By DALE STUBBLEFIELD / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard In took two games to decide the girls 11- and 12-year-old fast-pitch tournament championship, but Saturday Earth Sod Farms clinched the tournament title with an 8-5 win over regular season champions McKinley’s Chiropractic.Earth Sod Farms came out of the losers’ bracket and defeated McKinley’s Friday…

By DALE STUBBLEFIELD / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard After finishing first in the regular season, Womack Printing claimed the championship trophy in the girls 13-15 senior fast-pitch league tournament Friday night with a 19-2 win over the regular season runner-up team, Cumberland Bank.Womack turned its game up a notch for the championship finals,…

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard Local resident Kellie Thaxton and her family were the latest people to benefit from the Habitat for Humanity program here in Warren County when they took possession of their new home on Mt. Leo Heights recently.The international organization, originally formed by former President Jimmy…

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard A 66-year-old man has been given 120 days in jail for molesting a 14-year-old girl.The defendant, Frank H. Cherry entered guilty pleas Wednesday before Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley to two counts of sexual battery by an authority figure. He was directed to serve 120…

By WILL STEWART / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard A school board decision to outsource the school system’s mowing operations will result in an actual savings of over $50,000 next year, school officials announced Thursday night.With the low bid of $57,915, G&S Landscaping and Lawn Care of Rock Island was awarded a contract to…

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard A 26-person docket was heard Thursday by Judge Larry Ross in General Sessions Traffic Court.Included in traffic court action:• Felipe Ramirez was directed to serve seven days of an 11-month, 29-day sentence, pay $774 and forfeit his driver’s license for one year for DUI and…

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard A botched robbery attempt will cost a local man 180 days behind bars.The defendant, Ronald Blevins Jr., entered a guilty plea before Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley last week to the charge of attempted aggravated robbery. He was directed to serve 180 days of a…

By Karin Miller / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE — When Gov. Phil Bredesen first heard how the budget reductions he sought would hurt the state’s neediest citizens — like no more dietary supplements for people dying of kidney disease — he wished aloud for “a stiff drink.”But the $21.5 billion budget taking effect Tuesday won’t…

News editor Charlie Johnson proudly displays the Southern Standard’s Sweepstakes Award. (James Clark photo) Move aside L.A. Lakers. The Southern Standard has got your three-peat beat.In another impressive showing during the annual Tennessee Press Association awards ceremony Friday afternoon in Nashville, the Standard was named best newspaper in its class. It gives the Standard an…

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard DRAKE The Warren County Humane Society honored one of its longtime members for her years of service last week in a moving ceremony presided over by Humane Society attorney and animal rights advocate Frank Farrar. Farrar began his tribute by telling the crowd he…