BY Consumer Reports Consumers that haven’t updated their kitchens in a while may be in for more than just sticker shock: According to the editors of ShopSmart, the shopping magazine published by Consumer Reports, a lot has changed. Kitchens have morphed into open living areas, and workhorse appliances have hidden controls and flush surfaces that…

BLUE MOUNTAIN, Miss. (AP) ‘ Furniture maker Berkline/Benchcraft LLC has announced plans to lay off some 400 workers at its upholstered furniture plant in Mississippi. The Morristown, Tenn.-based company said 135 workers will continue sewing operations in Blue Mountain. The Knoxville News-Sentinel newspaper also reported that Berkline was closing its Loudon County, Tenn., plant, which…

A robber barges into a bank with a gun and demands all the money. On his way out, he asks a man if he saw anything. ‘I just saw you rob this bank,’ says the man. So the robber takes his gun and he shoots the man. He then walks over to a couple and…

By JAMES CLARK Scot Market has made the transformation into a new Shell station, complete with a digitial sign to display gas prices. There is something about this sign I just don’t like. It’s probably the image of a Shell employee (complete with evil smile) raising the price of gas from comfortably inside the store.…

All My Children Aidan proposed to Greenlee and was crushed when she turned him down. After hitting the booze, Aidan wound up with Annie, who had tried and failed to seduce him earlier. Jesse turned down a job offer from Samuel and surprised Angie with a romantic night that included renewing their marriage vows. Erica…

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) ‘ Pop star Ricky Martin has taken his fight against child trafficking to Cambodia. Martin, who arrived in the country Wednesday, met with Interior Minister Sar Kheng and visited various projects run by non-governmental organizations fighting child trafficking and sexual exploitation. “This is a fact-finding mission for us,” Angel Saltos, executive…

SPEARS NEW YORK (AP) _ Madonna wants the media to leave Britney Spears alone. “They need to step off,” she told the “Yo on E!” satellite radio show. “For real … Let’s go save her.” Madonna, 49, said her daughter, Lourdes, 11, feels the same way. “She knows Britney, (but) she doesn’t really watch TV…

By Gary Clothier TAFT Q: When I was a young boy, my folks bought me an Uncle Milton’s Ant Farm, and I loved it. When my sons reached the same age, I bought them one. This Christmas, my grandchildren will each receive a farm. When were they introduced? What is the story behind the idea?…

McMinnville resident and Warren County native Verna Mae Hitchcock, 69, was born June 24, 1938 and died March 27 at River Park Hospital following an extended illness. A homemaker and a member of Locust Street Church of God, she was the daughter of the late Gilbert and Lillie Pugh Maxwell. In addition to her parents,…

McMinnville resident and Ft. Payne, Ala., native Robert Maron Blevins, 83, was born Jan. 1, 1925 and died March 29 at NHC Healthcare McMinnville following a four-month illness. A truck driver and a member of the Baptist Church, he was the son of the late Marion Baxter and Bertha Jane Blevins. He was married Nov.…