+5
Mayor Abramson opened the first 23-mile section of the Louisville Loop, giving townsfolk another way to get back to nature. The paved walking/biking route runs from the waterfront downtown west through Portland and Shawnee to the Farnsley-Moremen Landing and includes gorgeous canopied woods, wetlands and a river view. The 100-mile Loop will eventually encircle the city.

-5
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of Kentucky’s method of lethal injection, paving the way for states to resume killing people for killing people. The majority opinion ruled that Kentucky’s three-drug cocktail does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment, even though similar injections in Florida and Ohio recently went awry and it’s been outlawed for use on dogs. Despite the ruling, no Kentucky prisoners face imminent execution. Texas officials, who regularly oversee the most state killings in the country, exclaimed, “Yee-haw!”

+2
Americans idle. And that’s a problem that could lead to the death of all living things and — even worse — wastes gas. So the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District is considering citywide restrictions on automotive idling to cut pollution, which could impact everyone from truck drivers and cops to soccer dads in the carpool line. But why wait for The Man to clamp down when you can turn your car off now?  
 
+5.2
A 5.2 earthquake jiggled Louisville, making your Cheerios taste a little better and your job seem a little sexier and your coffee taste a little frothier and God seem somewhat plausible. At least until that 1 p.m. staff meeting sucked the joy back out of your soul, but still, not bad.

World-classness
+ 7.2