By LOLITA C. BALDOR / Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — John Kerry talks at length about his military service and his strong commitment to the nation’s defense, but his Senate voting record on Pentagon spending is a combination of billion-dollar budgets approved and multimillion-dollar weapons opposed. While the four-term Massachusetts senator has voted for…

By BEN FELLER / AP Education Writer Education Secretary Rod Paige gestures during an interview with the Associated Press at the Education Department in Washington Monday, Feb. 23, 2004. (AP Photo) WASHINGTON (AP) — Education Secretary Rod Paige says he chose poor words in calling the nation’s largest teachers union a “terrorist organization,” but he…

By FREDERIC J. FROMMER / Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle joined a bipartisan group of governors and senators Monday in calling for a two-year moratorium on Internet taxes rather than a permanent ban. Doyle backs legislation sponsored by Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., both former governors, calling…

NEWPORT (AP) — A Newport woman was sentenced to 25 years in prison Monday for killing her 4-month-old son by rolling his pacifier in OxyContin and giving it to him. Debra Kirk Moore, 23, must serve at least 85 percent of her sentence — or more than 21 years — before she is eligible for…

COLUMBIA (AP) — Greg Culpepper’s hobby has made him a walking encyclopedia of Tennessee banking history. Culpepper has been collecting old currency notes for 20 years, specifically Nashville bank notes and Tennessee national bank notes issued between 1862 and 1935. The endeavor has given him insight into the buyouts, the belly-ups and the broad-bellied bankers…

OAK RIDGE (AP) — A cold nose knows the truth, say researchers who are developing an alternative polygraph test based on face temperature. The Center for Human Reliability Studies, which is part of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, has tested a technique called infrared thermography on 40 volunteers so…

MEMPHIS (AP) — Casino gambling in Memphis is “not the solution” to the city’s economic problems, Gov. Phil Bredesen said while also emphasizing that efforts to extend gambling in Tennessee beyond the lottery should be curbed for up to 10 years. Bredesen made his opinions known in a conference call Monday while attending the annual…

By ELIZABETH A. DAVIS / Associated Press Writer KNOXVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Valley Authority offered voluntary early retirement and buyout packages to employees Monday as part of efforts to cut its debt. Employees in departments where TVA has found surplus staffing were asked to volunteer for retirement or a reduction in force. TVA executives…

By TOM SHARP / Associated Press Writer Viola Miller, right, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, gives an update on the progress of the Children’s Cabinet to a legislative committee on Monday. (AP Photo) NASHVILLE (AP) — The governor’s Children’s Cabinet is the latest group to identify truancy as a major problem in…

By JIM LITKE / AP Sports Columnist The future of the NFL arrived overweight and unprepared. So there’s that to look forward to. “I lead by example,” Maurice Clarett said, “work hard day in and day out and go 200 percent every practice.” OK, maybe he didn’t mean every day and every practice, since Clarett…