By JIM ABRAMS / Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major win for social conservatives, Congress is sending to the president legislation that would expand the legal rights of the unborn by making it a separate crime to harm a fetus during an assault on a pregnant woman. The Unborn Victims of Violence…

SEVIERVILLE (AP) — A woman robbed a bank before leaving behind four pipe bombs in a briefcase and making her getaway in a Krispy Kreme Doughnuts delivery truck, authorities said. The Citizens National Bank was evacuated Thursday and a Knox County Sheriff’s Office bomb unit used a remote robot to open the briefcase, determining it…

NASHVILLE (AP) — State Senate testimony revealed more details on a deadly retirement home fire from emergency workers who described finding the body of one elderly victim in a chair by the front door where she had waited for rescuers. Maryville fire officials told a Senate panel Wednesday that the intense heat from the January…

BRENTWOOD (AP) — Directors of the Tennessee Baptist Children’s Homes believe their core mission is spiritual growth and Sunday morning church attendance for the state foster children they house. A new state contract says the homes cannot infringe on the right to religious freedom of the children if they want to continue caring for them.…

CROSSVILLE (AP) — Cumberland County Mayor Brock Hill ended his campaign for the Republican nomination to oppose Democratic U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis in Tennessee’s 4th Congressional District. Hill’s decision to withdraw leaves Janice Bowling of Tullahoma as the only announced GOP candidate. Hill is in his third term as Cumberland County mayor and entered the…

By SCOTT REEVES / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — A major manufacturer of pens, markers and other writing materials will add 200 jobs in Shelbyville by the end of the year. Sanford Corp. announced Thursday that it is moving production of its Sharpie permanent markers to Tennessee from Illinois. The new production and expansion…

CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Many of Tennessee’s part-time farmers are leaving their fields bare and dumping their livestock, according to recent statistics that show 500 small farms were lost last year. “We really don’t have a reason why they’re down,” said Joel Moore, deputy statistician with the Tennessee Agricultural Statistics Service. “But the majority are part-time…

By AMBER McDOWELL / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — A measure to amend the constitution to restrict abortion rights in Tennessee has been resurrected in the Senate, two weeks after its sponsor declared it dead for the year. Sen. David Fowler said Thursday he is working on a compromise he hopes will satisfy lawmakers…

By TOM SHARP / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — The House voted 61-32 Thursday to allow charities to hold gambling fund-raisers. The bill goes back to the Senate for consideration of several significant House amendments, including one adopted Thursday to limit the number of charity gambling events that can be held at any given…

By BILL POOVEY / Associated Press Writer CHATTANOOGA (AP) — With methamphetamine taking rural children from their parents at a rate of more than one a day and Tennessee ranking No. 1 nationally in cleanups of drug-making labs, what should state lawmakers do? Their decision: Study it until next year. Unable to agree on a…