NASHVILLE (AP) — If cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones studies the Tennessee defense really hard, Tennessee’s top draft pick has a chance to dress and play Sunday, coach Jeff Fisher said Monday. Jones, the sixth pick overall in April, was deactivated for the season opening 34-7 loss to Pittsburgh. He became the team’s first No. 1…

By TERESA M. WALKER / AP Sports Writer NASHVILLE — The NFL’s youngest team needed only an eight-minute span for the Tennessee Titans’ lack of experience to be exposed. A fumble, a missed field goal, and an interception at the Pittsburgh 5 combined with seven missed tackles flipped a 7-7 tie into a 34-7 rout…

A bull stands in floodwaters south of Port Sulphur, La., on Monday, Sept. 12, 2005. Plaquemines Parish, a rural region southeast of New Orleans, was swamped by Hurricane Katrina, with many homes being completely washed away. (AP Photo) PORT SULPHUR, La. (AP) — The shrimp and fish are gone. The oysters are mixed with mud.…

By SHARON COHEN / AP National Writer NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Kenny Charbonnet saw a hurricane turn his beloved city into a bug-infested swamp with floating mounds of rotting trash and houses buried in sewage. He knew then he had to flee — just as he knows now he has to come back. “There needs…

By TOM RAUM / Associated Press Writer ROBERTS WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on President Bush’s first Supreme Court nomination provided activists in both parties with a warm-up for a bigger court battle to come. The John Roberts hearings that began Monday are for a higher post, that of chief justice. But those…

By RON FOURNIER / AP Political Writer WASHINGTON — The fatally slow response to Hurricane Katrina unleashed a wave of anger that could transform people’s expectations of government, the qualities they seek in political leaders and their views of America’s class and racial divides. It’s a huge opportunity that neither party seems poised to exploit.…

FRANKLIN (AP) — A 73-year-old woman has accused an off-duty Williamson County Sheriff’s deputy of slapping her, but his employer said he believes the accusation is false. Alan Thomas King, 36, has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the case. He is scheduled to appear in a Marshall County court on Sept.…

NEWPORT (AP) — A cockfighting pit raided by state and federal authorities this summer had bleachers to seat about 500 people and nearly 100 outbuildings that included a restaurant and gift shop, state troopers testified during a hearing. Four Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers talked about the June raid that netted 143 citations during a hearing…

MEMPHIS (AP) — An indictment on bribery and extortion charges won’t keep former Tennessee Sen. John Ford from attending a convention of black business and political leaders in Washington, D.C. Ford, who resigned from the state Senate in May, will attend the conference Sept. 21-26 to look for new clients for his private consulting business,…

MEMPHIS (AP) — The price of barge transportation has tripled or more since Hurricane Katrina interrupted the flow of empty vessels upstream, and that’s pushing down commodity prices, officials said. David Glidewell, ADM Grain general manager in Memphis, said that within the last week the price to charter a barge between Memphis and New Orleans…