Associated Press

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has narrowed its list of finalists for chancellor.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported the search committee said Wednesday that five candidates remain and they will visit the campus to meet with students, faculty and staff, beginning next week.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee residents will continue to get federal extended unemployment benefits for at least another year.

The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development had warned late last month that the benefits were about to expire.

But the agency announced this week that they have been extended through Jan. 1, 2014.

Congress created the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program in 2008 to provide unemployment benefits to workers who had exhausted their state benefits. The legislation has been amended 10 times since it became effective.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee had more tornadoes than usual in 2012, but they caused fewer deaths.

Data from the National Weather Service shows 34 recorded tornadoes statewide last year — 20 of them occurring in March.

NWS meteorologist Bobby Boyd in Nashville said the average year brings 21 tornadoes in Tennessee, based on data from 1981-2010. There is an average of five tornado-caused deaths per year. In 2012, three people were killed.

The year with the largest number of tornadoes was 2011, when 113 of them struck, killing 34 people.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — Middle Tennessee State University's College Goal Sunday is moving to Saturday this year.

The program assists students who plan to attend any college to complete and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. Families should bring a copy of their 2011 tax return and their last paycheck stub for 2012.

The event is free. Pre-registration is encouraged, but not required.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — Doctors who treat TennCare patients are getting a New Year's pay raise.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports practitioners in family medicine, general internal medicine, pediatrics or a related subspecialty will start to be reimbursed at Medicare rates. On average, that is more than 25 percent above what they are paid now.

TennCare officials say that the boost will give qualifying Tennessee doctors an extra $55 million over the next two years.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — Marcos Knight notched 12 points as Middle Tennessee remained perfect in Sun Belt Conference action with a 75-57 win over North Texas Monday night.

Raymond Cintron added 11 points for the Blue Raiders (11-3, 3-0), who got points from 10 different players and shot 50 percent (31 of 62) from the field.

Middle Tennessee is now 8-0 at home this year and has won 19 straight at Murphy Center.

Tony Mitchell scored 13 points with 11 rebounds for his 14th career double-double for North Texas (5-9, 0-3).

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Lobbyists are scrambling to nail down sponsors for their clients' key legislative initiatives following House Speaker Beth Harwell's announcement that she wants to impose a cap on how many bills are filed each year.

Under the Nashville Republican's proposal, each lawmaker would be limited to 10 bills each legislative session. That comes out to an average of about two bills each for the more than 500 lobbyists registered to ply their trade at the state Capitol.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — Shawn Jones and Marcus Knight scored 15 points each to pace Middle Tennessee to a 69-52 victory over Florida International Saturday night in Sun Belt Conference action.

It was the seventh straight victory for the Blue Raiders (10-3, 2-0) over FIU (4-7, 1-3).

Middle Tennessee scored the game's first eight points. They led 28-21 at halftime, then outscored FIU 41-31 in the second half to win comfortably.

Jones also took 13 rebounds for a double-double, and Knight just missed one with nine rebounds.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee has surpassed a thousand highway fatalities for the year, which is a large increase from the drop seen in 2011.

However, safety officials say a messaging campaign helped to keep the number from climbing even higher.

For the first three months of the year, the number of deaths on Tennessee roadways was on track to approach an all-time high, WPLN-FM reports. The Department of Transportation in April put a running tally of the fatalities on 150 digital signs around the state along with public safety messages.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — About 7 percent of Tennesseans previously receiving jobless benefits have been dropped for failing to verify that they were searching for work.

That's according to an audit by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development reported in the Chattanooga Times Free Press (http://bit.ly/VkcRbq).

New rules that went into effect on Sept. 1 require Tennesseans receiving jobless benefits to document at least three job searches a week.