Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee's tax collections have shown marginal growth in the second month of the budget year.

Finance Commissioner Mark Emkes said in a release Tuesday that September revenues "continue to reflect the sluggish national economy."

The state's overall revenues were $1.1 billion, or 5.4 percent above the budgeted estimate. The September collections reflect economic activity in the previous month.

ASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Department of Health officials say the state's death toll from an outbreak of fungal meningitis has risen to six.

Dr. John Dreyzhener, Tennessee's health commissioner, said Tuesday the total number of cases in the state has increased by four and now stands at 39. The cases all stem from steroid injections for back pain and officials say evidence points to contaminated medicine as the cause of the rare disease.

ASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Department of Health officials say the state's death toll from an outbreak of fungal meningitis has risen to six.

Dr. John Dreyzhener, Tennessee's health commissioner, said Tuesday the total number of cases in the state has increased by four and now stands at 39. The cases all stem from steroid injections for back pain and officials say evidence points to contaminated medicine as the cause of the rare disease.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — State labor officials have begun enforcing new unemployment requirements passed by the Legislature.

WMOT-FM (http://bit.ly/VRBvTq ) reported that the longer a person is jobless, the less salary he or she can refuse and still keep unemployment benefits.

After 13 weeks, for example, a person offered a job at 75 percent of previous salary could lose benefits for not accepting it.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Before an unruly Tennessee party ended with a student hospitalized for a dangerously high blood alcohol level, most people had probably never heard of alcohol enemas.

Thanks to the drunken exploits of a fraternity at the University of Tennessee, the bizarre way of getting drunk is giving parents, administrators and health care workers a new fear.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Authorities have issued an Amber Alert for two Bedford County children missing since a fire burned down their home five days ago, saying there is no evidence they were victims of the blaze.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation issued the alert Friday evening. Investigators earlier in the day had returned to the scene of the Shelbyville house fire in which two bodies were found, tentatively identified as the children's step-grandparents.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A judge in Nashville has upheld Tennessee's voter identification statute.

The Tennessean reports that after about three hours of oral arguments yesterday, Judge Carol McCoy ruled against civil rights attorney George Barrett in the case. Barrett contended the state constitution requires only proof of legal age, residency and registration to vote.

The judge responded that voting procedures have evolved over the years and the legislature can enact laws that secure what the court termed "the purity of the ballot box."

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A fraternity at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville has been suspended while campus police investigate an alcohol-related incident that left one student in critical condition.

According to a UT police department incident report obtained by The Knoxville News Sentinel, an unresponsive 20-year-old man was brought into the UT Medical Center early Saturday.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Two administrators at the University of Tennessee say they can’t support health insurance benefits for same-sex partners of UT employees.

According to The Knoxville News Sentinel, a letter from university Chancellor Jimmy Cheek and Agriculture Chancellor Larry Arrington was read to a UT Faculty Senate meeting yesterday. In it, Cheek and Arrington stated that offering benefits to unmarried gay partners would violate state statute.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee's unemployment rate rose slightly in August to 8.5 percent, the fourth consecutive month there’s been an increase.

Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Karla Davis says that the increase is one-tenth of a percentage point increase over the previous month.

Tennessee’s jobless rate has now climbed four-tenths above the national  unemployment rate of 8.1 percent.