By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI / Associated Press Writer A man identifying himself as Grant Mercy shouts at gay and lesbian couples and their families who lined up around the building to apply for marriage licenses at Multnomah County offices in Portland, Ore., Wednesday, March 3, 2004. (AP Photo) PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The contentious debate over…

NASHVILLE (AP) — Willie Nelson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Trace Adkins and Terri Clark will be among the guests appearing on the second season of “Nashville Star,” the viewer-voted talent show. Buddy Jewell, winner of last season’s series, also will appear, as will Rodney Crowell, Joe Nichols and Montgomery Gentry. The show’s second season premieres at 10…

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Democratic Leadership Council has named Gov. Phil Bredesen “New Democrat of the Week” for his continued support of education. Bredesen last month proposed to set aside $174 million of his $23.85 billion budget for education in grades kindergarten through 12. The proposal includes funding for Tennessee’s Basic Education Program and money…

KINGSPORT (AP) — President Bush now has a hand-carved wooden bust of an ancestor who fought in the Battle of Kings Mountain during the Revolutionary War. U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn, presented a bust of Jonathan “James” Weir to the president, Weir’s direct descendant, on Monday. Weir and other soldiers gathered Sept. 25, 1780, for…

CLARKSVILLE (AP) — Fifteen-year-old Mark Marland became at least the second person to die this year in Tennessee while riding an all-terrain vehicle when he ran a stop sign last Saturday and collided with a vehicle. National and state statistics show he almost certainly will not be the last. Also injured in the crash was…

By KARIN MILLER / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — Steve and Annette Nole Hall wanted to adopt the 14-year-old girl as soon as they met her and felt her hug them “like she never wanted to let us go.” But state adoption officials forbid them even to contact her for five months and didn’t…

NASHVILLE (AP) — The state Senate on Wednesday sent Gov. Phil Bredesen a bill requiring nursing homes to tell prospective residents if the homes do not have full sprinkler systems, smoke detectors and smoke alarms. The bill is one of several to grow out of two fatal fires at residences for the elderly within the…

By KARIN MILLER / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — State senators spent an hour Wednesday grilling Chief Deputy Attorney General Andy Bennett about the ramifications of amending the state constitution to tie abortion rights in Tennessee to the U.S. Constitution. But some senators seemed just as befuddled after the discussion as before. The issue…

By KARIN MILLER / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — College security officers would have to immediately notify local law enforcement of any death or rape on campus under legislation approved unanimously Wednesday by the Senate. The bill, named the “Robert ‘Robbie’ Nottingham Campus Crime Scene Investigation Act of 2004,” is being pushed by the…

By AMBER McDOWELL / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — Fears of how “third-party operators” would run charity events has the governor’s office attempting to slow the progress of legislation authorizing and regulating the games. Gov. Phil Bredesen’s staff asked the House on Wednesday to delay its rapid effort to pass a bill setting up…