Chicago-based Walsh Construction has been named the best option to design and construct Kentucky's portion of the Ohio River Bridges Project, which includes building a new I-65 bridge and reworking Spaghetti Junction.

Walsh Construction's $971 million bid was the best financial value and the group says it can finish the project in 1,380 days, or by Dec. 10, 2016.

The state's awards committee will meet on Nov. 26th to review the bid in detail and it could--at that time--announce the decision to accept the proposal.

From earlier today:

A report released Thursday by Washington-based Data Quality Campaign shows Kentucky has made progress in using data to improve student achievement.

The “Data For Action 2012” report touts Kentucky as a leader for its longitudinal data system, which refers to data that can be tracked from kindergarten to career.

The University of Louisville has announced a new award for game-changing work in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The Leigh Ann Conn Prize for Renewable Energy is named after the late daughter of two of the major supporters of the U of L’s Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research. It’s intended to recognize innovative work that will likely have a global effect, and carries a $50,000 award.

The politics of ordering a pizza for Friday's dinner just got significantly more complicated than the usual arguments over toppings.

In response to criticism of Papa John's chief executive John Schnatter's comments criticizing the Affordable Care Act, Freedomworks -- the conservative organization closely tied with the Tea Party -- issued a statement Thursday urging people to make Friday "National Papa John's Appreciation Day."

Ashley Judd is the most discussed potential Democratic candidate to challenge U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell' for his seat in 2014, but not all Kentucky Democratic statewide officers are supporting the idea.

Auditor Adam Edelen said he'll be encouraging and supporting Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Kentucky secretary of state, for the 2014 senate race -- because of Grimes' focus on state, not national, issues.

This week on our audio diary series "The Big Break," Louisville Ballet trainee Claire Horrocks sees the cast list for "The Nutcracker" and learns her new choreography for the familiar show. Actors Theatre apprentice Samantha Beach sits in on rehearsal for "True West," where she discovers a hidden talent, and Kentucky Opera studio artist Brad Raymond takes "Tosca" on the road.

Update at 11:30 a.m. ET: Oil giant BP has agreed to plead guilty to criminal misconduct related to the 2010 Gulf Oil spill and will pay a record $4 billion in criminal penalties, the company just confirmed. And it will pay $525 million in civil penalties in a resolution with the Securities and Exchanges Commission. BP will make the payments over six years.

Kentucky author, farmer and environmentalist Wendell Berry was on The Diane Rehm Show yesterday to talk about his new book “A Place in Time.” It’s a collection of 20 stories about life in the fictional small town of Port William. Besides discussing and reading from the book, Berry also talked about the relationship between a land and people, and his views on energy and the environment.

When President Obama sets off to Asia this weekend to highlight his so-called pivot to the region, he will make a bit of history: Obama will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit Myanmar.

The country, also known as Burma, was a pariah state for decades, ruled by a ruthless military dictatorship. That is changing, and the Obama administration has encouraged a dramatic reform process in the country. But it may be too early for a victory lap.