State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) said his focus since being elected to represent Memphis in the Tennessee Senate in 2022 has been focusing on the city’s “number one” issue: crime.
Read the full story
A 13-year-old male was arrested and charged on Wednesday for the threat of mass violence after he had allegedly “threatened to bring a gun to Ridgedale School and shoot someone,” according to the Knoxville Police Department (KPD).
According to KPD, the 13-year-old was identified and located after allegedly making the threat through a collaborative investigation by KPD Field Operations officers and Investigations Bureau detectives, Knox County School Security, Tennessee Department of Homeland Security investigators, and the Knox County District Attorney’s Office.
Read the full story
Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Patrick Lechleitner this week demanding answers after a recent report revealed that ICE has lost track of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children over the last five years.
Read the full story
Senator JD Vance (R-OH) on Wednesday told reporters gathered at his rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, that the end of the feud between former President Donald Trump and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, as well as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s and former Representative Tulsi Gabbard’s recent endorsements of the Trump-Vance ticket, prove Republicans are now the “big tent party.”
Vance’s remarks come after Kemp endorsed Trump earlier this month, despite the former president describing him as “disloyal” in a recent rally. The relationship between the former president and Georgia’s governor first deteriorated publicly as Trump contested the state’s election results in 2020.
Read the full story
Governor Glenn Youngkin said on Wednesday that Virginia remains competitive for former President Donald Trump and Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) despite President Joe Biden dropping out of the race in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been credited with making up ground lost under Biden.
Youngkin made the remarks during an appearance on The Brian Kilmeade Show, initially acknowledging the recent poll results that showed Harris narrowly leading Trump within the survey’s margin of error.
Read the full story
The Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police (TACP) recently awarded State Representative Clay Doggett (R-Pulaski) its 2024 Legislative Award at the organization’s 54th Annual Awards Banquet.
TACP’s Legislative Award recognizes state lawmakers who are “champions for public safety and the law enforcement profession.”
Read the full story
Derrick Anderson, the Republican U.S. House candidate for Virginia’s 7th Congressional district, said on Tuesday that his Democratic opponent is “dodging simple questions” about whether he exaggerated or inflated the sum of his military experience while on the campaign trail.
The Vindman campaign is currently the subject of a Federal Elections Commission (FEC) complaint over its reliance on an outside group to provide a response for questions about the candidate’s military experience.
Read the full story
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp will reportedly be in Atlanta on Thursday to attend a fundraiser benefiting former President Donald Trump and Senator JD Vance (R-OH) in their campaign to recapture the White House for the Republican Party.
Kemp’s appearance at the Atlanta fundraiser, revealed on Tuesday, will be the first since he and Trump publicly set aside their feud. It will occur as a Democratic bus tour featuring Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz reaches Savannah.
Read the full story
Tennessee’s Secretary of State and Legislative leaders pushed back against a Memphis referendum regarding firearms regulations.
Secretary of State Tre Hargett told media outlets he would not allow the measures to reach the Nov. 5 ballot and Tennessee Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins reportedly sent a letter to Shelby County Election Commission Chairman Mark Luttrell saying the same.
Read the full story
A faith-based foster care initiative started by former Gov. Bill Haslam (R) and continued by Gov. Bill Lee (R) will be implemented in 95 Tennessee counties, according to the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS).
The program is called Every Child TN, and is the next iteration of Haslam’s Tennessee Fosters and Lee’s Tennessee Fosters Hope.
Read the full story
As the third anniversary of the Biden administration’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan that left 13 American soldiers dead and hundreds of Americans stranded nears, both former President Donald Trump’s campaign and Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) criticized Democrats for the failed operation.
“On this day 3 years ago, Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss of Tennessee was tragically killed because of Biden & Harris’ colossal failure in pulling out of Afghanistan,” Blackburn said on X. “May we never forget the 13 brave servicemembers who lost their lives because of this administration’s negligence.”
Read the full story
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti celebrated U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker’s ruling on Monday to halt the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) new program allowing hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens who are the spouse or stepchild of a U.S. citizen to “parole in place” from taking effect.
Barker’s ruling comes just three days after 16 state attorneys general and America First Legal filed a 56-page complaint challenging DHS’ “Keeping Families Together” program, which began accepting applications last week.
Read the full story
Recent data on school district spending gathered by the Virginia Public Access Project appear to support the conclusion of a late-February Reason Foundation study assessing the relationship between state K-12 education spending and student outcomes.
The foundation concluded that increased spending does not always correlate with higher test scores, and less spending doesn’t always mean poorer outcomes.
Read the full story
The Tennessee Titans continued to upgrade areas of the current Nissan Stadium heading into the NFL season, spending on everything from escalator repairs to electrical upgrades to stadium lighting and step repairs to a perimeter sidewalk.
Those repairs are funded through public funds in the stadium Capital Fund, capped at $42 million in expenses starting when the amended lease agreement was signed to build a new stadium and ending when the current Nissan Stadium is no longer used and demolished.
Read the full story
A man held in a Nashville jail since August 7 over charges which allege he had inappropriate contact with a minor is now being held on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer, according to the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office.
Davidson County Criminal Court records reveal 50-year-old Wilmer Garcia was arrested on August 7 and charged with multiple counts of sexual and aggravated sexual battery and solicitation of a minor for crimes that police say occurred between November 2023 and March 2024.
Read the full story
The attorney representing former President Donald Trump in the Georgia election case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked a Georgia appeals court, which is currently considering whether Willis should be disqualified due to her affair with former special counsel Nathan Wade, asked the court to toss the case with a new legal filing he argues contains the “death knell” for the prosecution.
Trump attorney Steve Sadow on Monday submitted a 22-page filing which asks the Georgia Court of Appeals to toss Willis’ case against Trump because the former president was “aggrieved” by Willis’ “letter to God” speech from the pulpit of a Baptist church in Atlanta.
Read the full story
One bust of President George Washington inside the nation’s capitol just can’t catch a break.
The monument at George Washington University was beheaded during the height of the Black Lives Matter riots in June 2020. The university finally had it fixed by the summer of 2022.
Read the full story
A Georgia Senate subcommittee looking into the Fulton County Jail has issued a report with 17 recommendations for improving the facility’s conditions, including a suggestion that Fulton County Superior Court judges should carry full dockets.
The report caps a months-long review by the Senate Public Safety Subcommittee on the Fulton County Jail. The recommendations could guide legislative action when lawmakers return to Atlanta next year.
Read the full story
Pete Hegseth, Fox News host and Tennessee resident, is set to serve as the keynote speaker at the Tennessee Firearms Association Legislative Action Committee’s (TFALAC) annual convention next Saturday at the Farm Bureau Expo Center at the Wilson County Fairgrounds in Lebanon.
Read the full story
Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) and Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) are speaking out against three gun control measures set to be presented to Memphis voters on the November 5 general election ballot which the Republican leaders say is an attempt by city leaders to “circumvent state law.”
Read the full story
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti on Friday joined seven other states and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in an antitrust lawsuit accusing the property management software company RealPage of using its service to algorithmically fix rental prices across the United States, allowing them to form a monopoly that allows rental owners to collaboratively set prices in a bid to avoid market pressures to lower rent.
The DOJ confirmed the legal action on Friday, alleging RealPage is engaged in an “unlawful scheme to decrease competition among landlords in apartment pricing and to monopolize the market for commercial revenue management software that landlords use to price apartments.”
Read the full story
The Tennessee Valley Authority will begin a 5.25 percent base rate increase Oct. 1, something the energy supplier says will equate to a $4.35 per month increase on the average $138 residential bill.
The increase comes after a 4.5 percent increase a year ago.
Read the full story
Cobb County commissioners are expected to vote Tuesday on a measure that the board’s District 2 seat “is deemed vacant” following a judge’s ruling this week.
Last month, Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill ruled that the map of commission districts that county leaders created in October 2022 was unconstitutional and outside the home rule powers.
Read the full story
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell released details of a public safety proposal he plans to put before the Metro Nashville Council, revealing the mayor seeks to impose restrictions on face masks and other face coverings in public spaces.
In a Friday statement from the mayor’s office, O’Connell confirmed four piece of legislation he said would “boost public safety” but recognize “First Amendment rights to peacefully gather and speak.”
Read the full story
Tennessee political commentator and documentary filmmaker Robby Starbuck explained how his strategy to expose brands that push DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) initiatives in the workplace and fund controversial causes is successful due to its long lasting, lingering impact that targeted companies simply cannot afford to ignore.
Read the full story
As part of an investigation into human trafficking, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) arrested six men who were attempting to have sex with minors, while also rescuing seven underage girls who were suspected to be at risk of being trafficked.
“Over a two-day period starting August 16th, as part of an undercover operation aimed at addressing human trafficking in the Montgomery County area, officers placed several decoy advertisements on websites known to be linked to prostitution and commercial sex,” TBI said in a release. “The focus of the operation was to identify individuals seeking to engage in commercial sex acts with minors.”
Read the full story
Nashville’s Metro Council is on board and a new East Bank Development Authority will be created after Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill creating the board in May.
The East Bank area is the land between Interstate 24, I-65 and the Cumberland River.
Read the full story
Immigration policy think tank the Center for Immigration Studies released its updated map of American sanctuary locations on Thursday, revealing a surge in Virginia localities adopting sanctuary status.
The center added 36 Virginia localities to its map for a total of 84.
Read the full story
Tennessee State Representatives Justin Jones (D-Nashville), Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville), and Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) were expected to speak at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Thursday, likely with remarks about their experience pushing for gun control legislation in the Volunteer State.
The speech never happened, and a spokesman for Tennessee Democrats told The Tennessean on Thursday that they were no longer expected to speak.
Read the full story
A federal lawsuit filed by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and others against the state of Tennessee and Gov. Bill Lee (R) has been dismissed by a panel of federal judges.
Tennessee State Conference of the NAACP, et.al. v. William B. Lee was filed by a “coalition of civil rights organizations and Tennessee voters filed a federal lawsuit against Tennessee’s Governor, Secretary of State, Coordinator of Elections, and the State Election Commission and its members challenging the state’s enacted congressional and state Senate districts as unconstitutional racial gerrymanders and as intentionally racially discriminatory,” according to a case summary.
Read the full story
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has signed a measure to extend tax credits for revitalizing abandoned buildings and South Carolina short-line railroads.
S. 1021, which the Republican governor “ceremonially” signed on Wednesday, extends the provisions of the South Carolina Abandoned Buildings Revitalization Act that were set to expire on Dec. 31, 2025. The credits now run through 2035 and increase the maximum credit a taxpayer may earn in a year from $500,000 to $700,000.
Read the full story
Former President Donald Trump and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp found the perfect narrative Thursday night to upstage Vice President Kamala Harris’s nomination acceptance speech, ending their feud dating to the 2020 election with a full-throated embrace that played out on national television.
The mutual endorsement reunited two of the GOP’s most powerful figures heading into the November election, and made the road for Democrats to score a win in Georgia more difficult.
Read the full story
From a Romanian theft ring to a notorious Big Boi drug trafficking ring, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution is continuing to prosecute transnational criminal organizations.
She’s also issued a warning to criminals: “Florida law enforcement will track you down, and my Statewide Prosecutors will ensure you end up in prison.”
Read the full story
Retired Army Col. Yevegny “Eugene” Vindman, the Democrat nominee for Virginia’s 7th Congressional district, on Thursday was confirmed to be the recipient of a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint over an alleged improper contribution from a political organization that supports his candidacy.
Vindman’s twin brother Alexander is the man who overheard the phone call between former President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that led to the first attempt to impeach Trump. Vindman reportedly took the information about the call from his brother and made a report to White House lawyers.
Read the full story
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti was one of the state attorneys general who joined a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) new program process to allow hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens who are the spouse or stepchild of a U.S. citizen to “parole in place.”
The 56-page complaint, filed in the Eastern District of Texas U.S. District Court on Friday, challenges DHS’ “Keeping Families Together” program, which began accepting applications on Monday.
Read the full story
Ford announced Wednesday it is delaying the rollout of its next-generation electric truck that will be manufactured at BlueOval City in West Tennessee until 2027.
The company announced in a press release, “Ford is retiming the launch of its groundbreaking electric truck code-named “Project T3” to the second half of 2027.”
Read the full story
A man drowned after a highway pursuit and gun fight with Chester County and other law enforcement entities, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).
“Preliminary information indicates the incident originated in Chester County near Henderson when a Chester County Deputy initiated a traffic stop of a vehicle driving recklessly at approximately 9:15 a.m.,” according a TBI release. “The driver refused to stop, and a pursuit ensued. During the pursuit, the driver briefly stopped and presented a weapon, pointing it at deputies, and causing the deputies to fire their service weapons.”
Read the full story
Southwest Airlines announced this week that it is expanding service at Nashville International Airport (BNA) to offer three new nonstop flight routes to Cabo San Lucas/Los Cabos, Mexico; Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; and Indianapolis, beginning next year.
Daily flights will commence from BNA to the Indianapolis International Airport on March 6, 2025.
Read the full story
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell raised the infrastructure elements of his transit referendum as evidence that even Nashvillians who do not use the city’s bus system will benefit if it passes. He did not acknowledge the possibility the infrastructure elements are illegal under Tennessee law, as alleged by government watchdog Ben Cunningham.
O’Connell was interviewed about his transit referendum on Thursday by Nashville Scene. When asked about individuals who are only familiar with his proposed improvements to Nashville’s bus system, the mayor turned to the “improved infrastructure” promised in the referendum.
Read the full story
Former Governor Terry McAuliffe on Thursday disputed the results of a Virginia poll that showed former President Donald Trump statistically tied with Vice President Kamala Harris in the commonwealth, raising allegations about the pollster’s credibility and claims its data was skewed, before arguing federal workers would turnout in sufficient numbers to propel the Harris-Walz ticket to victory.
McAuliffe claimed the pollster who released the Tuesday survey showing Trump and Harris statistically tied, with the Democrat leading the former president by just 3 percent, “has never had a poll that’s been correct in their life,” according to The Washington Times.
Read the full story
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) announced the indictment of a voter who cast ballots in both Georgia and Arizona in the November 2022 election.
The secretary of state’s office conducted an investigation into double-voting following the 2022 general election and referred the case to the Forsyth County district attorney’s office, according to a press releaseWednesday.
Read the full story
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating conditions at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center outside of Nashville, the state’s largest prison.
The facility, operated by management company CoreCivic, has shown dangerous understaffing since it opened in 2016 and the investigation will look at whether it protects inmates from physical violence and sexual abuse.
Read the full story
The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) announced Tuesday that it had arrested and charged a 24-year old man for the July 2 vandalism of the rainbow pride crosswalk located at the intersection of 14th St and Woodland St in East Nashville.
Isaiah Tester was arrested at his Murfreesboro home and booked into jail on Tuesday evening on a charge of vandalizing government property, according to MNPD.
Read the full story
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday that it would investigate Tennessee’s largest prison for rampant assaults, sexual abuse and murders, according to a press release.
The DOJ is launching an investigation into Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, a private prison opened by CoreCivic in 2016 and the largest prison in the state, after reports of sexual and physical abuse inside the prison, according to the press release. The prison allegedly had 196 assaults, two murders and 90 cases of sexual assault reported from July 2022 to June 2023, according to The Washington Post.
Read the full story
A Tennessee man was sentenced to death by lethal injection in an Anderson County court for the torture, rape, murder and abuse of a corpse in Oak Ridge 2019, according to multiple reports.
Monday, Sean Finnegan was found guilty of the following crimes against a homeless woman named Jennifer Paxton:
Read the full story
Former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry on Tuesday announced an event titled “VP Kamala Harris Day” will take place on Saturday, issuing a flyer that invited Nashville Democrats to “win with black women” by attending.
The Barry campaign posted a campaign flyer to social media advertising an event, titled “VP Kamala Harris Day,” which will be held in Nashville on Saturday.
Read the full story
The Republican Party’s vice presidential nominee, U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH), will travel to Nashville next week to attend a fundraiser hosted by Nashville businessman and former Trump administration official Adam Boehler and his wife, Shira Boehler, according to a flier for the event first obtained by the Tennessee Lookout.
Read the full story
According to the testimony of a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) agent, more than 220 rounds were fired during a June shootout between two Blount County Sheriff’s deputies and a man who was involved in a domestic dispute at his home.
During a preliminary hearing for Ronald Millsaps, who was charged with aggravated assault, attempted criminal homicide, especially aggravated kidnapping and reckless endangerment after the shootout, a TBI agent revealed a bit about the aftermath of the shootout.
Read the full story
Tennessee U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) was among a group of 50 Republican veterans serving in the U.S. Congress that sent a letter to Minnesota Governor and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz condemning his apparent “lies” about his service in the Minnesota National Guard.
Read the full story
Lara Trump, the daughter-in-law of former President Donald Trump and co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), on Tuesday predicted softening in the feud between former President Donald Trump and Governor Brian Kemp after the Georgia leader reportedly offered his “political machine” to the Trump-Vance ticket.
The prediction came after the former president described Kemp as “disloyal” during an August 3 rally in Atlanta, which prompted questions about whether the terse relationship between the men that developed after the 2020 election results would impact the Trump campaign in November.
Read the full story