Cover Story
Revealing the secrets of ?Beargrass Creek: New plan will get national attention
Squint hard at the concrete chute that makes up one stretch of Beargrass Creek, and maybe you can imagine dense green borders, rich with native grasses and trees filtering poisons from water trickling to the stream below. Or perhaps a boardwalk, leading to a cantilevered platform overlooking a kayak ramp, with a sign noting how…
LEO Podcast #76: U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth and the DSA talk healthcare
LEO Executive Editor Aaron Yarmuth and U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth discuss the future of healthcare with Mandy Bell and Nick Conder, two members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
Medical marijuana users should be patients — in Kentucky, they’re criminals
I am a civil rights lawyer who lost an important case last week. Losses are an inevitability in my line of work; you learn to take your lumps. But this one is different. Had this suit been successful, it would have allowed doctors to prescribe cannabis to patients who need it in the commonwealth of…
The Raconteurs, Hozier, Brandi Carlile and Tyler Childers headline Railbird in Lexington
A new, two-day music festival at The Grounds at Keeneland will take place Aug.10-11, featuring more than 30 bands on three stages. The recently-revived Jack White-led rock supergroup The Raconteurs — who haven’t played live since 2011 — will headline, as well as the chart-topping singer-songwriter Hozier. There’s a roots music lean to the lineup,…
Lucy Dacus, Josh Ritter, The War and Treaty headline this year’s WFPK Waterfront Wednesday series
The 2019 WFPK Waterfront Wednesday season has been announced, and the monthly series of free concerts kicks off with Lucy Dacus performing on April 24. Taking place on the last Wednesday of every month — from April through September — Waterfront Wednesday happens at the Big Four Lawn, with music starting at 6 p.m. for…
Challenging Gun Culture: An Interview With Bailey Story on the play ‘Shooter’
Art, especially theater, has never been simply about the ability to entertain. Certainly, there are theater productions built for escapism, allowing audiences to leave behind the things that make them worry in their real life, and there’s value in that. But the most powerful pieces, the ones that stay with us for the longest, are…
10 Things To Do Under $5 This Week In Louisville (3/25)
MONDAY, March 25 A/Tonal Comstock Concert Hall, UofL Free | 8-9:30 p.m. A/Tonal is a Louisville musical ensemble with cellos and clarinets, but its mindset isn’t classical. Instead, it is a lively mix of traditional and contemporary with a penchant for creative performances featuring dynamic lighting and held at unique venues. It also has a…
March Madness Recap: Louisville upset by a Pitino, UK cruises
MINNESOTA 86, LOUISVILLE 76 Storylines in the NCAA Tournament can be a lot of fun. A revenge game. A star player who is ready to break out and be discovered. They give us that added theatricality that we so often associate with the tournament. Storylines can also cause nausea, if your team is on the…
Listen to Prayer Line’s new single, ‘Diary of a Drowning Boy’
The horror rock band Prayer Line will release their debut album Drink The Blood in late April, but right now you can listen to the song “Diary of a Drowning Boy,” an ominous, driving track. “’Diary of a Drowning Boy’ is about the passion, confusion and eventual terror that would come from falling in love…
5 Things To Do In Louisville This Weekend (3/22)
SATURDAY, March 23 Stella di Luce Art Show Huber’s Orchard & Winery Free | 10 a.m.-6 p.m. No, it’s not fall, but Huber’s Orchard & Winery is still there, at its picturesque location in the hills of Southern Indiana, selling wine and brandies made on site. This Saturday and starting at noon on Sunday, it…
Influential Kentucky glass artist Stephen Rolfe Powell has died
World-renowned glass artist Stephen Rolfe Powell died unexpectedly on Saturday, March 16. He was 67 years old. Although Powell taught at Danville’s Centre College, his presence looms large in Louisville. That’s in large part to his former assistants and students who live here, such as Brook White, owner of Flame Run, and Che Rhodes, head…
New Car, New Face
“New Car Face.” It’s that bright, shiny, happy face everyone gets when they first purchase a new car, but for many people, New Car Face may seem out of reach. After all, buying a car can be quite a process, especially if you have to get an auto loan. What if getting an auto loan…
In memoriam:? Bills That Have (Probably) Died
This week, we remember the bills that held so much promise when they were introduced by their loving legislators for the 2019 session of the General Assembly. While other bills, such as Concealed “Permit-less” Carrie, Easier Expungement Eddie and Anti-Abortion Arnold were coddled and nurtured until they were mature enough to be sent off to…
Thorns & Roses: The Worst, Best & Most Absurd (3/20)
Nevertheless, Kentucky justice persisted | Rose No matter how often Gov. Matt Bevin and President tRump accuse the judiciary of being biased, and no matter how good U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell is at seating conservative judges, there still are jurists who follow the law. One is U.S. District Judge David Hale (appointed by President Obama).…
Bill Frisell returns for ?the first Give-a-Jam of 2019
Renowned jazz guitarist and composer Bill Frisell has a history of helping the homeless. He once did a string of shows supporting the progressive, Seattle-based, homeless advocacy newspaper Real Change. Now, Frisell is returning to Louisville for 2019’s first Give-a-Jam, a benefit concert series for the Louisville Coalition for the Homeless. He told LEO Weekly…
Three concerts to catch this week
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Thursday, March 21 Mercury Ballroom Initially signed to Easy-E’s Ruthless Records, the Cleveland-based rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony established themselves as an idiosyncratic force in the mid-‘90s. Mixing streetwise hip-hop with melodic, forward-thinking, R&B-inspired hooks, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony balances fast-paced, sharp lyrics with catchy sensibilities. Bit Brigade performs: ‘Mega Man III’ Friday, March 22 Zanzabar…
Sonic Breakdown: Ellery — ‘Tennessee Whiskey (Hallelujah)’
[LEO’s biweekly Sonic Breakdown column deconstructs a single song from a Louisville musician or band.] On the song “Tennessee Whiskey (Hallelujah),” Tasha Golden, one half of the band Ellery, attempted to dig up and put together the pieces of her family history. “At the time we wrote this song, I was finishing up a book…
Immigration, #metoo issues make for sharp, timely theater
The heated discussion surrounding immigration inspired Helen Thorpe to interview four Mexican-American girls — two documented, two undocumented — and eventually write a book about immigration from their experience. Nearly 15 years later, the continuing debate led to a collaboration between two local theater companies: Looking for Lilith, known for its woman-centric productions, and Teatro…
Reflecting on Harlan Hubbard’s watercolors
On a morning of intermittent, drizzly rain, down the road from Payne Hollow, the beloved home of Harlan Hubbard in Trimble County, three bald eagles flew a mere 40 feet above the muddy Ohio River shoreline. The prolific writer, naturalist and artist who lived there for nearly 30 years with his wife Anna would recognize…
A Response to ‘Hillbilly Elegy’
Can one book paint a picture of a region with such a slanted broad brush toward social problems that the region’s creative and academic thinkers rise up in collective response? Yes it can. Appalachia’s people have gone through many decades of being tarred and dismissed. Whether from the bestseller list or on a movie screen,…
Come to Sal’s for the pizza, stay for the fish
I must have passed by Sal’s Pizza & Sports Pub in Lyndon 100 times without ever being motivated to stop in. This was a mistake. In retrospect, I really miss all the good meals that I might have enjoyed there. Don’t be like me. Go, soon. You’ll like it. Here’s why: If the iconic ‘80s…
Signs from local breweries that spring is about to … uh, spring
Am I the only person who is tired of cold and rain? I can’t be, can I? Obviously, I know most of us are ready for spring. It’s time for seasonal affective disorder to loosen its grip and let us march into days of sunshine and blooms. When it will grant us that reprieve is…
Savage Love: Crazy Switch Asians
Q: I’m a straight white woman in my early 30s. In theory, I’ve always been into men of all races—but in practice, most of my exes are Latino and white. In September, I met this really handsome Chinese American guy, and I feel like he rewired me. I’ve been exclusively attracted to Asian guys since.…
College wonga scandal, Bevin pops at Yarmuth
Worried about getting nicked, are you? For what? You can’t get arrested for being brilliant and beautiful, even in this country. I always assumed you got into Bellarmine through some dodgy scheme to cover up your dunce’s cap. How else would a north London mockney from a state school get into an allegedly prestigious private…
Who Protects Black Women?
Why you want to fly Blackbird You ain’t ever gonna fly Why you want to fly Blackbird You ain’t ever gonna fly No place big enough for holding all the tears you’re gonna cry * “I know what it like to wanna sing…and have it beat outch’ya.” This line was spoken in “The Color Purple”…
Lobbyists win… we lose
It was a good year for some of Kentucky’s biggest lobbies. The major accomplishments of this year’s legislative session show the Republican supermajority was more concerned about its donors’ interests than in solving our problems. Senate Bill 100, the solar bill, took away the requirement for one-to-one reimbursement for solar energy users who sell energy…
