In the spirit of LEO Weekly’s Readers’ Choice awards, we introduce LEO’s Editors’ Choice awards for the best news stories and news-generating personalities. The ballots are in, and the winners, plucked from a vast landscape of whacky, important and otherworldly Kentucky and Louisville stories, show that we are Kentucky UnProud and ImPossibility City.
Best News Story following the money UofL Foundation forensic audit Finally, after years of opaqueness, the UofL Foundation is being cajoled by its major benefactors to undergo a forensic audit. What will the bean counters find when they dissect years of back-room maneuvers, including millions of dollars in compensation for disgraced, former UofL President James Ramsey, who also led the foundation? The James Graham Brown Foundation said the audit will ensure that expenditures were made “exclusively for the charitable and educational purposes” of UofL — not for private profit for the connected.
Best News Personality Likely to keep the gop out of the governor’s mansion For Decades Gov. Matt “og-op” Bevin This active, tweet-happy governor came out of the blocks fast and furious, and since then has been getting slapped down by foe Attorney General Andy Beshear in court. The last GOP governor to display such tone-deaf arrogance, Ernie Fletcher, issued blanket pardons to anyone charged in a probe of hiring practices in his administration. We can only imagine what will remain of any GOP integrity after the Bevin shit-storm ends.
Best News story with a happy ending The lincoln bridge opens wide Not that kind of happy ending... It seems the years-long construction project that has clogged downtown is about to end. We hope it speeds the commute to Southern Indiana and back, but Spaghetti Junction does not seem much better, more like Linguine Junction. Now, about the Convention Center and Omni Hotel projects that are tearing up downtown...
Best News story that exposed the city’s level of racism moving the confederate statue at uofl Almost immediately after the city and UofL agreed to move the Confederate statue on Third Street, a debate about whether it should stay erupted. On one side, the Sons of Confederate Veterans and a racist, failed politician, and on the other, everyone with progressive views. Except some who say moving it erases history. We say: Let history take its place in the proper context, a Confederate cemetery.
Best Bevin Blooper With TaxPayer Money Tax Incentives for the Ark Park Ken Ham is just a walking shrug emoticon, a human so goofy and ignorant that, in the scheme of things, he doesn’t really matter, since he’s on the losing end of an intellectual battle anyway. So, if he and his friends want to pour a truckload of capital into a dinosaur-housing Noah’s Ark replica, fine. Have fun. This is America. Build whatever stupid shit you want. The problem is when Bevin replaced four members of The Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority Board in April, who, two weeks later, granted $18 million to the aforementioned gang of religious zealots who believe the Earth is only 6,000 years old. An interesting move for someone who perpetually complains about the federal government’s overreach.
Best loss of easy money Abbey Road on the River moving Whether it’s your sort of thing or not, bringing thousands of people down to Waterfront Park for a Beatles-themed weekend every Memorial Day has had a solid economic impact for the city. But, after 12 years in Louisville, the five-day festival will move across the Ohio River to Jeffersonville, due to an argument between the festival and the Galt House. Seems like there could have been a more reasonable solution than moving to Indiana.
Best News Stories to give uofl Football Fans Hope, Only to be Crushed Again UofL quarterbacks Back in August, UofL fans were looking forward to watching Teddy Bridgewater and the Vikings make a run at the Super Bowl, and Lamar Jackson and the Cards make a run at the National Championship. Then, Bridgewater blew out his knee. And UofL just lost to Clemson, pretty much denying it a championship opportunity… Despite all of that, at least we still have Heisman-hopeful Lamar Jackson! Until the NFL comes knocking...
