The population of Jefferson County grew by seven percent, or 47,000 people, from 2000 to 2010, according to figures released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. That outpaces the county’s four percent growth in the previous decade. Michael Price, interim director of the Kentucky State Data Center at the University of Louisville, says the increase is due to a surge in the Hispanic and Asian populations.He tells the Courier-Journal that the number of Hispanics in the county more than doubled during the last decade, to more than 32, 500, and the number of Asians increased by nearly 70 percent, to just over 16,000.Kentucky’s population has grown to 4.4 million, with 86-percent of residents classified as non-Hispanic whites. That’s down from 89-percent in the previous decade.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.