Come Meet the Budgetel Inn Owners Monday, September 12, 2022 at the BANA General Membership meeting (an Explanation)

Aerial View of Budgetel Inn 3304 Bardstown Rd

If you have been in the Bon Air Neighborhood or surrounding area for any length of time, you are likely familiar with the Economy Inn/Budgetel Inn at 3304 Bardstown Road and the negative attention it has garnered over the years in the media.

 It was most recently the subject of a WAVE 3 “Troubleshooters” Investigative Report in July. https://www.wave3.com/2022/07/11/troubleshooters-history-repeating-itself-louisville-hotel/   You can still go to the WAVE 3 website, enter Budgetel into the Search bar and see John Boel’s expose or you can just click on the link.

In all fairness, some disclosure is appropriate. As a social worker, I have referred some patients with the financial means to consider the Budgetel.  It is not in a food desert.  It is located on a TARC line and near several stores within walking distance so that someone can get pretty much whatever they need.  It appears to serve a housing need for a population segment.

The Budgetel is owned by members of the Yaldo family out of Michigan. They own several hotels in several states.   They have owned the Budgetel since 1998 under a corporation named Bardstown Lodge Inc.

About two and a half months ago I was approached by one of the owners, Jim Yaldo regarding trying to locate someone who had made a complaint.  The person he named was apparently a resident of Bon Air.  I could not identify the person and told him.  

Moving on, Jim and Tony Yaldo came to our August board meeting to discuss their business and what they are doing.  We invited them to come to our September general membership meeting to meet the community

I speak for the Bon Air Neighborhood Association Board in that we seek to be positive in this matter.  We are giving the Yaldos a stage to meet the community.  I figure that many people would like to meet them as they would like to meet the community. 

As far as I can tell, the Yaldos and the Budgetel Inn are not going anywhere anytime soon.  The Yaldos have demonstrated over the years through different controversies that they are committed to doing business at 3304 Bardstown Road.   We might as well see what good we can do here.  If the owners of the Budgetel can build positive relationships with the neighborhood that is a plus.

 So, if you are interested in meeting the owners of the Economy Inn/Budgetel, you have your chance on Monday, September 12, 2022, at 6:30 in the Bon Air Library Meeting Room.   They will be the lead speakers in the meeting which will include representatives from Louisville Metro Council Districts 8 and 26. A representative from LMPD is also expected to talk about crime patterns in the area. 

Oh, by the way, apologies again that Chief Erika Shields did not show up at the last general meeting. I did make a confirmation with her assistant the week before that we were on her schedule.  I actually called Jim Yaldo two days ago and got him live on the phone.  He stated he would be there at the meeting. 

Fire on Watterson By Brockton Commander, Doreen and Nadina

 

Part of the Bon Air Neighborhood experienced a shock, boom and a lot of acrid smoke at about 6:45 pm that had people stopping at Commander and Doreen to get a look. 

Three vehicles were involved per Trimarc that included an overturned semi.  

This is of the cleanup from Trimarc.org

. 

The following is a link to WLKY's "stringer" supplied video. 

It shows a semi overturned. 

Update at 9:56 pm.  The semi driver per media reports was taken to hospital with burns but was in stable condition. 

Know Your Ballot and Know Your Polling Place for Bon Air Residents.

As a public service, I am posting the ballots for the upcoming primary election on May 10,2022.

I downloaded this from http://elections.jeffersoncountyclerk.org/. 

The L167 is the ballot for the western part of the neighborhood.  The L168 ballot is for the eastern part of the neighborhood.  The C129 is in the southwest part of the neighborhood. There is a L210 ballot for the area along Furman Blvd but it is the same as L168 in terms of content.

The significance is the different State Representative races.   Bon Air was affected by the redistricting.  

District 30 is between three people in the Democratic race (Tom Burch, Neal Turpin, Daniel Grossberg).  They have been different in their approaches.  Neal Turpin has pressed the flesh and made multiple appearances but has not put out signs (or at least that I have seen).(Update: Neal commented to this and said that he is getting his signs out there.)  Daniel Grossberg has run before and has put out signs.  The incumbent, Tom Burch (who has been in the state legislature since the 1970s) just put out signs and it was unclear that he was running again. 

District 41 actually has one change in the Democratic race. Mary Lou Marzian, who had represented the area for 28 years dropped out.  (https://www.wdrb.com/news/louisvilles-longtime-state-rep-mary-lou-marzian-withdraws-from-may-primary/article_a384f92c-aebf-11ec-b006-573a6a768502.html) 

You can check https://jeffersoncountyclerk.org/wheredoivote/ to see where you vote.  The L167 ballot is at Hawthorne Elementary 2301 Clarendon Ave, Louisville, KY 40205 and not at the Bon Air Library as in the past.   The L210 ballot is to be cast at St Michael's Orthodox Church on Hikes Lane.

Here are the Republican Ballots

Here are the Democratic Ballots

Here is the independent ballot and page two of the other ballots. 

If you are registered, please vote.  Soldiers have died for our rights. 

Branching Out into a Podcast about the Bon Air Neighborhood: "On Bon Air."

 

 

I decided to do something new: a podcast about the Bon Air Neighborhood.    It will be about the same things as the Bon Air Observer has discussed.

Of course to me doing a podcast is like the strip Bloom County being animated. Do you really want to know what Opus sounded like?  

I had been wavering over what to call this and so I decided to call it "On Bon Air." 

For Christmas my wife got me a nice microphone and a podcast mixer and I confess that the feeling is awkward. 

Here is the link to the first episode.

 On Bon Air

As far as I am concerned the first episode of a podcast is like the first pancake.  I expect them to get better. I admit that the reverb is a bit much on this first one.  I also hope that I can figure out the software to do interviews. 

I hope you listen and follow. 

 

 

Quips and Quotes and Random Stuff in Bon Air since LMPD has not posted crime data yet for January 2022.

The staple of my blog has predominately been a crime analysis based on LMPD Data.  Well, LMPD has not posted any 2022 crime data as of this date, and to write this post, I thought I would take some inspiration from my hometown newspaper in Iowa.

The Altoona Herald was distinctly a hometown paper until Gannett bought it and it became a weekly section of the Des Moines Register some years back.  In my youth, it had two particular sections that had no interest to me as a kid but strangely inspire me now.

The first was the "Altoona Items. "  It was written . . . or better collected by Mrs. (not Ms.) Pinegar. She was also the pianist at the local General Affiliated Regular Baptist (GARB) church.  My mom called it a gossip column where Mrs. Pinegar dished on who went to whose house.  I recall one of the girls at high school, Charlene, bringing her scrapbook to school showing a clip of Ms. Pinegar's column where she spent the night at another girl's house in a slumber party or sleepover, and it was probably the highlight of her year to make it in the column. 

Then there was "Quips and Quotes from the Editor."  It was written by the owner and editor, Gordon Gill.  Gordon was also the chief of the Altoona Iowa Volunteer Fire Department for years.  I met Mr. Gill a few times. My best memory is of him yelling in annoyance when Mr. Ahern called the fire department out on a second alarm on a Saturday night in October 1978.  Mr. Ahern had a flare-up from a grass fire earlier in the day. 

My parent's property backed up against Ahern's, and I think I still smelled like smoke that night from beating down flames when the grass fire spread into our back-40 off of his land. Not exactly a flashback, but I still feel God was with me that day because I saw the fire roll up to the back fence line and stopped about eight feet after it crossed our fence line.  On a more rational basis, I think the fire stopped at ours most likely because we baled hay and mowed our property and Ahern didn't mow his land . . . and the fire ran out of fuel when it got to me . . . but I still feel that God was with that scared teenager with nothing but a shovel running away from the rolling fire and then charging back to beat down flames.  

Gordon eventually sold the paper, and to my understanding, the next owner sold it to the Des Moines Register/Gannett corporation.  So, now when I want to see the hometown scores and obituaries, I have to subscribe to the Register.

Nevertheless, Gordon's column was a collection of random and sarcastic information, set off with a        --GG-- between statements that probably took four minutes to read.   So, maybe this random collection of blurbs will take three more minutes to read. 

The Penn Station restaurant behind the Starbucks at Heather and Bardstown was robbed in January. The restaurant was closed early for a few days at dusk but has appeared to resume full operation. 

---- BNO ---

There was an apparent intruder in the Brookfield Manor subdivision on February 10, 2022. LMPD was able to get some video of the intruder off a neighbor's RING camera. 

----BNO----

There was some chatter on Nextdoor over the past few weeks about shopping carts being abandoned in various spots in the neighborhood. There was one report of a truck on or about 2/12/2022 going around and collecting them.  Shopping carts had been used by homeless or houseless individuals carrying around their possessions, but it also appears that individuals without cars are using them to get large orders from Walmart, and then leaving them.  The picture of the cart above was at Meadow and Bardstown between the pawnshop and Builder's Exchange.

---BNO---

Speaking of houseless individuals, there is a campsite again in the public right of way at the 264 eastbound exit to Bardstown Rd. There were two tents there as of Friday night. 

---BNO---

The Bon Air Neighborhood Association is making progress towards its next project of a butterfly garden on the triangle intersection of Bon Air Avenue and Goldsmith Lane.  Cassie Armstrong has started in the process of evaluating the appropriateness of getting the triangle donated to the Metro Government.  

---BNO--

The Bon Air Neighborhood Association changed its mailing address to 2212 Bashford Manor Lane, Louisville, KY 40218.  The US Post Office has raised the rent on a mailbox again.  The organization coffers have not had enough memberships to sustain both the mailbox and the liability insurance. 

---BNO--

The Bon Air Neighborhood Association could really, really, really use your financial support and your participation.  It serves to represent the interests of the neighborhood through beautification, development, and advocacy. Covid has done a number on us and we are not too proud to beg for your membership.   The annual membership dues are $20.00.  You can send it to 2212 Bashford Manor Lane, Louisville KY 40218 or you can pay your dues and join by Paypal by clicking here. 

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=PBPSRSBFU52D8

The money goes directly into the account of the organization.   

                    ---BNO--

Bon Air Crime Analysis for December 2021. Down 33.9 Percent from November

 

This is an analysis for December 2021 based on open data posted by the Louisville Metro Police Department  at  https://data.louisvilleky.gov/dataset/crime-reports

It is a Microsoft Excel CSV file that required some manipulation and sorting and beginning this year it was loaded into JASP, which is an open-source statistical package.  This analysis does include events that happen on the edge of the neighborhood.

As usual, it includes the crimes reported within the boundaries of the historical Bon Air Neighborhood as defined:
1) Bardstown Road on the West  
2) Hikes Lane on the South
3) Furman Blvd on the East and
4) Taylorsville Rd and the Watterson Expressway on the North. 

The Analysis reflects events that happen on the lines and so some of the reports reflect what has happened just on the line and outside the geopolitical boundary of the neighborhood.   The limits of this analysis also include that it is limited to what LMPD actually puts on this report. 

There were 70 reports, which was a 33.9 percent decrease from November, which had 106 reports. 

I will run through the usual analyses and compare them with last month.

As usual, the "Bon Air" and the 40218 zones had the most reports of the respective categories.  

Zip Code
Variable				Level		Counts		Total		Proportion			p
ZIP_CODE				40218		50		70		0.714			< .001
				40220		20		70		0.286			< .001
Zone
Variable		Level							Counts		Total			Proportion			p
Zone		Bon Air							54		70			0.771			< .001
		Bon Air Estates							2		70			0.029			< .001
		Highgate Springs							14		70			0.200			< .001

 For comparison, the Bon Air zone had 75 reports and the Highgate Springs zone had 27 reports in November.  That is a decrease of 28 percent and 48 percent respectively. 

By Weekday:

Weekday
Variable		Level		Counts		Total		Proportion		p
Weekday		Friday		9		70		0.129		< .001
		Monday		18		70		0.257		< .001
		Saturday		9		70		0.129		< .001
		Sunday		7		70		0.100		< .001
		Thursday		12		70		0.171		< .001
		Tuesday		8		70		0.114		< .001
		Wednesday		7		70		0.100		< .001

The pattern was very different in that Thursdays in November had 24 reports which compared to 12 in December. 

This is a breakdown of what was reported on Mondays:

Police Reports on Mondays in December
Variable		Level		Counts		Total		Proportion		p
CRIME_TYPE		ASSAULT		2		18		0.111		0.001
		BURGLARY		1		18		0.056		< .001
		DRUGS/ALCOHOL VIOLATIONS		3		18		0.167		0.008
		MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT		1		18		0.056		< .001
		OTHER		7		18		0.389		0.481
		THEFT/LARCENY		1		18		0.056		< .001
		VANDALISM		1		18		0.056		< .001
		VEHICLE BREAK-IN/THEFT		2		18		0.111		0.001

Categories of Crime Reports

The "Other" category was the largest category this in December, which was up by one from November.  

Categories of Crime Reports
Variable		Level		Counts		Total		Proportion		p
CRIME_TYPE		ASSAULT		16		70		0.229		< .001
		BURGLARY		2		70		0.029		< .001
		DRUGS/ALCOHOL VIOLATIONS		4		70		0.057		< .001
		MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT		6		70		0.086		< .001
		OTHER		20		70		0.286		< .001
		SEX CRIMES		1		70		0.014		< .001
		THEFT/LARCENY		9		70		0.129		< .001
		VANDALISM		7		70		0.100		< .001
		VEHICLE BREAK-IN/THEFT		5		70		0.071		< .001

I will put it here that the one "Sex Crimes" report was that of sexual abuse in the 3600 block of Kings Highway.  The victim was under the age of 12. 

The Other Reports:

Breakdown of the "Other Reports"
Variable		Level		Counts		Total		Proportion		p
UOR_DESC		ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING (OTHER THAN HUNTING)		1		20		0.050		< .001
		ANY NON CRIMINAL CHARGE NOT COVERED BY THESE CODES		1		20		0.050		< .001
		DEATH INVESTIGATION (OVERDOSE)		1		20		0.050		< .001
		DOMESTIC ABUSE DUTIES OF LAW ENFORCEMENT		3		20		0.150		0.003
		INJURED PERSON REQUIRING POLICE REPORT		1		20		0.050		< .001
		LEAVING SCENE OF ACCIDENT/FAILURE TO RENDER AID OR ASSISTANCE		2		20		0.100		< .001
		MISSING PERSONS		11		20		0.550		0.824

There were some of the same other types as in November, but there was one death by overdose at a residence at 3300 Bardstown Road

The next highest category was Assaults (n=16), which were actually down by 13 or 44 percent from November (n=29).  Here is where they are

Location of Assaults
Variable		Level		Counts		Total		Proportion		p
BLOCK_ADDRESS		200 BLOCK FLANDERS CT		1		16		0.063		< .001
		2200 BLOCK HEATHER LN		1		16		0.063		< .001
		2200 BLOCK LIVERPOOL LN		3		16		0.188		0.021
		2500 BLOCK PROCTOR KNOTT DR		1		16		0.063		< .001
		2700 BLOCK HIKES LN		1		16		0.063		< .001
		3000 BLOCK ROSEDALE BLVD		2		16		0.125		0.004
		3300 BLOCK BARDSTOWN RD		3		16		0.188		0.021
		3300 BLOCK NOE WAY		1		16		0.063		< .001
		3400 BLOCK BARDSTOWN RD		1		16		0.063		< .001
		3500 BLOCK GOLDSMITH LN		1		16		0.063		< .001
		FURMAN BLVD / TAYLORSVILLE RD		1		16		0.063		< .001

Rosedale Blvd is normally a quiet place and the two assault charges were made in the same event.  The three reports at Liverpool were in two events on 12/2/21 and 12/23/21.  Both the Liverpool events happened in the apartments. 

Burglaries:

There were only two burglaries in December. They were both in the southeast portion of the neighborhood. One was in a garage part of the condos at Algiers/Flanders/ Chanel Ct. The other was in a home at 3300 Noe Way. This was down from seven burglaries in November. 

Car Thefts and Car Break-In's 

Location of Car Thefts
Variable		Level		Counts		Total		Proportion		p
BLOCK_ADDRESS		2300 BLOCK HIKES LN		2		6		0.333		0.687
		2800 BLOCK SHEILA DR		1		6		0.167		0.219
		3300 BLOCK NOE WAY		1		6		0.167		0.219
		3400 BLOCK BARDSTOWN RD		1		6		0.167		0.219
		3600 BLOCK GREEN MEADOWS DR		1		6		0.167		0.219
Car thefts roughly stayed the same.  There were five in November.  One car theft was in the Bon Air Estates zone, but the rest happened at the edges of the neighborhood.

Location of Car Break-Ins
Variable		Level		Counts		Total		Proportion		p
BLOCK_ADDRESS		2300 BLOCK HIKES LN		1		5		0.200		0.375
		2800 BLOCK FLORA AVE		1		5		0.200		0.375
		2800 BLOCK HIKES LN		1		5		0.200		0.375
		3400 BLOCK BARDSTOWN RD		2		5		0.400		1.000

Overall, car-related thefts were reduced by 64 percent from November (n=14).  One of the break-ins took place near the Bon Air Manor shopping center.  

Usual Focus on 3300 Bardstown Rd.

It was unusual that the location with the most reports was not Bardstown Road.  It was actually 2300 Goldsmith Lane (with all the runaways from angry kids) followed by 3400 Bardstown Rd.   Nevertheless, The hotel/motel had an "accidental shooting," an assault, and some other event that required police intervention. 

With some redundancy 3400 Bardstown Rd, which is very much connected to 3300 Bardstown Rd, There was one assault report, two drug-related busts, two car break-ins, and one car theft. 

I have continued to have a question about how much "houseless" individuals contribute to the crime numbers in this area and I have not come to any conclusions.  When I was at one of the Thorntons, and there was a group of them panhandling outside the door.  I talked with one of the clerks who said that they are coming in and shoplifting.  With the concentration of panhandlers and houseless up and down Bardstown Road, my assumption was that there would have been an increase in nuisance and petty crimes in retail situations, but with covid, the police have not been able to respond. 

Overall there has been a reduction in police reports from November.  It is noticeable that there was a reduction in the number of assaults.  It hopefully leads to a further reduction over the rising trend in September through November. 

Well ...Covid Did it Again!

Well, the Bon Air Neighborhood Association meeting that was going to be held 1/10/2022 at 6:30pm at the Bon Air Library has had to be moved to Zoom due to the LPFL covid measures.  If you are reading this before then,  you can join it as we are scheduled to have District 8 Rep Cassie Armstrong, Jeff Noble (Brent Ackerson's legislative assistant) Neal Turpin (candidate for state representative), and a representative from LMPD's Sixth Division to talk about current trends.

Without sounding like a commercial for Zoom.  you just have to copy this link into your browser.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86876553889?pwd=NVljQUkwQi9BSzdUcmZ6WnB4V2RQdz09

You then just have to enter a passcode of 367685. You do not have to have a camera to see the proceedings. 

Otherwise, if you have a smartphone, you can download the Zoom app  enter the following

Meeting ID: 868 7655 3889
Passcode: 367685

Otherwise, If you have not joined, please consider joining the Bon Air Neighborhood Association  We seek to be an effective advocate for the neighborhood and are excited that our project of the Farnsley Park stage coming to fruition in 2022, but our work is far from done.  We would love your interest and involvement. 

The annual dues of the Bon Air Neighborhood Association are $20.00 and you do not have to live within the boundaries as originally set by the Department of Neighborhoods. We changed our bylaws in 2019 to allow anyone with an interest in our organization to join. 

You can send your membership fee to PO Box 34262 Louisville, KY 40201.   Or you can pay your dues and join by Paypal by clicking here. 

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=PBPSRSBFU52D8