Tagged: Louisville Metro Councilman David James

Louisville Democrat David James and Republican Ken Fleming don’t always agree as leaders of their respective caucuses, but the two Metro Council members hope city lawmakers tackle a number of issues this year.

Among them is the new spending plan for the city. Mayor Greg Fischer says the local economy is bouncing back from the recession, but Metro Government still faces a $13 million budget shortfall.

Both parties hope the budget process is transparent, and James and Fleming agree that public dollars for city services are running thin and need to be spent wisely.

Louisville Metro Council members Cheri Bryant Hamilton, D-5, and David James, D-6, are partnering with anti-gang advocates in a new anti-violence initiative.

The "No Red Dots" campaign seeks to educate at-risk youth and adults about conflict resolution and train neighborhood leaders in mediation. It is named after the red dots Metro Police used to indicate shootings on crime maps. According to Metro Police statistics there have been  approximately 70 shootings and 20 homicides this year.

James says the high concentration of those crimes were committed in west Louisville and the escalation is alarming, adding there is no panacea to violent crime.

"This is designed so that we don’t have more red dots on our maps that show where people have been shot," James told WFPL. "There is not one single thing that we’re going to do that’s going change the violence levels, it’s going to be a holistic approach that’s going to have to be taken."

There was quite a shake up in Louisville media this past week, with cable subscribers seeing Time Warner Cable remove WDRB from the television lineup.

Before returning to the airwaves, the joust between the local Fox affiliate and cable company was the top story until WDRB announced hiring sports columnists Eric Crawford and Rick Bozich away from the Courier-Journal.

Louisville Metro Councilman David James, D-6, will host a neighborhood forum for residents to discuss the latest information surrounding health concerns involving the Black Leaf plant site.