NEW YORK (AP) — “This one,” says Martha Stewart, “this is the one I want.” Stewart, who makes an art of knowing what she wants, has chosen the best coconut from a platter holding several. A good coconut is “heavy for its size,” she explains, and as she hefts this one for a demonstrative shake,…

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Tropical Storm Ophelia strengthened into a hurricane as it stalled 70 miles off the northeast Florida coast Thursday, churning up waves that caused beach erosion and drenching Kennedy Space Center with rain. Thursday night, Ophelia had top sustained winds of 75 mph, just over the threshold to be classified…

NEW YORK (AP) — To African-Americans, Hurricane Katrina has become a generation-defining catastrophe — a disaster with a predominantly black toll, tinged with racism. They’ve rallied to the cause with an unprecedented outpouring of activism and generosity. Blacks who have been touched by the disaster are not only donating money but gathering supplies, taking in…

By RYAN LENZ / Associated Press Writer Banjo player Bela Fleck is seen performing at DePaul University’s School of Music in Chicago, Oct. 28, 2000. Thoughtful study on Bluegrass music was bound to come, Fleck said in September 2005. (AP Photo) Bluegrass music has taken a long road to the ivory tower from its hardscrabble…

NASHVILLE (AP) — Three pedestrians have been killed walking along interstate highways in the Nashville area in less than a week, police say. Steven L. Price, 40, a homeless man from Cleveland, was struck Thursday while trying to cross Interstate 40. Police say he was hit by two pickup truck drivers who were unable to…

CLARKSVILLE (AP) — An 88-year-old nursing home patient died after she was attacked by her roommate, investigators said. Eunice Kentner died at a Nashville hospital Tuesday, a day after the attack at Palmyra Health Care. A nurse’s aide told Montgomery County sheriff’s deputies that she heard a noise in Kentner’s room Monday and found Em…

NASHVILLE (AP) — State Rep. Tre’ Hargett is undecided on whether he will step down from his seat before his term expires and is adamant that family played the biggest role in his decision to turn down a lobbying job from Pfizer Inc. Critics, led by Democrats, have hammered Hargett since he first announced plans…

SPARTA (AP) — A former White County sheriff’s deputy was arrested Thursday and charged with sexually assaulting a victim at the department’s office on April 26, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reported. Jerry Ray Cole Jr., 35, was indicted by a grand jury on charges of official misconduct, sexual battery and official oppression. He was…

NASHVILLE (AP) — An installer of highway guardrails has sued the state over having its contracts suspended for what the company says are false claims of shoddy work. Lu Inc., based in Kingston Springs, is seeking to have the court issue a stay of its contract suspension, reinstate its contracts, rule on the propriety of…

NASHVILLE (AP) — The 6th U.S. Circuit of Appeals on Thursday overturned a judge’s temporary injunction that would have prevented the Pentagon from recommending in a report to President Bush that the Tennessee Air National Guard’s 118th Airlift Wing be relocated. U.S. District Judge Robert Echols granted the injunction on Wednesday because the state said…