BY LIsa Hobbs After two nights of freezing temperatures, the water in the Court Square fountain froze. Wednesday night, water began to flow from the fountain and onto the street. At that point, the water was turned off. Although it is expected to be fine, McMinnville landscape manager Hank Patton will be keeping a close…

BY DUANE SHERRILL McMinnville firemen battle a stubborn New Year’s Day blaze at a house owned by Amy Lynn Sain on Bybee Branch Road. The house and its contents sustained heavy damage and one fireman was injured when he slipped on ice formed by the water being used to fight the fire, which quickly froze…

By JAMES CLARK CURTIS Three new state laws targeting violent crime are among the new laws being touted by state Reps. Judd Matheny and Charles Curtiss as 2008 gets under way. Laws increasing the penalty for using a gun to commit a crime, forcing violent offenders to submit DNA samples, and allowing people to use…

By DUANE SHERRILL P. OOLEY Two people on horseback were wounded New Year’s Eve during a confrontation on Airport Lake Road which began during an argument over a dog. The wounded victims, Brent Newby, 28, with a gunshot wound to the stomach, and Ashlie Edwards, 19, with a gunshot wound to the shoulder, were airlifted…

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ‘ Sen. Barack Obama, bidding to become the nation’s first black president, captured the Iowa caucuses Thursday night, the opening test in the race for the 2008 Democratic nomination. Mike Huckabee rode a wave of support from evangelical Christians to victory in the Republican caucuses. Obama, 46 and a first-term senator…

The Internal Revenue Service says the tax filing season will begin on time and that only a small number of filers are expected to have a filing delay due to changes in the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) laws. Nationwide, the impact of the AMT changes is estimated to affect a maximum of 4 million returns…

BY Lisa Hobbs Dads on maternity leave? McMinnville elected officials have changed the employee maternity leave policy to include men. Although still called maternity leave, employees who have been employed by the city for at least 12 consecutive months as a full-time employee may take up to four months off for adoption, pregnancy, childbirth and…

BY Lisa Hobbs The city is seeking to lower its Insurance Service Office (ISO) rating, which is an indication of how effective it is in offering fire-protection services. The city currently ranks as an ISO 5. Every 19 seconds, a fire department somewhere in the United States responds to a fire. According to the National…

WASHINGTON (AP) ‘ Drivers talking on cellphones are probably making your commute even longer, concludes a new study. Motorists yakking away, even with handsfree devices, crawl about 2 mph slower on commuter-clogged roads than people not on the phone, and they just don’t keep up with the flow of traffic, said study author David Strayer,…

By Lisa Hobbs Dreams about owning a business, owning a home, or going back to school can become a reality thanks to a new program offered by Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency. The program, called Saving for Us, is a matched savings program that began in 2006. It is designed to help participants save for,…