Bank Street Brewhouse closed today for Easter, but we'll be at Louisville Beer Store for Chef Josh's food and beer pairings.

Note that Bank Street Brewhouse is taking today off for Easter. We'll reopen on Tuesday, April 6 at 2:00 p.m.

My recommendation today is the Louisville Beer Store (746 East Market in Louisville) and Day Three of NABCieged Harder (II). NABC has taken control of LBS's draft lines for the weekend, and the first two days were suitably revolutionary, with a Trolley Hop on Friday and flights narrated by the Publican (that's me) on Saturday.

Chef Josh Lehman will be at LBS today for The Pairing, with a special 4-course food and matched beer flight beginning at 3:00 p.m. Here's the menu:

Belgian Dubbel
rabbit & accompaniments

Hoosier Daddy
shrimp & grapefruit ceviche

Thunderfoot
celery root soup, duck confit salad & blood orange

Smoked Abzug
Kentucky spoonfish caviar & eggs with crepes

For more information, visit the Louisville Beer Store web site, and don't forget that our own Nate "Nasty" Little's PA Project headlines the Bank Street patio kickoff party this Wednesday, April 7.

Let’s take a poll.

Given the absence of action on the Democratic side in the May primary, how many of you plan to vote on the other side of the aisle, just for the sheer fun of it?

Imagine: I can vote against Mike Sodrel by voting for Travis Hankins, knowing that if by some miracle Sodrel’s money doesn’t triumph in the primary, the extremist nutcase Hankins will be far easier for Baron Hill to topple in the fall.

And: I can vote for Ron Grooms and help dispense with the latest local Palin wannabeen.

Trouble is, I won’t be able to drink Progressive Pints while doing it, but in the fall, SB 75 kicks in, and then … Elector!

Sewergeddon Monday: Delightfully and wonderfully us, and just as perpetually dysfunctional.

The Tribune's Daniel Suddeath resumes his slog through the muck and slime of local sewer politics as mostly usual, and informs us that the New Albany sewer solution could come Monday.

During a Wednesday meeting, Councilmen Kevin Zurschmiede and Bob Caesar declared their intentions to support Mayor Doug England’s proposal that would see sewer customers pay an immediate 23 percent rate increase.

Meanwhile, somewhere on the periphery, as CM Pat McLaughlin rehearses lines from either Hamlet or the memoirs of Donnie Blevins, while The King of Wannabeenville giddily prepares for the prospect of seeing the Publican in bike shorts Monday night, and pausing only to allow Jeff "What Flooding?" Gahan to take his pleasure craft for another outing down the River Styx, the oddsmakers are calculating factions.

Mayor England's "Plan B" has one tremendous positive factor going for it: Wizard of Westside Dan Coffey's against it, and was thoroughly kneecapped by it, although we know that he'll take a pound of the city's future from someone's flesh as retribution, and it doesn't ever matter about Steve Price, since he's been singing Dean Martin (to the tune of "That's Amore") for so long that it no longer matters:

When Maalox comes and tries to get funds -- why ask why?
That's a No vote

When a plan is designed, to make us realign
That's a No vote

Bells will ring ting-a-ling-a-ling, ting-a-ling-a-ling
And I’ll say “Not with my dime"
Hearts will play tippy-tippy-tay, tippy-tippy-tay
Like the POH-lice overtime

When the facts make you drool, then go and play the fool
That's a No vote

If they’re paving the street, just move fast and delete
That's a No vote

As you snore through their dreams, turn your ire into screams
That's a No vote

Bells will ring ting-a-ling-a-ling, ting-a-ling-a-ling
And I’ll shout, “no eggs in this basket!"
Hearts will play tippy-tippy-tay, tippy-tippy-tay
But the pergessives can fit in one casket

They’re all nooooooh voooohhhhhtttts!!!

So, for the sake of argument and cheap laughs, let's say that there's a 5-4 count in favor of "Plan B from Lower Sewer Space". Given that Gahan and McLaughlin can now be counted on to shine Coffey's shoes on command, one of those "ayes" must be Jack Messer's, right?

And, the vote will be on Monday night, which brings Harold Adams' delightful C-J headline into view: England to review Messer comments on race.

New Albany Mayor Doug England said he will decide Monday whether to act on racial comments made in January by Jack Messer, a city police officer and at-large city councilman.

What the hell is this, a city or "One Life to Live"?

Just imagine if we all set about to accomplish something rather than appease the dullards and pander to the non-achievers. What a wonderful world it would be. I'm not holding my breath. Beer anyone?

Portland, Oregon: Steering tourists "to the most exciting storm sewer sites."

Thanks to JP for the link.

Portland's sewers right as rain, by Dennis Cauchon (USA Today)

The most surprising tourist attraction in Portland, Ore., is its storm sewer system.

Eco-friendly tourists flock to the city to understand how Portland's innovative system of curbs, gutters, roofs and rain gardens sharply cuts water pollution.

Develop New Albany's "First Tuesday" networking event at Preston Art Center, April 6.

Today's Tribune column: "Light beer? It’s from right here."

It figures that this would be the place to foist light beer on the planet. Poor planet ... but today, on this most appropriate of holidaze, the only thing I know for sure is what Basil Fawlty taught me:

"Just don't mention Bottles Unlimited!"

BAYLOR: Light beer? It’s from right here

In 1910, the German-language Louisville Anzeiger newspaper praised Augustus Tusch of neighboring New Albany.

“Herr Tusch is a lager brewer of great repute whose cleanliness and quality is of the highest order, with barrels filled and delivered fresh within the astounding radius of ten blocks from his business address.”

Passing of the sales baton at NABC.

I've posted at the Potable Curmudgeon blog on NABC's sales position change. John Campbell has resigned, and Josh Hill takes over, effective immediately. The change is amicable, and scandal-free. For the details, go there: Passing of the sales baton at NABC.

Laurie Penny in The Guardian: "There is a curious frigidity to our understanding of youth and sexuality."

I've decided to healthblog, too. It's remarkably easy. My first entry, which reminds us that purity is a ball, comes courtesy of The Guardian's on-line service -- not to be confused with the UK's National Health Service, although by mentioning the latter, I'll (hopefully) be blacklisted by the tea fartings.

Our sex lives. Their agenda; Moral posturing paints the young as victims or villains of a sexualised society. We are just getting on with it, by Laurie Penny.

Dr Petra Boynton, a sex educator and academic, says the change in sexual behaviour isn't nearly so dramatic as the media make out. Most young people still don't lose their virginity until they are over 16, she says. "As adults we're very quick to look at young people and say 'Aren't they awful', without looking at the wider issues – like our appalling track record on sex education."

Packed schedule at Destinations Booksellers.

Following is a quick reference listing of events at Destinations Booksellers/Dueling Grounds Cafe, beginning tonight, and continuing through April. I've provided links for political candidates.

Wednesday, 3/31
Shane Gibson @ 7pm

Thursday, 4/1
Chuck Freiberger @ 7pm

Saturday, 4/3
German Language @ 10am
French Language @ 1pm
Author Charles Smith "The Stragglers" - 2pm

Tuesday, 4/6
Ron Grooms @ 7pm

Wednesday, 4/7
Socrates Cafe @ 6:30pm

Thursday, 4/8
Lee Ann Wiseheart @ 6pm

Saturday, 4/10
German class @ 10am

Brett Loyd @ 11am

French class @ 1pm

Urban history/future forum with Dr. Jake Newman (IUS) and Steve Sizemore of Louisville Metro planning @ 2pm
John Bottorff (US House, 9th District) @ 4pm

Tuesday, 4/13
Ed Clere @ 7pm

Thursday, 4/15
Coffee Party USA discussion @ 7pm

Saturday, 4/17
German language @ 10am

Carol Johnson-Smith (US House, 9th District) @ 11am

French class @ 1pm

Author Keven McQueen "The Great Louisville Tornado" booksigning and discussion @ 2pm

Tuesday, 4/20
At large school board candidate meet and greet (thus far, only 4 have accepted of the 8 running)

Wednesday, 4/21
Destinations fiction book club "On the Same Page" meets @ 7pm

Thursday, 4/22
JC Stites of 8664 @ 6:30pm

Friday, 4/23
Author Lisa Duffy to read for childrens story hour and do a book signing.

Saturday, 4/24
German class @ 10am
French class @ 1pm
Dog trainer and author Matthew Duffy for a book signing (outdoor event) @ 2pm

Monday, 4/26
Republican county candidate meet and greet event

Tuesday, 4/27
Mark Seabrook @ 7pm

Fire destroys Bottles Unlimited.

Just yesterday I pedaled past the site of the B & B Bar & Grill and paused to watch the cinderblock construction as a new building rises at the corner of Culbertson and 15th. I'm assuming that the owners are rebuilding. Does anyone know for sure?

Then, word came this morning that Bottles Unlimited has burned, too: Downtown New Albany liquor store destroyed by fire.

Bottles Unlimited went into business in the early 1980's. As with Scoreboard Liquors on Spring, a big part of its business came from Louisvillians at a time when Kentucky's archaic liquor pricing laws remained in effect. Until Bottles arrived, Scoreboard had the off/on ramp monopoly, and the freshly minted package competition highly annoyed Scoreboard's owner (and my boss at the time), the late Jim Creech.

My youthful opinion at the time was that Scoreboard should relinquish the price-driven trade and go upmarket with higher quality selections, tastings and information unavailable elsewhere. It was the strategy subsequently pursued, albeit a decade or more later, by the Bairds at their Old Mill shop on Charlestown Road. But of course it was Jim's money, not mine, and anyway, I always intended to pursue other possibilities -- and on occasion actually did. He stuck with his business plan, and more often than not, got beat at it.

Soon afterward the Kentucky laws changed, and the playing field leveled. Bottles still had the superior first-past-the-post field position, and in 1988, Scoreboard lost its lease and moved uptown, where it sputtered to a halt in the late nineties. Jim died five years ago, and I miss him. Had the timing been different, I still think we could have put our heads together and come up with a way of reinventing the liquor store for a different market.

Amid the steadily improving urban clutter around Elm Street and State at the I-64 ramp, Bottles Unlimited has been a successful, productive, long-term business. Will it rebuild? Catastrophes like this often serve as opportunities, and this one might afford Bottles Unlimited a chance to reinvent itself downtown, and become part of a fresh wave.

Hizzoner strikes back: "(Clere) should be careful about what he says and when he says it."

Love him or hate him, Mayor Doug England has never been prone to meekness when his dander's up. Does England's assessment of the situation with Rep. Ed Clere click, and do his charges against Clere stick? Feel free to discuss.

The full text is here, followed by a letter from the IHSAA's director filled with nonsensical babble about the importance of high school sports amid the prevailing Daniels Education Pogram.

This is the third time in as many months that State Representative Ed Clere has taken it upon himself to announce the conclusion of important negotiations between the City of New Albany and State of Indiana. While I understand that Mr. Clere seeks kudos and political points as he is heads into his campaign to seek re-election to a second term as our State Representative, I think it is inappropriate for him to be the spokesman of City of New Albany business without coordinating with my office.

Beware of graphic, hilarious and deadly accurate content.

Frank Rich on the "national existential reordering."

On the same day that my former personal physician merrily foams at the mouth in the Tribune, one of the most insightful of mainstream pundits charts the dimensions of white, tea-bagging America's feverish demons. Perhaps the only question now is whether they'll secede before or after the inevitable, and whether the sensible among us should even give a damn.

The Rage Is Not About Health Care, by Frank Rich (New York Times).

... If Obama’s first legislative priority had been immigration or financial reform or climate change, we would have seen the same trajectory. The conjunction of a black president and a female speaker of the House — topped off by a wise Latina on the Supreme Court and a powerful gay Congressional committee chairman — would sow fears of disenfranchisement among a dwindling and threatened minority in the country no matter what policies were in play. It’s not happenstance that Frank, Lewis and Cleaver — none of them major Democratic players in the health care push — received a major share of last weekend’s abuse. When you hear demonstrators chant the slogan “Take our country back!,” these are the people they want to take the country back from.

They can’t. Demographics are avatars of a change bigger than any bill contemplated by Obama or Congress. The week before the health care vote, The Times reported that births to Asian, black and Hispanic women accounted for 48 percent of all births in America in the 12 months ending in July 2008. By 2012, the next presidential election year, non-Hispanic white births will be in the minority. The Tea Party movement is virtually all white. The Republicans haven’t had a single African-American in the Senate or the House since 2003 and have had only three in total since 1935. Their anxieties about a rapidly changing America are well-grounded.

R.I.P., Don Parsons.

It was only a week ago that I learned of Don Parsons' impending death. He had battled cancer to standstill the first time around, but regrettably, as so often is the case, it roared back at Don with a vengeance, and nothing could be done. Now it has claimed him. He was 56, and even a month ago, he looked at least ten years younger than that.

Don frequented the Public House on Saturday afternoons, especially when the weather was good and he could ride his motorcycle. We talked beer numerous times, and as a homebrewer, Don truly "got it." He was a regular at BBC in St. Matthews, and was referred to there as Dart Don.

Last week, aware that the end was near, he donated his beer bottle collection for use in Leticia Bajuyo's New Albany Bicentennial Public Art project sculpture, which will appear outside the Bank Street Brewhouse in late April.

By virtue of the collection's many shapes and sizes, not all of them can be used. However, my promise to Don is this: A part of you will be present, and as many of your bottles as possible will be in the Bicentennial sculpture, if I have to scrub the damn things myself.

Don was a friend, and a friend to beer. I'll miss him very much, and he'll not be forgotten as long as there's a New Albanian Brewing Company.

I hope he thought to pack some Weyerbacher ...

Former CHDO head John Miller running for Louisville Metro Council.

When last we glimpsed John Miller, he was presiding over the disintegrating remnants of New Albany's CHDO, which is a sad story overall, and one told previously in this space.

Linden Meadows bubbled to the surface again a few days ago: New Albany Sewer Board won't go after Linden Meadows tap fees. About the same time, Bluegill gave a heads-up that Jake at The 'Ville Voice blog had taken notice of John. None of us knew that he is running against Louisville's iconic 9th district Metro Council rep, Tina Ward Pugh.

Spoiler alert: Jake's assessment is not pretty. I'll let TVV speak for itself:

Tina’s Opponent Breaking Campaign Finance Law

Interesting 9th District Nawbny Connection

As one or the other pop culture wag once mused, it gets "curiouser and curiouser" around these parts. If not for the topical application of Progressive Pints, I'm not sure how we'd make it through the night.

Housing + Transportation Affordability Index, Louisville Region.

Take a gander at this and consider who we'd be subsidizing and what we'd be encouraging with the Ohio River Bridges Project. Also consider that the NA-FC School Corporation is operating in lockstep to compel bad decision making.

H+T Affordability Index: Louisville, KY--IN: Comparing Housing Costs - % Income to Housing and Transportation Costs - % Income The Housing + Transportation Affordability Index is an innovative tool that measures the true affordability of housing based on its location.

© Copyright 2003-10 Center for Neighborhood Technology
2125 W North Ave, Chicago, IL 60647 · Tel: (773) 278-4800 · Fax: (773) 278-3840

New Albany the defending champion as Neighborhood Derby 2010 gets under way.

It's Neighborhood Derby time again at Broken Sidewalk: Announcing Round One Of The 2010 Neighborhood Derby.

As you may recall, last year New Albany won it all.: New Albany Crowned BS Neighborhood Derby 2009 Champion.

We won because we played to win: Neighborhood Derby voting winding down ... limited supply of Kessler 1/2 pints remain in play.

Now we're seeded first. As my roomie used to say on his answering machine, "You know what to do, and when to do it."

Mayor England sez: Alternate Plan B to address sewers, their rates and whatnot.

File under "press releases we didn't receive," but the council president's ears and mouth are nearer City Hall's horse than mine. The droppings? Those are on Cappuccino's end.

Mayor's Alternative Sewer Rate Plan, by John Gonder (from his blog, where you can find the complete text).

Here is an e-mail marked for "immediate release".

A rate table alluded to in the test inexplicably didn't move from the original to this format.

The e-mail and the words are the administration's not mine.

Here are the Mayor's meat and potatoes:

Under what has been dubbed “Alternate B”, the use of EDIT and Riverboat funding to subsidize the sewer rates would be scrubbed. But Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to fund the debt service for three projects contained in the Capacity Assurance Plan—Basin 14 Lift Station Upgrade, the Mount Tabor Lift Station Upgrade and the Jacobs Creek/Lewis Branch Interceptor—would be utilized. The amount required to fund debt service to be pledged from TIF would be approximately $240,000 per year. The “Alternate B” plan also slashes $1.0 million from the sanitary sewer annual operating budget.

Look ma: No EDIT!

Now, the question becomes, "Where are the votes?"

Today's Tribune column: "It was a modest start."

This one requires little in the way of introduction. The one thing I neglected to do in today's column was dedicate it: To the memory of the late David Roark, whose boundless wit so enlivened those years.

BAYLOR: It was a modest start

Not so long ago, an old friend observed that my meek and unobtrusive writing style — as displayed over 30 years in letters to the editor, a beer appreciation newsletter, Internet blogs and finally newspaper and magazine columns like this one — can be traced back to baby steps at the Weekly Wad.

Charlie Brooker: "Newspapers are the biggest threat to the nation's mental wellbeing."

The United Kingdom, that is. It's classic Brit-write, with wonderful drug abuse analogies, and a topic often addressed here at NAC.

The most dangerous drug isn't meow meow. It isn't even alcohol ..., by Charlie Brooker (The Guardian).

... In its purest form, a newspaper consists of a collection of facts which, in controlled circumstances, can actively improve knowledge. Unfortunately, facts are expensive, so to save costs and drive up sales, unscrupulous dealers often "cut" the basic contents with cheaper material, such as wild opinion, bullshit, empty hysteria, reheated press releases, advertorial padding and photographs of Lady Gaga with her bum hanging out.