Author: Associated Press

Federal judge temporarily blocks Tennessee auctioneer law

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Tennessee law that requires online auctioneers to be licensed but exempts some big auction websites like eBay. U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson filed the temporary restraining order last week…

Man accused of taking scissor lift for joyride in downtown Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Police in Tennessee say a man is accused of stealing a scissor lift and driving it through downtown Nashville. WKRN-TV reports 23-year-old Hunter Pullens was charged with joyriding, vandalism and public intoxication. Police were alerted that…

17-year-old puts in bid to run for Murfreesboro City Council

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) -- A Middle Tennessee high school student bothered by a property tax increase has announced his intention to run for city council. The Daily News Journal reports 17-year-old Zach Ouellette will run for a spot on the…

Knoxville police: Drunken driver crashed into officer’s car

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- East Tennessee police say a drunken driver crashed into the cruisers of two officers performing a traffic stop. News outlets report that 44-year-old Anthony Daily struck a Knoxville police vehicle, pushing it into a second cruiser…

Nashville Confederate monument vandalized with red paint

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Red paint and the phrase "they were racists" were discovered on a Confederate monument in a Nashville park. Police say they found the vandalism Monday at the Confederate Private Monument in Centennial Park. Red liquid was…

Gloria Vanderbilt, heiress, jeans queen, dies at 95

NEW YORK (AP) -- Gloria Vanderbilt, the "poor little rich girl" heiress at the center of a scandalous custody battle of the 1930s and the designer jeans queen of the 1970s and '80s, died on Monday at 95, according to…

Authorities probe fatal inmate fight at Middle TN prison

HARTSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is looking into the death of an inmate found unconscious in his cell, apparently after a fight with his cellmate. News outlets report 42-year-old Ernest Hill was pronounced dead Saturday at…

Chattanooga Volkswagen plant to finish unionization vote

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Workers at Volkswagen's plant in Chattanooga are finishing a vote over whether to unionize. The vote of about 1,700 hourly workers began Wednesday and concludes Friday. A win would offer the United Auto Workers its first…

Trump says Press Secretary Sanders to leave White House

WASHINGTON (AP) -- White House press secretary Sarah Sanders will be leaving the Trump administration at the end of the month. President Donald Trump announced the news on Twitter Thursday. He says Sanders will be returning to her home state…

Prosecutor responds to detective supporting LGBT executions

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A Tennessee district attorney is reviewing all pending cases investigated by a detective who has said the government should execute gay people. Knox County District Attorney Charme Allen announced the action Wednesday in a statement after…

GOP leaders: Economy helped remove kids from TennCare rolls

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Top Republican elected officials in Tennessee say their state's improved economy is partly why at least 128,000 children were cut from its low-income health insurance programs over the past two years. However, Democrats and some health…

Army education aid now for Fort Campbell, others in Kentucky

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) -- An education assistance program has been expanded to include soldiers at Fort Campbell as well as Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers throughout Kentucky. The Army Credentialing Assistance Program provides funding for training and classes…

Mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus found in West Tennessee

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Health officials say mosquitoes collected in Tennessee's largest county have tested positive for the West Nile virus. The Shelby County Health Department said Tuesday that the virus was found in two south Memphis zip codes. Mosquitoes…

Memphis renames street amid concerns it honored KKK leader

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Memphis officials have settled on a simple solution for a Confederate street name challenge: removing a single letter. News outlets report that about 30 signs were changed Monday from Forrest Avenue to Forest Avenue, dropping one…

State parks offer volunteer hours for Tennessee Promise scholars

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee Promise scholars can fulfill their community service requirement during a volunteer event in the Tennessee State Parks this month. According to a news release, 54 of the state's 56 parks will offer a volunteer event.…

2 men fatally shot outside Clarksville restaurant

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Police have identified two men fatally shot outside a Middle Tennessee restaurant. The Clarksville Police Department said officers responded Wednesday night to a report of shots fired at a Longhorn Steakhouse in Clarksville and found the…

Planned Parenthood targets Tennessee state Rep. DeBerry

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Planned Parenthood says it is putting up new billboards criticizing Democratic Tennessee Rep. John DeBerry's stance on abortion. Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood Executive Director Francie Hunt said Thursday that three billboards in Memphis ask for…

Company that makes Jack Daniel’s takes tariff hit

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- The company that makes Jack Daniel's took a hit from the Trump administration's tariff fight, estimating that the standoff dragged sales growth down by a percentage point for the entire year. Brown-Forman Corp. posted fourth quarter…

Florida deputy charged after staying outside school shooting

MIAMI (AP) -- Prosecutors say the Florida deputy who failed to confront a gunman during last year's Parkland massacre has been arrested on 11 charges. State Attorney Mike Satz announced Tuesday that 56-year-old Scot Peterson faces child neglect, culpable negligence…

Police act to stop man’s threat against Bonnaroo

MANCHESTER, Tenn. (AP) -- Police in Middle Tennessee say they've minimized a threat posted by a man against the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. The post mentioned a bomb and said, "I might kill such people." The Knoxville News Sentinel…

Ex-Chattanooga officer indicted on sexual battery charge

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) -- A former East Tennessee police officer has been indicted on a sexual battery charge, stemming from an allegation that he fondled a suspected shoplifter. The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports former Chattanooga police Officer Benjamin Dessalines…

Man sent to prison for urinating in Memphis cereal factory

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- A Tennessee man has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for urinating on a Kellogg's cereal conveyor belt at a Memphis facility. The U.S. attorney's office in Memphis says 49-year-old Gregory Stanton was sentenced Friday…

Smokies national park: $953M in 2018 local visitor spending

GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) -- A National Park Service report says that visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park spent $953 million in communities near the park last year. A park news release says the spending came from the 11.4 million…

Invasive tick detected in Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Public health officials say an invasive tick has been detected in Tennessee. According to the Tennessee…

GOP conservative temporarily blocks $19B disaster bill

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A conservative House Republican complaining of Washington's free-spending ways has temporarily blocked a long-overdue $19 billion disaster aid bill. Texas Republican Chip Roy objected to speeding the measure through a nearly-empty chamber on Friday. He also complained…

Jury returns to deliberate in Tennessee church shooting case

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Jurors in Tennessee are deliberating the fate of a black man who killed a woman and wounded seven people at a Nashville church in apparent revenge for the racist massacre of nine black churchgoers in Charleston,…

US charges WikiLeaks founder with publishing classified info

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. filed new charges Thursday against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, accusing him of placing the United States at risk of "serious harm" by publishing thousands of secret and classified documents, including the names of confidential sources…

Southern Baptists see 12th year of declining membership

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The nation's largest Protestant denomination is reporting its twelfth year of declining memberships. On Thursday, the Southern Baptist Convention reported total membership for 2018 at 14.8 million, down about 192,000 from the previous year. Baptisms also…

Grumpy Cat, who entertained millions online, dies at age 7

MORRISTOWN, Ariz. (AP) -- Grumpy Cat, whose sourpuss expression entertained millions on the internet, has died at age 7. Her owners wrote on social media Friday that she experienced complications from a urinary tract infection and "passed away peacefully" Tuesday…

Alabama governor signs near-total abortion ban into law

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama's Republican governor signed the most stringent abortion legislation in the nation Wednesday, making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases. "To the bill's many supporters, this legislation stands as a powerful testament to…

Tennessee joins federal lawsuit against generic drug makers

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee has joined a federal lawsuit in Connecticut against 20 generic drug manufacturers, alleging manipulation of prices. State Attorney General Herbert Slatery's office says in a release that the drugs treat diseases and conditions including basic…

Tennessee governor won’t intervene in execution

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Republican Gov. Bill Lee says he will not intervene in this week's scheduled lethal injection of a Tennessee inmate. Lee made the announcement Tuesday, saying that he came to the decision after "prayerful and deliberate consideration."…

FBI probes case of Chattanooga officer accused of rape

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) -- The FBI is investigating the case of a Chattanooga police officer who is accused of raping women while on the job. The allegations are detailed in a federal lawsuit filed Monday. Officer Desmond Logan is accused…

Escalating trade war causing anxiety in America’s heartland

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- The escalating trade war between the U.S. and China is causing anxiety among rural farmers and bankers. Upper Midwest soybean farmer Jamie Beyer says these are days of "a little bit of panic." Minnesota agriculture lender…

Sheriff: Carnival worker from Virginia shot, killed 3 women

ABINGDON, Va. (AP) -- Authorities in Virginia have linked the slayings of two missing women and a missing teenage girl to a carnival worker who met the victims through the traveling show. The sheriff's office in rural Washington County announced…

Legendary actress, singer Doris Day dead at 97

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Doris Day, whose wholesome screen presence stood for a time of innocence in '60s films, has died, her foundation says. She was 97. The Doris Day Animal Foundation confirmed Day died early Monday at her Carmel…

Jim Fowler, former host of ‘Wild Kingdom,’ dies at 89

NORWALK, Conn. (AP) -- Jim Fowler, a naturalist who rose to fame on the long-running television show "Wild Kingdom," has died. He was 89. Jennifer Whitney is a spokeswoman for Mutual of Omaha, which sponsored the show. She says Fowler…

Tennessee Senate leader says House speaker should leave post

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Toughening his position, Tennessee Republican Senate Speaker Randy McNally now says embattled GOP House Speaker Glen Casada should resign his leadership post. McNally told WBIR-TV Friday that he thinks…