Phillip M. Bailey

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer is encouraging citizens and businesses to brandish Cardinal red ahead of the Final Four this weekend.

The mayor declared Friday is Cardinal Red Day to celebrate the University of Louisville men's and women's college basketball teams making it to the Final Four in their respective NCAA tournaments.

The men's team is scheduled to play in Atlanta on Saturday, and the women's team will be in New Orleans on Sunday.

"I want to paint the town red—literally," Fischer said in a news release. "It’s been an amazing, and lately very emotional, season for the Cards—both the men and the women—and we want the whole city to get behind them in their quest for national titles in Atlanta and New Orleans."

A liberal group is launching a petition asking the NCAA be required to provide universal health care for student athletes in the wake of a shocking leg injury to Louisville men's basketball player Kevin Ware.

Ware suffered a compound fracture of his right leg on Sunday during the Cardinals's game against Duke in the Elite Eight.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee points out the NCAA makes $780 million per year off college athletes, but does not guarantee full payment of medical bills for injuries.

Louisville’s basketball program is also the most profitable in the country, raking in $40 million in revenue annually with a projected $23 to $28 million in profit.

The Ware injury has gained national media attention, but is has also put the spotlight on how college athletes aren't protected and universities aren't legally obligated to take care of players once they're hurt.

From The New York Times:

University officials say they go out of their way to inform students about the limits of insurance. Yet the situation has confused and frustrated athletes and their families, some of whom have had to shoulder large and unexpected medical bills.

Under a new proposal, Louisville Metro Government would bill neighborhood groups approximately $3,000 to hold zoning hearings in their affected communities.

The Metro Planning Commission often holds special meetings at neighborhood venues in the evenings when residents and developers clash over controversial new projects or developments.

But city officials says rising costs for things such as a court reporter, recording equipment and security are harder to pay for in lean budget times.

"We've gotten to the point where in the past couple of years our budget has gone down quite a bit," says Metro Planning and Design Services Director Phil Bills. "And a lot of places we go to are not convenient for video or audio recording. In our downtown location we have that equipment, but when we go out we have to hire a court reporter and that's up to $1,500 alone."

The idea was discussed briefly at the Metro Planning Commission last Friday, and the proposal has been tabled.

Attorney Stephen Porter represents OPEN Louisville and other preservationist groups in zoning cases. He says neighborhood leaders object to the idea because it burdens residents and favors developers

Former Kentucky treasurer Jonathan Miller is blaming fellow state Democrats for helping push actress Ashley Judd out of the upcoming U.S. Senate race.

Judd announced last week she is declining to run against Republican Mitch McConnell in 2014, citing a need to focus on family. The speculation on other reasons why Judd isn't making a bid are plentiful, but supporters are speaking up.

In an editorial, Miller says a "dizzying blur of false testimony" promoted by a handful of Democratic consultants and strategists in national stories was part of the reason Judd declined.

From The Daily Beast:

While many may legitimately believe that (Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan) Grimes is the better candidate, many of those who have been quoted impugning Judd, or have done so on background, also have personal motives: some stand to profit from a Grimes campaign, some may have been trying to redress perceived “disses” by the actress, and some may be aiming to keep Grimes out of the 2015 gubernatorial race, where she could undermine their preferred candidates.

The University of Louisville’s Center on Race and Inequality is holding a public forum on hazing injuries and deaths among student organizations.

In 2011, hazing gained national headlines after Florida A&M University came under sharp scrutiny for the death of marching band member Robert Champion, who was beaten after a football game. The school has suspended its world-famous marching band and prosecutors have pressed misdemeanor charges against more than a dozen students.

UofL Pan-African Studies Professor Ricky L. Jones is director of the center. He says Louisville has also seen  violent hazing incidents on its college campuses, which occur more often than people realize.

"We’ve had a number of suspensions over the last decade and a half. We had one student almost die, who suffered from kidney failure in 1997. We’ve had extended suspensions going from seven to ten years of Greek-lettered organizations here," he says. "So it’s not an issue that’s just relegated to Florida A&M and people need to understand that."

Stop ignoring the West End!

At least that’s the message from a recent Louisville Magazine cover story about the nine neighborhoods encompassing west Louisville.

The 38-page exposé tells the community's history, and also outlined the current disparities in income, property values and education levels. Many know anecdotally about the so-called Ninth Street Divide, but the stark realities when compared to the East End is eye-opening.

Statistics show residents in east Louisville make three times more and seven times as many have a bachelor's degree or higher than their West End counterparts.

It's a bleak picture of the predominately African-American part of the city, which is increasingly isolated.

Now that actress Ashley Judd is officially not running for U.S. Senate against Republican Mitch McConnell, critics have wasted no time to lampoon the next presumptive Democratic nominee—Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes.

Grimes is being encouraged to fill the apparent void in 2014, and supporters argue she has a number of assets: no record for McConnell to attack, the daughter of a former Kentucky Democratic Party chairman and a tight relationship with former President Bill Clinton.

It appears the best jabs circulating about Grimes for now are the secretary of state's speeches—where she often refers to herself in the third-person and shouts repteadly.

A new video featuring Grimes is making the rounds, and it pokes fun at her and other screamers, including former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, a goat and Judd (in Normal Life).

Watch:

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is launching a basketball-themed radio ad targeting U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., ahead of his beloved Louisville Cardinal's Sweet 16 game.

The spot begins airing Thursday and uses a faux play-by-play commentary describing how  McConnell  "scores for Washington special interests and himself" while blocking economic policies that would help Kentucky.

Listen:

The campaign to re-elect Republican Senator Mitch McConnell launched a new statewide radio ad this week featuring the GOP leader's fiery remarks at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference.

During the speech, McConnell pledge to conservative activists the fight against the Affordable Care Act will will continue despite the Supreme Court upholding the legislation and President Obama's re-election last fall.

In the one-minute radio spot, McConnell assails the president's overall agenda while urging conservatives to remain true to their principles.

"If you believe in your heart that the direction Barack Obama wants to take this country is wrong, its time to stand up together and punch back," McConnell says in the ad.

Five members of the Louisville Metro Council are seeking to remove Councilwoman Barbara Shanklin, D-2, from office over ethics violations.

Earlier this month, the Metro Ethics Commission ruled that Shanklin violated five provisions of the city's ethics code and recommended her ouster.

The Charging Committee is made up of Democrats Tina Ward-Pugh, Vicki Aubrey Welch and Madonna Flood; and Republicans Jerry Miller and James Peden.

Attorney David Tachau will represent the committee and prosecute the case.

He says because the Council Court will have subpoena powers the removal trial will reveal a number of facts and testimonies the ethics hearings could not uncover.

"I do know that Councilwoman Shanklin essentially did not testify and obviously this committee is interested in letting her have her say and address the issues that have been raised by the Ethics Commission and that are in the charging complaint. There are other family members this committee may choose to request a subpoena for," he says.