Kentucky News Now – June 30th 2014

Louisville metered parking rates increasing

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Public parking rates are going up in Louisville next month.

Starting July 1, the Parking Authority of River City (PARC) is increasing rates at parking meters and some garages.

Parking meters will increase by 25 cents, to $1.50, while monthly rates at all PARC garages are increasing by $5.

PARC director Tiffany Smith says a majority of these garages have not seen a rate hike since 2007.

PARC will also begin enforcing Saturday rates gradually. A law requiring parkers to pay meters on Saturdays has been on the books for years, but rarely enforced.

Starting July 9, officials will distribute bright green notices advising the public on these changes.

Program finds jobs for more than 2,000 youth

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer says the city's businesses have put more than 2,000 young adults to work as part of a summer work program.

Fischer had set a 2,000-job goal for 2014 after last year's program put more than 1,500 young people ages 16 to 21 to work in the city.

The mayor says support from local businesses has become essential for the SummerWorks program.

He says when federal dollars for youth summer jobs ended four years ago, the business community stepped up with funding.

Fischer says the summer program provides important job experiences for young people.

Young people employed through SummerWorks are on the job for at least 30 hours a week for seven weeks.

Slow Money movement comes to Ky.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — There's a new option for loans for some small-scale farmers looking to increase their production.

The Courier-Journal (http://cjky.it/Uh15Vz) reports it's called Slow Money Kentucky, and it's the latest of 10 investment clubs and 19 local Slow Money chapters that have formed across the nation.

Slow Money matches local investors with famers and small food producers. Loans are typically between $1,000 and $10,000 and require no collateral. A sustainable local food economy is the goal.

The formation of the chapter in Kentucky came as Louisville prepares to hold an international gathering in November of people associated with the Slow Money movement.

Black bear spotted outside church near Cincinnati

OAKLEY, Ohio (AP) — The elusive black bear wandering all over suburban Cincinnati this past week has been spotted again, this time outside a church.

Residents a police say the young bear was seen outside a church Sunday morning in the suburb of Oakley just east of Cincinnati.

Police tell WCPO-TV that a wildlife officer from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has been called in to track the bear as it made its way along a creek bed.

Ohio wildlife officials have been warning people to stay away from the bear believed to be 2 or 3 years old and weighing about 85 pounds.

Officials think it swam across the Ohio River from Kentucky and was first seen earlier this week.

Faith offers valuable connection for Southern Dems

ATLANTA (AP) — The South is considered the country's most religious region, and Democrats hoping to reverse Republican gains there are finding their faith to be a valuable way to connect with voters.

Religion always has been a personal matter, so candidates vary in how much they're willing to talk about their faith.

In Kentucky, Democratic U.S. Sen. candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes hasn't spoken much publicly about her Catholic upbringing.

But in Georgia, Democratic U.S. Sen. candidate Michelle Nunn used a TV ad to talk about attending church as a child with her grandmother and "learning how we live out our faith by helping others."

Nunn and Jason Carter, the president's grandson who's running for Georgia governor, say they talk about their faith because it's an important part of who they are.

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