The Tennessee Public Charter School Commission voted Friday to approve appeals from Music City Academy and The Gate School, overturning Metro Nashville Public Schools’ (MNPS) decisions to deny both proposed charter schools.
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Cancer impacts so many people in Tennessee, whether it’s receiving a diagnosis yourself or standing by a loved one fighting for survival.
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President Donald Trump confirmed Friday that he will travel to Tennessee on Saturday for a midterm election rally in Clarksville despite concerns about the remnants of Hurricane Isaias bringing rain and strong winds to the region.
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The Boring Company said construction of its Music City Loop project in Nashville is accelerating, with two tunnel boring machines now operating simultaneously and two additional machines expected to join the effort before the end of the year.
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State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) was banned from attending two upcoming Memphis City Council meetings. According to a letter Memphis City Council Chairwoman Jana Swearengen-Washington sent to Pearson, which The Tennessee Star obtained Friday, Pearson will be prohibited from attending the October 20 and November 10 meetings.
Citing the Memphis City Council rules posted online, the letter stated to Pearson, “any use of abusive, profane language, personal remarks to any member of the Council or the public, or any disorderly conduct that disrupts the meeting will not be tolerated,” and declared that it serves Pearson with “written notice that such behavior is prohibited and should not be engaged in during meetings of the Memphis City Council.”
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Memphis Mayor Paul Young issued an executive order on Friday establishing a 90-day study period to develop recommendations on how the city should regulate large data centers.
The study aims to create policy guardrails and recommended safeguards for the city’s communities, infrastructure, natural resources, and utility customers.
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The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) has identified the man fatally shot after pulling a gun at the Fred D. Thompson federal courthouse in Nashville on Thursday as Jack Henson II, who the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee told The Tennessee Star was a North Carolina man with no known motive.
TBI released Henson’s name on Thursday night, stating that the 42-year-old man walked into the courthouse while brandishing a firearm and knife. The investigators wrote that “the situation escalated, resulting in a federal security officer discharging his service weapon and striking Henson.”
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Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall announced Wednesday he will step down on October 19, less than three months into a seventh term, after 24 years as Nashville’s longest-serving sheriff. No successor has entered the race as of press time. The Metro Council will appoint an interim sheriff in November, and voters will pick a permanent replacement in 2027.
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As the U.S. Supreme Court begins a new term and takes on major questions about government power and the limits of federal agencies, former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline is warning that the American constitutional republic faces mounting threats from powerful institutions and unelected officials.
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A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told The Tennessee Star on Wednesday that immigration authorities filed a detainer for Fidel Facundo Navarro-Lopez, one of the three men the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) and Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) said on Monday were arrested in a Chattanooga human trafficking investigation.
Describing the defendant as a “criminal illegal alien from Guatemala,” the DHS spokesman told The Star that Navarro-Lopez was previously convicted for driving while under the influence of liquor.
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A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed the lawsuit filed by an artificial intelligence (AI) data center developer whose plans to build near the Nashville Zoo prompted Metro Nashville to impose new restrictions on data centers and pursue a plan to acquire the company’s property through eminent domain. The company sued over the moratorium.
U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, dismissed the lawsuit filed in August by DC BLOX in a 3-page decision. It was filed alongside a 50-page memorandum that said the company’s lawsuit failed to explain how a federal court should address the situation, and explained his decision to allow the plaintiff 21 days to file with amended claims.
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Tea Party Nation founder and former prosecutor Judson Phillips said the legal fallout from Christa Pike’s failed execution could keep the convicted murderer in court for years, as her attorneys pursue challenges following the botched lethal injection.
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President Donald Trump will return to Tennessee this Saturday, October 10, for a midterm rally in Clarksville.
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Families are working hard, but too often they are finding that their paychecks do not go as far as they once did. Young Tennesseans are wondering whether they will ever be able to afford a home of their own. Seniors who spent decades working, saving and building a life in Tennessee are worried about whether they can afford to stay in the homes they worked so hard to purchase.
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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday released the FBI complaint against James Cody Bryant, a 30-year-old man from Bellingham, Washington, revealing he is accused of conspiring with Jesse Van Rootselaar, who identified as a transgender woman, when he killed eight people in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada, in February.
Over a six-month period, the DOJ accuses Bryant of providing “advice, money, and technical assistance” to the killer, who fatally shot his mother and step-brother at the family residence, then killed five students and one educator at the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School on February 10.
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The Republican nominee for the newly redrawn 9th Congressional District blamed his opponent, State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), after a Memphis City Council meeting erupted into shouting, clearing the chamber and reportedly sparking a fight in the hallway.
“My opponent Democratic Socialist Justin Pearson let his chaos flag fly and led an angry mob to shut down a city council meeting tonight (which is something he has great experience at doing),” wrote State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) in a post to X. “This election truly is a choice between competence and chaos.”
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The Tuesday hearing set by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in the second immigration lawsuit filed by Kilmar Abrego Garcia was abruptly canceled, with an immigration attorney representing the citizen of El Salvador claiming the court was “unable to go forward” that day.
Abrego Garcia was back in the courtroom on Tuesday after the judge, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, scheduled a hearing for both sides to make their arguments for whether the Trump administration could deport him to Liberia.
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Former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher discussed his Republican primary upset of Trump-endorsed U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05), his relationship with the defeated incumbent, and the issues he said will shape his campaign for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District in an exclusive interview Tuesday with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy.
Hatcher defeated Ogles by 6.45 percentage points in the August Republican primary, despite Ogles having received President Donald Trump’s endorsement. Trump later endorsed Hatcher for the November general election.
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President Donald Trump endorsed Tennessee State Rep. Johnny Garrett (R-Goodlettsville) in the race for Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District on Monday.
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The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) and the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office (HSCO) on Monday reported that a joint human trafficking investigation, conducted with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), resulted in three arrests, including an illegal alien from Honduras who was previously deported and a Tennessee chiropractor.
TBI first announced the results of the joint operation, which it described as undercover, and revealed it occurred on Friday and Saturday. According to the agency, which is the primary law enforcement entity in Tennessee for leading human trafficking investigations, the operation’s goal “was to identify individuals seeking to engage in sex acts with minors.”
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U.S. Rep. Matt Van Epps (R-TN-07) highlighted his efforts to strengthen congressional oversight of terrorist threats in countries designated as major non-NATO allies during an exclusive interview Monday with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy.
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U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw issued an order indicating he will soon reverse his July 1 decision that blocked the state takeover of Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS). He reportedly revealed on Friday that he never intended to prevent the state Education Oversight Board from meeting.
In his Monday order, Crenshaw instructed Education Oversight Board Chairman Billy Orgel to file a statement notifying the court “when the Board is ready, willing, and able to perform its duties under Public Chapter 1057,” the law passed by the General Assembly to allow an oversight board to assume responsibilities for school districts that meet specific criteria.
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A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit seeking to block Tennessee’s human smuggling law after finding the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate a credible threat of prosecution, while declining to rule on the law’s constitutionality.
U.S. District Judge William L. Campbell Jr. dismissed the lawsuit last week without prejudice after concluding the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-17-118, which took effect July 1, 2025.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced that he directed state departments last week to suspend enforcement of restrictions on dyed diesel fuel through the end of October, citing the need to provide relief to farmers and foresters during harvest season.
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The record is clear: Jack Smith, who served as “Special Counsel” in the Biden Department of Justice, perpetrated one of the worst abuses of government power in our nation’s history.
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A former assistant principal at Stratford High School in Nashville alleged in an interview with WSMV4 that students were placed in fake classes and given manipulated grades in order to help them graduate.
The outlet reported last week that Dr. Howard Jones, who served as an assistant principal and grading principal at Stratford, told WSMV4 Investigates he discovered students enrolled in classes not listed on the school’s master schedule while auditing grades.
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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Friday that a Chilean-owned plastics company in Knoxville, America Plastics, has agreed to repay about $2.25 million to settle allegations that it failed to count foreign workers in its application for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the DOJ, America Plastics obtained a PPP loan, as well as debt forgiveness, despite not being entitled to the loan due to a failure “to include employees of its foreign parent and foreign affiliates,” which if included, “would have exceeded the 300-employee size limitation applicable to second-draw PPP loans and would not have been eligible to receive the loan.”
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America’s future will require a lot more energy. The question is whether we produce it here, responsibly and reliably, or become increasingly dependent on others to power our economy.
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told The Tennessee Star on Monday that Jerson Diaz-Diaz, the 22-year-old man who was arrested last month after he allegedly posed as a 16-year-old in order to sexually exploit a teenage girl in Nashville, illegally entered the United States in 2021 and was released by the Biden administration.
Confirming that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) filed a detainer to block his release, a DHS spokesperson told The Star that Diaz-Diaz is an illegal alien from Honduras.
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State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis), the Republican nominee for Tennessee’s newly redrawn 9th Congressional District, joined Friday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show where he discussed his business background, experience in elected office, views on crime and the challenges facing Tennessee, while also explaining why he believes he can enter Washington without succumbing to the temptations of D.C.
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The White House on Wednesday reaffirmed its support for Sam Adkisson, the Vanderbilt University graduate and White House attorney whose nomination was announced by President Donald Trump in August, but had his nomination blocked this week after U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) reportedly did not return a U.S. Senate blue slip to signal her approval.
After Adkisson’s nomination was blocked, Bloomberg Law reported that White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis described him as “one of the brightest young conservative lawyers in the country,” and a “standout member of the White House Counsel’s Office.”
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President Donald Trump on Thursday questioned how Christa Piker, who was scheduled to be executed this week for the 1995 premeditated murder of Colleen Slemmer but was hospitalized after surviving, did not succumb to two doses of a lethal injection.
Asked while standing with Texas politicians while in the state for an event, Trump deferred to Tennessee officials, before questioning the outcome.
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Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) said the state must investigate the failed execution of death row inmate Christa Pike and consider changes to its execution procedures after Pike survived two doses of lethal injection drugs Wednesday night.
“Justice wasn’t carried out last night due to an error,” Sexton said in a statement Thursday. “In the coming months, I will work with my Senate counterparts to investigate this failure and past failures to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
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Tennessee Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jerri Green is courting support from Democratic governors across the country, touting recent meetings and exchanges with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear as she campaigns for governor ahead of the November election.
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Less than two years after establishing an office in Nashville, the Republican Party-aligned law firm Holtzman Vogel on Thursday announced that it is moving to newly remodeled office space at Broadwest on West End Avenue.
According to its Wednesday press release, the firm will immediately expand to office space containing 22 offices and more than 8,000 square feet, though the new location includes plans for its footprint to swell to 37 officers across nearly 13,000 square feet.
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The Tennessee Star has been named a finalist for the 2026 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism for Best Local Reporting, marking its second consecutive year being recognized as a finalist for the award.
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In response to the botched execution of Christa Pike, who was convicted more than 20 years ago for the 1995 premeditated murder of Colleen Slemmer, on Thursday U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said she will “bring back the electric chair” if elected Governor of Tennessee in November.
“This situation is tragic. Christa Pike should have been executed long ago,” wrote Blackburn in a Thursday post to X. “Now, this botched process is extending the pain for the family of Colleen Slemmer.”
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has halted all remaining executions scheduled for 2026 after death row inmate Christa Gail Pike survived two doses of lethal injection drugs Wednesday night.
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The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) received approval Tuesday from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to construct the nation’s first commercial small modular reactor (SMR) at its Clinch River site near Oak Ridge.
The NRC issued a construction permit for Clinch River Unit 1, a 300-megawatt GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy BWRX-300 boiling-water reactor. The permit clears TVA to move forward with construction.
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Ultium Cells LLC announced Tuesday it will invest $1 billion to upgrade and diversify its battery cell manufacturing operations at its Spring Hill facility, with the expansion expected to create 500 new jobs.
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While the White House marked the first year since the authorization of the Memphis Safe Task Force (MSTF) earlier this month, the U.S. Marshals Service on Tuesday released a retrospective exactly one year after combined federal, state, and local forces deployed to the Bluff City on September 29, 2025.
The Marshals said task force members have made 12,796 arrests since the deployment. Of these arrests, the federal law enforcement agency said in its press release that 131 were homicide arrests, while 1,367 were for controlled substances, 125 for sex offenses, and 1,279 for firearms violations.
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U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Lee (R-TN) on Wednesday escalated their actions against former special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed under the Biden administration to investigate President Donald Trump for his purported role the civil unrest on January 6, and was revealed to have obtained phone records from about 20 Republicans in Congress as part of his investigation.
Blackburn’s lawsuit, filed by the New Civil Liberties Alliance, seeks a federal court ruling to determine Smith’s appointment by former Attorney General Merrick Garland was unlawful, then to hold him accountable, in his personal capacity, for the alleged abuses of power committed during his investigation.
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U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw will hear arguments on Friday on whether to dissolve the order he filed on July 1 to block enforcement of Senate Bill (SB) 714 and dismiss the lawsuit filed by Shelby County. Governor Bill Lee signed the law earlier this year, and it would empower the state to take control of school districts that meet certain conditions.
The only school district that meets the threshold for state action is Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS), but the Obama-appointed district judge blocked its enforcement with his emergency status quo order issued in July. Crenshaw issued the order in response to the request for an injunction by the plaintiffs, who are still seeking an injunction that would formally block the law while the lawsuit continues.
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Tennessee has seen more than 18,500 illegal aliens removed since President Donald Trump began his second term, with The Tennessee Star’s lead reporter Tom Pappert reporting that the number of departures from the state could climb as high as 80,000 when voluntary departures are included.
Pappert discussed the figures during Tuesday’s episode of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show following a release from the Tennessee House Republican Caucus that ICE has removed more than 18,500 illegal aliens from the Volunteer State since January 2025.
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Tennessee ranked seventh nationally for education freedom in the Heritage Foundation’s 2026 Education Freedom Report Card, with the state receiving particularly high marks for academic transparency and the return on investment of education spending.
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The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday handed Tennessee a victory in the lawsuit brought by Kalshi, the prediction market company that sued the Volunteer State earlier this year, claiming the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council (TSWC) does not have the authority to regulate its predictions.
“This is a great win for Tennessee,” stated Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. “Kalshi attempted an end run around Tennessee law to avoid any of the rules or taxes associated with sports gambling. They failed.”
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has removed more than 18,500 illegal aliens from Tennessee since President Donald Trump began his second term in January 2025, according to the Tennessee House Republican Caucus, whose leaders praised the federal agency on Tuesday.
The Republicans called the performance a result of cooperation between the Trump administration and the Tennessee General Assembly, which earlier this year passed immigration bills aimed at making Tennessee a national model, and in 2025 created the Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division (CIED) of the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security.
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Tennessee State Senator Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville), who was disciplined after standing on her desk and protesting during the Tennessee General Assembly’s May redistricting vote, announced Monday that she filed a federal lawsuit challenging the punishment imposed against her by Senate leadership.
During the May 7 redistricting vote, Oliver stood on her desk in the Senate chamber while shouting objections to the congressional map and displaying a banner criticizing the proposal as “Jim Crow 2.0.” Video also showed Oliver attempting to retrieve the banner from a Senate sergeant at arms after it was confiscated.
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U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) helped pass the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA), which seeks to regulate college athletics.
Along with the Tennessee senators, 75 other senators voted for the PCSA on Monday night. Twenty-two senators voted against the bill.
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Legal analyst and retired attorney Mark Pulliam, who endorsed former federal prosecutor TJ Harker’s forthcoming book American Scapegoat: How a Corrupt Justice System Sacrificed Derek Chauvin to the Mob after reading its galley proofs, previewed the book and its central arguments during Monday’s episode of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
Harker’s book, scheduled for publication December 1 by Passage Press, argues that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was wrongfully convicted in the 2020 death of George Floyd and that political pressure, public outrage, and failures within the criminal justice system influenced the case.
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