“Anytime you lose a key person, somebody who has been here for 10 years and has done what I think is a stellar job, it is a big loss,” says Dan Crutcher, publisher of Louisville Magazine. “But having said that I do think we can find someone else who can do the job and once we do I think we’ll be back on track. We have a lot of experience on the editorial staff.”

Founded in 1950 by the Louisville Chamber of Commerce, the award-winning monthly magazine covers business and culture in the city with a circulation of about 25,000 readers. In 1993, the  chamber of commerce sold the magazine to Crutcher and has been independent from the city ever since.

Born in Minneapolis, Allar moved to Louisville in the mid-1980s as a reporter for The Louisville Times, which was the city’s afternoon edition newspaper. After the Gannett Co. Inc. shut down the newspaper in 1986, he worked as a freelancer before becoming associate editor at Louisville Magazine.

Allar left that post in the mid-1990s to become editor of Pizza Today magazine, but returned as editor in 2000 where he wrote one of the more incisive editorial columns in local media.

Last summer, for instance, he blasted the $4.1 billion Ohio River Bridges Project in a piece that questioned the necessity of the behemoth public works project.

From Allar:

How much, I wonder, should we sacrifice in our quest for easier, faster and, one would assume, more automobile and truck traffic through our city? It’s not just the (gulp) $4.1 billion. Or the possibility that we may be forced to extract tolls from drivers on already existing bridges, as well as the new ones, to have a chance to pay for the work.

My question goes beyond the disruptions to commuters, residents and businesses in the path of construction — even beyond what all of this concrete and steel will do to the “livability” quotient of our small town, big city.

It’s even more basic: If we build it, will they come?

Last Saturday, police in Bullitt County pulled Boel over for allegedly operating a motor vehicle while under the influence and possessing an open alcohol container. He had a blood alcohol level of .207, more than double Kentucky’s legal limit. The was also a half full 24 ounce can of beer found inside the car, according to the police citation.

He is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 19.

In 2008, Boel was arrested for driving drunk and possessing an open container in Shelby County, which resulted in his brief suspension from the station. Boel returned to the news channel where he co-hosted the morning and noon broadcasts.

In a telephone interview, WKLY president and general manager Glenn Haygood’s office confirmed that Boel is no longer with the station, but would provide no further comment.

After clearing out his desk, the award-winning investigative reporter expressed sorrow and apologized to his colleagues. On Tuesday, Boel told the newsroom — via a memo obtained by LEO Weekly — that he was entering a drug and alcohol rehab facility out of state for counseling and in-patient treatment.

From Boel’s statement:

By now you probably know I’ve been terminated. I have a serious illness that I clearly can’t control the way I’ve been trying. I was doing a lot better, but I blew up Saturday. So I’m heading up tomorrow … for in-patient treatment.

(SNIP)

Please don’t remember me by my bad decisions. When you’re in the conference room, look around at the mark I tried to leave. Have passion for what you do. Help each other get better. Question authority, and make a difference in viewers’ lives thru great storytelling like I tried to do.

I think the thing I enjoyed most at WLKY was watching colleagues on every level blossom in the craft of journalism. I am so lucky to have gotten to know each and every one of you, because you all have gifts. Keep using them. And finally, thank you for being kind to me, even when I didn’t deserve it.

The award-winning investigative reporter was pulled over Saturday night with a blood alcohol level of .207. Boel was charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence and possession of an open alcohol container. He has a court date scheduled for Nov. 19.

In 2008, Boel was arrested for driving drunk and possessing an open container in Shelby County, which resulted in his brief suspension from the station. The following year Boel returned to the news channel where he currently co-hosts the station’s morning and Noon broadcasts.

Glenn Haygood, WLKY’s general manager, was unavailable for comment.

UPDATE:

In a telephone interview, Haygood told LEO Weekly the situation is a personnel matter and the station won’t be commenting until further notice.

Earlier this year, Cucinello, 43, died after suffering a heart attack and a brain aneurysm.

In 2003, the New Jersey native was hired to host the popular “Francene Show” during the radio station’s morning time slot and quickly became a fan favorite, particularly for her interviews with local and national political leaders.

From ‘Radio Free Francene’:

“First and foremost, she was a passionate fireball of advocacy,” fellow WHAS-Radio personality Terry Meiners told LEO Weekly. “She was committed to making changes and questioning people who she thought were hiding things. She wasn’t afraid to kick open a door and say, ‘Let’s all have a look in here.’”

Francene also was committed to helping the “Joe and Jane Sixpacks” of the world via her Job Jam employment seminars, which managed to place about 500 people in jobs during the economic downturn.

LEO will update this story as more develops.

From Ringer:

Effective 10 p.m. EST today, April 5, Metromojo will no longer retain the services of any freelance writers and reporters for work on LouisvilleMojo.com. The reasons for this abrupt change are numerous, but to summarize, we have not seen the news initiative result in suitable revenue contribution to support further investment.

After six years of publishing mostly user-generated content for social networking purposes, Mojo’s operators attempted to make a mark on journalism in the city last fall by offering news content online. The website maintained coverage on a myriad of issues and recruited a number of veteran reporters and bloggers, including former LEO Weekly columnist and local blogger Rick Redding as Mojo’s editor-in-chief.

Last year, LEO reported a fallout in the blogosphere after Redding abruptly left his post as the chief blogger at The ’Ville Voice — apparently without talking to his business partner and fellow blogger Jacob Payne — to head up Louisville Mojo’s news department.

“I’m going to be covering a lot of the same stuff I’ve been covering before,” Redding told LEO last fall. “Basically (I’ll be covering) what the people who have followed me at The ’Ville Voice have come to expect, know and like. Obviously, I think that they were reading it because of me.”

Advertisers, however, did not follow and were not focusing on those news readers.

“It was encouraging content. The great people, including Rick, who contributed to the news effort definitely are pushing the limits of what journalism is really all about,” says Ringer, adding the news department didn’t contribute to the company’s revenue. “A lot of existing news organizations in Louisville have taken pot shots and tried to blow it off as blog posting. But anyone who is not posting news to blogs in the future won’t be in business very long.”

UPDATE: Rick Redding has posted an update.

From Fox 41:

He says the future of Louisville depends on its main manufacturing companies like Ford and General Electric.  While he’s received several labor endorsements from the United Auto Workers and firefighters, some have criticized Fischer for being anti-union.

He responds, “Oh, nothing could be further from the truth. Those are from my competitors that wish they had my support. So I’ve received endorsements from the United Auto Workers, the Plumbers and Pipe Fitters, The electricians, the laborers, SCIU, all but one of the labor endorsements I’ve received. So they are trying to knock my credibility there.”

Despite these campaign hiccups it should be noted that several prominent unions have endorsed Fischer’s campaign and he leads the Democratic field in that category. However, political observers cannot overlook that anti-union business leaders support Fischer as well. For instance, John Brasch, president of Brasch-Barry General Contractors Inc., who protested against the fair labor standards ordinance, called our offices back in January to defend his candidate’s labor record.

The Fischer campaign, however, made it clear at the time that Brasch has no relationship with their candidate, other than his wife being one of their many financial contributors.

From SF Gate:

The San Francisco Bay Guardian is entitled to half the advertising revenue of the rival SF Weekly to help collect $21 million in damages after a jury verdict of illegal price-cutting, a Superior Court commissioner ruled Tuesday.

Commissioner Everett Hewlett’s order would give the Guardian its first substantial payment on the March 2008 verdict. Jurors found that the Weekly, with cash infusions from its Phoenix parent company, was selling ads below cost to try to drive its locally owned competitor out of business.

The ad revenue would be “a very significant” amount, as much as $200,000 a month, said Jay Adkisson, a lawyer for the Guardian.

Radio talk of the town: Everyone’s anticipating the name of the new host of 84 WHAS’ mid-day show, which will be announced today at 3 p.m. The station has been looking for a replacement for WHAS-Radio personality Francene Cucinello, who died in January after a brief illness. Though there’s plenty of speculation about who the “strongly opinionated” new hire will be, it’s clear that it won’t be longtime radio personality and local favorite Joe Elliot, according to the folks over at Mojo.

Downtown Blues: With the new downtown arena scheduled to open later this year, the city is pressuring developer Todd Blue to sell the string of historic whiskey warehouses along Main Street. Right now the dilapidated buildings in the Iron Quarter are an eyesore that have been untouched since 2007, despite an ambitious multifaceted $50 million project. Mayor Jerry Abramson said the city wants to see movement, but Blue isn’t budging and says a recent report on salvaging the area isn’t close to being realistic.

Ways and means and ends: Though larger issues such as the health-care reform debate loom, the troubles of Rep. Charles W. Rangel (D-NY) do matter. The longtime congressional leader recently stepped down as chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, pending the outcome of inquiries by the House Ethics Committee on a variety of corruption charges.

End these times: In a journalism on journalism piece, the Washington Post questions whether the comments that readers post discourages sources from coming forward. There’s not much information on this locally other than anecdotal observations. If you look at any news article in the The Courier-Journal, for instance a homicide, the conversation usually spirals into an ugly racial tirade.

The piece includes interviews with police representatives and attorneys representing the family of 52-year-old Larry Noles, a mentally ill man who you may remember stood naked in the street in a confrontation with police back in September 2006. Noles died after officers shocked him three times with a Taser.

In December 2009, a federal jury split over whether two Metro Police officers were liable for Noles’ death, but according to Thomas Clay, one of the attorneys for the Noles estate, the family has recently settled its lawsuit with the city.

In a telephone interview, WLKY investigative reporter John Boel previewed some of the more interesting highlights from his investigation:

Over an 18-month period, 268 people were shot with a Taser by Metro Police, meaning a person was zapped an average of every 48 hours.

54 percent of the people shot with Tasers were African-American.

10 suspects shot with Tasers were handcuffed.

At least 30 were mentally ill.

In 25 percent of the cases, police did not cite “active aggression,” but used the Taser anyway.

Check out the teaser (h/t Louisville Mojo):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu36Y10yOyk[/youtube]

To tweet or not to tweet: For journalists, that is an important question.

Dirty pictures or closed-minded prudes?: You’ll be the final judge, but an exhibit at the University of Louisville on women’s bodies and self-esteem has been criticized by Kentucky’s Family Foundation for exploiting children. The conservative policy group thinks showing nude photos of children is pornographic. It wouldn’t be a real university without a semester controversy or two, would it?

Don’t be Shy-loh: The bookkeeper for Shiloh Baptist Church pleaded guilty to several counts of fraud against the federal housing department in a case where $1.2 million in federal tax dollars was supposed to redevelop an old school into a senior living center. The money is gone and all that is left is a boarded up eye sore in the Parkland neighborhood. It is likely the bookkeeper will be called to testify against church pastor Rev. Henry M. Humphrey, who was also indicted and scheduled to go to trial March 23.