By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard A 98-person docket was heard Thursday by Judge Larry Ross in General Sessions Traffic Court.Included in court action: Julio Cesar Templos Aguilar was ordered to serve five days of an 11-29 sentence and pay $800 plus costs for possession of drugs and driving without a…

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard The community staple known as the Silver and Gold Band will be taking center stage this Friday for the next concert in the Main Street Live concert series.The community band, which is said to have roots that are at least a century old, will perform…

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard A Crossville teen was airlifted from the gorge at Rock Island Tuesday afternoon after falling from a small cliff near the area known as the Worm Hole.According to rangers at Rock Island State Park, the 19-year-old girl, whose name was not known at press time,…

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard The local Relatives as Parents Program is expanding its services to the Hispanic community, according to director Veronica Solomon. Participating in the program are, from left, Alicia Lara, Solomon and Casey Solomon. (Charles W. Johnson photo) The local Relatives as Parents Program is instituting…

By MATT GOURAS / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE — It will be illegal for lawmakers and many government officials to take consulting deals with state contractors starting Friday, one of the biggest changes to Tennessee law taking effect that day. Many of the laws passed by the General Assembly earlier this year go into place…

By MARTHA IRVINE / AP National Writer CHICAGO — Evan Wayne thought he was prepared for anything during a recent interview for a job in radio sales. Then the interviewer hit the 24-year-old Chicagoan with this: “So, we call you guys the ‘Entitlement Generation,’” the baby boomer executive said, expressing an oft-heard view of today’s…

By JENNIFER LOVEN / Associated Press Writer FORT BRAGG, N.C. — The Iraq war has claimed the lives of more than 1,740 Americans, wounded 13,190 and cost more than $200 billion. President Bush tried to convince the nation Tuesday night that the sacrifice has been worth it and that his strategy is succeeding. “Like most…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite new Supreme Court actions on prayers, the Pledge of Allegiance and the Ten Commandments, the long-running legal battle over where religion ends and government begins shows no sign of stopping. The Supreme Court’s latest rulings failed to offer much clarity on the issue, leaving all sorts of sticky church-state disputes to…

Charles W. Johnson photo Cute 4-year-old Abby Evans is just like another blossom among the beautiful flowers Saturday at the Farmers Market.

By JAMES CLARK / Editor for the Southern Standard The cost of turning on a light is about to get more expensive.Tennessee Valley Authority is expected to approve a rate increase at its next board meeting in July and, if approved, the increase will be passed on to distributors beginning Oct. 1.“No one likes to…