AP/WMOT

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam says he’s looking to improve Tennessee students' proficiency scores by 20 percent over the next five years. Haslam says that kind of improvement would provide evidence that his education overhaul is working.

Education commissioner Kevin Huffman says assessment scores currently show that only 40 percent of Tennessee third graders rank as proficient in reading, while just 29 percent of seventh graders are proficient in math.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A recent study by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce found that Middle Tennessee has experienced a wave of relocations in the past five years. People are moving to the area from other parts of the country at a much higher rate than other metro areas.

Los Angeles was the biggest contributor of new residents from 2005 to 2009. Those relocating include about 600 who came with Nissan North America.

Nancy Eisenbrandt is a Chamber spokesperson.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP)  --  Freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Diane Black is having a good year.

Representative Black is the only freshman in her class of 94 to have legislation pass both chambers of Congress.

Her bill to close a Medicaid loophole and save billions is headed to President Barack Obama for his signature. The president supported it even before it made it to the House floor.

BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. (AP) —Sullivan County in East Tennessee will no longer provide pauper burials.

On Monday, County Mayor Steve Godsey told county commissioners that if they’re contacted about an indigent death they should provide the caller with the phone number for Restore Life USA.

That's a Johnson City-based nonprofit that provides human tissue for research and education.

With budgets tight, the commission this year cut the funds for pauper burials to $10,000 and Godsey says the money is nearly gone already.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. --  Federal officials revised the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reading downward today for the third quarter. Growth wasn’t as strong as originally thought.

The official GDP for the third quarter is now 2 percent, down by a half-percent from the earlier estimate.

The Middle Tennessee State Business and Economic Research Center has just released its analysis of Tennessee’s third-quarter economic activity.

SPRING HILL, Tenn. (AP) — General Motors has announced it will begin building its Chevrolet Equinox at its idled Spring Hill plant next year and plans to begin making a midsize vehicle there in the future.

Monday's announcement of the $61 million investment will create nearly 700 jobs at the plant.

GM says the subsequent $183 million investment into the unspecified midsize vehicle will create another 1,200 jobs.

Production on the Equinox is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2012.

The timing on the second vehicle was not announced.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Keep the ice scraper handy and a weather eye peeled. Another La Nina winter is expected in Tennessee.

The National Weather Service outlook for December through February calls for slightly warmer than normal temperatures, but wetter than usual conditions.

Nashville forecaster Bobby Boyd says that may mean more ice than usual.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Welcome news on the jobs front.

Tennessee's October unemployment rate dropped to 9.6 percent in October, down from 9.8 percent the previous month. 

Tennessee's unemployment rate is still well above the national average of 9 percent.

State Labor Commissioner Karla Davis says jobs added in education and health services fueled the employment hike.

Dr. Murat Arik with the Middle Tennessee State Center for Business and Economic Research says the numbers are mostly good news.  

A lobbyist for the conservative Family Action Council of Tennessee (FACT) is standing his ground following revelations that he helped orchestrate the passage of a new state law that nullified Nashville’s anti-gay bias regulations.

A string of emails between FACT's David Fowler and state legislators came to light as part of a lawsuit challenging Tennessee’s new Equal Access to Intrastate Commerce Act, signed into law in May.

Tennessee university students could see a tuition increase again next year.

Some students saw double-digit increases this year. Tuition at U.T. Knoxville went up by 12 percent. At Middle Tennessee State, a Board of Regents school, tuition rose this year by just under eight percent.

Now, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission is once again recommending tuition increases statewide.

Possibly making it even more difficult for Tennessee students, state legislators are talking about raising the eligibility threshold for lottery funded Hope scholarships.