Author: Associated Press

Perry tours Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, Oak Ridge

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry is touting the roles of the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory as central to the country's national defense and economic development goals. Perry said Monday that…

1 remains at large after 2 inmates escape Kentucky jail

MORRISTOWN, Tenn. (AP) - Authorities say one inmate remains at large after two escaped from a Tennessee jail Saturday night. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports (http://bit.ly/2qNKOcr ) that 30-year-old Michael Teal was back in custody after escaping Hamblen County Jail,…

Justices won’t hear appeal over release of federal mug shots

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from the Detroit Free Press that asked the government to release mug shots of federal criminal defendants in Michigan and three other states. The justices on Monday left in place…

Tennessee State University to get $500K for goat meat study

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee State University is receiving almost a $500,000 federal grant to expand its goat meat research. The university says the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the grant this week. TSU says agriculture researchers have noted a…

Toddler wounded after shooting himself in face with gun

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Police have charged a Tennessee man after his 18-month-old son accidentally shot himself in the face with a gun left on a bed. The Tennessean reports (http://tnne.ws/2rhQ1M8 ) 31-year-old Tommy Washington was charged with aggravated child…

Report reveals low faculty morale at Nashville State

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - An internal report on Nashville State Community College has found that professors feel they work in a climate of fear and hostility, engendered by top administrators. The Tennessean (http://tnne.ws/2qwsy96 ) obtained a copy of the report…

Children safely removed from buses trapped by high water

WESTMORELAND, Tenn. (AP) - Heavy rains just north of Nashville, Tennessee had emergency crews scrambling to safely evacuate students from three school buses that became trapped by high water. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency until noon…

Eastbound I-40 at Tennessee line closed due to tanker spill

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) - A tanker truck has overturned and spilled its load of tar on Interstate 40 near the Tennessee line, leading transportation officials in North Carolina to close the eastbound lanes. According to a news release from the…

Memphis mail carrier, 24 others charged with selling drugs

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- A U.S. Postal Service mail carrier and 24 other people have been charged with selling heroin and other drugs in Memphis. Media reports say Memphis police and the district attorney in Shelby County announced Thursday the…

Tennessee teacher indicted on sex, obstruction charges

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Authorities say a Tennessee teacher who led police on a nationwide manhunt after taking a 15-year-old student has been indicted on federal charges. A federal grand jury has charged Tad Cummins with taking a minor across…

Prosecutor: Leader of Nashville heroin sales pleads guilty

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Federal prosecutors say a member of a Mexican drug cartel who was in charge of heroin sales in the Nashville area has pleaded guilty to multiple charges. The office of Jack Smith, acting U.S. Attorney for…

Tennessee AG sues company labeled a government impostor

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Tennessee attorney general is suing a California company over claims that it sent government-styled invoices to make new homeowners pay to receive copies of their deeds. Attorney General Herbert Slatery's office on Wednesday announced the…

Grown-ups brawl at high school graduation in Tennessee

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Graduation caps weren't the only things flying at one high school commencement in Tennessee after some adults in the audience started throwing punches. Videos posted to social media show a fight between adults breaking out as…

Trump’s Japan envoy pick says he’s optimistic on trade deal

WASHINGTON (AP) - The businessman in line to be American ambassador to Japan says he's optimistic about reaching deal with Japan that could mean equal or better results than the Asia-Pacific agreement that President Donald Trump pulled the United States…

Boyd takes delivery of first new VW Atlas in Chattanooga

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd is the first customer to receive Volkswagen's new Chattanooga-made SUV. When Boyd was the state's economic development commissioner, he put a $5,000 deposit on the Atlas SUV in October 2015 when…

Nashville man charged, accused of dragging officer

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A Nashville man has been charged with assault and other counts after police say he dragged an officer who approached his car. Clarksville police said Officer Seth Traughber was responding to a suspicious activity call, where…

Sexual misconduct reports increase at UT Knoxville in 2016

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A new report from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville says sexual misconduct reports at the school rose by more than two-thirds last year, from 38 complaints in 2015 to 64 in 2016. UT released the…

Nashville judge resigns over potential conflict of interest

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee judge has resigned after potential conflict of interest issues arose over his ownership of short-term rentals. The Tennessean reports (http://tnne.ws/2pV6h0X ) that Jim Todd resigned from his part-time position as magistrate for the Davidson…

Tennessee Democrats prepare for fundraiser dubbed ‘J-Day’

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee Democrats are preparing for their annual Jackson Day fundraiser they are now referring to as "J-Day." The event has long been named after President Andrew Jackson, a Tennessean who is considered the father of the…

Commission taking applications for Shelby County judgeship

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Officials are seeking applications to fill a vacancy in Shelby County Circuit Court created by the retirement of Judge Robert L. Childers. The Trial Court Vacancy Commission says applicants for the judgeship in the 30th Judicial…

Sheriff’s deputy charged with stealing from elderly woman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee sheriff's deputy is facing charges that he stole money from the bank account of an elderly woman whom he befriended. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says Bedford County Sheriff's Deputy Garcia Romero Jordan was…

Cracker Barrel settles federal suit over handicapped parking

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Cracker Barrel Old Country Store has settled a class-action lawsuit brought by a Pittsburgh woman who claimed that handicapped parking spaces at some restaurants are too steep or otherwise violate federal law. Sarah Heinzl plays on the…

Deputies find body of teen reported missing

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - Authorities say they have found the body of a Tennessee teenager who had been reported missing. Media cited the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office in reporting that…

Lawsuit: Ex-Vanderbilt student wrongly accused of assault

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A former student has filed a $10 million lawsuit against Vanderbilt University, claiming he was wrongfully accused of sexual assault. The Tennessean reports the lawsuit was filed May 5. It claims the student, identified only as…

Tennessee Human Rights Commission official charged

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - An official with the Tennessee Human Rights Commission has been arrested on charges of sexual exploitation of minors. Nashville police said in a news release that 42-year-old compliance director Christopher Matthew Stephenson surrendered Tuesday on a…

Nashville’s Minority Caucus upset that DA excluded it

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Members of Nashville's Metropolitan Minority Council are upset that they weren't notified that the district attorney's office was going to announce that it would not bring charges against a white officer who killed a black man…

Nashville mayor asks Tennessee governor to veto gun bill

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Nashville Mayor Megan Barry wants Gov. Bill Haslam to veto a bill requiring metal detectors and security guards at many city and county facilities if officials want to ban guns there. In a letter to Haslam…

Police: Deputies fatally shoot man after he pointed gun

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) - Officials say deputies in East Tennessee have fatally shot a man after he pointed a gun at them while they were trying to take him into custody on outstanding warrants. A statement from the Tennessee…

Tennessee officers shoot man holding woman at gunpoint

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Police say officers shot and wounded a man holding a woman at gunpoint in a Tennessee residence hours after she filed an order of protection against him. Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron told news outlets officers…

‘Dr. Evil’ convictions upheld in Romney election shakedown

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A federal appeals court has upheld the convictions of a Tennessee man engaged in an extortion scheme where he claimed to have the tax returns of then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney and threatened to release them if…

Upstaged: Predators anthem singer replaced by A-list artists

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The longtime anthem singer at Nashville Predators hockey games has sour grapes over being replaced in the Stanley Cup playoffs by super star singers such as Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum and Little Big Town.…

More than 2K bills and resolutions considered in Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - While much of the energy and attention of this year's legislative session was focused on Republican Gov. Bill Haslam's gas tax proposal, there were more than 2,000 other bills and resolutions considered by lawmakers before they…

Out-of-town jurors to hear trial in fatal school bus crash

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - Out-of-town jurors will be brought to Chattanooga, Tennessee to hear the case of the bus driver charged in a crash that killed six elementary school students. Media outlets report defense attorney Amanda Dunn argued too many…

Judge bars Rutherford County juvenile detention policy

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction barring Rutherford County from enforcing a policy that allows even young children accused of minor infractions to be locked up until a hearing. The order from U.S. District…

Haslam to sign rural broadband bill in Brownsville

BROWNSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Gov. Bill Haslam is headed to West Tennessee to sign a bill seeking to make it easier for rural areas to get access to the internet. The Republican governor is scheduled to sign the Broadband Accessibility…

Loretta Lynn starting rehabilitation after stroke

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Country legend Loretta Lynn is starting rehabilitation after suffering a stroke more than a week ago. An update posted on her website Monday said the 85-year-old Country Music Hall of Fame singer and songwriter has been…

Sound Emporium studio given as gift to Lipscomb University

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Lipscomb University will become the new owner of the iconic Nashville recording studio called Sound Emporium, which was originally built in 1969 by legendary Nashville producer "Cowboy" Jack Clement. The university announced Monday that the studio…

Search begins to replace retiring Chattanooga police chief

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - A city in Tennessee says a search committee of community members and external stakeholders will help replace its retiring police chief. The Times Free Press reports (http://bit.ly/2rizIeB ) Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke announced on Monday that…

2 men shot, 1 dead after domestic dispute at Tennessee IHOP

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - A shooting in Tennessee injured one security guard and killed a good Samaritan as they tried to intervene in a dispute between a woman and her ex-boyfriend. Local news outlets report one man was hurt and…

Truck torched in East Tenn. was evidence in fatal wreck

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Authorities say a truck burned in a fire set by an arsonist at a Tennessee Highway Patrol impound lot in Knoxville was being held as evidence in a fatal crash investigation. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports…

New York eyes ‘textalyzer’ to combat distracted driving

ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York lawmakers are considering a Breathalyzer of sorts to combat distracted driving from texting. Legislation would allow police to use a so-called "textalyzer" to determine if a driver had been clicking, tapping or swiping a mobile…

Tennessee man charged in fatal shooting at basketball court

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee man has been charged in a fatal shooting that killed a bystander on a basketball court. The Shelby County district attorney's office says 24-year-old Ladareion Greer has been indicted on charges of second-degree murder…

Sentencing underway after fatal greenway stabbing conviction

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A man charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of a woman on a Knoxville greenway has been found guilty. News outlets report that 26-year-old Timothy Dwayne Ison was convicted Wednesday in the 2015 slaying…

Unfair labor practices charged at Volkswagen’s US plant

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The National Labor Relations Board has filed another unfair labor practices complaint against Volkswagen for hiking health insurance premiums and changing working hours of employees who voted for union representation at the German automaker's only U.S.…

Tennessee legislature passes free tuition program

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee's new plan to allow older adults without a college degree or certificate to attend community college free of charge could become a model as more states consider such a policy. The state General Assembly has…