter note, Fischer told me how much fun it is to talk about bourbon all the time as an economic development issue. Listen in.

MEDIA MOVES: As opposed to my days as a full-time media critic, these days I learn about personnel changes on social media. That’s where I found out that RS guest Adam Lefkoe is leaving WHAS-TV and Louisville for the bright lights of New York City, where he’s got a new post at Bleacher Report. We’ll miss those name-dropping sportscasts. Also there are some long-time staffers leaving Business First. John Karman, the last remaining reporter that was there when I left in 1999, got himself hired by RS guest Mark Hebert at the University of Louisville. And managing editor Carolyn Greer, who’s been there 22 years, has resigned there.

STRONG-WATCH: It’s Saturday afternoon, and the city seems to be holding its collective breath, and not just in anticipation of some weather. At this moment, it appears Charlie Strong has a job offer from Texas, but hasn’t yet accepted it, may be waiting to talk to Tom Jurich about it, but Jurich is stuck in Colorado due to weather, and the entire sports universe is on hold. Every other Twitter post on my feed seems to be about the Strong situation. I’ve seen a t-shirt designed with the words “StrongHorns” on it, so the marketing is there. And those looking ahead are already speculating on whether Jurich will tap Bobby Petrino to come back to the ‘ville. Wouldn’t that be cool?

I’D LOVE TO COVER THIS: Bill Nye is coming to Kentucky to debate the loony tune who founded the creation museum. Now, the debate won’t solve anything — everyone with an opinion on science vs. religion as it relates to the creation of the planet is all mind-made-up. I suspect Ken Ham will fill his facility with creationist believers, so Nye may be walking into a lion’s den. But I’ll take the Science Guy.

LITTLE GUY WINS LIQUOR BATTLE: I remember reporting on a Shelbyville Road battle between liquor stores in 2009. I remember Greg Anastas, owner of Beverage Warehouse, telling me the story of how the bad-ass Liquor Barn opening across the street was violating another of Kentucky’s archaic liquor laws, this one stipulating a specific distance one store must be from the other. Well, after four years, Anastas has won a key battle and the huge Liquor Barn may have to shut down.

SMOKE WARS: I’m not naive enough to think that Kentucky, which has the highest percentage of smokers (29%) of any state, will pass a statewide smoking ban. But a poll out this week showed that a higher-than-ever percentage of us (65%) support such a ban.

 

Listen to Rusty – Don’t Buy Gift Cards, the Kingdom is Coming, and Singing in West Louisville Sunday, Dec 8 2013 

Business and Culture and Ed Hart and Education and Gift Cards and I Was There and Joe Arnold and Kentucky Kingdom and Louisville and LoUnique and media and Politics and Real Estate and Rick and RIck Redding and Rusty Satellite Show and Single Life and WHAS-TV Rick Redding 10:42 am

Listen in this week as Rusty Satellite is on the road meeting two more of the most interesting people in the ‘Ville — first stop is Ed Hart’s office in the Highlands, where we learn all about the new and improved Kentucky Kingdom that opens for business in the spring. Hart talks about the enormous economic impact the opening of the Park will have on the city, and goes over some of the hurdles it took to get here. There are a bunch of new rides, and the amusement park will be hosting a job fair in January.

Listen to the Show Here

Later I met WHAS-TV’s Joe Arnold at 38th and Market, where he was doing a story on a new economic development initiative there. Joe’s the only beat reporter on politics working for a TV station in this market. I also got him to sing a line or two, so you’ll want to hear that.

And in the spirit of Thanksgiving and Holiday Shopping, I offer up for your consideration my annual gift card rant, in which I encourage you to just go to the store and get me something I can open on Christmas Day.

Nick, Rick, Josh Redding Joe Arnold Ed Hart

 

Culture Maven on Culture: Between ’63 and Now Monday, Nov 25 2013 

Politics and Ruminations mail 4:36 pm

historyEvery once in awhile, a fellow has to be serious.

So it came to pass this past Saturday when I used the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination as a jumping off point to examine some differences of political culture between then and now.

And, no, I don’t try to regale you with where I was and what I was doing when learning the president had been shot. My personal story of that moment is no more or less interesting than anybody else’s.

So, anyway, well, I guess that’s all the intro necessary.

Please listen.

Audio MP3

 

Rolling with Rusty and Friends Friday, Nov 22 2013 

Beauty and Fashion and Business and Culture and David Jones Jr. and Education and Emily Gimmel and Events and Frazier Museum and GRACESHIP and Health and Hugh Haynie and I Was There and JCPS and Louisville and LoUnique and mark carter and media and Parenting and Passport Health Plan and Politics and Rick and Rusty Satellite Show and Smith Haynie and Sport Rick Redding 4:27 pm

If you haven’t listened, here are links to the last two Rusty Satellite Shows.

David Jones Jr. and Smith Haynie

Mark Carter and Emily Gimmel

Emily Gimmel, The Graceship Mark Carter, Passport Health Plan Smith Haynie at the Frazier Museum David Jones Jr. at the Breakfast of Champions

 

David Jones Jr. Takes Breakfast Crowd to School Wednesday, Nov 13 2013 

Breakfast of Champions and Business and David Jones and Education and Events and I Was There and JCPS and Jr. and LoUnique and media and Parenting and Politics and Rick and RIck Redding Rick Redding 8:10 am

David Jones Jr. spoke at the Breakfast of Champions at the University Club

David Jones Jr. spoke at the Breakfast of Champions at the University Club

NOTE: A more detailed, and better, story about David’s talk is at Insider Louisville. 

David Jones Jr. began his talk at the Breakfast of Champions event by harkening back to his first job — as a schoolteacher in China.

From there he proceeded to inform an audience of about 60 at the University Club about the crisis that is our education system and the urgent need for change.

Jones is smart. He went to Yale, and was chairman of Humana. He is the force behind our city’s most important venture capital firm, which among other things is backing a company that is making state health exchange web sites work. So why did he run to be on the Jefferson Count Public Schools board?

Jones’ answer is that the quality of everything in our community is dependent on having a successful school system. He pointed to a chart showing that schools aren’t getting students prepared for life. They’re not ready for military service, they’re not graduating from high school. No one, he said, is asking the big, important questions, like the issue of funding..The state’s threats to take over the system is real, and we just have to do better, because other school districts are.

“We need a plan, and finance should be on the agenda. Our current strategy is that we hope it gets better,” he said.  One of the issues the board faces, he said, is that it doesn’t get to focus on the big picture because it still must approve items like field trips and expenditures of a few thousand dollars as part of overseeing a $1.2 billion budget.

In fact, he said the twice-monthly Board meetings last five hours, and to prepare board members are expected to go through 500-800 pages of documents.

The JCPS Pre-Kindergarten programs are turning out kids less prepared for 1st grade than kids who don’t go.

Among the things he doesn’t yet understand is a JCPS employee culture. “The culture is worse than I thought it would be. The problem is fear. People are afraid to speak their minds. Change leadership is a challenge.

But this wasn’t all about doom and gloom. Jones said that in 10 months he’s learned that the system’s ability to handle data is at a high level. JCPS hit its goal on state exams, and has moved up in its ranking among Kentucky school systems. There are positives to point out.

Ten months in, Jones acknowledges that we’re not where we need to be, that the Board must modernize and it must call out the big issues. It must change.

NOTE: THIS WEEK’S RUSTY SATELLITE SHOW, AVAILABLE NOV. 14, FEATURES AN INTERVIEW WITH JONES. TUNE IN THEN.

 

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