Author: Associated Press

Street named after late country music star Marty Robbins

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - City officials in Glendale have named a street after late country music star Marty Robbins, who was born in the Phoenix suburb in 1925. Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers (wires) helped unveil the new honorary sign near…

Stargazing party set for this weekend in West Virginia

GRANTSVILLE, W.Va. (AP) - Amateur astronomers are signed up to watch the sky over central West Virginia this weekend. The third annual Calhoun Stargaze is set for Friday through Sunday at the Calhoun County Park in Grantsville. The park is…

Tennessee approves $600K job training grant for VW supplier

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - State officials have approved a $600,000 job training grant for a Volkswagen supplier in Chattanooga. The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports (http://bit.ly/2cZ5tEF ) that the State Funding Board OK'd the FastTrack Job Training funds in a…

Parents sued after boy killed 8-year-old in puppy dispute

DANDRIDGE, Tenn. (AP) - The parents of an 11-year-old boy who fatally shot an 8-year-old girl after she refused to show him her puppies are being sued for $10 million. The wrongful death lawsuit filed Monday in Jefferson County, Tennessee,…

DA wants Chattanooga gang members declared a public nuisance

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - The Hamilton County District Attorney General is trying to ban known gang members from partaking in a number of activities within a roughly two-mile "safety zone," including being around other gang members. News outlets report that…

Prosecutor: No federal charges in police killing in Memphis

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - A prosecutor says a white Memphis police officer won't face federal civil rights criminal charges in the shooting death of a 19-year-old black man. U.S. Attorney Edward Stanton told reporters Tuesday that a federal review found…

Professor avoids disciplinary action from school for tweet

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The University of Tennessee's law school dean says a professor will not face disciplinary action for a Twitter post that called on drivers to run over demonstrators blocking traffic in Charlotte, North Carolina. In a post…

Police identify tourist killed in Nashville shooting

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Metro Nashville Police have identified the 30-year-old California man who was shot and killed in an apparent robbery attempt while walking with a friend in downtown Nashville. Police Capt. Gregory Blair tells local news outlets that…

Tennessee opted against Hart extension before his retirement

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee had opted against giving athletic director Dave Hart a contract extension with a raise before he announced his retirement, according to documents obtained in a public records request. In an Aug. 10 email, University of…

2 boaters found dead on Chickamauga Lake

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - Authorities say two boaters reported missing since Saturday have been found dead aboard their boat on Chickamauga Lake. According to local media reports, Kristy D. James and Mike L. Richardson were found Monday in their boat…

Construction beginning in Nashville on interpretive center

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Construction is starting this week on the first blockhouse to be part of Nashville Metro Parks' new Fort Nashborough Interpretive Center. The center will be located on the Cumberland River's west bank in downtown Nashville. The…

Memorial to confront South’s troubled history of lynchings

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - An Alabama city known for being the first capital of the Confederacy is set to become the site of a privately funded memorial to black lynching victims in the United States. The nonprofit group Equal Justice…

Islam might be removed from 7th grade social studies classes

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (AP) - School officials have dropped most of the Tennessee middle school social studies standards involving Islam as part of newly proposed standards. The Kingsport Times-News (http://bit.ly/2dl9y8K ) reports that an entire section on Islam currently taught to…

Nashville police: Toddler shot 12-year-old relative in leg

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Nashville Metro police say a 2-year-old child accidentally shot his 12-year-old relative in the leg. News outlets report that the unidentified toddler removed a revolver from a side compartment in his aunt's vehicle and inadvertently shot…

Alabama women cross state lines to give birth with midwives

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) - When Brianna Barker spots the big blue "Tennessee welcomes you" sign about an hour into her car trip, she breathes a little easier. Barker crosses the state line from Alabama to Tennessee every time she goes…

BlueCross BlueShield changes to affect 100K Tennesseans

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee is withdrawing from the Affordable Care Act marketplace in the Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville regions. In a news release, the company says the change will affect an estimated 100,000 Tennesseans. The decision…

Expelled state lawmaker escorted from UT football game

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Former state Rep. Jeremy Durham, who earlier this month became the first lawmaker expelled from the Tennessee General Assembly in 36 years, was escorted from a University of Tennessee football game on Saturday after getting into…

Tennessee State University holds memorial for famed coach

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee State University is hosting a public memorial service for famed track and field coach Ed Temple, who led the school's Tigerbelles to 13 Olympic gold medals. Classes and meetings at the historically black university will…

Young man gets 30 years for killing father in East Tenn.

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A young man has pleaded guilty to killing his father as jury selection was set to begin for his trial in East Tennessee. The Greeneville Sun reports 18-year-old Zachary Thomas Blanchard was sentenced to 30 years…

Rabies prevention program for raccoons starts Monday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - An annual baiting program to help prevent rabies in raccoons begins Monday in Tennessee. The Tennessee Department of Health is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on the project. Oral rabies vaccine for wild raccoons…

California man shot, killed in downtown Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A California man has been shot and killed while running from an apparent robbery attempt in downtown Nashville. Metro Nashville Police spokeswoman Kris Mumford tells local news outlets two men from Los Angeles were walking early…

Police: Employee fatally shot supervisors at Tennessee plant

ATHENS, Tenn. (AP) - The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says a fatal shooting at an East Tennessee plant occurred while an employee was meeting with his supervisors. TBI spokeswoman Susan Niland said on Friday that the investigation indicates 45-year-old Ricky…

Tennessee State University band performing at White House

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee State University's marching band is performing Friday on the east lawn of the White House in celebration of the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The Smithsonian Institution's new museum…

Haslam to receive annual flu vaccination in Chattanooga

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam and Health Commissioner John Dreyzehner are traveling to Chattanooga to get their annual flu vaccinations and encourage other Tennesseans to follow suit. The governor and commissioner are scheduled to receive their shots at…

A court fight over documents about a 12-year-old oil leak

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Environmental attorneys and an energy company are going to court over the confidentiality of documents related to an ongoing oil leak from an offshore site damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. The Louisiana Environmental Action Network…

Adams County man charged in fatal New Year’s Day shooting

NATCHEZ, Miss. (AP) - An Adams County man faces a murder charge for the New Year's Day shooting death of another man. Sheriff Travis Patten tells The Natchez Democrat 21-year-old Jovan Singleton was arrested Wednesday for the Jan. 1 death…

Second person charged in sex assault near UofL

. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Police have arrested a second person in connection with one of two sexual assaults near the University of Louisville campus. News outlets report that according to a Louisville Metro Police citation, 18-year-old Dezmeontai Tinsley was…

Nashville mosque sues state over tax exemption denial

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Islamic Center of Nashville is suing the state in federal court after it says it was denied a tax exemption. The Tennessean reports that the lawsuit, filed Monday, argues the center's religious tax exemption for its…

Stax Music Academy to perform in at Smithsonian museum event

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Young musicians with the Stax Music Academy are scheduled to perform at the grand opening festival for the Smithsonian Institution's new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington. Members of the academy, which…

Police: 1 dead, 2 wounded in Jackson, MS shooting

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Police say one person is dead, and two others have been injured in a shooting at a Jackson apartment complex. Local media outlets report the shooting happened at the Hallmark Gardens Apartments on Northside Drive early…

Sales tax record shows strong Tupelo economy

TUPELO, Miss. (AP) - The city of Tupelo has for the first time collected more than $20 million in sales tax revenue during a single fiscal year. The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports that record-setting milestone caps off a fiscal…

Gulfport’s Fishbone Alley to open Oct. 2

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - An alley once littered with trash bins will make its debut as a brick-paved and art-filled downtown walkway Oct. 2, the same day Gulfport hosts View the Cruise, part of the opening festivities for Cruisin' The…

Deputies: Driver falls asleep, strikes and kills man

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) - A motorcyclist has died after McCracken County sheriff's deputies say he was hit by a driver who fell asleep at the wheel. The McCracken County Sheriff's Department says in a statement that just before 5 p.m.…

Texas man killed in Mississippi crash, other driver arrested

VANCLEAVE, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi authorities say a 74-year-old Texas man died in Jackson County after his Chevrolet Corvette was hit from behind. Deputy Coroner Jason Moody tells The Sun Herald Lucky Everett, of Houston, was pronounced dead at the…

Arraignment for company officials over abandoned explosives

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) - The owners and four officials of a company that abandoned 7,800 tons of potentially explosive artillery propellant at Camp Minden in northwest Louisiana are scheduled for their first appearance in federal court. Magistrate Judge Mark Hornsby…

Woman dies in Florence all-terrain vehicle accident

FLORENCE, Miss. (AP) - A woman in Rankin County has died in an all-terrain vehicle accident. Rankin County Coroner David Ruth tells local news organizations that the woman died Sunday after the ATV she was riding flipped on top of…

Great Smoky Mountains service projects are Saturday

  GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) - Great Smoky Mountains National Park has several service projects planned for Saturday in recognition of National Public Lands Day. The public can join park staff to participate in the volunteer effort to help out. A…

TN man charged threatening to kill Hawaii members of Congress

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The FBI and U.S. Capitol Police have arrested a man in Tennessee on charges of threatening to kill members of Hawaii's congressional delegation. Keahiokahouna Stewart was taken into custody at his Murfreesboro home on Friday. According…

Figures show metro Memphis’ poverty rates decline

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Figures show metropolitan Memphis is no longer the nation's poorest large metro area following a drop in the local poverty rate last year. News agencies report the latest U.S. Census data, released Thursday, reveals that an…

Docs detail government damage of Trail of Tears

COKER CREEK, Tenn. (AP) - The U.S. Forest Service is apologizing after it ripped up a portion of the Trail of Tears in the Appalachian Mountains. The damage has reopened wounds for Native Americans who consider the land sacred. The…

Hundreds attend funeral for chief who shot himself

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. (AP) - The police chief of a small Mississippi town who shot himself last week after being suspended has been laid to rest. The Sun-Herald newspaper reports Friday that Bay St. Louis Police Chief Mike De…

Preliminary unemployment rate up for August in Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee officials say the state's preliminary unemployment rate for August climbed slightly from the previous month. Tennessee Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips said in a news…

Kentucky Virtual Library names new director

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - The Kentucky Virtual Library has named a new director. She is Ilona N. Burdette, who has been director of library services for 17 years at St. Catharine College. She was previously director of Marion County Public…

10 cases of flu confirmed in Kentucky

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - The Kentucky Department of Public Health reports it has confirmed that the flu virus is circulating in parts of the state. The agency says in a news release that 10 cases have been confirmed in Bullitt,…

5 plead not guilty in federal court in military boot case

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Five people have pleaded not guilty in East Tennessee to charges that they conspired to import and sell military-style boots made in China to the U.S. military, government contractors and the public as being made in…

Jackson man sentenced in bankruptcy case to repay $5.4M

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A Jackson man sentenced to nearly five years for bankruptcy fraud has been ordered to pay restitution of $5.4 million. U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis, in a news release Thursday, said U.S. District Judge Tom S.…

5 inmates charged with starting fire in Cocke County Jail

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Authorities say five inmates have been charged with starting a fire inside the Cocke County Jail. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Thursday that agents investigated a fire that was set inside the jail on Aug.…

Civil rights leader Diane Nash speaks at MTSU

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) - Civil Rights leader Diane Nash recently gave a speech to Middle Tennessee State University students as part of the school's observance of Constitution Week. The Daily News Journal of Murfreesboro reports that Nash spoke Wednesday about…

Land Between the Lakes seeks volunteers on Public Lands Day

GOLDEN POND, Ky. (AP) - Officials at Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area are looking for volunteers on National Public Lands Day to help clean up trails. A statement from Land Between the Lakes says it wants people who…