The Kentucky Department for Public Health says flu activity across the commonwealth has increased to widespread, meaning there are outbreaks of the illness in at least half of the state’s regions.

State Epidemiologist Dr. Craig Humbaugh says the flu usually peaks from January through March.

"In fact, last year’s flu season was relatively late in coming, and this year’s flu season is starting early," he said.

Outgoing U.S. Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana says Congress and the president need to establish a closer working relationship, especially in the area of national security.

The Republican, who’s leaving Capitol Hill after 36 years, delivered his farewell address on the Senate floor today , saying the current dialogue on national security is one of the least constructive he’s ever witnessed.

Yesterday it was revealed that Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is currently the most unpopular Senator in the country, according to a survey conducted by Public Policy Polling.

Today on Here and Now, host Jonathan Bastian spoke with Jim Williams, issue polling specialist at Public Policy Polling, who helped formulate and conduct the poll.  Also present was WFPL's political editor Phillip Bailey. 

Since last fall, actor Alec Baldwin has been producing an interview podcast for WNYC in New York called Here's the Thing.

It's great. And if you haven't been listening to it, here's your chance. WFPL is airing five radio specials of Here's the Thing all next week at 7 p.m. (relax, Q fans, Jian will be back the following week). 

Guests for the week include:

The girls’ basketball coach at Indiana’s Bloomington South High School says he and his players were not trying to embarrass an opponent they defeated by a score of 107-2 this week.

The team’s rout of Arlington has sparked outrage among some fans and prompted a state prep sports association official to say he never wants to see anything so one-sided again.

Bloomington South coach Larry Winters tells the Indianapolis Star that he played everyone on his team and they didn’t stop shooting because he felt that would have been more embarrassing to Arlington.

Jefferson County Public Schools is opening a hotline Wednesday and Thursday nights to answer questions parents and families may have regarding state test results that have been mailed.

The number to call between 5 to 7 pm is 485-7190.

Officials say experts will be on hand to answer questions about testing and the reporting itself. You can also get a tutorial here.

Gov. Steve Beshear says negotiations on a lease deal to reopen the Kentucky Kingdom amusement park are close, and he’s “excited” about the progress being made.

Beshear made his comments on WHAS-radio this week, saying, “I think it’s fair to say that we’re fairly close to negotiating a lease and if we get there and the fair board approves that, then the next step would be for the bidder to come up with the financing on it.”

So U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell is unpopular but still beats all Democratic rivals in hypothetical 2014 re-election matchups, according to data from Public Policy Polling.

That's important. But who is better liked, John Calipari or Rick Pitino? Which NFL team do Kentuckians prefer, anyway? PPP asked survey respondents these question, too, and a handful of other miscellaneous queries.

In a new survey released Wednesday, Public Policy Polling found that in a hypothetical 2016 presidential race Democratic Hillary Clinton leads Republican Sen. Rand Paul in Kentucky.

Clinton is the outgoing U.S. Secretary of State who many Democrats want to run in four years, while Paul is a rising GOP star and Tea Party favorite. Both are rumored presidential candidates at this point, but the PPP survey shows Clinton ahead of Paul by a 5-point margin in the commonwealth at 47-to-42 percent.

A large reason for Clinton's lead is that she is far more popular in Kentucky than President Obama, who has struggled amongst state Democrats.

From PPP:

Clinton has a 48/42 favorability rating with Kentucky voters. By comparison Barack Obama's approval rating is 38/59.