MIAMI (AP) Tropical Storm Ernesto threatened to cause flooding with more than a foot of rain Tuesday as it began drenching the southern part of Florida, but the system surprised forecasters by failing to strengthen as it approached the state. Ernesto, briefly a hurricane Sunday, lost much of its punch crossing mountainous eastern Cuba. Shortly…

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) The prosecutor in the JonBenet Ramsey case Tuesday defended her decision to bring John Mark Karr halfway around the world to Colorado for investigation, saying it was difficult to separate fact from fantasy in his lurid account because every detail of the slaying is public knowledge. District Attorney Mary Lacy said that…

NEW ORLEANS (AP) President Bush comforted this city that lost so much in Hurricane Katrina and has regained so little in the year since. Amid the raw sorrow of Tuesday?s anniversary, the president selected a few beacons of hope to give a lift to struggling Gulf communities and his own still-smarting presidency. ?The challenge is…

Diana West Last week in this space, I presented the first half of the speech President Bush should give to re-direct the war on terror. Here is the second half: At home, the line of defense is clear. It is our border. My new strategy calls on us to think of our border as more…

Southern Standard By the sound of things, state Sen. Jerry Cooper has already gone to trial and been convicted. Why else would there be calls for his resignation? To this day, Cooper has not been convicted of any crime surrounding a 1999 land deal that saw him sell Cooper Manufacturing to Anthony and Teresa Auyer.…

Duane Sherrill Instead of a big sign which says ?Welcome to the Nursery Capital of the World? greeting motorists as they enter Warren County?s borders, maybe we should go with a more accurate sign which reads ?Welcome to the suburbs.? Whether you like it or not, Warren County has become a suburb of Nashville, Murfreesboro…

William Rusher The bookstores, journals of opinion and newspaper Op Ed pages are chockfull, these days, of books and articles on the subject of “What’s Wrong With the Democrats?” It isn’t that they are believed to be at death’s door. On the contrary, they are widely regarded as likely to wrest control of the House…

The Jackson Sun In a not surprising turn of events, state Sen. Jerry Cooper, D-Morrison, was indicted on federal counts of bank fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy. Tennessee has had more than its share of political scandal in the past year. Cooper’s indictment on very serious charges only adds to public skepticism of state government.…

Farm Scene By the Associated Press WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) ? Wisconsin?s apple growers expect to harvest about 62 million pounds of the crisp fruit, a more normal harvest after a couple of down seasons. John Hornung of the U.S. Agricultural Statistics Service in Madison said Wisconsin?s anticipated 62 million pounds of apples this season would…

Steve C. Stubblefield CFSA Director It won?t be long until the sounds and smells of the crisp fall air will join the whine of the diesel engines, the clouds of soybean dust and corn fodder left behind in the wake of mammoth harvesting machines. The harvest of corn to be used as silage has begun.…