NEW YORK (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said radio stations are within their right to pull Howard Stern off the air if they object to the shock jock’s racy show. “Howard Stern does have the right to say whatever he wants anywhere, but he doesn’t necessarily have the right to say it on…

By KIMBERLY HEFLING / Associated Press Writer Pvt. Joshua Wunschel, from Rhode Island, holds down enemy, being portrayed by soldier Jose Garcia, during a training exercise to capture and detain the enemy at Ft. Knox, Ky., Thursday, Feb. 12, 2004. (AP Photo/Patti Longmire) FORT KNOX, Ky. (AP) — Three weeks into basic training, Pvt. Timothy…

By LISA LEFF / Associated Press Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — It started with a pair of women who had been partners in life, love and lesbian politics for more than half a century. It crescendoed when a world-famous celebrity dashed in and out of town for her own skip-the-frills wedding. But in the two…

By RON FOURNIER / AP Political Writer CLEVELAND (AP) — John Edwards’ road to the Democratic presidential nomination runs through Ohio, Georgia and Minnesota on Tuesday, then crests with a Southern showdown a week later and a March 16 clash in Illinois, his advisers say. Many Democrats believe the route is strewn with obstacles and…

By VICKIE CHACHERE / Associated Press Writer TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer’s first victims were the dogs he killed, severing their heads for a macabre display behind his childhood home. Mississippi school shooter Luke Woodham, who killed two classmates and his mother in 1997, wrote in a journal about killing his dog…

By BOBBY ROSS JR. / Associated Press Writer Angela Wicker, left, and her husband, Tom, pose with weights in their home, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2004, in North Richland Hills, Texas, that the couple use when participating in the “Walking With Weights” program sponsored by their church. (AP Photo) GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — At one time,…

KNOXVILLE (AP) — A court has denied a request for unemployment benefits from the former head of the Lenoir City Housing Authority, who was fired for misappropriating money. Linda Johnson was ousted from her post after an audit showed $156,000 was wrongly spent. But she argued in court that she was due unemployment benefits for…

CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Local television station WDSI Fox 61 will shut down its news department Wednesday, eliminating 30 jobs, the station’s general manager said. “The news pie in this town is not big enough to be split among four news-producing stations,” manager Michael Costa said Friday. The Fox station’s last original newscast will air Wednesday…

NASHVILLE (AP) — State workers called to active military duty with the National Guard or Armed Forces Reserves will continue to get paid the same salary they make in their civilian jobs, under an executive order renewed Saturday by Gov. Phil Bredesen. “Tennessee guardsmen and reservists sacrifice so much already,” Bredesen said. “They and their…

NASHVILLE (AP) — A national environmental group has placed the Cumberland Plateau on its list of 12 most endangered wildlands. The Natural Resources Defense Council says the area is on its list of at-risk “biogems” — or “unspoiled places in the Americas facing imminent destruction from development” — because the pulp and paper industry there…