Rock Island resident and Warren County native Herbert Lee Wright, 83, was born Dec. 6, 1923 and died May 9 at Alvin C. York V.A. Medical Center in Murfreesboro following a short illness. A retired employee of the Carrier Corporation, a United States Navy Veteran of WWII and a member of Friendship The Baptist Church,…

Cookeville resident and Clay County native Bonnie Jean Stafford, 52, died May 9 at Cookeville Regional Medical Center. A server at Ryan?s Restaurant in Cookeville, she was the daughter of the late Willie and Kate McClain Stafford and was preceded in death by brother, Kenneth Bruce Stafford. She is survived by brothers, Carol Stafford of…

McMinnville resident and Oneady, Ky., native Bertha Davidson White, 72, was born Sept. 2, 1934 and died May 9 at NHC Healthcare McMinnville following an extended illness. A retired cook at Patsy?s Dairy Chef, she was the daughter of the late Bidge and Minnie Herd Davidson. She is survived by three children, Lorie Merriman of…

McMinnville resident and Warren County native Alma Elizabeth Williamson, 79, died May 10 at Baptist Hospital in Nashville after a two-week illness. A homemaker and a member of the Baptist Church, she was the daughter of Obediah (Obe) and Maliccie Morton Turner and was preceded in death by her husband, Lewis C. Williamson in 1991.…

NASHVILLE (AP) ? Although Tennessee has now conducted one execution under procedures put in place just last week, the legal challenge to the state?s manual for lethal injection is certain to continue. Philip Workman ? convicted of killing a Memphis police officer in 1981 ? was executed Wednesday morning using the revised procedures for injecting…

NASHVILLE (AP) ? More than two-thirds of Tennessee?s National Guard soldiers have been sent to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, and they came back empty-handed. The Guard left more than $250 million in equipment behind, including tanks, armored Humvees and radio systems ? a shortfall so severe that Guard commander Maj. Gen. Gus Hargett said…

By Jim Mullen Almost every day, you hear another story about some CEO who just got paid $300 million for doing a tiny amount of work. Or no work at all. One guy got $500 million for retiring. Think about that: He got $500 million for the work he’s not going to be doing. Last…

By Gene Lyons Once in every century, a serious presidential candidate emerges from darkest Arkansas, where I live: Bill Clinton in the 20th century, former Gov. Mike Huckabee in the 21st. Although Huckabee seems a likelier vice-presidential pick if Republicans nominate a Yankee, he’s getting favorable national press. Becoming governor after Kenneth Starr convicted Democratic…

McMinnville resident and Warren County native Tommie Lee Pepper, 86, was born Oct. 30, 1920 and died May 6 at his residence following a five-month illness. A retired employee of Ford Motor Co., a decorated United States Army veteran of WWII, and a member of Cumberland Presbyterian Church, he was the son of the late…

By James Clark Tennessee should not have executed Philip Workman. There were too many question marks, too many doubts. For a state that executes prisoners about as often as a man walks on the moon, it?s curious the powers that be in Tennessee state government would choose this man to kill. Is anybody sure he…