CALABASAS, Calif. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — No more smoking in the park. Lighting up on the sidewalk could bring a fine. Dining on the restaurant patio? Don’t bother asking for matches. One of the strictest tobacco bans in the nation…

WASHINGTON Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — After three years of war in Iraq, President Bush is trying to get Americans to look beyond the unrelenting violence that dominates news reports and see progress. Progress is the buzzword at the White House…

BLUE GRASS, Iowa Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — Earl Martz winces at the idea that one day someone other than a Martz may work the farm his family has owned for generations. Martz, 71, raised hogs, corn and soybeans on the…

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — The University of Tennessee has been ordered to pay $300,000 to a student who was attacked on campus with a brick and left brain damaged. Tennessee claims commissioner Vance Cheek Jr. on Friday found…

DYERSBURG, Tenn. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — Two Dyersburg children allegedly kidnapped by their live-in baby sitter have been found thanks to a college student who spotted the missing children, authorities say. Meagan Smith, 1, and Breanna Garner, 5, went missing…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — A Nashville Kats lineman has been charged with driving under the influence. Police found an open container in the car of Ronald Jones recently during a DUI checkpoint. Jones then failed a field sobriety…

SNEEDVILLE, Tenn. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — An AP member exchangeIt was a cold March morning, and in the hills of Hancock County, the serviceberries were in bloom. Nineteen-year-old David Greene had spring fever. Fortunately, there was a cure. Five miles…

LAFAYETTE, Tenn. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — State troopers arrested a Clay County General Sessions judge on suspicions he was driving drunk. Judge James D. White was spotted Thursday night crossing onto the shoulder of a Lafayette road more than six…

SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — A Shelbyville police officer has been placed on administrative leave after shooting and killing a man who allegedly fired a gun at him, authorities say. Officer James Wilkerson had ordered Fermin Estrada, 48, of…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Sylvia Hatchell knows one thing for sure: no coach would put North Carolina through what the NCAA tournament selection committee has done to her Tar Heels over and over again. In 2005, her top-seeded Tar Heels had to beat No. 6 seed Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz., in a regional semifinal.…