By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard The defense for a man accused of giving a 1-year-old child beer at a local restaurant says the incident never happened and that the suspect is innocent.The defendant, Rosalio Garcia, is charged with child neglect and purchasing alcoholic beverages for a child. He is free…

By JAMES CLARK / Editor for the Southern Standard (McMinnville, Tenn.) RAIFF The black hole at one end of Three Star Mall is about to receive some light. Mall officials announced Monday that U.S. Factory Outlets will open an anchor store in the spot formerly occupied by Kmart.The opening, expected in August, will give U.S.…

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard If you have wanted to donate to the Main Street McMinnville project but haven’t known how, organizers have come up with a new way to help.Members of the organization’s Design Committee are seeking to raise around $125,000 through community donations to help fund the first…

By WILL STEWART / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard The first of the pre-registration meetings for the rising ninth-grade class is scheduled to begin tomorrow night at Eastside Elementary School.The meetings, to be held across the county over the next two weeks, will be led by Warren County High School personnel. They are held…

By WILL STEWART / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard If you shopped at one of several city grocery stores over the past few days, you may have received special grocery bags emblazoned with hand-painted, environmentally friendly messages.The hand-painted bags are part of an Earth Day project undertaken by the Beta Club at Boyd Christian…

By WILL STEWART / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard HAMBLEN Shedding light on the many well-paying career choices available to women was the focus of An Income of Her Own, a workshop attended by 65 high school girls Monday at McMinnville County Club.The workshop was the highlight of an ongoing high school female mentoring…

By TOM SHARP / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE — State senators on Tuesday took a confrontational stand toward a $26.7 million deal struck between the Bredesen administration and small schools to help equalize teacher pay.‘If the Supreme Court has the guts to throw all 132 of us in jail for contempt, then more power to…

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard Kindergarten student Lucy Haston, 6, practices her reading skills with new Magness Library children’s librarian Amy McNatt. Haston is the daughter of Chuck and Emily Haston. (Amy Satterwhite photo) The new children’s librarian at Magness Library openly admits she doesn’t have much library experience, but…

By AMBER McDOWELL / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE — Hiring freezes. Elimination of next year’s rookie police class. Closing a fire station. As a last resort, property tax increases.That’s what Knoxville city officials say could happen if the state proceeds with a plan to take 9 percent of state-shared taxes from local governments to balance…

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard DAVENPORT City officials have lined up legislation that may lead to asking voters to increase the local option sales tax for the second time in less than a year.Previously calling their action a “pre-emptive strike” against state budget proposals that could snatch funds from McMinnville…