BABY GIRLKristy and Clayton Walker of Rock Island are the parents of a daughter, Keely Phoenix, who arrived Jan. 14 at River Park Hospital. She weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces.The baby has a brother, Jeremy Dylan Walker.Grandparents are Granville Gann of Morrison, Donna Gann of Smithville, David and Patricia Walker of Rock Island. BABY GIRLTeri…

By The Associated Press The frightened speculation from religious leaders and frantic banter from 24-hour cable news pundits can end now: “The Passion of the Christ” is arriving in theaters — about 2,800 of them — in a shrewd marketing move by Mel Gibson to let everyone see and judge the film for themselves.And the…

Telling the whole story of the Civil War and Reconstruction is never more important than when we consider the impact of slavery on the coming of the Civil War in Tennessee. Anyone interested in this issue will want to attend the one-day symposium, “The Legacy of Stones River: Slavery and the Civil War in Tennessee”…

By Janice M. Howard / Style Editor for the Southern Standard At the Senior Center, John Womack shares the finer points of playing pool as Sister Act guest Abby Nunley takes aim with the cue stick. Some misconceptions on the part of sixth and seventh-grade girls were squelched when Centertown Sister Act recently visited the…

By MICHAEL MAROT / AP Sports Writer INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Nine people were appointed Monday to an NCAA task force that will consider rules changes to help prevent recruiting scandals. David Berst, an NCAA vice president and the group’s former head of enforcement, made the appointments less than two weeks after NCAA president Myles Brand…

By TIM DAHLBERG / AP Boxing Writer Gene Kilroy wanted to talk about his friend, Muhammad Ali. Not about the time Ali stopped George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle, or the time Ali fought a brutal fight with Joe Frazier in Manila, though Kilroy was at both fights. He wanted to talk about…

KNOXVILLE (AP) — Tennessee season ticket prices will stay the same in 2004 but individual tickets for five of seven home games will cost more, athletic director Mike Hamilton said Tuesday. “By separating our pricing structure for season tickets and for games with teams who bring a large number of fans, this price increase will…

By TERESA M. WALKER / AP Sports Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans decided their best chance to keep defensive end Jevon Kearse is by letting him test the free agent market, refusing Tuesday to tag him as their franchise player. “It’s almost going to serve as an arbitrator if you will,” general manager…

By Dale Stubblefield / Columnist Now I know sometimes people do and say things that are not appropriate. And in the society we live in today, we sometimes tend to overreact when certain situations occur.We tend to be more protective and defensive and are easily offended about things that sometimes just don’t really matter.Well something…