JONESBORO, Ga. (AP) A middle school security officer used a Taser on a sixth-grade boy to break up his fight with a girl Wednesday, school officials said. Officials said the 11-year-old shocked twice with the device at Jonesboro Middle School weighs 200 pounds and refused to obey orders to stop attacking the girl, also 11,…

WASHINGTON (AP) A record 7 million people ? or one in every 32 American adults ? were behind bars, on probation or on parole by the end of last year, according to the Justice Department. Of those, 2,193,798 were in prison or jail, an increase of 2.7 percent over the previous year. Even though data…

WASHINGTON (AP) FRIST Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says he won?t seek the White House in 2008, an early dropout from the most wide-open presidential race in decades. “In the Bible, God tells us for everything there is a season, and for me, for now, this season of being an elected official has come to…

NASHVILLE (AP) After enjoying temperatures into the mid-70s, most of Tennessee braced for freezing temperatures and precipitation Thursday night. Weather forecasters called for temperatures to dip below 30 in some parts of the state, with light snow and freezing rain for most of Tennessee. No accumulation is expected. Mike Girodo, a meteorologist with the National…

CHATTANOOGA (AP) Methamphetamine, an illegal drug, gets its own day and Tennessee law officers say the addictive stimulant deserves it. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales declared yesterday as National Meth Awareness Day. In Tennessee, officials are observing ?Stop Meth in Tennessee, Start Right Now,? starting with a Grundy County news conference and enforcement promotional stops…

NASHVILLE (AP) BREDESEN Gov. Phil Bredesen said expanding the state’s pre-kindergarten program and tweaking the funding formula for urban schools would be among his top education priorities in the next budget year. Speaking after a budget proposal from the state Department of Education on Thursday, Bredesen said expanding the pre-K program by $25 million each…

Nat Hentoff Overlooked in the wake of the midterm elections and the Supreme Court oral arguments on partial-birth abortion is a South Dakota abortion case in the federal courts that casts a sharp shaft of light on the national abortion debate. The case is not connected to partial-birth abortion or to a South Dakota ban…

James Clark With the holiday season upon us, it?s an opportune time to give thanks for the great many blessings we enjoy in this community. For a loudmouth like me, it?s also an opportune time to complain ? and give some thanks along the way. ? We can all be thankful the vast majority of…

Letters to the Editor To the Editor: In 1892, Republican President Benjamin Harrison and Congress endorsed the following secular flag pledge: ?I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands ? one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.? This pledge, accompanied by a flag salute, and backed by the…

Letters to the Editor To the Editor: Is the McMinnville area aware of what they are about to lose? I am writing to you to let you know that McMinnville?s only homeless and drug and alcohol program is on the way out of our community because of a lack of support. Ray of Hope Street…