By JAMES CLARK / Editor for the Southern Standard While part of the middle school parking lot has been repaved, potholes still remain in another section not scheduled for repairs this school year. (James Clark photo) APAC workers are putting the finishing touches on the Warren County Middle School parking lot project — or at…

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard This four-legged duck named Quaddle was helped by the local Humane Society. (Charles W. Johnson photo) Everyone knows the Humane Society is dedicated to rescuing their four-legged friends, though most people might find it pretty unusual when that four-legged friend happens to be a…

By JAMES CLARK / Editor for the Southern Standard The county will have to raise taxes 5 cents to compensate for Carrier’s departure.That’s the predicament local officials face as Warren County’s once-largest employer has halted production and is currently vacating its nearly 1-million-square-foot facility in Morrison.Last year Carrier paid the county $381,728 in taxes. Of…

DANDRIDGE (AP) — Three middle school students were charged Tuesday with plotting to kill a teacher for disciplining one of them, Jefferson County Sheriff David Davenport said. The plot was foiled when a handgun the boys brought to Maury Middle School discharged in the boys’ bathroom Thursday morning as they were examining it. The bullet…

NASHVILLE (AP) — A soldier who recently returned from a deployment to Iraq was killed early Tuesday morning following an argument with another man about the victim’s girlfriend, police said. Army Sgt. Jeffery Kevin Rayner, 27, of Nashville was stabbed twice in the chest in an argument with William Keith Gillum, 36, of Nashville, police…

NASHVILLE (AP) — Leading lawmakers said corruption is rare and hard to find at the Capitol, countering the claim by a colleague who pleaded guilty in the Tennessee Waltz investigation that what he did is “business as usual in Nashville.” Earlier Tuesday, East Tennessee Republican Chris Newton pleaded guilty on federal corruption charges of taking…

MEMPHIS (AP) — A state lawmaker pleaded guilty to taking bribes in exchange for legislative favors, saying he got snagged “by business as usual” at the Capitol. State Rep. Chris Newton told a federal judge he sought and accepted bribes from undercover FBI agents, becoming the first lawmaker charged in the continuing federal investigation to…

By MATT GOURAS / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE — The public and reporters will be barred from a Senate ethics panel’s discussions on whether a state senator may be an “unindicted co-conspirator” in a federal fraud case, the group’s chairman said Tuesday. The chairman of the Senate Ethics Subcommittee, Democrat Doug Henry of Nashville, said…

By JUSTIN POPE / AP Education Writer It was a good grade on what has been a mixed report card for American students lately in math. The high school class of 2005 recorded the highest-ever average scores on the math portion of the SAT college entrance exam, according to results released Tuesday. Though the 2-point…

By Tad Bartimus / Columnist The headache wouldn’t go away. Nauseated, my temples throbbing under the wet washcloth draped over my eyes, I asked my husband for aspirin.Swallowing two pills, I absently thought, “Gee, these feel too big.”An hour later, my headache was gone but my heart was pounding, my legs trembled, and my eyes…