By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard A hail of gunshots broke the still, night air on Spring Valley Road Thursday morning as a drive-by shooter opened fire on the home of two elderly ladies, one of the women in her 90s.“There was absolutely no reason for this,” said Sheriff Jackie Matheny…

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard A mother of four faces felony charges after she left her 4-year-old daughter home alone while she took her other children to school.The defendant, Rhonda M. Garretson, is charged with child neglect, a crime which carries two to four years in prison. She is free…

McMinnville resident and Warren County native G.H. Powell, Jr., 82, was born Aug. 1, 1923 and died Dec. 21, 2005 at Raintree Manor Nursing Home following an extended illness.A retired, self-employed building contractor and a member of Central Church of Christ, where he served as church treasurer for many years, he served his country in…

McMinnville resident and DeKalb County native Shelby West Terry, 95, was born Oct. 16, 1910 and died Dec. 22, 2005 at Raintree Manor Nursing Home following an extended illness.She was a homemaker and a member of Barren Fork Baptist Church. She was married to Felix Rowland Terry, who preceded her in death in February, 1980.…

LOS ANGELES Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. – Two new studies are challenging the notion that the desolate Martian plains once brimmed with salty pools of water that could have supported some form of life. Instead, the studies argue, the layered rock…

WASHINGTON Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. – Southern and Western states are growing so much faster than the rest of the country that several are expected to grab House seats from the Northeast and Midwest when Congress is reapportioned in 2010. Demographers…

WASHINGTON Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. – The U.S. economy grew at the fastest pace in 1 1/2 years in the summer as booming auto sales offset the adverse effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. But the year is expected to end…

WASHINGTON Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. – It’s still three years away, but there now is a firm date for the transition to all-digital television – the biggest change in the industry since color TV. Legislation passed by the Senate on Wednesday…

WASHINGTON Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. – Gabbing on cell phones, Web surfing on laptops and rhythm-walking with iPods, millions confess they have become high-tech junkies – already coveting a new wave of techno-toys, an AP-Ipsos poll found. Those most likely to…

WASHINGTON Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. – Americans are playing fewer sports but watching more, according a report released Wednesday. Participation in almost every recreational sport, from golf and tennis to bowling and snow skiing, was down in 2004, while attendance at…