By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard The location for McMinnville’s Fourth of July events that traditionally take place on Court Square and Main Street has been changed for this year.Although Main Street officials had hopes of holding festivities downtown in its traditional location, even though Court Square is under construction, it…

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard Stealing the very ink pen an officer was going to use to write a traffic ticket cost a local man a trip to jail this week.The motorist, known only as Jose Doe given his reluctance to give police identification, is charged with disorderly conduct.The chain…

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard WOMACK Eagle Scout candidate Tim Womack has had his hands full, to say the least.For the past few months, Womack has been uncovering a little-known, but important part of McMinnville’s history. The old city spring, as it is known, was said to be an important…

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard The County Commission voted unanimously this week to refund the $250 alcoholic beverage license application fee to Martin’s Market co-owners Travis Martin and Dustin Martin, who are not related.The move came after a controversy earlier this year over a beer license for Martin’s Market.…

James Clark photo Scottie Smith, 10, relaxes with his dad, Scott Smith, as water pours over the Barren Fork River Dam and provides relief from yesterday’s 90-degree heat.

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard The woman lawmen believe murdered her husband and buried him in a shallow grave behind their Baker Mountain Road home has emerged from a drug-induced coma but is remaining silent about what she knows about her husband’s demise.The suspect, Jeri Bryant, 55, is reportedly refusing…

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard Thoughts of raising McMinnville’s property tax rate by a couple cents received a chilly reception Monday after the city’s Finance Committee meeting.McMinnville officials were discussing the city’s 2005-2006 fiscal year budget, estimated at almost $17.6 million. After roughly two hours of meetings, Mayor Royce Davenport…

NEW YORK (AP) — Like parents leaving their child with a sitter for the first time, new entrepreneurs struggle with the idea of taking a vacation. They worry about losing clients who might need them while they’re away, and, if they have employees, they worry about the work being done right in their absence. Veterans…

By RACHEL BECK / AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The names and bank account details of up to 40 million credit-card holders have been exposed to fraud. Too bad the only way that information reached the public was largely thanks to California. That’s right, the rest of the nation has been made aware…

NEW YORK (AP) — When Wal-Mart Stores Inc. began looking around Freehold, N.J., company officials assumed it could just move into town with a standard super center and Sam’s Club warehouse store. They were wrong. Aiming to protect its rich heritage from retail sprawl, the town — established in 1693 — had adopted an ordinance…