Closing a Park, thanks to the economy??

Wow .. never heard of them shutting a pretty large park down before ... 

From Metro Parks...

 

Otter Creek Park Closing

Due to budget cuts, Otter Creek Park, located approximately 25 miles southwest of downtown Louisville along the Ohio River in Meade County, will be closing effective December 14. 

 

FAQ: Learn more about Otter Creek's closing: http://www.louisvilleky.gov/bikelouisville

 

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Mayor Announces $3.4 Million in Service Cuts To Help Offset Budget Shortfall

Monday December 1, 2008

Libraries, parks, paving, Neighborhoods and Brightside impacted

Mayor Jerry Abramson today announced additional spending reductions that include closing libraries and community centers one day a week and eliminating all street paving through June 30, 2009, to help close a $20 million budget hole.

The reductions across city government departments will save an additional $3.4 million for the remaining seven months of the fiscal year. Most of the cuts are effective Dec. 14 to maximize the cost savings.

“I know these cuts are painful – and I am pained to make them,” Abramson said. “We are in very difficult economic times that require difficult decisions.”

The cuts, and their savings, are:

• Eliminating street and road paving, $1.43 million
• Closing libraries on Sundays, $165,0000
• Closing community centers one day a week, on Mondays, $105,000
• Closing at the Mary T. Meagher pool one day a week, on Sundays, $27,000
• Closing Otter Creek Park in nearby Meade County, $180,000
• Reducing grants to arts group by 50 percent, $511,000
• Reducing funding to Waterfront Park and the Belle of Louisville, $92,000
• Reducing grants to economic development agencies, including Greater Louisville Inc., Greater Louisville Sports Commission and area business groups, $270,000.
• Eliminating funding for the Starfish swimming program, $90,000

(Jefferson County Public Schools leadership plans to recommend ending Starfish due to budget constraints.)

Abramson also announced more than $527,000 in spending cuts in programs in the Neighborhoods Department, more than 11 percent of the agency’s budget. Services impacted by the cuts will include Brightside, the city beautification program; Studio 2000, a youth arts program; and the city’s annual New Year’s Eve celebration.

Today’s reductions follow other spending restrictions announced two weeks ago to manage a $20 million revenue shortfall, the result of a global economic downturn that’s now hitting Louisville. The measures include furloughing non-essential employees for three days; restricting hiring, travel and discretionary spending; and a 10-percent pay cut for the Mayor and his department directors.

Abramson is continuing to talk with union leaders about personnel savings options, including rolling back the 2-percent annual raises for employees effective Jan. 1, 2009. The raise rollback option for all city employees, both union and non-union, would save about $2.6 million over six months. That’s equivalent to the salaries and benefits of about 100 employees for six months.

More reductions will have to be made to meet the budget shortfall, Abramson said, but he will not cut funding to social services agencies, such as community ministry groups, that are helping more people in need during tough economic times.

“Every agency in every area of city government will be affected,” Abramson said. “Working together, we can manage through this tough time.”

Bicycle Safety Month Local Activity

Glad to see the LMPD not sitting back in regard to the recent biking accidents. Luckily these efforts benefit not only bikers such as myself, but also pedestrians. 

As part of Keep Louisville Bicycle Safe Month, the Louisville Metro Police Traffic Unit was out in Cherokee Park and Seneca Park monitoring driver's speeds last week.  They worked a few hours at a time and at different times through the week Tuesday through Friday. The very first day they worked, they issued 56 citations, 48 for speeding.

 

Here are the numbers for the week:

• Total citations: 195
• Arrests: 2 (1 for a DUI)
• Warnings: 2 

The officers received a lot of positive feedback while conducting the details, in email and from calls from pedestrians, joggers, and cyclists.

 

In the very near future, Louisville Metro Police (LMPD) will be conducting traffic details targeting illegal behavior on the part of cyclists. LMPD has been working with local cycling organizations to identify some of the areas around town where cyclists might be putting themselves and others in the most danger by unlawful behavior and by not following the rules of the road. The goal is to increase education for safer bicycling.

 

If you are unsure of the rules of the road, or feel you could become better educated, there are a number of ways to find help:

• Visit Louisville Metro's Bike Louisville program www.louisvilleky.gov/bikelouisville where you will find information about bike safety, bike laws, see bike safety videos and see bike maps to find the safest routes.
  
• Take bike safety classes with Bicycling for Louisville.  They actually have confident cycling classes starting this week.
  
• Visit the Louisville Bicycle Club's website to post questions or join a discussion group.

If you would like to let the Louisville Metro Police Department know about areas around town where you feel cyclists not following the rules of the road are placing themselves and others in danger, please contact LMPD's Public Information Officer Sgt. Robert Biven.

Don't Vote Video

this is a great PSA video about voting .. while it's too late to register I sent this to a few friends anyway. 

My Dear Trixie

On Sunday, September 13, 2008, Louisville saw the unpredicted side effects of Hurrican Ike. As a result over 75% of the LG&E and Duke customers were left without power. We were one of them. 

On Wednesday, September 17, 2008, I came home from my daily work bike ride commute and opened the door to let the dogs out. Trixie did not come right away, although it wasn't the first time she didn't hear me. My youngest female dog looked as if she had rubbed her face in something, which was odd. I then started calling for her and noticed that my male dog went back inside, which was also uncommon. He went to the spot where Trixie lay. She was laying there on the floor, facing away from me. 

In a sad hope that she was just resting I rustled the dogs in, threw my things down and went to her. She had passed away during the day and, in hind sight, I'm guessing was about 30 minutes to one hour before I had opened the door. 

This is truly heart breaking. 

Trixie came to live with me in June 2007 as a foster dog for the IMPS rescue, a rescue that I volunteered for. She had come in to the rescue along with another dog, Buddy. He was Heartworm positive and she had 6 - 8 tumors around her breasts that were immediately removed. Unfortunately they were not tested for cancer but I can only assume they were cancerous. They were puppy mill animals and I'm assuming they were no longer worth keeping. They were set to be put down that day and a rescue working rushed in to save them and bring them into the rescue.

Trixie lived with me from June 2007 until September 17, 2008. She looked older but was the biggest puppy in the household. She had a sweetness about her that you could not help but worship. She just wanted to lay there and give you kisses as long as you'd let her. She was a truly remarkable dog, however she was overlooked by people because she had a white face and 'appeared' to be an older dog. She wanted to cuddle in your lap, she had to sleep touching you, she found toys in the house that disappeared years ago, ... I mean she was a dog that you ended up worshipping. 

In October 2007 I noticed spot on her chest and we went to the vet to have them looked at. Surgery soon followed, which included the removal of the tumor and two of her breasts. The biopsy results showed the tumor was cancerous. Soon after we began chemo-therapy. After weeks of chemo we began the countdown to hopefully a long and healthy life for a dog that really deserved it. After everything she had gone through and after everything she had to offer the world, she DESERVED to have a long and amazing life. 

The scans in April came back clean. Crystal clear. I could barely sleep leading up to the scans just out of fear of what the results would be. I wanted to scream and celebrate because we made 6 months. The doctors said that if we made it a year Trixie's long term prognosis would improve significantly. 

We were at 11 months.

I wish I would have been there just to remind her that I loved her. I hate that I had no warning of this. The last time I saw her I was hugging her, as she was air kissing me a hundred times, and telling her that I love her. She was perfectly healthy, completely happy, and as lovable as ever. Why couldn't I have been prepared? Why wasn't I warned?

It appears sudden whatever happened and I hope that it was. I'm told that what happened to her is similar with cancerous tumors so maybe one had come before we made it to the next scan. I will unfortunately never know and have to live with unanswered questions now. She at least was in the company of the other dogs, and the one that loved her the most appeared to be there next to her until I got home. 

She deserved a longer life .. I just feel so robbed in all of this. 

A few months ago I had even decided that Trixie was not going to leave my house because I don't think I could have let her go. Besides I don't think anyone would have loved or appreciated her the way that I did. I never made the formal decision but in my heart she was mine. 

I am torn between being upset and feeling numb. I think because Trixie was so healthy that it hasn't fully hit me yet that she's not here. I just cannot believe that she's gone .. I mean she wasn't sick. I knew that she was not 'cured' but from how she acted I never saw an ending in her life. I expected years and years with her. But I am thankful for the time I had with her, and that the time is longer than what she would have had otherwise. 

So .. I sadly sit here, and after 6 days of being powerless I have my electricity on. In the moment I want to rejoice in the moment I can't help but remember that she's not here to take it in with us. I will miss her so much .. she was such an amazing dog .. 

pajama party

yums .., originally uploaded by joschmoblo.

one of the perks of working for velocity ...

i was finished with my assignment and decided to stay and watch the show, even though i was minus the low light lenses. in the process of 'waiting' i decided to take a few shots for my own.

life is innocent and precious

life is innocent and precious, originally uploaded by joschmoblo.

while i'm not 'openly' an emotional person, it is hard for me to be rational when animal's lives are at stake.

this baby bunny was 'victim' to my father's dog a couple of weeks ago while we were visiting him for father's day.

the bunny IS alive when i took this photo. anyway, before my dad placed the bunny back with it's mother, i 'freaked' out and called the vet because it didn't feel right to me.

as i suspected, now that the baby contained a foreign smell from the dog it was surely to have it's life ended by it's mother as soon as it was returned to it's home.

needless to say the bunny and i took a 25 minute car ride to shively animal hospital were it was then rescued by an animal sanctuary. it will now live a long healthy life in an animal sanctuary instead of seeing and unfortunately ending. and no, this is not the first animal i've taken to shively .. :o)

life lesson: if a baby animal is caught by another species and you try to save it, please DON'T RETURN IT TO IT'S NEST. instead call a place like shively to see if they can get the animal to a sanctuary. as the vet reassured me, returning the animal will ends it's life only a bit later than the dog may have.

anyway ...


yesterday, at the flickr mixr, a dog was left outside for a seriously extended amount of time, while the owners sat inside and took their time eating.

it was VERY humid, in the 80s, and sunny the whole time. the car had to be burning up. while the restaurant claimed to have called the police, someone along the line wasn't doing there just and did not come to see the situation. VERY upsetting.

where's the sense of responsibility and why do some many people think that it stops at humans???

it's at times like that when my red hair comes alive and i have to resist speaking my mind to their abusive animal owners ...

Updates and some rambles

I'm giving myself about ten minutes to catch up on things ... hahah .. with me and my tendency to ramble I may not get far.

1.) Trixie had her 6 month follow up xray to cancer. It came up clean .. :o) We're halfway towards a good long-term outcome for her. Yesterday I found a bump on her underside but it's where her mastectomy was so the doctors say that tumors should not be found there. Anyway it's literally less than a week after her scans so I'm forcing myself to NOT freak out and give it a day or two thinking it's just a skin infection or something.

2.) The holiday weekend was a good one. Nice and long although I did get a bit lazy at times. I stayed up way too late so I'll be HURTING when I have to get up for work in the morning.

3.) I jacked my back up two days (royally) although it's better now .. I pretty much just bit my lip and went on .. and I think I've mentally talked myself out of the pain. I do that more than I realize because I'll look down and there is a huge gash on my leg and I have no clue where it came from .. hahah

4.) My niece's birthday was this weekend .. Great day .. my sister is keeping my cousin's daughter for a few days this week and so she was there too. We went bike riding multiple times, played with bubbles, played games, etc. It was fun to play with the girls and I always look forward to it. My cousin's daughter gave me a big bear hug and told me I was the coolest adult ever .. I love that .. :o) I was super cool Saturday night too .. we had a Wii game night with the girls which included primarily TONS of 4 player Mario Kart and my sister and I working on our co-op career in Guitar Hero. Haha .. good times .. :)

5.) My niece got a pug for her birthday .. too cute. My sister bought it 3 weeks ago and My Dad and his wife eagerly volunteered to parent it so my niece wouldn't find out. I bet my Dad's wife went home and sulked over missing that dog .. talk about a cute pug!!

6.) I shot on Abbey Road this weekend and learned why I'll never pay $25 to go see that. Just not my thing .. I mean the Beatles are cool and all but I just didn't see why people were paying $25 to see a bunch of tribute bands. Oh well .. for those who did they appeared to be thoroughly enjoying themselves so it all works out in the end. Met some hot photog but dangit if he wasn't from NY .. oh well .. still nice eye candy, eh?

Ok .. ten minutes is up and yea, I barely touched the surface. I'd like to say I'll do this more often, but I probably won't .. oh well .. maybe I'll look into mobile blogging ...