836. Schools closed tomorrow due to Covid.

 

Jefferson County Public Schools have just announced schools will be closed tomorrow, Monday, January 10, 2022.  Schools will move to home school NTI on Tuesday and remain in the NTI through Friday, January 14, 2022.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 9, 2022.

835. The Obituary of Darryl T. Owens

Darryl T. Owens

Louisville - Darryl T. Owens was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1937. He grew up in Fort Hill and recalled those days fondly. Stressing religion, family and education, his mother Dorothy Minter Owens raised a son who quietly became a giant as a civil rights leader, public servant and a man of many firsts.

Owens graduated from Central High School and left Kentucky to earn a bachelor's degree from Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. There he pledged the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. and forged lifelong friendships.

"At Central State, we were lucky because everyone was invested in our success," Owens said while receiving a lifetime achievement award from the University. "They pulled our coats when they needed to. My friends and I joke about writing a book 'I am glad they didn't mind their own business. ' Our business was their business. They knew how hard the world would be and they knew that we were the ones who needed to go out into the world to make it a better place for less fortunate black people."

Go out into the world he did. Owens was accepted into Howard University Law School in Washington, DC where he earned a Juris Doctorate degree in 1962. Owens returned home to Louisville where he opened his law practice in 1965.

Owens devoted his life to public service and civil rights. As an attorney, political candidate and government official, he broke racial barriers by becoming the first African American to gain recognition on many fronts. He pounded on doors to assure access for those who had been left out and—once inside—worked to ensure that those rights endured.

From 1965 to 1969, Owens served as the first black assistant prosecutor of the Louisville police court. Ultimately, he would become the first black assistant Kentucky attorney general and the first black president of the Legal Aid Society. Owens served as NAACP President, Louisville branch from 1970 to 1976. He also served on the University of Louisville Board of Trustees, the Louisville Urban League and local and state government advisory committees.

He served as a juvenile court judge in 1980 and served as the trial commissioner of Jefferson County Court. He was a member of the Kentucky Workmen's Compensation Board and, from 1976 to 1983, Owens was instrumental in obtaining government grants to assist chronically ill patients, the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), the Big Brothers program, homeless programs, vocational educational programs and various parks in Kentucky.

Owens was the first African American elected to the Jefferson County Fiscal Court. For 21 years, he served on the Jefferson County Fiscal Court representing C District. Then in 2005, he was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives to serve District 43. Owens also became chairman of the Judiciary Committee during his time in the House. He introduced important expungement legislation. House Bill 64 included language to help ex-felons get jobs by expanding offenses that can be expunged and making it easier to remove felonies from their permanent record. Owens sponsored another bill to help reinstate voting rights for former felons.

He was a strong believer in the transfer of knowledge to future generations. One of his mentors was Georgia Powers, the first African-American and first woman elected to the Kentucky Senate. "In the olden days, if they had a meeting, everybody showed up," Owens once told an interviewer. "We showed up and we marched. We had leaders who we trusted. Young kids now don't understand the sacrifices that others have made so they can do what they do. That's our fault. We haven't told the story."

"Dedra and I always thought our father was bigger than life," said Debbie Owens, his oldest daughter. "Even during his illness, he had an ability to build relationships - doctors, nurses, techs and caregivers. They all loved him. He never lost his sense of humor. We laughed and loved until the very end."

He is survived by his wife Brenda Lucien Owens, daughters Deborah Owens (Ferguson Evans) and Dedra Owens of Washington, DC; stepson Desmond Sweatt and sisters Patricia Herring of Cleveland, Ohio, and Leslie Tucker of Phoenix, Arizona.

A viewing service will be held on Monday, January 10, 2022 from 3:00 to 6:00 pm at the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage located at 1700 West Muhammad Ali Boulevard, Louisville, KY 40203.

Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, January 11, 2022 at 10:00 am at St. Stephen Baptist Church located at 1008 South 15th Street, Louisville, KY 40210. Live streaming of the service will be available on St. Stephen's website www.ssclive.org.

Masks are required for attendance at both events.

The family welcomes donations for the Darryl Owens Memorial Fund, in lieu of flowers . Checks should be mailed to the Central State University Foundation, P. O. Box 64, Dayton, OH 45401-0064. Donations can also be made directly by visiting www.centralstateuniversityfoundation.com

W.T. Shumake & Daughters Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.

Copied from the Courier Journal.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 8, 2022.

 

834. Senate Bill 3 from the 2008 General Assembly - the Filing Deadline, the opposite of this year's House Bill 172

The first piece of legislation to make it through both chambers of this year's session of the Kentucky General Assembly had nothing to do with the budget or healthcare or education or clean drinking water or highways or coal severance taxes or even pensions.  We can only hope that our legislators will eventually address these important topics at some point during the 2022 Regular Session.

No, the first piece of legislation to pass both houses and advance to the governor's desk, and one which he has already signed into law, was House Bill 172 moving the filing deadline from today to January 25, 2022, solely for this year.

Kentucky's regular filing deadline for elective office has for several years now been ridiculously early, falling on the first Friday of January at 4:00 p.m.  It has moved around over the years.  This current temporary move under HB172 is closer to the last Tuesday or last Friday in January, both of which have previously served as filing deadlines.  Many years ago, from the 1970s to the 2000s, it was in mid-March.  

But, as mentioned, the current deadline is the first Friday of January, unless, as what happened today, the General Assembly moves it for their own purposes.  Or, as in the case ten years ago, the courts move it, as Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd did moving the deadline for some offices to January 31, 2012 and others to February 7, 2012.  The reason in both this year's move and that of a decade ago was the late passage of the House and Senate (and Congressional) boundaries for the elections, redrawn after the decennial censuses.  As of this writing, those new lines have been presented, but not passed.  The new lines for judicial circuits, which haven't been redrawn in decades, have been passed to my understanding.  In other words, the dates must be moved due to the late actions (or inactions) of the members of the General Assembly themselves.

This brings me back to Senate Bill 3 from the 2008 General Assembly.  Then-Senator David Williams, someone with whom I rarely agreed, introduced a bill which would have moved the filing deadline to the last Tuesday in April and the Primary to the first Tuesday after the third Monday in August.  I completely supported Senator Williams's proposal.

It would have moved all of the filing and campaigning until after the General Assembly had done its annual destruction in Frankfort and while the destruction would still be fresh in the minds of the voters.  As it is, a session ends sometime in March or April and all is forgotten in a few weeks and then we have a filing deadline immediately after the holidays.  Also as it is, Kentucky's filing deadline is the first in the nation and the period between the filing deadline and the actual primary and election is longer than any other state in the nation.

While this year's move is for this year only, the General Assembly should take a long hard look at moving everything until later in the year as Senator Williams proposed fourteen years ago.  He was right.  Perhaps Secretary of State Michael G. Adams could take this up as a cause.  He seems to have some gravitas within both parties and elections are the province of his office.  

Hope springs eternal.

Happy Orthodox Christmas.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 7, 2022.

833. A Snowy Day in Louisville - the view from First and Main

Photo by SamHunterPhoto

Downtown Louisville earlier today, looking west on Main Street. This is the point from which Louisville's addresses are numbered. The view is west on West Main Street. To the right is north on North First Street. At the bottom-center-left is southbound South First Street and at the bottom right corner is looking back eastbound on East Main Street.

All of these points begin as the 100 block with even numbers on the west and south sides and odd numbers on the east and north sides. Most, but not all, of Louisville's streets conform to this numbering system.

The north-south divide extends westward along Main Street to the Ohio River (including some blocks where Main doesn't exist and streets divide in the middle of a block). It extends eastward back to the railroad crossing where E. Main becomes Mellwood Avenue, then follows the CSX Railroad Old Road subdivision to Frankfort Avenue, then follows Frankfort Avenue and Shelbyville Road to the county line.

The east-west divide extends northward on First Street, in theory, to the Ohio River, although River Road not does comport to the system. It extends southward on First Street to the old City Limits line at Southside Drive and Strawberry Lane, where it then becomes irregular, sometimes following the CSX Railroad mainline, while at other times following Third Street Road, and at other times following the CSX Railroad Henderson subdivision line.

The most obvious bastardization of the block numbering system is the 100 block of Outer Loop, which runs for just over one mile, from Third Street Road to just east of New Cut Road. There are also several streets which skip large sets of blocks. Dixie Highway skips the 5400-6400 blocks. The west side of Preston Highway skips the 3500-3900 blocks. Shelbyville Road skips the 5100-7300 blocks. Westport Road skips the 4900-7300 blocks. Highland Avenue skips the 1600-1900 blocks. Taylorsville Road skips the 4800-8900 blocks. Mellwood Avenue skips the 2000-2100 blocks. There are several others.

Finally, for many years a road existed connecting W. Manslick Road with New Cut Road in the Fairdale area. It had been built by the Commonwealth when the Jefferson Freeway, later known as the Snyder Freeway, came through in the late 1970s. There were no developed properties fronting on it and it went unnamed and unaddressed for many years. Eventually, it was developed with warehousing and later a hotel. That posed a problem - what to call it. It seamlessly went from New Cut to unnamed to W. Manslick. Lord knows we didn't need yet another Manslick Road in Jefferson County and New Cut jutted off to the south where it met - you may have guessed - one of our several Manslicks. Eventually the Fiscal Court changed the name of the New Cut which jutted to the south to Old New Cut and let the road continuing south toward Fairdale be known as New Cut.

Someday I'll talk about Old Shep.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 6, 2022.

832. On the passing of State Representative Darryl T. Owens

My friend Darryl T. Owens passed away yesterday after a long illness.  He was 84.  For many years he represented me in the General Assembly as the 43rd District State Representative.  He had previously served as a member of the Jefferson Fiscal Court for "C" District.  I've known Darryl for thirty-eight years and supported him in nearly every one of his elections, the exception being when he ran for Mayor of Louisville in 1985.

Darryl is mentioned in more than a dozen posts here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River at Milepost 606. You can search his name in bar at the top left of the blog and go read about our various interactions.  He was a firm yet fair person willing to do almost anything for anybody, especially if it meant taking on authorities.  He loved addressing inequalities and working to solve them.

Among the entries herein is one dated March 2, 2013, where I have posted an address I made to the Kentucky Democratic Party State Central Executive Committee on a number of topics, one of which mentioned the work of Rep. Owens.  I have copied the pertinent paragraphs below.  I've also included a link to his bio on the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights website.  It tells much more than I can say in one post.

Here is part of my speech to the KDP SCEC:

On a different matter, and in the other house of the General Assembly, I am also concerned and dissatisfied.  Two days ago, the Kentucky House, in the name of religious freedom, passed a law which subverts the gains Kentucky and a few - very few - of its local communities have made with regard to civil rights protections for lesbians, gays, and others.  In the name of religious freedom, which I would call religious preference, something forbidden by the United States Constitution, our House passed a law by an overwhelming vote – seven Democrats voting no and the balance of the Chamber in favor – which could strip away discrimination protections in the name of religious freedom.

Two attempts were made by my representative in the House, Darryl Owens, to amend the bill, one passed and one was not called for a vote - both in the name of protecting the gains made in civil rights over the years, and especially in the cities of Vicco, Covington, Lexington, and Louisville.

Each of these bills now head to the other Chamber where both will likely be passed. Each bill needs work and if passed as written I would hope Governor Beshear would give the General Assembly more time to think through their votes by vetoing these horrible pieces of legislation.

Here is the link for the KCHR website for Rep. Owens bio:  Biography of Darryl T. Owens

Darryl leaves a large legacy of work behind and will be missed.  Please keep his wife Brenda and their family in your thoughts.  Rest in Peace and Power, my friend.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 5, 2022.

831. Republicans and their crayons

 

There's not a lot to say here.  The GOP has full control of Kentucky's legislative and congressional redistricting for the first time in history.  They've controlled the senatorial redistricting since 2000, so the two parties have been agreeing not to screw each other too badly for the last two redistricting efforts.  Prior to that, back to 1964, the Democrats had had full control.  Needless to say, paybacks are hell.  

One friend, Clayton Brown, commented that a drive along I-64 from Lexington to Louisville would take you through five of the six congressional districts, from the 6th to the 1st to the 4th to 2nd to the 3rd.  The 1st is the interesting one.  It begins down on the banks of the Mississippi River in Fulton County, about 300 miles to the southwest and runs to Franklin County and the Forks of Elkhorn Creek.

Redistricting is one of my favorite subjects and I may have more to say at another time.  First we need to get the crayons away from the Republicans.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 4, 2022.

830. What's in a Zero?

The New Year should necessarily involve making new choices, taking new chances.  

Most of you all know my drink of choice other than Red Wine - Ale-8-One.  I've been drinking Ale-8-One since some time in 1978.  Here's a paragraph taken from a post made on this blog on December 2, 2007, after a drive out in the the commonwealth:

"Ky 169 leads to KY 33, which is South Main Street in Versailles, the county seat of Woodford County. I was anticipating stopping at a little corner market in Versailles which for years has boasted an Ale-8 vending machine, 12 ounces for 50 cents or 75 cents of the Kentucky based soda in little green bottles.

The vending machine has stood in a small nook of that building for as long as I can remember. It was there last year when I attended the funeral services for my aunt Margaret Collins, the former governor's mother-in-law. This I know since I stopped and bought a bottle. But, upon arriving in downtown Versailles, the little green bottle vendor was gone. Utter dismay."

So there I was a few days ago, New Year's Eve to be exact, in the soft drink aisle of the Lower Brownsboro Kroger, pondering both a purchase of my beloved soft drink as well as the pounds I had added over the holidays and it was at that point I spied the "Ale-8-Zero" six pack of bottles.  And for the first time since 1978, I chose something other than the Ale-8-One.  I picked up the six bottles of Ale-8-Zero in the Christmas packaging - maybe it was Holiday packaging - and decided to check it out.

As of today, a few minutes ago, I've finished the sixth of the six bottles.  However, I had decided by the second bottle on New Year's Day that this new product wasn't all that bad.  Actually it isn't a new product.  Rather, it's an eighteen year old product recently rebranded with a new name.  Diet Ale-8-One was introduced in 2003.  I've avoided it for eighteen years.  It was rebranded as Ale-8-Zero on February 2, 2021 and took me just under eleven months to pick up a six-pack.

On New Year's Day, on the Ale-8-One Facebook page, I made the following comment about their diet soda:

After drinking Ale-8-One religiously since 1978, yesterday I bought a six-pack of Ale-8-Zero. It's 97% better than I was expecting and 98% as good as the original. I have some decisions to make in 2022.  

It really is pretty good.  I think I'm going to stick with it.  I'm completely surprised.

  

Also, Happy Tenth Day of Christmas!

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 3, 2022.

829. January's New Moon

The first New Moon of 2022 arrives very shortly, at 1:34 p.m. EST.  New Moons hold power according to some, especially the power of renewal, appropriate for the second day of a new year.

So, light a candle, make a list, start a ritual, start anew.  It's time.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 2, 2022.

828. 2022 - A New Year. Hopefully a new commitment.

Happy New Year's Day! New Year's Day, for most of us, tends to fall in the middle of the actual year in our minds, which in the U. S. of A. runs from about Labor Day to about July 4th (or honestly, to about the next Labor Day).

Over the millennia, different cultures have begun the year at what would now be considered "days other than New Year's Day." Most of those celebrations are tied to a New Moon, a Full Moon, an Equinox, or a Solstice. Later religions created their own holidays and Holy Days around those same days. Thus we get the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah tied to the Passover which is related to both a New Moon and an Equinox. Christians mark our most important day, Easter, by the first Full Moon after the Vernal Equinox. And the Bible tells us that the death and resurrection of Christ happened during the week of the Jewish Passover. So there's potentially a double calculation involved, which then requires church synods to "set the date" for the Resurrection much as they did for Christmas.

Nations have created their own laws as to when the New Year begins although January 1st has come to be accepted as the most universal date. Until 1752, the British Empire used March 25 as the beginning of the New Year, which seems like an arbitrary date. Some earlier Roman kingdoms used the birthday of the Emperor Caesar Augustus, the great ruler during the times of the Pax Romana, which coincided with much of the life of Christ, as New Year's Day. Emperor Augustus was born on September 23, a singularly important day in my life, and one often associated with the Autumnal Equinox.

As my regular readers know, this page marks the Full Moons as well as the Equinoxes and Solstices. Full Moons are a monthly occurrence and the words "moon" and "month" ultimately derive from the same linguistic root, -me-, meaning "to measure." Other words in that family of words include meter, dimension, meal, menopause, Monday, commensurate, and the musical metronome.

Pictured is the calendar for this year's Full Moons, the first of which will mark another important date in my family, my brother's 60th Birthday.

Happy 2022.

© Jeff Noble, Louisville, Kentucky, January 1, 2022.