By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard Admitting he should have never become involved with a teenage boy, local native Craig Fults was sentenced to 45 years in prison Tuesday for his sexual contact with a 16-year-old Rutherford County student.“I loved him,” said Fults of the relationship with his accuser during his…

ATHENS (AP) — A lack of financial incentives and a time-consuming process are keeping more Tennessee teachers from becoming certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, educators say. As a result, Tennessee is last among Southern states in the number of teachers who have earned National Board certification. In 2003, just 28 teachers…

By AMBER McDOWELL / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — After four hours of debate, a Senate committee on Tuesday approved legislation that would allow charities to begin holding gambling fund-raisers in Tennessee. The 8-3 vote by the Senate Finance Committee sent the bill to the full chamber for debate Wednesday, said sponsor Jim Kyle,…

By TOM SHARP / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — A coalition of groups opposed to an anti-abortion amendment pending in the state Senate on Tuesday called it “an unprecedented assault on the judicial system in Tennessee.” The coalition, headed by the local chapters of Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union, said the…

By KARIN MILLER / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — A constitutional amendment limiting state government growth and requiring voter approval for tax increases would give Tennessee “fiscal guardrails,” a Colorado senator told supporters of a “Taxpayers Bill of Rights” on Tuesday. John Andrews, Colorado Senate president, said his state implemented a similar measure a…

By GEORGE GEDDA / Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — As the State Department tells it, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was fatalistic about the demise of his government. “That’s life sometimes,” Aristide reportedly told the U.S. Embassy’s No. 2 official, Luis Moreno, two hours before the Haitian leader’s dawn Sunday departure into exile. According to this account,…

By Joan Ryan / Columnist As I was reading about the successful cloning of human embryos recently, I happened to come across an obituary for a 93-year-old doctor named Landrum B. Shettles.He had conducted some of the first in vitro fertilization experiments, the obit said. It told of his supervisor at the Columbia University medical…

By Hope Hines / Columnist Today, I will attempt to explain why men are happier, and more cheerful, than women. It’s dangerous territory I know, but I’m feeling brave. Besides I have spent considerable time researching the subject, and my theories are founded on years of opposite sex observation. Plus I’ve had two great teachers.…

By Duane Sherrill / Columnist Why are people stressing all the time? Worry about this, worry about that. All some folks do is worry. They almost turn it into a sport. I firmly believe some people couldn’t be happy if they didn’t have something to worry about.I’m all the time hearing folks talk about their…

Our Viewpoint In a matter of minutes, dozens of rescue workers converged on a rural Centertown home to help save the life of a young girl who had fallen into a 30-foot well. Their rapid response time is something which should make all of us feel a little bit more secure.It should also make Warren…