By Kevin Halpern / Online Director / Southern Standard Two weeks ago today, Hurricane Katrina unleashed its fury on the Gulf Coast, causing a path of destruction that covered 99,000 square miles and claiming hundreds of lives. Four years ago yesterday, terrorists flew airplanes into the Twin Towers in New York, into the Pentagon, and…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Less than three years after first donning a judge’s robe, John Glover Roberts Jr. is on a path toward speedy confirmation for becoming, at age 50, chief justice of the United States. A turbulent week that included the funeral of William H. Rehnquist, his mentor and the man he hopes to replace,…

CORDOVA (AP) — Police and prosecutors Sunday were waiting for a medical examiner’s ruling before deciding whether to charge parents in the death of their 5-month-old child, who was left in a van for two hours. Jerry and Jill Janowski told police they had forgotten Caleb Janowski in the van outside their apartment when they…

KNOXVILLE (AP) — Members of the Marine Corps Reserve 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, Delta Company are scheduled to return home from service abroad and will fly into North Carolina throughout this week. Roughly 50 of the Marines have been serving in Iraq while another 35 members of Delta Company have been deployed to Djibouti, a…

CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Ethics will be a hot topic on the Tennessee Lobbyists Association’s agenda when the group meets here this week, according to its president. With two separate panels discussing ethics legislation in preparation for a special legislative session that could change the way lobbyists do business, Mark Greene said there is a lot…

KNOXVILLE (AP) — Many accused felons continue to violate state law by keeping their handgun permits because the Department of Safety has not set clear policies for law enforcement agencies and courts to follow, officials say. For years, courts across the state have failed to seize the permits and the Department of Safety, which oversees…

MEMPHIS (AP) — A Memphis woman has been charged with forgery and attempted theft after trying to collect more than $1,500 in Hurricane Katrina relief money, police say. Emma Hill, 31, told a worker at an American Red Cross hurricane relief center in Memphis Friday that she lived in Gulfport, Miss., and had lost everything…

Spencer resident and Van Buren County native Janie Lee Shockley Madewell, 92, died Sept. 9 at her home after an extended illness.A homemaker and a member of the Church of Christ, she was the daughter of the late Pearl Monroe and Maggie Worthington Shockley; and was preceded in death by her husband, Earl J. Madewell;…

Rock Island resident and Van Buren County native Edward Carson Hitchcock, 86, died Sept. 9 at his son’s home.A retired material supervisor with the Warren County School System and a member of Campaign Church of God, he served his country in the U.S. Army during World War II.The son of Horace Everett and Sophia Electa…

Metairie, La., resident formerly of McMinnville Dorothy Bernice Stiles Peel, 62, died Sept. 7 in Houston, Texas after a brief illness.A retired realtor, a former member of the Order of the Eastern Star, and an attender of the Church of Christ, she was preceded in death by her parents, J.R. and Clista Gribble Stiles; son,…