PIGEON FORGE (AP) — A member of the Ku Klux Klan in East Tennessee claims the group will stage a protest outside the Dollywood theme park Saturday when gay and lesbian parkgoers gather for a “Gay Day” event. About 20 protesters carrying banners will demonstrate against homosexuality outside the park, said Randy Gray, a Klansman…

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Priest Lake Community Baptist Church says it will fight a court order that bars it from operating a religious day camp because it is not licensed to care for children as required by state law. The church contends the camp offers religious training — not day care services — and is…

NASHVILLE (AP) — Two conflicting resolutions — one supporting public schools and the other condemning them — have been submitted to the Southern Baptist Convention for its meeting next month. The Rev. Jim West of First Baptist Church in Petros, a small town about 30 miles west of Knoxville, introduced the latest, pro-public school resolution.…

By TOM SHARP / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — The Legislature is proposing changes to Gov. Phil Bredesen’s budget to give larger raises to state employees and teachers, restore a proposed cut to higher education and increase funding for the state’s Rainy Day Fund. The legislative budget proposal emerged Tuesday and was approved by…

By KARIN MILLER and TOM SHARP / Associated Press Writers NASHVILLE (AP) — Two Senate Democratic leaders sponsoring Gov. Phil Bredesen’s bill to overhaul the workers’ compensation system held it hostage Tuesday. House members reacted by postponing their work on the budget, but Bredesen said he has been assured by Lt. Gov. John Wilder, who…

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Lottery officials say they have their first hard evidence that Tennessee’s new lottery has chipped away at their income: Kentucky lost about $1.85 million in the $213 million Powerball drawing on May 8. Before Tennessee’s lottery started on Jan. 20, Kentucky officials estimated that 11 percent of all Kentucky lottery…

NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Phil Bredesen has signed a law that may have made Tennessee the first state to enact legislation discouraging businesses with government contracts from outsourcing work to cheaper offshore locales. The new law asks state procurement officials to give preference in bids for data-entry and call-center services to contractors employing workers only…

By KARIN MILLER / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — Three finalists were chosen Monday for the state’s top law enforcement position, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Gov. Phil Bredesen will be asked to choose among the men — Leon Schenck, Michael Heidingsfield and Mark Gwyn — within the next two weeks if…

By AMBER McDOWELL / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — Though facing federal charges and the possibility of prison, Joanna Ediger has spent the months since her indictment going about her life as a mother, businesswoman and community volunteer, a colleague said Monday. Ediger, a former state employee, goes to trial Tuesday on bribery and…

By AMBER McDOWELL / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — The first federal prosecution from an ongoing investigation into how the Sundquist administration awarded millions of dollars in state contracts begins Tuesday. Former state employee Joanna L. Ediger, 35, is accused of illegally steering a no-bid contract to a Chattanooga company owned by Monteagle businessman…