A former Knox County Governmental Library employee was paid more than $100,000 for work time she did not complete while more than $40,000 worth of additional compensation is being questioned over a 10-year span.
Ashley Satterfield was indicted on a charge of official misconduct and theft of over $60,000 before resigning her position on Jan. 27.
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One of Tennessee’s most wanted fugitives, who escaped from prison in 1990, remains on the lam 30 years after being placed on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) Most Wanted list.
Robert Houston Sanders, serving an 81-year sentence for kidnapping and armed robbery, escaped from the Tennessee State Prison on April 20, 1990 and disappeared. Sanders has been on TBI’s Most Wanted list since its inception in 1993. He is the only most wanted fugitive in the state with that distinction and is still considered “armed and dangerous.”
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A Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) official explained on Wednesday that the agency seeks to hire and retain 600 new correctional officers following an audit which revealed Tennessee prisons continue to face “critical staffing shortages” and a high turnover rate for employees.
As TDOC seeks to fill these positions across Tennessee, NewsChannel 5 recently reported the agency is offering incentives, including a $5,000 signing bonus. One prison warden told the outlet the work is challenging but rewarding. Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation warden Taurean James explained, “it is a job for individuals seeking a structured environment” and “looking to help individuals.”
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The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) announced the availability of Disaster Unemployment Assistance for seven Tennessee counties affected by the severe storms and tornadoes.
On December 9, severe thunderstorms and a recorded eight tornadoes ripped through Middle Tennessee, causing six fatalities, dozens of injuries, significant damage to nearly 1,900 homes, and the destruction of over 500 homes.
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Tennessee State Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) claimed the new letter grades assigned to every Tennessee school are “flawed.” Akbari represents Memphis, where more than 40 percent of schools did not receive passing grades.
Akbari released a statement on Thursday declaring the “flawed letter grades will never define a school, their students and families, or their teachers and staff.” She asserted the grades instead reflect what she claimed is inadequate state funding for education.
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Davidson County Republican Party Chairman Lonnie Spivak joined Friday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the return of the Reagan Day dinner scheduled for January 25, 2024.
Spivak shares details about the event to be held at the prestigious Cordell, and the event will feature Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs as the keynote speaker and hints at potential surprise guests.
Spivak offered listeners a peek behind the scenes of party political operations to mention one of the initiatives underway to mobilize Republicans who only vote in presidential elections with the roundtable of in-studio guests including author Roger Simon and original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (R) confirmed he will not endorse in the race to secure the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in a Thursday interview, insisting his new role as the chair of the Republican Governor’s Association (RGA) precludes him from weighing in on the race.
Asked if he intended to make an endorsement in the Republican presidential primary, Lee told German-owned Politico he has “an obligation not to endorse” due to his position as “chairman of the RGA.”
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is urging Tennessee businesses that suffered damages during the deadly tornadoes that ripped through the state earlier this month to apply for financial relief as soon as possible.
“FEMA may refer survivors of the Dec. 9 tornadoes to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) with information on how to apply for a disaster loan. It’s important to submit the loan application as soon as possible,” the organization said in a Wednesday release. “SBA disaster loans are the largest source of federal disaster recovery funds for survivors. SBA offers long-term, low-interest disaster loans to businesses of all sizes, private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters.”
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Shelby County Commissioner Mick Wright promised a formal complaint about County Clerk Wanda Halbert on Wednesday following a December 21 letter from Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp (R) stressing the need for a document formally notifying her office of the clerk’s alleged failures.
Halbert is being investigated over claims of mismanagement, and allegations include hours-long lines for basic services, a backlog in license plate registrations, and alleged unpaid back rent on a satellite location that purportedly resulted in the court’s eviction, reported Action News 5.
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In Thursday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy an unexpected tale unfolds – one that transcends the ordinary municipal challenges and reminds us of all of the historical gravitas of the home we call Nashville.
Council Member Jeff Eslick takes us through the twists and turns of a story that began with a seemingly routine issue: a tree limb reaching over a fence and into a constituent’s home.
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The Murfreesboro Police Department (MPD) released new details about its Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) on Tuesday, revealing the new system will rely on Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs), Public Safety Camera systems, and potentially “gunshot detection technology” to more quickly locate and respond to crime.
The agency revealed on its website that MPD “is taking the final steps” toward completing its RTCC, with ALPRs already “installed in various locations” selected “based on historical crime trends and traffic patterns” throughout the city, and cameras coming soon to areas hit with violent crime or another “specific need” identified by police.
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Tennessee saw a slight increase in Title IX complaints at the 11 state agencies that reported those complaints, according to an audit from the Tennessee Comptroller.
There were 269 complaints from those 11 entities, compared to 265 in fiscal year 2022 and 171 in fiscal 2021.
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According to census data released in October, more than 22,500 Californians migrated to Tennessee between 2021 and 2022.
Overall, 220,000 people moved to Tennessee in that time period, as the state’s population continues to grow at a much higher rate than the national average.
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An official with the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (TDMHSAS) said in a recent interview that mental illnesses among children are on the rise in the Volunteer State, as the state’s Attorney General works to tackle some of the potential root causes of those illnesses.
“The data from all sources point to that we see increased sadness and hopelessness among high school students,” TDMHSAS Deputy Commissioner Matthew Yancey told WKRN. “We’ve seen increases in emergency room presentations related to psychiatric emergencies, increases in suicidal ideation.”
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As Harvard faces increasing pressure to fire its embattled president, the university’s insular culture and one-sided politics are under the microscope.
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Tennessee’s financial position improved again over the past year, as the state’s combined ending fund balance was $23.9 billion, up $4.8 billion from the year before in the recently released Annual Comprehensive Financial Report.
That’s after the state’s balances increased by $5.4 billion in the year that ended June 30, 2022.
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Tennessee reported an 89.8% graduation rate and an 8.6% dropout rate in a new report with updated numbers from the 2021-22 school year from the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office.
The Comptroller’s Office of Research and Education Accountability is required to produce the graduation rate numbers annually.
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The Safe Bar program, an initiative by the Sexual Assault Center (SAC), will be held for the first time in Tennessee during next week’s New Year’s Eve event in Nashville.
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Legislation to tackle drug overdoses, sex offenses, and victims rights have already been put forth for the 2024 session of the Tennessee General Assembly.
State Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) wants to update an old statute that he said he thinks does not do enough to protect victims of potential violent crimes.
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Video captured pro-Palestine protesters waving flags in Collierville, Tennessee on December 24, where they reportedly interfered with Christmas shoppers.
Newsmax host and author Todd Starnes wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the crowd was “mostly Muslim” in a post seen more than 300,000 times. Video of the incident shows protesters drive through a parking lot, then stop. Though words appear to be exchanged between the protesters and Christmas Eve shoppers, their words are unintelligible in the video due to the number of horns honking. Individuals with Palestinian flags are seen running on the sidewalk as the vehicles bearing Palestine’s flag are stopped in the parking lot.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) Commissioner Stuart McWhorter recently approved $36.6 million in grants that will be distributed across 78 communities in the Volunteer State.
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The city-appointed Metro Nashville Airport Authority board voted unanimously on Wednesday to ratify 19 actions taken during the tenure of the previous board, which state officials appointed some of its members in accordance with a new Tennessee law.
After the Tennessee General Assembly passed a law in June, the Nashville mayor, Tennessee governor, and top two lawmakers in the Tennessee General Assembly would each select two members for the board. The board was selected and began operating, but a ruling by a panel of three judges at the Tennessee Chancery Court agreed with Metro Nashville’s argument that the law violates the Tennessee Constitution because it only applied to one Tennessee city.
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A Gallatin man has been convicted of multiple armed robbery and firearms offenses stemming from a three-week crime spree in 2019, according to the Middle District of Tennessee U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In December 2019, Lazavion Kern, 22, robbed four convenience stores in Gallatin and Portland, where he took thousands of dollars from the clerks, according to information cited by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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Tennessee State Senator Heidi Campbell encouraged her supporters to make political donations to her campaign in the name of “abortion rights” to celebrate Christmas, even declaring that a certificate explaining the donation would make a “great stocking stuffer.”
Campbell declared it “the season for saving abortion rights” in a post on X, formerly Twitter. She urged her supporters to donate a “gift” to her campaign “in honor of a loved one” for the “Holiday season.”
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The wife of a former Tennessee sheriff’s deputy who was convicted for on charges related to January 6 told The Tennessee Star that families and friends of those defendants often experience survivor’s guilt, especially as many of those accused of crimes spend their third Christmas in jails or prisons.
Sarah McAbee, the executive director of Stand in the Gap and wife of January 6 prisoner Ronald McAbee, explained, “Wives are waking up without their husbands, children are waking up without their fathers. Even in the federal prison system, they only get a 15 minute phone call per day.” She told The Star that January 6 have “have to decide, am I going to call my spouse? Am I going to call my parents? Am I going to call my child?”
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Tennessee saw an increase of 207,000 people in domestic migration over a three-year span, ranking it sixth in the country over that time according to new numbers from the U.S. Census.
Only Florida (818,762), Texas (656,220), North Carolina (310,189), South Carolina (248,055) and Arizona (218,247) saw a larger net domestic migration between April 1, 2020, and July 1, 2023.
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U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) introduced a bill on Wednesday to enshrine the ability for banks and financial institutions to consider the immigration status of individuals seeking credit or accounts. The legislation follows a joint press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) which warned financial institutions that considering immigration status could “run afoul” of federal civil rights laws and regulations.
Ogles’ office said in a press release that his bill “would ensure financial institutions are able to consider immigration status when opening credit lines and accounts” in direct response to the CFPB and DOJ press release.
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A former Tennessee official and her husbanded pleaded guilty on Thursday to illegally producing “hundreds” Tennessee driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants.
Cheryl Huff and husband Mario Paz-Mejia, both of Knoxville, pleaded guilty to one “count of conspiracy to produce, without lawful authority, identification documents or false identification documents,” according to the Department of Justice (DOJ), which revealed in a press release that Huff abused her position at the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDSHS) to create the illicit documents.
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As Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Roger A. Page plans to retire at the end of August in 2024, six judges from around the state are vying to replace him. The Tennessee Star plans to profile each of the applicants before they are interviewed for the position in January.
Judge Mary L. Wagner, a Circuit Court Judge for the Thirtieth Judicial District in Memphis, has applied to fill Page’s seat on the state’s highest court.
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Tennessee State Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) and State Representative Susan Lynn (R-Mount Juliet) filed legislation this week that would make new school-specific security technology eligible for the school safety grants approved by the General Assembly earlier this year.
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The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) released letter grades for every school in the state for the first time on Thursday, fulfilling the department’s obligations under a bill passed in 2016.
Letter grades are available for every school covering the last school year, the TDOE confirmed on Thursday. Commissioner of Education Lizzette Reynolds said the letter grades “will provide Tennessee families with a clear rating system” to understand how a given school performs over years. She urged parents and other community members to “play a role in supporting the success of our students” regardless of a school’s letter grade.
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Former President Trump released a statement on Thursday in remembrance of Dr. Clarence Sexton, who passed away on December 12.
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Facebook has reportedly experienced nearly a 200 percent increase in antisemitic posts since the October 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel, and a U.S. Senator recently wrote to the social media platform’s parent company, Meta, about reports it is censoring pro-Israel content.
Antisemitism monitoring technology company Cyberwell recently warned of a dramatic increase in antisemitic posts and posts that call for violence against Jewish people across all social media websites, claiming social media companies were unprepared to confront “national security issues” posed by the Hamas attacks.
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As Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Roger A. Page plans to retire at the end of August, six judges from around the state are vying to replace him. The Tennessee Star plans to profile each of the applicants before they are interviewed for the position in January.
Judge Camille R. McMullen is the Presiding Judge of the Tennessee Criminal Court of Appeals, a position to which she was elected in June, and is perhaps most high-profile candidate to fill the State Supreme Court role.
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The Memphis City Council voted on Tuesday to pass a resolution to formally transfer the Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium to the University of Memphis, but the vote was only held after Memphis City Councilor JB Smiley withdrew a second resolution that would have established city oversight over the stadium under the university’s ownership.
Additionally, Memphis will direct $120 million of funds granted by the Tennessee General Assembly to the university to improve the stadium’s facilities.
The Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium hosts the University of Memphis Tigers, Southern Heritage Classic, and AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
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Stewart Parks, a former congressional candidate from Tennessee’s 5th District, finds himself in the crosshairs of a harrowing legal battle following his participation in the January 6 events at the Capitol. Convicted in a bench trial by Judge Amit Mehta, Parks disputes charges of misdemeanor trespassing, disorderly conduct, and theft and is in the early stages of pursuing an appeal.
Parks updated listeners on Thursday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on the latest developments in his plight and he details his concerns about potential prejudice against those with conservative ideologies and the need for a fair legal defense.
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Amid mounting concerns over foreign land purchases within the United States, a report from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (DAG) Farm Service Agency has highlighted the alarming pace at which external entities have been gobbling up American forest and farm land.
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As Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Roger A. Page plans to retire at the end of August, six judges from around the state are vying to replace him. The Tennessee Star plans to profile each of the applicants before they are interviewed for the position in January.
Van Douglas McMahan is a McNairy County General Sessions Judge and McNairy County Juvenile Court Judge.
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According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), a Lewis County Sheriff’s Department (LCSD) deputy has been arrested for theft and money laundering related to the purchase of a police K9.
“On September 13th, at the request of 32nd Judicial District Attorney General Hans Schwendimann, TBI special agents began investigating a complaint of theft against Lewis County Deputy Brandon Grady,” TBI said in a release.
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U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) led a bipartisan group of colleagues in sending a letter to United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urging he open an independent investigation into the UN’s lack of action in response to the sexual violence against Israeli committed by the terrorist group Hamas on October 7.
The UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), which, according to its website, is “dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women,” failed to immediately condemn the rape and mutilation of Israeli women committed by Hamas.
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Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti revealed on Wednesday that a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general announced a $700 million agreement with Google to settle their lawsuit alleging the technology company engaged in anticompetitive practices to stifle competitors to its Google Play Store.
Skrmetti stated that “Google will no longer profit from the inflated app costs it forced through its abuse of market power,” and said the settlement “will reduce app prices and increase consumer choices on the Android platform. Our office is proud to protect consumers, secure $700 million in financial relief, and be a part of this bipartisan effort to ensure one of the most powerful companies in the world follows the law.”
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Breitbart News Editor-at-Large Joel Pollak joined the newsmaker line on Wednesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to share insights into the troubling state of his alma mater, Harvard University.
The veteran journalist and Harvard Law School graduate highlighted the rise of antisemitism on campus and traced the university’s decline, noting that it was former President Drew Faust who emphasized a thin record of slavery over Harvard’s significant contributions to the abolitionist cause and civil rights movement.
The 387-year-old institution’s rapid shift to prioritize social justice and the erosion of free speech, Pollak suggested, has indelibly marred Harvard’s reputation as a symbol of excellence.
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Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy gave details about a an “aggressive prosecution” strategy to Memphis media on Tuesday, promising to target violent offenses with a new strategy beginning in 2024.
Mulroy said he will modify his office’s practices regarding bail, court deadlines, and investigations for those accused of committing a number of violent and property crimes beginning on January 1, according to News Channel 3.
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Nashville Electric Service (NES) released a statement on Monday updating the public about its work in restoring power for approximately 48,000 customers affected by severe storms.
Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes ripped through Middle Tennessee on December 9, causing six fatalities – three in Montgomery County and three in Davidson County – and dozens of injuries. The storms produced significant damage to nearly 1,900 homes and destroyed over 500 homes, according to initial reports.
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A bill introduced in the Tennessee General Assembly in November would prevent teachers from allow teachers only to hang the Tennessee and United States flags in their classrooms.
HB 1605 “prohibits [Local Education Associations] and public charter schools from displaying in public schools flags other than the official United States flag and the official Tennessee state flag,” according to the summary of the bill’s text.
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A 206-page audit of public and private prisons in Tennessee was released last week, revealing both state and private facilities in the state remain understaffed and face high employee attrition rates while struggling to offer sufficient beds and services for inmates.
The audit, conducted by the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office, found that the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) “has taken action to address critical staffing shortages,” but warned both TDOC and CoreCivic, which manages private prisons in Tennessee, “are facing an ongoing and deeply rooted challenge of attrition within their ranks.”
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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a construction permit to Kairos Power for its Hermes low-power demonstration reactor to be built at the Heritage Center Industrial Park site in Oak Ridge.
Kairos Power, according to its website, is a “nuclear technology, engineering and manufacturing company whose mission is to enable the world’s transition to clean energy with the ultimate goal of dramatically improving people’s quality of life while protecting the environment.”
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Esteemed former Vanderbilt professor, renowned scholar, and all-star panelist Dr. Carol Swain joined The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Tuesday to discuss the growing scandal involving Harvard’s Claudine Gay and increasingly difficult-to-defend allegations of plagiarism by the Ivy League school’s president.
Swain contends that Gay failed to credit her for sections of the book Black Faces, Black Interests, accusing her of derivative work since her dissertation, which Swain claims builds upon her own groundbreaking research.
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Aaron Spradlin, who is the Chairman of the Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition and CEO of the Mission America Foundation, told The Star in a phone call that he’s known of suspected human trafficking activities happening at hotels where De Caldera operated since at least 2015.
Executive director Aaron Gulbransen, a former reporter for The Star, explained the Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition previously informed state officials of suspected criminal activity at the hotels, and said the organization has been able to “amplify” Spradlin’s work by regularly sharing tips and insight with Tennessee lawmakers and law enforcement.
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Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti appeared in-studio on Tuesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy, to discuss the first-of-its-kind lawsuit his office filed Monday against financial services giant BlackRock over alleged violations of consumer protection laws.
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