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MCGRATH GOT MY VOTE DURING THE DEBATE PAGE 3

GRAND JURY FOR BREONNA TAYLOR SEARCH WARRANT PAGE 4

A MUST-EAT, AMAZING PORK DISH PAGE 15

‘MACBETH’ IN PARKING LOT STARTLES!

VIRUS STRAINS CITY PAGE 17

FOOD BANK DEMAND UP JOBLESS FACE UNEMPLOYMENT $ PAYBACKS

FEDS MUST STEP IN TO FIX LMPD |PAGE 5

LEOWEEKLY.COM // OCTOBER 21, 2020

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MCGRATH GOT MY VOTE DURING THE DEBATE PAGE 3

GRAND JURY FOR BREONNA TAYLOR SEARCH WARRANT PAGE 4

A MUST-EAT, AMAZING PORK DISH PAGE 15

‘MACBETH’ IN PARKING LOT STARTLES!

VIRUS STRAINS CITY PAGE 17

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FOOD BANK DEMAND UP JOBLESS FACE UNEMPLOYMENT $ PAYBACKS

FEDS MUST STEP IN TO FIX LMPD |PAGE 5

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LMPD is not the problem. It’s Democrat Mayor Fischer who pulls the strings and keeps the police from doing their job.

—Richard Wood It’s because of you unethical, biased, one-sided, unprofessional assholes that people think there’s an issue with the LMPD in the first place. —Scott Halbleib Scott Halbleib, sorry bud. All due respect, but you’re wrong.

Personal interactions, the stories of my friends and their personal reactions, and the stories of others including those killed by the LMPD would say otherwise. —Dan Marshall

ON: DAN CANON, THE FORMULA FOR POLICE VIOLENCE IN LOUISVILLE

All I can do is shake my head and wonder if there will ever be justice. I am so tired of hearing and reading about atrocities committed by a organization that is supposed to protect and serve our communities. When will there be justice served. We are at our breaking point. —Vincent Remolete

ON: LOCAL MUSICIANS TALK ABOUT COVERING THE MISFITS ON LOUISVILLE BABYLON Great artists. Great Album. Happy to be featured. —Brian Walter

ON: UNDERCOVER COMMENTARY The police lied. Cameron lied.

The police lied again. Then he obstructed the investigation. He is doing he bidding of Moscow Mitch. Impeach Cameron! —Kevin Ridgeway

Can he be impeached if the facts about cover-up are true?

—Randall Snook

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EDITOR’S NOTE

MCGRATH GOT MY VOTE AT THE DEBATE

By Aaron Yarmuth | ayarmuth@leoweekly.com TO EVERYONE’S SURPRISE, I’m voting for Amy McGrath, Marine and mom… plus, Mitch McConnell has been in the U.S. Senate for too long.

That is how McConnell described McGrath’s strategy to unseat him. He quipped at the (one-and-only) Kentucky Senate debate, “I think her entire campaign is she’s a Marine, she’s a mom and I’ve been there too long.”

He was partially right, if only that one time during the debate.

His remark was intended as a slight against McGrath, but it was really just disrespectful of Marines and moms.

Of course, I was always going to vote against McConnell, even after McGrath’s misguided campaign launch. However, after McGrath’s masterful debate performance, I’m happy to vote for her — not just against him.

What sold me on McGrath?

McConnell’s only argument for why he should be re-elected after 36 years in the Senate is his alleged ability to bring money and power to Kentucky. She took that argument, turned it around and beat him with it again and again for an entire hour. Her point was: If what we have in Kentucky now is the

best McConnell can do with all that power, it ain’t good enough to rehire him.

“I allow Kentucky to punch above its weight.” McConnell said, multiple times.

“Here in Kentucky, we know we feel like we’ve been sucker-punched,” McGrath responded. “We have the highest cancer rates in the country, highest rates of diabetes, highest rates of heart disease, some of the lowest wages in the country. Our economy hasn’t been this bad since The Great Depression.”

I would love for this race to be about healthcare, COVID-19 relief, police reform, climate change or any other policy issue.

Because McConnell is Senate majority leader, he is responsible for the outcome of all of those issues — but he’s demonstrated he’s unwilling to address them unless it serves his own interests and reinforces his power.

McGrath brought that message home to Kentucky on every issue.

“We here in Kentucky know better,” she said. “Sen. McConnell likes to talk about his clout and power. Meanwhile, copays are up. The price of prescription medication has gone up. The price of insurance has gone up. The cost of housing has gone up… Sen.

McConnell’s clout is literally killing us in Kentucky.”

McConnell’s response?

“Let’s take coal for example …” he said (and blamed President Obama for coal’s decline).

McGrath’s response?

“Recognize that six years ago Sen. McConnell sat here and said, ‘You’ve gotta vote for me, all your coal jobs are going to come back.’ Meanwhile, in the last six years we’ve lost 60% of coal jobs. He has used you and our state to bicker with the other side, and he hasn’t planned for the future,” Then she listed the myriad ways in which she would invest in coal communities (not coal energy): Investment in infrastructure, like broadband and cell phone coverage, education and healthcare.

All that power and McConnell could only blame Obama.

McGrath pointed out that the House passed a second COVID-19 relief package in May. Meanwhile in the Senate, McConnell said at the time there was no “urgency.” So, five months later, no relief bill. The Senate began hearings on the Supreme Court nomination less than four weeks after the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

No urgency on COVID-19 relief for people but urgency to fill the Supreme Court seat with a Republican president’s nominee just weeks before the presidential election.

All that power, but no solutions? McConnell just blamed House Democrats.

“She thinks we’re the problem, I think they’re the problem, what we need is a solution. The way you get is a solution is the way... ” And, then, nothing. That was it.

McConnell glitched at the idea of finding a solution. He just waited for the moderator to move the debate along.

I was not always enthusiastic about the McGrath campaign. She didn’t speak to my progressive approach on policies or my disdain for Trump. Her calm, non-aggressive ads didn’t match my highly charged feelings about this election. The truth is that none of that part of the McGrath campaign was directed toward me. It was meant to sway Republicans and independents, because that is what it will take to beat McConnell.

But the McGrath I saw on TV during the debate showed she understands what is most needed now: a senator for Kentucky who will use their position to make our government function again — to work for people, not for partisan political power.

She demonstrated an understanding of the issues facing Kentucky and, most important, how she would vote if given the opportunity.

And, while it remains true that the case against McConnell would always be stronger than the best argument made for his challenger (… Mother Teresa, Ghandi, Beyonce included), I’ll be happy to vote for Amy McGrath, mom, Marine… and she’s not McConnell. •

UNDERCOVER

MANOFMETTLE.COM LEOWEEKLY.COM // OCTOBER 21, 2020

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DO YOUR JOB, TOM WINE: INVESTIGATE THE SEARCH WARRANT FOR BREONNA TAYLOR’S HOME

By Ted Shouse | leo@leoweekly.com

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LEOWEEKLY.COM // OCTOBER 21, 2020

ON OCT. 7, the Louisville Metro Police grand jury hear that?

Department’s Public Integrity Unit , or PIU, PIU detectives found that Jaynes told the released its file on the Breonna Taylor case. judge who signed that warrant that a postal The police’s internal investigation concluded inspector had confirmed that Taylor was that Det. Joshua Jaynes, the officer who receiving suspicious packages. obtained the search warrant for Taylor’s That wasn’t true. home, made “misleading” statements to the The PIU detectives believe those actions presiding judge. The PIU detectives thought may be crimes. In the face of these revJaynes’ actions should be reviewed for poselations, how can Wine issue a statement sible criminal conduct; lying to a judge to saying that he’s still considering charging get a search warrant is Walker? a crime.

Wine’s statement We now know went on to say that he Under normal circumstances the that Cameron did is waiting for the FBI to complete its investiinvestigation and prosnot present any ecution of any crime gation before deciding in Jefferson County is to act on any facts involving the whether the job of the comissue about this case. monwealth’s attorney, search warrant to Let’s put this FBI busicurrently Tom Wine. ness to rest once and the grand jury.

But, because Taylor’s for all. There’s a conboyfriend, Kenneth cept in the law called Walker, was charged with attempted murder “dual sovereignty.” It means that you can be of a police officer, Wine declared that a conprosecuted in both state and federal court for flict of interest existed and handed off the the same conduct. Gregory Bush, the alleged investigation of the police officers involved shooter in the Kroger shooting from 2018 is to Attorney General Daniel Cameron. being prosecuted in exactly this way right We now know that Cameron did not pres- now in Louisville. Why wait any longer for the FBI to solve what is a Jefferson County ent any facts involving the search warrant to problem? the grand jury. Cameron’s assistant simply Our elected prosecutor is the person to told jurors that the officers were acting in clean it up. The original conflict of interest “good faith.” no longer exists; there are no charges curThe day after the release of the PIU file, rently pending against Walker. There is no Wine made this statement: “The Attorney reason for Wine to avoid investigating the General’s office has finished its review, facts surrounding how that search warrant and the full PIU file has been made public. was obtained. And if the PIU detectives While I am reviewing the PIU file, no believe a crime was committed, the case decision will be made whether Mr. Kenshould be presented to a Jefferson County neth Walker’s original charges should be grand jury. We don’t know if a crime was dismissed with prejudice or again presented committed, that’s for a trial jury to decide. to a grand jury...”

But investigation by our prosecutor seems Excuse me? Kenneth Walker? warranted.

On the day it finally becomes probable When Tom Wine first ran for commonthat a police officer misled a judge to get wealth’s attorney, he said that, despite his the warrant that led to Taylor’s death, the 20-year tenure as a judge, the job he always commonwealth’s attorney tells us that he is debating whether to re-indict Walker — wanted was commonwealth’s attorney. Well the man who fired a single warning shot in Mr. Wine, you’ve got your dream job — defense of himself and his girlfriend. now do it. Investigate this case. • No mention of Jaynes?

Ted Shouse has been a criminal defense LMPD detectives in the PIU think he lawyer for 21 years. may have committed a crime, why not let a

VIEWS

THE TRUMP CARD IS ALL MCGRATH HAS LEFT

By Al Cross | leo@leoweekly.com IN THE ONLY DEBATE of their race, U.S. for us who try to keep up with Washington intrigue. But McGrath had a Trump card to Sen. Mitch McConnell and Amy McGrath play. painted very different pictures of the incumAlluding to McConnell’s bent, on whom the election is essentially a deferral to presidential aides referendum. in dealing with Pelosi, The Senate majority leader, seeking a McGrath said the senator seventh six-year term, portrayed himself is “walking away from Monday night as a supremely accomplished negotiations even now practitioner of politics who gives Kentucky when President Trump an advantage when states compete for fedeven wants negotiaeral money. tions to happen . . . He “It’s not complicated,” said McConnell, who knows how to reduce complex issues to won’t pass the $2 trillion that even President repetitive, memorable sound bites. “Do you want somebody from New York to be setting Trump wants done right now.” the agenda for America and not terribly It’s not just McConinterested in Kentucky? Or do you want to nell who won’t pass Trump’s continue to have one of the four congres$1.8 trillion package; his fellow sional leaders, from our state looking out for Republicans shot it down as too expensive Kentucky, giving Kentucky an opportunity and laden with Democratic goodies. Now, to punch above its weight, providing extra he’s planning a $500 million bill that almost assistance for Kentucky?” surely won’t get enough Democratic votes McConnell regularly delivers, as someto clear the Senate’s filibuster rule. one in his position should for a needy state.

McGrath said, But in her last chance “If you want to call to catch and grab But McGrath’s yourself a leader, him, McGrath argued debate perforyou got to get things that he’s focused on done,” so look for being a party leader mance shored her her to play the Trump and not a national leader — not in so up with Democrats card again. It’s her only path to a victory many words, but who saw her as that savvy observthat was the essence ers think is out of of her opening wishy-washy, and reach; Trump will broadside: “He knew about if there’s one thing carry Kentucky by double digits, so she the dangers of coroliberal Democrats must get a substantial navirus way back in of his voters January, and did he and Donald Trump number to choose her over tell us? Did he come McConnell. back to Kentucky and agree on, it’s the That has always say, ‘Hey, we need to need for a big relief seemed like a nearly prepare’? Did he get impossible trick, but the nation prepared bill.

McConnell is less and get our president popular than Trump prepared for what in Kentucky, so in theory the trick can be was to be this crisis? No, he didn’t. The first done. However, McGrath has been anything time that he said the word ‘coronavirus’ but deft at it, starting with her campaign wasn’t until the stock market crashed, and rollout, which made a ham-handed appeal all along, he’s playing these very partisan to Trump voters that turned off Demopolitical games, even now when Kentucky cratic liberals. Then those liberals found an and America needs more aid.” alternative in state Rep. Charles Booker, In response, McConnell blamed House who nearly upset McGrath in the primary, Speaker Nancy Pelosi for wanting too much making any overt appeal to Trump voters in the next pandemic relief bill. At that even riskier. point, sorting out the truth became impossiBut McGrath’s debate performance ble for viewers, and nearly impossible even

shored her up with Democrats who saw her as wishy-washy, and if there’s one thing liberal Democrats and Donald Trump agree on, it’s the need for a big relief bill. Unemployment remains high, renters are facing eviction, coronavirus cases are surging, schools are at wit’s end, cold weather has arrived, and America faces a very dark winter.

All that should create problems for an incumbent who brags about his ability to deliver for his state and blames others when asked to deliver for our nation.

But as he always has, McConnell has made the election as much about his opponent as about him, and he’s had potent material to work with: her incautious statements in her 2018 House race about being a far-left progressive, opposing government involvement in abortion, and favoring single-payer health care, and her objection this spring to federal officers arresting people at “peaceful protests,” some of which turned into riots.

McConnell’s ads have put McGrath on the defensive in paid TV and down in polls. If she refocuses voters on immediate national needs, we may see McConnell ads tying himself to Trump, a tactic he has used sparingly, perhaps fearing that our unstable president could finally blow up and take many other Republicans with him.

Could that include McConnell? Almost surely not. Almost. Our nation is fraught, and I repeat what I said the night Trump won, and after this year’s primary: “Now almost anything can happen.” • Al Cross is a former Courier Journal political writer and is professor and director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at UK. He writes this column for the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism. On Twitter he is @ ruralj.

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NEWS & ANALYSIS

GOV. BESHEAR OFFERED ‘SELF-QUARANTINE’ UNEMPLOYMENT, NOW STATE IS BACKTRACKING — AND BILLING PEOPLE

By Jared Bennett | Kentucky Center For Investigative Reporting TRACEY HAYES was working as a retail merchandiser in March, arranging products on store shelves around Glasgow to promote sales, when she decided she couldn’t risk exposing her mother to the coronavirus or handle child care for her two children by herself.

Hayes had been watching Gov. Andy Beshear’s daily coronavirus briefings, and she was sure Team Kentucky would have her back.

“I watched him everyday. He said, ‘Healthy at home,’” Hayes said. “So I was healthy at home.”

Hayes stopped working, cared for her children and mother and avoided adding to Kentucky’s mounting number of coronavirus cases. She filed an unemployment insurance claim on March 27. For eight weeks, she received $112 weekly in unemployment, plus the extra $600 payment established in the CARES Act. But in May, the unemployment office called to say they were investigating her claim.

“I remember pulling over into the parking lot of a church. At that point I was shaking. I couldn’t drive,” Hayes said.

Soon after, she got a bill ordering her to pay back every cent she’d received.

Hayes told the state she was just doing what Beshear had instructed.

Their response was, essentially, that Beshear never told anyone what to do.

Despite what she heard the governor say during his daily briefings and what she read in his executive orders, Hayes simply wasn’t eligible.

The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Hayes is one of many people who received unemployment benefits in Kentucky during the coronavirus pandemic and are now learning they were retroactively deemed ineligible.

Not only does this cut people off from unemployment for crucial months during the pandemic, many of those found ineligible now owe a debt to the state or federal government that could

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LEOWEEKLY.COM // OCTOBER 21, 2020

mean their tax refunds or other money get garnished.

The number of people affected is unclear because the unemployment office didn’t respond to KyCIR’s questions, including how many recipients were later deemed ineligible.

Kentucky’s unemployment system is under immense pressure during the pandemic: By May, Kentucky had the largest share of its workforce on unemployment benefits in the country, and the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund required an $865 million loan from the federal government to stay afloat over the summer.

Several unemployment insurance lawyers told KyCIR they are hearing from more people who were denied eligibility than ever before, and many of them self-quarantined. The unemployment office approved their claim and started issuing payments, only to reassess after the fact and find those workers ineligible.

Hayes has challenged the practice in a lawsuit filed in the Monroe County Circuit Court. The eventual ruling on that case could extend to others who self-quarantined based on what she heard the governor say at his briefings.

The unemployment office has not yet responded to a request for comment submitted on October 6. That same day, Labor Cabinet attorney Amy Cubbage stepped to the podium during Beshear’s briefing to talk about the new, $400-weekly federal unemployment program. This time, Kentuckians watching heard a different message about who was eligible: “Unfortunately, fear of getting COVID is not enough to qualify.”

THE APPEALS PROCESS

When the coronavirus made its way to Kentucky, Hayes was working for two companies: Driveline Retail Merchandising and SPAR Field Services.

THORNS & ROSES THE WORST, BEST & MOST ABSURD THORN: APPOINT A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR

It seems Attorney General Daniel Cameron lied. After claiming grand jurors heard evidence in Breonna Taylor’s killing, one now says: “The grand jury did not have homicide offenses explained to them. ... Questions were asked about additional charges and the grand jury was told there would be none because prosecutors couldn’t make them stick.” Justice demands a do-over.

THORN: THE LMPD IS She traveled to as many as three crowded stores a day.

She remembers building a barrier of shopping carts to try to keep customers six feet away from her and her coworker as they set up display stands of cosmetics, coloring books and CBD products.

Driveline paid her $10 an hour. It didn’t seem worth it.

“I just thought I was playing Russian roulette for, like, makeup,” Hayes said.

Both of her employers had signaled they would support workers who decided to stay home: An administrator at SPAR Field Services sent an email to employees that explicitly said workers would be eligible for unemployment, should they decide they needed to stay home.

Driveline CEO Randy Wilson sent a company wide email on March 22 saying the company would support employees with any decisions they made for the health and welfare of their families. Hayes worked her last shift on March 24 and emailed human resources to say she didn’t feel safe coming into work.

At that time, Beshear was talking about unemployment insurance almost daily at his coronavirus briefings. On March 25, the governor told Kentucky he had some good news: The state was expanding unemployment insurance to new categories of people, including contract workers, substitute teachers and “anyone who has had to leave their job because of quarantine.”

“This means that so many of you who are out there, who were worried, are now able to file, and we want you

AND

More obfuscation just confirms the Louisville Metro Police Department’s guilt. Police released reams of disciplinary records on the three cops who fired into Breonna Taylor’s apartment, killing her. And guess what? The Courier Journal, which has sought the files for five months, reported that “some of the records are so heavily redacted that the incidents they describe are virtually indecipherable.” The LMPD’s excuse: It claims the law allows redactions for “the non-disclosure of preliminary records that express opinions and not a final decision.” Ah, the old preliminary investigation excuse...

THORN: JUST IN, LMPD WON’T HIRE BAD COPS The LMPD major in charge of the training division told The CJ that some 600 men and women applied to be in the new recruit class but offers were extended to less than half of the class’ 48 person capacity. The new interim chief, Yvette Gentry, has said she worries the LMPD might... well, her words were: “I don’t want to be dipping in a shallow pool. I don’t want to leave that for the next chief to be dipping in a shallow pool, and then we end up paying later, because we have had to take people that we would not normally take.”

THORN: LEAVE YOUR GUNS AT HOME!

Yet another shooting at Jefferson Square Park has marred the otherwise peaceful protest for racial and social justice. This time, it seems, provocateurs in a car with a “Trump 2020” flag fired shots at the crowd.

But WLKY reported that an unnamed person said a protester fired first. No one was hurt. A week ago, another shooting with no injuries. Police said they were investigating. What is clear is that there are too many people with too many guns at the square.

ROSE: ARE WE TACO CITY? ALREADY TAKEN!

With the opening of I Love Tacos in the former earX-tacy (also known as Pantera bread), we count 11 taco places on Bardstown Road in The Highlands. Sol Aztecas, La Suerte, Lucky Burrito, Panchitos, El Mundo, Noche Mexican BBQ, Taco City, QDOBA, La Bamba and Chipotle. That doesn’t even include Taco Bell and Baxter Avenue’s Taco Luchador and Agave & Rye.

NEWS & ANALYSIS

to,” Beshear said. While he spoke, viewers August, according to data from the Departsaw a slide which said people were eligible ment of Labor. for unemployment if they were leaving their Employers often challenge claims job due to a “reasonable risk of exposure because sending too many workers to the (self-quarantine).” unemployment office can result in higher taxes in the next fiscal year. The Beshear Hayes thought this sounded like her, so administration removed some of that presshe filed an unemployment claim on March sure in March by charging all UI claims 27. She could only put one employer in the straight to the unemployment insurance application portal, so she listed Driveline. trust fund instead of individual companies’ She sent an email to the unemployment accounts. But some companies still oppose insurance assistance account to follow up claims. and explain her situation, but she got back a Stephanie David form response. worked at United The state Employers Collection Bureau, a approved Hayes collections firm based for about the same often challenge in Indiana, when the amount she’d be pandemic hit. making if she was claims because She remembers working full time, sending too many working elbow-tobut much of that went elbow and sharing towards childcare workers to the computers with her and supporting her coworkers. As busimother. unemployment nesses closed one The unemployoffice can result after the other, David ment office began said her coworkers investigating her in higher taxes took bets on when claim after it contheir office would tacted her employer, in the next fiscal close. as it always does to year. The Beshear But the office confirm that claimstayed open. Human ants lost their jobs administration resources told through no fault of employees that if their own. removed some of they didn’t feel comDriveline told that pressure in fortable coming into the unemployment they could stay office that Hayes March by charging work, home and wouldn’t wasn’t fired, and be penalized. David there was work all UI claims lives with her mother available, accordstraight to the and sister, and all ing to an email from three of them suffer Driveline’s human unemployment from chronic condiresources contractor. tions that make them The state worker told insurance trust especially vulnerable Hayes that meant she fund instead to the virus. wasn’t eligible for the David was told unemployment benof individual she could apply efits she had already for unemployment been receiving for companies’ benefits in Kentucky, eight weeks. The accounts. But some where she lives, or payments would stop Indiana, where she immediately. companies still worked. She chose Driveline, headKentucky and filed quartered in Copoppose claims. on March 29. pell, Texas, has not David was responded to multiple approved, and started getting payments. But calls for comment. Its human resources in July, she learned her claim was under contractor, Trion Solutions, did not respond investigation because she left work volunto an emailed request for comment. tarily. The unemployment office considered Not every decision results in an appeal, David ineligible. but data suggests more claimants have been She appealed that decision and a hearing filing appeals as the pandemic stretches on. before the unemployment office was set Appeals climbed 129% between May and

for Sept. 16. Her ailing grandmother was receiving end-of-life care at the time, and her heart rate plummeted a few minutes before the scheduled hearing. David was busy calling family members and arranging last goodbyes, and she called into the hearing late. She wasn’t allowed to present her case.

Now, David owes $2,592 to Kentucky and the federal government.

Kentucky is evaluating her for federal unemployment benefits, but David may not qualify since the state believes she left work voluntarily. Even if David is found eligible for federal unemployment, the state will withhold 25% of her future benefits to pay her new “overpayment” debt.

It will be weeks before the first checks arrive. David doesn’t think that’s fair.

“I’m thinking, how many more weeks can I go without any money?” David said.

“We’re barely making it right now.”

A REASONABLE RISK

Hayes was scheduled for her appeal on June 29, a phone hearing where she could make her case before a referee from the unemployment office.

Unlike most workers who appeal unemployment decisions, Hayes found an unemployment law attorney to represent her during the process: Robyn Smith, who at times has taken an adversarial role towards the unemployment system. She’s filed lawsuits challenging the unemployment system’s actions that have made it all the way to the Kentucky Supreme Court.

People come before the unemployment system at a low point in their lives, Smith says. Even if they win, they face weeks without any income.

“That starts people down a spiral.

They’re not in a strong place, they’re making decisions that they don’t have any confidence in,” Smith said.

The unemployment office usually sides with employers when it finds workers ineligible for unemployment benefits. In 2019, the office issued 11,902 rulings on appealed eligibility claims in 2019, according to an annual report on the unemployment insurance trust fund. In cases where claimants were found ineligible for unemployment and appealed, the office ruled in favor of the claimant in 32 percent of its decisions.

Smith argued Hayes was following guidance from the unemployment office that said workers could self-quarantine if there was a reasonable risk of exposure in the workplace.

An executive order issued March 25 says that people were eligible for unemployment

Tracy Hayes.

benefits if they left work due to a “reasonable risk of exposure (self-quarantine).” An employer handbook prepared by the unemployment office in April says that “if the employer and employee disagree about what is considered reasonable accommodations, those UI claims will have to be decided by a UI staff member on a case-by-case basis.”

Driveline’s representative never mentioned any accommodations made to keep workers safe at the appeals hearing, according to a recording of the proceedings. They simply said it was Hayes’ decision to stay home from work. When asked if she could think of any reason other than COVID-19 that Hayes wasn’t working, Driveline’s representative said no.

In her closing statement, Smith said that the coronavirus forced Hayes’ to lose work “by the fact that no reasonable employee in Ms. Hayes’ position would continue to expose herself to a germ that could have killed her mother.”

Driveline’s representative did not give a closing statement. They hung up before the hearing was over.

The referee determined that Hayes was on a voluntary leave of absence — and thus, ineligible for the benefits she had already received. The evidence presented in this case establishes that the claimant was on a leave of absence from March 22, 2020, through June 15,” the referee wrote in a decision mailed to Hayes in July. “The employment relationship continues while the claimant is on a leave of absence.”

The unemployment office sent Hayes a bill for $896 in overpaid benefits and a request for at least $75 a month from Hayes, CONTINUED ON PAGE 13 LEOWEEKLY.COM // OCTOBER 21, 2020

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COVID-19 BRINGS MORE NEED,

BIGGER STRAINS TO LOCAL FOOD PANTRIES

By Danielle Grady | dgrady@leoweekly.com IT WAS THE FIRST TIME the woman had ever visited the St. Matthews Area Ministries food pantry, and she was shaking, Julie Abbott noticed.

“I’ve never had to do this; I don’t want to be doing this,” Abbott recounted her saying.

Abbott is the executive director of St. Matthews Area Ministries, which also provides rent and other forms of assistance to an area that many regard as relatively affluent: The median income of the main ZIP code that the ministry serves is $78,750, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And yet, 100 more families have started using the pantry since January. That’s an abnormally large increase, likely brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the number of families the ministry served only jumped by 20.

Food banks across Northeastern Kentucky and Southern Indiana have reported an increase in users since COVID-19 hit the area hard in March, said Stan Siegwald, Dare to Care’s director of strategic initiatives. Since then, requests for food have risen 30% from its more than 200 partner pantries, which include St. Matthews Area Ministries.

To quantify that, Dare to Care typically provides 2 million-pounds of food to the community. Now, it’s giving out 2.6 million-pounds.

“There has, with many of our sites, been a surge in people who have never received food assistance before or people who have not had to get assistance for some time,” said Siegwald, citing anecdotal accounts from partner organizations. “And I think the increase has really been just across the board. It’s in every ZIP code, every demographic.”

While COVID-19 has created more need for food banks, it’s simultaneously strained operations at pantries across the United States.

But, comparatively few have shut down in Louisville. The situation is expected to grow worse, however.

There were 160,000 food insecure people in Dare to Care’s coverage area before COVID-19. By next summer, that number is projected to increase to 220,000, according to a study by Feeding America, an independent food bank association that Dare to Care belongs to.

On Thursday, 12 families came to St. Matthews Area Ministries to pick up their dolly-full of groceries. The average income in the area may be high, but 6.7% of residents living in the 40207 ZIP code, which includes St. Matthews and Indian Hills, sit below the poverty level.

Sylvia Robinson, 43, said she has been using the St. Matthews pantry regularly for the past two years to supplement the groceries she buys for herself and her 9-year-old son. That hasn’t changed with COVID. But, because her hours were cut at her call center job at the start of the pandemic, Robinson fell behind on her car insurance and loan payments. Even though her hours were restored a couple months ago, Robinson said she is still struggling to catch up on bills, and the food pantry is helping to close that gap.

“I don’t have to worry about, ‘what are we eating?’” Robinson said. “Because now, different times that I can get food, the food pantry

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LEOWEEKLY.COM // OCTOBER 21, 2020

Dare to Care Community Kitchen.

Executive Chef for Dare to Care Teresa M. White. | PHOTOS BY KATHRYN HARRINGTON

or whatever, that stretches over until my next paycheck.”

At Neighborhood House in the Portland neighborhood, the nonprofit’s food pantry has also seen an increase in visitors. The neighborhood has a median income of around $23,705 according to the Kentucky State Data Center. Last year, it was normal for Neighborhood House to distribute 170 boxes of canned goods, nut mixes, packets of vegetarian chili and other groceries each month, according to Executive Director Jennie Jean Davidson. In April, the organization handed out 238, and that number has stayed high. Some pantry visitors are new to Neighborhood House.

Two best friends, Stephanie Wilson, 48, and Charles Bacon, 71, drove up to Neighborhood House together to grab some groceries in early October. It was Wilson’s second time using the pantry.

They both said they’ve struggled financially during COVID. Wilson stopped working right before the pandemic to take care of her grandchildren, but Bacon lost his maintenance job because the renters where he worked weren’t paying their bills.

“Emotionally, it just kind of breaks you down. You feel like you always wanted to help, and now you’re the one who needs help,” said Wilson, who has volunteered in the

past. “But, it does feel good that there is a place that is such a blessing.”

Louisville has managed to avoid the long lines of cars that appeared in other cities across the country like San Antonio and Pittsburgh at the start of the pandemic.

Siegwald attributes this to only 5% of Dare to Care’s partner pantries shutting down during the pandemic. That seems like a stark number, but Siegwald says it’s good compared to the rest of the country.

In mid-April, a third of New York City’s food pantries were closed, according to a hunger-relief group in the metropolis. Other food pantries across the country shut down because they were struggling with finding volunteers, distributing food safely, disrupted supply chains and decreased food donations, according to an April CNBC

Executive Director of Neighborhood House Jennie Jean Davidson.

article.

In Louisville, pantries figured out how to operate with smaller staffs and how to get groceries to those in need safely, Siegwald said.

“It’s been an array of creative solutions to keep food

COVID-19 IN KENTUCKY AND LOUISVILLE KENTUCKY is undergoing its third escalation of COVID-19 cases, according to Gov. Andy Beshear.

On Oct. 20, the state’s positivity rate reached higher than 5% for the first time since August with 1,312 new cases. Beshear also announced 16 new deaths, raising the total to 1,342.

Jefferson County reached critical, red status on the same day with an incidence rate of 28.9 cases per 100,000 people. There are 21,513 cases in Jefferson County and 361 people

have died.

COVID-19 continunes to disproportionately affect Louisville’s Black and Hispanic communities. Black people make up 28% of Jefferson County’s COVID-19 cases and 25% of its deaths, despite making up around 24% of the population. And, Hispanic people make up 10% of the county’s COVID-19 cases despite comprising around 5% of the population.

However, Louisville’s Hispanic population’s death rates are lower than what would be expected at 3%.

LEOWEEKLY.COM // OCTOBER 21, 2020

9

STAFF PICKS THROUGH JAN. 20, 2021

‘How Are You Doing?’

garner narrative contemporary fine art | 642 E. Market St. garnernarrative.com | Free

Jennie Jean Davidson.

flowing and getting on the tables of families is because of the state’s moratorium on some that are struggling,” he said. evictions and utility cut-offs. Essentially, the public has been able to purchase their St. Matthews Area Ministries has tranown food instead of sitioned from being worrying about other open Mondays, TuesThe nonprofit has bills. days and Thursdays Dare to Care has from 9 a.m. to noon managed to meet for visitors to come been able to continue the needs of all of inside, to asking to supply all the food community members that its partner agenits users, includto schedule times on cies have requested Tuesdays and Thursthrough “generous” ing the 100 new days from 11 a.m. to contributions and ones. But, it is still increased assis1 p.m. for drive-thru pickup. tance from federal in need of finanprograms, Siegwald The nonprofit has managed to meet said. But, the amount cial assistance the needs of all of of food coming from and volunteers. Its grocery stores that the its users, including the 100 new ones, base dropped from organization partners Abbott said. But, with has declined by 120 to 40 because about 10%. Deliverit is still in need of financial assistance are also often many of its helpers ies and volunteers. Its delayed because of base dropped from were vulnerable to supply chain issues.

120 to 40 because Looking ahead to COVID-19. many of its helpers the projected increase were vulnerable to in need, Siegwald COVID-19. said he remains optimistic. Dare to Care’s food sourcing team And, Abbott is worried about the winter. will continue to look for additional sources The ramp that the ministry uses to roll out groceries to food pantry users could become of donated food, he said, and he is confident dangerous in the snow. that the community itself will fill the need if asked.

“We’ve always gone above and beyond, “I have seen how the community has and looking ahead to winter time, this is supported Dare to Care, so yes, we will do super stressful,” she said.

The increased need at Dare to Care’s what we need to to make sure everybody has partner pantries has stayed about the same the food they need,” he said.• without rising, Seigwald said. He thinks this

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LEOWEEKLY.COM // OCTOBER 21, 2020

“How are you doing?” (or something similar) is how we start all communication these days.

It’s our personal COVID-19 check-in. Garner narrative organized this show on COPING the same principle. “It seems that 2020 has been worrisome and disorienting but also revelatory in the usual ways that artists make it work and deliver,” said gallery Director Angie Reed Garner.

Since artists never work in a vacuum, the 13 people in the exhibition, which includes Garner and LEO’s own Keith Stone, visualize how they are coping. —Jo Anne Triplett

‘Vita Interruptus’ by Melissa Hall. | Photograph.

THURSDAY, OCT. 22

Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Christy’s Garden | 720 Brent St. | kentuckyperformingarts.org Free registration | 7:30 p.m.

Kentucky Performing Arts and other local service organizations have curated this event in honor of deceased Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In NOTORIOUS recognition of Ginsburg’s passion for the opera, the evening features a performance by female singers arranged by the Kentucky Opera.

Afterward, watch a screening of “RBG,” a documentary about Ginsburg’s career, selected by the Louisville Film Society.

Tickets are free, but they must be reserved beforehand, and ticket holders will be seated in “pods” of six and under.

—Danielle Grady

STAFF PICKS

THURSDAY, OCT. 22

FRIDAY, OCT. 23

Jefferson Square Park | 301 S. Sixth St. | Search Facebook | Free | 4-7 p.m.

Online | Search Facebook | Donation-based | 6-10 p.m.

National Day Of Action

This Thursday, the nation joins Louisville’s ongoing fight against police abuse with the official National Day of Protest against police brutality. The Kentucky Alliance PROTEST Against Racist and Political Repression is commemorating the day with a “Grand March” through Louisville, followed by a “huge” rally with orators and music. “We have not asked for revenge,” say organizers. “We want #JusticeforBreonnaTaylor and too many more lost to police brutality and victimized by police violence.” The organization is requesting donations of supplies, time, money, food, water, snacks and soft drinks. —LEO

Glitter Gala 2020

Last year’s Glitter Gala fundraiser for the Louisville Youth Group featured drag and dance performances. This year will be similar but virtual instead of in-person. Hosts BRAVE can set up their own watch parties from various venues or you can watch alone from your home as local artists stage an online performance. This year’s entertainers are musician Otis Junior, the Louisville Ballet, beatboxer Rayul, burlesque dancer Dessi Dis’Asster and drag performer AJ Allen Montrese. There’s also a pre-party at 6 p.m. featuring giveaways, and you can make donations by participating in an online auction and raffle, with prizes ranging from local beer tastings to spa experiences. Sign up and support an organization that provides a “brave space” for Louisville’s LGBTQIA+ youth. —LEO

The memorial to Breonna Taylor in Jefferson Square Park. | PHOTO BY KATHRYN HARRINGTON.

FRIDAY, OCT. 23 SUNDAY, OCT. 25

Fresh Aire

Safai Coffee Shop | 1707 Bardstown Road | Search Facebook | No cover | 1-3 p.m.

Enjoy all the outdoor concerts you can before winter descends upon Louisville. Safai Coffee Shop is bringing “select” members of the Kentucky Chamber Orchestra CONCERT to perform on its porch this weekend. Listen in while savoring a warm (or cold) drink of your choice. —LEO

KMAC Couture On The Big Screen

Christy’s Garden — Paristown | 720 Brent St. kentuckyperformingarts.org | Free registration | 7:30 p.m.

KMAC Couture, the most popular annual Louisville fashion event, calls itself a “showcase of original couture pieces of wearable art and high-concept fashion.” Friday, FASHION the fashion runway comes to Christy’s Garden by Paristown Point, where models will don wearable works of art. Following will be a screening of “KMAC Couture: Star Stuff,” by Uproar Films, providing a behind-the-scenes look at the creativity that brought about the fashion. This event is part of the “Kentucky Performing Arts’ Connecting for a Cause series, which “features dynamic events curated in partnership with regional cultural and service organizations that work daily to support the health and harmony of our community.” —LEO

LEOWEEKLY.COM // OCTOBER 21, 2020

11

STAFF PICKS

NE

SATURDAY, OCT. 24

FRIDAY, OCT. 23-24

Louisville Urban League | 1535 W. Broadway | lul.org/event | Free | 11 a.m.

Virtual | louisvillebookfestival.com | Free registration | 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

As of this Monday, over 600,000 KentuckiVOTE ans have cast their vote (with 263,532 taking advantage of no-excuse, early in-person voting) according to Secretary of State Michael Adams. The Louisville Urban League is trying to make sure everyone gets out to vote in this election, along with several other organizations.

Start your Saturday with a pep rally, food and music at Louisville Urban League.

Then, caravan to the KFC YUM! Center to cast your vote. If you can’t make it this Saturday, there will be one final opportunity to join another caravan the following Saturday, to vote at the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage. Don’t put it off until the last minute on Nov. 3, unless you have to (or you haven’t made your mind up)… And make a show of voting, encourage others to join. —Aaron Yarmuth

Have you read every book on the shelf while staying healthy at home, and now you’re ready for something new to read? Or, maybe you’re interested in KEEP READING taking a shot at your own novel but ins need help getting started? The fro Louisville Book Festival has somethe thing for all book lovers over two des days, including presentations, interactions and workshops with of authors of various genres. For a Ins full list of times and sessions, a complete calendar can be found plo on the website above. The keylea note speaker is “Children of Blood peo and Bone” author Tomi Adeyemi. app ins Personal recommendation: Poet, ben activist and friend of LEO Hanme nah Drake’s “Literature as Part of by the Movement” will certainly be powerful. My personal area of wh need: “How to become an illustracla tor” (although I would need more The festival’s keynote speaker is ‘Children of Blood and Bone’bei author Tomi Adeyemi. | PHOTO FROM TOMIADEYEMI.COM than an hour to graduate past of stick figures). Register on the webTh site above and you will receive access to the virtual sessions of your choosing via Zoom que link. —Aaron Yarmuth but has THROUGH OCT. 31 cou CO Parking lot next to Joe Creason Park | 1297 Trevilian Way TH redpintix.com | $25 | 8-9 p.m.

Protest To Power | Caravan To The Polls

SATURDAY, OCT. 24

Louisville Earth Walk

Anywhere | louisvilleearthwalk.org | Donation | All day Caring for the environment — and your personal health — can’t be set aside until the COVID-19 crisis is behind us. The Louisville Earth Walk allows you to do both, EARTH with two safe, responsible options: a 5K walk or a free-form walk, run, dance, yoga practice, meditation or whatever strikes you in the moment. Choose your donation when registering, and support “13 locally-based environmentally-focused nonprofits that organize the event and supports their efforts to protect and improve the quality of life for all our citizens and neighborhoods.” —LEO

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LEOWEEKLY.COM // OCTOBER 21, 2020

Louisville Book Festival

CO

wh col fed als gov law gov

Shakespeare In The Parking Lot: ‘Macbeth’

“Macbeth” kicks off with a meeting amongst three, scary witches, so yeah, it’s a pretty good une Shakespeare play to watch around Halloween. (See our review in the DYSTOPIAN A&E section.) Kentucky Shakespeare takes its production of the 1600s her anc tragedy — set in a future, dystopian society — to a parking lot for a drive-in style performance. When wit you purchase low new your tickets, of you’ll have une the chance to reg make an extra the donation. Send sum in $20, and you’ll receive a wit Shakespeare in Mc the Park T-shirt, dir to be picked bec up at the show. firs int —LEO the to pol

NEWS & ANALYSIS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

who had no income. Since she also collected the extra $600 in weekly federal unemployment payments, Hayes also owes nearly $4,200 to the federal government. Kentucky is bound by law to pursue this debt to the federal government.

James Maxson, an unemployment insurance lawyer, says he regularly hears from workers like Hayes — and he said the unemployment system is generally designed to say no to claimants.

Maxson served as in-house counsel of Kentucky’s Office of Unemployment Insurance from 2008 until 2016.

Maxson said pressure on the unemployment insurance trust fund may be leading Kentucky to reject the claims of people like Hayes, who were previously approved for state-based unemployment insurance, and shift them to federally paid benefits like the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program created by the CARES Act. “It seems to me that some people who seem like they do have legitimate claims for unemployment benefits are being denied,” Maxson said, “but kind of dangled the promise of PUA as a plan B.” The unemployment office did not respond to questions about this allegation.

PUA is paid by the federal government, but is usually less money than state aid and has more stringent requirements for what counts as unemployment directly tied to COVID-19.

THE COMMISSION

Hayes had another chance to appeal the unemployment office’s decision by bringing her case before the Unemployment Insurance Commission.

The three-person commission is tasked with reviewing decisions made by the lower appeals process. They don’t hear new evidence, and instead review the facts of the previous hearing to determine if the unemployment office implemented its own regulations fairly. Dondra Meredith became the commission’s chairperson over the summer.

Meredith worked previously as a lawyer with the unemployment office. Muncie McNamara, Kentucky’s ex-unemployment director, objected to Meredith’s appointment because he said her experience gave her firsthand knowledge of the administration’s intentions for unemployment insurance, and the commission’s chairperson is supposed to be an independent arbiter of Kentucky’s policy.

In arguing against Hayes’ unemployment Before he was fired in May, McNamara benefits, Meredith wrote that Hayes’ claim was told in writing to stop commenting on that she was following the governors order appointments to the unemployment comwas “unfounded.” mission, according to a written reprimand The governor’s executive order says “all obtained through an open records request. citizens of Kentucky are encouraged to take Meredith’s name didn’t appear on a all feasible measures to engage in approprirecent commission decision; the state didn’t ate social respond to distancing questions The three-person to prevent about the the spread of commiscommission is tasked the disease,” sion’s current with reviewing decisions Meredith makeup. wrote. HowMeredith made by the lower ever, “the is a deputy order does executive appeals process. They not ‘direct’ director with don’t hear new evidence, any action by the Educaprivate sector tion and and instead review the essential Workforce employers Development facts of the previous or essential Cabinet, hearing to determine if workers.” according to Having a state salary the unemployment office lost the origidatabase. implemented its own nal decision, But when the appeal Hayes’ case regulations fairly. and before came before the unemthe commisployment commission, Hayes filed a lawsuit sion, Meredith as the chairperson issued on Sept. 13 against Driveline, the Kentucky her decision alone as the only attendee that unemployment office and unemployday. Meredith maintained the decision made ment commission, Labor Secretary Larry by the unemployment office’s referee on Roberts and Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman Aug.24 and decided in favor of Driveline.

as secretary of the Education and Workforce Development cabinet.

Hayes’ appeal alleges the unemployment office and commission are deliberately blaming workers “for workplace safety circumstances they do not choose and cannot control.”

On Oct. 4, Hayes was approved for pandemic unemployment assistance, a different federal benefit, that would retroactively cover four weeks in June and July when she was unemployed but did not receive benefits. Hayes will still pursue her case against the unemployment system to settle the matter for the potentially thousands of others in her situation.

Judge David Williams in the Monroe Circuit Court was scheduled to hear motions in this case on Oct. 15.

Hayes, meanwhile, is back at work for Driveline and SPAR Services. She doesn’t feel any safer, she says. Barren County, where most of Hayes’ work is located, has seen over 860 cases of the virus. “I don’t have the luxury to worry about safety now,” Hayes said.

Hayes says she doesn’t watch Beshear’s briefings anymore. • Jared Bennett, an investigative reporter for the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, can be reached at: jbennett@ louisvillepublicmedia.org

LEOWEEKLY.COM // OCTOBER 21, 2020

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MUSIC

WHY I STARTED A RECORD LABEL DURING A PANDEMIC

By Syd Bishop | leo@leoweekly.com OF ALL THE THINGS I do in life, making music is what I take the most pride in. Composing is about the act of creation — discovering something transformative or meditative. For me, music is about the moments that never repeat, just as much as it is about a solid hook or clever lyric.

It’s that constant need to create that led to Deus Marginalia, a Bandcamp subscription label with a biweekly release schedule.

The artists on Deus Marginalia are friends, neighbors and allies, a DIY collective of people who don’t have the same mechanisms for success as established artists who can take the regular paths to success. These are artists who don’t have social media cred, the ability to tour or a who’s who of guest collaborators to call on. For $4 a month, you get the entire Deus Marginalia back catalog, plus everything released on the label in the future. Any money earned goes 100% back to the artists, after whatever Bandcamp takes. But, this isn’t about money, it’s about sharing music together as a community outside of the paradigms of the music industry.

Right now, the roster includes my solo project, Tauri Sb, my collaborations in the projects All Glass and The Joy Center, as well as a growing community of likeminded artists.

Last month, I released an album by Coomes/Streeter, a collection of electronic and vocable passages. Friday, Oct. 10 saw the release of Grit by Dianthys, an electroacoustic album from Louisville ex-pat Guy Kelly. Next, we have new music coming from post-rockers Soft Scan and Deaf Index, as well as a comp in the works with proceeds going to Feed the West. There will be something new every other Friday.

Which means I have to make music as often as possible to satisfy my own guidelines. And I love it.

Growing up around bigots and fools, music was my way out, and local punk and indie was the community I turned to for guidance. At first, that was just going to shows, seeing acts such as By The Grace Of God or Hedge, bands that were loud, passionate and had something to say. I started making music myself not long thereafter, where I’ve met many of my favorite people to this day. These are folks that I’ve aged with, some of us into families, with adult responsibilities and all that other shit, but music has always persisted in some way or another with every friend I have.

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LEOWEEKLY.COM // OCTOBER 21, 2020

What do you do when you can’t go on tours across the country, or spend a bunch of time hustling to get heard by the right ears?

I tried to answer these questions by starting Deus Marginalia. The name loosely means “god in the margins,” which is in so many ways my religion. Music is a salve or a vent, a place for contemplation or commiseration. That’s what I think and that’s what my collaborators and co-conspirators think, as well. That’s why now, during a global pandemic, a new (or just refreshed) civil rights movement and the specter of authoritarianism looming large over the U.S. political landscape, I started a record label.

Because the world’s on fucking fire and we all want to say that we were here, that we did what we could.

It had to start with Bandcamp, too.

Bandcamp is a platform that supports artists more than any other, with the bulk major-

ity of whatever you earn going toward the artist.

Compare that to services like Spotify, which pay pennies on the dollar for streams, and it was a no brainer.

Deus Marginalia is designed to be an egalitarian community, for-us, by-us — artists across genres doing our thing however the hell we want. • Syd Bishop.

FOOD & DRINK

RECOMMENDED

COCHINITA PIBIL AT MAYAN CAFE, AN AMAZING YUCATÁN DISH

By Robin Garr | LouisvilleHotBytes.com COCHINITA PIBIL. These two Spanish words — one common, the other not so much — offer us a bright light into both the Mayan cuisine of Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula and neighboring Guatemala and into one of Louisville’s favorite south-of-the-border restaurants, Mayan Cafe.

So what’s a cochinita pibil? A little pig — that’s the easy part. It is long and slowly roasted in a large metal box, lowered into a pib, the traditional Mayan fire pit and marinated with tart, flavorful sour oranges and Mayan spices.

Mayan Cafe doesn’t have a giant firein-the-hole in the tiny kitchen of its NuLu home, but I can testify that Chef Bruce Ucán’s oven-roasted rendition is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen done to pork.

I know you’re salivating to hear more about this amazing Mayan pork dish, but we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves.

Let’s talk about what makes Mayan Cafe such a favorite, starting with this crazy pandemic that’s shuffling all our lives into a new not-so-normal. Back in March and into April, after Gov. Andy Beshear ordered a stop to dining in restaurants (and for a while, even on patios), it wasn’t clear to many of us whether our favorite restaurants would survive.

Indeed, even after quite a few local favorites started reopening with socially dis-

Another brand of commitment: All Mayan Cafe’s carryout packaging, even the bags, is compostable.

Cochinita pibil, the long-roasted tender pork that’s a classic of Mayan cuisine, is a signature dish at Mayan Cafe. | PHOTOS BY ROBIN GARR.

tanced tables for outdoor dining or reduced indoor capacity, Mayan Cafe’s doors remained closed.

But I didn’t worry. Ucán is a survivor, and he has been selling and advocating for Mayan cuisine since the 1980s when he drove a big blue taco truck called The Mayan Gypsy to suburban construction sites. He opened his first brick-and-mortar shop right where he is now in 1987, across Market Street from what was then Wayside Christian Mission. After a brief move to larger quarters a few blocks west that didn’t work out, he returned in 2007 to where he began, remodeled, just in time to catch the rising NuLu wave, and he’s been there since.

Ucán has been in the neighborhood, earning consistent applause, ever since.

But then the pandemic shut down diningin in Kentucky restaurants on March 16.

It would be June 22, 98 days later, before Mayan Cafe opened its dining room for limited 33% capacity again.

Naturally I couldn’t wait to get back over there, not least to get some of that cochinita pibil.

The menu is mostly Mayan, of course, and as the menu says, “fusing traditional Mayan flavors, ingredients and cooking techniques with local, sustainably-farmed ingredients.”

The online menu features seven starters, eight entrées, five sides and a trio of des-

Tok-cel gives the Mayan treatment to lima beans and raises them to a new level at Mayan Cafe.

LEOWEEKLY.COM // OCTOBER 21, 2020

15

FOOD & DRINK

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | BOOKS

AR

By T.E. Lyons | leo@leoweekly.com

“S cho

‘HILLBILLY HUSTLE’ FORGES T NEW APPALACHIAN D By TERRITORY “Hillbilly Hustle” by Wesley Browne (West Virginia University Press; 264 pages, $19.99)

Chinese broccoli and black mushroom noodle soup comes with the broth separate for you to mix at serving time.

serts. It offers a good, short tour of Mayan cuisine leavened by a few more domestic options such as a veggie burrito and a Mayan burger.

Pricing is well above many local Mexican options, but quality makes it worth the toll. Appetizers range from $8 (for sikil pak, a Mayan twist on hummus made with pumpkin seeds) to $14 (for scallop ceviche with Mayan flavors). The entrées start where the apps leave off with a $14 veggie burrito, then range upward to $25 (for pan-seared verlasso salmon turned Mayan with an earthy cuitlacoche sauce).

All Mayan Cafe’s meat comes from local farms, as do seasonal local produce and cheese. Consider that amazing cochinita pibil ($23), for instance: It may not be made from the rare, heirloom, hairless pigs that are being reintroduced in the Yucatán, but pastured Bourbon County Garey Farms pork makes a worthy substitute. The finished pork came in huge, velvety soft chunks of lusciously fatty, boneless pork, so tender you could eat it with a spoon; soaked, bathed and coated in its creamy, bright-orange liquid that it had roasted in. The sauce’s predominant flavor was citrusy sour orange with a haunting, minty note. It was tinted reddish orange by earthy notes and gentle spice added by the Mexican spice achiote; the flavors perfectly complemented that of the rich, juicy pork. It is an amazing dish.

Yucatán-style rice on the side was bathed in flavorful oil and dotted with corn niblets and

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LEOWEEKLY.COM // OCTOBER 21, 2020

bits of carrot.

Another main dish, cactus stir-fry ($19), gave vegetables the same kind of loving treatment that cochinita pibil delivers to pork. Tender green nopales (cactus), yellow squash and poblano peppers were cut into bite-size bits and stir-fried together with kale leaves until all were cooked through but not wilted, then served on a bed of quinoa.

Another Yucatán specialty, piquant dark-orange fried tomato puree, was served on the side as a sauce. The disparate flavors and textures made this a memorable dish.

If you’re wondering what stir-fried cactus tastes like, I’d place it on a flavor spectrum between a green bean and okra. I like it.

Another Mayan Cafe specialty, Yucatánstyle tok-sel lima beans ($5), wasn’t up to par this time. The limas had been cooked to crisp-tender perfection and tossed with finely chopped parsley and ground pumpkin seed as per tradition, but the overall impression was not bright but tired, with a dull earthy back flavor. It was a small complaint in an otherwise spectacular meal. We’ll be back!

A delicious Mayan meal for two came to $49.82, plus a $10 tip. •

MAYAN CAFE

813 E. Market St. 566-0651 themayancafe.com

THE STORY OF SEMI-LOVABLE losers who are stuck in Appalachia? The kind who seem like they might get out and achieve their dreams, but then some family member gets hooked on hard drugs or the sole remaining local factory announces layoffs and all anyone can see in their future is deepening debt or maybe a medical crisis?

You can find bookstore shelves full to bursting with variations on that tale — many of them good and some great. But in this debut novel, the author’s not in the least concerned with perfecting the well-trod plot. Instead, his goals are freshness and real-world specificity, and they’re achieved.

Don’t fret at what might be missing, though — there’ll still be worries over debts and some blood gets spilled.

Instead of a generic “holler” or a bankrupt coal town near Hazard, this Kentucky tale takes place in a realistically drawn Richmond, with occasional drifting into Jackson County (and a side-trip to Belterra). The initial two chapters are saturated with the details of a late-night downtown poker game, as narrated by the semi-nerdy forty-something owner of a pizza parlor. He walks into the smoke-filled room afraid he might lose his stake, which he needs to pay his parents’ bills. And once our main man is ahead, he’s afraid he’s made too big a splash and is ripe for mugging. As it turns out, either of those outcomes might be preferable to the Rube Goldberg-esque cascade of consequences that follows.

Author Wesley Browne takes chances, much like the protagonist. It’s a challenge to establish pace, atmosphere and several characters with an introduction that’s so mundane but also demands specialized vocabulary (and, to top it off, concerns a game based around concealment). Later on, there’ll be the successful use of a daring writerly device — shifting the point of view away to secondary characters without the slightest disruption in narrative flow. And there are numerous scenes that take a setting of down-home slight-dreariness and then bring on dramatic turns dressed up with

est alte and ac blo bro Wo Ro

tra dri wit

abl com

snarky dark humor.

Life shouldn’t be so tough for the hard- par working and for those who give more than Me lip service to principles like loyalty. But in fro the spotty, marginal economy that Browne Gr ing shows us, fates are determined mostly on how the breaks fall. One of his characters vib has artistic talent and can’t help but grow impatient enough to start packing her bags. “Sc Another character who’s impatient has clear (br FM entrepreneurial skills — oh, but he’s the con villain here, with a folksy rapaciousness that readily turns seedy and even dangerous. ing And when a chapter begins “Route 421 in tun Jackson County had more twists in it than the tha six months of pro wrestling,” you know someone will soon be losing traction — and (“Y Die maybe a lot more.

The pizza parlor doles out high-quality “E we eats as its profits grow slimmer and the owner ruminates over the what-might-havebeen from a long-gone offer to turn the placeapp into a craft microbrewery. Even the money wa to that comes in as he shifts over from pot smoker to behind-the-counter dealer isn’t dee enough to keep the wolves from his door.

The author — who knows a thing or two spe about Madison County pizza — threads his narrative carefully, but the reading isn’t the weighted down with extra cheese. Browne des knows his way around a particular specialty spe the among crime novels: written with a light touch and with a setting that amounts to a in cor primary character. But this isn’t outright comedic caper, so we’re not in Hiaasen fam territory. Browne’s success with his fresh “M approach will stay with you. •

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | THEATER

THINK YOU KNOW ‘MACBETH’?

DRIVE-IN VERSION STARTLES AUDIENCE

By Marty Rosen | leo@leoweekly.com “SCOTLAND UNDERGROUND is your only choice for news of the apocalypse.”

A few years back, Kentucky Shakespeare established an October tradition of using alternative strategies to create disruptive and innovative theatrical experiences like a couple of astonishing productions of the blood-soaked “Titus Andronicus” and radio broadcasts of Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” and a radio adaptation of George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead.”

This year, the company builds on that tradition by treating audiences to a full-on drive-in theater production fully stocked with witches, madness, murder and revenge.

The play is “Macbeth.” And it is probably the darkest, most ominous and most compelling “Macbeth” you will ever see.

It’s staged in pitch-black gloom in a parking lot that was formerly a Louisville Metro recycling drop off center. But apart from a deftly condensed script (edited by Gregory Maupin, dramaturg), there is nothing recycled about this production. It feels vibrant and new.

It’s set in a stark future where the “Scotland Underground” news segments (broadcast to the audience on a low-power FM frequency) are filled with reports of contagion, terrible air quality and an ongoing rebellion. It’s wise to arrive early and tune in your radio immediately for both the news and the slyly knowing soundtrack that features classics from Leonard Cohen (“You Want It Darker”), Tom Waits (“Earth Died Screaming”), the theme from the film “Exodus” and Patti LaSalle’s 1960s teen weeper “It’s Over.”

Seriously, when the apocalypse approaches, this is the playlist you’re gonna want. And you could do a lot worse than to have Maupin as your end-of-the-world deejay…

So… what about the play?

No dramatist has ever equaled Shakespeare’s preternatural understanding of how the quest for and acquisition of power can destroy one’s soul. And though all of Shakespeare’s plays (and, by my count, most of the sonnets) explore aspects of that issue, it’s in “Macbeth” that Shakespeare depicts the corrupting power with absolute finality.

Given the play’s intrinsic power and its familiarity to audiences, I think it’s rare for a “Macbeth” to elevate the script in a way that

can actually startle an audience.

But this production, directed by Matt Wallace, does exactly that. It would have been a fine thing merely to stage an acceptable production in this moment and in this venue. But instead, this production is a triumphant act of will that carves its bitter magic straight from the ambient dark.

From a technical theater standpoint, this is one of the most seamlessly integrated shows I’ve ever seen. It’s clearly the work of an accomplished collaborative team. Scenic Designer Karl Anderson has created an effective universe. Jesse AlFord lights the stage from below, smearing the onstage cast of seven (nearly all playing multiple roles) in a palette of ominous purples, greens and reds that merge with fog to create a landscape fit for witchery, murder, madness and revenge. Some players approach the elevated stage through the parking area — making even a parked car seem part of the venue.

Costume Designer Donna LawrenceDowns has garbed the players in explicitly futuristic designs (including gas masks for some of the players), but even so there are sinister echoes of medieval armor and contemporary riot gear. Laura Ellis’ sound design creates an insidious aural blend of highlands rumble, lo-fi walkie-talkie static and the hellish echoes that haunt Macbeth’s inner world. And fight choreographer Eric Frantz has created very effective stage combat.

Staging this production outdoors via radio may have presented daunting challenges, but if so, they were overcome by a production team that includes Mollie Murk (stage manager); Victoria Campbell (sound engineer); Chelsey Beeson (sound engineer) and Lindsay Krupski (master electrician/ board operator).

The two characters at the center of this story must be among Shakespeare’s most vexing creatures for actors, directors and students of the play who can pore over the text looking for crumbs of moral ambivalence.

But one of the most compelling aspects of this production is the ferocious conviction that Jennifer Pennington and Brian Hinds bring to their roles as Lady Macbeth and

PHOTO BY BILL BRYMER.

Macbeth.

There is nothing coy about these characters. Pennington brings a warrior’s sense of purpose and pragmatic fury to her role as leader of the couple’s conspiracy — even in the fraught moment when she discovers that Macbeth has failed to leave the murder weapon behind in the bed. Hinds offers a vivid and uncompromising portrayal of both the inner and outer life of Macbeth as he plunges deeper into the abyss of betrayal, assassination, conspiracy, the slaughter of innocents, the death of his wife and the gradual unraveling of the security promised him in the prophetic words of witches.

Even madness and loss cannot stifle Macbeth’s ambition. And yet, despite all his crimes, when we come to the final struggle and he cries, “Lay on Macduff and damned be him, that first cries, ‘Hold, enough,’” the fearsome power of his unyielding spirit is a palpable, emotional force.

This is a marvelous cast through and through. As noted, except for Macbeth himself, all the onstage actors play multiple roles.

Pennington joins Dathan Hooper and Angelica Santiago as the spectacular trio of witches whose wild incantations and prophecies drive the action.

Jon Huffman, in a fine piece of shapeshifting, opens the play as Duncan, the victim of Macbeth’s assassination plot — but then shows up in other guises, including as the servant who brings Macbeth word that

his wife has died.

Braden McCampbell brings an honest nobility to the role of Duncan’s son Malcolm, who flees Scotland when suspicions arise that he may have killed his father, but returns with an army to reclaim his throne and restore order.

Zachary Burrell is a memorable presence as Banquo, slain at Macbeth’s command, whose ghostly visage returns to haunt Macbeth’s fevered imagination.

Off-stage voices are heard from Will DeVary, Abigail Bailey Maupin, Gregory Maupin, Anna Wallace and Kyle Ware.

If you decide to attend, it’s wise to purchase tickets as soon as possible. Spaces in the parking lot are limited and audience members are required to remain in their vehicles. There is an extensive FAQ with the playbill here: kyshakespeare.com/macbethplaybill •

SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARKING LOT: ‘MACBETH’ Through Oct. 31 Kentucky Shakespeare redpintix.com 1297 Trevilian Way $25 per carload About 8 p.m. (parking lot opens at 7:30)

LEOWEEKLY.COM // OCTOBER 21, 2020

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99 Like slippers versus dress shoes 100 Milky gems 107 Muscly 108 Stumper question

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Grumpy co-worker Spanish gold Old country-music channel French for ‘‘cup’’ Locale of Kings County and Queens County, fittingly Like some batteries and parties Sapa ____ (title for Atahualpa) Not merely cut Gospel singer Jackson Fútbol cheer Doesn’t sit right?

Snippy, in a way Spare part?

Sch. for Bulldogs ’60s sitcom family What ‘‘X’’ marks on a treasure map First-year law student Mission-driven org. ‘‘Science Guy’’ Bill Shades Glittery glue-ons Wheel cover Acting mindlessly ‘‘____ Brando: Larger Than Life’’ (1994 biography) Dog in classic films Flowing forth Steeple feature Cleverness Universal donor’s blood type, for short Peacockish Activist Hoffman Milk dispensers Lost cause Only player with three 60+ home run seasons Rest of the afternoon?

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Examples of attention to detail Yearbook-award word Lift weights Gingerbread man, often British pop singer Lily In the Caribbean it’s known as ‘‘the chicken of the trees’’ ‘‘The government has discovered aliens but isn’t telling us,’’ e.g.

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Means of breathing Calming retreat Subject of 199 silk-screen paintings by Warhol Present from birth Activist ____ Alamuddin Clooney Hesitating sound Unremarkable Goes out for a bit?

Valorous Specialty The continents, e.g.

His resignation triggered the first invocation of the 25th Amendment Start up again Wacky Like some flights

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BY GARY LARSON / EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ

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The New York Times Magazine Crossword

ET 102 Triangular flags 103 Aerial maneuver 104 Kiddy litter?

105 Mature 106 Power issue 107 Computer image format 109 More up to it 111 South American mammals with trunks 113 Introductory course?

115 Brand of allergy spray 118 Lime and rust 121 It was known by the Algonquin as the ‘‘Father of Waters’’ 126 Extends 127 Similar 128 Castle in ‘‘Hamlet’’ 129 More out there 130 ‘‘May God bless and keep the ____ … far away from us!’’ (line from ‘‘Fiddler on the Roof’’) 131 Return to the fray

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SAVAGE LOVE

By Dan Savage | mail@savagelove.net @fakedansavage

DON’T GIVE UP

Q: Borrowing Gen Z's love for labelling everything, I'm a 46-year-old, homoromantic, asexual, Canadian faggot. For me that means I'd like to love and be loved by another man, but I'd hate having sex with him. To add a vexing complication, I also need some sort of power imbalance. Ideally, I would fall somewhere between being a man's sub and being his slave.

I've been searching for this since I came out in my early 20s. I've tried everything. Online, bars, hobby groups, friends, hookups. Vanilla relationships, single Masters, dominant couples, sex workers. I've spent thousands of dollars on both men and therapy, but here I am busted, miserable and alone. The point is that no one— and I mean absolutely no one — wants what I want. My dream dude doesn't exist. It's easy to tell someone to move on, that there are other fi sh in the sea, etc., but sometimes your sea is a puddle, and you really are the only guppy. I'm considering ending my life before the end of the year. I can't shake the deep sadness and disappointment and misery that I feel — and this isn't even touching on my current unemployment or newly-chronic health issues. What would you do if you were in my shoes? How does one switch off the built-in romantic drive? ~ Sought A Dom Accepting Sad Singlehood A: I’m sorry you haven’t found your ideal man, SADASS, or the right dominant couple or a vanilla guy you could love and a dominant sex worker you could see on the side. Not everyone finds their ideal mate/position/situation, despite our best efforts, which is why it’s important that we build lives for ourselves that are rich and rewarding while we look for our dream dude(s).

Because then even if we’re unhappily single — or we find ourselves unhappily single again — we would still have meaning and pleasure in our lives. And that makes it easier for us to live in hope that, should all the planets align, it could still happen for us or happen for us again. (Please note: I’m qualifying “single” with “unhappy” here not because all single people are unhappy—which is absolutely untrue—but because this single person, SADASS, is unhappy.)

I have to assume it has happened for you once or twice, SADASS. While none of your relationships with any of the vanilla guys, single Masters, dominant couples or sex workers you’ve met along the way turned into long-term connections, there had to have been some good times and real — if not lasting — connections over the years.

Instead of seeing those relationships as a string of failures because they all ended, SADASS, you should see them as a long series of successful short-term relationships. And while you may regret that none lasted for years or decades,

there’s nothing about being partnered that immunizes a person against regret. If you were still with one of those vanilla guys, you might always regret not meeting a Master; if you were with a Master or a dominant couple, you might regret — from time to time — not having a more egalitarian relationship.

Although you say not be interested in having sex, SADASS, your interests are erotically charged. If your erotic-if-not-sexual fantasies are causing you distress — if you want to switch off your built-in romantic/erotic drive — anti-depressants often lower and sometimes tank a person’s libido. For most people that’s an unwelcome side effect, but you may find it a blessing — at least for now, SADASS, while you’re dealing with your health and employment issues. It’s an extreme move, but it’s far less extreme than the one you’ve been contemplating, so it might be worth discussing with a sex-positive, kink-positive, reality-aware therapist.

Finally, please don’t end your life. The world is a far more interesting place with you in it. And while finding a romantic partner is never the solution to our problems — it’s only the start of a whole new set of problems — I’ve heard from countless people over the years who found something close to what they were looking for in their fifties, sixties, and even seventies. But it can’t happen for you if you aren’t here for it.

Crisis Services Canada maintains a 24-hour suicide-prevention hotline: 833-456-4566. In the United States please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255.

mail@savagelove.net Follow Dan on Twitter @fakedansavage.

This week on the Savage Lovecast, Andrew Gurza on sex with disabilities. savagelovecast.com

CLASSIFIED LISTINGS JOB OPPORTUNITIES CAREGIVER NEEDED ~ job is for 5 Days a Week – 5 Hours per Day – Salary is $20 per Hour. For more details about the position, email John @ jholtty1477@gmail.com.

Humana Inc. seeks Senior Data Scientist in Louisville, KY to use techniques from supervised & unsupervised machine learning, statistical analysis, or predictive modeling to deliver insights & solutions.

Travel up to 10%. Pre-employ drug screen and background check.

Apply at jobpostingtoday.com Ref: 78382

LEGAL

Leo’s Towing & Recovery, 510 E Broadway, Louisville, KY 40202 (502)-727-9503, has intention to obtain title of a 1987 Toyota Corolla brown VIN #JT2AE83E7H3440120, Owner Tony Mattingly Lien Holder: none. Unless owner or lienholder objects in written form within 14 days after the last publication of this notice. Leo’s Towing & Recovery, 510 E Broadway, Louisville, KY 40202 (502)-7279503, has intention to obtain title of a 2006 Nissan maxima White VIN #1N4BA41E86C83550, Owner Latosha Wolfork Lien Holder: none. Unless owner or lienholder objects in written form within 14 days after the last publication of this notice. Leo’s Towing & Recovery, 510 E Broadway, Louisville, KY 40202 (502)-727-9503,

has intention to obtain title of a 2007 Dodge Calibur Silver VIN # 1B3HB28B87D554745, Owner Hector Gallegos Lien Holder: ---Unless owner or lienholder objects in written form within 14 days after the last publication of this notice. Leo’s Towing & Recovery, 510 E Broadway, Louisville, KY 40202 (502)-727-9503, has intention to obtain title of a 2007 Chevy Avalanc VIN #KL1TD56607B170231, Owner Kwel Aguer Lien Holder: none Unless owner or lienholder objects in written form within 14 days after the last publication of this notice. Leo’s Towing & Recovery, 510 E Broadway, Louisville, KY 40202 (502)-727-9503, has intention to obtain title of a 1994 Ford FordRN Tan VIN #1FTCR14X9RPB22053, Owner Joseph Whitehead Lien Holder: none Unless owner or lienholder objects in written form within 14 days after the last publication of this notice. Leo’s Towing & Recovery, 510 E Broadway, Louisville, KY 40202 (502)-727-9503, has intention to obtain title of a 1999 Honda Civic Silver VIN #1HGEJ7122XL060769, Owner Gerardo Garcia Lien Holder: none Unless owner or lienholder objects in written form within 14 days after the last publication of this notice. Leo’s Towing & Recovery, 510 E Broadway, Louisville, KY 40202 (502)-727-9503, has intention to obtain title of a 2000 honda civic silver VIN #2HGEJ661XYH552636, Owner Mary Bowles Lien Holder: none Unless owner or lienholder objects in written form within 14 days after the last publication of this notice. Leo’s Towing & Recovery, 510 E Broadway, Louisville, KY 40202 (502)-727-9503, has intention to obtain title of 2002 Audi Audi27 blue. VIN # WAULD64B92N042055 Owner Tiffany Yates Lien Holder: none Unless owner or lienholder objects in written form within 14 days after the last publication of this notice.Leo’s Towing & Recovery, 510 E Broadway, Louisville, KY 40202 (502)-727-9503, has intention to obtain title of a 2007 Ford Crownvic VIN # 2FAHP71W27X116473, Owner LARRELL SIMMONS Lien Holder: none Unless owner or lienholder objects in written form within 14 days after the last publication of this notice.

DIRECTV - Every live football game, every Sunday - anywhere - on your favorite device. Restrictions apply. Call IVS - 1-877-379-2505 Notice is hereby given by AutoHouse#1 4035 Bardstown Rd Louisville, KY 40218 (502) 493-8188. Owner has 14 days to respond in writing to obtain title to the following: 2006 Dodge Dakota, VIN1D7HW48K46S561141. Owned by Jason Dion Jent 1316 N. Broadway St, Seymour, GA 47274.

Notice is hereby given by J T Classic Auto , 2341 Millers Ln Lou, KY 40216 (502) 309-5980. Owner has 14 days to respond in writing to obtain title to the following: 2004 Cadi escalade, VIN-1GYEK63N64R119385.

Owned by Evelyn Melissa Brown 2401 Hemlock Dr, Albany, GA 31721, Lien holder TitleMax Of Georgia inc D/B/ATitleMax 2533 Dawson Rd, Albany, GA 31707

MULTIPLE FACILITIES – MULTIPLE UNITS Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction at the location indicated: Facility 1: 5807 Bardstown Road, Louisville, KY 40291: October 28, 2020 – 1PM Units: 105, A022 Facility 2: 7900 Dixie Highway, Louisville, KY 40258: October 28, 2020 – 1PM Units: 113, 440, 502, 516, 651, 730, 734, 847, 950 Facility 3: 6708 Preston Highway, Louisville, KY 40219: October 28, 2020 – 1PM Units: 115, 130, 279, 326, 400, 416, 439, 604 Facility 4 (ANNEX): 4010 Oaklawn Drive, Louisville, KY 40219: October 28, 2020 – 1PM Units: 9051, 9190, 9201 Facility 5: 5420 Valley Station Rd, Louisville, KY 40272: October 28, 2020 – 1PM Units: Facility 6: 8002 Warwick Ave, Louisville, KY 40222: October 28, 2020 – 1PM Units: 2078, 2084, 3081, 3289, 416, 736, 819 Facility 7: 4605 Wattbourne Ln, Louisville KY 40299: October 28, 2020 – 1PM Units: 277, 448, 820 Facility 8: 11440 Blankenbaker Access Dr, Louisville, KY 40299: October 28, 2020 – 1PM Units: 00314 Facility 9: 201 E. Market Street, Louisville, KY 40202: October 28, 2020 – 1PM Units: Facility 10: 6456 Outer Loop, Louisville, KY 40228: October 28, 2020 – 1PM Units: The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures. com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.

REAL ESTATE - RENTAL Furnished Rooms For Rent Western Hostel, Large Rooms, All Utilities Included plus FREE CABLE. $120/wk, $480/month, Call 502-638-0636

REAL ESTATE - AUCTION REAL ESTATE AUCTION Thursday, October 29th at 2 p.m.

157 Weisser Avenue Louisville, Kentucky 40206

REAL ESTATE PREVIEW: Sunday, October 25 from 1-3 p.m. or by appointment.

HAYS & ASSOCIATES, Inc. will be selling at auction on behalf of the Estate of Samuel Norman McKenna the real estate located off Frankfort Avenue in the Crestmoor Subdivision adjacent to Crescent Hill and St. Matthews.

REAL ESTATE: This charming wood frame one story 1,274+ sq. ft. home has a comfortable front porch ideal for seating. It features a formal living and dining room, sitting room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms, full bath, [1st floor] laundry, gleaming hardwood floors [ refinished the week of October 12] and a 1,250 sq. ft. unfinished basement with outside entrance. The home is being sold with stove and refrigerator. A large fenced back yard opens onto an alley. There is a driveway and sidewalks. The residence is accented with mature landscaping.

This sale is being conducted in conjunction with Re/Max Properties East, Charlotte Smith, agent, [e-mail to Charlottesmith@homesinlouisville.com or 502.608.8282] and is being sold with confirmation of the executor. The property is being sold in “as is condition”. Broker participation accepted - contact listing agent for details.

TERMS: $5,000 down DAY OF AUCTION. Balance due on or before Friday, December 18, 2020. All announcements made from the auction block supersede any previous written or verbal statements. Personal check secured by the buyer’s personal demand note, cashiers check or certified check.

NO BUYER PREMIUM KENNETH S. HAYS KENNETH S. HAYS, JR. Auctioneers - Appraisers HAYS & ASSOCIATES, Inc. 502-584-4297 www.haysauction.com LEOWEEKLY.COM // OCTOBER 21, 2020

19

A LETTER TO THE COMMUNITY

LIKE LEO? HERE’S HOW TO HELP.

BY LEO WEEKLY We at LEO offer our sincerest congratulations to The Courier Journal for winning its 11th Pulitzer Prize, this one for studiously and unrelentingly chronicling the avalanche of last-minute pardons and commutations handed out by the corrupt, craven and mercenary Gov.-reject Matt Bevin.

We are fortunate as a city to have it as our paper. In a poignant tribute and plea, former CJ reporter Howard Fineman wrote in The Washington Post that the paper’s latest plaudit “should remind us (and surely was meant to remind us), that what we call ‘local’ journalism is profoundly essential to self-government as the Founders designed it, and to the American way of life.” He cited a study that found nearly 1,800 newspapers have closed since 2004, and he said, “Virtually all of the remaining 7,000 are thinner and weaker than ever.” He implored you to subscribe to the paper because, as the op-ed’s headline said: “My former newspaper is struggling — and is more important than ever.”

This is all true, but there is more.

What Fineman’s op-ed neglected to underscore is that the news media landscape extends far beyond daily newspapers and must include alternative weeklies.

Alt-weeklies also provide “local journalism” and are “profoundly essential.” They are critically important because they work in the margins and areas where newspapers do not or cannot. They provide free-to-read accounts of a community’s culture, ethos and priorities. Good ones are not substitutes for daily newspapers, although their coverage and stories may overlap.

At LEO, our goal since John Yarmuth founded it in 1990 has been to dive deeply into areas that The CJ and other mainstream news media have neglected, dismissed or overlooked. Accordingly, LEO is the authority on local music, theater and visual arts. We publish A&E guides twice a year. Every issue of LEO has (or had) at least two food and drink stories, including reviews, a beer column and insiders’ views on the service industry. We offer a range of commentary, which, admittedly, skews left but also has included conservative and right-leaning views (such as a column from, gasp — Mitch McConnell). We print op-eds that The CJ would not, such as from Black Lives Matter. We champion equality and provide a voice to the LGBTQ+ community. Our printed and online lists celebrate the best things to do in the region to help you plan your week and weekends. We also publish news stories that are written differently (we’d like to say, more interestingly) than a newspaper would run. They include primary source stories (first-person) and stories told through alternative (there is that word again) formats. Our core topics include those that the daily paper rarely touches, such as urban planning, race relations, labor and the environment (since The CJ’s ace enviro reporter moved on). And, they include media criticism (we are looking at you CJ, but we have given ourselves thorns) because who else is going to do it?

In short, Louisville has at least six ways you can get your news, counting TV and radio.

We try to not be like any of them.

We try not to tell the same story.

We try to be more interesting and less predictable.

And the hundreds of thousands of people who read us and click on our stories tell us we are doing something right.

Alas, LEO, as you might imagine, also has been crippled by this virus, as have alt-weeklies across the nation.

LEO is free to pick up and relies almost entirely on advertising. No subscriptions. No grants. No membership drive for donations twice a year.

The backbone of our advertising is entertainment (think: music, ballet, theater and visual art) and food and drink. Similarly, we distribute to places where people enjoy those activities and relax (think: bars, coffee shops, restaurants, etc.), and those have been closed. LEO already runs lean and has not had to furlough any editorial staff — yet — but our editorial budget has been cut by three-quarters. LEO has been online-only mostly since the epidemic began. Starting with this issue, our goal is to publish a print edition every other week. Fortunately, we have been an outlier among alt-weeklies, so far.

A story from NiemanLab listed more than 40 alt-weeklies that had taken steps to survive within just days of us all realizing this pandemic was real.

Many suspended print publication, others furloughed staff and, still, others asked for donations.

They included Pittsburgh City Paper, which launched a membership program: “in order to help fight some of these losses, with the hope that readers who depend on our daily coverage of local news, arts, music, food, and entertainment recognize the importance in the work we do to keep the city informed and want us to continue.”

We like that idea!

Won’t you please consider helping to fund LEO’s mission by underwriting a reporter or providing financial support for more stories?

You could sponsor a reporter to cover a specific topic or issue, such as visual arts or theater or labor… or poverty… or the environment or… you name it.

Perhaps you want to sponsor a weekly column on dance or jazz, or you want to underwrite a series of stories on land use in The West End. You would not have a say in exactly what we write and what gets printed, but you would see more coverage in the area you have selected.

If you are interested, please contact us at: leoweekly.com And, please, if you value LEO and want us to continue to survive and thrive, continue picking up the papers, continue sharing stories on social media and consider advertising if you do not already.

As always but particularly now, thank you for reading LEO, and thanks to all of you who have emailed and called to ask when you would see another printed edition on the news stands.

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LEOWEEKLY.COM // OCTOBER 21, 2020