Devin Katayama

A federal court has affirmed a bankruptcy court’s ruling this year in favor of a for-profit college that was forced to close after losing its accreditation and federal funding.

The U.S. Department of Education pulled student aid from Louisville’s Decker College in 2005, after the Council on Occupational Education said Decker didn’t accurately report that it offered several of its courses through distant or online learning.

The NAACP has announced its greatest education agenda since the federal government ordered desegregation in 1954, the group said this week.

The civil right group is asking local branches to lobby county and state governments to extend school time, improve teacher training and preschool programs and streamline spending to the neediest students.

The initiatives are being supported by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who said in a state the number of students dropping out, especially among minorities, is “devastating entire communities.”

Chicago-based Walsh Construction has been granted approval to contract with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to build its portion of the Ohio River Bridges Project.

Walsh Construction’s $860 million proposal to design and build a new I-65 bridge and rework Spaghetti Junction was named the best of three bids last month.

A panel of transportation cabinet engineers reviewed the bid this week and gave it the okay.

Kentucky’s Blue Ribbon Tax Commission has made its recommendations to reform the state’s tax code, which officials say would boost revenues by nearly $690 million.

The Transit Authority of River City will begin offering transportation to Indiana’s River Ridge Commerce Center next month.

TARC spokeswoman Kay Stewart says service was requested by One Southern Indiana and businesses in River Ridge, namely Amazon, which set up a distribution center earlier this year.

She says the three morning and four afternoon trips scheduled will accommodate Amazon’s various shifts.

Kentucky’s Blue Ribbon Tax Commission will solidify its final list of recommendations Thursday afternoon, which could include imposing higher income taxes for those making more money.

Gov. Steve Beshear created the group to review the state’s tax code, which officials have determined needs significant changes to respond to slowing revenue.

The Kentucky Department of Education is changing the way it assesses the state’s lowest performing schools and Commissioner Terry Holliday says some may be subject to more state oversight soon.

The school board’s Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Committee heard testimony Wednesday from KDE officials who are rewriting current regulations that manage the way the state assesses its 41 priority schools, formerly known as persistently low achieving (PLA) schools.

A southern Indiana group raising money to challenge downtown tolling included in the Ohio River Bridges Project may delay filing a lawsuit this month against the federal government’s record of decision earlier this year.

A report released this week by the U.S. News Short List include Centre College in the top 10 colleges with the highest percentage of college graduates that financially support their alma maters.

Centre College is seventh on the list that is “dominated by National Liberal Arts Colleges,” which emphasize undergraduate education and award at least half of their degrees in the liberal arts fields of study, according to U.S. News.

Thousands of Kentuckians have until the end of 2013 to complete their GEDs before the cost increases and the test is updated.

It’s been a decade since the GED Testing Service has changed the exam, which is equivalent to earning a high school diploma. In that time, nearly 16,000 Kentuckians have taken but not completed all five parts the test requires.

In Jefferson County, an estimated 2,000 residents have not completed the GED test, according to the Council on Post Secondary Education.