Joseph Lord

The Kentucky state Senate approves a controversial "religious freedom" bill, the push for hemp hits a snag and college basketball is on the cusp of March Madness—these topics and more will be discussed today on Byline.

Seventy-two percent of likely Kentucky voters favor legislation to allow persistently low-performing schools the ability to become charter schools, according to a poll released Thursday by charter advocates.

The survey found that 28 percent of likely Kentucky voters opposed the legislation, a news release said.

The restaurant Taco Punk caused a stir in January when owner Gabe Sowder announced a Kickstarter campaign to fund a proposed expansion—critics argued that it was a misuse of crowdsourcing.

Ending early Thursday morning, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul filibustered the nomination of  John Brennan for CIA director for nearly 13 hours.

Each year, the Louisville Slugger Museum gives away hundreds of thousands of miniature novelty baseball bats to patrons who take the tour—and untold thousands are confiscated by the Transportation Security Administration at Louisville International Airport.

You can't put mini bats in carry-on. You have to check them.

That changes on April 25.

Snow showers that began Tuesday night are expected to "taper off" in the Louisville area through mid- and late morning, the National Weather Service said.

Above-freezing daytime temperatures Tuesday may keep Louisville roads from being blanketed in snow before the Wednesday morning commute—but driving issues are still possible.

Metro Louisville is expected to get as much as four inches of snow by Wednesday afternoon, the weather service said. Rain will become snow in the late evening and continue through Wednesday morning.

Louisville and surround areas are under a winter weather advisory from 7 p.m. Tuesday to 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Updated: The Louisville Zoo is instituting a $5 parking fee per vehicle.

The per-vehicle fee is expected to generate more than$500,000 a year that will be used for facility need, zoo officials said. Zoo members won't have to pay the fee per trip—parking will be included in the membership.

Louisville Zoo director John Walczak said no membership fee increase associated with the parking fee is planned.

The Black Keys, Avett Brothers and the String Cheese Incident lead the 2013 Forecastle Festival line-up, which also includes Jim James, the Alabama Shakes, the return of the Flaming Lips and more.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio will speak later this month at the University of Louisville via the McConnell Center.

Rubio, elected to the Senate from Florida in 2010, gave the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address and is an oft-mentioned contender for the GOP's 2016 presidential nomination.