Author: Associated Press

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…

A federal jury has decided for a former student who contended in a lawsuit that Sewanee: The University of The South was negligent in handling a rape accusation against him but the jurors refused to award millions of dollars in…

Emergency officials along Mississippi's Gulf Coast expected to get plans in place Friday to deal with the effects from a slow-moving tropical depression. Jackson County spokesman Ken Flanagan says conference calls are scheduled Friday with Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, along…

Germantown police concede their earlier news release about a "no refusal" DUI enforcement weekend was a bit over the top. A recent release stated officers would get a warrant to draw blood from suspected drunken drivers over the Labor Day…

A river search has resumed in McCracken County for a man who got into a swift current in the Tennessee River and disappeared. Paul Carter, emergency management coordinator for the county, said Friday morning that the missing man is Jeffrey…

A former secretary at a Hamblen County church has been sentenced to a federal prison term in the theft of $1.5 million from the congregation. A 44-month prison term was imposed Thursday on 70-year-old Barbara D. Whitt, who choked up…

Officials say a number of factors are to blame for more than a thousand students applying to attend the state's first public online academy not being enrolled three weeks into the beginning of the institution's school year. K12 Inc., a…

Federal and state authorities are offering a reward in the shooting of an American bald eagle in western Kentucky. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources are investigating the incident which occurred…

An Iraq War veteran is almost home after walking more than 7,000 miles across the country to raise money for former soldiers who have fallen on hard times. Troy Yocum is scheduled to arrive back in Louisville on Saturday after…

Attendance at this year's Kentucky State Fair climbed slightly over last year's total, the third year in a row that more than 600,000 people turned out for the 11-day showcase. A total of 605,565 visitors attended the fair, compared with…

The days of Southaven employees stockpiling vacation time will soon be gone. Aldermen voted this week to limit the amount of vacation time city employees can earn to a maximum of four weeks per year, though employees who already get…

Five people, including a mother and her child, have died in a multi-vehicle crash in Interstate 10 in Jackson County in south Mississippi. Wednesday's accident happened east of Mississippi Highway 57 in the eastbound lanes of the interstate. The eastbound…

A federal judge will allow a lawsuit filed in Mississippi challenging part of the Obama administration's health care law to continue. U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett, in a ruling issued Aug. 29, denied the Obama administration's motion to dismiss the…

The Tennessee Valley Authority says it has completed the purchase of a natural gas-fired power plant in northern Mississippi. The deal with Kelson Limited Partnership was adopted by the TVA board Aug. 18 after approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory…

A Harriman woman and three children have been killed in a crash involving her sport utility vehicle and a tractor-trailer truck. The Tennessee Highway Patrol identified the driver of the SUV as Stephanie N. Brown, who was 31 years old.…

Kentucky Downs in Franklin has all the pieces in place to debut the state's first expanded gambling game at a horse track. The track on the Kentucky-Tennessee border says it will start offering a game called "Instant Racing" on Thursday.…

The University of Kentucky is receiving criticism from national and regional journalism groups after banning a student reporter from participating in interviews with basketball players. The Associated Press Managing Editors and the Associated Press Sports Editors were among those who…

The Tennessee Supreme Court is considering having lawyers bid on representing the poor. As the demand for taxpayer funded representation burgeons, the court is considering a draft amendment to its court rules to allow the Administrative Office of the Courts…

Crews are cleaning up a foul mess in western Kentucky. Kentucky Department of Transportation spokesman Keith Todd says a semi-truck that was carrying chicken viscera overturned Tuesday at about 6 a.m., spilling its slimy contents onto the road. All lanes…

Officials at Kentucky Speedway are unveiling plans to avoid a repeat of the traffic gridlock that marred Kentucky's premiere auto race. Gov. Steve Beshear is expected to join track officials for Tuesday's announcement of parking and infrastructure improvements at the…

Federal agents have seized 33 pounds of materials used to make synthetic marijuana at the UPS hub in Louisville. A statement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection says officers seized four shipments, all from China, over the weekend. The statement…

A special legislative panel is considering a proposal that would end high school graduates' ability to qualify for Tennessee lottery scholarships through their ACT score alone. The Senate Lottery Stabilization Task Force met for the first time Monday. Its members…

A memorial service will be Tuesday for Adolpho A. Birch, the first black chief justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court and consistent challenger of death sentences in Tennessee. Birch will lie in repose from 2 to 5 p.m. on Tuesday…

A check from former Gov. Ned McWherter's leftover campaign funds will help clean up the Pigeon River in East Tennessee. Mike McWherter presented a check on Saturday - the final payout from his late father's campaign account. The $2,500 went…

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour says the state Department of Public Safety has begun an internal investigation into possible impropriety with its own promotion examinations. Barbour made the announcement during a news conference Monday. Barbour said the results of the recent…

Although the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians said in May that profits from its casino had paid off its $18 million construction costs, financial documents show that the tribe used a $10 million line of credit to help pay that…

The city of Philadelphia is going back to lawmakers in 2012 seeking approval to be designated a qualified resort area so restaurants inside the city can serve wine and liquor by the glass. Mayor James Young tells the Neshoba Democrat…

The Kentucky Natural Lands Trust says 453 acres of forest in western Kentucky has been acquired to help preserve a colony the endangered Indiana bat. The trust says on its website the land consists of two tracts of what was…

The Penny Hardaway/University of Memphis Athletic Hall of Fame will open Tuesday. Named after the former Memphis basketball star, the hall of fame will include the photographs of more than 4,000 Tiger athletes for one of the three interactive databases.…

Newly released Census data finds that fewer Tennessee children live in homes with married parents and more children are living with a single parent or with a grandparent compared to a decade ago. According to the census data released this…

The military is flying planes to a Tennessee base to ride out Hurricane Irene. Capt. Joseph Keith at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard base told The Associated Press on Friday that, for security reasons, he couldn't specify how many planes…

Adolpho A. Birch, the first black chief justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court and a consistent opponent of death sentences, has died. He was 78. Birch's death on Thursday was confirmed Friday morning by Chief Justice Cornelia A. Clark. It…

Prosecutor Scott Ellington says Arkansas' crime lab is willing to analyze DNA evidence that attorneys for the three men known as the "West Memphis Three" say will exonerate them in the murders of three Cub Scouts in 1993. Ellington said…

A former student at Sewanee: The University of the South has testified that university leaders damaged his future when they wrongly decided that he raped a female student in his dorm room. Identified in court only as John Doe, the…

A commission looking at a possible merger of Paducah and McCracken County governments is urging residents to review the plan and ask questions. A subcommittee of the Charter County Government Commission met Thursday to discuss publishing a draft plan and…

The boards of the Memphis City Schools and the Shelby County Schools have voted unanimously to approve an agreement to merge the boards by Oct. 1. At separate meetings on Thursday, the school boards said a merged school system will…

It's harvest time in much of the nation's tobacco patches and this year's harvest is expected to be one of the smallest in at least a decade. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says farmers are expected to produce 726 million…

Gov. Bill Haslam's administration has yet to complete a standardized approach to how the state offers incentives to prospective investors. The governor in March assigned the task of designing a system for determining the appropriate level of incentives after lawmakers…

With marriages at an all-time low, Southern and Western states rank among the highest for couples hearing wedding bells. But many of these states also have higher divorce rates. A Census Bureau analysis released Thursday also finds that people are…

Bill Hagerty, commissioner of Tennessee Economic and Community Development, has been named chairman of the board for the Tennessee Technology Development Corp. The group is a nonprofit organization created by the General Assembly to encourage science and technology business development…

A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board shows pilot David Duncan sent no distress signals before his fatal airplane crash Aug. 17 in Tupelo. The preliminary report was released Wednesday. NTSB spokesman Nicholas Worrell says the report was…

The Tennessee Valley Authority for the first time intends to temporarily sell ownership of a new nuclear reactor. Officials say the reason mainly is to keep TVA from closing in on its debt limit as it builds a separate $4.8…

The number of Mississippi homes being sold in some stage of foreclosure has dropped sharply over the past year. Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac said 99 foreclosed homes were sold in the state in the April-through-June period at an average price of…

A state audit found a former cheerleading coach at Pigeon Forge High School and Pigeon Forge Middle School failed to turn over to the schools thousands of dollars from fees and fundraisers. According to the Comptroller of the Treasury, Pamela…

A Memphis street has been renamed in memory of radio personality John "Bad Dog" McCormack. Alabama Avenue, which runs in front of the Ronald McDonald House, now carries his name. According to The Commercial Appeal McCormack was a longtime supporter…