By BILL POOVEY / Associated Press Writer CHATTANOOGA (AP) — One day after a deadline for a retirement incentive that aims to cut jobs before layoffs become necessary, Tennessee Valley Authority directors said Tuesday they could not say how many employees accepted the offer. “We don’t know yet,” TVA Chairman Glenn McCullough said after a…

NASHVILLE (AP) — Starbucks Coffee Co. will open a distribution center in the Nashville area, creating 75 jobs, state officials said Tuesday. The center will open in LaVergne, about 20 miles southeast of Nashville, and provide gift wrapping and shipping services to 700 Starbucks stores. The project represents a $3.2 million investment, officials said. “Starbucks…

NASHVILLE (AP) — CBS will broadcast a two-hour special from the CMA Music Festival this summer, the Country Music Association announced Tuesday. The festival is June 10 to June 13, primarily at The Coliseum where the Tennessee Titans of the NFL play their games. Dates of the taped broadcast were not announced. Among those scheduled…

KNOXVILLE (AP) — Researchers say Tennessee is a bad place to live if you have asthma, with Knoxville topping the nation as the worst place for asthma sufferers. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America placed a number of the state’s cities high in its rankings of asthma risk factors in U.S cities. Tennessee cities…

By AMBER McDOWELL / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee’s lack of care for its plants, animals and their habitats reflects a country more concerned with industry than the natural resources it often destroys, a University of Tennessee ecologist told a Legislative subcommittee Tuesday. Dr. Daniel Simberloff, a professor of environmental studies at UT-Knoxville,…

By JAMES CLARK / Editor for the Southern Standard Carrier officials and union representatives agreed on a severance package Monday that will give workers one week of pay for every year of employment.Another major perk is Carrier employees will receive free medical and dental insurance for three months after their layoff. If needed, employees may…

By WILL STEWART / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard Morrison teacher Gail Curtis helps seventh-grader Ben Durham with an assignment in the school’s new computer lab. (Will Stewart photo) By the time a student leaves the eighth grade, state law requires him or her to have logged a minimum of 120 hours on a…

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard MATHENY A privilege tax on Bonnaroo tickets for Coffee County’s three-day music festival won’t take effect this year and may never happen at all, said the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Judd Matheny.Matheny said he doesn’t like the idea of taxing the tickets, but said he…

DAYTON (AP) — Rhea County commissioners unanimously passed a motion asking its state representatives to introduce legislation amending Tennessee’s criminal code, allowing the county to charge homosexuals with crimes against nature. “We need to keep them out of here,” said Commissioner J.C. Fugate, who made the motion. Fugate said he offered to the motion because…

By KARIN MILLER / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — Gay marriages already are prohibited in Tennessee, but some lawmakers are trying to take it a step further. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 7-1 Tuesday for a bill that would prohibit legal recognition of civil unions and domestic partnerships among homosexuals in Tennessee. Sen. Jeff…