News

The Jefferson County Teachers Association is trying to increase its role in turning around the school district’s lowest achieving schools and has laid out steps to improve collaboration between the union and Jefferson County Public Schools.

This week, JCTA president Brent McKim sent an email to JCPS superintendent Donna Hargens, in which he discussed 11 ways the union and JCPS could begin working together to improve turnaround efforts at the district’s 18 priority schools (see below).

It's been a longtime, lingering question—will Gov. Steve Beshear expand Kentucky's Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare)?

On Thursday afternoon, Beshear answered: Yes, Kentucky will.

The decision means that Kentucky will expand its Medicaid rolls to 138 percent of the federal poverty line with the federal government paying for it for three years. After 2017, the federal government's share of the cost drops to 90 percent and Kentucky picks up the rest.

The cremated remains of two Civil War soldiers from Indiana have been given a final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery.

The Union soldiers were brothers, Zuinglius and Lycurgus McCormack.   Their remains had sat on an Indianapolis funeral home shelf for more than 100 years, unclaimed and largely forgotten.

On Thursday, the national cemetery dedicated a new columbarium court,  designed to hold the cremated remains of more than 20,000 eligible service members and family.

Rick Pitino will be featured on a limited edition series of Maker's Mark bourbon bottles benefiting a University of Louisville academic project.

It's the latest honor for the Cardinals' men's basketball coach, who led the team to the 2013 national championship and will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in September. (He was also introduced to body art recently.)

Many Louisville students are labeled "at-risk"—some because of family education, health history or income levels.How are these students tracked, served and assured the opportunity to succeed?

WFPL Education Reporter Devin Katayama is joined by the following guests to discuss those questions. 

President Obama's choice to lead the Environmental Protection Agency was scheduled for a vote today in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. That was supposed to happen at 9:15 this morning, but was derailed by absence of the committee's eight Republican members.

The most frequent statement made to me, after I introduce myself as someone who works in classical radio is, “I don’t know anything about classical music, but...”This statement is typically followed by an expression of love for classical music, a short story about playing clarinet in band during middle school, or how a parent or grandparent always had classical radio on in the background at home. All three are valid experiences that have nothing to do with actually knowing something about music.

Louisville Metro Councilwoman Attica Scott, D-1, will host Mayor Greg Fischer and the new CEO of Greater Louisville Inc. on a "reality ride" through southwestern parts District 1.

Since taking office, Scott has held several tours through neighborhoods in west and southwest Louisville with city officials to show them blight, crime and economic issues.

This tour with Fischer and GLI Inc. CEO Craig Richard has been in the works for several weeks.

For the last installment of our interviews leading up to the Festival of Faiths and the visit by the Dalai Lama, I spoke with Matthieu Ricard.

A native of France, Ricard originally studied to become a scientist. But, trips to the Himalayas to commence his studies with many of the great Tibetan Buddhist masters changed his entire life course. At the age of 30, he became a monk. Among his many accomplishments has been revealing the connection between meditation and neuroscience. Ricard has also served as the French translator to the Dalai Lama.

Enjoy the interview.

The news media landscape is shifting in unprecedented ways—the decline of print, the rise of the Internet, the triumphs and pratfalls of instantaneous news dispense via broadcast and social media.

What is the state of the news in 2013? And where is it going?

Those questions and more will be explored later this month in a WFPL panel discussion on the changing landscape of the news media that will include NPR host Diane Rehm. 

The host of The Diane Rehm Show—which is heard by 2.4 million-plus listeners—will be joined by: