The News You Need To Know This Week In Louisville (9/22-9/28)

1. James Graham Brown Foundation Awarded This Huge Grant To Support The Gateway On Broadway Housing Project

The James Graham Brown Foundation awarded a $575,000 grant to Housing Partnership, Inc. to support the Gateway on Broadway project. The grant will fund the completion of the Gateway Community Resource Center, located in a renovated warehouse in the Russell neighborhood.

2. US Department of Justice Appeals Dismissal Of Felonies Against 2 Officers In Breonna Taylor Raid

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed an appeal challenging a federal judge's decision to dismiss the most serious charges against two former Louisville Metro Police officers involved in the fatal 2020 raid on Breonna Taylor’s home. The appeal targets U.S. District Court Judge Charles Simpson's August 22 ruling, which dismissed felony charges against Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany, who were accused of providing false information for the search warrant used in the raid.

3. This Louisville Restaurant Was Named One Of America’s Top 50 By The New York Times

North of Bourbon, a bourbon bar and restaurant in Louisville's Germantown neighborhood, was named one of the 50 best restaurants in the U.S. by the New York Times for 2024. It's the only Kentucky restaurant on the list.

4. The Initial Cannabis Business License Application Portal Just Closed. How Many Businesses Have Applied?

Kentucky is nearing its first day of medical marijuana being legalized in the Commonwealth. Many Kentuckians can look forward to getting the medicine they need on Jan. 1, when they are able to apply for medical marijuana licenses, colloquially known as “weed cards” in other states where medical marijuana is legal, but recreational is not, including states like New Hampshire (2013) and Oklahoma (2018). The Office of Medical Cannabis has received exactly 4,998 applications from various businesses all across the Commonwealth. Despite overwhelming interest in the program with nearly 5,000 applicants, only 48 dispensary licenses will be issued across the entire Commonwealth.

5. Bourbon & Beyond Sets A Record Crowd, Increasing By 75% From 2023

The sixth Bourbon & Beyond music festival in Louisville attracted 210,000 attendees over four days, with Saturday's 60,000 attendees marking the largest single-day crowd in Kentucky music festival history. Following Bourbon & Beyond, the Louder Than Life festival will take place from Sept. 26-29, headlined by Mötley Crüe, Korn, Slipknot, and Slayer. Together, the two festivals are expected to draw 375,000 attendees to see over 230 artists.

6. Kentucky Supreme Court Ruling Denies Police Power To Deny Investigative Records

The Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of Kentucky has ruled that police departments across the state cannot deny public or media records that are related to a criminal case without a proper reason. The standard of automatic denial of public information has been commonplace in Kentucky for 50 years, but an appeal of The Courier-Journal, relating to a records dispute from a July 2020 high-speed pursuit involving Shively Police Department officers that left three people dead including a 9-month-old girl, has changed the opinion of the Commonwealth's highest court, which sided with the Jefferson Circuit Court.

7. Gov. Andy Beshear Calls On Letcher County Sherriff To Step Down After Alleged Murder Of Judge

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear's general counsel has ordered Letcher County Sheriff Shawn "Mickey" Stines to resign by the end of the week or face removal for his alleged role in the Sept. 19 shooting of District Judge Kevin Mullins. Stines, who pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, has 20 days to prepare a defense. The shooting followed an argument, and authorities are investigating possible motives, including a connection to a federal lawsuit accusing Stines of failing to supervise a deputy.

8. Kentucky Has Awarded Its First Business License For The Medical Cannabis Program

In a Team Kentucky update on Thursday, Sept. 26, Governor Andy Beshear (D) announced the first recipient of a business license for the medical cannabis program in Kentucky. Beshear announced that KCA Labs, a hemp-testing facility operating in Nicholasville, would be receiving the first license, and that it is not part of the lottery system that Kentucky will use to select other license recipients.