Gabe Bullard

After five years in Louisville, city government reporter Dan Klepal is leaving the Courier-Journal.

Klepal has accepted a job with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

"I'll be covering Gwinnett County government," he says. "It's a suburban county just north of Atlanta that has upwards of 800,000 residents, provides city-like services and has close to a $1 billion budget."

Klepal is the paper's main city government reporter, and was most notable for his recent coverage of Metro Councilwoman Barbara Shanklin's alleged misuse of city discretionary funds. It was Klepa's work that was cited in an ethics complaint against Shanklin. 

The subsequent trial before the city Ethics Commission was earlier this month, and a verdict is expected in March, though Klepal will be three months into his new job at that time.

WFPL has a bounty of great radio for you this Thanksgiving weekend.

 Thursday

11am - 1pm Turkey Confidential

This time of year, many of us must deal with the fact that not all of our friends and relatives live in the WFPL listening area. That means that many of us will be traveling away from the comfort of 89.3 FM. And whether you're in a plane or a car, you'll need something to listen to for your trip, and for any time you may spend hiding from in-laws.

U.S. Senate Republicans have unanimously voted to give Mitch McConnell of Kentucky a fourth term as leader.

McConnell's last term was marked by staunch opposition to President Barack Obama and efforts to give the GOP a majority in the chamber. The latter didn't happen, but all signs indicate McConnell will continue the former. He recently stated that any of the president's plans to increase government revenue by raising taxes on the wealthy will be “non-starters” in the chamber.

From the headline ("Progress vs. preservation turns into an ugly ordeal") down, the WAVE3 piece pit preservationists against the advancement of the city.

The story, by WAVE3 reporter John Boel, was enough to spur the head of the Neighborhood Planning and Preservation Inc. to send an e-mail on Friday urging recipients to share their concerns with Boel.

Ultimately, the WAVE3 piece sums up three popular arguments against preservation:

Actor, storyteller and friend of Byline Stephen Tobolowsky is on the air this month with four all-new, hour-long storytelling radio specials modeled around his new book, The Dangerous Animals Club. 

WFPL was one of the first stations in the country to broadcast The Tobolowsky Files, and we'll bring this new four-part series every Thursday at nine pm, beginning November 8th.

With Rep. Ben Chandler's loss last night to Republican challenger Andy Barr, John Yarmuth of Louisville is now the only Democrat in Kentucky's federal delegation.

But he's now working on plans to bring more of his colleagues from the commonwealth to Washington after the 2014 election.

“I welcome the opportunity to be the spokesperson for a national policy that espouses a support for the middle class in the country," Yarmuth said in an interview with WFPL News.

If you need a break from the horse race today, here are some great pieces of audio to enjoy that keep with the electoral theme, but avoid punditry, polls and other things you may need a bit of a release from before tonight.

Last week, businessman Ed Hart and his Kentucky Kingdom Redevelopment Company submitted his proposal to re-open Kentucky Kingdom—which he used to own. Today, he released the plan. Devin Katayama is covering the announcement and conducting interviews. In the meantime, the proposal and bullet points from the KKRC are below. 

The state is seeking proposals to operate the former Six Flags. Hart previously attempted to re-open the park shortly after it closed, but the deal fell apart. As did a subsequent proposal from the family that owns the Holiday World park in Indiana.

In 2009, George McGovern came to Louisville to discuss his latest book, Abraham Lincoln. I interviewed him ahead of his visit and couldn't help but ask about his encounters with Hunter S. Thompson. Most of my first impressions of McGovern came from Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 1972, and since McGovern was coming to Thompson's hometown, I figured it was appropriate to ask.