McMinnville resident and Los Angeles County, Calif., native Brenda Joyce Ruegge Wanamaker, 66, was born Feb. 17, 1940 and died Feb. 3 at River Park Hospital following an extended illness. A shipping clerk and a member of Cornerstone Baptist Church, she was the daughter of the late Carl H. and Kathleen Tate Ruegge. In addition…

McMinnville resident and Warren County native Bessie Jo Morgan died Feb. 8 at St. Thomas Hospital following a two-day illness. The owner of Morgan?s Boarding Home and a member of Temple Baptist Church, she was the daughter of the late Joe and Velma Mae Williams Whiteaker. She was married to James Franklin Morgan, who preceded…

CHATTANOOGA (AP) ? A few times each month, the steady flow of traffic heading to Jerry Schooley’s payday lending store swells into a rush. And there’s always a handful of Georgians speckled in the crowd of hundreds who come to the office to repay the short-term loan they took out earlier in the month, Schooley…

By Chuck Shepherd Jennalee Ryan of San Antonio last year began selling choice human embryos, ready for prospective mothers to implant after having chosen from Ryan’s catalog describing the contributors’ education, attractiveness and medical history. “We’re just trying to help people have babies,” she told The Washington Post in January, and at less cost than…

By Thomas Vaughn There?s good news and bad news on the HOPE lottery scholarship front. First, the good news. We now have a $300 million lottery fund surplus. Now, the bad news. Only about 1-in-4 lottery recipients manage to keep their scholarships.?Why? In my view, the two main causes of this problem are: lack of…

By Morton Kondracke After Iraq, the most contentious issue in politics is “economic insecurity” — a jumble of items that includes stagnant wages, inequality of incomes and opportunity, globalization, outsourcing of jobs and immigration. It’s the Lou Dobbs agenda — the list of complaints that the CNN anchor rails about each night, which has given…

Letter to the Editor TO THE EDITOR: Many of you have expressed concern over the closing of Westwood Bridge. Good questions have been raised. Can one lane be left open during construction? Can the new bridge be built adjacent to the existing bridge? Does the bridge have to be replaced at all? What delays in…

By JAMES CLARK Questions swirling around Mary Winkler?s recent behavior were apparently too much for the man who has been gracious enough to give her a place to live in Warren County. Last week, Rudie Thomsen spoke out on the Miller in the Morning radio show on Nashville?s Supertalk 99.7 FM. In the interview, Thomsen…

By LISA HOBBS WESTWOOD BRIDGE With controversy surrounding the projected two-year closing of Westwood Bridge, the rumors are keeping pace. Hoping to quiet some of the rumors, a public information session is scheduled for this Tuesday at 6 p.m. at McMinnville City Hall. The bridge is scheduled to be closed, demolished and rebuilt beginning in…

By DUANE SHERRILL It has been a week of hurry up and wait as a rush placed on the analysis of state Sen. Jerry Cooper?s blood work following his interstate wreck Wednesday night is in the hands of the Rutherford County district attorney, who is refusing to comment. ?Ethics prevent me from discussing evidence in…