MEMPHIS (AP) Former Memphis school board member Michael Hooks Jr. became the 11th person charged in the Tennessee Waltz corruption scandal when he was indicted Tuesday on embezzlement charges. Hooks? father, Shelby County Commissioner Michael Hooks Sr., was indicted last year on Tennessee Waltz bribery charges and is awaiting trial. Five of the accused in…

MANCHESTER (AP) Drug arrests at the fifth annual Bonnaroo music festival generally involved smaller quantities than in previous years while thievery was up ?quite a bit more,? the sheriff said. “They would go through tents and RVs and steal money out of purses,” Coffee County Sheriff Steve Graves said Monday. “It seemed to be more…

The Mountain Press Sevierville Government is at its best when it provides for our defense and protects us from those who would try to hurt us. Laws are meant to shield people from those who would seek to take advantage of others. Tennessee didn’t have an adequate law to guard against so-called predatory lending. Unfair…

Duane Sherrill It?s all your fault. Next time you?re down on how things are run, before you point your finger at others, point the finger at yourself. It?s the people of Warren County who elect their officials, so, in a roundabout way, the government of Warren County is a reflection of the people it serves.…

Jim Mullen Like most people, I’m not very good at remembering jokes. But every now and then one sticks with me like a bare thigh on a hot vinyl car seat. A guy wrote to Reader’s Digest a few years ago to say that one day as he was driving his 5-year-old daughter to kindergarten,…

The Jackson Sun We think Tennessee’s Republican Sens. Bill Frist and Lamar Alexander have the right approach on their Senate Web sites. They make their information available in Spanish. That means everyone they represent, even those who might not read or speak English fluently, can be informed about important issues their elected officials are dealing…

William Rusher People are naturally prone to worry about dangers that are invisible: radioactivity, for one spectacular example. The media know this, and are forever trumpeting the discovery of new perils to scare us with. Hardly a week passes without someone announcing that some familiar food or other useful substance has just been discovered to…

Presented by the Dept. of Urban Forestry, 474-TREE Native to Maine, Ontario, Michigan to Florida and Texas, Black Gum was introduced to the plant community sometime before 1750. The genus name of this tree comes from Nyssa, the beautiful Greek water nymph, while the specific epithet, sylvatica, means ?of the woods.? The common name, tupelo,…

Mark Halcomb UT Nursery Specialist Containers: I hope you have been checking the pH and soluble salts of a few plants every 2 weeks or so, for the satisfaction of knowing that things are right. Or for a heads up of a beginning problem; before symptoms can be detected; so that corrective action can be…

South Jackson Civic Center, Performing Arts for Children and Teens, has announced the cast for Disney?s “Jungle Book.? Twenty six children have taken part in the two-week intensive workshop. P.A.C.T. Director Coleen Saunders said, “What a first week! These kids are tireless. We have auditioned, learned music and choreographed and blocked the show. I have…