The Associated Press

A $10 million federal grant is allowing the Tennessee Department of Transportation to assist a number of transit agencies across the state. The "State of Good Repair Grant" will be used to replace transit vehicles that have exceeded their use based on years in service or mileage.

Recent studies show a Kentucky program that works with needy parents improves the health and development of their children. Health Access Nurturing Development Services, or HANDS, started as a pilot program in 1998 as a way to combat child abuse. Now the program is in all 120 Kentucky counties and has served more than 60,000 families since 2000.

Tennessee health officials are warning pregnant women against inducing labor to ensure their baby is born on New Year’s Day. The state Department of Health says inducing labor to make the delivery date fall on a special day can cause birth defects. 

Tennessee's public libraries will soon be able to share books cheaper and faster thanks to a new interlibrary loan service. The Secretary of State’s office says the Tennessee State Library and Archives has been paying about 200 thousand dollars annually to help libraries mail books to each other. But that amount only covered about half of the postage costs.

The Tennessee State Parks system is commemorating its 75th anniversary by sponsoring hikes at the start of the new year.  State Environment and Conservation Commissioner Bob Martineau says each park will host its own special hike in the first few days of 2013.

Illinois lawmakers are facing two critical decisions about how to carry out President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. Gov. Pat Quinn is pushing legislation to establish a state-run health insurance exchange to help middle-class citizens and small businesses, along with a multi-billion-dollar expansion of Medicaid to cover the poor.

Kentucky wildlife officials say they’ve spotted endangered whooping cranes in Henderson and Hopkins counties. The sightings were at the Sloughs Wildlife Management Area and along the Pond River.

A new western Kentucky high school has reached deals to sell the naming rights to the gymnasium and on-campus field houses and is seeking sponsors willing to pay up to $200,000 to name the football stadium.

McCracken County High School —the merger of Heath, Lone Oak and Reidland high schools — wants a company to pay $200,000 spread out over 10 years for the rights to the football stadium.

For years, Tennessee history buff Bill Carey has been concerned about the lack of state history in the schools. Now he is seizing what he thinks is an opportunity to reverse that trend.

Carey is taking advantage of the new Common Core standards that require English and reading teachers to make use of more nonfiction.

Hopkins County officials are bracing for a drop in coal severance tax funds following a slowdown in coal production over the next 18 months.

State officials are reporting a 26 percent drop in coal severance for the 2012-13 fiscal year, which began July 1. That could leave Hopkins County with $1 million less than the $4.05 million officials projected from 2012-2014.