News

Friday on Byline, we spoke with WDRB's Eric Crawford and Lexington Herald-Leader sports reporter Mark Story about the search for a replacement for coach Joker Phillips at University of Kentucky's football program.  They also discuss early season impressions of men's basketball teams from UK and UofL.

The push for hemp in Kentucky is getting a bump from other states' efforts to legalize the plant's unsavory cousin, a Kentucky official said.

Last week, The New York Times Magazine published a lengthy story that can be summarized in a sentence: The NBA is doing well in Oklahoma City.

The piece discusses the Oklahoma City Thunder's surprising on-court successes, the city's embrace of star Kevin Durant and how a middle-sized Midwestern city landed a pro basketball team in the first place. And there's this discussion with Oklahoma City's police chief, Bill Citty:

The holiday season is a time when our thoughts turn to how thankful we are for family and friends, peace and goodwill, and the Official Red Ryder Carbine Action Two Hundred Shot Range Model Air Rifle (with a compass and this thing that tells time built right into the stock).

The NAACP and several other groups released a report yesterday that chronicles the undue burden low-income and minority communities bear from coal-fired power plants.

Joker Phillips will coach the final home game of his University of Kentucky football head coaching tenure tomorrow as the Wildcats host Samford.

Phillips is being let go after three years on the job. He’ll coach UK’s two final games of the season.

He told reporters this week that he hopes his successor will be given plenty of time to build the program into a national contender.

Here is the rundown for today's edition of Byline:

At the top - Analysis of the new health care partnership announced this week between the University of Louisville and Kentucky One Health. WFPL's Devin Katayama speaks with Dr. David Dunn, U of L vice president for health affairs.

Indiana officials have announced the tentative contractor group that will build an East End Bridge in the Louisville region and it includes a Chicago-based business that was conditionally chosen this week by Kentucky to construct its portion of the Ohio River Bridges Project. 

Walsh Construction is part of WVB East End Partners, one of four groups that entered proposals to build the East End Bridge. 

Its $763 million bid received the best score overall to design, build and manage the project after its open, making it Indiana’s best option.

Actors Theatre of Louisville opened Sam Shepard’s “True West” last night. Directed by Obie Award-winning playwright and director Adam Rapp (“Finer Noble Gases,” “The Edge of Our Bodies,”), “True West” is a viciously funny and tragic portrayal of two brothers testing the boundaries of love, resentment and civilization.

Four Kentucky universities will begin using a standardized financial aid letter aimed at helping students and parents better understand the costs of higher education.

The U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday that the University of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, Bellarmine University and Louisville's University of Phoenix campus have agreed to use the “Financial Aid Shopping Sheet.”