Author: Associated Press

The number of known deaths in Tennessee from severe storms has risen to 16. Greene County Emergency Management Director Bob Brown said Thursday that a sixth person had been found dead in that county in the state's northeast corner. Two…

Budapest's city council has approved a plan to name a small park after Elvis Presley in commemoration of The King's support for Hungary's anti-Soviet revolution of 1956. Budapest mayor Istvan Tarlos said Wednesday that a plot near the Margaret Bridge…

A proposal to authorize the governor and attorney general to decide whether an entity is a terrorist organization has passed a key Senate committee. The measure was approved 6-3 by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday a few hours after…

A man who was trying to get his dog off of a railroad track has been struck and killed by a train in Soddy-Daisy. Authorities did not release the victim's name after the incident on Tuesday afternoon, but the man…

A federal horse soring case in southern Tennessee has been expanded, with new charges and a fourth defendant indicted. Federal prosecutors said in a statement Tuesday that 35-year-old Paul Blackburn of Shelbyville has been charged with conspiracy along with a…

A measure to allow corporations to make direct contributions to political candidates is advancing in the Tennessee Legislature. The Republican bill sponsored by Sen. Jamie Woodson of Knoxville and Rep. Glen Casada of Franklin would also retroactively tie contribution limits…

A credit rating agency has issued a negative warning on Tennessee Valley Authority debt for the first time in two decades following a similar action on the federal government. Standard and Poor's issued the negative warning on U.S. debt with…

PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY-TENN Tenn. presidential primary date moving to March NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Senate has approved moving Tennessee's presidential primary date to March and has sent the bill for the governor's signature. The chamber voted 31-0 on Monday to…

Gov. Bill Haslam and Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey are working against a bill to allow faculty and staff to carry guns on the campuses of Tennessee's public universities. But the two Republicans have arrived at that position for different reasons.…

Gov. Steve Beshear is calling attention to a new website that highlights state government's initiatives to be more environmentally friendly. Beshear said his administration is saving money with green initiatives that can be reviewed on the website. People can access…

Two American superstars are crossing paths at an art institution in a Philadelphia suburb. Visitors to the James A. Michener Museum can peek into the lives of Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali in a pair of photography exhibits called "Ali…

Gov. Bill Haslam marks 100 days in office on Monday. The Republican says he's been pleased with what his administration has accomplished so far and where his legislative priorities stand in the Legislature. But Haslam says he also looks forward…

Johnson City Police have charged a church secretary with stealing nearly a quarter-million dollars from the congregation she worked for. Investigators arrested 32-year-old Jessica Lynn Tramel of Bristol on Thursday, charging her with theft over $60,000. The investigation began when…

The Senate sponsor of a bill to shield teachers from discipline for criticizing scientific theories has taken the proposal off notice for the year. Republican Sen. Bo Watson of Hixson told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that he will wait…

Army spokesman Brian Lepley said that some 500 jobs will be lost at Fort Knox when a human resources department is shut down in a cost-cutting move. The army announced the layoffs in a news release Wednesday. Lepley says the…

The Tennessee Department of Transportation will suspend all interstate construction work this Easter weekend in anticipation of increased holiday traffic. All road construction work that requires lane closures will be stopped Thursday at 6 p.m. Work will resume Monday at…

Rangers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park have found a young North Carolina man who had been missing. Caleb McLoud Tutor of Fuquay-Varina, N.C., approached park visitors on Tuesday on Laurel Creek Road and asked for help, reported The…

A federal judge in Mississippi has transferred a wrongful death and defective products lawsuit against Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. to Louisiana. The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports that U.S. District Judge Neal Biggers issued the order Monday. Biggers said…

Gov. Bill Haslam is laying off 60 at the state Department of Economic and Community Development as part of an overhaul of the agency's mission. The Republican governor said Wednesday that a review of the department's operations resulted in the…

A proposal that would allow Tennessee judges with certain training to carry a gun in the courtroom is headed for a full House vote. The measure sponsored by Republican Rep. Jeremy Faison of Cosby was approved by the House Judiciary…

The Tennessee registry of organ donors is growing quickly. According to the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, an average of about 3,500 people a month register as organ donors. The number on the registry has reached more than…

A proposal to make it more difficult to obtain lottery scholarships is advancing in the House. Students must currently have a grade point average of 3.0 or a score a 21 on the ACT to qualify for the $4,000 annual…

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory hopes to restore limited email on Tuesday after a cyber attack over the weekend. Laboratory Director Thom Mason says officials shut down electronic access to the lab Friday night after a highly sophisticated cyber attack,…

Tennessee health officials say parents and medical personnel must all invest time and energy to be sure every infant in the state is properly immunized. According to a news release from the Tennessee Department of Health, every $1 spent to…

Knoxville police fatally shot a man who said he wasn't going back to jail and then raised a gun at them. Police Chief David Rausch says the man called 911 shortly before midnight Thursday, saying he had outstanding warrants and…

Newly released FBI documents show that KFC founder Colonel Harland Sanders received a death threat in the 1970s that prompted a federal investigation. The hand-written letter addressed to Sanders and his wife told the restaurant entrepreneur from Kentucky that he…

A federal appeals court has overturned former state Sen. John Ford's convictions for concealing material facts and wire fraud. Ford was convicted in 2008 in Nashville for failing to disclose payments he accepted from contractors with TennCare, the state's expanded…

A House subcommittee has rejected a proposal to allow Tennessee supermarkets to sell wine. The measure sponsored by Republican Rep. Jon Lundberg of Bristol failed Wednesday in the House State and Local Government Subcommittee when the panel voted to delay…

LAWMAKER INJURED UPDATE Bunch injured in fight at Whitley Co. high school LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Authorities say a state lawmaker was critically injured Tuesday when he was knocked unconscious after trying to break up a fight between two students…

A Mississippi elementary school principal is fighting for her job after being accused of withholding food from a special needs student and forcing the second grader to stick out his tongue as a form of punishment. West Amory Elementary School…

The director of the Roane County Schools says a March incident in which a kindergarten teacher had students oink at a classmate was a black eye on the schools. Teacher Debbie Hayes was given a letter of reprimand and a…

The parents of a schizophrenic man who committed suicide blame TennCare cuts for his death in an obituary they placed to draw attention to the impact of reducing public-funded mental health care in Tennessee. Frank and Ann Zingheim, who live…

Tennessee sales tax collections grew 8 percent in March, the highest rate in five years. Finance Commissioner Mark Emkes on Tuesday called the revenue numbers a strong "indication of consumer optimism." Sales taxes account for two out of every three…

State wildlife officers are investigating after a man said he was accidentally shot by a fellow turkey hunter who said he was going for help and never returned. Daryl Lloyd Wilson told Carter County sheriff's deputies he was hunting on…

Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney says Allstate Property and Casualty Co. will increase homeowner insurance rates 19.4 percent in Mississippi. Chaney told The Sun Herald newspaper that the rate was lower than Allstate initially sought and that he "worked diligently…

A crew is clearing away 40,000 pounds of cat litter after a tractor-trailer overturned on a rain-slick Nashville highway ramp. The driver was negotiating a tight ramp that leads from Interstate 40 eastbound onto I-440 eastbound when the truck flipped…

A husband and wife who've had a lawn care contract with the Rankin County School District since 2005 are charged with defrauding the district out of more than $80,000 worth of pine straw. Mississippi Auditor Stacey Pickering announced the arrests…

Some 40 people who have been crime victims will be honored Tuesday night for volunteer work at Middle Tennessee prisons. The 40 speak to offenders as part of the Tennessee Department of Corrections' victim impact classes. They will be saluted…

The Tennessee Highway Patrol's leadership says it wants to rename the agency the Tennessee State Patrol because its role has evolved beyond traffic enforcement in the years since it was established in 1929. But Safety Department public records requested by…

The Tennessee Valley Authority stores spent fuel and fuel rods at its plants, just Like other nuclear plant operators, but an industry analyst is questioning the safety of that storage. TVA has more than 2,544 metric tons of radioactive spent…

A private airplane crashed just outside McComb before dawn, killing all three people aboard. McComb Police Chief Greg Martin said the plane crashed Sunday into trees near the McComb-Pike County Airport in a moderately populated area on the western edge…

University of Kentucky trustees may be handed a list of finalists for the school's presidency later Monday. A search committee is scheduled to meet Monday on the Lexington campus to review candidates in the running to replace outgoing UK President…