Access Louisville

This week on the Access Louisville podcast we discuss the plan for this year's Thunder Over Louisville. The annual fireworks display is being put on in a different way this year as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and we talk about what we think of its new idea. In the midst of this chat we also talk about some of our favorite Thunder memories over the years.We also chat more about Liberty Hall (nicknamed the "Odd Fellows Building") on Muhammad Ali Boulevard. Louisville Metro Council recently overturned its status as a local historic landmark, meaning it could be torn down and replaced with something new.Later, we get an update on comings and goings in the restaurant industry locally, including a new speakeasy coming to NuLu.And to wrap things up with chat about how our NCAA brackets are looking now that the tournament is fully under way.Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular podcast services like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotif

The historical value of Louisville's so called "Odd Fellows building" has been the subject of some debate lately. And we're talking about it on this week's Access Louisville podcast as well. Historic preservationists have sought to save the building after hearing a plan from nearby Omni Hotels to tear it down. But others, including two Louisville Metro Councilmen, say it isn't worth saving, alleging the Odd Fellows organization has a racism past. The twist is that the structure  isn't even named the Odd Fellows  building, people just call it that. (It's a very typical thing in Louisville to give a building a nickname that sticks.)Later in the show we get an update on restaurant comings and goings around town. And we chat about our picks for this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament. Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular podcast services.

This week on the Access Louisville podcast we discuss the most powerful people in Louisville.Louisville Business First just put out a list called The Power 50, which recognizes some of the city's biggest power brokers. LFB Editor-In-Chief Shea Van Hoy tells us some of the people who made this (and you can check out the full list here.)After that Reporter Sarah Shadburne tells us about an interesting lawsuit involving Brough Brothers Bourbon, which says it's claim of being Kentucky only Black-owned distillery is being infringed upon by a Lexington company.Lastly Reporter Haley Cawthon updates us the latest restaurant news, this time with a focus on comings and goings in the NuLu neighborhood. Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular podcast services.  

Forecastle is canceled for another year.We chat about it on this week's episode of the Access Louisville podcast. Interestingly, when it comes back in 2022 it'll be on Memorial Day Weekend (which we think is good news considering how hot it usually is in July.) We chat about a few favorite Forecastle memories during the segment.After that we discuss the arrival of Spirit Airlines at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. It will begin serving the airport with a new flight to LAX as well as other locales. And finally we wrap things up with a little Kentucky Derby talk, including news that a proposed hotel  at Churchill Downs might wind up being smaller than initially anticipated.Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. This week's show is hosted by David A. Mann, who's joined by Brooke Timmons, Jason Thomas and Marty Finley. 

Green District, a Louisville-born restaurant brand that's focused on salads and other healthy options has a plan to grow throughout the Midwest.Two Green District officials, Co-founder and CEO Jordan Doepke and Chef Rob Rice, vice president of operations and salad innovation, join the Access Louisville podcast this week.We chat about the vision for the concept and how a major private equity investment aims to make that a reality.We also chat about the company's plans to find its place in urban centers, even as the pandemic has many downtowns temporarily shuttered. Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular podcast services. 

We focus on commercial real estate and restaurant news on this week's episode of the Access Louisville podcast. But first, we talk about this Louisville-made movie.Louisville Business First Commercial Real Estate Reporter Marty Finley is on the program to talk about a proposed new hotel going into Nulu and the state of the neighborhood in general. We also chat about one or two recent stories Marty has written about former strip clubs being sold and for possible redevelopment.Late in the show, LBF Restaurant Reporter Haley Cawthon gives us an update on restaurant comings and goings, including the loss of Matin's Bar-B-Que in the Highlands and the new Hog Father Pizza in Butchertown. 

Papa John's International Inc. founder and former CEO John Schnatter opened up about his ouster from the pizza chain he started on this week's Access Louisville podcast.He also discusses the existence of two tapes, which he say proves there was a choreographed setup aimed at removing him. These tapes have not been made public, but are a part of a lawsuit Schnatter has again 247 Group LLC (doing business as Laundry Service) and Wasserman Media Group. Schnatter left the Papa John's in 2018 after a report surfaced he allegedly used a racial slur while on a media training call with Laundry Service. We talked about that on the podcast too, including asking Schnatter about the context of those comments.It was a wide-ranging interview in which we covered everything from food trends, a proposed raise in minimum wage, his ouster from Papa John's, the new leadership at Papa John's and more. It's a lot to unpack, so here's some timestamps to navigate the program: 0:58: The next big men

Special guest Rebecca Fleischaker joins the Access Louisville podcast this week. Fleischaker is co-chief of Louisville Forward, the economic development arm of Louisville Metro Government, so naturally a discuss of the city's economic prospects takes place. Key to that discussion: What's next for Downtown Louisville? Obviously, the pandemic cancelled numerous conventions and sent many downtown professionals to work from home. So we discuss the city's path forward, especially as office space needs change in the wake of the pandemic.Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. It can be found on most popular podcast services. 

Last year was a rough one for the Louisville economy (and Downtown Louisville in particular) because so many events were canceled . But things are hopefully looking up.On this week's episode of the Access Louisville podcast, we talk about some events that are on the calendar for Louisville Metro in 2021. These include public events like the Kentucky Derby, as well as more industry-focused small events. You can read about the top 15 events here. We also talk about some events that are notably missing.Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular podcast services as well as on LouisvilleBusinessFirst.com

We take a break from the norm on this week's episode of the Access Louisville podcast and focus in on Endeavor restaurant group and it's founder Steve Ritchie. Ritchie is the former CEO of Papa John's who recently bought Louvino, a Louisville-born restaurant concept that he plans to expand. Reporter Haley Cawthon shares some audio clips from a recent interview with Ritchie and we talk about how the business is going.Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First and available on popular services.

Last year was pretty hard to predict but we bet we can do better next year.On this week's Access Louisville podcast our panel gives us 14 predictions for Louisville in the new year. The predictions range from everything to the future of Fourth Street Live, the date of the Kentucky Derby to a new flight out of Muhammad Ali Airport.Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. This one was pre-recorded because of holiday schedules but we'll be back to regular schedules in the new year. 

The holidays are here. With that, we decide to skip the usual news routine this week and focus on holiday celebrations on the Access Louisville podcast this week. It's a different type of year but we can still talk about how we're celebrating the season and what we miss. 

Last year around this time, we sat down and did a podcast where we tried to predict what would happen in 2020. Wow, we were way off.On this week's episode of the podcast we go over 12 predictions that we made last year and see what we got wrong, compared to what we got right. There were a few accurate ones in there but for the most part, our predictions were upended by the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of our predictions were local ones, considering we're a show with a pretty Louisville-centric focus.Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. This week's show is hosted by David A. Mann, digital editor at LBF, Chris Larson, reporter at LBF and Brooke Timmons, senior designer for ACBJ, the parent company of LBF. 

We talk about Louisville's NuLu neighborhood this week following the death of commercial real estate developer Tim Peters. Peters, who died at his home earlier this month, left a long legacy in Louisville renovating and rehabbing buildings in NuLu and on Bardstown Road. He was one of the people who originally bought into to the vision for NuLu.We chat about how it developed and our own early experiences visiting the neighborhood over the years.As usual we don't just discuss one topic on this week's show. At the top of the show, we discuss a new advertising campaign from KFC involving actor Mario Lopez. We also discuss the latest trends in Kentucky's battle against Covid-19.

We're back to talking about food this week on the Access Louisville podcast. Reporter Haley Cawthon joins the show to talk about her recent cover story on Texas Roadhouse and its relatively new concept, called Jaggers.It's a fast casual chicken and burgers restaurant that Texas Roadhouse Founder and CEO Kent Taylor came up with and it's opening its first Louisville location soon. She shares the story of how the brand developed and why Taylor started it in Indianapolis instead of Louisville.As usual we don't only discuss one topic on this week's show. Early in the program we talk music, including the news that Louisville's Better Days record store has a new home. Late in the show we talk about Ford Motor Co.'s economic impact on the region.Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can find it on popular podcast services.

We put aside the usual newsy routine on Access Louisville this week to reflect on Thanksgiving plans in light of Covid-19 and talk about what we're thankful for.  Happy Thanksgiving. 

This week on the Access Louisville podcast we chat about both good news and bad news on the Covid-19 front.The bad news, of course, was a fresh round of restrictions in Kentucky put out by Gov. Andy Beshear aimed at slowing the spread of the virus. We talk about what those restrictions are, including a ban on indoor restaurant dining. The new restrictions were passed down on Wednesday and reporter, Haley Cawthon, spent the day Thursday talking to restaurant owners about what it will do to their businesses. She shares a bit of that on the show.The good news is that we've seen some positive developments on a Covid-19 vaccine this week. Mass immunity could put an end to all these sorts of actions, so fingers are crossed on a safe and speedy rollout there. Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. If you like what you hear please consider subscribing on popular podcast services.

We try to make sense of the tumultuous 2020 election on this week's Access Louisville podcast.   Normally we stick to local topics on the show but an election like this only comes around once in a lifetime (hopefully) so we might as well talk about it. During the show we speak about our expectations versus reality, including the margin between the candidates and how the president would react in the case of a loss. We recorded the show on Friday morning, a few days after polls closed, and the winner had not been announced yet. Vote counting was still ongoing in several states at that point.Don't worry we chatted about plenty of local stuff too. At the beginning of the show we discuss favorite local steakhouses — that's on the news that St. Matthews' Del Frisco's is back open after being closed for a year. We also talked about rising cases of Covid-19. And we discussed Business First's upcoming Most Admired CEO awards. Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business

Covid-19 is in the midst of what seems to be its largest surge ever both in Kentucky and elsewhere.On this week's Access Louisville podcast we talk the surge and getting back to good Covid-19 pandemic habits. The length of the pandemic and the fact that it's become such a part of life now has meant that everyone is a little fatigued by it. With that, many people are pushing their boundaries and allowing themselves to get a little too comfortable, says Brooke Timmons, one of the show's hosts.As usual, we don't just talk about one topic on the show this week. We also discuss a recently poll that places Kentucky among the most hated states in America. Yikes! We discuss a legal conflict holding up the state's Medicaid program. Finally we talk about Halloween plans and recent scary movie viewings. Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. If you like what you hear, be sure to check it out on popular podcast services so you can never miss an episode. 

This week on the Access Louisville podcast we talk about recent criticism against Papa John's International Inc. made by its ousted founder, Louisville's own John Schnatter. Schnatter wrote a column this week on SeekingAlpha.com explaining why he's worried about the company, including it's upcoming new headquarters in Atlanta. We also talk about a Q&A video series with Schnatter that we just happened to be publishing right at the time this column appeared. Great timing right?As usual we don't just talk about one topic on the show. At the very beginning of the program we discuss local attracts that we (shamefully) have never actually visited. And later we chat about Kentuckians who have contributed to the campaigns of President Donald Trump and to Vice President Joe Biden.