McMinnville resident and Warren County native Otis ?Dude? Merritt, 71, was born June 30, 1935 and died Dec. 23 at NHC Healthcare McMinnville. The retired owner of Merritt Nursery, a U.S. Army veteran and a member of the Church of Christ, Highway 56 North, he was the son of the late Odus and Lillian Talley…

Doyle resident and Van Buren County native Mary Gladys Sparkman Deaton Haston, 89, was born May 12, 1917 and died Dec. 26 at NHC Healthcare Sparta. A retired school teacher with the Van Buren County School System, a member of the Retired Teachers Association and a member of Doyle Church of Christ, she was the…

McMinnville resident and Cannon County native Lena Miller Parsley Jones, 81, was born Dec. 26, 1925 and died Dec. 27 at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville following a sudden illness. A retired employee of A.O. Smith, she was the daughter of the late William Richard and Lillie Pearl Davenport Miller. She was married first to…

Ernest Dwight King, 56, of McMinnville passed from this life Dec. 27 at his residence. Mr. King was the owner of Kings Brothers Tree Farm and Nursery. He is survived by wife, Patricia King; daughters, Andrea Jacobs and Christy Locke of McMinnville, Lisa and David Christian of Manchester, Heather King of Palmer; sisters, Brenda and…

NEW YORK (AP) – The nation’s retailers were ushering in the post-Christmas shopping season by slashing prices even more on holiday items and stocking up on fresh new merchandise. With the 2006 pre-Christmas season turning out to be challenging, the nation’s merchants are hoping that shoppers, armed with gift cards, will spend freely, snapping up…

KNOXVILLE (AP) – A Knoxville radio station that billed itself as a home for “raw soul,” had some rights to that claim. It was owned, after all, by James Brown, the “Godfather of Soul.” Brown, 73, died Monday at an Atlanta hospital where he was being treated for pneumonia. In 1967, Brown bought Knoxville radio…