The Over-Under on Fischer’s Speech

I feel like I’m so far behind on making wisecracks about our public officials, media types and tattoo-parlor crashers.  But it’s easy to make excuses for inactivity these days — it DID snow a few inches yesterday.

This morning I went to the Okolona Business Association breakfast, where the speaker was our own blogger/staff nutritionist Barbara Day. She had some good advice for pushing away from the table, and was shocked that the guy sitting in front of her at the Yum Center last night had 3 beers. I didn’t need to hear how many calories that was. 7th District LMPD commander Mark Fox told the crowd that the cops in the South End are embarking on a new strategy to reduce traffic fatalities in the District — giving more tickets.

Fox said the 15 fatalities in 2010 were too many, and that his strategy to fix it is to writer more tickets for speeding, running lights, seat-belt non-compliance and…texting. So here’s a fair warning — texting and driving will get you pulled over, at least in Okolona.

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: The over-under on how many times Greg Fischer will use that tired phrasing in the State of the City speech today is about 7.  But at least it’s the right place for a local politician to focus – jobs and the economy are the issues people care about.  I’m just waiting to hear some specifics from Fischer. LouisvilleKY.com will have our own Brittany-Ann Wick at the Noon speech to report on it.

The fake Fischer account

Fake Greg Fischer: You know you’ve made the big-time when a fake Twitter account gets set up in your name.  Most recent Twit: Getting nervous about today’s speech. Doesn’t help the Jim King keeps calling to say: “They’re all going to laugh at you.” I’ll show them…”

Blackwell’s Bad Idea: If the Metro Council is going to start calling out media types at meetings, such as Rick Blackwell calling the C-J’s Dan Klepal the “Republican writer” recently, it’s a signal the thin-skinned bunch is going to be ultra-paranoid this year. That’ll be fun. The Dem caucus might also considering reigning in its members who think it’s OK to accept free tickets to basketball games and employ family members on dubious city-financed projects. Good piece in LEO.

New Rules: Local strip clubs are bracing for the city’s enforcement of idiotic new rules that will likely put them out of business. In this WHAS-TV piece, council member Bob Henderson offered a weak defense of the rules, saying “I think the community spoke, and we don’t want some of those things that were happening. We don’t want that. We don’t want it.” Bob, you need to drive your truck somewhere other than Dixie Highway and talk to some people who make a living in the business. Or tell us where the mandate comes from.

Paul Brings More National Attention to Kentucky: Most pundits outside of Kentucky are ridiculing Rand Paul’s plan to save $500 billion by slashing food stamps, education, arts programs and public broadcasting.  It’s a long list. The problem — everyone in Washington is focused on cutting spending, but no one, except Paul, is willing to suggest areas for cutting.  And no one’s going to go with eliminating the Dept. of Energy.

Me and Meiners: Listen up today on 84WHAS Radio for my appearance on the Terry Meiners show.