By DUNCAN MANSFIELD / Associated Press Writer KNOXVILLE — Tennessee’s poverty rate has been inching up despite growing household incomes, leaving the Volunteer State still among the poorest in the country, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. However, more Tennesseans enjoy health insurance than the national average — a statistic that could change with proposed cutbacks…

TO THE EDITOR: The Southern Standard has shown two very disturbing sides during the past week. First, I was surprised to be reading Sunday’s edition and find Will Stewart’s suggestion that God does not even exist. I suppose many of us take for granted, with the sheer number of churches in our community, that no…

TO THE EDITOR: I am probably not the right person to respond to the Swift Boat letter to the editor Aug. 25, when we have among us truly great Vietnam heroes. Some of them have Bronze Star, Silver Star and Purple Heart medals. These Warren County Vietnam vets did not submit their own application for…

By Donald Lambro / Columnist The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently rolled out a suspiciously timed analysis that, its Democratic sponsors say, shows the tax burden is shifting to the middle class under President Bush’s tax cuts.But, in fact, the CBO study shows and flatly states that everyone, especially the middle class, has benefited from…

By Nat Hentoff Director Robert Mueller’s “new” FBI is lapsing into J. Edgar Hoover’s formerly discredited doctrine that certain types of nonviolent, anti-government protestors must not only be surveilled and their groups infiltrated, but also visited by FBI agents to chill their speech and other activities. In hearing about these intimidating FBI visits around the…

By James Clark I usually don’t respond to opinion columns written by reporters on our staff, but there has been such outcry about a recent column by Will Stewart, I thought I would offer a few comments.The column in question was published in Sunday’s edition. The point Will was trying to make was he doesn’t…

The Lt. James Sheppard Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, recently convened at Miss Mary Bobo’s in Lynchburg for an end-of-year luncheon and officer installation.There were 18 ladies in attendance for the meeting and a short presentation on the history of the home. Mary Ruth Simmons of the Shelby Chapter, DAR, was a guest at…

Kayla Bell, left, and Maddie Stein recently earned the Silver Award, the highest honor a cadette Girl Scout can earn. They are members of Troop 2719 in Warren County. (Photo provided) More than 200 Girl Scouts were honored recently for achieving Girl Scouting’s highest leadership honors at the On My Honor ceremony at the Sheraton…

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard Officials with the Gilley Pool will conduct an end-of-summer party and appreciation day tomorrow as the second year at the new pool winds down.New this year is a day specifically dedicated to honoring the local Dr Pepper Bottling Co. for contributions to the community –…

By DALE STUBBLEFIELD / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard The Lady Pioneer junior varsity soccer team took one on the chin Tuesday as Shelbyville rolled to a 5-0 win.Shelbyville scored with 4:21 left in the first half from 10 yards out, after Warren County had controlled much of the first period.In the second half…