Author: Associated Press

A Wesson, Miss., man has been charged with selling hay over the Internet. Authorities say the problem is James Darin Hoffman had no hay. Copiah County chief investigator Milton Twiner tells The Clarion-Ledger that Hoffman was freed on $50,000 shortly…

Bill Haslam said Thursday that he opposes efforts to water down Tennessee's open meetings law that says no more than two city or county officials can deliberate in private. The Republican governor told reporters after a speech to the Donelson-Hermitage…

Officials at Magnolia Regional Health Center in Corinth say the hospital has received 11 positive salmonella cultures since Nov. 28. Hospital CEO Nick Napper tells the Daily Corinthian that some of the cases have been admitted to the hospital. Napper…

Honeybees keep disappearing and veterinary pathologists can't say what is happening as agricultural officials estimate the value of bee pollination to be about $300 million annually in Tennessee. The plight of the vital insects has been discussed at a meeting…

The American Bar Association is calling on Kentucky to suspend executions, saying there are too many errors in the system. The association, which helps set ethical standards for attorneys, Wednesday released a two-year study of Kentucky's capital punishment system. The…

A balky telephone system that quickly became overwhelmed when unemployment soared in Tennessee has been overhauled and should be less frustrating for callers. Don Ingram of the Tennessee Department of Labor says there are now additional telephone lines and the…

The Tupelo Convention and Visitors Bureau will place a life-size Elvis Presley statue in front of City Hall. The sculpture will replicate a 1956 photo by Roger Marshutz of Presley performing at a homecoming concert in Tupelo. The statue will…

Former state Sen. Walter A. "Pud" Graham has died. He was 75. Graham died at his home in New Albany on Saturday after being in the hospital the previous week, undergoing a medical procedure. Officials with United Funeral Service said…

Thanks to a donation from entertainer Jimmy Buffett and his sisters, school children on the Gulf Coast will have a new way to learn about the bays and bayous of South Mississippi. The Buffetts joined University of Southern Mississippi officials…

The Shelby County Commission has stuffed the Christmas stockings of the county's 5,700 employees with bonuses of about $650. The flat-rate bonus comes from an unexpected surplus in the county general fund, according to The Commercial Appeal (http://bit.ly/sihL1l ). Mayor…

A former teacher and coach in Blount County has been indicted on sex charges involving teenage girls. A grand jury returned indictments Monday against 40-year-old Robert Paul Talley, who had resigned as a history teacher and softball coach at Alcoa…

Kentucky transportation officials have awarded a contract for road work near Kentucky Speedway to help improve traffic flow and avoid a repeat of the gridlock that marred a race at the northern Kentucky track. The state Transportation Cabinet said Monday…

A husband and wife are held in a southern Kentucky jail in the "bad hair bandit" bank robberies. Jason and Tasha Fox were held early Monday on robbery charges at the Whitley County Jail , where records don't include information…

A proposed reduction in some state-funded college scholarships worries students and administrators at some of Tennessee's small private institutions. A task force has recommended to legislators that HOPE scholarships awarded to students who don't meet both the high school grade…

Mississippi Department of Health officials say the state's first reported case of flu has been confirmed in Tate County. State Health Officer Dr. Mary Currier says the report should serve as a reminder that it is time to get flu…

A western Kentucky constable has been arrested on charges of sexual abuse, sodomy and rape. Kentucky State Police Trooper Dean Patterson says troopers took McCracken County Constable Mark Hayden into custody Friday morning after a three-month investigation. Patterson says troopers…

The Tennessee Valley Authority is tearing down a vacant coal-fired power plant in Bowling Green that has sat empty since the agency purchased it in 1942. TVA Project Manager Donald Crabtree told The Daily News in Bowling Green that the…

The governor's office says the state collected $4.9 million less than had been projected during November. The state is nearing the halfway point of its 2012 fiscal year that ends next June 30. The report comes after a good October,…

Mississippi is one of nine states that health officials plan to look at to study the economic impact of smoke-free policies in restaurants and bars. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is using a grant from Pfizer to complete…

Steve Beshear says he will renew his push for expanded gambling when Kentucky lawmakers reconvene next month for their 2012 session. The newly reelected governor said Thursday that expanded gambling revenues would be an important supplement to state tax collections…

The Mississippi Supreme Court has denied an appeal from a group of death row inmates who claimed the state provided inadequate legal counsel. The lawsuit was dismissed in Hinds County Chancery Court in 2010. The Supreme Court said Thursday it…

The Mississippi State Troopers Association is rallying its members and the public to oppose parole for inmate William Francis, who is serving a seven-year sentence related to the 2009 death of a state trooper. The state Parole Board meets Dec.…

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis is seeking 200 minority participants for a study of aspirin. The research will assess whether aspirin can not only prolong life but also promote a life free of physical disability and/or…

There is one known fatality in a chain-reaction crash on a fogbound Nashville-area highway during the morning rush hour and several known injuries. Vehicles began colliding shortly before 7 a.m. CST Thursday on Vietnam Veterans Parkway in Hendersonville. Dense fog…

Former Mississippi Gov. William Waller Sr., who parlayed a campaign against the power brokers of the state's capital city to win his second race for governor, has died. He was 85. Waller's law office said he died Wednesday, but declined…

Police say a central Kentucky father trying to load groceries and children into a vehicle after a shopping trip forgot one thing - his 6-month-old infant. It happened Tuesday at a Kroger store in Jessamine County, WLEX-TV reported The father…

Authorities say an Iraq war veteran is in custody after shooting an Alabama deputy sheriff and then leading police on a chase into Tennessee, where another officer was wounded in a shootout. Twenty-three-year-old Joseph Scott Shriver, who gave a Lincoln…

A federal judge has put on hold portions of a Mississippi lawsuit against Obama administration's health care law. U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett, in a ruling issued Nov. 23, stayed consideration of parts of the April 2010 lawsuit not involving…

The state Department of General Services billed Occupy Nashville $1,045 to provide two troopers for security the night before they began arresting the protesters and clearing their encampment. The invoice was part of a public records request to the department…

Former Ripley alderman Lonnie Smith has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in a 2010 shooting death. Smith had been charged with capital murder in the death of Antrozon Wallace, but pleaded guilty Monday to manslaughter as part of a plea deal.…

A rescue official says three men who failed to return from a kayaking trip near Chattanooga have been found safe. The men did not return home after going into the Pocket Wilderness in Hamilton County on Sunday afternoon. Amy Maxwell…

A search has begun in Hamilton County after three young kayakers failed to return home. Amy Maxwell of the Hamilton County emergency services department said in a news release Monday morning that several response agencies had begun searching in the…

Police in Knoxville say a man who was waiting while a family member underwent surgery has been found dead in a hospital parking lot. The name of the man wasn't released after the incident Sunday night, according to The Knoxville…

Two more dead dolphins have washed ashore in a 24-hour period ending Sunday in Mississippi. Mobi Solangi, director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, tells The Sun Herald both of the dolphins were under the age of a year…

Kentucky Lottery officials are asking parents to consider the long-term effects of giving lottery tickets and games as Christmas gifts to children. Officials note that anyone under 18 is prohibited by law from purchasing Kentucky Lottery tickets and that giving…

Tennessee wildlife officials had hoped allowing year-round limitless hunting of wild hogs would eradicate the aggressive pigs that can tear up farmland and forests, but they spread even faster and turned up in counties where they hadn't been seen before.…

The shooting of two black bear cubs in Blount County has led to criminal charges against two men and has raised the ire of advocates for the black bear population in East Tennessee. The Tennessee Wildlife Agency cited 19-year-old Corey…

Journal Inc., which publishes the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal in Tupelo, has acquired a group of weekly community newspapers in the suburban Memphis, Tenn., area. The company reports that details of the transaction were not disclosed. Clay Foster, CEO of…

About 50 students at the University of Tennessee's Chattanooga campus should plan to keep living at a city hotel until the spring semester. Dee Dee Anderson, associate vice chancellor for student development at the university, tells the Chattanooga Times Free…

Tennessee whiskey maker Jack Daniel's is donating more than $100,000 to pay for plane tickets and travel funds for soldiers at Fort Campbell, Ky., to spend the December holiday season with their families all over the country. The distiller is…

The office of State Auditor Stacey Pickering and the state College Board are looking into whether the University of Southern Mississippi violated state law in the purchase and distribution of 700 tablets in July and August as part of a…

A former principal at a school in western Kentucky who was accused of having sex with a minor has pleaded guilty to lesser charges. Allison M. Brant, who is 33, was originally charged with third-degree rape and third-degree sodomy, but…

A pair of southeastern Kentucky sisters will get Social Security numbers and cards after settling a lawsuit with the federal government. Raechel and Stephanie Schultz of Lily, Ky., sued the U.S. State Department and Social Security Administration in July, after…

The union representing workers at Vanderbilt University says the base pay for workers is now above the poverty line. Vanderbilt is Middle Tennessee's largest private employer. Wages for its lowest-paid workers have steadily increased since unions and social justice groups…

Court records show the government paid nearly $2,500 for Sarah Palin's husband to tag along during the trial of a Tennessee college student who hacked into her email - even though Todd Palin never testified. In all, records obtained by…

Kentucky State Police have identified three people killed in a morning shooting on a rural road near Interstate 65 in central Kentucky on Tuesday. Police say the three people were from neighboring Hardin County. Trooper Norman Chaffins identified the shooting…

A soldier accused of plotting to kill troops at Fort Hood in Texas told a Tennessee television station he was originally planning an attack on his home base of Fort Campbell. Pfc. Naser Abdo told WSMV-TV in Nashville his target…

Having endured a drought-plagued season last fall, burley tobacco farmers in Kentucky hope to be rewarded for their resilience in sticking with the embattled crop - a lynchpin of the region's farm economy until smoking bans, health concerns and social…

A 6-year-old Memphis boy was struck and killed by a day care bus Anthony Scott, a first-grader, was in the parking lot of Oakshire Elementary when he was hit on Monday afternoon, according to The Commercial Appeal .As of late…

The makers of Jack Daniel's whiskey can take a victory sip after a proposal by local officials to tax its barrels of booze was derailed before it could reach the Tennessee Legislature. The Moore County Council in Lynchburg voted 10-5…