Brad Yost

Here's the rundown for Byline today:

The annual Fancy Farm Picnic in western Kentucky threatens to be a tad dull this year for regular attendees accustomed to fiery political rhetoric and mud-slinging.  The reason:  a curious absence of many prominent politicians.  Most of Kentucky's elected Democrats announced plans to skip this year's picnic, and there will be few prominent Republicans present.

Here is the rundown for this edition of Byline, hosted by WFPL News Director Gabe Bullard.

0:00 - We talk about the possibility of a local sales tax option for Louisville, championed recently by Mayor Greg Fischer, with WFPL's Phillip M. Bailey, GLI's Carmen Hickerson, and State Representative Steve Riggs.

WFPL has scheduled maintenance work being performed Wednesday evening (tonight) after 6:00 PM.

All three LPM stations will operate on low power while the work is being done. A brief shutdown might be necessary. We expect to be back to full power no later than 2:00 AM.

If you have trouble receiving our broadcast signal, please listen online. Thank you for your patience.

Three of seven JCPS School Board positions are open this fall, and more candidates are filing to run for the spots.

WFPL's Devin Katayama spent some time talking recently with David Jones, Jr. and David Kaplan, who both are running in District 2, which covers the Highlands and Crescent Hill; as well as with Chris Fell who is running in District 7.  Fell is one of several parents involved in the pending suit before the Kentucky Supreme Court challenging the JCPS student assignment plan.

Here's the rundown for Byline today:

0:00 - Our top story this week is the blistering drought this summer and how it's affecting Kentucky and Indiana crops, livestock operations, and the ripple effect on the food economy.  Our guests are Gregory Hall from the Courier-Journal, along with University of Kentucky agricultural meteorologist Tom Priddy.

For the first time, the middle-aged make up the biggest, richest and most influential segment of the United States population.

New York Times reporter Patricia Cohen explores the concept of middle age, and our perceptions of it, in her book called In Our Prime: The Invention of Middle Age.

Friday on WFPL's Byline, our environment reporter Erica Peterson spent some time with NPR reporter Howard Berkes and Chris Hamby with the Center for Public Integrity. They’ve been investigating a serious resurgence in black lung disease in Appalachia in a series of reports and features made public last week.

Here is the rundown for Byline for this Friday the 13th of July.

On a WFPL News Special Monday, Mayor Greg Fischer said urban crime is up across the country, but the city is reviewing national models to address the violence.

The chief of police told Metro Council members earlier this year that crime is up eight percent, and the crimes are more brazen—including a homicide in the Old Louisville neighborhood yesterday with an assault rifle.