The 14th annual report, published by CQ Press, a division of Congressional Quarterly Inc., ranks cities based on six basic crime categories -- murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft. It uses a formula that measures how a city or metro area compares with the national average for a crime. The result in each category is combined to determine a final score. Read more.

Thirty local ventures are known to have received private or state investments over the past 12 months, closing out what has been a good year for Louisville startups looking for funding, according to Mark Crane, executive director of the Enterprise Corp, a division of Greater Louisville Inc., the metro chamber of commerce.

Last year, 15 companies received funding. This year's investments followed a trend toward "more deals being done, but smaller deal size," with total awards of about $11.5 million. Read more.

Cereplast designs and manufactures bio-based, sustainable plastics that are used as substitutes for petroleum-based plastics in processes such as injection molding, thermoforming, blow molding and extrusions. Read more.

Lots for homes are being offered for sale to complement the 185 rental units that already are part of the $233 million development.

Construction at Liberty Green, which replaced the Clarksdale public-housing project, started in 2005. It is being funded, in part, with a $40 million federal Hope VI grant, the same type of funding that helped build the successful Park DuValle project in western Louisville, which also replaced a large public housing project.

Already, 185 mixed-income rental units have been completed at Liberty Green, with 180 of them under lease. Read more.

The company announced earlier this year that it would invest $6.7 million in new equipment and hire 35 production workers. Now, those figures have expanded to about $12.7 million and 87 new jobs, according to Dan Peterworth, president and chief operating officer of MKM. Read more.

Louisville added flights to Denver, Raleigh, N.C., and Boston and expanded service to Orlando and Tampa in Florida and to New York City and Charlotte, N.C., in 2007, attributing to the increase.

The original cost figures announced in August were conservative and have since firmed up and the Cordish Co., which also owns 4th Street Live, is contemplating "more bells and whistles" for the proposed Center City District, city officials said.