Author: Associated Press

Tennessee to electrocute second inmate in as many months

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A Tennessee inmate is scheduled Thursday evening to become the second person to die in the state's electric chair in as many months. The execution plan comes nearly two decades after Tennessee adopted lethal injection. But…

St. Jude announces largest one-time donation of $50 million

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- St. Jude Children's Research Hospital says a $50 million donation from a research-based pharmaceutical company is the largest one-time gift in its history. The Memphis-based hospital said Monday that the donation from the AbbVie company will…

Memphis man praises youth football after bus crash

BENTON, Ark. (AP) -- A former member of a Tennessee youth football program that lost a player in a pre-dawn bus crash in Arkansas says the program can keep children from being lured into a world of drugs and crime. One…

Plane with remains of President Bush arrives at Andrews

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A military aircraft carrying the remains of former President George H.W. Bush has arrived at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, D.C., as the nation's capital prepares to honor the 41st president. Former…

Gov. Bill Haslam to attend President Bush funeral

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam will attend the funeral service for former President George H.W. Bush in Washington, D.C. Haslam's office announced Monday the Republican will attend the invitation-only funeral service on Wednesday at Washington National Cathedral.…

1 child dead, 45 people hurt in Arkansas charter bus crash

BENTON, Ark. (AP) -- Arkansas State Police say 45 people, most of them children, have been injured in a fatal crash involving a charter bus that was carrying a youth football team from Tennessee. Police say one child was killed…

Developer says TVA illegally blocking nuclear plant sale

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) -- The Tennessee Valley Authority is accused of illegally blocking the sale of an unfinished nuclear power plant in a federal lawsuit filed by a developer trying to buy the plant. The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports…

Tennessee lawsuit wants instant runoff voting ruled legal

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A Tennessee lawsuit urges a judge to deem instant runoff voting legal in the state. Several prospective Memphis city council candidates and IRV Memphis, Inc. sued state elections coordinator Mark Goins and the Shelby County Election…

Former President George H.W. Bush dies at age 94

DALLAS (AP) - Former President George H.W. Bush has died at the age of 94. Family spokesman Jim McGrath says Bush died shortly after 10 p.m. Friday, about eight months after the death of his wife, Barbara Bush. The nation's…

Affidavit: East TN officer fondled woman caught stealing

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) -- An affidavit says an East Tennessee officer took a woman caught shoplifting to his apartment and fondled her. News outlets report 28-year-old Benjamin Dessalines was arrested Thursday on felony kidnapping and felony sexual battery charges. The…

Acting US attorney general talks opioids on Tennessee visit

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker has swung through Tennessee to laud the approach being taken against the opioid epidemic by the Trump administration. Whitaker read from prepared remarks alongside Tennessee's U.S. attorneys Thursday in Nashville. He…

UT forms search committee as it selects chancellor

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- University of Tennessee System interim president Randy Boyd has named a search committee to assist in the selection of a Knoxville campus chancellor. The chancellor for UT Martin, Keith Carver, will chair the committee, which will…

Bogus college coach convicted of trying to make child porn

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- An Alabama man pretending to be a college softball coach has been convicted in Florida of trying to make child porn. Court records show 42-year-old Jason Ford pleaded guilty in Fort Lauderdale federal court last…

TN lottery chief elected president of World Lottery Association

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The head of Tennessee's lottery has been elected president of the World Lottery Association. The Tennessee lottery said its president and CEO, Rebecca P. Hargrove, is the first female president of the global organization. It includes…

‘SpongeBob’ creator Stephen Hillenburg dies at 57

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- "SpongeBob SquarePants" creator Stephen Hillenburg has died at age 57. Nickelodeon says Hillenburg died Monday of Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as ALS. Hillenburg conceived, wrote, produced and directed the…

2nd Tennessee prisoner chooses death in electric chair

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A second Tennessee prisoner is requesting to die in the electric chair rather than by lethal injection. Lawyers for David Earl Miller have argued that Tennessee's midazolam-based, three-drug injection method causes excruciating pain. Tennessee's preferred method…

Tennessee House elects 1st African-American minority leader

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee House Democrats have elected the chamber's first African-American minority leader. Democrats chose Rep. Karen Camper of Memphis during leadership elections Sunday. She replaces former Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh of Ripley, who left the Legislature in…

West TN deputy shot, injured during gas station robbery

FAYETTE COUNTY, Tenn. (AP) -- Authorities say a premeditated gas station robbery in West Tennessee ended in a gunfire exchange that left a deputy injured. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says 21-year-old Christopher Dewayne Lee of Memphis and 26-year-old Jessica…

East TN woman arrested, accused of stealing hunting dog

MARYVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A woman has been accused of interfering with a legal bear hunt in East Tennessee by catching and stealing a hunting dog. News outlets quote a Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency statement as saying Sandra Lucille Inman…

Train hits vehicle in Germantown, killing 2

GERMANTOWN, Tenn. (AP) -- Police say a train has hit a vehicle in Tennessee killing both occupants. Germantown Police said 86-year-old driver Dorothy M. Bell and her 96-year-old passenger, Samuel J.W. Bell, were killed from injuries in Tuesday's crash. Police…

Children end effort to contest Glen Campbell’s wills

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Three of country singer Glen Campbell's children have dropped their fight to contest the validity of two wills that exclude them from any inheritance. The Tennessean reported the siblings agreed on Monday to dismiss their complaint.…

Former Memphis officer sentenced on drug conspiracy charge

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- A former Memphis police officer has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in a drug-related corruption case. News outlets cited a statement from U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant in reporting that a federal judge sentenced…

Tennessee inmate must choose lethal injection, electric chair

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee death row inmate David Earl Miller faces a Tuesday afternoon deadline to inform prison officials whether he wants to be executed by lethal injection or electrocution. Miller is scheduled to die on Dec. 6 for…

Interior recycling bins added at Tennessee State Parks

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee State Parks have expanded recycling with interior recycling bins added at all 56 state parks. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation said in a news release that more than 400 exterior recycling receptacles were…

Tennessee planning 7 executions after years with none

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee is planning to execute seven people over the next two years, after executing only eight since 1960. On Friday, the Tennessee Supreme Court set execution dates for six death row inmates in 2019 and 2020.…

Tennessee gov-elect promises to overhaul public records law

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee's newly elected governor says he wants to do a complete overhaul of the state's public records and open meeting laws as part of his commitment to making government more transparent. Republican Bill Lee first revealed…

Gov-elect Lee clarifies changes to State of the State speech

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- After running as a political outsider during his successful gubernatorial campaign, Republican Bill Lee says he'll continue to stay out of the "bubble of Nashville" by delivering his State of the State address throughout various locations…

Memphis hospital fires worker who wore racist shirt to vote

OLIVE BRANCH, Miss. (AP) -- A hospital in Tennessee has fired a worker who was photographed wearing a racist shirt while voting in Mississippi. News outlets report that Regional One Health in Memphis says its investigation into the image shared…

Tennessee provides resources to help residents quit smoking

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee is providing resources to help residents who want to quit smoking during the Great American Smokeout. The annual event takes place Nov. 15, but Tennessee's resources are available year-round. They include the Tennessee Tobacco QuitLine…

Jury sides with workers sickened during coal ash cleanup

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A jury has sided with workers who say they were sickened after they were tapped to clean up a massive 2008 coal ash spill in Tennessee. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that a jury found Wednesday…

BREAKING: Sessions resigns as attorney general

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General Jeff Sessions has resigned as the country's chief law enforcement officer. Sessions announced his plan to resign in a letter to the White House on Wednesday. President Donald Trump announced in a tweet that Sessions' chief…

Carbon monoxide leak sickens 9 at Nashville hotel

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Officials say a carbon monoxide leak at a Tennessee hotel has sickened nine people. News outlets reported the Nashville Fire Department was called out to the downtown Westin hotel on Wednesday morning. The Nashville Fire Department…

Green projected winner in U.S. House District 7

  NASHVILLE -- Republican Mark Green has won one of three open U.S. House seats in Tennessee. Green is a state senator from Ashland City who will represent the 19 counties in District 7. The district includes the population centers…

AP reports Bill Lee as projected winner in TN governor race

  NASHVILLE -- Republican businessman and political newcomer Bill Lee will become Tennessee's next governor, replacing outgoing GOP Gov. Bill Haslam, the Associated Press reports. Lee is projected to win Tuesday's election against former Democratic Nashville Mayor Karl Dean. Lee…

Immigration board rejects Spanish-language reporter’s appeal

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- An immigration board has rejected an appeal from a Spanish-language news outlet reporter who was arrested during a demonstration in Tennessee. The Commercial Appeal reports that while the Board of Immigration Appeal granted Manuel Duran a…

Concerns over voter registrations loom in Tennessee county

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Concerns about voter registrations and the security of electronic voting machines are looming over the upcoming election in a Tennessee county. Two lawsuits have been filed in connection with Tuesday's pivotal election in Shelby County, the…

Man gets 30 years on sex trafficking charges in Tennessee

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - A man convicted of forcing women to engage in prostitution in Tennessee and Texas has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison The U.S. attorney's office in Memphis said 41-year-old Antonio Hawkins was sentenced Friday…

After long hiatus, Tennessee could execute 3 this year

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- After four decades with only six executions, Tennessee is on schedule to execute three inmates this year alone. Edmund Zagorski died in the electric chair on Thursday. Billy Ray Irick…

Condemned man’s last words: ‘Let’s rock’

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee inmate's final words were "Let's rock" before he became the first man executed in the electric chair since 2007 in Tennessee. A reporter who witnessed the execution says 63-year-old iunmate Edmund Zagorski mostly looked…

Tennessee delays start of construction on Neyland renovation

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee is delaying the start of construction on a Neyland Stadium renovation project to review all aspects of the plan. Noting that he's been on the job for less than a year, athletic director Phillip Fulmer…

Condemned TN prisoner appeals to US Supreme Court

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- With just hours left before his scheduled execution, condemned Tennessee inmate Edmund Zagorski is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to put a stop to it. On Thursday Zagorski asked the court take up his claim that it's…