Mike Osborne

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  Middle Tennessee State University President Sidney A. McPhee held a news conference this morning to announce big changes for Blue Raider sports.

“Today ladies and gentlemen, I’m pleased to formally announce that Middle Tennessee State University has accepted an invitation to become a member of Conference USA.”

In a press statement, MTSU says it will “enjoy significant national and regional television exposure and revenue sharing,” as a new Conference USA member school.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  Tennessee is partnering with several of the state’s biggest employers to connect veterans with jobs.

The Paycheck to Patriots initiative will host job fairs in 13 locations all around the state Thursday. The Tennessee Career Center in Tullahoma will host the mid-state job fair beginning at 10 a.m. and continuing until 2 p.m.

Dollar General Vice President Bob Ravener is a Navy veteran, and says he knows from first-hand experience that vets bring a lot to the table.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  A union with members on most of Tennessee’s college campuses says higher education is being compromised by ongoing state budget cuts.

The United Campus Worker’s Union is holding informational meetings it calls “teach-ins” statewide. A teach-in will take place on the Middle Tennessee State campus Wednesday evening.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  The Florida attorney who prosecuted the Casey Anthony case is in the mid-state to talk about the trial.

State’s Attorney Jeff Ashton will speak Thursday evening at 7 p.m. on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University.

The presentation is part of the MTSU "Legends in Forensic Leadership" series. Ashton is recognized as the first prosecutor to use DNA evidence in the court room as part of a 1978 rape case.

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — The Putnam County Commission has voted unanimously to place the national motto "In God We Trust" on all four sides of the county courthouse.

The commission vote Monday night approved a recommendation made by its planning committee last week.

The idea originated at Cookeville’s Colonial View Baptist Church where the Rev. Al Gaspard is the pastor.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT) --  The annual report on domestic violence in Tennessee is out this week.

The report shows a slight decline in domestic cases in each of the last three years. However, more than 85,000 Tennesseans fell victim to domestic violence in 2011.  Ninety-six of them were murdered.

The majority of victims are female, but men reported being the target of domestic violence in nearly three cases in ten.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  You may not be ready to think about Christmas yet, but Tennessee retailers aren’t thinking about much else.

Online retailing giant Amazon.com, now one of Tennessee’s biggest employers, announced today that it will be hiring 50,000 seasonal workers at its fulfillment centers across the U.S.

Amazon says it’s hiring at all of its Tennessee facilities, including fulfillment centers in Chattanooga, Lebanon, Charleston in Bradley County, and in Murfreesboro.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  More than 300 educators from across Tennessee arrived in the mid-state Monday to learn more about using mobile devices in the classroom.

The conference is being sponsored jointly by Middle Tennessee State University and the Tennessee Board of Regents. Educators from 18 Tennessee Universities and Colleges are providing input.

Tom Wallace, head of MTSU’s Information Technology Division , is the conference host.

MURFREESBORO— There’s a new mid-state based online literary journal featuring Tennessee talent.

The website “2nd & Church” is the creation of Middle Tennessee State Professor of English Alvin Knox. The journal is accepting submissions in poetry, creative nonfiction, technical writing, literary fiction, poetry, translation and commercial fiction.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (BURRISS)  --  One of the hallmarks of the American system of media is called the “social responsibility theory,” which says you can publish what you want without government interference, but you have to face the consequences of your actions.

Put on perhaps more crass terms, we tell our student journalists, “You want to play with the big kids, then you have to be treated like a big kid,” which means taking responsibility for what you publish.