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City to request $40 million for Newtown Pike Extension
The legislature will be asked for $40 million in funding for peripheral plans for the neighborhoods surrounding the Newtown Pike Extension. A portion of the money, according to Mayor Jim Newberry, will support the temporary relocation of residents along the new corridor and allow them to return once the road is completed. Newberry is also seeking to include in the project a "signature bridge" spanning Town Branch.
"The project already includes a new bridge over Town Branch, but by making it more than a routine bridge and designating this as a new gateway for our community we can enhance the beauty of our city and welcome the visitors of our city with the strong statement about our community's pride and history," Newberry said at a press conference announcing the plans for the neighborhood.
Councilman Tom Blues, who represents the residents of the area that will be temporally uprooted by the construction, said he liked the plans that would allow current residents to stay in the area and then move into new homes after the project's completion.
"The really important thing about this is that the neighborhood where the people live here now is going to be the neighborhood where, when the road comes through, they will live here then," Blues said. "That really is a magnificent achievement."
Vice Mayor Jim Gray said the plans for the project and bridge will make the city a more attractive place to visitors, residents and prospective residents.
"My mother used to say to us in our business where there were lots of engineers, ... 'You know, you've got to bring artists into the engineering sometimes,'" he said. And this, according to Gray will help sharpen the downtown area as the road crosses behind the site of the current Rupp Arena and Manchester Street, making downtown and the gateway to it more attractive and inviting.
"The urban fabric, the urban core, the downtown really have become the economic driver for the 21st century, equivalent to what industrial parks were to the mid-20th century," Gray said.
Mayor's annual address has new venue
Mayor Jim Newberry will deliver the annual State of the Merged Government address on Monday, January 28, at 6 p.m. at the Lexington Opera House. It will be the first time the traditional mayoral prognosis has been delivered from the stage of the historic downtown venue. The speech will be televised via GTV3 with the support of Insight Communications.
"The Lexington Forum is honored to once again sponsor the State of the Merged Government address," said Kim Sweazy, president of the nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to dialogue on community issues. "And to have the opportunity to hold the event at the Lexington Opera House adds a whole new dimension to it. It seems very fitting to have the address in this historic jewel that has progressed with the city of Lexington."
Central Parking will provide free parking for the event at the Victorian Square Garage at Short and Broadway. Patrons will need to take a ticket, but the garage will be raising the gate arm at around 6:30 to allow parkers to leave without paying.
Kentucky ranked low for care of at-risk kids
Kentucky is one of the worst states in the nation in taking care of at-risk children. That is the conclusion of a study funded by the Anna E. Casey Foundation using data from the American Community Survey and the National Survey of Children's Health.
It finds that the top five states where low-income children rank much lower than higher-income children are Massachusetts, Connecticut, Ohio, North Carolina, and Kentucky.
The study created six state-level indices of child well-being: health status; social and emotional well-being; cognitive development and educational attainment; family activities; family and neighborhood context; and social/economic characteristics.
While Kentucky children in low-income families do rank in the upper quartile (22nd) for family activities as well as 23rd for family and neighborhood context, these children rank second to last (48th) in health status and social and emotional well-being.
The study was made public by Kentucky Youth Advocates. Noting President Bush's veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) reauthorization, the group is urging an expansion of access to the Kentucky Children's Health Insurance Program (KCHIP) and improved access to dental care services for children.
IRS raising vehicle reimbursement rate
With the new year, the Internal Revenue Service will raise the allowable vehicle reimbursement rate to 50.5 cents per mile, which is the highest rate in history. The increase is up from the 2007 rate of 48.5 cents per mile and the 2006 rate of 44.5 cents per mile. Drivers include the cost of fuel, rising insurance costs and higher depreciation costs.
Although it is not mandatory for companies to follow the IRS safe-harbor rate, most companies use it as guidance for reimbursing employees who use personal vehicles for business travel. More than 80 percent of 171 respondents in Business Travel News' third annual Expense Managers Survey last year said they used the IRS rate for reimbursement.
Roadside markets can offer food samples
New state guidelines taking effect January 1 will allow vendors at Kentucky farmers markets and Kentucky Farm Bureau roadside markets to offer free food samples without having to get a food service permit.
The guidelines were established by the Kentucky Department for Public Health in cooperation with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture and the Kentucky Farmers' Market Association to address sampling issues voiced by market vendors.
The guidelines require vendors who offer samples to undergo a KDA training course. Those who will offer samples of raw fruits and vegetables are also required to complete the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) education course available through local extension offices. The first sampling training will be offered at the KFMA's annual conference on January 6 in Lexington. Producers may complete GAP training on January 8 at the Kentucky Fruit and Vegetable Growers Conference.
The 2008-2009 Kentucky Farmers' Market Manual will cover the guidelines in detail and give producers tips on easy ways to meet the requirements.
Handley under consideration for UM presidency
Allyson Hughes Handley, a senior policy adviser for economic initiatives at the Kentucky Council on Post Secondary Education, has been nominated by Chancellor Richard Pattenaude to lead the University of Maine at Augusta.
One of three finalists for the position, Handley would become the first woman president of the central Maine campus if confirmed on January 14 by the university system's board of trustees.
Handley served as president of Midway College in Kentucky from 1998-2002 and as president of Cogswell College in California in 2002-03, when she was asked to join the administration of former Governor Ernie Fletcher.
During her tenure with the Council on Post Secondary Education, Handley was a force behind the establishment of a state task force to improve Kentucky education in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).
Yellow bikes find a winter home
Downtown Lexington's fleet of yellow bikes has found a winter home in an Indiana Avenue building.
Space in the building owned by Charles Walsh of Apex Realty has been donated to house and allow for repairs to the yellow bikes, which took to the streets of downtown in May.
According to Apex spokesman Justin Corn, Walsh is attempting to sell the building that was once the home of Layman's Vintage Radios and Corner Clocks. As long as it remains unsold, Corn said, it will be open for the yellow bikes, a program developed in a partnership between the Downtown Lexington Corporation and private donors.
"We actually heard through the grapevine that they were looking for some spots and we had the spot available, and actually it worked out really good because we have a fenced-in storage area that's lockable and then we have a dock area," Corn said.
The bikes will be in the building until they are redeployed on the streets in the spring, and if the building happens to sell between now and then, Corn said Apex would provide one of their other spaces for the bikes. Corn added Apex plans to offer space for the bikes again next winter.
Big Ass art
The Living Arts & Science Center has partnered with Big Ass Fans on Cartful of Fun, a unique public art project. Artists or arts groups were working under a January 9 deadline to submit design proposals for the artistic enhancement of functional motorized carts and forklifts used within the Big Ass Fans manufacturing facility. Each cart and forklift is unique in size and shape, and artists were asked to submit proposals for a specific cart. Selected artists will receive a $1,500 fee for the design and implementation of the proposed design on the cart.
Finished carts will be unveiled and artists introduced at the Living Arts & Science Center's 18th annual H'Artful of Fun, An Evening At the Factory event, hosted this year by Big Ass Fans, on February 16.