WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people receiving unemployment benefits reached a four-year low last week, fresh evidence of a strengthening economy. The number of laid-off workers receiving jobless benefits averaged 2.58 million over the four weeks ending last week, the lowest four-week average since March 2001, the Labor Department reported Thursday. For just last…

OAK RIDGE — The Southern Appalachia Railway Museum (SARM) is having their Labor Day weekend train ride on Saturday September 3 at 11 am, 1 pm and 3 pm. The ride is ideal for the train or Oak Ridge history buff, and has been popular for showing a bit of Tennessee and its history to…

McMinnville resident and Warren County native Connie W. Mullican, 83, died Aug. 20 at her home.A homemaker and a member of Westwood Church of Christ, she served as a cub scout leader, den mother, scout leader, president of the PTA and was a member of the Westwood Garden Club for over 50 years. She attended…

Beersheba Springs resident and Altamont resident Cheatum L. Myers, 89, died Aug. 24.A member of Liberty Independent Missionary Baptist Church, he was the son of Henry and Clara Northcutt Myers; and was preceded in death by his wife, Lena Mae Wrisner; sons, Parker Dalton and Ellis Myers; brothers, Clifton and Comer Myers; and sisters, Celvia…

BOSTON (AP) — Judge Paul D. Lewis has seen it all during his 23 years in juvenile court: kids involved in shootings, kids involved in killings, kids involved in rapes at gunpoint. So when a 12-year-old boy came into his court charged with possession of a firearm, Lewis had seen enough. The judge set the…

CHICAGO (AP) — Dr. Catherine DeAngelis is a staunch Roman Catholic, used to give communion to her patients and says she strongly opposes abortion. So The Journal of the American Medical Association’s editor-in-chief says she had to take a walk around the block after receiving dozens of “horrible, vindictive” e-mails condemning her for publishing an…

ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Jimmy Carter, one of Georgia’s most famous sons, was the target of scorn, shock and disbelief Thursday for lobbying to save a Connecticut submarine base at the expense of thousands of jobs for his home state. At least one member of an independent panel said Carter was the reason he…

(AP) — “Undiscovered” feels more like a pilot for a glossy nighttime soap on Fox — probably one that would be canceled midseason — than a feature film with even a modicum of discernible originality or depth. A gaggle of hip, pretty people, all aspiring actors or singers or musicians, prowl around Los Angeles, where…

(AP) — You’re already thinking it so we’re just going to say it and get it out of the way: “The Cave” looks like a rip-off of “Alien,” because that’s what it is. It’s also a paltry pastiche of “Pitch Black” and “The Abyss” (which were also rip-offs of “Alien”) and is available in a…

DALLAS (AP) — It’s a scene gas station workers say is becoming increasingly common and frightening: Customers angry over gas prices nearing $3 a gallon storm in and decide to take it out on the employees. “They just yell and scream,” said Selam Berhe, assistant manager at a Dallas Tetco station. “They think it’s only…