Friday News Roundup

Welcome to the first news roundup of 2010 that was supposed to be the last of 2009. A little behind schedule on the news. As usual, the last sidewalk photo of 2009 was correctly identified as Goss Avenue from McHenry toward the railroad tracks. Congratulations Talkfan, Ken Wilson, Bainter Jr., Jeff, and Michael. Here’s a new photo ready for guesses in the comments.

As the first roundup of 2010, I would like to thank our newest site sponsor, Commonwealth Bank & Trust Company. Your support is certainly appreciated. I would also like to encourage all Broken Sidewalk readers to keep sending in tips on what’s going on around town. A lot of the content of the site is generated from tipsters and helps to keep the site fresh and interesting. You can send tips to tips@brokensidewalk.com or anonymously through the red link up top. As always, tipsters are confidential.

Local News

• Coalition for Homeless joins lawsuit against city over Wayside (C-J, Wave 3, Fox 41)
• And Wayside says they are ‘staying put’ at Broadway hotel site (Wave 3)
• Meanwhile, Homeless Task Force continues its discussion today (Friday) (WFPL)
• Louisville’s Boxelder area gets Neighborhood Stabilization Grants (C-J)
• 21c named among top hotels of decade by Times Magazine (T Magazine)
• 4th Street Live restaurant Rocky Rococo closes (Biz First)
• Louisville home sales up sharply in 2009 from 2008 (C-J)
• Looks like Louisville is getting the ‘World’s 2nd Most Awesome Art Market’ (Official Site)
• Louisville’s last drive-in theater for sale, future uncertain (C-J)
• Sprawl watch: another subdivision in Indian Hills opposed (C-J)
• Playground replaces skateboard ramp at Breslin Park (Common Ground)

Southern Indiana

• New Albany bar burns, building ‘totaled’ (NA Confidential, N & T, C-J)
• New restaurant opens in New Albany serving pies and paninis (NA Confidential)
• New Albany celebrating new year with public art project (WFPL)
• Troubled New Albany neighborhood gets $6.75M for redevelopment (N & T, C-J)
• Indiana cities lose revenue to rural counties just like KY (Indy Star via Twitter)
• 225 year-old Clark Mill found with ground-penetrating radar (C-J, Fox 41)

People

• Tom Owen elected Metro Council President (C-J, WFPL, Mojo, Ville-Voice)
• Meet Jon Salomon, lawyer at the center of Butchertown’s clean air battle (C-J)
• Meet David Bibelhauser, sculptor of the ‘loopy’ bike racks across Louisville (C-J)
• Craig Buthod, library director, named nation’s best (Metro Lou, WFPL, Mojo, C-J)
• Jim Host reappointed captain of S.S. Arena Authority (C-J)
• And he’s going to be honored by Business First affiliate company (Biz First)

Transportation

• Check out this amazing automated, underground bike storage (Copenhagenize)
• National campaign launched to fight distracted driving (P-G, NY Times)
• And ‘distracted driving’ declared the word of 2009 (How We Drive)
• Just as car companies add features to make you more distracted (C-J, LA Times)
• Would you ride your bike above the street on a wire? (Arch Daily)
• Are cars and bikes on the same roads really the ‘unsolvable problem?’ (Mojo)
• Speed Museum, Lou Film Society making film about mobility in Lou (CART)
• Another Car Free Happy Hour success, event growing (Bikeolounger, lou.com)
• China’s new High Speed Rail system averages 217 MPH (Inhabitat)
• Amtrak gets in some guerrilla advertising at the airport (TreeHugger)
• Celebrating 20 years of the Simpsons through funny traffic scenes (Hard Drive)
• Southern Indiana airport could improve Louisville’s air transport (Fox 41)

Environment & Sustainability

• It turns out Bullitt County’s toxic Valley of the Drums is still toxic (Unusual KY)
• Proposed stricter EPA smog rules could save money, improve health (Grist, Biz First)
• And Louisville and others would be in violation of air quality (C-J, NY Times)
• EPA still says VMT must be reduced to improve air quality (StreetsBlog DC)
• MSD undertaking creek restoration project in Cherokee Park (C-J)
• More on Duke’s Gallagher power plant settlement (TreeHugger, C-J, C-J Opinion)
• Duke considers a gas conversion, but new enviro-risks emerge (C-J)
• Proposed giant ash pond upstream from Lou draws criticism (C-J)
• Parking lot & driveway sealant raises cancer, health concerns (MSNBC via Twitter)
• New trees planted on Lou’s Olmsted parkways (Common Ground, C-J)

Everything Else

• A roundup of some of 2009’s top Smart Growth stories (Switchboard)
• And another list of ten ways cities can ‘grow smarter’ (Fast Company)
• Quality suffers when small butchers are replaced by big industry (Butchertown)
• And JBS Swift faces a national lawsuit over unpaid wages (Ville-Voice)
• Should new homes be required to install sprinklers? (Wave 3)
• Report says road building doesn’t help unemployment (NPR, Rebuild Place, SGA)
• And generates backlash from industry groups (Infrastructurist)
• American industry needs an advocate, must thrive (New Geography)
• Considering the future of oil in the new decade (Atlantic)
• Attractiveness matters more in the city (Yahoo via Twitter)
• Penguin statues from Puma’s NYC store are a lot like 21C (NotCot)
• Winningest jockey gets more than roses, try a cool $18.5 Mil (Luxist)
• Are vast Walmart parking lots America’s ‘war zones?’ (Huff Po)
• And a few flickr photos of the day here and here and here and here.