CHICAGO (AP) — They are often born in poverty and civil strife, abandoned, put in an orphanage, and then suddenly uprooted and sent to live an ocean away with strangers from another culture. And yet, children adopted from abroad seem to adjust remarkably well, according to a new study that challenges the widely held notion…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two-thirds of Americans say they think that when journalists make a serious mistake, most news organizations either ignore it or try to cover it up, a survey found. The poll comes after a series of high-profile mistakes by the news media, though it was taken before Newsweek magazine reported — and then…

NASHVILLE (AP) — The House approved legislation that repeals a state law that since 1976 has blocked local governments from making their own asphalt. The House approved the measure by an 89-3 vote to send it to Gov. Phil Bredesen. The Senate approved it earlier 30-1. The legislation provides that a county wishing to operate…

CHATTANOOGA (AP) — The FBI has interviewed at least two state lawmakers about bills introduced in the General Assembly by a state senator facing ethics inquiries. Rep. Chris Newton told the Chattanooga Times Free Press on Friday that two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents came unannounced to his Cleveland office on May 13 and questioned…

NASHVILLE (AP) — The governor said he talked with state investigators Friday morning about Sen. John Ford’s request to give more state business to a contractor later linked to the Memphis Democrat. Gov. Phil Bredesen said he told the investigators the same thing he first revealed to reporters early this month: Ford asked him sometime…

NASHVILLE (AP) — The governor is calling for a detailed accounting of what lobbyists spend wining and dining lawmakers. The Tennessee General Assembly, close to wrapping up for the year, is still debating if it will pass a new lobbying ethics law and how stringent it should be. Gov. Phil Bredesen, in a wide-ranging interview…

BREDESEN NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Phil Bredesen said Friday that he will try to change Tennessee open records laws to protect the identity of state employees who file sexual harassment complaints. Bredesen is responding to the controversy over an official’s decision to shred notes taken during a sexual harassment investigation that led to the demotion…

By Charles C. Haynes / First Amendment Center According to a study out this week, most students in public schools don’t know much about the Bible — and many teachers are hesitant to teach it.True, most students polled could identify Moses correctly (72 percent) and knew about Adam and Eve (90 percent). But when probed…

By Cokie & Steven Roberts / Columnist Theoretical memo from Bill Clinton to George W. Bush: Beware the perils of overreaching. Ronald Reagan might write the same message from his grave. Both these former presidents misread the results of their elections, and both learned the hard way that American voters resent power grabs. By urging…

By Thomas Vaughn While the media have been engaged in a feeding frenzy over the looming Senate showdown on President Bush’s latest nominees for federal judges, the president has made a less controversial, but historic decision, by nominating Marine Corps General Peter Pace, 59, to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.If…