They’re back: State legislators returned to Frankfort today and their first order of business is electing new leadership. After a short break, the next order of business will be scrambling to balance the state’s budget.

Bush’s big mistake: RNC Chairman (and Kentuckian) Mike Duncan says President Bush’s biggest failure was his handling of the war in Iraq. ”I think we failed in the way, originally, we were prosecuting the war,” says Duncan in this video on Huffington Post. (Thanks to Page One for bringing this to our attention).

Big tobacco loses: A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging a landmark 1998 settlement between major tobacco companies and states. General Tobacco of North Carolina filed suit claiming the settlement was illegal; U.S. District Judge Jennifer Coffman of Louisville disagreed.

CIA pick: President-elect Obama’s decision to choose Leon Panetta — former congressman and chief of staff to President Clinton — to head the CIA has sparked criticism from both parties. Panetta has openly criticized the intelligence agency for using torture.

Burris blocked: Embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich spoke, but Congress did not listen. Today, would-be Sen. Roland Burris — selected by Blago — was turned away from playing politics on Capitol Hill.

For the ages: It seems our Congress is “packed with oldsters.” The average age of a senator is 63, while the average House member is 57. From Wonkette: ”It should be noted that Robert Byrd continues to exert a heavy drag on the average age of Senators. (Byrd recently celebrated his 113th birthday.)”

Closing the park is expected to save the city about $180,000, and is part of a broader plan to cover a $20 million budget shortfall.  

Joel Hunt, a Germantown resident who set up this website as a means of organizing what appears to be a rapidly strengthening citizen movement (there are more than 5,000 members of the Facebook group), emceed the meeting, which was intended to incorporate (albeit loosely; the word of the early evening was “non-binding”) the group.

It wound up more an improvisation on Robert’s Rules of Order. Most of those who spoke at the two-and-a-half-hour gathering identified themselves as residents of southwest Louisville or nearby Meade County, and many offered nostalgic, emotional accounts of time at the 2,600-acre park, which accommodates more than half a million visitors a year. 

The group adopted a six-member steering committee and formed seven subcommittees, intended to tackle everything from public relations and government interaction to managing special interest groups — such as hiking, boy and girl scouts or horseback-riding associations — that are likely to link up with the Friends in the coming weeks and months. 

As of now, the park is expected to remain closed until June, when the fiscal year ends. 

In a thoroughly unsurprising diversion, a handful of speakers derided Mayor Jerry Abramson, alleging a decades-long conspiracy against Otter Creek and, more generally, south Louisville. Mostly, Hunt and others were able to keep those gathered on task.  

The next Friends of Otter Creek meeting is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 26. Same bat place, same bat time (7 p.m.). Check LEO Weekly for more on the group and any new developments re: Otter Creek Park.

The Old Louisville firehouse at 6th and York streets is set to close Saturday, and residents still are pushing to save the station. Now, Old Louisville activist Fred Nett is urging fellow residents to bombard The Courier-Journal with letters to the editor, protesting Mayor Jerry Abramson’s decision to shut down the historic firehouse to save money.

In a six-page plea e-mailed to residents over the weekend, Nett lists a host of reasons why he believes they should “Help Save Fire Engine Company No. 7.” Among them: Emergency response times will go up, the historic houses and high-rises in the heavily populated neighborhood are vulnerable to fires, and taxpayers living in the Urban Services District (formerly the city of Louisville, before merger) are paying for this fire protection and should not be subjected to a decrease in services.

Mayor Abramson announced plans to close the firehouse last month to help fill the city’s $20 million budget shortfall. As reported in LEO, residents voiced outrage over the closing and threatened legal action during a community meeting last week.

The mayor has refused to reconsider shutting down the station, however, and the city’s fire chief maintains the closing will not hinder emergency services in the neighborhood because there are six other firehouses within two miles or less.

No financials for you: South End rabble rouser Ed Springston is firing on all cylinders in the new year, calling out the Abramson administration for anything he can find. This time, he’s wondering why the 2008 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report isn’t available to the public yet. In past years, it’s been posted by now. So I asked Abramson spokesman Chad Carlton what the deal was. His response: “We have to wait for the state auditor to complete her audit. Should be done in a couple weeks. No conspiracy.” We’ll keep an eye out. 

God of mistrust: The NY Times offers a profile of Democratic State Rep. Tom Riner, the man who has cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands in legal fees during his attempt to Christianitize government. Good piece, not-so-good dude. ‘

Ridin’ that train: Speaking of NYT, the editorial board is on the right track (mwahahaha!) with this op-ed encouraging the Obama administration to invest further in public transit. 

Impress your friends with this: Hey, guess what? The Iraq war is now officially illegal. (Insert awesome burning Bush pun here.) 

Bail us out: Rick Redding at the Ville Voice has the scoop on the new(ish) CJ, now a lot smaller and with less content. Bummer. We really would like to have a fat, crushing daily newspaper here in this world-class Possibility City of ours. Here’s one remote possibility. 

Library City: In part a response to the budget-cutting weekly closures of Metro libraries, U of L is offering its services, keeping the Main Dog (Ekstrom) open Sundays to make up a little of the difference. 

Save Otter Creek Park: The mayor’s announcement that the gates on Otter Creek Park (in Meade Co., although Metro pays about $1 million a year to keep it running — go figure) would be closed until June has initiated a broad — and broadening — coalition of peeps ready to go to the hills to save the thing (from what at this point appears to be momentary closure). There’s another meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at the Southwest Government Center (7219 Dixie Hwy.).

At the helm: Coach Pitino touts Earl Clark and and Terrence Williams as the key playmakers for the Cardinals. Meanwhile, everyone is still dogging on Edgar Sosa for constantly turning over the ball and subsequently pouting. Tonight the Cards face UNLV; then it’s time for the Big Game on Sunday.

Death toll: As of last night, there had been 72 criminal homicides reported in Louisville in 2008, up slightly from 69 the previous year. The Courier-Journal talks with Metro Police Chief Robert White about violent crime in the city.

Bush bashing: Where the hell is George W. Bush these days? That’s what New York Times scribe Bob Herbert wants to know, urging Americans not to let the soon-to-be ex-president slip quietly away without criticism for a long list of misdeeds.

5,4,3,2,1: Happy New Year! How will you ring in 2009? Check out LEO’s list of ball-dropping festivities around town. And how will you get home? Try a taxi, or maybe scoot it. Whatever you do, don’t drive drunk!

Drop it like it’s hot: If you can’t be in New York City to watch the giant bedazzled ball drop, why not drop something else? The Washington Post sheds light on the random array of objects (and in at least one case a person) lowered in the final seconds of 2008: there’s a peach, a sailboat and even a drag queen.

Revised library makeover: The city’s outdated libraries might get $120 million in upgrades, but chances are it will take a really long time.

Unsolved murder: A grieving man is offering a $100,000 reward to anyone with information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the murder of his brother 34 years ago. Martin Goldsmith was shot to death inside a west Louisville pawn shop in 1974.

Gaza violence: Israel continues to carry out airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, where violence has intensified in recent days. The attack is intended to target members of Hamas, but the death toll among innocent Palestinians continues to rise.

Champagne 101: Brown-Forman has released some handy-dandy tips on Champagne and how to drink it … Happy New Year!

See you later 2008: A roundup of memorable happenings over the last year, courtesy of Huffington Post.

A group of concerned individuals is calling for an immediate response to the bombing of Gaza, recognizing that we as US citizens are responsible because it is our tax dollars paying for the planes (F-16’s) and bombs that the Israeli military is using. The death toll is officially past 250 men,women and children with hundreds of wounded. Because of the long term Israeli blockade of Gaza they are in short supply of medicines, clean water and food. It was already a humanitarian crisis before this latest attack, and  is becoming increasingly desperate. We call for an immediate cease fire and a lifting of the Blockade.

The protest is between 4 and 6 p.m. at the corner of Broadway and Baxter Ave., across from Cave Hill Cemetery. In addition, protesters are encouraged to meet at corner of Sixth and Broadway Tuesday at noon to pay a visit to the Congressional offices of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth to ask for the members’ support for a cease fire. And Friday, Jan. 2 (noon) begins a weekly vigil at that corner. 

The group is arguing that Israel’s blockade of Gaza has led to some 1.5 million deaths, and that the Hamas rocket fire that sparked the latest conflict — though a natural result of this “strangulation” — is also deplorable.

We’ve had a pretty sweet morning: One of those motorized sidewalk cleaners that the Downtown Management District uses to keep our streetscapes spiffy crashed into our floor-to-ceiling window and left a spider crack all over that business. (They’ve promised to repair it post-haste.) Check it: 

Land giveaways: South End activist and former mayoral candidate Ed Springston remains fired up about Mayor Abramson’s unilateral land giveaways. He started — as did many — with an uproar about Center City and has now discovered another mayor’s-eyes-only deal, he says: MSD. Shocking, we know. 

Coal ash disaster: It only took a few extra days for the MSM to catch up on the disastrous coal ash spill in Tennessee. The C-J’s James Bruggers had an excellent front page piece over the weekend, and the NY Times has covered it dutifully, which means CNN is picking it up now, too. Predictably, the Tennessee Valley Authority remains resolutely obtuse about cleaning it up. 

Speaking of coal disasters: Hat tip to Page One for linking this Smithsonian piece about mountaintop removal mining. 

Ugly outing: Speaking of Page One, Jake is churning the rumor mill with a whopper about a state rep who allegedly impregnated a young woman and then paid for her to have an abortion. Check the comments for the best theories as to who this person is. UPDATE: Jake posted a comment clarifying that the state rep arranged for an abortion, not necessarily paid for one. 

Big updates for the Council: Later today the Metro Council’s Parks Committee will hold a special meeting to hear updates on the 21st Century Parks Open Space master Plan and the Library Master Plan. Should be a doozy. Check back later for updates. UPDATE: Just got a notice from the council saying this meeting is tomorrow, not today as was noted in the original press release. 

I took a little time off for the holidays, perfect for watching lots of football, college basketball and hilarious YouTube clips. Here are three of the best from this year. You should watch them right now. 

1. Boom Goes the Dynamite: Sports Anchor Dude loses track of the teleprompter, gets left behind by highlights. 

2. A phenomenal rap about George Washington … Six foot eight / weighs a fucking ton … Peerless.

3. “Jizz In My Pants”: Further evidence that Andy Samberg is the best thing to happen to SNL since Belushi. 

And the Honorable Mention: Kermit The Frog singing various songs, including Elliott Smith’s “Needle in the Hay.” Simply amazing. 

We’re taking a bit of time off for the holidaze. That means, among other things, that we won’t be posting here until six days from now, short of some terrible disaster and/or the return of the messiah, whichever comes first. 

See you Monday. We love you. Be safe, and be good.