Kentucky News Now – January 19th 2016

LOUISVILLE-OMNI HOTEL

Construction nearing for new Omni hotel in Louisville

(Information in the following story is from: The Courier-Journal, http://www.courier-journal.com )

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A groundbreaking has been set for the nearly $300 million Omni Hotel and housing project in downtown Louisville.

The plans call for a 600-suite Omni hotel, 200-plus apartments, a grocery, retail space and a large parking garage.

The Courier-Journal reports the dismantling of the longtime Louisville Water offices has paved the way for construction. The city declined to designate the water company office a historic landmark, clearing its demolition.

The shovel ceremony for the Omni has been set for Friday, Jan. 29.

The project was redesigned last year to make it more user-friendly and to meet objections of preservationists, who objected to a long blank wall along much of the Third Street. The redesign features a glass-encased stairway running the entire height of the four-story parking garage.

CSX-HUNTINGTON

CSX to close Huntington, W.Va. administrative offices

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — CSX is closing its Huntington administrative offices amid the downturn in the coal industry.

In a news release Monday, the railroad company said 121 management and union employees in the Huntington division will continue working in the area for several months in transitional roles.

The release says many employees can fill positions in other areas afterward.

The Huntington division will be split among Atlanta, Baltimore, Florence, Great Lakes and Louisville divisions.

CSX says its coal revenues have declined $1.4 billion over the last four years.

The release says the move follows other coalfields changes, including the reduction of train operations at Erwin, Tennessee, and the closing of mechanical shops at Corbin, Kentucky.

Trains will still run through the Huntington area. Other regional facilities, including Huntington's locomotive shop, will continue operating.

LEXINGTON-PORTABLE CLASSROOMS

Lexington parents don't want portable classrooms

(Information in the following story is from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com )

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Some public school parents are uneasy about Lexington's use of portable classrooms to ease overcrowding.

The parents say they want the district to come up with a long-term plan for overcrowding, rather than the portables becoming permanent solutions.

Parent Maggie Draus told The Lexington Herald-Leader she is concerned about the news that Cassidy Elementary School is one of several in Fayette County likely to get portable classrooms in the fall. She says she doesn't want her child learning in a portable building, which resembles a mobile home.

The school district expects to allocate $430,000 in the current budget and $1.4 million in the 2016-17 budget for portables.

Cassidy, along with four other elementary schools are expected to get portable units.

BOY'S HANDS BURNED

Man charged in burning of 8-year-old boy's hands

(Information in the following story is from: WKYT-TV, http://www.wkyt.com )

LONDON, Ky. (AP) — Police in eastern Kentucky have charged a man with wanton endangerment and assault for allegedly burning an 8-year-old boy's hands.

WKYT-TV reports the boy was sent to school with just a band-aid, but staff at the school noticed the burns and called police and the boy's grandfather, Brad Crow.

Crow says the man charged, 27-year-old James Stark III, was in a relationship with the boy's mother.

London Police say Stark admitted that the boy's hands were burned during a game they were playing Thursday night. Starks admitted to lighting the fire.

Stark was currently being held at the Laurel County Detention Center. Crow said the boy's mother also did not get the boy checked out by a doctor after he was burned.

Crow says his grandson will make a full recovery.

OBIT-GULCH

Champion sprinter Gulch, sire of Thunder Gulch, dies at 32

GEORGETOWN, Ky. (AP) — Gulch, a sprint champion in the late 1980s and sire of 1995 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Thunder Gulch, has died at 32.

The horse died Sunday at Old Friends farm in Georgetown, Kentucky. Michael Blowen, president of Old Friends, says the cause was complications from cancer.

Gulch won the 1988 Breeders' Cup Sprint and earned the Eclipse Award for top sprinter. Gulch won 13 of 32 starts and earned more than $3 million. Among his wins were the Hopeful Stakes as a 2-year-old, the Wood Memorial as a 3-year-old and the Metropolitan Mile two years in a row.

He was trained by Hall of Famers D. Wayne Lukas and LeRoy Jolley.

A son of Mr. Prospector, his offspring earned more than $91 million. After his breeding days, Gulch was pensioned in 2009 because of declining health and was sent to Old Friends, a home for retired racehorses that draws visitors from around the country.