NASHVILLE, Tenn. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ? Interim Safety Commissioner Jerry Nicely says he will draw on his experience stabilizing another troubled state department to make changes aimed at ridding the Tennessee Highway Patrol of mismanagement and political favoritism. Gov. Phil…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ? Reeling from allegations of cronyism and revelations that dozens of state troopers have criminal records, officials announced Tuesday that the state is hiring an international security consulting company to help clean up the Department…

By Jim Mullen / Columnist I just read a great detective story. I couldn’t put it down. It was one of a series that takes place all in the same town. The detective always knows the best places to eat breakfast, the best places to drink top-shelf aged anjeo, the best place to buy an…

By William Rusher / Columnist Unless you are just back from some other planet, you will have noticed that there is much more commotion this year than in previous years over public observations of Christmas. The expenditure of public money on such explicitly Christian phenomena as creches in public parks, or even crosses on public…

By Duane Sherrill / Columnist Celebrating “Christmas” takes guts nowadays with all the pressure from different areas telling you what you should say, what you should do and how you should act.Hey, anybody can celebrate the holidays. All you have to do is put up a Santa in your front door and decorate a tree,…

Our Viewpoint Warren County has traditionally been a Democratic stronghold, so much so political candidates would not even attempt a run for office on the Republican ticket. To do so would have been political suicide just 10 years ago.But times have changed and some local voters are beginning to shed their Democratic ties and vote…

Dear Santa,I’ve tried to be good this year. I want my little brother and little sister to have a good Christmas. My sister wants some play dishes. My brother wants anything to do with Batman. I want a music mixer from Wal-Mart. I’ll try to be better next year. I’ts awful hard to be a…

Midway FCEC members met at Midway CIC Center Dec. 7 for a breakfast meeting. Attendees brought breakfast food items, with president Betty Grissom conducting the meeting.Guests included Claudine Ray, Doris June Moore and Charlotte Spice. Devotional leader Jean Cantrell read from the book of Matthew.A reading report was given by Bernice Champagne on “Family Blessings.”…

By Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar / Columnist Dear Annie: Last week, I received a call that my beloved uncle, who has cancer, had taken a turn for the worse and that we should come right away if we wanted to see him. All the relatives from several states rushed to the hospital.Upon arriving, I…

By Jim Miller / Columnist Dear Savvy Senior, I would like to sign up for Medicare’s new prescription drug coverage, which I want to do by the end of December, but I need help figuring out which plan to choose. I’ve received so much information about this in the mail that I don’t know where…