Louisville Democrat David James and Republican Ken Fleming don’t always agree as leaders of their respective caucuses, but the two Metro Council members hope city lawmakers tackle a number of issues this year.

Among them is the new spending plan for the city. Mayor Greg Fischer says the local economy is bouncing back from the recession, but Metro Government still faces a $13 million budget shortfall.

Both parties hope the budget process is transparent, and James and Fleming agree that public dollars for city services are running thin and need to be spent wisely.

In response to the growing concern over China's air pollution, a theatrical Chinese entrepreneur is selling cans of fresh air.

The 15th annual Jewish Film Festival opens Saturday with "My Best Enemy," an Austrian Holocaust thriller about two best friends who switch identities to recover a priceless work of art. The Jewish Community Center produces the annual festival to explore in film the complexities of Jewish culture and what it means to be Jewish in the modern era. 

Shironda Young waited two years to get her job as a cook. It's become the best job she's ever had.

Now, Young may have to give the job up because of recently announced cuts to a state program that gives financial assistance for child care to low-income working families.  Young cooks for a university; she doesn't work in the summer. The staff at the day care for her four children have told her that she'll likely be denied entry into Kentucky's Child Care Assistance Program when she reapplies in fall 2013.

"I'll probably have to quit my job," Young said. "I absolutely have nobody to watch my kids. I can't afford day care—it's like $500 a week."

Each week, members of the WFPL news team spotlight interesting stories we've read and enjoyed, for your weekend reading pleasure:

Huddle up, sports fans! It's time for the Super Bowl (or so we hear), and it's been a huge week for LGBTQ sports news!

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendan Ayanbadejo has gotten lots of positive attention for being an advocate of LGBTQ rights, and for using the spotlight of the Super Bowl to get the word out. And Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried released an adorable video in praise of his two moms. Sadly, not all the news was good. Kwame Harris was essentially outed this week when he had to appear in court on charges he assaulted his ex-boyfriend (Harris had never publicly said he's gay, but for what it's worth, his former teammates say it wouldn't matter to them).

In what was probably the biggest LGBTQ-related story of this Super Bowl season, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver had a not-quite-progressive reaction when asked whether he'd be comfortable playing football with gay people. In the quote heard 'round the sports world, he said:

It snowed in the early morning Saturday.

More may be on the way. The National Weather Service says snow is likely Saturday, mainly between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. A slighter chance of snow endures through Sunday morning. Jefferson and surrounding counties in Kentucky and Indiana remain under a winter weather advisory until 7 a.m. Sunday.