As the fallout continues from the announced departure of statewide Medicaid operator Kentucky Spirit, many other Medicaid operators are already looking to take their place.

Kentucky Spirit announced last week they would break their contract with the state early. State officials say they won’t re-open those statewide contracts to replace Kentucky Spirit until the current contracts expire.

The amusement park Kentucky Kingdom has been closed for three years now, representing a significant loss of jobs and tourism revenue.  Attempts to revive the park have failed or been abandoned, and meanwhile the rides and equipment have largely been left to the elements and are not being maintained.

In college football, the Louisville Cardinals came from behind late in the game to edge South Florida 27-25 Saturday at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.

U of L led 14-3 at halftime, but the Bulls came back to claim a 25-21 lead with just over three minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

The Cards retook the lead with a Teddy Bridgewater touchdown pass to Eli Rogers and South Florida was unable to score on its final possession.

U of L improves to 7-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big East Conference. The Cards will host Cincinnati Friday night.

Palm Beach Post columnist Frank Cerabino heard something strange on the radio last Tuesday. A local sports show host, Marc Hochman of The Ticket, said that while he might tune in to the Yankees vs. Tigers game that night instead of the presidential debate, he would definitely watch the third and final debate.

"That will really decide my vote at this point because I'm one of those undecided voters," Hochman said.

The immigration portion of the second presidential debate got attention for what the candidates said, but also, for how they said it. Undocumented? Illegal? It made us wonder: How much do words matter? How does what we call someone affect how we think about and treat them?

Friday on Byline, WDRB sports reporter Eric Crawford joined us to talk about the upcoming college basketball season, which promises potential great things for Indiana and Kentucky fans: IU, U of L, and UK are ranked 1-2-3 to start the season.

On today’s Byline arts segment, WFPL’s Erin Keane discussed the importance of community partnership and visible mentors for minority dancers in a conversation about the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

She also gave a preview of Savage Rose Classical Theatre’s new Parkside Studio production of “Macbeth,” which has some unorthodox moments.
 

Jefferson County Board of Education District 2 candidate David Jones Jr. says his opponent’s complaints that invalidate his candidacy are misleading.

A complaint was filed this week by candidate Phil Haming asking the Office of Education Accountability to investigate a possible conflict of interest with Jones’ candidacy.

Here's what we covered in this edition of Byline:

At the top - LEO Weekly’s Joe Sonka joins us to talk about his cover story on Kentucky Kingdom, the amusement park that has been shuttered for three years now.