The Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville will have a special celebration honoring two historical figures Monday: It is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and also Ali’s 69th birthday.Activities include a Kentucky Opera performance and a meet-and-greet with Earl Lloyd, the first African American to play in the NBA.Ali Center spokesperson Jeanie Kahnke says there is also a special admission deal for visitors bringing in old cell phones."If you bring one in to recycle as part of our Alltech Muhammad Ali Center Global Education and Charitable Fund in which we collect old phones and send them to different third world countries who do not have phones, they get in for free," she said. Kahnke says for those who do not bring a cell phone there is a special two dollar admission price.She says King’s “I Have a Dream” speech will be shown all day and two Louisville artists will be available to sign their new “Muhammad Ali Through the Years” print.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.