RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A 39 percent decline in methamphetamine lab busts in Tennessee shows a new law to restrict cold tablet sales to pharmacy counters would work in North Carolina, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation director said Tuesday. “This legislation is about saving lives and saving children,” director Mark Gwyn told a House judiciary…

MURFREESBORO (AP) — As the Tennessee Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia makes preparations to offer the nation’s only doctorate degree in literacy science, its leader said the center’s focus will remain on helping students with dyslexia. “When we began, the mission was really to change the way in which these children are…

By BRAD FOSS / AP Business Writer Q: How much higher will the price of gasoline go this summer? A: Energy-price predictions are often about as reliable as weather forecasts. Yet just as sure as summer brings thunderstorms, so too have motorists come to expect higher costs at the pump. Now, with the crude futures…

RICHARDSON, Texas (AP) — Freya Warren scooped up a handful of hay on the floor of her 21-stall horse barn. She turned the yellow shoots over in her palm, satisfied that the mixture had enough large stalks — too fine and the horses will swallow the hay without chewing, causing digestive problems. Warren had reason…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Feeling the pinch from the Federal Reserve’s yearlong campaign to raise interest rates? Chances are you have a home equity line of credit or owe money on your credit cards. But for other borrowers, it’s been a mixed bag. Rates for 30-year mortgages, for example, have gone down. For savers, rates on…

NEW YORK (AP) — Consumers’ confidence in the economy picked up momentum in June, rising to a higher-than-expected level for the second month in a row despite oil prices’ upward march. The gain reported by The Conference Board put consumer confidence at a three-year high. The business research group said its Consumer Confidence Index rose…

McMinnville resident Terry Eugene Miller, 43, died June 23 at Jackson-Madison General Hospital.An employee of Gino’s BBQ and a member of the Baptist Church, he was the son of Sammie Dot Bain Hillis and the late Dorris Eugene Miller.He is survived by sisters, Kimberly Jane Scott of Woodbury and Diana Lyon Carter of McMinnville; halfbrother,…

Smithville resident Louise Winchester, 82, died June 25 at DeKalb Hospital.A caretaker and a member of New Home Missionary Baptist Church, she was the daughter of the late Elvert Leslie and Hassie Lee Certain Raymond; and was preceded in death by son, Ricky Winchester; daughters, Mary Sue Chapman and Helen Jeanette Winchester; grandchildren, Bobby Pruitt…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has set up a Web site for people looking for ways to show their support for U.S. troops — and to show the troops what people at home are doing on their behalf. The site, www.americasupportsyou.mil, offers news and other information about military men and women and provides forums for…

By DUNCAN MANSFIELD / Associated Press Writer KNOXVILLE — Security guards responsible for defending the Oak Ridge nuclear weapons plant routinely work more than 60 hours a week but still aren’t putting in enough time on training, federal auditors said in a report Tuesday. The 650-guard force at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant spent “about…