Green’s Staffers & Volunteers Don’t Support Him

After sellout Jackie Green dropped out of the mayoral race, his campaign staff took over his email list and Twitter account to distribute hilarious messages. [Twitter]

Jeffersonville, Indiana will vote again this evening on a no tolls resolution. 6:30 P.M. at City Hall, Room 101, 500 Quartermaster Court. Meanwhile, the bridges authority is still ignoring the will of the public. [Press Release]

If you missed the U.S. Senate debate at the University of Louisville last night, be sure to check it out once WHAS11 puts it online today. Oh, and Joe Gerth: The Executive Branch Ethics Commission did NOT “clear” Jack Conway of anything. Tune in to Page One later today. Dear Rand: If you didn’t tie that lady up and scare her in a creek, you should go ahead and say you did not do it. [Don’t Miss It]

The debate did, indeed, turn bitter. Rand refused to shake Jack’s hand. It was great. [AP]

John Yarmuth raised $331,599 in the quarter and has $662,412 cash-on-hand. That’s a solid amount of money to get him through to election day. [Press Release]

The KFC Grease Bucket hosted the Eagles on Saturday and traffic apparently wasn’t a nightmare. Did you go? What was the experience like? [WHAS11]

A judge released boxes of evidence in the Cecil New murder case. This story gets more insane each and every day and it’s been years. [FOX 41]

Jack Conway’s new anti-Rand Paul ad made Gawker. [Gawker]

Speaking of Jack, it must be reiterated that disgusting Karl Rove’s latest ad about him is not dishonest. [Page One]

The Louisville Youth Group is asking the community to come together in a stand against anti-gay bullying. [WAVE3]

Todd Lally compared being gay to obesity. This Republican in Colorado compared being gay to alcoholism. Must be a teabagging Republican thing these days. [HuffPo]

15 thoughts on “Green’s Staffers & Volunteers Don’t Support Him

  1. Just a few thoughts on the YUM Center:

    Why are there so many people in this city that seem obsessed with doom and gloom predictions about anything new? So let’s go down the list shall we:

    1) They should have built the arena on campus or the Water Company Block.

    – Anybody who was down there Friday night could feel the energy with all of those people walking around the streets, visiting bars and restaurants, and streaming down every sidewalk. With all respect to the “Papa,” he was dead wrong his endorsement of the alternate Water Company location. The views of the river from the northern side of the complex make the venue distinctive from every other big box area.

    2) You won’t be able to find anywhere to park and traffic will be a nightmare.

    – My wife and I left the arena with the main bulk of the crowd and I was amazed at the speed at which it flowed out of the front lobby, even when several of the elevators stopped by an overload safety cut-off. We got out of downtown faster than a typical rush hour. Certainly faster than sitting on Ring Road, with no alternate options.

    Bottom line:

    The venue set up wonderfully for a concert, and I can only imagine how great a basketball game is going to be there. The acoustics were better than average, bar options plentiful, and the arena has a far more intimate feel than the smaller Freedom Hall. I can’t imagine how loud it’s going to get in there.

    To the doom and gloom set that seem to always try to take over every debate in this town. While there were a few glitches, the place killed it Friday night on almost every level.

    Hats off to Jim Host and the folks who refused to let the naysayers kill another positive project for this city.

    When was last time $250M was spent on a project in this state and there was so little scandal involved? There’s something to be said with regards to the efficiency of a benevolent dictatorship. Too bad Host wasn’t interested in getting the bridge painted.

  2. I was in early and out late so I can’t speak to the traffic, but at 12:30 there was still a buzz outside and bars and restaurants were very busy.

    I thought it was an excellent show… but I would prefer to see Don Henley get behind the drum kit for Hotel California…..minor complaint.

  3. I thought they sounded much better than I thought they would given the high ranges of many of their songs and their ages. It was obvious that Glenn Frey was unable to play the difficult solos, so they brought in another guitarist. Obviously Don can’t keep up the drums anymore, and they didn’t try and hit the really high ranges on a few songs.

    That said, it’s a testament to their professionalism that they made the necessary adjustments and didn’t try and pull off something they couldn’t pull off at the expense of the fans.

  4. Is that a testament to their professionalism? When a surgeon no longer has the steady hands for an operation I would think a testament to his professionalism would be retiring- same with musicians. Oh, and as to ‘nay-sayers’, personally, for me it’s not so much about the location or the kinda uninspiring design, it’s the fact that no one seems to care that Yum! Corp., the largest fast food restaurant company, is headquartered in our city and advertising on a building that one can’t help but see. I don’t eat fast food, would prefer others not eat it, and sure don’t want to be associated with the industry.

  5. I gather you didn’t go to the concert and have no idea how they sounded better that 4/5 of the “younger” acts touring right now. If an older surgeon could perform 80% of his surgeries better than younger less-experienced surgeons and chose not to perform a few of the complicated ones he wasn’t confident in, I would hope he would continue to operate.

    I guess if Rainbow Blossom or Whole Foods cut a check the size YUM did, Jim Host would have been more than happy to call it the “Flax Center.”

  6. I gather you didn’t go to the concert and have no idea how they sounded better that 90% of the “younger” acts touring right now. If an older surgeon could perform 90% of his surgeries better than younger less-experienced surgeons and chose not to perform a few of the complicated ones he wasn’t confident in, I would hope he would continue to operate.


  7. Mark H, what naysayers?

    Yes, there has been criticism of various aspects of this project, and I think that criticism led to a better result, but I don’t know if there’s anyone actually opposed to the arena itself.

  8. No, I’m not much of an Eagles fan. I was just questioning what it is to display professionalism.

    I’m sure Mr. Host would of but, either way, it hardly seems like a defense. There are plenty of huge corporations with large bank accounts but a large bank account in no way speaks to ethics and values. Heck, maybe you are right Mark, maybe I am a nay-sayer. I don’t care about college basketball, Lady Gaga, the Eagles, Dane Cook, and most likely the the majority of events that will take place there. I’m incensed that the city, my tax dollars, helped pay for it at a time when we have had to reduce public transit service and large swathes of the Western portion of our city are derelict. It irritates me that UofL seems to place more emphasis on sports rather than academics. It all comes down to priorities and a new arena is very low on my list.

    Is it good for Louisville? Dunno. It has certainly spurred development on adjacent blocks, which is great. I wonder if there wasn’t a better way to do that though. for example, what if, instead of a new arena, Louisville had opted for light rail that ran on main and market from the West End into Butchertown. Not only would that have eased congestion on downtown roads but, unlike the arena, would be useful to the citizens of our community everyday. Also, development does appear to follow rapid transit projects. Not being an urban planner I can really only back that up with personal observation but in other cities I have lived in that was the case.

    Anyway, it’s there now so the most I guess I can hope for is Yum! becoming renowned for their fair labor practices, ethical treatment of animals, environmental stewardship, and great tasting healthy meals in a hurry.

  9. I, too, went to a concert downtown but actually saw Gordon Lightfoot at the Palace.

    He’s showing his age and some health issues, but still put on a great show.

  10. Steve, I asked Jim Host a couple of months ago how he was able to get John Schnatter and David Jones on board with the new arena, and Host was very quick to respond that neither are on board with the new arena.

    Papa John’s has an agreement to be the sole pizza vendor in the new arena, so I am not sure why Schnatter has remained so uncommitted to the success of the new arena.

    The people who criticize the arena have the most preposterous arguments. The poster above doesn’t eat fast food so they don’t like the new name. How about this for a solution, you ante up $10 million dollars and you can put your name on the arena. In the CJ yesterday they quoted someone bitching because they arrived at the arena 4 hours early and there was not a parking attendant to meet them. Boohoo!

  11. Certainly if it were that would be a preposterous argument but I’m not sure that’s the essence of her complaint, SiteMinder.

  12. The point I was trying to make is that being born and raised in this wonderful town, there is a segment that opposes anything that is different or requires the taking of risk to advance the city. There are still many, yes naysayers, who think it will never pay for itself and that would create a logistical nightmare to the downtown area. Steve, I was speaking to the naysayers to the current location (most prominently Jones, Schnatter, and Billy Reed).

    Time will tell as to how correct or wrong they are, but the project was completed very efficiently, completed well, and seems to be off to a good start.

    Look, every Louisvillian knows that we have lost out to cities like Nashville and Indianapolis who have embraced corporate America and passed us up. It is certainly anyone’s right to demonize local corporations like Humana and YUM because they are perceived as socially irresponsible and that’s their right, but don’t complain about the lack of economic development in this city when we’re not willing to do what it takes to attract new business to town.

  13. I went to the concert and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m a big Eagles fan. Some of the first music I’d ever purchased was Greatest Hits #1.

    BTW, I live on the Sunnyside and walked across the bridge. Steady stream of folks went this route.

    And now for the negatives! I had the cheap seats (’cause those were what I could afford. Apparently, those were the only seats other people could afford because they were just about all taken). I was one row from the top (row V), almost straight back from the stage. Great view of the stage, but there was a scoreboard/electronic billboard/something that blocked my (and everyone around me) view of the JumboTron-like screens that showed the performers. A little more than annoying. So, my advice is: don’t order tix above row L!

    I haven’t toured the arena but I might have to but to answer my next complaint: there has to be more ways to the third floor other than the escalators at the front and the elevators. Leaving the concert was a little like a cattle drive for the escalators. People started using the fire exits to get out. And the fire exit the girlfriend and I used deposited us below the Second Street Bridge, so that wasn’t bad.

    Concession prices were a little ridiculous. As a friend says, Jesse James (the outlaw, not Sandy B’s ex) used a gun.

  14. Mark H. (not Herbert): Several points. The Arena Authority WILL BE BANKRUPT by the end of the 2nd (or at the latest 3rd) Quarter of 2011. Why? Because they’ve given the lion’s share of the revenue streams to a university (which isn’t taxed on its receipts). Nashville’s and Indy’s and Memphis’ and Orlando’s and Pittsburgh’s and United Center in Chi-town haven’t done something that fiscally stupid.
    Furthermore, they’ve allowed for the ‘thing’ to be marketed (almost EXCLUSIVELY) as a UofL arena. None of the afore-noted arenas are marketed as a ‘college arena.’ Not even Rupp Arena has done something that stupid, nor does Rupp Arena position the UofK to be IN CHARGE of scheduling (which INHIBITS other usages of Yum during the winter).
    Time will tell, but the ‘naysayers’ Jones/Schnatter (as you call them) are the only 2 individuals in Louisville WHO ACTUALLY MADE A BILLION DOLLARS. All the others were either given it from Daddy or haven’t gotten there yet. So I listen to the ones who ‘made it’ and didn’t ‘inherit it.’

  15. THANKS Highlander. Time will tell and I will be willing to admit it was a bad decision if it turns out that way.

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