NASHVILLE (AP) — Advocates for TennCare enrollees have launched a statewide campaign calling for a special legislative session to look for ways to reverse cuts to the state’s public health care program. Gov. Phil Bredesen has said he’s cutting about 190,000 adults from TennCare and reducing benefits for thousands of others because the state cannot…

NASHVILLE (AP) — State Republicans say they will voluntarily end the tradition of asking lobbyists for money the night before the start of a General Assembly session. The Senate and House Republican caucus chairmen told The Knoxville News Sentinel they will change the date of their annual fundraising receptions to at least a month before…

By GARY TANNER / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE (AP) — State Rep. Chris Newton, under indictment on corruption charges, told The Associated Press on Sunday night that he will resign his seat in the state House effective Nov. 1. The Cleveland Republican was one of five current or former Tennessee lawmakers arrested May 26 in…

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — With the game tied in extra innings, a tiring reliever on the mound and the Little League World Series championship on the line, Michael Memea had a simple plan: make contact. West Oahu of Ewa Beach, Hawaii had already completed a stunning comeback Sunday over the defending champions from Willemstad,…

By JIM LITKE / AP Sports Columnist The short answer to why there are so many crashes in NASCAR: Strip away the 800-horsepower engines, the flame-retardant suits, the 3,400 pounds of steel and the drivers go about their business pretty much like everybody else. They laugh, they cry, they win a few and lose all…

BRISTOL (AP) — Jeff Gordon is in, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is out and Matt Kenseth suddenly is knocking on the door. The typical bumping and banging at Bristol Motor Speedway shuffled the championship standings, ensuring the race to make the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship will go down to the wire. Kenseth, written off…

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans traditionally keep three tight ends on their 53-man roster. This might be the season to keep four. Undrafted rookie Gregg Guenther is the team’s leading receiver with 11 catches for 100 yards even though the 6-foot-8 tight end wasn’t signed until three days before training camp started on July…

By TERESA M. WALKER / AP Sports Writer NASHVILLE — Salary cap slashing cost Tennessee five starters on defense this offseason. Luckily, the Titans still have linebackers Keith Bulluck and a healthy Peter Sirmon to avoid missing them too much. Sirmon, who sat out the 2004 season after tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament early…

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) — President Bush is increasingly lending a hand to the administration’s effort to sell older Americans on the value of a prescription drug benefit that begins next year for Medicare patients. Trying to combat confusion about and criticism of the new government drug plan, Bush is to make appearances in two states…

GREENSBORO, Ga. (AP) — Rising gas prices are taking a bigger bite out of state budgets across the South but it’s a greater financial concern for some states than for others, a survey of seven Southern governors showed. The governors were interviewed during the annual meeting of the Southern Governors Association, which opened a three-day…