By JOHN GEROME / Associated Press Writer LEBANON — Jurors will decide if accused murderer Fallon Tallent deliberately ran down two lawmen last year after a high-speed car chase that stretched across half the state. Prosecutors closed their case Tuesday against Tallent, 22, who is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Wilson County…

COLUMBIA (AP) — A man suspected of fatally shooting his wife and daughter and critically wounding his son showed no remorse when questioned after his capture, Maury County authorities said. Parker Ray Elliott, 42, gave the impression after more than two hours of interviews of an angry man determined to harm his wife, investigators said…

By Morton Kondracke Bill Clinton’s book blitz might have helped John Kerry, D-Mass., portray President Bush as a radical ideologue. Instead, it seems to have focused attention only on Clinton’s psyche.Clinton’s book, “My Life,” excoriates former Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr and right-wing Republicans, but Clinton barely tries — as he might have — to link…

By William Rusher Maybe I’m just an old fogy, but it seems to me the American people are being asked — no, forced — to accustom themselves to some aspects of warfare that, for one reason or another, simply didn’t exist for most of the 20th century.War, of course, has been around since the dawn…

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard DAVENPORT Mayor Royce Davenport and other elected city officials made formal announcements Thursday they will be seeking re-election this fall.Davenport will seek his fourth term as mayor, having served two consecutive two-year terms in the late ’80s, as well as a four-year term since 2000.He…

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard With a local man on TV news displaying wounds inflicted by a sheriff’s department taser, Sheriff Jackie Matheny is defending the department’s use of tasers saying their use is better than applying physical force.“Basically it leaves a small burn mark,” said Matheny of the taser…

By ROB NUNLEY / Sports Editor for the Southern Standard Action continued in the 9- and 10-year-old Cal Ripken baseball tournament Thursday night, with four make-up games after rain canceled Tuesday’s contests.A loss by the regular season champions highlighted Thursday’s slate of tournament games, as Rubley’s Nursery fell to Security Federal 6-1 at the Hoover…

Friday was a day most people left the Southern Standard office happy. Free banana splits and discount newspaper subscriptions can have that affect.But of the hundreds of people who left the newspaper office, Geraldine Ritchey had to be one of the happiest. That’s because her name was drawn from hundreds of entries as the winner…

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard A 41-person docket was heard Tuesday by Judge Larry Ross in General Sessions Court including a sentence in which a shoplifter was banned from Wal-Mart for life.Included in court action:• Jane Bandy was ordered to serve five days of an 11-29 sentence and must pay…

By JAMES CLARK / Editor for the Southern Standard Centertown resident Teddy Slatton has reason to smile when showing his 1946 Dodge pickup that still has all its original parts. Slatton was participating in a car show held yesterday at Wal-Mart to benefit the Children’s Miracle Network. When Teddy Slatton heads to a car show,…