By DUNCAN MANSFIELD / Associated Press Writer RESCOE KNOXVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Valley Authority’s new chief financial officer knows about layoffs, selling off assets and bankruptcy. “It teaches you a lot. It teaches you about efficiency. It teaches you about how to do your business differently when costs really matter,” Michael Rescoe said in…

KNOXVILLE (AP) — State lawmakers from Knoxville and Memphis are pushing legislation that could defuse a lawsuit attacking Tennessee’s system for issuing specialty license plates. “Our hope is that we will meet constitutional muster and also depoliticize the issue so there will still be funding for a lot of excellent causes,” Rep. Jamie Hagood, a…

By KARIN MILLER / Associated Press Writer COOPER NASHVILLE (AP) — As Gov. Phil Bredesen outlined his plan to overhaul TennCare — a plan focused largely on reducing drug costs — he warned lawmakers to expect “unprecedented political pressure” from pharmaceutical companies. Their efforts already have begun. After a meeting late last week, lobbyists for…

In presenting an original children’s play that is rich in national heritage, MTSU Theater will call upon Paul Bunyon, Pecos Bill, Mike Fink, Annie Christmas and Slue Foot Sue — all heroes of America’s tall tales — when it delivers “American Tall Tales” at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 27-28, on the stage of…

By ELLIOTT MINOR / Associated Press Writer ADEL, Ga. (AP) — Paula Crosby’s dial-up Internet connection was so slow she played computer solitaire while waiting for sluggish pages to appear. And when her teenage daughter surfed the Web, it tied up the family’s phone line for hours. Thanks to their town’s leap into wireless broadband,…

By KEN MAGUIRE / Associated Press Writer BOSTON (AP) — Hundreds of computer training schools that sprouted during the dot-com boom have now shut down, leaving frustrated students with big debts and little education. State regulatory oversight of the business is far too lax, while loans to attend such schools have been too easy to…

By STEVE GIEGERICH / AP Education Writer Just a high school sophomore, Claudette Rogers is already anxious about a test that’s more than a year away — the college entrance exam that will help determine her academic future. She and her classmates have an extra reason to be. Rogers’ class of 2006 will be the…

By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN / Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is still financing research to create powerful tools that could mine millions of public and private records for information about terrorists despite an uproar last year over fears it might ensnare innocent Americans. Congress eliminated a Pentagon office developing the terrorist tracking…

By JIM ABRAMS / Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Expanding rights for the unborn without limiting mothers’ reproductive rights is an issue that confronts lawmakers this week when the House takes up a bill that would make it separate federal crimes to injure or kill both a woman and her fetus. The Unborn Victims…

By ROBERT TANNER AP National Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Governors worried about increasing demands on National Guard units want to hear from the Bush administration about its long-term strategy in the fight against terrorism. State leaders raised their concerns in a private meeting with the top Guard general and Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge. “It’s…