Author: Associated Press

Heavy rains and flooding throughout Kentucky in the past few weeks have created the right conditions for increased mosquito infestations, and state health officials advise eliminating breeding grounds to avoid bites and potential disease. Kentucky Department for Public Health Commissioner…

A Lowndes County teacher has been indicted for an alleged affair with a 17-year-old student. Katherine Robbins posted a $25,000 bond Monday after pleading not guilty to sexual battery charges in Lowndes County Circuit Court. The case is scheduled for…

Twelve anti-nuclear protesters have been convicted of trespassing during a protest at Oak Ridge's Y-12 National Security Complex last year. The protesters entered the property after a protest held adjacent to the facility on July 5. They face a maximum…

Former Tennessean publisher Amon Carter Evans has died, his friend and colleague John Seigenthaler told the newspaper. He was 77. The Evans' family bought The Tennessean in 1937. Evan's father and then brother served as publishers before him. Evans was…

A panel has ruled that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge George Paine II's membership in a Nashville country club that has no women or blacks as full-fledged members does not violate the judicial code of conduct. But several on the panel of…

A proposal to limit teacher's collective bargaining rights is advancing after the House speaker stepped in once again to cast a tiebreaking vote. The measure sponsored by Republican Caucus Chairwoman Debra Maggart of Hendersonville passed the House Finance Committee 13-12…

Federal regulators have filed a complaint against two Memphis-based food warehouses, alleging that they have filthy conditions. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration asked U.S. District Court Wednesday for a permanent injunction against American Mercantile Corp., Ingredients Corporation of America…

New census data shows that changes in the Kentucky population over the last decade mirror that of the nation, with residents becoming older, living in less traditional households, renting rather than owning and becoming more diverse. The numbers made public…

The state of Mississippi has executed a 52-year-old man convicted of killing four people, including two children, in 1999. Officials at the state penitentiary at Parchman said Tuesday that inmate Benny Joe Stevens was declared dead at 6:22 p.m. He…

Renovations have begun at the Opry Mills mall, closed since flooding last May from the nearby Cumberland River. According to The Tennessean newspaper, city codes officials issued a $750,000 rehabilitation permit to the mall April 28 to renovate back areas…

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis is asking state regulators to authorize a $190 million medical tower on its campus. According to a public notice published Tuesday, the new tower will include replacement facilities for its surgical department and…

Voters in the Smokies gateway city of Pigeon Forge have again voted down liquor by the drink. The referendum on Tuesday was a more pronounced defeat of the issue than a similar vote in 2009, according to The Mountain Press.…

Mississippi gambling regulators say all of state's 19 dockside casinos on the Mississippi River likely will be closed in the coming days because of high water. High water has shuttered nine casinos in Tunica, three in Greenville, one at Lula…

Attorneys for Mississippi death row inmate Benny Joe Stevens say they will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to stop his execution now scheduled for Tuesday at the state penitentiary at Parchman. Stevens has been put in a holding cell near…

The storms that ripped paths of loss through Alabama and half a dozen other states have wrought a special sort of pain on the oldest residents, forcing them to cope with the destruction of all they've known and to adjust…

City officials are having a problem with missing showerheads on the public beach showers at the Ocean Springs Front Beach. The showers were placed on the beach so beachgoers could rinse off the sand and saltwater before leaving. The Mississippi…

Cookeville residents are celebrating the inclusion of John's Place on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1949, it started out as a grocery store and restaurant. It later became a popular gathering spot for Tennessee Tech students and…

A federal grand jury in East Tennessee has indicted nine people on charges of operating a brothel and prostitution network in Tennessee and Kentucky that involved women who are illegal immigrants. A statement by the U.S. attorney's office said the…

Amazon.com has proposed building three more distribution centers in Nashville or Knoxville, Tenn., just as the political debate over the Internet retailer's tax burden in Tennessee is heating up. Amazon.com says in an April 29 state filing that it would…

The state is intensifying its reviews for fee claims from attorneys paid from an indigent defense fund. The Administrative Office of the Courts said in a news release that the need for the fund has increased because of the economic…

Jackson police say a 5-year-old girl died after being accidentally shot. Spokeswoman Colendula Green tells The Clarion-Ledger that 64-year-old Claude Hawkins had taken his granddaughter and 4-year-old grandson to look at horses on Sunday. When Hawkins and his grandchildren were…

Police in Chattanooga say a state trooper's car was struck by a bullet. Tennessee Highway Patrol officer Robert Gordon was working an overtime assignment Saturday night on Interstate 24 near the 4th Avenue exit when he heard a loud bang.…

The rising Mississippi River has prompted the Army Corps of Engineers to begin opening floodgates at a spillway upriver from New Orleans. Shortly after 8 a.m. CDT, workers pulled restraining devices off the first of 28 gates at the the…

Two Muslim religious leaders who were removed from a commercial airliner in Memphis say they were told it was because the pilot refused to fly with them aboard. Masudur Rahman said by telephone from the terminal at Memphis International Airport…

A White House official says President Barack Obama will meet with some of those involved in the military assault that killed Osama bin Laden when he visits Fort Campbell, Ky., on Friday. A team of Navy SEALs raided a compound…

Doctorates will be conferred upon two public school administrators who were shot and wounded in an attack last year in Knoxville. Elisa Luna, the principal at Inskip Elementary School, and Amy Brace, the assistant principal there, will receive doctoral degrees…

An impressive initial list of country music stars has aligned with CMT to raise money for tornado victims across the South. Hank Williams Jr., Alabama, Lady Antebellum, Keith Urban and Tim McGraw will join other stars in a 90-minute benefit…

The Tennessee lottery has surpassed $2 billion in funds raised to support education-related programs in the state. Lottery officials made the announcement Thursday, saying more than 100,000 students have received awards to higher education institutions in the state this year.…

Tennessee has shared a drug used in the lethal injection of condemned prisoners with Alabama, which had none on hand for a scheduled execution. State prison officials in Tennessee say they did nothing improper in lending eight grams of sodium…

Preliminary National Weather Service records show the killer storms that bashed Tennessee included a total of 40 tornadoes. Forecasters say that total is likely to increase slightly as data continues to be analyzed. Records from the weather service offices in…

A woman from Itawamba County faces charges after state investigators say she took disaster relief items she was not due. The attorney general's office says 53-year-old Pamela Thompson, who lives just outside the Smithville city limits, was charged Wednesday with…

Commercial barge traffic on the Ohio River and tributaries has been halted because of flooding and closed locks. Jerry Knapper, assistant vice president of Ingram Barge, told The Paducah Sun his company's operations are halted in western Kentucky because locks…

Officials at Middle Tennessee State University say the school is now the only four-year institution in the state that gives re-entry scholarships to older, non-traditional students who want to get a degree. The university just gave nine students across the…

Mississippi's death toll from last week's tornadoes has risen to 36. Monroe County Coroner Alan Gurley says 80-year-old Helen Noe of Smithville died Wednesday at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo from injuries she suffered when the tornado struck her…

New York City jurors have acquitted Tennessee Titans backup quarterback Chris Simms in his driving-while-high case. Simms says he's relieved at the acquittal but angry about being arrested in the first place. Jurors delivered their verdict Wednesday after about an…

Former Hawkins County prosecutor Doug Godbee has been arrested on charges that he offered female defendants leniency in exchange for sex. The Kingsport Times-News reports that a sealed indictment charges him with official misconduct. Nine people filed complaints against Godbee.…

Attorneys for three death row inmates, including Benny Joe Stevens, who is scheduled to be executed on May 10, contend the Mississippi Department of Corrections failed to properly publicize as required by law its switch to a new lethal injection.…

A survey of more than 57,000 Tennessee educators is expected to help education officials develop ways to improve the schools. An impressive 77 percent of educators and administrators responded to the TELL Tennessee survey, short for Teaching, Empowering, Leading and…

University of Kentucky trustees have hired longtime Alabama college administrator Eli Capilouto as the next president of Kentucky's flagship university. The unanimous selection Tuesday of the 61-year-old Alabama native came two days after Capilouto was introduced as the preferred candidate…

Mississippi Commissioner of Insurance Mike Chaney says a 60-day moratorium has been placed on the cancellation or non-renewal of some types of insurance in the wake of recent severe weather. The moratorium applies to commercial property, homeowners, dwelling fire and…

A proposal to allow faculty and staff to carry guns on the campuses of Tennessee's public universities is to be heard Tuesday by state lawmakers. The measure is scheduled for the House and Senate Judiciary committees. Gov. Bill Haslam told…

The finalist for the University of Kentucky president's post is scheduled to tour the campus, meeting with faculty and students for the first time. Eli Capilouto, provost of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, will be in Lexington Monday, less…

The White House has declared four Tennessee counties federal disaster areas after storms that struck last week. A statement from the administration on Monday stated that President Barack Obama has ordered that individuals in Bradley, Greene, Hamilton and Washington counties…

The principal of Greenville-Weston High School says two students won't get to participate in graduation ceremonies because they got in trouble for alleged shoplifting incidents during a senior trip to Atlanta. The students are appealing the decision to the school…

A proposal that seeks to curtail the production of methamphetamine in Tennessee through the use of an electronic tracking system is advancing in the Tennessee Legislature. The measure sponsored by Republican Sen. Mae Beavers of Mt. Juliet unanimously passed the…

Tennessee Education Association lobbyist Jerry Winters says a proposal to repeal state teachers' collective bargaining rights has hurt their morale. The measure was to be taken up by the full Senate on Thursday, but Republican sponsor Jack Johnson of Franklin…

Gov. Steve Beshear is expected to tour flood-ravaged areas of western Kentucky on Thursday. Beshear said the tentative plan is to visit Paducah, Smithland and other Ohio River towns where residents are dealing with slowly rising water levels. The governor…