MEMPHIS (AP) ? A former University of Tennessee professor pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiring to sell methamphetamine. Marcello Arsura, an associate professor of pharmacology at UT’s Health Science Center, was charged in a federal indictment last year and accused of being a violent dope dealer and addict who went by the nicknames “Mo” and “The…

By Jim Mullen The only thing more predictable than the pre-game hype over the Super Bowl is the post-game hype about which commercials worked and which didn’t. The winners of this year’s Nobel Prize won’t get a millionth of the ink that GoDaddy.com commercial will. When the Nobel Prize people start advertising on the Super…

By Gene Lyons The longer it continues, the more self-defeating and dangerous this misconceived “War on Terror” becomes. It’s simply not possible to wage war on an abstract noun. Like a drunk in a barroom brawl, the Bush administration knows it’s getting hit, but doesn’t know exactly who’s to blame. So now it wants to…

By Gene Policinski The student press in America doesn’t get much press. But it’s an important part of educating our kids, and it’s in trouble and getting weaker. Legislative proposals in Washington state and Kansas regarding student journalism are at cross-purposes: The former would prevent school officials from censoring college and high school publications, while…

By James Clark I?ve never accused McMinnville city government officials of making the best decisions so I?m not going to start now. But I firmly believe when elected officials conduct business, however foolish that business may be, it should be done in open meetings for all to hear. If for no other reason this allows…

By LISA HOBBS The sun isn?t shining bright in McMinnville and even the Sunshine Law seems to be dimming. One year after meeting secretly to oust former city administrator Herb Llewellyn, McMinnville aldermen are conducting city business behind closed doors again. This time it isn?t an effort to get a city administrator out, but to…

By LISA HOBBS More than 50 concerned citizens showed up Tuesday night to hear what McMinnville officials had to say concerning Westwood Bridge and voice their own opinions about what should be done. Westwood resident Dennis Taylor got the discussion going with the question on most everyone?s mind. ?How can we keep one lane open??…

By DUANE SHERRILL A mentally disturbed man who killed his uncle three years ago will serve 10 years in prison after doctors found he was legally insane when he gunned down his relative. The suspect, Adam Rigsby, 28, entered a guilty plea to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter as a Range Two offender, meaning…

By LISA HOBBS Tempers flared Tuesday night between Mayor Royce Davenport and Alderman Billy Wood ? with the confrontation escalating to the point where Davenport threatened to have Wood removed from the room. The argument erupted in a regular meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen when Wood pushed to immediately hire local resident…

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? A Colorado lawyer who admitted in court papers that he leaked secret grand jury documents in a federal steroids probe to reporters made an initial court appearance Thursday on obstruction of justice charges. Troy Ellerman pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court, but prosecutors said it was a formality and they…