We may be rolling our eyes every other day at the “Occupy” “movement” but it’s cowardly for Greg Fischer not to renew their permit with tents. The Occupy folks plan to occupy Greg’s office this week and plan to set up outside his home, as well. [FOX41]

What’s next for the New Madrid Fault? People in Louisville are nervous but probably shouldn’t be. Metro Government may act like it’s 1820 sometimes but it’s really not. [H-L]

Gregory O’Bryan, the guy who allegedly killed Andrew Compton and who admits to dumping his body, apparently “won’t be ready” for trial in April. [WHAS11]

How can an organization like the Fairness Campaign that preaches fairness and equality – one that even stands against gay people who question its motives – write a letter to the editor about the now-dead bishop who enabled and ignored the sexual exploitation of hundreds (if not thousands) of young children without bothering to mention that massive problem? [Twitter]

At least EIGHT child abuse deaths are missing from Kentucky’s recently released list. What a farce. HEADS NEED TO ROLL. [Debby Yetter]

Congressman John Yarmuth is delivering holiday cards to the homeless at Wayside Christian Mission at 9:00 A.M. this morning. [Press Release]

Some crazy crap went on in Oldham County yesterday. Two dead, another wounded. [WAVE3]

The National Restaurant Association and some in Louisville expect a bump in holiday spending this season. Think it’ll come to fruition? [Business First]

With Metro Government’s contract ending today with Insight Communications, everybody is freaking completely out. Who expects anything to change? [WFPL]

First responders have flooded our inboxes for four days complaining about Greg Fischer and his lack of awareness of what’s going on in the city. [The 'Ville Voice]

The Metro Sewer District board is set to meet with Greg Fischer today to discuss the nightmare of an audit. [WLKY]

Because they were afraid of not be allowed entry to the State Fair?

Haha, well… here we are several years later, Eklof has resolved everything on his own and Fairness is finally (!) doing something.

From a press release (the annual press release is their “ongoing effort”):

In an ongoing effort to raise public awareness of the Kentucky Farm Bureau’s anti-Fairness policies, the Fairness Campaign will unveil “larger-than-life” petitions requesting the company’s removal of the policies on opening day of the Kentucky State Fair. Fairness supporters will deliver the large petitions to the Kentucky Farm Bureau booth at the State Fair one week later on the official “Kentucky Farm Bureau Day,” Thursday, August 25. The petition unveiling will take place at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, August 18 at the Fairness booth in the Kentucky State Fair and Exposition Center, South Wing C, Row X, booths 165-166.

More than a dozen organizations have signed on to oppose one or more of the Kentucky Farm Bureau’s anti-Fairness policies, which are printed annually in the “Kentucky Farm Bureau Policies” manual that is automatically distributed to legislators, but not Kentucky Farm Bureau insurance policy holders. Those organizations include: American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky (ACLU-KY), Fairness Campaign, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Jefferson County Chapter of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repressrion, Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, Kentucky Fairness Alliance, Kentucky Jobs With Justice, Kentucky Psychological Association, Lexington Fairness, Metropolitan Community Church, Sienna, W.E.N.C.H., and Women In Transition (WIT).

The Kentucky Farm Bureau’s anti-Fairness policies came to light following their firing of Reverend Todd Eklof, who made statements in support of marriage equality after Kentucky’s 2004 passage of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Kentucky Farm Bureau settled out of court with Rev. Eklof in June, 2010 for an undisclosed amount.

We’re glad Fairness lightly complains about Farm Bureau once a year.

Maybe one of these years something will change and this won’t just be a momentary blip on the news cycle radar.

Louisville’s first LGBT Film Festival, thanks to the Kentucky Fairness Alliance, will hit the University of Louisville on August 5 at the Floyd Theater and the Clifton Center on August 6 & 7 at the Eifler Theater.

“In previous years, we have worked in partnership with a local theater to feature a series of films,” explains Travis Myles, co-organizer and KFA board member. “The community’s positive response encouraged us to grow the effort into a more traditional festival set up this year.”

74 submissions – more than 60 hours of film – were received by the festival and it’s set to be a great few days.

Check out some of the trailers by clicking here.

How bout them apples, gay-haters? At this very moment, Greg Fischer is signing an executive order extending equal health benefits to all 5,500 Metro Government employees (that includes unmarried heterosexual couples).

He finally got something majorly right.

Here’s Fischer’s email sent to Metro Government employees yesterday:

I am pleased to announce that, starting July 1, 2012, Metro Government will extend domestic partner benefits to city employees. Louisville is a growing, diverse, 21st Century city. If we are to attract the best and brightest talent to government, we must have benefits equal to or better than the private sector. Most Fortune 500 companies offer domestic partner benefits as do many local organizations and companies, from Brown-Forman to the University of Louisville. This is a matter of fairness, and it’s the right thing to do.

Enclosed you will find details of how the benefits will work. If you have questions, please contact Human Resources.

“This is a historic moment,” said Fairness Campaign Director Chris Hartman. “Mayor Fischer’s move will further secure Louisville and Kentucky’s place in American history as a Southern civil rights leader.”

Historic moment, indeed. Even if it’s buried in what is essentially a Friday news dump.

Greg Fischer may not exactly be a civil rights leader but this city certainly is. This is why Louisville can have nice things and sometimes Greg Fischer is a part of it.

UPDATE — And just like that, Tina Ward-Pugh sprinkled the glitter and Greg Fischer swished us into the 20th Century (yes, 20th):

Here’s what the order says:

WHEREAS, Louisville is a thriving, diverse 21st Century City;

And WHEREAS, if Louisville Metro Government is to attract the best and brightest talent to government, it must offer benefits equal to or better than the private sector;

And WHEREAS, most Fortune 500 companies offer domestic partner benefits as do many local organizations and companies, from Brown-Forman to the University of Louisville;

And WHEREAS, this is a matter of fairness, and it’s the right thing to do.

I, Mayor Greg Fischer, hereby order the city Human Resources Department to extend Domestic Partner Benefits to all city employees effective July 1, 2012.

We’ll believe the Fairness Campaign is “working hard to implement a statewide anti-discrimination fairness law” when they bother trying to work with Republicans and Democrats who oppose them in order to get something accomplished. Until then, we’ll continue to tell readers that Fairness is doing the opposite of working toward real equality in Frankfort.

They believe they’re working toward equality, and, uh, playing pat-a-cake with Kathy Stein and Meemaw Mary Lou is fine and dandy – but nothing more than that.

The organization’s director and board members have repeatedly refused to try working with the opposition. Remember Senate Bill 16? That didn’t die because of Fairness and all the director could do was sit in Heine Brothers making excuses.

As stories like this one illustrate, it’s going to take more than liberal allies in a super-conservative state like this Commonwealth to get something as simple as an anti-discrimination policy put into place.

We don’t dislike Fairness and try to support the organization whenever possible. We don’t doubt their actual dedication and hopes for Kentucky. It’s just a shame to watch them ignore and shun resources at their fingertips merely because they’re questioned or criticized… and then constantly hitting up against brick (stone?) walls.

Yesterday we took a deep look at thousands of Metro Animal Services medical records. Take a look at what we discovered. ['Ville Voice]

83% of registered Kentucky voters support a statewide Fairness ordinance, according to the latest Fairness Coalition poll. Keep in mind that it’s just registered voters. Though, Kentucky has come a long way in the past decade. Even super-conservatives are realizing that homophobia should be a thing of the past. [Fairness PDF]

David Williams leads his opponents by leaps and bounds in the first Republican primary poll. [Page One]

Are you a library nerd? Louisville Free Public Library has a new smart phone application. [WHAS11 or Click the Clicky]

There’ll be no delay in the Rick Pitino – Karen Sypher sexytime extortion scandal sentencing, so says the judge. PLEASE! DEAR GOD! MAKE IT GO AWAY! [H-L]

A pervert was arrested at the fair grounds for being a pervert. When will pervs learn not to hang out around cheerleading practice and/or stop flashing people? [FOX41]

You should probably take part in the Cree-Free Happy Hour at Browning’s this Thursday. [Consuming Louisville]

Sana Saiyed returned home from Cairo. She shared her story with the teevee people and you should check it out. [WAVE3]

You a fan of Hogan’s Fountain? How bout the band of the same name? In February and March 50% of iTunes sales of “Shine Your Light On Me – Remix” will be donated to help restore the historic Hogan’s Fountain Pavilion. [iTunes]

February 9 through 19 you can buy Abbey Road on the River tickets at half-price ($15) at Kroger. The same is in celebration of the festival’s 10th year. [AROTR]

Yes, you already know that Brave Patriot Marilyn Parker is about as psychotic as your average street preacher.

If you don’t, here’s a taste of her lunacy:

Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here

See? More than a little extreme.

Welp, here’s a look at the lunatic fringe conspiracy theory Miss Patriotic Hot Mess is promoting on the internets:

She linked to this story.

Yup. Blaming the Tucson mess on Obama.

The kind of teabagger behavior that gives teabaggers a bad name. But it gets worse. She sent out this bit about Louisville’s new mayor on behalf of the Louisville TEA Party/Frank Simon Corporation yesterday:

(Let’s just pray that Louisville will not end up with a “food consumption act” promoted by its new liberal diversity driven mayor.)

The third prong in Mayor Fisher’s plan for Louisville is to make Louisville a more compassionate city. In Liberal translation, this means more social engineering, more entitlements, higher taxes, increased deficits, and the preclusion of Louisville to be an even bigger sanctuary city for illegal citizens and the homeless than it already is.

Lastly, all the mayoral liberal speak about Louisville being a city of diversity is appropriate for a large metropolitan city, as long as the diverse understand economic principles, and the diversity occurs naturally, through the will of the people, instead of being socially engineered by public officials at the expense of the tax payer.

This email was brought to you by Marilyn Parker TEA officer. The view expressed in the Fischer commentary is mine alone. Future email distributions will bring you input from varying board members from our very DIVERSE conservative group that is held together by the common thread of Freedom, constitutionally limited government, and fiscal responsibility.

In Liberty,

Marilyn Parker
Louisville TEA Party

I’m waiting for someone to ask Brave Patriot Marilyn Parker to explain what a deficit is. Or explain why she used illegal immigrants during the construction of her massive East End home. Maybe ask her what she’s got against the homeless.

Moral of the story: Someone needs to take the crazy sauce away from her. She’s not a real life tea party member. She’s a teabagger of the Frank Simon variety, focused solely on complaining about the browns, the gays, the poors and anyone who says something she can’t comprehend.

Instead of pointing to a brick-and-mortar project as a signature accomplishment, Abramson serves up a spoonful of Pollyanna that has been a cornerstone of his image over the years.

“I remember this community when I ran in 1985. I remember the glass-half-full prescriptive that I heard from people in all areas,” Abramson says. “You don’t hear that anymore. Based on the successes that we’ve had, there is now competitiveness. You now have a spirit of the glass is more than half full.”

It’s a change he’s quick to take credit for: “I was that transition. I connected where we were — pretty much down on ourselves — to where we are today: a renewed spirit that this community is very special.”

-SNIP-

But like any politician, he has his weaknesses, chief among them being thin skin.

Click here to read the entire thing.

Lest we forget the myriad scandals: the airport, playing pat-a-cake with fairness, Gilles Meloche and Metro Animal Services, Kimberly Bunton and Housing, The Cordish Cos, “Poorer, blacker and older,” public safety lawsuits and the millions he had to pay to the Cullinans for screwing around several years ago.

No paid-for-by language. At the end of the animation, it merely says “C-FAIR – the political action committee…” Nothing to indicate who paid for it.

Head – desk.

UPDATE: Fairness is trying the talking point that LEO is responsible for putting up the ad… despite it being a Google ad, uploaded by Fairness. Whatever.

Either way, nice to see money wasted attacking instead of pushing for positive change in this city.