By Ed Kimbrell / Columnist Last weekend was a long one for the most powerful man in Washington, the unelected president, Karl Rove. For the first time in awhile, he seemed off his game, which has been to make sure every policy decision made by President Bush wins votes.Rove was born to political warfare, a…

By Charles W. Johnson / Columnist As anyone who reads this column knows, I’ve always been curious as to where some of the phrases we hear in common use today originated. It’s been a while since I’ve ventured into this territory, so I thought I would check out some of these linguistic curiosities.One I’ve always…

Our Viewpoint Like all the “Friday the 13th” movie sequels which never seem to end, Friday morning gave us another installment of McMinnville going toe-to-toe against Warren County government. As far as naming rights are concerned, let’s call this latest version “City vs. County, Part 72.”As reported in the front-page story in today’s edition, the…

Tickets are still available for the Mother Goose Excursion Train running Jan. 31 to Watertown. Mother Goose will be on board the train along with other storybook characters. And, the Purple Dinosaur will be on hand to greet passengers as they board.Bring your cameras for great photos of the storybook characters and Mother Goose herself!This…

By Janice M. Howard / Style Editor for the Southern Standard The 36rd annual Little Miss Valentine Pageant, sponsored annually by Morrison Ruritan, will take place Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. at Morrison Elementary School with rehearsals scheduled at the same site Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. Deadline for entry has been set for Feb.…

By Janice M. Howard / Style Editor for the Southern Standard The ninth annual Junior Miss Warren County Pageant will take place April 3 beginning at 6 p.m. at the Civic Center. Deadline for entry is Feb. 17, announces Junior Auxiliary of McMinnville, pageant sponsor.Emily Margaret Hobbs, reigning Junior Miss, will crown the winner and…

By ROB NUNLEY / Sports Editor for the Southern Standard (McMinnville, Tenn.) Reese Bishop goes up for two of his game-high 23 points during Friday night’s home matchup against Murfreesboro Siegel. (Rob Nunley photo) Fighting their way back from a double-digit deficit, the Pioneer basketball team fell just short of its first district win Friday…

NASHVILLE (AP) — An improving economy is boosting state tax collections beyond estimates, and officials say the surplus could reach $150 million by the end of the fiscal year June 30.Year-to-date collections for August through December are $82 million over estimates, with half of that attributed to larger-than-expected sales tax collections.‘You have this happen in…

By AMBER McDOWELL / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — Board members of the Tennessee Education Lottery Corp. on Saturday completed the last of the work required of them before Tuesday’s launch of the games by approving several critical contracts.Board members voted unanimously to finalize contracts between the two businesses that will create and run…

By MATT GOURAS / Associated Press Writer GOODLETTSVILLE (AP) — Mark Thompson is just the kind of casual player Tennessee’s lottery is banking on when it starts Tuesday.Hardly a hard-core gambler, the 23-year-old admits he will find it tempting to pick up a ticket or two when he stops at a convenience store for gas…