The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) created a separate rate structure for data centers, aiming to keep ratepayers’ rates low.
TVA’s board voted Thursday to create a separate rate structure for data centers to cover the costs of the power and infrastructure these buildings require.
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At least one Democrat on the Metro Nashville Council claimed local politicians were caught off guard by the decision to build a call center for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Nashville, while a spokesperson for Mayor Freddie O’Connell said his office has yet to learn what will happen inside the building. State Representative Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville) said the call center will house “ICE and its mercenaries of terror.”
“The Mayor’s Office is still in the process of getting a consistent depiction of what is planned,” said a spokesperson for O’Connell, according to WSMV 4. Metro Councilmember Jeff Gregg told the outlet that he and his colleagues “were blindsided by the announcement.”
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The Tennessee Sheriffs’ Association (TSA) and Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police (TACP) announced on Thursday that they are working on a framework for “responsible use of Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR/LPR) technology” amid opposition to the ALPR cameras sold by Flock Safety.
According to a press release from TSA and TACP, the associations are considering model safeguards that would require law enforcement to have a legitimate, documented need to access ALPR cameras, and to treat the images retrieved as “an investigative lead, not evidence of guilt, with human verification required before enforcement action.”
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Steve Cortes, former senior spokesman and strategist for the 2016 and 2020 Trump campaigns and current head of the League of American Workers, said a recent Michigan poll indicates concerns over Muslim migration could become a significant issue in the state’s closely contested U.S. Senate race.
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Veteran political reporter Neil W. McCabe discussed the upcoming departure of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and the potential candidates to succeed her during an appearance Thursday on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show live from outside the White House.
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The Boring Company announced it will hold a hiring event next week to expand its Nashville workforce as construction continues on the Music City Loop
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A federal database confirmed this week that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will open a new call center in Nashville, Tennessee, after launching a process to accept proposals from the public last year.
The confirmation came despite the confusion that came after The Tennessee Lookout reported last Friday that a federal database indicated the call center would actually be established in Adams, Tennessee, despite ICE recruiting personnel in Nashville. According to the outlet, the database was updated by Friday to show the call center would be established in Nashville.
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The Tennessee Transportation Modernization Board unanimously approved DriveTN on Wednesday as the private-sector partner for the I-24 Southeast Choice Lanes project, clearing the way for what state officials call America’s largest interstate choice-lanes public-private partnership with an estimated price tag of $9.2 billion. The decision comes after the passage of the Transportation Modernization Act three years ago in 2023.
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An affidavit of complaint filed by a Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) trooper on Wednesday claims the driver of the vehicle that struck 11 members of the Milligan University cycling team, killing two, did not attempt to engage his brakes prior to the crash. It also alleged that law enforcement detected the odor of marijuana at the scene.
Milligan University acknowledged the accident on Wednesday, confirming sophomore students Haylan Engdahl and Brayden Rogers were fatally struck by the vehicle, while other members of the university’s cycling program were receiving treatment at Johnson City Medical Center for serious injuries they sustained.
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Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, and Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Star, criticized local Nashville news outlets for a “total and complete media blackout” surrounding The Star’s recent legal victory securing access to records related to the 2023 Covenant School shooting.
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Former Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) teacher Samira Hardcastle is calling on educators to speak publicly about problems she says she witnessed firsthand in the district, including students struggling with basic academic skills and pressure on teachers to prioritize testing and district policies over student needs.
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The City of Memphis is moving toward implementing a temporary moratorium on new data center development.
On Tuesday, the Memphis City Council passed an ordinance on first reading that would be in effect for 12 months.
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A nuclear reactor developer with a significant footprint in Tennessee on Tuesday announced the Nuclear Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Precast (NuCAMP), which will partner with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), educational institutions in West Tennessee, and major companies, in order to train the workforce necessary to build cutting edge reactors.
According to the company’s announcement, NuCAMP will involve a 12-month exploration phase for the companies and schools to “develop programs to qualify advanced manufacturing construction messages for nuclear applications and create career pathways for engineers and skilled tradespeople to put those methods into practice.”
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced it has lodged a detainer for a 48-year-old Mexican national accused of driving onto a Nashville sidewalk and striking four pedestrians in a June hit-and-run, including two people in wheelchairs.
ICE New Orleans lodged the detainer for Felipe Alvarado Hernandez earlier this month following his July 29 arrest in connection with the June 13 crash near Demonbreun Street and Music Circle East.
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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday announced that Clayton Bratcher, who was convicted of committing armed robberies in Memphis, was sentenced to 14-years in federal prison. Bratcher’s conviction by federal prosecutors followed the decision by Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy to enter into a plea agreement that dropped charges against the defendant.
The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee’s office said that Bratcher committed armed robberies at two McDonald’s locations, as well as a Taco Bell store, during late night hours between July 8-9 2023.
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Nashville public school records containing private student information were reportedly found at a local Goodwill outlet, raising questions about whether Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) adequately protected student information covered by federal privacy law.
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Despite a Tennessee Supreme Court decision clearing the way for the release of records from the 2023 Covenant School shooting, The Tennessee Star’s lead reporter Tom Pappert warns that Metro Nashville could use procedural maneuvers to delay the documents’ release.
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Metro Nashville joined a lawsuit against the federal government for withholding millions of dollars in funds unless it implements election-related policies.
Metro Nashville, along with Harris County, Texas; El Paso County, Texas; and the City of Columbus, Ohio, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is using homeland security funding to require states and local governments to change how they administer elections.
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The Tennessee Supreme Court’s decision not to hear Metro Nashville’s appeal represents a major victory in The Tennessee Star’s years-long effort to obtain records related to the 2023 Covenant School shooting, according to The Star‘s lead reporter Tom Pappert.
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A Tennessee man who pleaded guilty to exploiting a 12-year-old girl as part of his participation in the Nihilist Violent Extremist (NVE) network, 764, was allegedly leading a “devil worship” group while in Blount County Jail, federal prosecutors said in a court filing earlier this month.
In his 2024 plea agreement, Kyle William Spitze admitted to affiliation with 764, an NVE offshoot group called HarmNation, as well as two counts of production of child pornography, one count of possession of and accessing with intent to view child pornography, and one count of knowingly abetting the distribution of animal crushing videos.
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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday filed an appeal to the decision by U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, to drop the federal government’s human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia over a purported failure of the DOJ to rebut claims of vindictive prosecution.
Submitted by U.S. Attorney Braden Boucek, the appeal argues, “The district court’s order dismissing the charges against Abrego is erroneous at every step.” The appeal claims Crenshaw applied an incorrect legal standard when weighing the possibility of vindictive prosecution, as no other judicial circuit allows the presumption of vindictiveness to be applied to an initial indictment.
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Vice President JD Vance endorsed Republican nominee Kenny Cody in the race for Tennessee House District 11.
In a statement distributed by Cody’s campaign, Vance called the Republican nominee a “friend” who would make a “fantastic” state representative for the district, which includes Cocke County and portions of Jefferson and Hamblen counties.
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Retired attorney and legal analyst Mark Pulliam said the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) “hate map” placed mainstream conservative organizations alongside groups such as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), arguing that the organization’s approach to labeling groups as extremists has helped define its public identity and fundraising model.
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Students at tnAchieves are graduating from college at the highest three-year rate in the program’s history, according to the nonprofit’s 2026 prosperity report.
The report, titled “Accelerating Economic Prosperity for Tennessee Students,” credits the statewide implementation of the organization’s COMPLETE coaching and completion grant model with helping drive an 8-percentage-point increase in the three-year graduation rate over two years.
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The City of Nashville lacked formal plans and procedures to handle a January winter snowstorm that left nearly half of its residents without power, according to an interim report.
Nashville’s Winter Storm Response Commission released a report on Friday detailing the city’s failures in a storm that left an estimated 85,000 people without power for nearly a week. Approximately 29 people experienced weather-related fatalities from Winter Storm Fern, according to the state Department of Health.
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In a major victory for The Tennessee Star, the Tennessee Supreme Court declined to accept an appeal from Metro Nashville, the Covenant School, and a group of Covenant parents challenging a February ruling from the Tennessee Court of Appeals in the Covenant School killing-records lawsuit.
The denial issued last week leaves intact the appellate court’s decision reversing Tennessee Chancery Court Chancellor I’Ashea Myles’ broad order withholding the records, and sends the case back to Davidson County Chancery Court for further review.
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Tennessee State Senator Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville) said she is “seeking legal redress” over the punishments meted out by Lt. Governor Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) after her outburst during the Tennessee General Assembly’s special session that saw Republican majorities redraw the state’s congressional districts.
“During the redistricting special session in May, I made the courageous decision to stand on my Senate desk and sing with pride after the Speaker cut my mic while giving a floor speech. I held up a banner that read ‘No Jim Crow 2.0,'” wrote Oliver in a post to the online newsletter platform Substack. “For that, GOP leadership refused to count my ‘NO’ vote. Then they came for my paycheck.”
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Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said the prolonged legal battle surrounding Kilmar Abrego Garcia highlights what he described as the lasting impact of judicial appointments made during the Obama and Biden administrations, arguing the case demonstrates how federal judges can shape immigration policy through their rulings.
Pappert previously broke the story for The Star that Abrego Garcia was stopped by the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) in 2022 while transporting nine people in a vehicle under circumstances that raised suspicions of human trafficking.
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Tennessee led the United States in property tax hikes from 2019 to 2025, according to an analysis by the Beacon Center of Tennessee.
The pro-free-market nonprofit think tank examined Wall Street Journal-produced data that shows Tennessee “with a double-digit lead over” Colorado, its nearest competitor. “The Volunteer State stands alone as the only state with over a 75 percent increase,” the Beacon Center revealed.
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The Tunnel to Towers Foundation officially opened its new Memphis Veterans Village, providing housing and supportive services for up to 110 veterans and their families.
The grand opening ceremony occurred Friday morning, marking the completion of the foundation’s project to transform a former hotel on Riverdale Bend Road into permanent housing for homeless veterans.
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For many families in Knox County, the dream of homeownership feels further away today than it did just a few years ago. Rent has climbed drastically. Home prices remain high.
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The most important healthcare document released this year wasn’t another regulation, another Inspector General report, or another congressional hearing.
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A citizen of the United Kingdom, who was in Tennessee working as a Director for an Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) program, on Wednesday was sentenced to 19 years in prison for his sexual exploitation of two 17-year-old girls on social media, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.
Andrew Worrall, 56, will serve 19 years in federal prison under the sentence imposed last week by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Varlan, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush.
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Memphis is considering implementing a temporary moratorium on data centers.
The Memphis City Council will discuss an ordinance in executive session at its meeting on Tuesday, August 18th, about a temporary ban on “ the acceptance, processing, approval, and
issuance of zoning, land use, building, and other associated infrastructure permits for data
center developments within the City of Memphis.”
Tea Party Nation Founder Judson Phillips warned major American school systems are “dumbing down kids” following the resignation of an award-winning Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) teacher who publicly criticized the district’s academic standards, discipline policies, and treatment of teachers.
Phillips made the comments during Friday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show while discussing former MNPS teacher Samira Hardcastle, who resigned in May and appeared before the MNPS Board of Education earlier this week to explain why she left the district.
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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth District this week allowed the Trump administration’s appeal of a decision blocking U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from detaining Kilmar Abrego Garcia to proceed, but simultaneously granted the request by the foreign national to return his deportation fight to District Court Judge Paula Xinis.
In a decision released publicly on Wednesday, the three-judge Fourth Circuit panel rejected the portion of the appeal included by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that sought to reverse Xinis’ block on deporting Abrego Garcia to Liberia, the West Africa country that was first identified as the federal government’s preferred destination to deport him last October.
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Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and editor-in-chief of The Tennessee Star, recommended Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matt Boyle to become the next White House Press Secretary following Karoline Leavitt’s announcement that she will leave the position at the end of August.
Leavitt announced her departure Wednesday after serving as President Donald Trump’s press secretary since the beginning of his second term. Trump said Leavitt would leave the administration to spend more time with her family while continuing to serve as one of his outside advisers.
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Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Tennessee Star, believes he has uncovered the historical reason Tennessee holds its primary elections on Thursdays, a tradition he said has puzzled him since he moved to the state more than three decades ago.
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The campaign manager for Dr. Telisa Franklin, the Democratic nominee for Tennessee’s 96th State House district, did not respond to a Thursday request from The Tennessee Star to provide details about the date she received her doctorate in divinity, or the doctoral thesis she submitted in order to obtain the credential, which is the highest formal academic or professional degree one can obtain in any field.
On her website, Franklin states that she obtained “a doctorate in Divinity and a Ph.D. in Christian Counseling,” but does not name the institution that granted the credential. Notably, a doctorate in divinity is abbreviated as D.Div., while a doctor of philosophy in Christian counseling is a Ph.D.
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An award winning teacher resigned from Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) on Tuesday, claiming she was asked to fabricate grades for a student in order to appease a parent, days after a New York educator received national media attention after raising similar concerns in a viral video.
“District leaders asked me to fabricate grades for a parent who sat in the office for hours until her daughter’s failing grades were changed. It creates false entitlement,” said former MNPS Samira Hardcastle during the public comment portion of the MNPS Board of Education meeting.
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More than 40 years after Kingston Springs, Tennessee motel maid Catherine Jean Jenkins was stabbed to death, Anthony Darrell Hines was executed for her murder.
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DC BLOX sued Metro Nashville Council over its attempt to block the company from developing a data center near the Nashville Zoo.
Metro has implemented zoning restrictions and a data center moratorium, and approved Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s use of eminent domain to seize the property DC BLOX purchased to convert into a data center.
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The man arrested by the Carter County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) earlier this month following a cyber tip alleging he sexually abused a minor while live streaming himself to social media is an illegal alien from Mexico who entered the United States under former President Joe Biden, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The sheriff’s office announced the arrest of Pablo Altamirano Rodriguez, 30, on August 4, when he was charged with especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor.
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This week the Democratic nominee for a Tennessee State House district in Memphis attended a speech by Ishmael Muhammad, the assistant to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Ishmael Muhammad defended the controversial musician Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, after his antisemitic posts to social media in 2022, and described “those who claim to be Jews” as part of “the synagogue of Satan” in 2024.
Just days after Dr. Telisa Franklin won the Democratic Primary for District 96 in the Tennessee State House against incumbent State Representative Gabby Salinas (D-Memphis) in a surprise upset, the Democratic nominee shared in a post to social media that she attended Ishmael Muhammad’s speech in Memphis on Sunday.
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State Representative Gabby Salinas (D-Memphis) lost her primary campaign for reelection last week in a surprise defeat to Dr. Telisa Franklin, a Memphis entrepreneur, in a 10-point landslide.
According to unofficial election results tracked by the Tennessee Secretary of State, Franklin won the Democratic primary with about 55.2 percent of the vote, while Salinas trailed at 44.8 percent. A total of 8,318 voters cast a ballot in the Democratic primary contest.
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A Democratic state legislator is working on a bill proposal that would give local governments control over new data centers.
According to Axios, State Senator Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) is drafting a bill called the Power to the People Act, which would allow local governments to authorize or deny new data centers in their jurisdiction.
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Fifty-two years after Richard Nixon resigned the presidency, The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy says a growing reassessment of the former president’s legacy is challenging the conventional narrative surrounding his downfall.
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The Metro Nashville Council told The Tennessee Star on Friday that it has identified as many as 1,548 emails that could include documents justifying the nearly $1.5 million granted to two pro-illegal alien nonprofits, but estimated the documents will not be ready for public release until November 13.
The Star filed the public records request after Mayor Freddie O’Connell requested $735,000 for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and $718,000 for Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors (TNJFON), which both provide legal services, advice, or attorneys to illegal aliens facing deportation.
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Knox County takes pride in creating a favorable environment for businesses. However, the housing market has been hampered by unnecessary red tape, resulting in a housing shortage. That’s why I am concerned that the Knox County Commission is considering adding more regulations that will not improve housing affordability.
Rather than encouraging the market to build more homes, county commissioners proposed a cap on the number of single-family rentals that larger housing providers can purchase. The real issue facing Knox County isn’t who owns homes; it’s that we don’t have enough of them. Working families need more housing options, not additional government restrictions.
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The execution of Anthony Darrell Dugard Hines is scheduled for Thursday, and Governor Bill Lee confirmed it will proceed under Tennessee’s revised lethal injection protocol that was approved in 2024.
Hines was convicted and sentenced in 1986 by a Cheatham County jury of the robbery, rape, and murder of Katherine Jean Jenkins, who was working as a motel maid at a Kingston Springs hotel at the time of the attack. A second jury imposed the same sentence in 1989.
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