By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard A 50-person docket was heard Thursday by Judge Larry Ross in General Sessions Traffic Court.Included in court action:• Antonio Funez was instructed to serve 90 days of an 11-month, 29-day sentence, pay $650 plus costs and forfeit his driver’s license for two years for second-offense…

McMinnville Lions Club is sponsoring a Queen For A Day contest again this year. For a donation of $3, you can enter your favorite lady in the contest.The money raised from these donations will be used to support the Lions Club’s ongoing eye care projects.The Queen For A Day package includes a massage, manicure and…

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard County commissioners may experience a significant reduction in pay if a resolution to cut extra pay for meetings is passed by the full commission. The move would limit their salaries to $260 a month.Commissioner Carl Hulett will be presenting the resolution at the commission’s…

GATLINBURG (AP) — Beware the hungry bear in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. There was a shortage of acorns — a bear staple — last fall and natural food sources won’t improve much for bears now coming out of hibernation until berries ripen in the summer. Managers of the 520,000-acre park on the Tennessee-North…

MEMPHIS (AP) — A task force wants the city to spend about $3 million more to improve the neighborhood around the new FedExForum than Mayor Willie Herenton requested in next year’s budget. The group, which includes representatives from city government and downtown business interests, met this week and pared its wish list from about $11…

KNOXVILLE (AP) — Mandatory vehicle inspections won’t be part of air-pollution control measures in the Knoxville area — at least not for now, a Knox County air quality official says. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will not require vehicle inspections in the seven-county region, but it will require a clampdown on air-pollution control permits that…

By DUNCAN MANSFIELD / Associated Press Writer KNOXVILLE (AP) — In early voting, a favorite candidate has yet to emerge from the University of Tennessee’s unusually open search for a new president. That’s probably for the best with a second round of public, Webcast interviews awaiting the six remaining contenders Tuesday, and the three finalists…

By KARIN MILLER / Associated Press Writer FRANKLIN (AP) — In hopes of convincing skeptical doctors to support his TennCare overhaul, Gov. Phil Bredesen said Friday that he will propose annual increases in reimbursement for participating physicians. Doctors, who have long complained of low and slow payment for treating TennCare patients, have largely supported the…

By TOM SHARP / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Phil Bredesen batted pretty close to 1.000 in his first year as governor, getting nearly everything he asked for from the Legislature. Whether he can do it again this year depends on four major issues: reforming workers’ compensation, cutting the cost of TennCare, equalizing…

By Diana West Victor Davis Hanson, author of several books about war’s affect on civilization, says it best in the current issue of City Journal. I paraphrase: Thanks to George W. Bush, the Taliban are gone. So is Saddam Hussein. Yasser Arafat is isolated, restricted to the wretched confines of his Ramallah compound. American troops…