Author: Associated Press

Police say an inmate's statements in a Shelby County Jail GED class have placed him at the scene of a 2008 fatal shooting. Twenty-year-old Evan Johnson was a suspect in the death of grocery store owner Fada Zhao and injuries…

Police say a Tennessee mother has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of her newborn twin boys found in her home just north of Nashville. Hendersonville police were called to the home of 25-year-old Lindsey Lowe on Wednesday…

Coca-Cola memorabilia collectors get a chance this weekend to buy some of the thousands of items collected through the years by the Schmidt family of Elizabethtown. More than 700 items are on the auction block Saturday and Sunday at the…

The first federal trial on lawsuits seeking damages from the Tennessee Valley Authority's huge coal ash spill is set to start. A bench trial on six lawsuits starts Thursday before U.S. District Judge Thomas Varlan in Knoxville. The lawsuits seek…

Officials say plans for Toyota's plant in Mississippi remain on track with Corolla production scheduled to begin in October. The statement was included this week in Toyota's announcement that its North American production has returned to 100 percent. Toyota Motor…

Wildlife officials say a there's a major outbreak of distemper in raccoons in the Ocean Springs area of south Mississippi. Ocean Springs Animal Control Officer Alvin Flowers tells the Sun Herald that symptoms of the virus can be seen in…

Doctors said practice was the key to successfully separating conjoined twins at Memphis' Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. For the anesthesia team, that included sewing together two Cabbage Patch dolls to practice flipping them without tangling the various lines that would…

The Country Music Association will keep its annual awards show in Nashville through 2013 in a three-year agreement with Bridgestone Arena. The 45th annual CMA Awards will be aired live Nov. 9 on ABC with hosts Carrie Underwood and Brad…

The new project coordinator for the Ken-Tenn Regional Alliance Development Corp. says he will focus on three river ports in the five-county area. Brad Thompson, a former congressional aide, says he plans to concentrate on the ports serving Hickman and…

Tennessee State University in Nashville begins a yearlong centennial celebration Wednesday. The annual Founders' Day and Opening Convocation will mark the official start of the 100th anniversary festivities. A news release from the school says the celebration will highlight traditions,…

Fewer Mississippi districts are labeled failing. More are labeled successful or better. That's a three-year trend, reflected in unofficial data released Tuesday by the state Department of Education. The Clarion-Ledger reports the labels for all of the state's schools and…

Gov. Bill Haslam is wrapping up a series of meetings in New York to make the case for Tennessee to keep its high debt ratings. Finance Commissioner Mark Emkes held preliminary meetings with two of the three major ratings agencies…

KC Integrated Services will open a logistics service center in Sherman, where it will employ 100 workers within three years. The company will work with the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi in Blue Springs as well as its Tier 1 suppliers.…

Officials at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis say doctors successfully separated a rare set of conjoined twins that were born connected at the pelvis and lower spine during a 13-hour procedure. The hospital announced in a news release on…

Nine western Kentucky Amish men who refused to display a bright orange safety triangle on the back of their horse-drawn buggies have been ordered to jail for also refusing to pay court-imposed fines over the matter. The men, who belong…

BP PLC is sending cleanup crews back to Fourchon (foo-SHONH') Beach because erosion from Tropical Storm Lee unearthed miles of tar balls, tar mats and abandoned cleanup equipment left from last year's oil spill. Company spokesman Curtis Thomas tells The…

The future of a long-running Christian music festival in eastern Kentucky is in question. Organizers of Ichthus Festival were expected to make a decision Tuesday on whether the event will continue to be held. Financial problems have caused the Ichthus…

Two more suburban Memphis cities have approved hiring a consulting firm to explore establishing their own school districts. In separate meetings Monday night, the Collierville and Germantown boards of mayor and aldermen unanimously approved contracts with Southern Education Strategies, according…

Police say a central Kentucky man is dead after his vehicle crashed into a cow, spun into a ditch and burst into flames. A Washington County sheriff's deputy told WLEX-TV that the accident Tuesday morning on Kentucky 433 near the…

A Wisconsin company that supplies arcade equipment and vending machines to businesses says hackers broke into its credit-card-processing systems at resorts in Tennessee and Wisconsin. Vacationland Vendors Inc. said Monday that up to 40,000 credit and debit cards used in…

A man and his foster son have drowned on a Memphis lake. Memphis Police officials identified the victims on Monday as 61-year-old Jimmy Austin and his 10-year-old son, Travell Lark Austin, according to The Commercial Appeal The accident occurred on…

People who are listed on the Tennessee Sex Offender Registry are now barred from any Knox County Public Library location. Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett says the county is telling predators to "stay away or go to jail." The policy…

A young valet for a Germantown restaurant is being hailed as a life-saver after a teenager's leg was severed by a train. Igor Kobas, who is 21, told The Commercial Appeal he heard people screaming as a slow-moving train passed…

Officials say a safety concern prompted additional security measures on a Southwest plane that landed in Nashville a day after another Southwest flight was diverted to Nashville because a passenger demonstrated suspicious behavior. Southwest did not immediately return a phone…

The TennCare Standard Spend Down program will accept enrollees Monday beginning at 6 p.m. CDT. The program is available for a limited number of qualified low income individuals, or those with high, unpaid medical bills who are aged, blind, disabled…

The Middle Tennessee U.S. Attorney's Office and Habitat for Humanity will renovate a historic home seized in the prosecution of a crime. Renovation of the Lassiter House in East Nashville is scheduled to begin Tuesday, according to The Tennessean Volunteers…

General fund revenue collections have started the new Tennessee budget year $18 million above expectations. Finance Commissioner Mark Emkes said in a release Friday that the August figures are "good news," but cautioned that national economic indicators indicate a slow…

Police peruse Craigslist, too, as two young Rutherford County men have discovered. Nathan Cody Hewitt and Oliver Quenton Bane were arrested by Murfreesboro Police officers this week and charged with auto burglary and theft, according to The Daily News Journal…

The Tennessee Valley Authority is revamping its pilot Generation Partners program that encourages solar energy projects after a surge of requests from large commercial interests. John Trawick is TVA senior vice president of commercial operations and pricing. He told the…

Officials of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools were at Fisk University this week as the private, historically black school seeks reaccreditation. The association will decide in December whether to place Fisk on its watch list after noting the…

The FBI says 10 billboards are up around Knoxville and more are coming in the attempt to catch the bank robber dubbed the "Bad Hair Bandit." The billboards show surveillance photos of the robber who has robbed banks in East…

The Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville has created a sports concussion center. The school said in a news release the facility is designed to integrate and standardize the care of athletes and others who suffer concussions. Officials said they…

The Campbell County Sheriff's Office has fired a deputy whose pickup truck ran into a house, injuring a woman inside the home. In a statement issued Wednesday, the department said Jason Henegar was no longer employed there. The Tennessee Highway…

The University of Tennessee says it has created the country's first automated electric bicycle (e-bike) sharing system. According to a news release from the school, the pilot program will introduce two bike sharing stations with 10 bikes each - seven…

A Republican lawmaker is proposing to introduce legislation next year that would call for county-level elections to determine whether casinos should be permitted. State Rep. Michael Nemes of Louisville filed an early version of his proposal with the Legislative Research…

Harrison County Coroner Gary Hargrove says a woman found dead in a hotel room at the Hard Rock Biloxi fell asleep in a hot tub and drowned. Her death was ruled accidental and her name was not released. Hargrove tells…

Five newly reported cases of West Nile virus bring the total in Mississippi this year to 23. On Wednesday, the state Health Department says the new cases were two from Pearl River County and one each from Madison, Tate and…

People who need information about the Kentucky Department of Corrections will find a redesigned website for the agency. Corrections Commissioner LaDonna Thompson says the goal of the change was to make information easier to locate. The site has quick-link icons…

Police in Nashville aren't buying a story about why a man was in the woods after crashing his car on an Interstate 40 ramp. After witnesses told police a car had run off the ramp and crashed, about a dozen…

The Memphis City Council has passed the city-county school consolidation agreement unanimously and with no debate. The vote on Tuesday was hailed by council chairman Myron Lowery who said there will be "one equal system for the children in Shelby…

A Juvenile Court judge in Memphis is set to hear arguments about a 16-year-old's mental state and whether he should be moved to adult court to face charges for the murder of his private school principal. Eduardo Marmolejo is expected…

Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann says a new law could help protect student athletes from sports agents who engage in unethical practices. The Clarion-Ledger reports that Mississippi lawmakers this year toughened requirements of the Uniform Athletes Agents Act, enforced…

The Tennessee State Library & Archives in Nashville is exhibiting artwork created by students at the Tennessee School for the Blind. Displayed through Sept. 30 are paintings, sculpture and ceramics done by visually impaired students. The exhibit was organized with…

Tennessee students in grades two through five will be able to get lessons in the Chinese language through a program at Middle Tennessee State University. "A Bridge for Better Understanding: Chinese Language and Culture" is a 16-lesson series beginning Sept.…

Robbie Smith is more accustomed to offering planting advice than promoting exercise, but these days the horticulture agent is juggling both roles in Nelson County due to a backlog of vacancies in cooperative extension offices across Kentucky. The job of…

Rain continues to fall in Tennessee and Kentucky in the wake of what was Tropical Storm Lee. A flood warning is in effect up the Tennessee River Valley from Chattanooga to Knoxville and flash flood watches cover the rest of…

A quick-thinking McDonald's employee in Harlan has helped save the life of a 7-year-old boy. When 21-year-old Justin Rowe heard a woman start screaming that her child was choking, he jumped into action, using the first aid training he received…

A 34-year-old woman has been charged with illegally piercing the body of a 15-year-old girl at an unlicensed home-shop near Southaven High School. Police Lt. Mark Little tells The Commercial Appeal that Regina Clanton was arrested this past week. Little…

A Coast Guard helicopter is searching for a swimmer swept away in rough waters churned by Tropical Storm Lee. Coast Guard Petty Officer Kyle Urquhart says a group of people swimming got caught in a rip current Sunday night. As…

A Memphis police officer is recovering from a gunshot wound he suffered during a struggle in his unmarked police vehicle. Sgt. Norman Benjamin was in critical but stable condition after surgery. Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong told WMC-TV in Memphis…