Happy Hump Day. Here’s some of the more interesting things I’ve noticed out there in the news.
Going Public: Louisville Public Media’s Donovan Reynolds recorded a spot airing on the station urging YOU to get involved in a grass-roots campaign to dissuade Congress from cutting the budget for Public Broadcasting. The U.S. House voted to end federal funding of public broadcasting, so advocates are trying to mobilize the 170 million people who listen and watch.
38 Years: WHAS-TV photographer Donnie Ruark retired yesterday after 38 YEARS at the station, prompting a visit from station mascot Fisbie (shown here with Claudia Coffey). Wow! How does anyone keep the same job that long?
Terry and Zig: Guess who showed up on Terry Meiners’ show yesterday? Former WHAS morning talk show host and Sarah Palin pal John Ziegler. The Zig, who lives in L.A. and produced a documentary about Palin, said he knows her better than anyone, and that he thinks she is going to run for President.
Lanny on TV: Looks like Insight’s Pure Politics show on cn/2 is doing pretty well. The operation hired former WLKY-TV reporter Lanny Brannock, who vowed on Facebook: “We will show you can do a down the middle political program and journalism isn’t dead yet.” Sounds good to me. Brannock had been working in state government.
Farrell’s Fall: Fans of the weekly political commentary show Comment on Kentucky will be seeing a lot of guest hosts like Bill Bryant for a while. While on a trip up north, host Farrell Wellman suffered a serious fall on the ice. He’s OK, but out of action for a while.
Is The Honeymoon Over?: Last night, Mayor Fischer heard from plenty of citizens about ways to spend money, even after he announced he was starting work on his first budget and, well, there’s a $23 million shortfall. At least he doesn’t look at paring payroll the same way his predecessor did, saying “Layoffs are something you never want to do, but you also have to go into a budget cycle understanding that all the options are on the table.” He sent 5,500 employees an e-mail asking for budget cutting ideas. Here’s one — Layoffs.
Teepee Time: The most buzz online about any city project concerns the Hogan’s Fountain Teepee in Cherokee Park. Supporters have raised $21K, including $11K from a Readers Digest contest, but have a long way to go to reach the $82K they need to repair it. And (see item above) I wouldn’t expect the city to come up with any funds for it.
Drugs in J-town: Good for the most expensive police force in the state. Jeffersontown cops seized what they say is $150K worth of synthetic marijuana on Blankenbaker Access road, thanks to a tip from a neighboring business owner, prompting Mayor Bill Dieruf to say “We will not put up with the drug problem. That’s why we have one of the finest police forces in the state, if not the finest.”
More Shelly: If you haven’t heard enough from Sheldon Berman, the JCPS outgoing Supe will be on Joe Elliott’s show (970AM) today at Noon. Gov. Beshear will join Joe at 2:30.
