Episode Transcript
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Speaker 2 (00:00):
Happy Friday to you.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
It is Kentucky and it's morning news, coffee and company
with you at news radio eight forty whas and we
are now joined by Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Good morning, mister Mayor. How how are we doing on
this Friday.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
I'm doing well. Nick. It's great to be with you.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Always good to chat with you, and it's our first
chance to chat since the tragic plane crash that took
place a couple of weeks ago. Obviously that's been a
real point of emphasis for you and really a lot
of folks in the city of Louisville. And when you
have a crisis like this, it's obviously something nobody expects
and you really don't know how things are going to
react until you till you're there in that situation. I
(00:35):
just wanted to get your thoughts on the leadership. Obviously,
you are the leader of Louisville as our mayor, but
there's other leaders when it comes to the Louisville Fire Department, MPD,
Metro services. It seems as if you guys collectively worked
really well together, worked well together to navigate what is
a tragic situation and something you never prepare for, but
these things do happen.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Yeah, Nick, I think you've seen that time and time again.
Over the past few years since i've in may Are
We Unfortunately, I've had to deal with several crises, whether
it was the Old National Bank shooting, or the historic
floods or this tragic plane crash, And this is what
first responders do. This is what we do, jump into action.
And what I've learned is that it's very important in
(01:17):
the early minutes after a tragedy like this, to let
the first profession the first responders, do what they are
trained to do do, whether it's police or in this
case fire, For the most part, let them do their job.
My job is to make sure people have the resources
that they need, get information, and then communicate to that community,
(01:38):
to the community at large, so keep people up to
date about what is going on. And that's what we're
doing in these early minutes after a tragedy hits our city.
I think communication is critically important to let people know
what's going on. I try to go by my heart
because I know in this situation so many people had
(01:59):
so many questions. That night of the crash was one
of my toughest nights. Ever, is walking into a room
full of families that just had questions. You know, their
heart knew what the answer was, but no one had
given them confirmation yet. And just to let them know
where we are, to be honest with them, even when
I didn't have specific information to share, but to let
them know the process and to help manage expectations of
(02:22):
when they would get information. I think that's the type
of stuff that's important to do. But I can't say
enough about the great work of our first responders and
the other first responding agencies at the Airport Oklhona Fire
and others from around the county that helped.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
So I'd like to think that everybody has a great
appreciation for first responders, because they should. But it is
things like this that really put it in perspective. When
you see the visual of it, and I'm just speaking
of seeing it on television as the fire is, it
just is something that doesn't even look real, and you
realize there are people that are leaving their families at
home to go run into that to try to keep
(02:57):
people safe and risk their lives. Again, these are things
that most people are well aware. They should be well
aware that that's what the job is. But to kind
of see this situation play out, I'm not sure if
I can think of many instances where there's a better
example of just realizing the sacrifices that they make.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
I think it's a great example. The last night, we
had a remembrance concert that the Louisville Orchestra and I
hosted at Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts. It was
a beautiful gathering to help mourn the victims with the families,
to help them heal and move forward. And when fire
Chief Brian O'Neill spoke last night, that's one of the
things that he spoke about was that that is their job,
(03:35):
that's what they're trained to do, that's what they want
to do, that's why they're in this career. And at
the same time, they performed exceptionally well. They put out
that entire blaze and had it under control in about
six hours. This was a half a mile crash site.
I was there two days later and there were still
some fires burning. It was very significant. And when we're
(03:58):
blessed here in Louisville to have the quality of hers
responders that we do, and that's why we continue to
support them.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
I know you shared your reaction to seeing the scene
a couple of days after it had took place. I mean,
is it safe to say that'll be something that'll stick
with you for forever. I mean, it seems as if
that was something that really impacted all those that that day.
Our leaders also Governor Basheer that seeing it just makes
it more real.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Oh completely. I mean, you can't words don't even describe
the feelings that you have and the things that you're seeing.
It was, you know, mangled, charred metal. But then when
you're standing there and it's still you still have the
smells of the gasoline, that strong smell. And then when
it really just hit me and I had seen enough,
was when there were firefighters walking with a stretcher towards
(04:44):
some area where some of the victims were. And that
is something that I don't need to see, but that's
their job, and they were there, you know, helping families
get answered, and that was incredibly It was incredibly heavy
on me, but it still is, but it was also
incredibly moving and uplifting at the same time to see
them doing their their great work.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Louisvill Mayor Greig Greenberger is our guest joining us here
on News Radio eight forty Whas earlier this week, you
outline some priorities for the upcoming legislation, and one of
those is the continued revitalization of downtown Louisville.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
What's your vision in the future, So.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
When it comes to just downtown continuing to make the
improvements that it has in recent years, certainly since you've
been you've been the mayor, what's the overall vision here
as far as what you want it to look like?
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Well, I want to continue to see progress like we're going.
You know, just this week we opened up a brand
new park downtown in the Loommet area by the medical center,
right in the heart there, and it's a beautiful new park.
I want more green space like that, and that's why
we're transforming the Belvedere, which right now is fifty year old,
crumbling concrete into a world class outdoor destination. We also
(05:53):
have new projects like a new new construction on the
parking lot next to Slugger Field. And then I'm working
really hard right now on an next chapter for the
Humanity Tower because folks from Humana are moving out of
that building down a few blocks to where they're going
to be and so we're working on what the next
chapter of the Humanity Tower will be with such an
important icon in our city. So getting more people downtown
(06:15):
it's been wonderful. I mean the weekends. You've probably been
to some of the UFL games this year. Great on
game nights, I'll be going on Saturday to watch the
women's you have a UK basketball game. But there are
lots of other events happening downtown. There are great festivals,
there are great restaurants, there's great bourbon attractions, and we
want even more of that. So it's every day. It's
not just special events, but it's every day that people
(06:38):
are coming downtown. We also just secured you five hundred
and fifty of their corporate officers are moving downtown next year.
That's going to be great to get that activity, that
weekday activity back in downtown again. So we have a
lot of positive momentum. I'm keeping them up spread on
the calf pedal, and during this session of the General Assembly,
(07:00):
I'm hopeful that the strength of relationships that we've built
with folks from all across the entire state pay off
for Louisville and pay off for the city.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Another another point of emphasis is a first responder training facility.
Tell us sort of the overall need.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
For this here.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
This is something that couldn't It won't necessarily just impact
this city, but it could impact surrounding areas as well.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
That's right. We've purchased, we have a contract to person
property in southwestern Jefferson County off Dixie Highway to have
a first responded training facility. And right now, the closest
track for whether it's police or fire ems to do
their training for driving, for example, is in Richmond, Kentucky.
We'd like to have a track here and some other
facilities for first responders to be able to do their
(07:45):
training right here in Louisville, not just for our Louisville
metro government agencies, but also for the rest in Jefferson
County the surrounding regional counties as well, a closer place
for them to train. You see what they can do
when they are well trained. We all saw it in action.
They're doing that every single day in cases that are
not as severe, not making the news every day, but
(08:09):
that's because of good training, and we want to continue
to support that to keep world class first responders. So
that's why we'd like some funds from the state to
help us do that. We're also looking to invest in
Jefferson Morrole Forest in the South End, some other projects
Downtown helped to bring make Louisville a world class sports
tourism attraction, where we need better fields for youth sports
(08:30):
and the like. So we've got a pretty ambitious agenda.
We brought about a billion dollars back to our city
during the last budget session two years ago, and we're
aiming to do a lot again this year.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
One are those things. This last question for you, Mary Greenberg,
funding for Tark. This is something that has been talked
about for some years. Tell us the importance and why
would be so beneficial to get more state fund, permanent
state funding here for Tark.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Yeah, so we you know Tark. When I became mayor,
Tark was insolvent and folks didn't want to confront the
reality of that that that was the case. And so
thanks to some new leadership, we've really turned Tark around.
It's now far more on time and has a great
reliability record of the on time service. It's clean, it's safe,
The routes are smaller than they were, but it's delivering
(09:15):
the service on those routes that it has right now,
and we want to start to build that to help
provide even more services to more parts of the community
with TARK. We haven't changed the way we funded TARK
since nineteen seventy four. Wow, it's expensive. Other states provide
some funding to their urban transportation system, and so I'm
(09:35):
hoping that that's something that the state legislature will consider
as well, in this session or in a future session.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
And when you consider just the I mean you have
if you are somebody who relies on transportation like this,
if there's continued improvement, it's not an exaggeration to say
that could improve the overall quality of life for someone.
If there's again you've mentioned there's already already in better
shape now than it was before. But I think if
you don't rely on it, you never have, you don't
think about it. But certainly something very important.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
The communit Oh, it's incredibly important. There are so many
people that rely on it to get to their job,
to go shopping, to get to medical appointments. That's what
it's about. I hope to grow beyond that where people
are choosing to take TARK not because they have to,
but because it's a reliable, efficient, inexpensive form of transportation.
That's where we'd like to go. That's going to take
(10:20):
some help from the state to get there.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Mary Greenberg, always appreciate your time. Thank you so much,
and enjoy your weekend, my friend.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Thanks Nick youto.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
That is maryor Craig Greenberg. All right, let's get to
a quick time out. We've got a quick update of
trafficking weather on the way. We will also get to
some sports. Roy O'Neil gonna join us, and of course
if we have some time. In fact, that's probably how
we're going to wrap some things up today, kind of
recapping that conversation there with Mayor Greenberg as he highlighted
a lot of things he's pushing for to help continue
to make this city even better, and then also just
(10:49):
his thoughts and our first chance to chat with him
in regards to the tragic plane crash that of course
is still a very big point of emphasis for him
and other Louisville leaders.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
So stick with us.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
It's eight sixteen here at news Radio eight forty whas well,
if you weren't ready for Friday and now you are right,
that's what this song was meant to do is to
get you set for a Friday, and used to be
the Friday close out in the afternoon when I was
hosting a sports show. So you hosted a sports show,
I did if I mentioned that before, but it was
(11:20):
at six o'clock when like officially, like everybody was getting
step with the weekend. I mean, my time here on
air today is about to wrap up. A lot of
people are really just getting their day started. So it
could be somewhat somewhat of a tease, but is mentioned
it as a Friday, and I cannot wait to get
out of here. No, I'm having fun, I'm enjoying myself,
but I'm looking forward to the weekend and I cannot.
I know we say this all the time, but the
(11:41):
fact that Thanksgiving is now less than a week away
it is it is crazy. I want to start where
we started this morning next week. I mean it's not
a I mean a lot of people take time off
if they have it, because why not go ahead and
take advantage of maybe getting a full week off because
you don't have to work on that Thursday or Friday.
But it's got to be up there as one of
the least productive work weeks for a lot of industries, right.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
I mean even in ours. I'll be honest, I mean,
you know it's Friday. Our day is basically over. We
only were. I'll only be on the air through Wednesday
next week, and then I'm taking off to go do
Thanksgiving stuff for the four day weekend. I'm I'm you're
traveling right, Yeah, I'm traveling on as soon as I
get out of here on Wednesday. But I'm already starting
(12:22):
my mind. I'm already like, man, I'm in vaga.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
The mode is, it's itching. People are ready to just
hit that button to get there, and we're getting closer
to it. So you, along with Scott, are facing a challenge.
Scott's got a feed forty plus people. You don't have
to feed as many, but you have a you have
a small space, right, yes, oh.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
God, yes, my daughter's apartment over in. She lives in Belleville, Illinois,
right outside Scott Air Force Base, right outside Saint Louis,
and she's got a kitchen the size of a broom
closet and.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Not ideal for a Thanksgiving meal, right, No.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
But we're gonna make it work. It's gonna be a
lot of Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of me
in there and telling there and and telling people to
get out till I finish, because I handle all the
main stuff, the ham, the turkey, the cinnamon rolls to
start the morning. And it's just it's a very small space.
It's probably the size of our our supply closet back
back in the ard.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
There just needs to be It needs to be laid
out from the beginning. And maybe you've already done it,
but letting everybody know, Hey, if I'm going to prepare
this meal, everybody needs to get out of my way, right,
get me some space, let me operate.
Speaker 4 (13:23):
No, no, and I'll be telling my grandsons, no, no, I
got this, I got this. Just just go in there
and go watch the Macy's Day parade, wait for Santa
Claus and I got this.
Speaker 5 (13:31):
I heard somebody say, is it no longer called the
Macy's Parade? Macy's went out of business?
Speaker 3 (13:36):
Did they not?
Speaker 2 (13:36):
No, They're still is still around. Why did I think
they went completely?
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Because a lot of places, a lot of places have
and or it could be this that like you, like,
many just don't go to malls anymore, and you just
assume they close out of side out of mind.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
They must have closed down. It's kind of got one.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Here's not like old celebrities that you haven't seen in
the news in a while. You don't mean anything by it,
but like times, you're like they still around right still.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
Because we've got to Macy's here, don't we. I believe
Jefferson Mall. At least it was at the Jefferson Mall.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
So I've been to that kid, all right.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
So I'm gonna I'm gonna say something that might get
me judged, but I'm just gonna be honest. I've never
watched it. I've never thought to watch it. I'm not
really sure I know exactly what it is other than
just a parade, but it is.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
And here's how I know this.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
This tells you how how how you know I used
to just be in such a different world. I know
of how popular it is because when you look at
the most most watched live things, it's always up there. Yeah,
not at the very top, but it's one of the
very very few things that's not sports that is in
one of the most watched live events we have on
TV every year.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
I watched it as a kid, uh stopped watching it
for a while as an adult. I actually what got
me back into watching it was my kids and teaching
them about it, because, especially by An and Jessica did what.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Makes kids thinks thinks parades are really cool? That makes sense.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
And then you've got Santa Claus as the very last float,
and that's kind of the signal that, Okay, Christmas time.
Here's Santa Claus is he's the very last float. He's
out there waving on his like, Okay, it's time for Christmas,
let's do it.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Yeah, my mom loves it.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
She's already requested that Daisies sleep overnight at her house
on Thanksgiving so she can wake up with her and
show her the macy.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
That's so adorable. I love that.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
And who knows, maybe it turns into like a tradition
or that's really cool. So you're traveling for Thanksgiving, you
you traveled a lot in your life, just with your
experience and your background in the military and whatnot, from
Germany to Texas to.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Korea, all over the place. So I've never.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Not been here in my hometown for for Thanksgiving. And
it's just because I've never really had any reason to
go anywhere. But has I mean again, it's it's it's
all you know ago As far as just moving around,
I guess you get used to that, right, Like growing up,
I'm sure that wasn't the case, right, No.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
My parents did not. I mean they moved probably three
times in my lifetime that I remember, and we spent
you know, I grew up. I did the most formative
years of my life in Midland, Texas. I did kindergarten
through fourth grade, and Amarella is always kind of in
those areas. But it was very stable on where we live.
The military, you know it, it doesn't do that. You know,
you're uprooted every three show years different places. Uh, It's
(16:08):
it's kind of a lonely feeling. I've been Christmas Day
in Iraq, I've been Thanksgiving in other places. I've Christmas Day.
I'm looking at a Christmas tree in Mogadishu, Somalia, decorated
with kim lights as the decoration. Somebody managed to get
a tree over there and decorate like that. It's a
different feeling. I think it makes you definitely appreciate family
(16:31):
time and when you are in your own house when
it has family, it does, but also sometimes too, when
you're overseas with your with your with your fellow soldiers.
There's a camaraderie there, there's a tightness there that everybody
there is there and they're not with their family, so
you are their family.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
It's the human element. I think that that will always
be powerful as far as just even without a conversation
about it, it you all know you're missing your you
know what you where you used to be for those
holidays to where you just you make it work with
who you who you're with.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Yeah, I I've Uh I'll have a different Thanksgiving this
year for the first time in my life, honestly just
because we've I've had grandparents over the years that have
passed and also aunts and uncles that that have passed
to where we now like, I'll have my own Thanksgiving
with my family. We're gonna go to churchill downs's what
we do. But let's be the first time. It's probably
the first time. Yes, it's the first time in my
life that I won't be like with my mom, she's
(17:23):
gonna be traveling, going to see her sister, so you know,
it'll be it'll be a different experience and I'll be
thankful for every second I get to do it with
family and we'll have a good time. But I was
just thinking about I've I've kind of always done the
same thing, and here I am across from somebody who's
had a lot of different experiences on holidays. So but yeah,
we'll make it work and I'll have my my, my,
my direct family with me, and uh, it'll be awesome.
(17:43):
All Right, we're out of here, we're having we're at
We're gonna have a long break, a long weekend break,
and then we're back with you on Monday. But Leland Conway,
he's coming up next pelling in for Tony and Dwhite.
So stick around right here at news Radio eight forty
w h A s
Happy Friday to you.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
It is Kentucky and it's morning news, coffee and company
with you at news radio eight forty whas and we
are now joined by Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Good morning, mister Mayor. How how are we doing on
this Friday.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
I'm doing well. Nick. It's great to be with you.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Always good to chat with you, and it's our first
chance to chat since the tragic plane crash that took
place a couple of weeks ago. Obviously that's been a
real point of emphasis for you and really a lot
of folks in the city of Louisville. And when you
have a crisis like this, it's obviously something nobody expects
and you really don't know how things are going to
react until you till you're there in that situation. I
(00:35):
just wanted to get your thoughts on the leadership. Obviously,
you are the leader of Louisville as our mayor, but
there's other leaders when it comes to the Louisville Fire Department, MPD,
Metro services. It seems as if you guys collectively worked
really well together, worked well together to navigate what is
a tragic situation and something you never prepare for, but
these things do happen.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Yeah, Nick, I think you've seen that time and time again.
Over the past few years since i've in may Are
We Unfortunately, I've had to deal with several crises, whether
it was the Old National Bank shooting, or the historic
floods or this tragic plane crash, And this is what
first responders do. This is what we do, jump into action.
And what I've learned is that it's very important in
(01:17):
the early minutes after a tragedy like this, to let
the first profession the first responders, do what they are
trained to do do, whether it's police or in this
case fire, For the most part, let them do their job.
My job is to make sure people have the resources
that they need, get information, and then communicate to that community,
(01:38):
to the community at large, so keep people up to
date about what is going on. And that's what we're
doing in these early minutes after a tragedy hits our city.
I think communication is critically important to let people know
what's going on. I try to go by my heart
because I know in this situation so many people had
(01:59):
so many questions. That night of the crash was one
of my toughest nights. Ever, is walking into a room
full of families that just had questions. You know, their
heart knew what the answer was, but no one had
given them confirmation yet. And just to let them know
where we are, to be honest with them, even when
I didn't have specific information to share, but to let
them know the process and to help manage expectations of
(02:22):
when they would get information. I think that's the type
of stuff that's important to do. But I can't say
enough about the great work of our first responders and
the other first responding agencies at the Airport Oklhona Fire
and others from around the county that helped.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
So I'd like to think that everybody has a great
appreciation for first responders, because they should. But it is
things like this that really put it in perspective. When
you see the visual of it, and I'm just speaking
of seeing it on television as the fire is, it
just is something that doesn't even look real, and you
realize there are people that are leaving their families at
home to go run into that to try to keep
(02:57):
people safe and risk their lives. Again, these are things
that most people are well aware. They should be well
aware that that's what the job is. But to kind
of see this situation play out, I'm not sure if
I can think of many instances where there's a better
example of just realizing the sacrifices that they make.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
I think it's a great example. The last night, we
had a remembrance concert that the Louisville Orchestra and I
hosted at Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts. It was
a beautiful gathering to help mourn the victims with the families,
to help them heal and move forward. And when fire
Chief Brian O'Neill spoke last night, that's one of the
things that he spoke about was that that is their job,
(03:35):
that's what they're trained to do, that's what they want
to do, that's why they're in this career. And at
the same time, they performed exceptionally well. They put out
that entire blaze and had it under control in about
six hours. This was a half a mile crash site.
I was there two days later and there were still
some fires burning. It was very significant. And when we're
(03:58):
blessed here in Louisville to have the quality of hers
responders that we do, and that's why we continue to
support them.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
I know you shared your reaction to seeing the scene
a couple of days after it had took place. I mean,
is it safe to say that'll be something that'll stick
with you for forever. I mean, it seems as if
that was something that really impacted all those that that day.
Our leaders also Governor Basheer that seeing it just makes
it more real.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Oh completely. I mean, you can't words don't even describe
the feelings that you have and the things that you're seeing.
It was, you know, mangled, charred metal. But then when
you're standing there and it's still you still have the
smells of the gasoline, that strong smell. And then when
it really just hit me and I had seen enough,
was when there were firefighters walking with a stretcher towards
(04:44):
some area where some of the victims were. And that
is something that I don't need to see, but that's
their job, and they were there, you know, helping families
get answered, and that was incredibly It was incredibly heavy
on me, but it still is, but it was also
incredibly moving and uplifting at the same time to see
them doing their their great work.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Louisvill Mayor Greig Greenberger is our guest joining us here
on News Radio eight forty Whas earlier this week, you
outline some priorities for the upcoming legislation, and one of
those is the continued revitalization of downtown Louisville.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
What's your vision in the future, So.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
When it comes to just downtown continuing to make the
improvements that it has in recent years, certainly since you've
been you've been the mayor, what's the overall vision here
as far as what you want it to look like?
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Well, I want to continue to see progress like we're going.
You know, just this week we opened up a brand
new park downtown in the Loommet area by the medical center,
right in the heart there, and it's a beautiful new park.
I want more green space like that, and that's why
we're transforming the Belvedere, which right now is fifty year old,
crumbling concrete into a world class outdoor destination. We also
(05:53):
have new projects like a new new construction on the
parking lot next to Slugger Field. And then I'm working
really hard right now on an next chapter for the
Humanity Tower because folks from Humana are moving out of
that building down a few blocks to where they're going
to be and so we're working on what the next
chapter of the Humanity Tower will be with such an
important icon in our city. So getting more people downtown
(06:15):
it's been wonderful. I mean the weekends. You've probably been
to some of the UFL games this year. Great on
game nights, I'll be going on Saturday to watch the
women's you have a UK basketball game. But there are
lots of other events happening downtown. There are great festivals,
there are great restaurants, there's great bourbon attractions, and we
want even more of that. So it's every day. It's
not just special events, but it's every day that people
(06:38):
are coming downtown. We also just secured you five hundred
and fifty of their corporate officers are moving downtown next year.
That's going to be great to get that activity, that
weekday activity back in downtown again. So we have a
lot of positive momentum. I'm keeping them up spread on
the calf pedal, and during this session of the General Assembly,
(07:00):
I'm hopeful that the strength of relationships that we've built
with folks from all across the entire state pay off
for Louisville and pay off for the city.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Another another point of emphasis is a first responder training facility.
Tell us sort of the overall need.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
For this here.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
This is something that couldn't It won't necessarily just impact
this city, but it could impact surrounding areas as well.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
That's right. We've purchased, we have a contract to person
property in southwestern Jefferson County off Dixie Highway to have
a first responded training facility. And right now, the closest
track for whether it's police or fire ems to do
their training for driving, for example, is in Richmond, Kentucky.
We'd like to have a track here and some other
facilities for first responders to be able to do their
(07:45):
training right here in Louisville, not just for our Louisville
metro government agencies, but also for the rest in Jefferson
County the surrounding regional counties as well, a closer place
for them to train. You see what they can do
when they are well trained. We all saw it in action.
They're doing that every single day in cases that are
not as severe, not making the news every day, but
(08:09):
that's because of good training, and we want to continue
to support that to keep world class first responders. So
that's why we'd like some funds from the state to
help us do that. We're also looking to invest in
Jefferson Morrole Forest in the South End, some other projects
Downtown helped to bring make Louisville a world class sports
tourism attraction, where we need better fields for youth sports
(08:30):
and the like. So we've got a pretty ambitious agenda.
We brought about a billion dollars back to our city
during the last budget session two years ago, and we're
aiming to do a lot again this year.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
One are those things. This last question for you, Mary Greenberg,
funding for Tark. This is something that has been talked
about for some years. Tell us the importance and why
would be so beneficial to get more state fund, permanent
state funding here for Tark.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Yeah, so we you know Tark. When I became mayor,
Tark was insolvent and folks didn't want to confront the
reality of that that that was the case. And so
thanks to some new leadership, we've really turned Tark around.
It's now far more on time and has a great
reliability record of the on time service. It's clean, it's safe,
The routes are smaller than they were, but it's delivering
(09:15):
the service on those routes that it has right now,
and we want to start to build that to help
provide even more services to more parts of the community
with TARK. We haven't changed the way we funded TARK
since nineteen seventy four. Wow, it's expensive. Other states provide
some funding to their urban transportation system, and so I'm
(09:35):
hoping that that's something that the state legislature will consider
as well, in this session or in a future session.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
And when you consider just the I mean you have
if you are somebody who relies on transportation like this,
if there's continued improvement, it's not an exaggeration to say
that could improve the overall quality of life for someone.
If there's again you've mentioned there's already already in better
shape now than it was before. But I think if
you don't rely on it, you never have, you don't
think about it. But certainly something very important.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
The communit Oh, it's incredibly important. There are so many
people that rely on it to get to their job,
to go shopping, to get to medical appointments. That's what
it's about. I hope to grow beyond that where people
are choosing to take TARK not because they have to,
but because it's a reliable, efficient, inexpensive form of transportation.
That's where we'd like to go. That's going to take
(10:20):
some help from the state to get there.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Mary Greenberg, always appreciate your time. Thank you so much,
and enjoy your weekend, my friend.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Thanks Nick youto.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
That is maryor Craig Greenberg. All right, let's get to
a quick time out. We've got a quick update of
trafficking weather on the way. We will also get to
some sports. Roy O'Neil gonna join us, and of course
if we have some time. In fact, that's probably how
we're going to wrap some things up today, kind of
recapping that conversation there with Mayor Greenberg as he highlighted
a lot of things he's pushing for to help continue
to make this city even better, and then also just
(10:49):
his thoughts and our first chance to chat with him
in regards to the tragic plane crash that of course
is still a very big point of emphasis for him
and other Louisville leaders.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
So stick with us.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
It's eight sixteen here at news Radio eight forty whas well,
if you weren't ready for Friday and now you are right,
that's what this song was meant to do is to
get you set for a Friday, and used to be
the Friday close out in the afternoon when I was
hosting a sports show. So you hosted a sports show,
I did if I mentioned that before, but it was
(11:20):
at six o'clock when like officially, like everybody was getting
step with the weekend. I mean, my time here on
air today is about to wrap up. A lot of
people are really just getting their day started. So it
could be somewhat somewhat of a tease, but is mentioned
it as a Friday, and I cannot wait to get
out of here. No, I'm having fun, I'm enjoying myself,
but I'm looking forward to the weekend and I cannot.
I know we say this all the time, but the
(11:41):
fact that Thanksgiving is now less than a week away
it is it is crazy. I want to start where
we started this morning next week. I mean it's not
a I mean a lot of people take time off
if they have it, because why not go ahead and
take advantage of maybe getting a full week off because
you don't have to work on that Thursday or Friday.
But it's got to be up there as one of
the least productive work weeks for a lot of industries, right.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
I mean even in ours. I'll be honest, I mean,
you know it's Friday. Our day is basically over. We
only were. I'll only be on the air through Wednesday
next week, and then I'm taking off to go do
Thanksgiving stuff for the four day weekend. I'm I'm you're
traveling right, Yeah, I'm traveling on as soon as I
get out of here on Wednesday. But I'm already starting
(12:22):
my mind. I'm already like, man, I'm in vaga.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
The mode is, it's itching. People are ready to just
hit that button to get there, and we're getting closer
to it. So you, along with Scott, are facing a challenge.
Scott's got a feed forty plus people. You don't have
to feed as many, but you have a you have
a small space, right, yes, oh.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
God, yes, my daughter's apartment over in. She lives in Belleville, Illinois,
right outside Scott Air Force Base, right outside Saint Louis,
and she's got a kitchen the size of a broom
closet and.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Not ideal for a Thanksgiving meal, right, No.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
But we're gonna make it work. It's gonna be a
lot of Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of me
in there and telling there and and telling people to
get out till I finish, because I handle all the
main stuff, the ham, the turkey, the cinnamon rolls to
start the morning. And it's just it's a very small space.
It's probably the size of our our supply closet back
back in the ard.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
There just needs to be It needs to be laid
out from the beginning. And maybe you've already done it,
but letting everybody know, Hey, if I'm going to prepare
this meal, everybody needs to get out of my way, right,
get me some space, let me operate.
Speaker 4 (13:23):
No, no, and I'll be telling my grandsons, no, no, I
got this, I got this. Just just go in there
and go watch the Macy's Day parade, wait for Santa
Claus and I got this.
Speaker 5 (13:31):
I heard somebody say, is it no longer called the
Macy's Parade? Macy's went out of business?
Speaker 3 (13:36):
Did they not?
Speaker 2 (13:36):
No, They're still is still around. Why did I think
they went completely?
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Because a lot of places, a lot of places have
and or it could be this that like you, like,
many just don't go to malls anymore, and you just
assume they close out of side out of mind.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
They must have closed down. It's kind of got one.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Here's not like old celebrities that you haven't seen in
the news in a while. You don't mean anything by it,
but like times, you're like they still around right still.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
Because we've got to Macy's here, don't we. I believe
Jefferson Mall. At least it was at the Jefferson Mall.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
So I've been to that kid, all right.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
So I'm gonna I'm gonna say something that might get
me judged, but I'm just gonna be honest. I've never
watched it. I've never thought to watch it. I'm not
really sure I know exactly what it is other than
just a parade, but it is.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
And here's how I know this.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
This tells you how how how you know I used
to just be in such a different world. I know
of how popular it is because when you look at
the most most watched live things, it's always up there. Yeah,
not at the very top, but it's one of the
very very few things that's not sports that is in
one of the most watched live events we have on
TV every year.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
I watched it as a kid, uh stopped watching it
for a while as an adult. I actually what got
me back into watching it was my kids and teaching
them about it, because, especially by An and Jessica did what.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Makes kids thinks thinks parades are really cool? That makes sense.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
And then you've got Santa Claus as the very last float,
and that's kind of the signal that, Okay, Christmas time.
Here's Santa Claus is he's the very last float. He's
out there waving on his like, Okay, it's time for Christmas,
let's do it.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Yeah, my mom loves it.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
She's already requested that Daisies sleep overnight at her house
on Thanksgiving so she can wake up with her and
show her the macy.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
That's so adorable. I love that.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
And who knows, maybe it turns into like a tradition
or that's really cool. So you're traveling for Thanksgiving, you
you traveled a lot in your life, just with your
experience and your background in the military and whatnot, from
Germany to Texas to.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Korea, all over the place. So I've never.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Not been here in my hometown for for Thanksgiving. And
it's just because I've never really had any reason to
go anywhere. But has I mean again, it's it's it's
all you know ago As far as just moving around,
I guess you get used to that, right, Like growing up,
I'm sure that wasn't the case, right, No.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
My parents did not. I mean they moved probably three
times in my lifetime that I remember, and we spent
you know, I grew up. I did the most formative
years of my life in Midland, Texas. I did kindergarten
through fourth grade, and Amarella is always kind of in
those areas. But it was very stable on where we live.
The military, you know it, it doesn't do that. You know,
you're uprooted every three show years different places. Uh, It's
(16:08):
it's kind of a lonely feeling. I've been Christmas Day
in Iraq, I've been Thanksgiving in other places. I've Christmas Day.
I'm looking at a Christmas tree in Mogadishu, Somalia, decorated
with kim lights as the decoration. Somebody managed to get
a tree over there and decorate like that. It's a
different feeling. I think it makes you definitely appreciate family
(16:31):
time and when you are in your own house when
it has family, it does, but also sometimes too, when
you're overseas with your with your with your fellow soldiers.
There's a camaraderie there, there's a tightness there that everybody
there is there and they're not with their family, so
you are their family.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
It's the human element. I think that that will always
be powerful as far as just even without a conversation
about it, it you all know you're missing your you
know what you where you used to be for those
holidays to where you just you make it work with
who you who you're with.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Yeah, I I've Uh I'll have a different Thanksgiving this
year for the first time in my life, honestly just
because we've I've had grandparents over the years that have
passed and also aunts and uncles that that have passed
to where we now like, I'll have my own Thanksgiving
with my family. We're gonna go to churchill downs's what
we do. But let's be the first time. It's probably
the first time. Yes, it's the first time in my
life that I won't be like with my mom, she's
(17:23):
gonna be traveling, going to see her sister, so you know,
it'll be it'll be a different experience and I'll be
thankful for every second I get to do it with
family and we'll have a good time. But I was
just thinking about I've I've kind of always done the
same thing, and here I am across from somebody who's
had a lot of different experiences on holidays. So but yeah,
we'll make it work and I'll have my my, my,
my direct family with me, and uh, it'll be awesome.
(17:43):
All Right, we're out of here, we're having we're at
We're gonna have a long break, a long weekend break,
and then we're back with you on Monday. But Leland Conway,
he's coming up next pelling in for Tony and Dwhite.
So stick around right here at news Radio eight forty
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