Author: Associated Press

General Motors says it will start building its Chevrolet Equinox at its plant in Tennessee next year and begin making a midsized vehicle there for the 2015 model year. Monday's announcement of a total $255 million investment is projected to…

Arkansas highway officials have closed a major interstate highway between Little Rock and Dallas because of major flooding. Heavy rains Monday morning pushed streams out of their banks on the southwest side of Little Rock, leading the Arkansas Highway and…

The director of a western Kentucky animal shelter where dogs were allegedly euthanized without sedation says she will resign from her position next month. McCracken County Humane Society Executive Director Shirley Grimes told The Paducah Sun that she intends to…

Willard Tyler Sr., one of the founders and trumpeter for the Mississippi blues and jazz band the Red Tops, has died at the age of 95. The Vicksburg Post reports that Tyler died Saturday at River Region Medical Center in…

It may seem counterintuitive, but Columbia State Community College has purchased several .xxx websites in order to protect its reputation. The idea is that the purchase prevents others from setting up pornographic websites at addresses like columbiastate.xxx and chargers.xxx -…

Unlike Pennsylvania, where coaches, doctors and other professionals only have to report suspected child abuse to a supervisor, Kentucky law requires anyone suspecting abuse to report it to police, prosecutors or Child Protective Services. Kentucky Youth Advocates director Terry Brooks…

One day after the Tennessee Valley Authority board extended a pay freeze for a second year, a report shows TVA President and CEO Tom Kilgore's compensation increased by $352,000 in fiscal 2011, to $3.95 million. A TVA filing Friday with…

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Millington Mayor Richard Hodges has pleaded not guilty to bribery charges. Hodges appeared for arraignment Friday in Shelby County Criminal Court, and his lawyer said afterward his client was looking forward to his day in court,…

Keep the ice scraper handy and keep a weather eye peeled. Another La Nina winter is expected in Tennessee. The National Weather Service outlook for December through February calls for slightly warmer than normal temperatures, but wetter than usual conditions.…

A Middle Tennessee sheriff's deputy is recovering after being burned by methamphetamine fumes. Police said Hickman County Deputy Ricky Harness was delivering a warrant Thursday when a teenager answered his knock holding a bottle containing meth. The teen said the…

The Santa Train is set to make its 69th annual run through the Appalachia area of Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee. The run begins Saturday morning in Shelby, Ky., and rolls south to end in Kingsport. Husband-and-wife country music act Thompson…

A report on the Memphis Animal Shelter says some of its employees had ties to illegal dogfighting rings. The investigation by the Memphis Rotary Club also found workers believe some employees are exempt from shelter rules. Mayor A C Wharton…

A man indicted in Cookeville, Tenn., on charges of having child pornography on his computer says he's innocent because he's blind. Thirty-five-year-old Christopher Hank Bohannon of Cookeville is accused of having more than 100 images or materials. In a written…

J.M. Smucker Co. is recalling some 16-ounce jars of its Smucker's Natural Peanut Butter Chunky sold in several states because of possible salmonella contamination. The Ohio-based company says the jars covered in the recall would have been purchased in the…

Mississippi health officials are hoping the second time is the charm, seeking again to pass a state law that would make public places and workplaces smoke-free. Mike Cashion, executive director for the Mississippi Hospitality & Restaurant Association, tells The Clarion-Ledger…

A second lawsuit has been filed over a Tennessee statute affecting revenue from red-light cameras. Redflex Traffic Systems filed suit Monday in Knox County Chancery Court against the town of Farragut, according to The Knoxville News Sentinel The lawsuit asks…

Travelers who use a western Kentucky ferry to cross the Mississippi River to and from Missouri will need to take another route for the next few weeks. The Dorena-Hickman Ferry, the only direct route between the two towns, was closing…

Police in Memphis report finding marijuana with a street value of $900,000 in a tractor trailer at a truck stop. Officers said in a news release Wednesday they found 898 pounds of marijuana Monday in 13 separate plastic-wrapped bundles. Thirty-eight-year-old…

Bowling Green's new mayor has been sworn in, and the man he defeated has been appointed to fill the mayor's old seat on the city commission. As soon as Bruce Wilkerson was sworn in as mayor Tuesday night and the…

Rescuers have found a young southeastern Kentucky man who had become lost near the Kentucky-Tennessee border. Authorities were concerned that heavy rain moving into Bell County could hinder their search for 21-year-old Anthony Michael Mitchell, who is mentally disabled, according…

A fire in downtown Tunica destroyed four apartments and caused heavy smoke damage to others in a 22-unit complex. Tunica Volunteer Fire Chief Scott Goff says the fire started in the living room of one of the apartments Tuesday. He…

A school bus wreck on a wet curve in Chattanooga has sent two students to a hospital with bumped heads. A police statement said the bus collided with a Jeep Cherokee Wednesday morning. Witnesses said the Jeep driver lost control…

The fate of about $242 million in federal dollars that the state health department depends upon could be in jeopardy if a special deficit committee in Washington proposes drastic cuts, the agency's chief said Tuesday. Tennessee Health Department Commissioner John…

VT Halter Marine says it expects to create as many as 400 new jobs with an expansion that will add ship and rig repair to its shipyard's construction business. The Jackson County Board of Supervisors on Monday agreed to apply…

The main lobbyist for a state law that overruled local protections for gay and lesbian workers led an orchestrated effort to portray the bill as being about best business practices rather than opposition to homosexuality. Emails to lawmakers from Family…

Two Memphis firefighters have been injured battling a house fire that officials say was intentionally set. The Memphis Fire Department ultimately sent 35 emergency response personnel to a blaze that was reported Monday night. Department Lt. Wayne Cooke said one…

The Tennessee Department of Education is making some changes to a waiver that would allow the state to opt out of the No Child Left Behind law. President Barack Obama announced in September that he's giving states the option. U.S.…

A 2.8 percent increase in the Tennessee Valley Authority's fuel cost will boost average residential electric bills in December between $1.50 and $3.50. TVA said in a statement Monday that demand for December is projected to be about 16 percent…

Tennessee wildlife officials are asking people who live in the mountains to not feed the bears. This has been a poor year for the berries, nuts and acorns black bears depend on for survival and many of them have been…

A judge has dismissed trespassing and other citations against Occupy Nashville protesters and ordered their records expunged. Fifty-five people were arrested on Oct. 28 and 29 after the state instituted a curfew on the grounds around the state Capitol. The…

A majority of the Mississippi House of Representatives will be Republican for the first time since Reconstruction. Though some counties were still counting absentee and affidavit ballots Monday, Republicans will control at least 62 seats when the Legislature convenes Jan.…

Southaven aldermen are set next week to consider tighter controls over city finances in the wake of an order from state auditors for Mayor Greg Davis to provide receipts for $128,000 worth of expenses or return the money plus fees…

There's a government cover-up coming in Shelby County that's quite in the open. County Mayor Mark Luttrell announced that enforcement of a topless bar ordinance will begin Jan. 1. A federal judge recently ruled the statute passes constitutional muster. Luttrell…

US Foods is shuttering its Paducah plant, with the services shifting to a recently expanded facility in Tennessee. Company spokeswoman Christina Koliopoulos told The Paducah Sun that the site is closing because it isn't near any major market .Koliopoulos said…

State mental health officials have suspended all new admissions to a drug addiction treatment center in Dickson County after an investigation raised questions about medical care there. The decision by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health freezes patient admissions for…

The city of Knoxville is being sued by a red light camera vendor because citations can no longer be issued for improper right turns on red. American Traffic Solutions Inc. filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Knox County Chancery Court, according…

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam's office says the Republican will ask prosecutors to drop charges against dozens of Occupy Nashville protesters arrested last month for trespassing. Haslam spokesman David Smith said Thursday that the decision to dismiss the charges against 55…

A manuscript hidden for decades shows Colonel Harland Sanders was more than an entrepreneur with a special fried chicken recipe and a vision that helped create the fast-food industry. It reveals that the white-jacketed man had his eye on another…

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has served a search warrant seeking information about the operation of the office of Davidson County Clerk John Arriola. WTVF-TV reported Wednesday that investigators are checking whether there has been a "ghost employee" at the…

Longtime Chattanooga photography company Olan Mills has been acquired by Minnesota-based Lifetouch. Financial details of the purchase were not announced, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press .The companies had been competitors in the church directory and direct sales fields.…

Tennessee's sales tax revenues grew 6.5 percent in the first quarter of the budget year, and general fund collections have come in at $57 million above projections. Finance Commissioner Mark Emkes in a release Wednesday called the sales tax growth…

Police in Johnson City say a purse snatcher didn't get far before becoming entangled in shrubbery. A city police report stated officers arrested 18-year-old Cody Scott Smith after a woman's purse was grabbed from her shopping cart at Rugged Warehouse.…

Convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff writes in his new book that he spent $20 million from the Choctaw Indians in Mississippi to defeat gambling expansion in Alabama because it would compete with the Choctaws' casinos. Abramoff devotes four pages to Alabama…

Tennessee State University has been awarded $1.3 million to support cybersecurity research and education. The Nashville school received four grants from the Department of Homeland Security and National Science Foundation. The goal is to develop programs that prepare undergraduate and…

Abortion opponents say they're still pursuing life-at-fertilization ballot initiatives in six other states after Bible Belt voters in Mississippi defeated one Tuesday. The "personhood" proposal was intended to prompt a legal challenge aimed at overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973…

Occupy Nashville protesters say they're taking steps to maintain order and safety on the grounds near the state Capitol where they're camped, and anyone who doesn't adhere to the rules is removed from the group. Protesters have made an effort…

Mississippians on Tuesday choose a new governor and decide whether to add three amendments to the state constitution, including one that could provoke a national fight about abortion. Polls opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m. On…

Two men and a woman charged with violating the federal Horse Protection Act have agreed to plead guilty. Records show the horse soring case included screwing large bolts into horses' front hooves. Painful physical devices and chemical irritants give the…

Gov. Bill Haslam says he is still weighing the pros and cons of school vouchers, and plans to announce his position on the measure toward the end of the year. The Republican governor told members of the Nashville Rotary Club…

A lot of ammunition is unaccounted for at the Memphis Police Department Training Academy. City auditor Leon Pattman is investigating up to 200,000 rounds of missing ammunition at the academy's Firearms Training Unit, according to The Commercial Appeal Mayor A…