NEW YORK (AP) ? Stocks slid Friday after waning enthusiasm among investors ahead of the holiday weekend overshadowed data showing higher consumer spending and a jump in sales of big-ticket goods in November. A weak bond market also weighed on stocks. The pair of reports from the Commerce Department was welcome news for the economy.…

NASHVILLE (AP) ? Tennessee’s unemployment rate in November increased to 5 percent from October’s rate of 4.5 percent, the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development announced Thursday. The state rate is lower than November 2005, when the unemployment rate was 5.5 percent. The national unemployment rate for November was 4.5 percent. “Tennessee’s unemployment rate…

By James Clark Dwall Drywall Supply owner Ronnie Simmons stands next to one of his two drywall boom trucks that can extend five stories tall. Despite cries from the editors of Business Pulse, I refused to allow anyone any extra vacation time this year. Business Pulse must go on! Now I know you?re thinking I?m…

Union members in Akron, Ohio walk picket lines during a Goodyear Tire strike that?s been ongoing since Oct. 5. CLEVELAND (AP) – Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and a union representing about 12,600 union workers in the United States tentatively agreed Friday to a new contract that would end an 11-week strike over health care…

NASHVILLE (AP) ? Gov. Phil Bredesen has announced that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee won the contract to provide the state’s new health insurance for low-income working Tennesseans. The governor’s Cover Tennessee program will offer participants two insurance options featuring separate benefit packages. Of the five proposals submitted by insurance companies, the contracts were…

NASHVILLE (AP) ? Tennesseans saw fewer new jobs in 2006 and economists are projecting even slower employment growth next year, though they don’t foresee the state sliding into a recession anytime soon. The state’s health care industry made some of the biggest business news in 2006, with hospital operator HCA Inc. going private in a…

By Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar Dear Annie: I’m 34 and eight years sober. I am of a nontraditional faith, and derive much comfort and serenity from it. By nontraditional, I mean it’s not one of the well-known organized religions. Most people are not very understanding about my choice, so whenever possible, I talk in…

By MARGARET HOBBS For a child, no cookie says Christmas like the gingerbread man cookie, and the bigger the better. How about a 19-inch cookie that is 17 inches wide? Tony and Elizabeth Patrick baked the extra large cookie recently, using a specially designed cookie cutter made by Tony. The 50-year veteran sheet metal craftsman…

By Margaret Hobbs ?I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,? is a greeting we hear a lot at this time of year. Sometimes from people we don?t even know. Why is this? Is it because they really want us to have a great holiday, or is it just a case…

Southern Standard readers are invited to extend happy birthday and anniversary best wishes to friends and loved ones through this weekly column. Please submit your messages by our noon deadline each Thursday. No more that three wishes to any individual, please. Happy Birthday Wishes:Dec. 21 ? Happy birthday Nickyha Whipple. We love you, Me Ma…