Author: WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News Staff

SOMERVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - An Oakland man is accused of making more than 100 threats against a Fayette County judge in text messages. According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, agents arrested Kevin Michael Vinyard on Sunday. He is charged…

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Local reports say a West Knox County teenager has been charged with second-degree attempted murder in the shooting and wounding of his grandfather at their home. Area media outlets report that the charge was announced Tuesday…

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Authorities say a former University of Tennessee football player is accused of trying to entice a 14-year-old girl for sex in Florida. Pinellas County Sheriff's officials said in a release Wednesday that 23-year-old Mackenzie "Mack"…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Senate Finance Committee has voted to approve funding for two new positions in Tennessee government to help clear a backlog of open record questions. A recent comptroller's audit documented more than 600 open or pending…

HOLLYWOOD, Ala. (AP) - The Tennessee Valley Authority is considering whether to sell its unfinished Bellefonte Nuclear Plant in northeast Alabama. The federal utility announced Wednesday it's taking public comments on whether to sell the 1,600-acre site on the Tennessee…

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) - Two competing health systems in northeast Tennessee are looking for state approval of a merger that would establish a single operation. Media report that Mountain States Health Alliance and Wellmont Health System filed Tuesday for…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam's administration has agreed to have an outside group review the Republican's privatization plan for building maintenance at Tennessee's public colleges and universities. Haslam plans to release his "business justification" for his privatization efforts…

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Clarkdale police have filed new charges against the two men who they say were involved in the wounding of a Clarksdale police officer and robbery of a grocery store. Police arrested 19-year-old Johnny Robinson Jr. on…

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee district attorney general has ordered an investigation into a police detective's "perjurious testimony" about the sexual abuse of high school basketball players. On Monday, Gatlinburg Police Detective Rodney Burns testified the assault was blown…

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - A Florida couple has cashed in the second of three winning tickets from last month's $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot. Seventy-year-old Maureen Smith and 55-year-old David Kaltschmidt will take the lump sum payment of about $327.8 million.…

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Vice President Joe Biden says the nation is on the verge of resurgence thanks to the White House's decision to buttress the sagging American economy seven years ago with stimulus spending. During a stop Wednesday to…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The president of two Tennessee-based cancer charities accused of spending donations on six-figure salaries and luxury vacations has agreed to relinquish control of the businesses. In one of the largest cases of its kind, the Federal…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Therapists or counselors in private practice could decline treatment for patients on the basis of "sincerely held religious beliefs" under a bill passed by the Tennessee Senate. The bill is part of a wave of state…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - No changes are expected in the gun ban at the legislative office complex in Nashville after a meeting between the House and Senate speakers and safety officials. Republican Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey told reporters last week…

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland says the search for the city's next police director will begin soon. The Commercial Appeal reports (bit.ly/1U5EWVm) Strickland announced Monday that the International Association of Chiefs of Police will start conducting the…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A resolution directing Tennessee's attorney general to mount a legal challenge to the federal refugee resettlement program is headed for a vote in the state Senate. The Senate Finance Committee voted 9-1 on Tuesday to advance…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The operator of a large chain of beer and liquor stores says an effort to create a two-store limit on new retail licenses is an effort to stamp out competition in Tennessee. The measure advanced out…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The sponsor of a bill seeking to require ultrasound information to be shared with pregnant women seeking an abortion in Tennessee has withdrawn the measure from consideration. Republican Rep. Rick Womick of Murfreesboro on Tuesday decided…

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A Clarksdale police officer remains in critical condition following a weekend shooting. Assistant Police Chief Robbie Linley says 39-year-old Cpl. Derrick Couch, of Southaven, Mississippi, is being treated at a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Linley says…

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - University of Tennessee President Joe DiPietro pushed back against recent criticisms of the school, telling school supporters that "the long arm of the government" is reaching further and further into university matters. DiPietro made his case…

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP) - Republican Rep. Jeremy Durham tells the Williamson Herald that the state attorney general's office has requested he turn over all state electronic devices and personal email accounts as part an investigation into sexual harassment allegations. Durham,…

CHADRON, Neb. (AP) - An April sentencing has been scheduled for a Tennessee man who's taken a plea deal on an allegation that he sexually assaulted a Chadron State College student. Twenty-one-year-old Timothy Jungquist, of Nashville, pleaded no contest Friday…

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - A judge has ruled there's enough probable cause to proceed with charges against three Tennessee high school officials facing allegations they failed to report the sexual abuse of school basketball players by teammates. Ooltewah High School…