The main entrance for City Hall reopened this morning and here are a few photos, courtesy Metro Council:

“We have seen a resurgence of economic development on Main Street Downtown. There have been many restorations of Metro Hall (formerly the Jefferson County Courthouse), it was time to take care of this historic structure,” said Owen. “Restoring this unique building adds to the resurgence of our downtown.”

Here’s Owen making the first trip through the entrance:

Thank you for this nerd moment.

Congratulations to Jim Milliman for retiring from law to be Rand Paul’s state director. Jim’s well-known for debating John Yarmuth on the teevee and for representing Brown & Williamson against Wigand. Remember the movie that was made about it? This is a terrific move for Rand Paul. [Press Release]

You know I have a nerd meltdown over development stories about Louisville, right? Check this story about The Green Building. [TreeHugger]

The main entrance at City Hall is set to re-open today. I’m pretty excited about it. [FatLip]

Steve Beshear’s office is working furiously to spin news over his 80+ highly-paid appointees. [Page One]

Check this great story about taking political labels out of the decision making process. Lisa Moxley makes an appearance. Louisville should be proud of her!  Because she’s one of the most interesting and frank people I’ve ever met. Huge personal fan. [New Haven Independent]

It made Wonkette, the most important and serious news site on the planet, even. [Wonkette]

Tina Ward-Pugh isn’t rolling for the Metro Council Presidency. We hope she sticks around and runs next year, for sure. [WFPL]

We can talk about a monorail around the damn malls that could go belly-up at any moment but we can’t talk about light rail or street cars for the rest of the city? [FOX 41]

This year’s Angel-A-Thon raised more than $116,000. Yet another reason to be proud of your city. [WAVE3]

Will a sticker on the car of teenage drivers… you know, do anything? I’m honestly asking. Not being a jerk. [WHAS11]

Ready for Jake to nerd out again? Here goes.

This cover story from Architectural Record is huge. Seriously. With a headline like, “A pair of Harvard-educated architects find acceptance in Kentucky while drawing inspiration from the state’s tobacco barns and vernacular buildings,” it’s tough not to be excited on a nerd level I can’t even explain.

Here’s a taste:

There are some people who fashion their lives in response to happy accidents. Neither Roberto de Leon, Jr., AIA, nor M. Ross Primmer, AIA, is one of those people. Instead the co-principals of Louisville, Kentucky–based De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop carefully research and strategically plan everything, leaving nothing to chance. After obtaining their M.Arch. degrees from Harvard, de Leon and Primmer decided to move somewhere that they could make an impact. Reading economic reports of U.S. cities, they discovered that Louisville was one of the top three cities on the brink of an economic upswing. The two architects, who had done some fieldwork in Las Vegas (“It was poised for growth, with a university nearby — a city trying to establish and nurture a creative class,” says de Leon) and Charlotte, North Carolina (same as Vegas), hatched a strategy to set up an architecture firm that would specialize in cultural and nonprofit projects and do so in a city that was gritty but educated enough to appreciate new ideas. They chose Louisville and launched their firm in 2003. “It wasn’t random, but we had no ties here at all,” says Primmer. “Louisville was a mid-tier city that was changing from an industrial-based economy to a service-based economy. Our strengths are in consensus building, and we have an interest in corralling boards. So we decided to focus on nonprofit and cultural organizations. Louisville seemed like a place where we could have a voice.”

Really, go read the rest.

Nerd overload.

Steve Wiser, a local architect and historian, has some thoughts on the Bridges Authority meeting held yesterday:

Tolls are needed on all bridges to pay for this $4 billion dollar project.

BUT – is this $4 billion dollar project needed if tolls on all bridges is the only way to pay for it?

This is the dilemma we face today.

Are we better off, or worse off, if all bridges are tolled?

No community in America has tolled their bridges in this manner. We are essentially cutting ourselves in half.

Do you think Nashville, Indianapolis, or Cincinnati would cut their region in half like this?

We will be conducting a societal experiment never before tried in urban planning. Once you open this Pandora’s Box, you will not be able to close it. I feel many negative consequences will result from it.

I regularly cross the bridge several times a week for shopping and dining. If tolls are passed, I will greatly limit by bridge crossings.

Read the rest from Wiser after the jump…

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Are you skeerd yet? Some Iranian folk musicians visited the Bluegrass Museum in Kentucky.

FEAR? Heh.

PEE ALERT PEE ALERT!!1!: Pat Boone has launched a line of meat products to benefit Focus on the Family. SERIOUSLY. Oh, Papaw Beshear gets a mention, too. You are welcome. [Towleroad]

Wanna help a child? Here’s your chance to give back this year. [Family & Children's Place]

The David Williams-Republican agenda was released yesterday and local State Senator Dan Seum sent out a crazy survey to protect you from Nobama. [Page One - Here & Here]

Greg Fischer is waffling on whether or not he plans to keep Wayne Zelinsky as Metro Animal Services director. [FatLip]

That’s right – the Bridges Authority is terrified to look the public in the eye. They’re just going to tie your hands behind your back, cut off your feet and then pig eff you until you pass out and forget about tolls, two bridges, eight bridges, Waterfront Park, whatever. Once again, a handful of people making all the decisions for our beautiful city. [Facebook]

Here’s a fairly in-depth (for teevee news) story about yesterday’s meeting regarding tolls. [FOX 41]

Here’s another story about the tolls meeting. These arguments for tolling existing roadways and building both bridges are getting crazy. Do it for the jobs? Really? Some short-term work? Do it because you’re already paying a toll by sitting in traffic? Really? This is Louisville, not Los Angeles. [WHAS11]

Richard Holebrooke, the president’s special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, died after surgery. His final words? “You’ve got to stop this war in Afghanistan.” [WaPo]

It’s just $200 to fly round trip from Louisville to Atlanta. No one around us can figure out if that’s a deal or not. [Vision Airlines]

Remember when Greg Fischer said he wasn’t going to meddle with Jefferson County Public Schools? That didn’t last long at all. And here I was about to give the man the benefit of the doubt. Shame on me for ever doubting what I said would happen! [WAVE3]

I hate shilling for businesses because they’re usually doing whatever they’re doing for publicity and extra business. But Thornton’s has legitimately done something good for everybody in Louisville and it probably didn’t hurt its bottom line too badly.

The company donated this all-electric vehicle to Waterfront Park:

Gary Pepper, David Isaac (back), Mike Kimmel, David Karem, Ashley Cox

It’ll help the staff continue maintenance and will kill our environment less slowly.

And that’s always good news.

Meanwhile, the rest of this city’s super-wealthy elite want to demolish Waterfront Park.

See a close-up of the ATV after the jump…

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Okay, some really important news that everyone can enjoy.

Here are the six designated sites Metro Parks says you can sled this winter:

• Cherokee Park – Baringer Hill, intersection of Alexander Road and Scenic Loop
• George Rogers Clark Park – 1024 Thruston Avenue, behind playground, near McKinley Avenue
• Joe Creason Park – 1297 Trevilian Way, behind Metro Parks administration building
• McNeely Lake Park – 6900 Cooper Chapel Road, near Korean War Memorial
• Tyler Park – 1501 Castlewood Avenue, on Tyler Park Drive side of park
• Charlie Vettiner Park – 5550 Charlie Vettiner Park Road, near Easum Road entrance

You are welcome for this good news.

This week President Barack Obama discusses selling out on tax cuts/developing Stockholm Syndrome:

56 pages of conflicts of interest for the Arena Authority? [Louisville Courant]

Today, Jerry Abramson will celebrate the arrival of the first non-stop flight from Hotlanta to Louisville on Vision Airlines. [Twitter]

You know those 82 political appointments of Steve Beshear’s that cost the state $5.2 million? The Personnel Board voted to keep them. Without, of course, any information to prove they’re necessary. It’s interesting that David Williams is taking the liberal position in this mess and Steve Beshear and his politically-appointed Personnel Secretary are taking the hypocritical, lying conservative position. [Bluegrass Politics]

In case you missed it, here’s what Crit Luallen didn’t say about the legislative conflict of interest regarding wasted Medicaid dollars. [Page One]

I don’t know what this means, but Louisville is officially “Festival City.” And also “Event City.” [WFPL]

Wondering what mayor-elect Greg Fischer thinks about the latest Ford news? [FOX 41]

Yet another pedestrian killed in Louisville. HEAD – DESK. [WHAS11]

The University of Louisville is making the grade while assisting and supporting veterans. [WAVE3]

Greg Fischer held a fancy breakfast for his fancy Metro Council friends at his fancy house. [More FOX 41]

Jerry Abramson was honored in Washington by the Partners for Livable Communities last week for his “visionary leadership.” What, you wanted a pee alert with that one? [Press Release]

The latest Ohio River Bridges mess is quite interesting, to say the least. And there’s another meeting scheduled for today during which public comment will allegedly be heard. Unfortunately, the website with details about the meeting was down the entire weekend and some of last week, so we can’t link to anything. [FatLip]