Byline

The landing of the Curiosity Rover on Mars this week had many of our thoughts on space exploration. But only one journalist was asking questions about the legal ramifications of humans in outer space. Fast Company's Neal Ungerleider brought us our favorite headline of the week with his piece, Space Lawyers: They Exist.

Laws governing the sale of alcohol in Kentucky are already labyrinthine, and to make things more confusing, they are often in flux. It seems like one county or another in the Commonwealth is always voting on whether to be dry (no alcohol sales), wet (alcohol sales allowed), or moist (drinks can be consumed in restaurants, but package sales are prohibited). Marshall County recently held such a vote—they chose to remain a dry county—and emotions ran high on both sides.

Jeffrey Skinner, formerly a private investigator, is the author of five books of poetry, most recently Salt Water Amnesia (2005), and two anthologies of poems, Last Call: Poems on Alcoholism, Addiction, and Deliverance; and Passing the Word: Poets and Their Mentors.

He recently penned The 6.5 Practices of Moderately Successful Poets: A Self-Help Memoir for Sarabande Books.

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.

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.

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.