Vanderbilt is cleaning up and fixing up the football, baseball and basketball facilities in a five-phase program that will cost nearly $60 million. A school official says it’s not part of the athletic arms race. Vice chancellor David Williams said Tuesday it’s simply what the Commodores need to do for themselves. The bulk of the…

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) ‘ It was a matchup NASCAR could only dream of: Melanie Troxel and Ashley Force going head-to-head in the first all-female Funny Car elimination round. Troxel won the round, made it to the finals and ultimately claimed the title Sunday at Thunder Valley Nationals ‘ making her the first woman in NHRA…

The McMinnville Country Club has a busy schedule planned for this week. The annual Spring Fling golf tournament will kick off this weekend, with a practice round on Friday and tournament play to take place on Saturday and Sunday. Last week’s winners in the Tuesday scramble were Brad Brock, Steve Biles, Wally Stern and Sam…

Dowelltown resident and Warren County native Christie Darlene Bouldin Bennett, 47, was born Nov. 21, 1960 and died May 18 at DeKalb Community Hospital in Smithville following a sudden illness. A homemaker and member of Mt. Herman Baptist Church, she was the daughter of Ann Whitler Bouldin of Rock Island, and the late Clyde Bouldin.…

McMinnville resident and Warren County native Carolyn Ruth Poss Mathis, 61, was born Sept. 27, 1946 and died May 18 at River Park Hospital following a sudden illness. A homemaker and member of the Baptist Church, she was the daughter of Arnold Dodson of McMinnville and the late Lorena Johnson Dodson. In addition to her…

By JAMES CLARK Since when has politics been a matter of integrity and honesty? Instead of shooting straight and giving real answers, everything is a matter of spin, and to a large degree deception. Politicians are great at talking for hours and saying nothing. And that’s really the point. You don’t want to slip up…

By SUSAN NEWBY Shame on the Tennessee GOP for its second foray into negative political campaign advertising! I’m no Barack Obama fan. I vehemently disagree with his notion that it’s OK to send his wife out campaigning but no one is allowed to hold her comments up for discussion or ridicule. But the Tennessee GOP…

By Kathryn Lopez There’s a lot we don’t know about Democratic Sen. Barack Obama. But there’s also a lot we do. We’ve been in this presidential election swing for more than a year now, and I’ve been watching him since his big speech at the 2004 Democratic convention. We have his record in the U.S.…

By William Rusher As matters stand, the Republican Party is facing an historic shellacking in November. In part, this is just the usual yin and yang of partisan politics. The GOP has held the presidency for nearly eight years, and controlled Congress for six of them (until ousted by the Democrats in 2006). In a…

By Duane Sherrill During our road trip back from Gatlinburg last weekend, my son asked me a pointed question after hearing me gripe about the price of gasoline for hundreds of miles. His question was basic. Why doesn’t the government do anything about the price of gas? This is a government, mind you, which toppled…