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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
