Three dilapidated houses in the city were removed Tuesday, two on Mullican Street and one on Bell Street. The owners of the house located at 312 Mullican Street, on the corner of Mullican and Clearview Drive, were taken to court by the city after years of improvement proposals failed. All three homes were willingly removed…

By Duane Sherrill The defendant, Randy Ray Murphy, 28, was ordered by Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley to serve 165 days of a five-year sentence and pay $350 plus costs for reckless endangerment and evading arrest. He will be on supervised probation for the next five years after he is released from jail. Sheriff’s investigator…

By Lisa Hobbs McMinnville Regional Planning Commission members held what could be their last meeting at the Blue Building on Monday. Next month’s meeting is scheduled to take place at 101 East Main Street. Commission members took a look at the revised R-4 residential mobile home district, presented to them by Planning and Zoning’s city…

By Charles W. Johnson A program implemented last year to allow local taxpayers to receive a discount on property taxes if they pay them early has been quite successful, according to Trustee Darlene Bryant. Bryant presented the idea to the Warren County Commission last July under a new state law that authorized Tennessee county governments…

By Gov. Phil Bredesen This week I addressed a joint session of the General Assembly to outline my revised budget for next year. In January, I proposed a lean budget based on revenue forecasts that were prepared in December. At that time, we all shared concerns about the national economy and its impact on our…

By JAMES CLARK When Gilley Pool opens for the season tomorrow, kids better bring more than a towel and sunscreen. They better bring their wallets after admission was raised to $8 for every adult who lives outside McMinnville city limits. What this tells me is the city of McMinnville does a poor job of hiding…

By Cokie & Steve Roberts On the campaign trail, there is much talk of bipartisanship, but back on Capitol Hill, that spirit has vanished. The latest example: collapse of Senate negotiations to help homeowners threatened with foreclosure. However, one important piece of legislation does command strong support across party lines: a federal shield law giving…

By Gene Lyons It’s long been my opinion if Hillary Clinton could be appointed president, nobody could do the job better. In a parliamentary system, she’d stand an excellent chance of becoming prime minister, since political parties tend to select leaders more on competence than the dubious skills of a game show host. Like Al…

NASHVILLE (AP) ‘ A proposal that would require a paper record for voters’ ballots in Tennessee passed the Senate. The measure was unanimously approved Thursday. The House passed the companion bill 88-6 earlier this week. Both chambers must now work out differences in the legislation before it heads to the governor for his consideration. The…