I’ve seen a lot of city guides to Louisville, and most have the stench of having been filtered through about eight levels of management to make sure the copy is not offensive — or at all interesting.
Not so for the long-awaited LEO neighborhood guide, UR Here. (No link, because there’s no Web presence).
Take, for example, […]

[Read more →]

Idolatry in Louisville: It’s bad enough that Kentucky is one of the few states holding out on crowning Barack Obama as the Democratic presidential nominee, but now we know that Kentuckians are silly enough to give “American Idol” a ratings boost, going against the national trend. According to Tom Dorsey, when Idol airs in Louisville, […]

[Read more →]

I got in a bit of hot water last February with Pam Brooks, the publisher at LEO, for what I had to say about her pet project, BOOM. I wrote a column about the new magazine, criticizing the content (produced exclusively by freelancers, and not the LEO editorial team) and the mag’s emphasis on […]

[Read more →]

Don’t know about you, but when someone asks me to drive across town for something, I’m thinking twice about it, and going by bike if possible. Seriously, $3.41?
Cards Baseball: I’m anxious to see if the magic of last year’s College World Series run is still in the air at Patterson Stadium as the Cards take […]

[Read more →]

When the city’s journalism awards come out next year, I expect Stephen George’s lengthy examination of the Sojourn Church to be at the top of the list of prize-winners.

In this week’s cover story, George tries to square all the good (community activism, cleaning up areas of the city, hip music, energetic leadership) with the bad […]

[Read more →]

Hillary Clinton, or maybe Barack Obama.
My LEO column this week reveals that the presidential campaigns are coming to Kentucky TV stations, just in time to fight with local advertisers for avails on pre-Derby newscasts.
With Hillary hanging on in the race and Barack working hard to close out the nomination, Indiana and Kentucky have become rather […]

[Read more →]

Yesterday’s news: Rain. Today’s news: Rain. Tomorrow: Hoops!
Rick’s Media Critique: Anybody notice Rick Pitino’s analysis of modern media? In yesterday’s press conference, he was asked a question about the pressure players feel from the media and what’s written in the newspaper. He said young people don’t read the newspaper (or presumably read it online), so […]

[Read more →]

Just remember, there’s nothing so bad as having your squeaky-clean Governor resign over his weakness for prostitutes. Ours is just, well, ineffective.
Billy Reed has a way of getting the Wildcat Nation all riled up. His latest post points out that the job Billy Clyde Gillispie is doing with the Cats’ basketball program isn’t all that […]

[Read more →]

If you’re not special like me, and already received an invitation to check out the Courier-Journal’s new website, here’s your chance.
I wrote a column on it for LEO this week. The top brass at the C-J wants your feedback, but News VP Bennie Ivory didn’t want to talk to LEO about the redesign.
Here’s the start […]

[Read more →]

Did you notice somebody’s got a chip on his/her shoulder over there at Velocity, the C-J-owned faux weekly? Oops. I just called them a “faux” weekly. Maybe the V.V. will get mentioned in the “Losers” section of the paper next week.
A sorry attempt at clever writing has backfired on the V-Boys and Girls with the […]

[Read more →]

Not to overdo our city’s “brand” references, but this week’s LEO brings this to mind:
This is a place where you can pack a cache of semiautomatic weapons in your SUV and legally blow away those who cross your path, especially if they’re driving a Hummer.
It’s also a place where residents can’t walk to their corner […]

[Read more →]

John Timmons is one of Best Buy’s best customers and one of the big box retailer’s biggest critics. Timmons, you see, owns the nationally-renowend independent record store, Ear X-tacy. And he knows the wholesale cost of the CDs he sells in his stores.
So when Timmons sees Best Buy advertising loss leaders at less than wholesale, […]

[Read more →]

They’re celebrating in the newsroom at Business First this week — the paper broke a story (sorry, subscription required) about a $130 million office building planned for downtown. The building will be located on West Market between Sixth and Seventh, climb 25 stories into the sky and create more office space, restaurants and retail in […]

[Read more →]

Mayor for Life Dish: In LEO, Stephen George got plenty of policy-speak in his annual sit-down with Mayor Jerry Abramson. As those who follow his administration know, he’s pretty upbeat about the city and its future — touching on downtown development, major growth projects and the way “economic engine of this Commonwealth” deals with the […]

[Read more →]

Nothing like jumping on a bandwagon, so I’m stealing the momentum from Hillary Clinton. If you’ve been ignoring all news from New Hampshire, Clinton posted a surprising victory in the Democratic primary in the Granite State after a disappointing 3rd place in Iowa, prompting her handlers to dub her the Comeback Kid.
Well, my return as […]

[Read more →]

We just got word that our friends at LEO will try this blogging thing again when it launches a new blog — General Sense of Outrage — with tomorrow’s print issue.
It’s quite the New Year’s resolution for the local alt-weekly.
If you remember the previous effort — The Lip — you win a prize for paying […]

[Read more →]

With plenty of idle time, the New Year is a good opportunity to reflect on the year gone by. At least, it’s a good way to fill news space.
In my world, the major story was the gubernatorial primary in Kentucky. When Democratic voters rejected Bruce Lunsford in favor of Steve Beshear, it spurred more than […]

[Read more →]

Here’s a story so absurd, so stupid, so wasteful, so mind-boggling that it demands exposure. Go read the story at LEO, concerning a ridiculous lawsuit brought by the Metro Human Relations Commission, specifically an individual named Alfonso Lanceta.
Lanceta, who, according to the story, is doing his best to hide from the media today, apparently truly […]

[Read more →]

This week’s LEO weighs in mightily on some important issues around here: the fate of local radio, the fate of the downtown arena, the fate of Panhandling and Dog Ordinance issues, the fate of the city’s bonding issues. No one else has given a fair shake, media-wise, to issues like 8664.
As for the fate of […]

[Read more →]

Our favorite media mogul turned politician will be making a noteworthy appearance in town tonight.
John Yarmuth will address the local Society of Professional Journalists tonight (7:00 p.m. at Spalding University, free). The first-term Congressman and former LEO publisher will talk about his experiences in Washington and his work on the Federal Shield Law.
As it stands, […]

[Read more →]