Associated Press

COLUMBIA, Tenn. (AP) — The Maury County Commission has voted to oppose metropolitan government in the county.

Commissioners voted 15-3-3 Tuesday on the proposed consolidation. According to The Daily Herald (columbiadailyherald.com), three other legislative bodies in the county have also opposed the change.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — The NAACP in Chattanooga is helping lead a statewide effort to recruit black ministers to get out the vote.

Joe Rowe is vice president of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County NAACP. Rowe says he’s contacted all 42 chapters of the Tennessee NAACP, as well as a number of youth organizations, and ministers statewide to promote a plan to increase voter participation.

From now until the presidential election in November, the NAACP will organize marches, host voter registration drives and offer transportation to the polls.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Tenn (AP/WMOT) — Governor Bill Haslam's plan to lift a cap on class size averages is meeting resistance from educators.

The Republican is calling the proposal a key element of his effort to allow school districts to hike teacher salaries. Haslam told reporters after visiting a Maury County middle school Tuesday that Tennessee is the only state to set maximums for both total and average class sizes.

Haslam says increasing class size means schools could get by with fewer teachers, freeing up the money needed to pay the remaining teachers higher salaries.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — More than 37,000 people have signed an online petition calling on JP Morgan Chase & Co. not to foreclose on an elderly Nashville woman.

A news release from petition website change.org says Helen Bailey is a 78-year-old homeowner who has paid her mortgage for years. It says she fell behind on payments due to medical bills.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — Volkswagen is creating another 200 jobs at its Chattanooga assembly plant as production increases.

A plant spokesman says that the positions are needed as production capacity increases from 31 to 35 cars per hour.

The new jobs will be integrated into Volkswagen's current two-shift operation and filled by full-time Volkswagen employees.

The Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga currently employs more than 2,500 people, about 2,000 by Volkswagen and 500 by staffing partner Aerotek.

NASHVILLE, Tenn (AP) - The State Supreme Court will decide whether the Nashville's sheriff's office violated the Metro Charter when it entered into an agreement with federal immigration authorities.

Attorney Elliott Ozment sued the department in January 2011 on behalf of three Nashville residents affected by the 287(g) program. That program allows deputies to investigate the immigration status of inmates.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee's death rate from drug overdoses has nearly tripled since 1999, a trend that state officials are hurrying to tackle with expanded regulations.

The proposals include one from Gov. Bill Haslam that would require doctors and pharmacists to consult a controlled substance database before writing or dispensing such prescriptions. State Sen. Ken Yager of Harriman tells The Tennessean he believes new state regulations will help reduce drug overdose deaths.

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP) — The Franklin Special School District is changing how it assigns students to schools so that populations will be more diverse.

Because housing patterns have changed, 40 percent of the students who receive free or reduced-price lunches in the Franklin system go to just two elementary schools.

School board member Kent McNish tells The Tennessean that the decision this month to begin rezoning students is an effort to enable more students to have a better shot at success.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Vanderbilt University has scheduled a campus meeting Tuesday evening on its requirement that Christian student organizations comply with its non-discrimination policy.

That policy says any student must be able to seek leadership positions in approved campus organizations.

The Christian groups say that violates their right to be led by fellow believers who support their beliefs and principles, including opposition to sex outside of marriage between a husband and wife.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A University of Tennessee poll shows an overwhelming majority of Tennesseans think texting behind the wheel is as unsafe as drunken driving. Yet 27 percent of respondents said they had texted while driving in the previous month.

The poll was conducted by UT's Center for Transportation Research. It showed a nearly equal percentage of people think drunken driving is highly dangerous, but a quarter of respondents said they had done it in the last 30 days, according to The Knoxville News Sentinel.