This Hour: Latest Kentucky news, sports, business and entertainment - WKRN, Nashville News, Nashville Weather and Sports

This Hour: Latest Kentucky news, sports, business and entertainment

Posted: Updated:

HOMELESS COUNT

Canvass finds nearly 2,400 homeless people in Ky.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky Housing Corp. is reporting that the number of homeless in Kentucky now stands at nearly 2,400, down significantly from past years.

The latest count was released Wednesday by the state's housing agency. It covered 118 counties. The state's more urban Fayette and Jefferson counties were excluded.

The count, conducted on Jan. 30, identified 2,392 homeless men, women, and children. The overall number has been declining since 2008 when 4,027 homeless were counted.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which provides funding to the Kentucky Housing Corp., is required to do a homeless count at least every two years. The count is required to take place on a single night during the last 10 days of January.

SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK

Louisville's Shakespeare in the Park scheduled

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - The Shakespeare in the Park series in Louisville is set to begin in June. This year's Shakespeare play will be "Twelfth Night."

The plays are scheduled to begin June 20 and end July 14. They run Tuesday through Sunday in Central Park in the Old Louisville neighborhood.

This will be the 54th season of Shakespeare in the Park, which calls itself the oldest free Shakespeare festival in the United States.

For more information, visit http://www.kyshakespeare.com.

POOL-TODDLER DEATH

Boy found in pool dies at UK hospital

STANTON, Ky. (AP) - A 3-year-old eastern Kentucky boy who was found floating in a swimming pool has died.

Powell County Sheriff's Deputy Rob Matthews told the Lexington Herald-Leader the boy's great-aunt and legal guardian, Frankie Hall, said she was playing with Landon Pressnell in the yard but had to go inside due to a medical condition. Matthews said she couldn't get the boy to go with her and couldn't carry him.

Matthews said Hall couldn't find the child after being inside for 10 to 15 minutes and checked next door before finding him in the pool at about 9 a.m. EDT Tuesday.

Matthews said Hall performed CPR and called 911. The boy died about 2 a.m. Wednesday at Kentucky Children's Hospital at the University of Kentucky. Deputy Coroner Shea Willis said the cause of death was drowning.

CLARK SCHOOLS

Clark school board hears warning over facilities

WINCHESTER, Ky. (AP) - Clark County school board Chairman Michael Kuduk says the board will probably have to comply with orders from Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday to start implementing a controversial facilities plan.

The Lexington Herald-Leader says Holliday sent a bluntly worded email message to board members on Tuesday, seemingly leaving no choice but to move forward with the plan, starting May 28. Holliday warned if deadlines aren't met, the state will hold funding that constitutes more than half the district budget.

Board members previously delayed for a year a plan to merge the county's two middle schools and have also rejected renovations at Clark Middle School and the old George Rogers Clark High School.

Kuduk said Wednesday he isn't happy with what he described as a "threat" but believes the board will probably have to comply.

PLAYGROUND ATTACK

Teen faces assault charge in playground attack

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) - Police in western Kentucky say a 13-year-old boy has been charged with assault in connection with a playground attack that sent another boy to the hospital.

Paducah police said the 13-year-old was charged Wednesday with fourth-degree assault.

The incident occurred Sunday at a school playground.

The 12-year-old victim told police that he and two friends were at the playground when another youngster walked up and punched him several times in the face.

The boy told police he knew the assailant only by a nickname and had never had any issues with him.

The victim later complained of a headache and nausea and was taken to a Nashville, Tenn., hospital, where he was admitted for observation.

Police say the alleged assailant was given a date to appear in juvenile court.

KENTUCKY DOCTORS

Doctor shortage to worsen under Medicaid expansion

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - The planned expansion of Kentucky's Medicaid program coupled with a push to help the uninsured obtain health coverage will worsen the state's shortage of physicians.

That's the conclusion of Deloitte Consulting, a technology firm that's helping to set up the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange.

Gov. Steve Beshear announced earlier this month that he will expand the state's Medicaid program to cover an additional 300,000 people, most of them the working poor who don't now have insurance coverage. In addition, Beshear has ordered the creation of the health benefit exchange to help more than 300,000 others get insurance coverage.

The influx of more than 600,000 new patients could strain medical providers in the state, which already needs an additional 3,790 primary care physicians and specialists.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.