The Courier-Journal (Louisville)

Law takes on security at businesses

Louisville Metro Council approved an ordinance July 30 requiring late-night businesses deemed a nuisance to have security personnel on site. The ordinance, sponsored by Councilwoman Tammy Hawkins and cosponsored by Councilwomen Betsy Ruhe and Barbara...

From Ohio

Ohio State revokes fraternity for 10 years after student hospitalized in March

Equine headstones

When Barbaro raced down the stretch at Churchill Downs to win the 2006 Kentucky Derby by 6 / lengths, he did more than win the most legendary race. He became a national sensation. Then he shattered his right hind leg at the start of the Preakness,...

JCPS officer has Yearwood ties

A new chief academic officer with strong ties to Jefferson County Public Schools Superintendent Brian Yearwood has been named, marking the third person to fill the position in less than one year. Nathan Balasubramanian, who has worked with Yearwood in...

‘AMAZING OPPORTUNITIES’

Jainaba Jobe had a busy day. First, she pitched herself at a packed job fair, then she aced a job interview with Kit Federal Credit Union. Finally, she attended an awards’ ceremony, all while sporting a neatly tailored blue pantsuit she snagged with...

Kentucky copper plant pivots to power data center boom

Turning up its smelters, Kentucky’s Hussey Copper plant could be poised to help bring copper manufacturing back to the United States. Hussey Copper, which was founded in 1848 in Pennsylvania and opened a plant in Henry County in 1966, was acquired by...

A preventable tragedy?

Something was wrong at the AAK vegetable oil factory in Shively, and it was Adam Goins’ job to fix it. It was a cloudy Sunday in September. Goins, an AAK maintenance worker, was at home monitoring operations remotely after an alarm went off at the...

A community’s pillar

In a world where grocery, electric and housing prices seemingly climb higher every year, one cost hasn’t risen for Danielle Ruffin’s family. h The Patch is just as free as it was when she was a child. h Nearly four decades have passed since the single...

Why KY’s new colon cancer law is important

There are so many things that are uncomfortable about colon cancer. The disease itself can be devastating. Colonoscopies have a reputation of being inconvenient, and the day-long prep involved with it is often extremely unpleasant. Not to mention,...

Steel mill site eyed for huge data center

A developer is eyeing the property of a shuttered steel mill in Eastern Kentucky for what would be the largest data center project in the state so far, according to plans shared with local officials. The developer, Rubix Data Centers, plans to build a...

Policing the party

According to an LMPD statement, the Summer Task Force will become a new unit focused on “enhancing safety and improving experiences in entertainment districts while conducting proactive crime-prevention details within the city’s five Sustained Focus...

WANTED: A JOB

Every Monday, 18-year-old Holden Beckett drives from Louisville to Frankfort to help film Gov. Andy Beshear’s podcast. By the weekend, he’s back in Louisville, serving up breadsticks and pasta bowls at a local Olive Garden. • After graduating from...

More housing?

Improving housing supply and affordability in Louisville are among the key aims of newly proposed changes to rules guiding development in the county. Recently introduced, long-awaited updates to Louisville Metro’s Land Development Code would make it...

Rep. Guthrie at center of data center battle

Across Kentucky, conversations around data centers are quickly dividing communities and their elected officials, with local and federal lawmakers increasingly coming under fire from their constituents. Data centers have been around for decades....

Announcer has ‘got it down to a science’

As Shawnee Park Road curved left, a man’s voice carried clearly through the trees. It was at once complimentary and critical, praising smooth jump shots and criticizing three-pointers that fell short. The voice belonged to Cornell Bradley, known...

JCPS officials say they’ve been left out of major decisions that affect students. Is the district repeating past mistakes?

Uncertain impact

Following a year muddled with global trade debacle as President Donald Trump’s administration implemented — and then removed — a slew of tariffs on most other countries, a key trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico will soon begin a...

‘WE’RE THE FIRST IN THE COUNTRY’

In La Grange, tucked away from busy suburban streets in an unsuspecting building sits Baptist Health’s most technologically advanced facility. • Inside the massive warehouse-like Baptist Health Central Pharmacy Services Center, is a highly-automated...

‘I think there’s some hope’

CYNTHIANA, KY — Pam Abnee voted for Donald Trump in 2024. Susan Bramel, her friend of 50 years, did not. As the nation commemorated its 250th birthday this month amid a hyperpartisan election season, these politically opposed women sat next to each...

WACKY INTERSECTIONS

In January, we published a story about some of Louisville’s most confusing intersections — concrete carriageways that just make us wonder about lane merging, traffic flow and streets of days past. • The feedback to “Whose lane is it anyway? A look at...

‘I’m getting a little animal therapy’

Four Louisville Metro Police officers marched west along the paths of Waterfront Park toward downtown, hooves clacking with each measured, confident step. Four more officers rode astride their partners, heads on a swivel, smiles on their faces along...

A reporter’s visit to the ‘Birthplace of KFC’

En route to Louisville to film the 19th season of the hit Food Network show, “The Great Food Truck Race,” celebrity chef Tyler Florence spontaneously stopped at the Sanders Café and Museum in Corbin, Kentucky. The visit blew the TV personality away,...

Can Louisville save its stored public art?

Louisville officials are mulling over whether $52 million worth of public art in the city’s collection should receive repairs and maintenance work following an extensive study. A May 2026 report from Pacific Coast Conservation determined a team of...

Locust Grove names first Black board chair

Andrea Meriwether, incoming chair of the Historic Locust Grove Board of Directors, said she slept on the historic property’s manicured grass to develop a personal connection with the land. On a normal day on the grounds, it has not been unusual for...

The de Paul School’s pillars raise readers

On warm June Wednesday at The de Paul School, a small group of fourth and fifth graders chanted with their teacher. “A word family is a group of letters beginning with a vowel used to build words,” the class echoed rhythmically. Teacher Julie Lewis...

FIGHTING TO STAY OPEN

Video reviewed by The Courier Journal shows the June 21 shooting that led city officials to shut down Atomic occurred across Bardstown Road from the nightclub. The footage, provided by Atomic owner Dustin Hensley, sheds more light on what led to the...

Campaign raises $300K to support retired racehorses

Each summer midafternoon, Nikki Bernstein, farm manager at Chestnut Hall, clangs a metal scooper against the wooden fence of the farm to signify it’s lunch time. Slowly, a string of Thoroughbreds grazing on the other side of a rolling hill will gallop...

America puts aside divisions for July 4

Fireworks burst above marbled monuments honoring America’s forefathers for roughly 40 minutes as sun-drenched and rain-soaked Americans watched. The past-midnight display sparkled above the National Mall and on screens across the United States, marking...

OF THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE FOR THE PEOPLE

As America turns 250, the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln points to what comes next

MOUNTING SKEPTICISM

FINCHVILLE – Inside the expansive Finchville Ruritan Club, audience members leaned forward on their squeaky folding chairs to hear Texas Gas Transmission representatives through a tinny microphone. They were speaking about a new pipeline the company...

Operation White Flag

As the Louisville metro area experiences high temperatures, Kentuckiana organizations are helping unhoused individuals stay safe through the weather. Kentucky and Indiana are under an extreme heat warning, which will end in Jefferson County at 9 p.m....

Kentucky still burns a lot of coal ...

Kentucky power plants burn heaps of coal — more than 20 million tons each year, enough to fill a freight train stretching from Louisville to Los Angeles. But it has been a decade since the majority of that coal was mined from Kentucky ground, by...

As rain moves out, heat wave moves in

Louisville residents are urged to stay inside when possible as extreme temperatures close to 100 degrees are expected through July 4, according to the latest forecast by the National Weather Service in Louisville. The extreme temperatures come after...

‘Incomplete knowledge’

The night sky glowed red as a team of hazmat technicians hiked the banks of Louisville’s Northern Ditch, tracing an oily sheen from the wreckage of UPS Flight 2976, still ablaze on the horizon. Between the plane’s load of jet fuel and a petroleum...

ON THE BOOKS

With more than 100 new laws soon taking effect, Kentucky legislators are already looking ahead to issues left unresolved in Frankfort this year. Under the Kentucky constitution, laws passed during the state’s legislative session automatically go into...

PIONEERING COUPLE

As thousands of community members celebrate LGBTQ-centered events in Louisville as part of Pride Month, many remain unaware how two Louisville women shaped queer history when they applied for a marriage license in 1970, leading to what many experts...

$3.8M tax incentive pitched for conversion

A long-vacant office building in downtown Louisville could be converted into a Hilton flag hotel with the assist of an up to nearly $3.8 million tax incentive. A 150-room Canopy by Hilton is being eyed for the Landmark Building at 300 and 310 W....

Cause for concern

The social media videos have been hard to miss. h For much of the summer, late-night and early-morning crowds have filled a stretch of Bardstown Road in The Highlands. Louisville Metro officials say the gatherings, a mix of adults and teenagers, have...

‘CENSORSHIP AND SANITIZATION’

Last year, under executive order from President Donald Trump, the National Park Service placed small but controversial signs in its hundreds of parks, monuments and other properties. The signs asked visitors to identify “any signs or information that...

‘Judge, jury and executioner’

A federal court ruled for a third time that the enforcement power of the agency tasked to oversee the safety of thoroughbred racehorses and horsemen is unconstitutional. The case involves the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protection Association...

Metro Council talks bigger data centers

The Courier Journal recently asked each Louisville Metro Council member the same question: “Do you support the development of hyperscale data centers in Jefferson County? Why or why not?” The question comes as Metro Council members are tasked with...

HEATED

Eric Maher dreads the stretch of summer months when the heat drains all the energy from his body, sometimes even stealing his ability to play with his kids. Maher is a UPS delivery driver. His rural route takes him through 65 stops and about 170 miles...

Louisville son recreates father’s WWII photo

Most tourists don’t stumble upon Nanakuli Beach Park, but the sandy beach with a distinctly curved mountain in the backdrop in Hawaii held a piece of Doug Draper’s family past. So, Doug traveled more than 4,000 miles to find it. Eighty years before,...

Flooding and power outages after storms

Thousands of customers were left without power and multiple tornadoes were reported after overnight storms hit Indiana, parts of Ohio, and Kentucky June 17-18. A slow-moving cold front brought strong to severe storms to the area that caused high winds...

‘Help, not bullets’

This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, you can call the 24/7 U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or chat online at suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat. Rebecca Hall believes things...

‘This is not the status quo’

Charles Booker’s highest elected position is the only one on his record — a two-year stint as state representative for House District 43. But as he pushes for a U.S. Senate seat for the third time since 2020, he’s built a following across the nation....

I-65 work ‘on schedule’ even with heavy rain

Despite heavy rain on June 9, construction crews “have been working around the clock” on Interstate 65 just over a week after the two-month shutdown began, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. The closure is part of KYTC’s Central...

THE DEATH OF MILTON RCIHIE

s the sign for Fordhaven Road came into view, Milton Ritchie Jr. eased off the gas and prepared to turn. It was Saturday afternoon, and the 20-year-old was spending the day away from his job at UPS. Earlier, he had visited his father, who was...

TKC Distilling Co. faces 2 suits alleging $1.5M in unpaid bills

A Kentucky bourbon company with ties to the Kentucky Castle is facing two separate lawsuits for allegedly not paying its bills. In two separate lawsuits filed in April and May, respectively, with Jefferson County Circuit Court, parties Peggy Noe...

Officials release draft of data center rules

Louisville planning officials released draft data center regulations June 9 for public input, following a months-long research process. The draft regulations ban future data centers that exceed 500,000 square feet and set strict standards for smaller...

How nonprofit helps with Ebola outbreak

Pascal Bashombana has witnessed firsthand how an overwhelmed and underfunded health system can impact a population. Raised in Goma, a major city in Congo, Bashombana has seen disease responses fail to protect his loved ones. He recently supported his...

Center looks to fill mental health crisis resource gap

Standing on the stage of Memorial Auditorium, less than a month after police fatally shot a woman experiencing a mental health crisis, two of Louisville’s most powerful leaders were asked if they’d commit to partnering with a new crisis center where...

ALI'S HEAVYWEIGHT IMPACT

016 was a particularly violent year in Louisville’s history with 118 fatal shootings. But the week after Muhammad Ali’s death on June 3 of that year, there were none. In what he called “the greatest city in the world,” some believe Ali was responsible...

DISCONTINUED

Do you remember the vehicles of yesteryear? ● Maybe you remember the big, boxy chrome-type sedans and coupes of the 1970s, or the smoother, sharper, revolutionized cars of the 1980s. Maybe the SUV and sport vehicle boom of the 1990s captured your...

Criminalizing homelessness?

Most mornings at 8 a.m., a caravan of seven to eight vehicles rumbles along East Broadway in downtown Louisville. The convoy — typically city vehicles, Louisville Metro Police Department cruisers, a garbage truck and an excavator towed by a dump truck...

IMPACTFUL LEADERSHIP

For the first time in 16 years, the roughly 12,000 union members at UAW Local 862 have a new president. Todd Dunn, the charismatic, loud and long-serving labor leader, who worked his way up from the line at Ford Motor Co. to leading the automakers...

‘All worked out like I thought it would’

LEXINGTON — Cherie DeVaux looked from the screen on her phone to the screen on her tablet then back to her phone before turning it over. She exhaled. It’s just after 10:30 a.m. She’d again spent every minute between training racehorses and a reporter...

DETOURS AND DELAYS

Louisville drivers got through their first day of commuting with the Interstate 65 closure after all north and southbound lanes for a five-mile stretch of the highway from Jefferson Street to the Interstate 264 interchange shut down June 1. The...

Finding recovery through purpose

By the time Kendra arrived at Spy Coast Farm, she only saw three options ahead of her. She could learn to muck stalls and groom horses. She could go back to prison. Or, she could die. Nearly two decades of substance abuse and addiction had...

Summer concert guide

From emerging artists to legendary talents, performing everywhere from stadiums to dark clubs, Louisville is tuning up for its most electric season of summer music in years. The city has long been home to seasoned pros across every genre, but lately,...

Data center moratorium urged until new regulations finalized

Weeks after the anticipated release of draft regulations for data centers in Louisville, planning officials have yet to publicly release their recommendations, prompting a councilwoman to propose a moratorium on data center applications while the...

Drivers encouraged to have plan in place

With the Interstate 65 closure just days away, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet officials are urging Louisville drivers to make preparations. A portion of I-65 from Jefferson Street to the Interstate 264 interchange will close June 1 as part of the...

THE LEGACY OF ‘BABY CALVIN’

When Trish Cardin’s third son was born with a deadly heart condition in May 1986, doctors suspected his tiny heart might pump for a matter of weeks. • She and her husband had two grim choices. • They could take him home to Glendale, about 85 miles...

‘The story had to end’

In King Elementary’s damp parking lot, hundreds of bikes were lined up from biggest to smallest — silver and almost full-sized at the front, pink and still bearing training wheels at the back. The first wave of students, in bright green helmets donated...

TIMEPIECE FROM THE PAST

A colorful piece of Louisville history could return for public viewing after more than a decade in storage, though several details remain undetermined after talks began in Spring 2026. The Louisville Clock, known by longtime locals for its cast of...

Always remembered

Despite a steady drizzle, a few hundred people gathered at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville May 22 to honor the fallen soldiers who served in the United States Armed Forces and kick off Memorial Day weekend. Each year on the Friday before Memorial Day,...

Inside our reporting on how JCPS fixed issue

Nearly three years after a major transportation disaster, Jefferson County Public Schools has largely fixed its busing woes. This school year, the last bus rider made it home by around 6:30 p.m. on the first day, almost three and a half hours earlier...

Transportation tunnel plan stalled after veto

A proposal to build a 3-mile tunnel for underground transportation in Louisville faces a rift on partisan lines. The project, which proponents say would be similar to what Elon Musk’s Boring Company has presented in Las Vegas and Nashville, seemed to...

‘MORE ACTIVITY, MORE ENERGY’

Newly released renderings are giving the public an updated look at a proposed development near Louisville Slugger Field that was first announced in December 2024. The downtown project, previously estimated to cost $250 million, would bring apartments,...

Whirlwind night

Primary elections in Kentucky always bring plenty of highlights and surprises. This week’s races across the Bluegrass State were no exception. U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie’s defeat to challenger Ed Gallrein drew plenty of headlines nationally, as did U.S....

VOTERS HEAD TO THE POLLS

It was a big day in the Bluegrass State. On May 19, voters across Kentucky weighed in on several major primaries, deciding who will move on to compete for U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s open seat and who earned the closely watched Republican nomination...

Clerk: Tech issues won’t happen again

In November 2024, Election Day in Jefferson County didn’t exactly go smoothly. Tech issues with the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office’s electronic pollbooks caused delays. At some polling places, lines grew long and some voters left before casting a...

‘Generations to come’

Mill Creek, the beleaguered but beloved waterway running through southwest Jefferson County, has hope for a comeback. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved a watershed plan for Mill Creek, local and state officials announced May 13 —...