Sparta resident and Alabama native Floyd Sherrill Humphrey, 71, died April 14 at White County Hospital.A construction worker and a veteran of the U.S. Army serving his country in the Korean War, he was the son of the late Joseph and Jessie Mae Dickson Humphrey; and was preceded in death by brothers, Bill, David, Shelby…

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats have decided to quit emphasizing that they will not negotiate changes to Social Security until President Bush drops his idea for private accounts. The switch in strategy comes after Democrats learned from focus groups that people frown on the lawmakers for being obstinate. “People feel like it doesn’t show a…

WASHINGTON (AP) — It has taken barely two months for the differences between Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and his predecessor, John Ashcroft, to come into clear view. Gonzales is decidedly more low-key and conciliatory than Ashcroft, who was seen even by some supporters as intransigent and too eager to grab the spotlight when it served…

WASHINGTON (AP) — A looming power play by Senate Republican leaders to clamp down on filibusters against judicial nominees is a high-risk strategy. It could change the balance of power in the Senate, erode the rights of the minority party and backfire against Republicans in the long term. The Senate is “not always going to…

WASHINGTON (AP) — While the Senate is near open warfare over minority party filibusters of judicial nominees, senators acting alone are blocking some of President Bush’s other choices for top government jobs with little protest. Democratic senators have in place or are threatening to place “holds” on Bush’s nominees to head three key agencies —…

HOUSTON (AP) — The National Rifle Association opened its annual convention Friday with a clear and defiant message: Leave our guns alone. Speakers praised the NRA’s work in preserving gun rights for Americans while criticizing the Democratic Party and what they described as a liberal media bias. “The American people have sent a strong and…

NASHVILLE (AP) — If you listen to radio or watch TV, chances are you’ve heard Harold Bradley’s signature “tic-tac” bass guitar. Bradley, 79, part of the original “A Team” of Nashville session musicians, put his distinct sound on thousands of recordings by artists such as Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, Jerry Lee Lewis, Brenda Lee, Roy…

NASHVILLE (AP) — A Kentucky truck driver pleaded guilty Friday to charges of vehicular homicide and aggravated assault in the traffic accident death of a Nashville police officer who had stopped to help a motorist with a flat tire. James Lee Fitzgerald, 25, of Somerset, Ky., received three years probation for the July accident that…

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled Friday that the state’s criminal sentencing guidelines are constitutional and comply with recent rulings by the nation’s highest court. The state rules in place since 1989 were not overturned by two U.S. Supreme Court rulings last year addressing the authority of judges to enhance sentences, the Tennessee…