CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — Lawmakers authorized state education officials to allow some students to appeal their failing Gateway exam scores needed to graduate from high school, but education officials say they do not plan to create a petition…

WASHINGTON Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — Just a fraction of the money that states received from tobacco settlements and taxes is being used to prevent smoking, advocacy groups reported in a study Wednesday. The report, “A Broken Promise to Our Children,”…

MORRISTOWN, Tenn. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — For the first time, Tennessee higher education officials have developed a formula for the Legislature that will predict college tuition increases. “Some of that becomes pretty frightening,” Chancellor Charles Manning told the Tennessee Board…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — Members of Tennessee’s funding board were told Wednesday that the state’s revenue growth is relatively strong, mainly because of continued spending by consumers despite natural disasters and high gas prices. The board, which is…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — Gov. Phil Bredesen said Thursday that a special session to discuss making Tennessee’s ethics laws more strict will likely start right before the regular session of the General Assembly begins in January. “I have…

By Cokie & Steven Roberts / Columnist Question: Who are Angela Merkel and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf? Answer: Merkel has just taken office as Germany’s first female chancellor, and Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberia’s president-elect, will be the first woman to head an African state.In the last generation, countries as diverse as Israel, India and Great Britain have also chosen…

By Gene Lyons / Columnist Some years ago I had an unsettling interview with the pastor of a gravel road fundamentalist church in deep East Texas. A magazine had dispatched me to cover a passionate controversy the fellow had stirred up among the local citizenry. The preacher had taken to delivering sermons on an AM…

LOS ANGELES Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — Network television reflects more of the country’s racial and ethnic diversity today than it did six years ago but much more progress could be made, according to a report released Thursday. The diversity survey,…

NEW YORK Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — Older anti-psychotic drugs are no safer and might even be worse for the elderly than newer ones that the government warned about earlier this year — both raise the risk of death, a study…

WASHINGTON Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — The trees won’t be the only thing sprouting new colors come springtime. Americans’ wallets will have more red, yellow and orange as the first of 800 million redesigned $10 bills start showing up in cash…