Louisville Budget Maintaining Police Funding Passes With Broad Support Thursday, Jun 25 2020 

The Louisville Metro Council passed a budget for the upcoming fiscal year that avoids previously anticipated cuts, in part due to federal reimbursements for coronavirus response.

In April, Mayor Greg Fischer proposed a continuation budget, citing economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic. More recently, city officials said tax revenue came in higher than expected. The budget passed by the council assumes a general fund of $613 million.

Both the capital and operating budgets passed 24 to 1, with Barbara Shanklin (D-2) voting against each because she said they failed to fairly allocate funds to low-income areas. The new budget goes into effect on July 1. Earlier this week, the budget committee unanimously passed its amendments to the mayor’s budget, which remained largely unchanged Thursday.

Police operations made up the largest expenditure in the operations budget, as is typical. The council appropriated $190.6 million for the Louisville Metro Police Department, up slightly from the $189.9 million the body appropriated last year.

Allocations for police and other departments come from the general fund as well as other sources.

This is despite recent calls to defund the police and redirect dollars to other agencies, which have increased amid demands for racial justice in Louisville and across the country. Neither council members nor Fischer support such a move.

As Metro Council gaveled into session, WFPL News spoke with protesters advocating for racial justice across the street in Jefferson Square Park.

Gracie Lewis with the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression said she would like to see funds divested from law enforcement into education, housing, transportation and health care.

“I believe in re-imagining what the police department should really be about,” Lewis said. “I do not believe $190 million needs to be allocated toward the police department.”

Social worker Shawntee West addressed the council ahead of the vote, and criticized its decision to maintain LMPD’s budget. She described council members’ previous arguments that Louisville police are already underpaid compared to neighboring municipalities’ departments as an “excuse” not to cut funding.

“But we have no problem each year defunding the services that help families and children that I serve and that I work with,” she said. “We see fit to defund substance abuse treatment programs, housing assistance, medical care, childcare and a host of other things that keep people in a vicious cycle that keeps them engaged with the very police department that you are giving millions of dollars to each year.”

Last year, the council cut more than $25 million from the budget due to rising employee pension and health care costs. Those cuts significantly affected services for vulnerable Louisvillians.

Allocations for other public safety agencies also stayed nearly flat or increased. The council voted to boost Louisville Fire’s budget nearly 9% to $64.8 million; to increase emergency services’ budget nearly 4% to $51.5 million; and to maintain corrections’ budget at about $56.6 million.

Budget chair Bill Hollander (D-9) said during a Democratic Caucus meeting earlier in the day that he had received complaints about the $775,900 to the Louisville Free Public Library’s operations budget. The council allocated about $22.3 million to the library, which Hollander said was based on library officials’ assurances that they could operate fully on the lower budget.

“The reason it’s less is because they didn’t spend that money last year, even though they were able to operate all of our libraries,” he said. “The money that’s appropriated for the library is adequate to operate all of our libraries in the same way they were operated this year and return all of the furloughed workers to their jobs.”

The budget for Youth Transitional Services, formerly Youth Detention Services, also decreased. Last year, city officials turned over control of the juvenile detention facility to the state as they grasped for savings. The budget went from $8.5 million to $2.9 million.

Federal CARES Act reimbursements contributed to increased budgets for certain departments, such as public health and wellness, whose operations allocations swelled to nearly twice its current level. But $42.3 million of the $78.1 million appropriated by the council will come from federal funds “for COVID-19 testing, tracing, monitoring and response.”

The budget for the Office of Resilience & Community Services grew more than 22% to $37.2 million, including $2.7 million which would be reimbursed through the CARES Act. In March, the body voted to shift that amount away from pension payments to COVID-19 relief.

Budgets for the economic development department and Develop Louisville, which oversees land development activities, are also up significantly compared to last year’s allocation.

Economic development’s budget increased nearly 44%, to $35.6 million, of which $21.2 million is from the CARES Act for a small business loan program. The same amount from the CARES Act was allocated to Develop Louisville for a two-part eviction prevention program; the department’s budget nearly doubled to $41.7 million.

Federal funding also contributed to a large increase in the budget for the Office of Management and Budget. The council said a combined $25.6 million of CARES Act funding would be used for direct coronavirus response and to cover 10% of costs for city workers involved in that response.

The council’s version of the operating budget can be viewed here, while the capital budget can be viewed here.

In a statement after the vote, Fischer thanked the council for their work on the budget. He praised the budget for including funding for services that support low-income families, and said he is still hoping for additional federal relief due to the pandemic. He has called for that sort of aid for months.

“Additional funding would allow us to make more investments to move us closer to the goal we share for the future – a compassionate city where every person from every neighborhood has the opportunity to reach their full potential,” he said in the statement.

Reporter Ryan Van Velzer contributed to this story.

Prince’s “Sign O’ the Times” album to get massive reissue Thursday, Jun 25 2020 

Prince‘s 1987 double album “Sign O’ the Times” is not just being reissued, it is getting the deluxe treatment!

September 25th the late artist’s estate and Warner Records will release an impressive reissue of the album, with an expanded version that features a whopping 63 bonus tracks and two complete concerts, including his legendary New Year’s Eve set with Miles Davis from 1987.

Here’s a preview track of the unreleased song “Witness (for the Prosecution)”…

Ready for more great music? wfpk.org/stream

The post Prince’s “Sign O’ the Times” album to get massive reissue appeared first on 91.9 WFPK Independent Louisville.

Celebrities turn out and protesters make noise for the Breonna Taylor rally in Frankfort Thursday, Jun 25 2020 

Celebrities such as Jada Pinkett Smith, Common and Muhammad Ali's cousin turn out for the Breonna Taylor rally in Frankfort

       

Opinion: Any doubts about the vote count in the McGrath-Booker Senate race could resonate Thursday, Jun 25 2020 

If Charles Booker loses Kentucky's Democratic primary for Senate to Amy McGrath, any sign of unfairness in the vote count could carry over.

       

Dixie Chicks change name Thursday, Jun 25 2020 

Fresh on the heels of Lady Antebellum announcing they would change their controversial moniker to the less offensive Lady A, comes the announcement that the Dixie Chicks would now simply refer to themselves as The Chicks.

In a statement to Pitchfork, they also said they’d received permission to share the name with a New Zealand band also called The Chicks, saying, “We are honored to co-exist together in the world with these exceptionally talented sisters.”

The decision was spurred by a column in Variety by journalist Jeremy Helligar, who said, “Regardless of its origin, for many Black people, it conjures a time and a place of bondage.”

To officially roll out their new name, The Chicks have shared a video for their protest song “March March”, from their forthcoming album Gaslighter, due July 17th. Featuring footage of various protests from over the years, it ends with a list of individuals killed by police violence, as well as suggestions for social justice and voter registration organizations.

Check out “March March”… (LANGUAGE)

Ready for more great music? wfpk.org/stream

The post Dixie Chicks change name appeared first on 91.9 WFPK Independent Louisville.

Building that houses Headliners Music Hall up for sale; business doesn’t plan on closing Thursday, Jun 25 2020 

Co-owner Joe Argabrite told WDRB News that the business is looking for lease-back options to move forward.

The Headliners Music Hall building is for sale. What it means for Louisville’s music scene Thursday, Jun 25 2020 

The Headliners Music Hall building was listed for sale on June 17, prompting rumors the popular performance space would be closing due to COVID-19.

       

Building that houses Headliners Music Hall for sale Thursday, Jun 25 2020 

The building that houses Louisville music venue Headliners Music Hall has been put up for sale.

To be clear, it is only the building that is for sale, NOT the business itself.

According to Headliners co-owner Billy Hardison, their goal is to save the business sidelined by the pandemic and hope to lease it from the buyer if and when they can reopen as a concert venue. Hardison told WFPK Program Director Stacy Owen, “It’s no joke out there. We’re trying to survive.”

The musical hotspot first opened in 1998 and has featured the likes of everyone from Jason Isbell and Old Crow Medicine Show, to Ice Cube and Kings of Leon and has been a favorite of many a music fan in the Louisville area.

If you’re interested, here are some details from the listing agent.

Bill Hardison spoke with our own Kyle Meredith about NIVA’s attempt to petition congress to help out independent venues. Watch the video and then find out more at NIVA’s website.

Here’s a video of The Sadies performing with Kurt Vile at Headliners in 2019…

Here’s a video of Louisville’s own White Reaper performing there as well…

Ready for more great music? wfpk.org/stream

The post Building that houses Headliners Music Hall for sale appeared first on 91.9 WFPK Independent Louisville.

Yum Brands pledges $100 million over next five years to equity and education initiative Thursday, Jun 25 2020 

This initiative comes as protesters have taken to the streets in Louisville for nearly 30 days to demand justice for Breonna Taylor and David McAtee.

       

VERIFY: Protests in Prospect | Separating fact from fiction Thursday, Jun 25 2020 

Rumors circulating on social media describe damage and assaults during Wednesday protests. We found that isn't what happened.

        

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