EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Texas has become the fourth state to have a non-white majority population, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday, a trend driven by a surging number of Hispanics moving to the state. According to the population estimates based on the 2000 Census, about 50.2 percent of Texans are now minorities. In…

WASHINGTON (AP) — A radical ultra low-fat diet and other lifestyle changes may help keep early-stage prostate cancer from worsening, says the first attempt to test the theory. It’s a small study that tracked men whose tumors weren’t aggressive. Still, the research, published in the September issue of The Journal of Urology, promises to increase…

CHICAGO (AP) — Overweight girls reach puberty earlier, but early puberty alone doesn’t necessarily lead to being overweight in adulthood, according to a new study. Instead, it’s childhood pudginess that’s linked with both early menstruation and adult weight problems. Girls who were overweight before their first menstrual periods were almost eight times more likely to…

(AP) — Scientists have discovered that a very common type of dog tick can spread Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a serious and often-fatal illness that reached historic highs in the United States last year. Two types of ticks already were known to transmit the disease, but they’re not as common and are carried mostly by…

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court Wednesday upheld a Virginia law requiring public schools to lead a daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Edward Myers of Sterling, a father of three, claimed that the reference to “one nation under God” in the pledge was an unconstitutional promotion of religion. A three-judge panel…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The active-duty Army hit its recruiting target in July for a second straight month, but the summertime rebound may not be enough to make up for a long-term shortfall, according to figures the Pentagon provided Wednesday. The Army National Guard, meanwhile, missed its goal again, recruiting only 4,712, or 80 percent, of…

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard PROPOSED CENTERTOWN SCHOOL DESIGN The county’s Budget and Finance Committee voted unanimously Tuesday morning to approve a $6.5 million general obligation bond to fund the new Centertown School project. The proposal will be presented to the full county commission for approval at its meeting…

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard Selling beer to an undercover agent will cost store clerks $940 per infraction as most of the accused offenders caught during a county-wide sting entered guilty pleas Tuesday morning.The defendants, mostly clerks with a few store owners also among the accused, appeared before General Sessions…

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard MEARS A man who held a teen-age boy at knife point after forcing his way into his home and then had a slugfest with deputies faces a mountain of charges.The suspect, Waymon Mears, 40, is charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault, assault, vandalism and…

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard Local photographer Mark Gribble handles the camera while Thomas Vaughn and Linda Gilbert work in front of the lens to produce a video touting Warren County as a great place to retire. (Charles W. Johnson photo) With a number of counties in the Upper…