MEMPHIS (AP) — Ophelia Ford has little experience as a candidate, but the considerable weight of her family name may send her to the Tennessee Senate — to replace a brother charged in the state’s biggest corruption investigation in more than a decade. For more than 30 years, Fords have been elected to the Legislature…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Commissioners sent their recommendations for military bases to President Bush on Friday, a list that included plans to strip Nashville’s 118th Airlift Wing of its aircraft. The recommendation comes a day after a federal appeals court struck down a temporary injunction that would have barred the recommendation. Gov. Phil Bredesen is continuing…

NASHVILLE (AP) — U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt toured a shelter for Hurricane Katrina victims Saturday and said the agency has established a special evacuee status to improve their access to benefits. Many of the eligibility and enrollment requirements normally needed to apply for federal benefits would be stripped away to avoid…

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Dr. Jessica Lee fought the urge to panic. All week long, women stranded by Hurricane Katrina had been giving birth in primitive conditions at New Orleans’ University Hospital, their only after-effect a colorful story to tell their children someday. Now one was in trouble. She was 24 and scared. She…

MEMPHIS (AP) — Hurricane Katrina refugees staying here have been frequent crime targets, police report. It appears some criminals have been out looking for Louisiana license plates, police say. Many victims have had their vehicles taken, along with thousands of dollars in cash and valuables. Evelyn Scivicque and her family are among at least 56…

KNOXVILLE (AP) — Al Gore helped airlift some 270 Katrina evacuees on two private charters from New Orleans, acting at the urging of a doctor who saved the life of the former vice president’s son. Gore criticized the Bush administration’s slow response to Katrina in a speech Friday in San Francisco, but refused to be…

By BILL POOVEY / Associated Press Writer CHATTANOOGA — A Republican congressman said Hurricane Katrina exposed a preparedness problem all the way to the top in Washington, and he suggested that the costly relief effort means the Medicare prescription drug program expansion be delayed. U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp said everyone in the executive branch and…

FRIST WASHINGTON (AP) — Even in a tractor garage in Brownsville, Tenn., Bill Frist couldn’t escape The Question: “Are you running for president?” During his August congressional recess, the Senate Majority Leader had come to the town to talk about farm issues and rising fuel costs with some 200 people at the Willie German Equipment…

By JENNIFER LOVEN / Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON — Disasters are a tricky business for presidents. Handle them well and you’re a hero. Respond slowly or uncertainly and you could be in trouble. President Bush’s father, in the middle of a what became a losing re-election campaign, was slammed for his administration’s lackluster response to…

By Diana West / Columnist New Orleans is still underwater, and Hillary Clinton wants an “independent” Katrina Commission to review the government’s reaction — never mind that the government is still reacting.George W. Bush has decided to lead an investigation to examine “what went wrong and what went right” — never mind that “what” is…