Joseph Lord

The Ohio River Bridges Project ramps up, the Old-Fashioned cocktail rises in popularity and a new group is putting focus on the Jefferson County Teachers Association. These stories and more will be discussed today on Byline.

WFPL's Devin Katayama will discuss the new group Kids First, which has launched an advertising campaign against the JCTA as contract negotiations are about to begin.

The distiller behind Angel’s Envy bourbon has been approved for as much as $800,000 in state incentives to build a distillery in Louisville.

The state incentives will last for as many as 10 years for a distillery that would create 40 new jobs with a payroll of about $1.5 million. The craft bourbon distillery’s owners have plans to invest $10 million in a building and equipment.

Louisville Metro Councilman David James announced on Wednesday a crime crackdown in and around Victory Park in west Louisville. 

As WFPL's Phillip Bailey reported, Louisville Metro Police were using support from James to tackle issues including drugs, firearms and gambling. The councilman was providing $11,000 in neighborhood discretionary funds to pay the overtime costs for officers in the area.

Federal investigators have not yet determined the cause of the October 2012 train derailment in southwestern Jefferson County.

The Federal Railroad Administration has released an incident report into the derailment of the Paducah & Louisville Railway train, which WFPL obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Investigators submitted no violations of federal regulations in the report.

The Boy Scouts of America's decision to accept openly gay members— but not leaders—has made neither Kentucky's Christian conservative leaders or LGBT activists happy.

Chris Hartman, director of the Kentucky Fairness Campaign, was disappointed by the caveat leaving gay Scout leaders unwelcome. 

Papa John's chief executive John Schnatter has issued an apology after an employee in Sanford, Fla., accidentally left a voicemail brimming with racially offensive language to a customer.

After issues with automated gates in 2012, the Kentucky State Fair Board is working on a plan to ease traffic congestion into the 2013 state fair.

In 2011, automated parking gates were installed with the intention of getting fair-goers into the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center faster.

They didn’t. The automated machines took too long to accept bills, and sometimes patrons had to insert bills multiple times. Traffic began to congest at gates.

Each week, members of the WFPL News team spotlight interesting stories we've read and enjoyed, for your weekend reading pleasure:

The American news media is beset by challenges—technology offering new ways to disseminate news, changes in how news organizations are funded and the rise of political talking heads.

And that's a very quick summary of the issues.

On Friday, WFPL convened a panel to discuss a national news media landscape in flux. 

Mayor Greg Fischer releases his budget proposal for the next fiscal year, new developments in the Barbara Shanklin removal trial and a senate run for former Miss America Heather French Henry becomes a possibility—these topics and more will be covered today on Byline.

Metro Louisville's budget process has begun. WFPL's Phillip M. Bailey will discuss what changes Fischer is proposing as the Metro Council begins taking a look.