Photo courtesy Nashville Children’s Theatre Patrick Waller played Simple and Denice Hicks was Puss the cat in the Nashville Children’s Theatre production of “Puss in Boots.” Students at West Elementary were treated to the play. A recent edition of Time magazine ranked Nashville Children’s Theatre No. 4 among children’s theaters in the United Sates. Warren…

MEMPHIS (AP) The Memphis City Schools Board voted Monday to quit using paddling as a way to discipline students, effective at the start of the 2005-2006 school year. Board members instead will develop a strategy to train teachers and administrators to discipline students in ways other than paddling. Schools Superintendent Carol Johnson had been trying…

Photo provided The Hilltop Holiday Express is scheduled to leave Nashville this Saturday at 8 a.m. on its way to Cookeville. The train will arrive back in Nashville at 6 p.m. The holiday season is a perfect time for travel through Middle Tennessee when the leaves are off the trees and the rolling countryside can…

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (AP) One of the fundamentals of life as combat soldiers is the buddy system. When one rests, the other is alert. It’s a guarantee that someone is watching out for you. While the war on terrorism has changed many things, it hasn’t altered the Army’s buddy system. But have you ever heard of…

MANCHESTER (AP) Some officials in the Tennessee community that is home of the 3-year-old Bonnaroo music festival want Coffee County to get a bigger cut of the revenue from more than 90,000 tickets. Members of a county commission budget panel are recommending that the county get $3 from every ticket, plus an additional $30,000. County…

WASHINGTON (AP) An Ohio mayor has a personal message to diabetics across the country: If he can work 15-hour days and still fit in regular exercise and healthy meals to control his disease, they can too. Mayor Mike Coleman of Columbus, Ohio, is among 50 leaders nationwide who kicked off a public service campaign Thursday…

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) The days of college students slurping down cheap ramen noodles in a cramped dorm room might be a thing of the past at Clemson University. Clemson administrators say students are eating more pork than pasta as the low-carb craze takes hold. And since proteins cost more than carbs, the craze was given…

For many people, the holiday season is a special time of year marked by festive celebrations and gatherings with family and friends. It’s time to look ahead with excitement to the approaching New Year. But for those struggling with the death of a loved one, the holidays are a difficult time full of painful reminders…

By DUANE SHERRILL With the arrival of the holidays comes an upturn in crime as criminals take advantage of the increased traffic in stores and merchandise that shoppers often leave inside their vehicles. “We generally see more cases of thefts, shoplifting and car burglaries around the holiday season,” said McMinnville Police Capt. Bryan Denton. Much…

WASHINGTON (AP) Hiring is picking up and President Bush is on track to preside over job growth in his second term, shedding the Herbert Hoover label of being the first president since the Great Depression to lose jobs under his watch. But don’t expect a revival of the booming 1990s. Bush’s prescription for job growth…