Charles W. Johnson photo Kailyn Cantrell is all smiles as she finishes up a ride on the merry-go-round this year at the fair. The 9-year-old was one of the thousands who enjoyed the 52nd Warren County A&L Fair. For a look at more fair highlights, don’t miss the special section coming in Friday’s edition of…

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard A tasty chicken casserole can get more than compliments. It can also earn cash. Can you make a mean chicken casserole? If you can, it might just earn you $500.All you amateur cooks in Warren and surrounding counties are encouraged to get out your…

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard A moving cow is being blamed for a wreck on New Smithville Highway Monday morning which sent one man to the hospital.The victim, Jewell Dean Vaughn, 73, was treated for noncritical head injuries at River Park Hospital after he was injured when the truck, driven…

WASHINGTON (AP) — There may be debate over its timing but not over the goal of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and his colleagues: higher interest rates to make sure the economic expansion doesn’t generate inflationary pressures. While most economists still believe the central bank will nudge rates higher by a quarter-point at Tuesday’s meeting,…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pounds can become an obsession during pregnancy, but they should be a concern before conception. Obesity increases women’s risk of miscarriage and other serious, even life-threatening, complications. Dieting during pregnancy is a big no-no — it can harm the baby. With obesity on the rise, new guidelines urge obstetricians and gynecologists to…

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Lawyers representing about 116,000 former and current Wal-Mart Stores Inc. employees in California told a jury Monday that the world’s largest retailer systematically and illegally denied workers lunch breaks. The suit in Alameda County Superior Court is among about 40 cases nationwide alleging workplace violations against Wal-Mart, and the first to…

CHATTANOOGA (AP) — A 24-year-old Hurricane Katrina evacuee from New Orleans was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head, police said Monday. Don Maurice Airline was found by a passer-by Saturday on a secluded road near Lookout Mountain, police spokesman Tetzel Tillery said. The South Chattanooga Recreation Center, which has been housing some…

ATLANTA (AP) — Voter and civil rights organizations filed a federal lawsuit Monday challenging Georgia’s new law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls. The suit was filed the same day a commission co-chaired by former President Carter, a Georgia native, recommended a national requirement that voters show photo IDs. Opponents of photo…

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Bars, restaurants and shops had just begun showing signs of life when the mayor once again ordered everyone to leave town as a new tropical storm headed toward the Gulf of Mexico, bringing the threat of more flooding. The call for another evacuation came after repeated warnings from top federal officials…

By BILL POOVEY / Associated Press Writer WHITE PINE — Manufacturers are gearing up to produce cities of mobile homes for Hurricane Katrina victims, but 10 days after the federal government received their proposals to address the housing emergency, the companies are still waiting for a response. “A lot of people are waiting,” said Phyllis…