SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) — The drumbeat of verdicts jolted the deathly still courtroom — not guilty, not guilty, not guilty. Fourteen times the court clerk read the words. Revealing no emotion, Michael Jackson sat motionless at the defense table for five of the most important minutes of his dizzying life as the threat of…

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee safety Lance Schulters’ time in limbo is nearing an end, and that may mean the end of his tenure with the Titans. General manager Floyd Reese said Monday that he will be talking with Schulters’ agent later this week and hopes to have a decision soon on the safety. The problem…

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The prison sentence for a wealthy businessman who bribed a high school coach to send a promising football player to Alabama should cause other college boosters to think twice before “using their money” to control the lives of young athletes, a federal judge said Monday. U.S. District Judge Daniel Breen sentenced…

JOHNSON CITY (AP) — Thousands of people to be cut from the state’s expanded Medicaid program will receive help finding discount drug prescriptions through a database being paid for by various drug companies. “This is timely in terms of the amount of uninsured we have in Tennessee, and timely in terms of patients who are…

KNOXVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Valley Authority will consider a $524 million electric rate increase for the coming fiscal year — the first jump in rates since 2003. The increase represents a 7.52 percent hike in wholesale power prices to TVA distributors, which charge varying rates to their business and residential customers. TVA estimates the…

NASHVILLE (AP) — More citations written by Tennessee Highway Patrol officers during the last four years has coincided with a huge drop in speeding-related traffic accidents, a national highway report released Monday shows. Also among the findings of the national report by the Governors Highway Safety Association was that 42 states, including Tennessee, allow drivers…

NASHVILLE (AP) — Caremark Rx Inc., the nation’s second-largest pharmacy benefits manager, announced Monday that it is building a second call center in Tennessee that will add 600 jobs over the next two years. “Caremark’s decision to expand in Tennessee is a wonderful success for our state and workers throughout the region,” Gov. Phil Bredesen…

KNOXVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper is expected to take weeks to recover after being hit by a vehicle driven by allegedly drug-impaired Bonnaroo fans returning home to Pennsylvania from the music festival. Rodney Redmon was released Sunday from the University of Tennessee Medical Center following the afternoon crash that sent him flying…

MANCHESTER (AP) — After traveling 19 hours from New Jersey to the Bonnaroo festival, Brian Tiano was sent to jail for three nights after a drug search at the entry gate. Like others charged with felony offenses, he missed all the music. After the music stopped, Coffee County Sheriff Steve Graves counted one death, 76…

POINT CLEAR, Ala. (AP) — A three-day conference sponsored by the Southern Growth Policies Board opened Sunday with a spotlight on the South’s rural economy. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, named chairman of the non-partisan SGPB last year, prepared to welcome the governors of Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, West Virginia and Arkansas. U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao…