Jefferson County Public Schools are performing worse than nearly 75 percent of Kentucky public school students outside the district, according to new state accountability measures -- including tests, graduation rates and other indicators -- released Friday. 

JCPS is ranked in the 23 percentile in Kentucky under the new "Unbridled Learning" school accountability model -- part of the state's most sweeping education reforms of the past two decades.

How Jefferson County Public Schools performed on new state tests, by grade and subject matter:

Here are the rankings for all Jefferson County Public Schools, including labels as determined by Kentucky's new accountability system.

A Jefferson County Circuit judge is expected to rule Friday on whether Republican state Senate candidate Chris Thieneman will be on the ballot next Tuesday.

Thieneman is challenging Democratic incumbent Perry Clark in a tight race that could give the GOP a larger majority in the chamber. Thus far, Thieneman has raised over $172,00 compared to $85,000 from Clark and observers are paying close attention.

Last week, a Democratic activist Robert Walker filed a lawsuit against Thieneman that questioned his residency in the 37th state Senate District in south Louisville.

"After Sandy, Wired New Yorkers Get Reconnected With Pay Phones: Coin-Eating Retro Devices Baffle Some, Frustrate Many; Moment Merits a Tweet."

That Wall Street Journal story today, about folks in lower Manhattan who have been forced by the power outages and damages in the wake of Superstorm Sandy to seek out an old-fashioned way to make a call, has struck a chord.

Regulators are still working to extinguish a fire at the site of the train derailment and chemical spill in southwest Jefferson County. But work has also begun to determine the environmental and health effects of the toxic chemicals that have already leaked.

Kentucky Senate Republicans have appointed President Pro Temp Katie Stine as the new legislative co-chair for their chamber as David Williams prepares to depart as Senate president.

The GOP cannot name a new president until lawmakers convene again in January, but current Stine will assume the duties and serve as temporary co-chair of the Legislative Research Commission.

Greater Clark County Schools has received a "C" on the Indiana Accountability Report Card, remaining unchanged from last year.

The grading system was implemented two years ago to make it easier for parents to understand where a district and school rank. It’s based off results from the previous year and measures student test scores, graduation rates and other growth measurements.

But Superintendent Andrew Melin says the accountability system measures schools on a curve, which makes it more difficult to show how individual schools have improved.

The Eve Theatre Company, a new women's theater company, opens its first production this week. Their first show is “Love, Loss and What I Wore,” the Drama Desk Award-winning anthology of monologues that the Los Angeles Times calls “a cross between ‘The Vagina Monologues’ and ‘What Not to Wear’.”