Here's what we covered today on Byline:

At the top - WFPL's education reporter Devin Katayama recaps the school board debate we hosted earlier this week with candidates running in District 7.  The five candidates competing for retiring board member Larry Hujo's seat include Chris Brady, Christopher Fell, Marty Bell, James Sexton and Jonathan Robertson.

The Kentucky State Fair Board unanimously approved a Las Vegas executive to replace outgoing CEO and president Harold Workman.

After meeting with two finalists this morning, a search committee recommended Clifford “Rip” Rippetoe to replace Workman, who has led the fair board since 1993.

“I think he was aware of the challenges. I think he had done his homework. I think he had done his research. I think he knows what our strengths are, what our opportunities are, but also understands the financial challenges that we’re dealing with," said board chair Ron Carmicle.

Kentucky has reached a settlement with a coal company accused of thousands of violations of the Clean Water Act.

Republican congressional candidate Brooks Wicker joined a chorus of conservatives who are claiming the September jobs report was manipulated by President Obama for political purposes.

The report compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistic was released Friday and shows the jobless rate fell to 7.8 percent, which is the lowest since January 2009. According to the report, the U.S. economy added 114,000 jobs last month while other figures were revised from July and August to add another 86,000 jobs.

But former GE CEO Jack Welch and Florida Congressman Allen West quickly denounced the report and accused Mr. Obama of massaging the figures.

In a message to supporters, Wicker said he is "sick of political games" being played by the president and his opponent, Democratic incumbent John Yarmuth.

"The math is simple and the jobs numbers just don’t add up. We deserve better than politicians  "revising" numbers, solely concerned about their own re-election. We need to fix the problem of Washington politicians. I will not compromise my integrity to win an election. We need to govern for future generations, and fix this mess Yarmuth helped create," he says.

Cities around the country are participating in the National Solar Tour tomorrow, which highlights solar and other energy efficient building ideas. In Louisville, there are 30 sites lined up to demonstrate how home and business owners can get at least some of their energy from the sun.

Two southern Indiana communities are taking preliminary steps to more tightly regulate prescription pills by cracking down on pain clinics. Prescription painkiller abuse is becoming more common, and some say the pills are easier to get legally due to unscrupulous pain clinic operators.

The Kentucky Opera opened a company premiere last night of Benjamin Britten's "The Prodigal Son," an installment of the celebrated 20th century composer's Parables for Church Play trilogy. It's part of the company's contemporary chamber series, staged in St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church in Harrods Creek and featuring a small chamber orchestra ensemble, members of the Choral Arts Society and the Opera's studio artists.

Senator Rand Paul says his party needs to break away from its base when it comes to war.

In the past, politicians have had a tough time breaking from the base to change party opinion. Think Bill Clinton and welfare reforms.

But Rand Paul says Republicans need to take a similar step on war, and tone down the hawkishness of recent years.

“Well one issue I’ve sided with President Obama on is that I think the war in Afghanistan should end," says Paul. There aren’t many other Republicans saying that, but I think it is time to come home.”

The nation's unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent in September from 8.1 percent in August even though just 114,000 jobs were added to private and public payrolls, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

Those hard-to-reconcile figures — a decline in the jobless rate even though job growth was relatively weak — appear to be at least partly explained by a sharp increase in the number of Americans who found part-time jobs and counted themselves as employed.

It’s fine to hit the downtown First Friday Trolley Hop without a plan. Park, wander in and out of galleries, grab a drink or dinner with friends and hop a TARC trolley from one end of downtown to the next and back—you’re sure to find something to catch your eye or ears.

But with so many events and gallery receptions happening at once, it’s easy to get overwhelmed, so every month we take a look at five don’t-miss art events happening during the hop.