200 NATIONAL GUARDSMAN RETURNING HOME

Tennessee National Guard troops from McMinnville, Jamestown, Livingston and Oneida are scheduled to return home from Iraq. More than 250 troops in all, will be arriving today, at the National Guard's Volunteer Training Site in Smyrna. About 135 are from Troop E of the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment's 2nd Squadron. Another 135 are from Troop F, 2nd Squadron of the 278th ACR, which is based in McMinnville. The Knoxville-based Armored Cavalry Regiment of approximately 3,400 is coming home from Iraq six months earlier than expected. All the units are scheduled to return by the end of August.

3RD DISTRICT DRENCHED IN STIMULUS SPENDING

Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District is wallowing in pork barrel spending, resulting from the stimulus package passed by Congress last year. The 4th District, which includes Coffee, Franklin, Warren, Moore and Grundy counties, ranks next to last of all nine districts for stimulus spending. The 3rd District has thus far been drenched with some $1.28 billion in federal spending, including $850 million for cleanup, modernization and research at Oak Ridge. A clean energy tax credit of $150 million is going to the Volkswagen plant under construction in Chattanooga. Another $111 million is going to the Electric Power Board there for installation of a smart grid. Another $52 million is directed for work on a new Chickamauga lock. Stimulus spending in the 4th District is only $30 million, and mainly is going toward transportation projects.

JURORS SPARE CONVICTED KILLER FROM DEATH SENTENCE

Rutherford County jurors have spared a man they convicted of killing a restaurant manager from the death sentence. The Daily News Journal reported the jury returned a sentencing verdict of life in prison without parole for 48-year-old Antonio Alexander on Tuesday, deliberating for just over two hours. The same jury convicted Alexander in the 2008 killing of Nadar Bahmanziari during a February 2, 2008 robbery of an O'Charley's restaurant in Murfreesboro.

POLL AGAINST GUNS IN BARS - FOR PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP

A poll conducted for the Tennessee Newspaper Network shows that most voters oppose a new state law that allows handguns into bars and restaurants that serve alcohol. The Tennessean reported seven in ten voters polled said that the prospect of mixing guns with alcohol is too dangerous. The poll also found that 72 percent of voters in the state say they would support enacting a law that would require people stopped by police to prove they are in the country legally. An Arizona Immigration Statute scheduled to go into effect Thursday, lets police charge people who cannot prove their citizenship status under the state's criminal trespassing laws. Mason-Dixon Research and Polling, Inc. conducted the poll for the Tennessee Newspaper Network and WBIR, Channel 10.

ASSEMBLY PLANT BRINGS JOBS TO RUTHERFORD COUNTY

A Japanese automobile seat maker says it will build a new assembly plant in southern Rutherford County. N.H.K. Spring Limited, says the new plant will eventually hire some 224 workers. The company says the plant will be built on a 50 acre site off Joe B. Jackson Parkway at Interstate 24. The $54 million facility is expected to open by the middle of next year. Construction is set to start in October. N.H.K.'s Plant will be a so--called "Tier 1" supplier for the Nissan assembly line in Smyrna. The seat assembly line is expected to be in full production by 2015. A new Volkswagen assembly plant is expected to open next year in Chattanooga. The $1 billion investment is expected to employ at least 2,000 workers directly. Manchester's M-Tek operation will supply interior trim panels for Volkswagen.

HEALTH DEPTS OFFER FREE IMMUNIZATIONS

Coffee County Health Department locations in Manchester and Tullahoma will offer free immunizations for children headed into the 7th grade next month. All students entering the 7th grade must submit proof of a booster shot for Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis. Proof of immunity to chickenpox must be established by having had the disease or receiving the chickenpox vaccine. Tennessee adopted the new immunization program to help protect children from serious disease. Area schools will allow parents and children to produce the new immunization record through October 1st. Coffee County Health Department Director Debbie Broadway recommends that parents bring a current shot record for their child when they come to the free clinics. The clinics will be offered on August 5, 12, and 26 until 5:30 PM. For more information call 723.5134 in Manchester or 455.9369 in Tullahoma.