KNOXVILLE (AP) — Fine particle pollution will be included in air quality forecasts for East Tennessee, even though federal authorities are still expected to label several counties as polluted, according to a state meteorologist. Pam Barkey met with local leaders at the Knox County Health Department on Monday and told them fine particle pollution alerts…

CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Environmental groups said that a new rule permitting roads within national forest lands could cost Tennessee millions of dollars. The groups released a report Monday after a public comment period collected information that claimed failure to protect roadless areas could cost $3.5 million annually in recreation expenditures and threaten $467.2 million worth…

KNOXVILLE (AP) — The state Department of Revenue is cracking down on private sales of boats and vehicles where scofflaws may be avoiding thousands of dollars in taxes by undervaluing their deals. “If we don’t know where it is, we can’t quantify it,” agency spokeswoman Emily Richard said Tuesday when asked how much money is…

By MATT GOURAS / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE — State lawyers huddled with advocates for TennCare enrollees Tuesday, determining whether a cease fire offer in the court battle really will let Gov. Phil Bredesen move forward with his reform plan. The governor told his Cabinet that a decision was coming soon on whether the offer…

TO THE EDITOR: I am appalled, sickened, shocked, aghast, disgusted that the Southern Standard would print a picture of Dewayne Prater’s dead horse on the front page of the paper.If Dewayne lives through this, and is able to see, I am sure he will be so happy to frame this one last picture of his…

TO THE EDITOR: I noticed in the Sunday, Nov. 7 issue of the Standard that two letters were printed in opposition to Will Stewart’s last column. To mix things up a bit, I offer this view.Regardless of whether the Standard’s readers agreed or disagreed with Mr. Stewart’s editorials, he represented opinions that are lacking throughout…

TO THE EDITOR: Contrary to a recent Southern Standard editorial, the issue of insurance was not tossed out in the “11th hour” by the Warren County Education Association. WCEA has consistently brought the issue of insurance to the negotiation table throughout at last the past five years, and had broached the subject informally as far…

By George Plagenz Sometimes it takes a tragedy in our lives — or even a lesser kind of emergency — to make us realize that we are made of sterner stuff than we thought and have qualities of courage and resourcefulness we never expected we had.I recall one occasion when a crippling winter snowstorm brought…

By Morton Kondracke Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is Exhibit A for the proposition that the Nobel Peace Prize Committee in Norway needs to adopt a provision allowing the prize to be revoked in case of bad behavior.Not only did Arafat debase the premise for his award; he made it horrifically difficult for any other Palestinian…

By Duane Sherrill This week I’m going to change my normal routine and take you behind the scenes of what I do here. Instead of being enlightening, eye-opening and even life changing as most of my weekly offerings are, this column will merely be informative.Ever since I’ve been working here, many folks have asked me…