The campaign to re-elect Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell leaked an internal poll showing him with a far better approval rating than the Public Policy Polling survey released earlier this month.

Earlier this month, PPP showed Kentucky's senior Senator is the most unpopular Senator in the country with a dismal 37 percent approval rating and a 55 percent disapproval.

But McConnell's re-election campaign has him at 51 percent approval and only 40 percent disapproving.

What's interesting is that both the PPP and McConnell numbers show the GOP leader ahead of Democratic activist and actress Ashley Judd—the most popular choice for Kentucky Democrats—by just a four-point margin.

Mayor Greg Fischer's office has announced six new retailers for the South Fourth Street corridor in downtown Louisville -- citing a study that says downtown has thus far reached only 52 percent of its retail sales potential.

The announcement Thursday was touted as a successful public-private partnership between the city, business owners and the Louisville Downtown Development Corporation, which commissioned a market study that showed "you can double your retail potential downtown if its done right," said Alan DeLisle, executive director of LDDC. 

Former McMahan Fire Chief Paul Barth, who pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $200,000 from the Crusade for Children, has been ordered to prison weeks earlier than originally expected.

Barth's attorney, Thomas Clay, tells the Courier-Journal that Barth was notified about 10 days ago that he should report to the federal prison in Manchester, Ky., today. The prison assignment, which usually takes 45 to 60 days, took less than a month.

In a new effort to tackle the city's housing crisis, Louisville Metro Councilwoman Attica Scott, D-1, is announcing a campaign to demolish the worst vacant and abandoned properties in her district.

Scott joined worked crews from the city's Inspection, Permits and Licenses Department on Thursday morning to launch "Bringing Down the House," which is aimed at razing properties that are not habitable and have become serious neighborhood eyesores.

The effort will cost a little over $1 million, according to Scott. It is being funded with $60,000 in council appropriations, around $420,000 in federal HUD money and $500,000 from a settlement secured by Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway's office.

Scott is vice chair of the council's vacant properties committee. She says the demolition process takes a long time, but that the new campaign is worth the cost.

"I wish that we could demolish more of the houses that have been abandoned and vacant, and have just destroyed neighborhoods in our district," says Scott. "These are houses that are far beyond rehabilitation, they're house that neighbors have been crying out to city government for years to demolish. They're a public health nuisance and a public safety issue for neighborhoods."

Update at 7 a.m. ET, Dec. 21: We're Still Here.

Our original post continues:

It is Dec. 20, 2012 — and citizens of Earth are panicking, consumed by the idea that the world will end Friday, something they say was predicted by Mayan astronomers. Of course, most people are not panicking, and Maya expert David Stuart says no one should. The calendar, he says, has plenty of room to go.

This week on our audio diary series, The Big Break, two of our emerging artists see their stages from a different perspective. Louisville Ballet trainee Claire Horrocks takes a leap of faith in herself to create a piece for the ballet's Choreographer's Showcase, and Actors Theatre of Louisville apprentice Samantha Beach takes us backstage at the revolving set of "A Christmas Carol." Kentucky Opera studio artist Brad Raymond is on hiatus and traveling until January. 

There are reports from a variety of states about local lawmakers who want to give teachers the right to bring guns to school. They're making the case that school shootings such as the one Friday in Newtown, Conn., that left 20 small children and six adults dead could be prevented or stopped if some school staffers were armed.

With the end-of-year deadline looming on automatic tax increases and spending cuts, President Obama on Wednesday made the case that Republicans should recognize "I have met them at least halfway in order to get something done for the country."