Vero Beach, Fla., resident Wallace J. Gossett Jr., 60, died Jan. 25 at his home after a brief illness. A special agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement before his retirement in 2002, he was a member of the Vero Beach First Church of God. He is survived by his wife of 37 years,…

McMinnville resident and Altamont native Robert Louis (Bob) Fults, 71, was born June 16, 1935 and died Jan. 23 at River Park Hospital following an extended illness An auditor with the state of Tennessee and Colonial Corporation, a United States Air Force veteran and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day…

Elizabeth McMillen, 77, passed from this life Jan 23 at her residence of a extended illness. She was a homemaker and a member of the Baptist Church. She is survived by daughter, Gracie Drake of Florida; sons, Paul Holland of McMinnville, Mike Holland of Nevada, Kenneth Holland of California, Wayne McMillen of Georgia, Bryan McMillen…

GREENWOOD, S.C. (AP) ? A South Carolina National Guardsman who recruited at a high school and a former cheerleading coach each had sex with students, authorities said, and the principal is charged with hindering the investigation. Former Ware Shoals High School coach Jill Moore, 28, took cheerleaders to a motel, where they met guardsmen for…

By Chuck Shepherd In findings that could surely be matched in the United States, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives reported in January that the country’s 100 highest-paid business executives had, by 9:46 a.m. on Jan. 2, earned an amount equal to what the average Canadian would earn in all of 2007. And The New…

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) ? Middle school teacher Julia Austin is noticing a new generation of errors creeping into her pupils’ essays. Sure, they still commit the classic blunders ? like the commonly used “ain’t.” But an increasing number of Austin’s eighth-graders also submit classwork containing “b4,” “ur,” “2” and “wata” ? words that may confuse…

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (AP) ? Police responding to screaming 911 calls broke down the door of a home and captured a man who may have been preparing to electrocute his wife by throwing her into a bathtub of water containing electronic appliances. Travis G. Crowley, 27, hit his wife, Shannon Crowley, 25, in the head…

DUNLAP, Tenn. (AP) ? A juvenile court judge on Friday released six girls charged in connection with threatening Internet posts about a list of peers, faculty members and others, including President Bush. The students at Sequatchie County High School appeared at a closed hearing on charges of conspiracy to commit criminal homicide after being arrested…

By Thomas Vaughn One of the worst kept secrets in contemporary presidential politics is out ??and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is in. She says she?s ?in to win? the White House. The question is: Can she win??The road to the White House is long and tortuous, with potholes aplenty along the way. First, Sen. Clinton…

By Morton Kondracke A new, nonpolarized, problem-solving form of politics is trying to be born in this country, but — lip service aside — most current politicians are stuck in the old model of nonstop partisan warfare. The old politics was richly on display Tuesday as President Bush delivered his State of the Union address…