A new guns-in-bars bill began moving in the legislature Wednesday in an attempt to override a court ruling last fall that nullified a similar law approved last year. The court decision blocked handgun-carry permit holders from going armed into places serving alcohol.

Criminals convicted of armed robbery could soon serve tougher prison sentences under a bill that advanced through a House subcommittee on Wednesday.

The proposed "Ben Nelson Act to Ensure Political Integrity" got a cool reception from Democratic legislators Wednesday, prompting the Republican sponsor to offer a change in the name that one lawmaker called "a gratuitous political insult."

Gubernatorial candidate Bill Gibbons suggested reducing the amount of money that retailers get from the state lottery to pay for an expansion of pre-kindergarten education, pointing directly to companies like the truck stop chain owned by the family of one of his Republican rivals.

TODAY’S TAKE: California has fewer people in its workforce today than it did in 1999. For Alabama and Indiana, 1993 is the last time the employment ranks were so thin. And for Michigan — unquestionably the nation’s hardest-hit state in terms of unemployment — 4.1 million people have jobs today. That’s the smallest total since August of 1987, when Ronald Reagan was president.

Just based on the odds, Tennessee had a pretty good chance of having someone in the White House in the 2000 presidential election, and we're not talking about Al Gore.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal sued two of the nation's most prominent credit rating agencies Wednesday, alleging they misled investors about the soundness of certain types of investments and unfairly reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues.