The funding will go directly to LMPD to hire 32 officers, inching the force to the largest it has ever been while providing three years worth of salaries and benefits for the added personnel, according to a news release.

Mayor Abramson praised Yarmuth and White for working together to secure the additional funds.

“Washington has delivered once again, helping Louisville improve safety for its citizens by putting more police officers on our streets and in our neighborhoods,” Abramson said in a press release. “With Chief White’s leadership, we have built a stronger, larger police force than ever before in this community to protect our citizens.”

The department is currently screening applicants for a new recruiting class that is expected to begin training in November. With the new funding, the department hopes to expand the size of the class to get more officers on the street.

The Abramson administration also took the time to remind the public about its improvements and investments — both real and perceived — in public safety for the LMPD during the mayor’s second term including:

· Investing $70 million in federal, state and local funds in MetroSafe, the emergency communications network that connects more than 4,000 emergency responders across the region.

· Consistently increasing funding for the police department to put more officers on the street and to add crime-fighting equipment.

· Developing 574-LMPD, the crime-tip hotline that has logged more than 100,000 calls and resulted in more than 2,000 arrests.

Since Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson, who hired White in 2003, announced that he is not seeking re-election, the chief has been job hunting. However, White told the Courier-Journal that he doesn’t plan to pursue other job openings and will wait on the decision from the next mayor. And at least one of the candidates in the race for mayor of Louisville is promising to retain White.

“Chief White and his team have made Louisville one of America’s safest large cities,” Democratic mayoral candidate Greg Fischer said in a statement. “If the voters elect me in November, I will keep him as our top law enforcement officer.”

White and Fischer have had conversations about him staying on board if the Louisville businessman wins the general election in November. Republican mayoral candidate and Metro Councilman Hal Heiner, R- 19, and independent mayoral candidate Jackie Green have not indicated who they’d select as police chief.

BREAKING NEWS (not really): Some dude named Bill Johnson dropped out of the U.S. Senate race. The longshot GOP candidate cited depressing poll numbers.

Hammering Hal: The zing of the night from yesterday’s debate between the three Republican mayoral candidates came from Metro Councilman Hal Heiner, R-19, who is considered the GOP front-runner. The east Louisville councilman confronted his primary opponent, developer Chris Thieneman, who is a co-founder of The Mint Jubilee, about financial troubles associated with the Derby-eve charitable event. Heiner asked: “How can we trust you to run our city’s $800 million budget when you failed to manage a charity?” Ouch! Listen to audio of the debate here.

Down I-64 east: The race for mayor of Lexington is heating up too.

Jihad Jane and the Patriot Act: The Justice Department won’t say whether provisions of the Patriot Act were used to investigate and charge Colleen LaRose, according to TIME Magazine. However, the FBI and U.S. prosecutors who charged the 46-year-old woman could well have used the Patriot Act’s fast access to her cell-phone records, hotel bills and rental-car contracts as they tracked her movements.

The bull horn still roars: The city’s planning agency has scheduled a public meeting for a proposal to change 34th Street to Louis Coleman Way to honor the controversial late civil-rights activist and minister. The name change was proposed by west Louisville Metro Council members Judy Green, D-1, and Cheri Bryant-Hamilton, D-5, who represent the areas bounded around the thoroughfare.

Dallas bound?: Louisville Metro Police Chief Robert White is one of six finalists named to take over as chief of the Dallas Police Department. Hired by Mayor Jerry Abramson to head up Metro Police in 2003, White’s future has been uncertain given that Abramson is not seeking re-election. Last year, for instance, White told media outlets he was considering about a half-dozen other cities since Abramson announced he was running for lieutenant governor.

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]

Home run: Louisville home sales were up 28 percent in the final six months of 2009, according to recent figures. The credit for the increase was said to be in large part due to the $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers.

The Katie King Bill: Taking another swipe at Metro Councilman Jim King, D-10, who is running for mayor, and his daughter, District Judge Katie King, the Courier-Journal’s editorial board came out supporting a bill that addresses a loophole in state campaign finance. Sponsored by state Rep. Larry Clark, the legislation — dubbed the Katie King Bill by the C-J — would limit the amount of money a parent can give to fund their children’s political campaigns. The bill was filed as a reaction to King’s hefty $145,000 contribution to his daughter’s 2008 judicial campaign, which far exceeded the $1,000 limit permitted under state election law.