By DUANE SHERRILL Seven were arrested during a pre-Christmas sobriety checkpoint Friday evening, the first of two major roadblock projects, the next to be held New Year?s Eve. ?It was a very successful operation,? said McMinnville Police Sgt. Mark Mara, the ranking city officer at the checkpoint, which was a combined effort of city police…

By DUANE SHERRILL MYERS A man with a history of drug arrests has one more after lawmen caught him mixing crack with his crackers. The suspect, Jason Lee Biles, is charged with possession of crack cocaine and marijuana following his arrest which came after officers say they stopped to assist what they thought was a…

By LISA HOBBS Plans for the new Fernando C. Boyd Sr. Bridge, locally known as the Westwood Bridge, have came in from the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Those plans include walkways, lights and shutting the bridge down completely. That?s right, the bridge will be blocked off, dropped into the river and over the next two…

Elzie Dewey Argo, 82, of McMinnville died Sunday, Dec. 24 at River Park Hospital. Born on April 21, 1924 in Grundy County, he was a retired factory worker with Warner-Gear in Muncie, Ind., and was affiliated with the Church of Christ. Mr. Argo was preceded in death by his parents Howery and Jennie Smartt Argo…

McMinnville resident A. Duane Collins, 62, died unexpectedly Dec. 22 at St. Thomas Hospital. An accountant and an employee of A.O. Smith for 30 years, he attended the Church of Christ and was preceded in death by his father, Glenn A Collins and mother, Evelyn Baker Collins. He is survived by his wife, Martha Collins;…

By William Rusher It?s a little early to be dismissing anybody as a possible 2006 Democratic presidential nominee, but at the risk of looking silly a year from now, I want to go on record as saying that, having brooded about it a while, I think Barack Obama is a flash in the pan who…

By Diana West Sure, let?s go ahead and say this new ?troop surge? being bandied about Washington comes off, and tens of thousands of additional American troops pacify enough of Iraq to pull off what President Bush this week called the Iraqi dream ? ?a stable government that can defend, govern and sustain itself.? OK.…

The Jackson Sun The evidence in support of creating an independent ombudsman on open meetings and records keeps mounting. We urge Gov. Phil Bredesen to keep pushing for the creation of the position and for the creation of an independent advisory board to oversee the work of the ombudsman. The latest piece of evidence comes…

More Tennesseans with college degrees: Now, that’s a good thing. Making it happen will involve boosting enrollment at the University of Tennessee by about 8,000 students over the next several years. UT has asked the state for $165 million in funding for capital building projects. UT President John Petersen told Gov. Phil Bredesen during a…

By Duane Sherrill At the risk of sounding like a big clich?, I can safely say I?ve been at this job a long time, almost 17 years to be exact, yet this year in particular has been the strangest I?ve ever seen when it comes to just plain weird crimes. Of course we have the…