By DUANE SHERRILL A woman admitted busting her boyfriend?s nose, saying she slugged him because his wife would not leave them alone. ?I?m too old to play games,? Peggy Martin told General Sessions Judge Larry Ross Tuesday after admitting she punched live-in boyfriend Danny Elrod in the nose, busting him open during a domestic dispute…

Beloved mother and grandmother Joyce Jeneace Boyd, 80, passed away May 9 at her home with family following a lengthy illness. Born Jan. 31, 1927, she was a seamstress and a member of Friendship The Baptist Church. She was the daughter of the late Samuel Jefferson and Dellie Selles Dodson She was married first to…

Woodbury resident and Cannon County native Della Christine Gaither Ash, 85, died May 11 at Middle Tennessee Medical Center after a short illness. She is survived by her sons, Charles A. (Chick) Smithson, Jerry Smithson, Drennan (Faye) Smithson, all of Woodbury, Thomas Leon (Judy) Smithson, Jr. of Alexandria; daughters, Amy Henderson and Linda Haley, both…

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) ? The image most people have of Kevin Sterne is harrowing: a photo showing a tourniquet wrapped around his wounded leg as rescue workers rushed him out of Virginia Tech?s Norris Hall. On Saturday, there was a new image of the 22-year-old former Eagle Scout: jubilant and full of life as he…

By Chuck Shepherd Peru’s Emilio Cordova, 15, won the South American chess championship in January, but rather than wind up a chess-obsessed nerd, he flew from the tournament site in Argentina to Sao Paulo, Brazil, and moved in with a 29-year-old stripper. After Emilio’s two months in the fast lane, his father, with government help,…

By Morton Kondracke Without prejudging whether President Bush’s “surge” policy will work, the administration and its critics ought to be seriously thinking about a Plan B, the “80 percent solution” — also known as “winning dirty.” Right now, the administration is committed to building a unified, reconciled, multisectarian Iraq — “winning clean.” Most Democrats say…

By Thomas Vaughn Democratic and Republican presidential candidates recently held the first round of their respective ?debates.? Ordinary Americans stayed away in droves. We did so, wisely, for two good reasons. First, the 2008 presidential primaries are at least eight or nine months away. Most of us know little and care less about the current…

By Gene Policinski The impact of violence airing on home screens is not a new subject, but some new thinking has come recently from the Federal Communications Commission, national watchdog over the public airwaves. FCC commissioners increasingly have focused in recent years on preventing or punishing what they deem indecent sexual images or utterances on…

By Lisa Hobbs In the last two weeks, I have become the official Catman hotline, at least unofficially. I have received numerous phone calls and e-mails from people in the county telling me about Catman. I have had several calls telling me his real name. No, I won?t tell what it is. Like I stated…

By Bruce Williams DEAR BRUCE: My husband is 59, and he worked for the same company for 15 years. Recently, he was let go, along with 11 others. He has mailed and faxed his resume to various companies; there has been no response. I am sure age is an important factor. It’s hard to believe…