State Sen. Jim Summerville is resigning from the Senate Education Committee after being stripped of his subcommittee chairmanship over an email that insulted the Legislature's black caucus.

The Chattanooga Democrat who was facing the state House majority leader in the November election has withdrawn from the race.

With two separate billion-dollar deals in a struggling chain of movie theaters and in shale oil and gas, as well as other major ventures in the works, investment from China is set to hit record levels in 2012.

A special panel of members of the state Republican Party's executive committee is meeting behind closed doors to consider an election challenge in a legislative primary race.

State Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey's top aide has been recommended for an official role at next week's Republican National Convention.

A new recession is likely if a stalemate over tax and spending cuts continues between Democrats and Republicans, according to dire projections by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office

Rep. Todd Akin took his message to network TV morning shows and conservative talk radio shows, declaring GOP leaders were overreacting

From Colorado to New Hampshire to Illinois, Democrats already are using the incendiary comments about rape made by the Missouri congressman and Republican Senate candidate as a political bludgeon.

"This is an unprofessional, shameful action on the part of the operators that appear in the video, period," U.S. Army Special Forces Maj. Fernando Lujan wrote on his Facebook page

Forecasters are keeping a wary eye on a tropical depression in the Atlantic Ocean that poses a potential threat to Florida during next week's Republican National Convention in Tampa.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney accused President Barack Obama on Monday of distorting the GOP ticket's tax policies, continuing the presidential campaign's sharply personal tone.

Missouri Congressman Todd Akin was keeping a low profile Monday, a day after he said women's bodies are able to prevent pregnancies in "a legitimate rape" situation and that conception is rare in such cases.

Accompanied by his wife, Michelle, and daughters Sasha and Malia on the mild, overcast morning, Obama walked through Lafayette Square to St. John's Episcopal Church.

Mitt Romney is attending church Sunday and relaxing with family as he prepares for a campaign sprint towards next week's Republican convention in Florida.

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said the president's camp would seek no further disclosures if Romney would release five years of his individual tax returns.

Jennifer Bailey of the nonprofit Community Food Advocates in Nashville said Fowler's attitude dehumanizes food stamp recipients and says no human being is without dignity.

A Middle Tennessee health care investor and a political action committee he funded are being investigated by the state board that regulates campaign finances.

Jim Tomasik said he picked up Johnson at the airport Wednesday morning. A presidential candidate must have 275 signatures from eligible voters to get a spot on the November ballot.

District Judge Kevin Sharp ruled that the lawsuit filed by losing candidate Larry Crim was improper because it was not filed against an individual.

Fourth-place finisher Larry Crim sued the state's election division and the state Democratic Party on Wednesday in Nashville and asked for an emergency ruling. A hearing is set for Thursday morning.

Under the Wisconsin congressman's Medicaid plan, states would take over the program. At the same time, Ryan's budget would reduce projected federal spending on Medicaid by about $800 billion over 10 years.

State election officials have assured Democratic members of the legislature that voting problems Aug. 2 were mostly confined to Shelby County.

A challenger to state Rep. Tony Shipley for the Republican nomination in House of Representatives District 2 says he will not contest the election.

President Barack Obama assailed rival Mitt Romney's opposition to tax supports for wind power, delivering an Iowa-specific critique Tuesday on the Republican challenger in that crucial Midwestern state.

The NGA said in a release that its nine-governor executive committee selected Nashville for its accommodations, venue options and "overall appeal."