LEO acquired by SouthComm Communications

SouthComm Communications, Inc., a Tennessee-based media and publishing company, has acquired LEO, an alternative weekly newspaper serving the Louisville area, from Times Publishing Co. of Pennsylvania.

The acquisition was announced to staff this morning.

“We’re very pleased to be bringing LEO into the SouthComm fold,” said Chris Ferrell, Chief Executive Officer of SouthComm Communications. “Our vision is to build a family of niche publications that produces quality products for distinct audiences. With its strong track record of insightful and relevant coverage of the Louisville area, LEO fits that mold perfectly.”

LEO publisher Pam Brooks said she intends for LEO to keep doing what it has always done — challenge perceptions, provide strong, well-rounded reporting and be a comprehensive guide to the area's goings-on.

“LEO has evolved into the Louisville area’s most urbane and challenging newsweekly by looking beyond the surface and delivering locally relevant information that can’t be found elsewhere,” said Brooks. “We look forward to tapping the talents of the SouthComm team to help us provide even more value to our readers, advertisers and publishing partners.”

For information about the sale, contact publisher Pam Brooks at (502) 895-9770 x217 or via e-mail. For information about the newspaper, contact managing editor Stephen George at (502) 895-9770 x214 or via e-mail. (Staff)

Train whistle meeting cancelled

In today's paper I wrote a column about a neighborhood meeting tonight in Crescent Hill about the new proposal to avoid having train whistles blow along the Frankfort Avenue corridor. That meeting has been canceled, according to Councilwoman Tina Ward-Pugh's office. Heads up. (SG)

Former LEO intern named "100 Best"

UWire, the Associated Press of student journalism, has named its "100 Best" student journalists. Congratulations to Sean Rose, a UK student and managing editor of The Kentucky Kernel, for making the list. Rose, a former LEO intern, is a delightful talent and totally deserving of the nod.

Read about him here. (SG)

Pics from last night

LEO freelancer Marty Pearl was on hand at Clinton's victory party last night. Dig some images below, and read our account of the festivities here.

House Speaker Jody Richards gave a fiery introduction.

Hillary Clinton arrived to massive applause.

The crowd, as it were, went wild.

Clinton maintained her aggressive, I-won't-give-up persona while maintaining a light, conciliatory tone toward Sen. Obama.

It's a family affair.

Kentucky's race problem goes international

The mainstream spotlight on Kentucky's race factor vote in the Democratic presidential primary has gotten coverage halfway across the world.

From AlJazeera (English):



"...I just don't want to vote for a--."

More bad press for the Bluegrass.

Secret's out. Was it ever in? (pb)

Live from the Clinton Party

Once again, we'll trot out our laptop and camera and give you something live from this evening's Hillary Clinton "victory party" — if, as the polls suggest, there will be some victory celebration there. Bill and Chelsea are expected to be on hand.

We dropped by the Downtown Marriott a few minutes ago to pick up press credentials and damn, is that place crowded! All kinds of national press peeps are on hand. As we reported here yesterday, it's possible she'll drop out of the race here tonight, which would explain the scads of high-profile press. It could also be that Obama doesn't really have anything going tonight, save a speech in Iowa (could he be declaring his victory at the place where he started this primary season?).


In any case, the room where the Clintons will be is by no means big, and it looks like about half of it will be full of press. Should be a fun night. Stay tuned. (SG)

6:38: LEO editor Cary Stemle, photog Marty Pearl and I are hanging out in the press room waiting for the Clintons to arrive. We're amid a ton of press here, and we've just consumed boxed chicken sandwiches provided, I think, by the campaign. Yum. TV peeps are here from all over Kentucky and Cincinnati, along with tons of national media. Dana Milbank from the Washington Post is here. Some dude from the NY Times just cruised by jabbering into his cell phone. We're a bit starstruck — in a supremely geeky way. What does it suggest when the reporters are more interesting than the candidates?

Returns are starting, too: At the moment, Clinton is up 53 to 42 on Obama, with a mere 8 percent of the state reporting, and Bruce Lunsford is beating Greg Fischer by 10 points. In Jefferson County, Anne Northup is up on Chris Thieneman in the Republican congressional primary 77-20, with 36 percent reporting. Damn.

7:00: Sweet Christ it's freezing cold in this press room. There's a hubbub out in the big room, where all the fans are: NBC News projects HIllary Clinton to win KY. Wow.

7:03: CNN says Clinton wins. Crowd goes wild. Big screen TV is showing live feed of CNN ... broadcasting live from that room. Meta!

7:05: 54-42 Clinton, with almost a quarter of KY precincts reporting. In more startling news, it looks like Katie King will win District Judge 30th District, 16th Division. She's only a couple years out of law school, and has worked as an assistant county attorney for, um, not very long. She's right around 30 years old, and beats at least three candidates with significantly more experience. That's big. She and David Holton will be on the ballot in November.

7:13: The AP reports on exit polls that say Kentuckians are concerned about the economy above anything else. The Iraq war pegged a staggering 20 percent, with healthcare at 10 percent. Seriously?

7:22: Did you ever notice how Terry McAuliffe always says, "The race goes on, and it should go on." I think he's saying it again, right outside of where we're sitting, waiting for Hillary to see how big her margin is, so she'll know how cocky she can be when she makes her speech here in a bit. (CS)

7:25: They just fired up Mellencamp's "Our Country" in the room, and it made me think of Matt Taibbi's recent Rolling Stone piece about Clinton's fantasy campaign.


7:42: I'm bored. To quote Tom Petty, which came to mind when I read the Taibbi piece, the waiting is the hardest part. Yeah. Pet peeve: How can the Clinton camp repeatedly say the delegate totals don't count because Florida and Michigan got tossed for voting too early? Their logical leap then somehow counts those votes for HER, which is like having the starter fire his gun twice at a foot race, signifying a false start, but one of the runners keeps running and the officials throw up their hands and say, "Oh, well, I guess he wins." Bogus. (CS)

7:51: Word is Clinton's on in about 10 minutes. Here in Louisville, Northup stomped the shit out of the competition, with 76 percent of the vote and over 80 percent reporting. The Metro Council races turned out to be duds, with the great exception of District 6, where George Unseld and Ken Herndon are locked in a crazy-close race: With 85 percent reporting, Unseld is up by 48 votes. Wow.

8:36: Clinton just finished her victory speech. She did not concede. Rather, she struck the same "I will persevere" chord that she's been plucking these last couple of weeks.

"You've never given up on me because you know I'll never give up on you," she said to great applause.

As is customary at some of the more traditionally-run Democratic functions in KY, five speakers preceded Clinton, including Terry McAuliffe, Clinton's campaign chairman, who claimed that Clinton now holds the lead in the popular vote.

Clinton also rolled out her electoral map argument again, saying she's the only Democrat who could win in swing states like Pennsylvania and Ohio. She won both of those primaries. As well, she pleaded that the votes of Florida and Michigan be counted at the convention in Denver this August. Because both of those states moved up their primaries, the DNC has punished them by saying their delegates wouldn't be counted. When Clinton argues that she has the lead in the popular vote, she is counting those two states, while the DNC and Obama's campaign do not, at least at this point.

Finally, Clinton noted the urgency of uniting the Democratic Party behind its nominee, whether it's her or Obama.

"We will unite our country and make sure America's best years are still ahead of us," she said. (SG)

8:46: Just ran into LEO's Sara Havens, who was up front for Hillary's speech. She says it was pretty standard stuff there till near the end, when a guy with an Obama sign and a Clinton supporter almost got into it. Now, that's more like it!

Yep, it was about what we expected — a largely white crowd, somewhat paripatetic overall, there were no big announcements and a lot of warm-up comments from local and state Dems, followed by a defiant but polite speech from Hillary. They keep counting those Michigan and Florida votes as if that was a level contest.

Where's the integrity? Oh, forgot. One thing Bill taught his wife, apparently, was how to prevaricate in the face of reality. That is a special skill, and what the hell, it's not like some of the world's best leaders haven't had it in spades.

I like to joke, and goad whoever's pants seem to be down at the moment. The Clinton machine is nothing to trifle with. I'm almost starting to think they're gonna find a way to execute this coup — I mean, persuade the party to usurp the process and play queen-maker. Which raises another dilemma — is this country ready to toss aside the phrase "kingmaker"? Good times. (CS)

8:48: OK, before we leave this joint, a note on some other races: Looks like all the Metro Council incumbents have retained their seats. George Unseld squeaked by Ken Herndon. I have to think it had something to do with a nasty, bigoted flier passed out this weekend in the 6th District. And that sucks. We'll be looking into that one in the coming days. We have a lead on where it may have come from, and it ain't pretty.

Lunsford is up 50-34 with 81 percent of precincts reporting. That's over. Negative campaigning sucks. It's been proven yet again.

Clinton is crushing Obama, and may win by 40 points. That's all for tonight from here. (SG)

9:47: SITTING ON THE COUCH REFLECTING: The most important thing Hillary might've said tonight was that it's likely neither candidate will be over the top on delegates by the time ALL 50 STATES HAVE VOTED on June 3, and so ... "Our party will have a tough choice to make." Hell, June 3rd is not that far off. So, presumably, we're gonna know something pretty soon, right? Right? (CS)

Rumor alert: Clinton to concede tomorrow in Louisville

The rumor mills are rather notorious for firing up in the days preceding an election, but this one's too good to pass up: A source close to the Obama campaign in Kentucky told LEO today that Clinton will use her appearance tomorrow night in Louisville to officially concede the Democratic primary to Barack Obama. Bill and Chelsea are planning to be here, and the word is the Clinton camp has informed national media to send their big guns to cover a major announcement in the Ville. Clinton's camp has denied it, of course.

We'll be there tomorrow. Stay tuned. (SG)

UPDATE: There are so many satellite trucks and national news media around the Downtown Marriott that the city has closed the southbound portion of Second Street between Jefferson and Liberty streets to accommodate the crowd. The hotel is where Hillary Clinton will hold her "victory party" this evening.

UPDATE II: I got a call from the Obama campaign's KY headquarters today. It appears this little rumor is getting some buzz, and they wanted to clarify that they are NOT the source of the rumor. There you have it.

Joel Osteen says God will correct gas prices

"Thank God the economy is not our source," roadshow evangelist Joel Osteen said. He spoke Sunday in Louisville, to a crowd of more than 11,000.

"God is our source. … It doesn't matter if (gas) goes to $20 a gallon, God is able to take care of us. … God can multiply your gas (and provide) more miles per gallon."

I wonder if God paid for his air fare. (SG)

Obama concert @ Shawnee Park

The Obama campaign will host a free concert, "Embrace the Change", at Shawnee Park this Sunday @ 4pm, featuring a performance by gospel singer Yolanda Adams.

Immensely popular among African-American churchgoers, Adams' appearance is a clear attempt to maximize turnout among that constituency. It also fits with the overall direction of the Obama campaign's message in the Bluegrass, which has emphasized his religion released ads focusing on his Christianity.

Though it is unlikely Sen. Obama, his wife, Michelle, or his new endorsement pal, former Sen. John Edwards, will make an appearance at the concert, Clark Stevens, a spokesperson for the Obama campaign did not deny murmurs of a high profiled stop in Louisville before election day.

"Sen. Obama is the underdog, but this is an opportunity to get Kentucky voters out on May 20th and to hear his message to bring change to Washington ," said Stevens.

Stay tuned. (pb)

'Cruising the Divide' today @ 8pm

Today is the first scheduled performance for “Cruising the Divide: From West Broadway to Churchill Downs”, a community-based play by the Apprentice Company at Actors Theatre of Louisville. LEO covered the play and its significance here and here.

Today's performance will be at Actors Theatre as will another on Saturday, May 17, 8:00 pm, which will also be followed by a community dialogue. On Friday, May 16, 5:30 pm, a special performance will be held in the backyard of The Braden Center located on 3208 W. Broadway.

Admission is free but a ticket is required, so call 502-584-1205 or stop by the box office at Third and Main Street. (pb)

Scandalous judge booted from office

The West Virginia judge whose friendship with coal baron Don Blankenship — and subsequent failure to recuse himself from cases before the court involving the company — has been defeated and will no longer be in office. Justice is sweet. (SG)

Hillary, please stop

Our friend David Harpe, one of the best photographers we know, has a new site where you can post photos of yourself with a message to Hillary Clinton to give it up. (CS)

UPDATE: Parsing the latest Senate ad

A few minutes ago, I reported that the Bruce Lunsford camp has a new attack ad up savaging Greg Fischer for contributing money to Republican candidates over the years and for OSHA violations at some of Fischer's businesses. I dropped a line to both campaigns about the ad, and both responded within minutes.

Ken Shapero of the Fischer camp called me to say — in a pretty fiery tone, mind you — that Fischer welcomes this sort of attack, basically so he can keep this discussion about contributions to Republicans relevant until May 20. Fischer has attacked Lunsford for contributing thousands to Republicans, both candidates and those in office. To be fair, the vast majority of Lunsford's past contributions have been to Dems, and, as he told me in a recent interview, he was running a huge business (Vencor) and had to look out for his employees. It goes without saying, of course, that business people need to keep friendly with elected officials, and $$ is the best way to do that.

Shapero pointed out that Fischer himself has only contributed $850 to Republicans, and records bear that out. In 1998, he contributed $250 to Anne Northup and $250 to former county judge/executive Rebecca Jackson. In 2000 he again gave to Northup, this time $350.

The Lunsford ad also points out the Fischer family's contributions to Republicans. The Fischers have donated, collectively, $1,500 to George W. Bush, $950 to Anne Northup and $250 to Mitch McConnell. That's not much, folks.

The other contention of the Lunsford ad is that Fischer's companies have had numerous OSHA violations. This is true. The severity of these, all of which came about after either a complaint or during a planned OSHA inspection, may be overstated. Well, over-implied.

The Lunsford camp emailed me the supporting documents for that claim. During the 1980s and 90s, there were four violations at Servend International, which Fischer and his brother ran. There are no narratives included with the OSHA complaints, so I'm unclear as to what exactly happened. It appears the company was fined and moved on.

The other OSHA complaint in the documentation provided by the Lunsford camp refers to an planned inspection of the Dant Clayton Corporation in March 2004, when Fischer had been the CEO there for around two years. It was coded as a "serious" violation, according to the report, but was ultimately dismissed in an "informal settlement" later that year.

Shapero also brought up another OSHA issue that has surfaced during the campaign. Shortly after Fischer took over Dant Clayton in 2002, a man hurt his finger on a metal press. So, according to Shapero, Fischer instituted a safety campaign at the company — an industrial operation that makes stadium seating — which, over time, resulted in a reduction in workplace injuries. Shapero said Dant Clayton had 35 OSHA-reported injuries in 2000, and that was down to 11 last year. Also, he cited figures of lost work days at DCC dropping from 226 in 2000 to 18 last year.

Lunsford's camp stands by its ad, and has said it's only responding to the negative ads Fischer's camp has run.

Surely there's more to come. (SG)

Who's biking to work?

Cycling discussions can often get sanctimonious, and I think it's incumbent upon anyone trying to convince people to trade the car for a bike once in a while to make sure and stay away from preaching. So there's that.

We're halfway through Bike to Work Week here in Louisville (and across the nation). Have you been riding?

Sure, the weather sucked for cycling today, and I've heard some reports saying it'll be similar tomorrow. Bummer. The question remains: Have you been riding?

I posed the question to the Mayor's office on Monday, after receiving their press memo on the subject. I was told that Mayor Abramson was scheduled to ride to City Hall from his Crescent Hill home Friday morning. So I asked if I could ride with him, have a photographer in tow, and do a little one-on-one about cycling — while cycling. Gimmicky, sure, but how fun would that be?

I just heard that his schedule has changed and he'll no longer be able to bike it to City Hall. Bummer. That means the Mayor won't be biking to work this week. Double bummer.

Of course that shouldn't take away from the effort to promote Bike to Work Week, which is a wonderful thing. Just saying... (SG)

Lunsford attacks

Well, so much for all that: the campaign of Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Bruce Lunsford has released an ad attacking fellow candidate Greg Fischer for attacking him. The ad provides a list of supposed OHSA violations at Fischer's companies, set up with a twice-repeated clip of Fischer inviting press to look into his past.

Just today, LEO published a story by me that included an analysis of this race. I wrote something about how Lunsford has stayed relatively above the fray re: these attack ads, something Fischer started doing a few weeks ago. Lunsford's camp, until today, had simply responded to the ads with their own clarifications of what was in them. Today, it appears the gloves are off.

The polls haven't changed: SurveyUSA has Lunsford at 41 percent and Fischer at 23 the week before the election.

Here's the ad... (SG)

A must-see

This is on the Sundance Channel tonight at 9:35. Watch it. (SG)

Gas prices break $4

Ouch.

Gas prices in Louisville climbed above the $4 mark today, putting us in the hurt locker. Make it stop. (SG)

Get O'Reilly a cigarette

Bill O'Reilly (with hair) back when he hosted Inside Edition. He blows a gasket over a busted teleprompter. Wow! Makes you wonder if Louisville has any local TV hotheads, maybe LEO ought to make an open records request.



(pb)

Major weirdness in a council race

Rick Redding, master of The 'Ville Voice and LEO contributer, has the story of the morning over on his blog. You should read it.

Apparently, Ellen Reitmeyer — currently the assistant to Councilwoman Julie Adams, R-18, who's stepping down this fall — and fellow candidate Jon Ackerson are into some kind of weird standoff, with accusations that sound like stalking and the theft of political yard signs. Wow.

I'm working with Rick on reporting this story. Hopefully in the next couple hours we'll have some documentation on this. Stay tuned. (SG)

Obama makes people faint

Two people fainted tonight during Barack Obama's visit to the Kentucky International Convention Center. He gave his own bottle of water to the first one, then urged his fans to eat before they come to long speeches as EMTs came to aid the second.

Oh, and there were something like 10,000 people there, plus a 7-person-wide line around the entire convention center — during the speech, and street vendors — ! — selling Obama-wear all around. It was a circus. Incredible.

Obama set himself up as an alternative to George W. Bush, and used that setup to tie Republican presidential nominee John McCain to the Bush-Cheney cabal. Everyone cheered. He talked down the gas-tax holiday, elaborated on a few tax ideas ($1000 breaks for the middle class, rollbacks of the rich-people breaks of the Bush era), said the Iraq war will end next year, and said 47 million uninsured Americans is unacceptable. Massive cheering.

We've heard it all before from Obama, but being there is something different. There is no way to capture the kind of energy Obama brings to a crowded room. Absolutely explosive.

He spoke only briefly about Hillary Clinton, paying her compliments and assuring the crowd that the Democratic Party would be united against McCain. He barely talked any shit at all, and none about Democrats, which Clinton can't quite say.

Speaking of, the difference between the two rallies was staggering. Clinton's crowd didn't top 1,000. Seats were empty. She sounded deflated and tired. Obama fed off the crowd's energy — he was sharp and confident. What a contrast.

Last but not least: What the fuck is going on with the wireless, Obama camp? The national press corps had it, but local press didn't. That's obscene. (SG)

Obama is coming

I am writing this because LEO's man at the Kentucky International Convention Center, Stephen George, reports that the wireless there isn't working. Apparently a router problem. It was working fine Friday night when Hillary Clinton was in town.

I'll post updates as Stephen sends 'em along. So far, he says, the atmosphere is incredible. It looks like the crowd is maxed. Big contrast to Friday when Clinton spoke at a KDP function. (CS)

Bike to work week

Hey folks, this week is National Bike to Work Week, so get hip. Mayor Abramson is riding to work on Friday. We encourage you to do it every day. Or, you know, the days it's not raining for a start.

Read more about it here. (SG)

Attack of the Babies!

Another reason to stay unmarried and childless in America was given to us by Mother Jones. Go here to see some of the facts associated with the carbon footprint (or ass-print according to Welpian witticism) of these little bundles of pollution.

One of the more striking findings: One American child generates as much CO₂ as 106 Haitian kids.

Though on the margins, these statistics are being taken quite seriously by some. There are women, for instance, who won't have children because babies are not eco-friendly. In the United Kingdom, one woman, Toni Vernelli, imposed the 'no child' policy by having an abortion and then demanding she be sterilized at 27.

Read the story here. (pb)

Hillary's race problem

Bob Herbert unlocks the rage about Hillary Clinton's race-baiting to USA Today last week in this piece in the NY Times (via Alternet). (SG)

Hillary is here

Well, almost. She'll be here soon, we're told. It's 7:36 now, and dinner is being served to the big donors on the floor in front of the stage. The national press isn't here yet, but the locals are out in force, as are the state's force of progressive bloggers, most of which don't have a taste for the Hill.

Who could, at this point?

A lot of people, apparently. Clinton's supporters seem about as dogged as she is, which is a bizarre phenomenon to behold: They continue now in defiance of political logic, and there are probably a thousand or more of them here.

It was reported today that Obama has pulled ahead of Clinton in pledged superdelegates. That's another bummer in a week of shit for Clinton.

More updates to come. (SG)

8:01: Still not here. David Tandy and Jennifer Moore just spoke. Nothing too exciting. No mention of Clinton without Obama and vice versa. It appears to be healing mode.

Most surprising thing: The bleachers are not even half full. The dinner tables, down in front of the stage, are.

8:07: Gov. Beshear just showed up. Others: Rep. Yarmuth, AG Jack Conway, former Sen. Wendell Ford, candidates galore (Fischer got a bigger hand than Lunsford), and scads of General Assembly folks.

8:18: The national press corps just arrived, probably 30 people heavily equipped, looking a little bummed but mostly just intent.

8:26: Lt. Gov. Mongiardo is speaking and I'm about to fall asleep. We've been sitting here for 90 minutes now, listening to the same old applause-line crap. Maybe that will never end. But why is it that there are always 10 opening acts for these things?

8:32: This is what I'm doing right now, during Gov. Beshear's speech.

8:35: Did Clinton play the race card during an interview with USA Today? Read it and decide.

9:16: Clinton has yet to speak. She's been standing on the stage about 7 or 8 minutes now, waiting patiently while Jennifer Moore (who was quick) and Terry McBrayer (who is not) give their speeches. McBrayer started by calling out Rep. Yarmuth for speaking about Obama, saying he'd contracted with Dean's Milk to issue a milk carton with Obama's face on it — you know, 'cause Obama hasn't been here in awhile. Ooooohhhhhh! So, of course, Obama's supporters started booing this jackass, Clinton's supporters started hollering at them, and once again, the rift in the party, which appears to be quite real and active, was exposed.

9:23: Finally! She's up! And she began with a conciliatory tone, talking about how Dems will be united in the fall to face John McCain, and that Dems should back the nominee, because the goal here, of course, is to win the presidency. Light applause to that one. Hm. Where's the blood?

Frankly, Clinton sounds tired. She sounds deflated, down-tempo, done.

9:29: Hm. Clinton keeps saying "the eventual Democratic nominee" instead of referring to herself as that person. Major change in language.

9:32: The focus of her speech is Bush, not Obama. She just said she's in the race "to make sure this country is all that it can be," not to be president. Speeches and promises won't solve our problems, she says.

The first reference to her being pres came some 15 minutes into the speech: "It took a Clinton to clean up after the first Bush, and it's going to take..." The crowd noise drowned it out. Wonder what she said. Haha.

9:36: Clinton just said she's into clean coal. Bummer. Clean coal's a hoax. She also said she'd strengthen mine safety regs. Good stuff for KY.

9:44: Hahahaha! She just said the Republicans should be so embarrassed by the Bush years that they should just hand it over. Burn!

9:47: "One thing you may know about me — I'm no shrinking violet."

9:50: She talks about seizing momentum we have now, thanks everybody, asks that God bless America, and that's that. Sweet. (SG)