Lexington/Richmond

Temperatures across Kentucky have been anything but winter-like recently, but preparation for clearing roads of snow and ice goes on.  In Lexington, city officials propose building a second salt storage barn on the east side of town.  Streets and Roads Director Sam Williams says a site just off interstate 75 near Athens is being eyed to build on two-to-three years down the road.  Williams says a interim salt barn might be set up near the Winchester-New Circle Road interchange.

Restoration work on a popular Lexington parking garage has some motorists scrambling for parking spots.  The Annex Garage along Main Street was closed in early November.    Normally, Lexington Parking Authority Director Gary Means says over six hundred vehicles parked there each day.  “They come through the garage on a given day.  And then you have at least 300 employees or monthly parkers that could park there on any given day.  And there’s only 380 spaces so it was a busy garage before we had to close it,” said Means.

Hoping to get a better handle on Fayette County’s need for social services, Lexington leaders are turning to student-researchers with the University of Kentucky.    Some 21 agencies in Lexington were surveyed by three social work students from U-K.  The first phase of their research was turned over this week to city leaders.  They talked to representatives of the organizations supported by the city.  Research supervisor Diane Loeffler says their aim is not to measure the number of people served by specific agencies.   Loeffler predicts the data gathered will help the council reach out to more people in need.

There’s movement in Lexington’s dispute with a downtown homeless shelter.  The operators of the Community Inn have dropped a lawsuit against the city.  And the Lexington leaders are helping them find a new location. But, a resolution is likely still months away.   City officials have given the operators of the Community Inn a list of new locations for the shelter.   Lexington’s Board of Adjustments revoked the Inn’s permit in June….saying the facility violated zoning requirements.  Initially, the Inn had until this Saturday to move.  But, the city has extended the deadline until April and is now providing assistance.

Lexington’s vacuum truck began collecting leaves this week.  It’s the start of a collection period that runs into December.  Since leaves don’t necessarily drop on a schedule, city Arborist Rob Allen says setting pick-up times can create a challenge.  “We’re trying to impose kind of a calendar deadline on an organic issue.  For example, this year we had a drought followed by some pretty cool early fall weather, well that affects the timing of when the leave drops off the tree,” said Allen.

With the Lexington’s books “in the black,” city leaders are celebrating.  During a meeting today Mayor Jim Gray took the unusual step of offering formal comments.  The mayor says the city collected nine-million dollars more than their original predictions.  “In the financial world, in the private sector, a business would say, well we’ve turned it around.  We’ve made a profit ” said Gray.

A leading voice in on-line charitable giving welcomes Tuesday’s national emphasis on donations.  Now, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday behind us, it’s time for Giving Tuesday.  Charitable organizations in central Kentucky hope to tap into the holiday spirit  Among the groups soliciting on-line gifts is the Blue Grass Community Foundation.

Lexington is losing a lot of trees to disease and poor placement near streets.  City Forrester Tim Queary says too many trees are squeezed between sidewalks and the road.  “We need seven feet at a minimum between the sidewalk and the curb if we want the tree to live a long healthy life.  But right now in a new development, we only have five and a half feet,” said Queary.  Council member Kevin Stinnett says trees can be costly.  Their leaves clogs storm sewers while low hanging limbs can block sidewalks and mailboxes.

An $80 million project will widen parts of New Circle Road in northwest Lexington and create a double-crossover diamond at Leestown Road. Those changes are part of a project that would alter some of Lexington's major arteries to "reduce traffic congestion and operational deficiencies on New Circle Road" and its interchanges, said Rob Sprague, design section supervisor for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Sprague said the project is expected to begin in the fall of 2013 and continue through the summer of 2016.

Inspectors in Lexington’s Code Enforcement Department keep a busy schedule…inspecting thousands of structures annually.  Code Enforcement Director David Jarvis told city leaders some 85 hundred properties were inspected in 2011.  Some of the most nagging problems revolve around U-K students at the beginning and end of the semester in the disposal of items.  Jarvis says any solution lies with their landlords.

Lexington’s Council appears ready to lower the boom on car stereos.  Earlier this year, members rejected a comprehensive noise ordinance package.  Now, the provision governing loud car stereos has been resurrected.  The council’s Public Safety Committee approved the proposal this afternoon.  Its sponsor is council member Tom Blues.  “The principal addition here is to clarify the nature of the noise and also to reduce the distance over which the sound has to travel in order to be cited as a violation from 50 feet to ten feet,” said Blues.

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council will have four new faces come January from districts where incumbents did not seek re-election. Meanwhile, eight incumbents, including four who faced challengers, won another two-year term. New members on the council include Shevawn Akers, who defeated Brannon Dunn in the 2nd District; Jennifer Scutchfield, who was unopposed in the 7th District; Jennifer Mossotti, who defeated Bill Polyniak in the 9th District; and Harry Clarke, who beat Steve Nelson in the 10th District.

Lexington Mayor Jim Gray announced Monday that Lexington is one of 20 finalists in a $9 million urban-innovation contest created by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to inspire cities to generate bold ideas to solve major issues. Lexington's idea is to create CitizenLex.org, a Web site that offers a continuing way to tap into residents' ideas for innovative solutions to challenges facing the city and for improving city life.

Every day, more than 10,000 people go to work on Kentucky Thoroughbred farms, taking care of high-strung 1,000-pound animals, often in close quarters. But nobody seems to know how dangerous this work might be, keep statistics on accidents, or share methods that prevent them. This fall, the University of Kentucky has launched a multiyear study of the health and safety practices associated with the diverse workforce of the Thoroughbred industry, one of the state's top agricultural enterprises.

  After 79 years of calling Woodford County its base of operations, the Kentucky United Methodist Homes for Children & Youth plans to move to neighboring Jessamine County. This past summer the nonprofit corporation that cares for abused, neglected or abandoned children purchased nearly 31 acres on Ashgrove Road in northern Jessamine for $915,000 from David and Alta Marshall. The property is just south of Brannon Crossing shopping center off U.S. 27.

Lexington city leaders are supporting a unique downtown hotel project to the tune of one million dollars.  Council members decided Tuesday to spend the better part of an Urban Development Action Grant or UDAG  money toward the 21c museum hotel project.  One million dollars will be loaned to developers.  Council member Julian Beard says the city will likely be asked to participate with more financial support.

An official kick off for a one and a half million dollar fundraising campaign for a downtown Lexington landmark is scheduled this evening.  A birthday celebration is planned for the Kentucky Theater as it celebrates 90 years downtown.  Guests are encouraged to come wearing a costume in tribute to their favorite movie character or movie era.

Some musicians at Eastern Kentucky University hope to make it more of a home for Mountain and Bluegrass music.  Biology professor Bob Frederick thinks E-K-U can do a better job of recruiting and retaining students if it did more to embrace Appalachian culture.  “It just struck me that this would be a unique way for a certain group of students to find a niche that might help them cope with the day to day rigors of being a student and maybe being an outlet for them,” said Frederick.