Morrison resident and White County native Robert Edward Mullican, 89, died Sept. 6 at River Park Hospital.A retired farmer and furniture salesman with Barr’s Furniture Inc. and a member of Morrison First Baptist Church where he served as a deacon, he was the son of the late George H. and Vinnie Hooper Mullican; and was…

Baxter resident and Mansfield, La., native Paul Allen Noble Jr., 44, died Sept. 4 at his home after an extended illness.A welder/fabricator for Construction Service Group and a member of Friendship Church of God in Cookeville, he was preceded in death by maternal grandparents, Wilford and Louellen Berry, and paternal grandparents, Paul H. and Norma…

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The floodwaters that caused so much misery and death in New Orleans were being pumped back into Lake Pontchartrain as rescue crews from as far away as California trolled the evacuated city for stragglers and authorities braced for what the receding deluge would reveal. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began…

MEMPHIS (AP) — Lt. Gov. John Wilder says he’s innocent of any heavy-handedness or undue influence on an ethics subcommittee meeting where a loan made by his bank to a fellow senator was discussed. “I went up there to say howdy,” Wilder told The Commercial Appeal. “I said nothing to any of the (subcommittee members).…

NASHVILLE (AP) — All lawmakers can do is watch and wait as a federal probe into bribery and corruption at the state Capitol continues to sink colleagues. Legislators said they have heard the rumors that more arrests are on the way, but don’t know if it will include local officials like the one nabbed last…

NASHVILLE (AP) — Protesters who camped out in the state capitol around the clock to protest cuts to TennCare have left the building and the state troopers monitoring them will go back to regular duty, the Department of Safety reported Monday. The protesters, working in shifts, stayed in the building for about 77 days to…

By BETH RUCKER / Associated Press Writer NASHVILLE — The U.S. government has granted Gov. Phil Bredesen’s request that Tennessee be reimbursed for money spent on Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. The federal funding will help the state continue to provide housing, food and water, health care and other essentials to evacuees from the Gulf Coast…

FONTANA, Calif. (AP) — Matt Kenseth and Jamie McMurray are in. Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon and Elliott Sadler are out — for the moment. The Nextel Cup race in Richmond, Va., on Saturday night is all that remains before the start of the 10-race Chase for the championship, and the last two positions in the…

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Another blown field goal try decided a Florida State-Miami game. Nothing new there. The difference Monday night was the Seminoles were the team celebrating when Miami messed up, instead of the other way around. The Hurricanes botched a short, potential game-tying field-goal attempt in the final minutes to hand Florida State…