News

Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes is one of the more popular state leaders, and is frequently mentioned as a future candidate for governor or U.S. Senate.

National news outlets put the Lexington Democrat on the short-list of potential challengers to the powerful Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in 2014.

A crowded field of candidates will be on the November ballot for the three open seats on the JCPS Board of Education. WFPL's Devin Katayama covers education news, and he joined us Friday on Byline to talk about the candidates and their chances of election.

We're having some technical difficulties, and the streaming link at the top of this page may not work. To stream WFPL in the meantime, click here.

If you're heading to the Kentucky State Fair this weekend, you'll notice the gates of Kentucky Kingdom remain closed. Developer Ed Hart joined us Friday on Byline to talk about his newest proposal to re-open Kentucky Kingdom; it's a $40 million proposal with a team of supporters that reads like a who's who of the Louisville business scene.

Hart says re-opening Kentucky Kingdom would add $3 billion to Kentucky's economy.

Two-hundred twenty-five students from 43 counties across Kentucky make up the Governor’s School for the Arts class of 2012. Students spend three weeks on Transylvania University's campus immersed in the study of one of nine disciplines, from architecture to musical theater. They start with performances at morning assembly and go until curfew, creating ensemble pieces, solo work and interdisciplinary projects. 

This is the opening weekend of the Kentucky State Fair, and what better time to revisit Devin Katayama's radio portrait of the fair from last year? 

For anyone anticipating an afternoon on the midway, let this get you even more excited. For those of you who would rather skip the whole thing, this is your vicarious visit. 

An official with an eastern Kentucky coal mining company has pleaded guilty to federal charges that he put miners at risk.

Coal mine foremen are required to note hazardous conditions in inspection reports, and then correct them. Manalapan Mining Company shift foreman Bryant Massingale acknowledged that he didn’t do this in federal court on Thursday.

Massingale worked at the company's P-1 mine in Harlan County. A grand jury charged the company and three officials with exposing miners to the risk of injury or death by violating safety rules in June 2011.

Here's what we tackled today on Byline:

At the top - Kentucky Kingdom has now been closed for three consecutive seasons, shut down since its previous operator, Six Flags, declared bankruptcy.  There have been two attempts to re-open the property:  developer Ed Hart, who had previously operated the park, negotiated for more than a year with the Kentucky State Fair board to get the facility up and running, but those talks fell through. 

A Tea Party activist is hoping to end a decade-long battle between the Kentucky Department of Insurance and a Christian health sharing organization.

Christian Care Medishare pools money from members in various states to pay medical bills for members in need. The group has a religious exemption to certain federal rules governing insurance companies. But the state has not made such concessions.

Now, activist David Adams is teaming up with Republican state Senator Tom Buford to push a bill that would grant Medishare its exemptions.

Several local counselors, nurses and mental health professionals are finishing training in youth suicide prevention this week.

The request for the week-long training came from the Jefferson County Board of Education, said Gage Donohue, chair of Louisville’s Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.