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Tennessee political leaders canvass state in last-minute election push
With less than three weeks remaining in the campaign season, Tennessee’s House Republicans and Democrats are making a final push to build their brand and win targeted races. House Speaker Cameron Sexton embarked on the “Tennessee Freedom Tour” Monday, with the first stop in Knoxville at an event held by the Volunteer Republican Women’s Club. […]
Rhetoric versus reality: Addressing common misconceptions about immigration
Among the most persistent political talking points raised by opponents of immigration is that migrants bring crime with them into the U.S. “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” former President Donald Trump famously said on the campaign trail in 2016. “Has anybody ever seen the movie ‘Gangs of New York’?” Republican […]
State renews charter for Wooddale Middle School, overturning Memphis board decision
This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters The operator of Wooddale Middle School, a Memphis charter school exiting the state turnaround district, will continue managing it after a state panel overturned a decision by Memphis-Shelby County Schools to deny its application. The Tennessee Public Charter School Commission followed […]
Supreme Court sets oral arguments date in challenge to Tennessee transgender care ban for minors
The Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments for Dec. 4 in the case challenging Tennessee’s law banning gender-affirming care for minors brought by three young people and their families. The state law — which took effect on July 1 of last year — bars Tennessee doctors and nurses from providing medical care — including puberty […]
Trump courts Latino voters at Univision town hall, and Harris ventures onto Fox News
WASHINGTON — With less than three weeks to Election Day, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump spent Wednesday evening zeroing in on undecided voters, in a race that polls have in a dead heat. In Doral, Florida, Trump made his pitch to undecided Latino voters for an hour-long Univision town […]
Over 200,000 Tennesseans cast ballots on the first day of early voting
More than 200,000 Tennesseans cast ballots on the first day of early voting for the second consecutive presidential election. Wednesday’s totals surpass 2016 but not 2020. The Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office reported that 216,446 people voted in person or by absentee ballot on Wednesday, Oct. 16, the first day of in-person voting in the […]
Neighbors rally around stronger protections for Duck River
This story has been updated to reflect the parties appealing the Columbia Power and Water Systems permit. Middle Tennessee property owners and residents are joining environmental groups in calling for stronger state protections for the most biodiverse freshwater river in North America. Drought and utility companies’ plans to withdraw millions more gallons of water from […]
Judges temporarily block discipline of doctors who perform emergency abortions in Tennessee
A three-judge panel ruled Thursday that the limited emergency health care exceptions outlined in Tennessee’s near-total abortion ban are so vague that doctors have a legitimate fear of prosecution or professional discipline for performing medically necessary abortions. The Chancery Court panel temporarily blocked the state’s medical board from disciplining doctors for providing emergency abortions but […]
Guns: Where do Trump and Harris stand?
This is one in a series of States Newsroom reports on the major policy issues in the presidential race. WASHINGTON — A mass shooting at a Georgia high school in September thrust the issue of gun violence to the forefront of the presidential race. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump agree that […]
Law enforcement officials prepare for possible post-election violence in D.C.
WASHINGTON — The threat of political violence will likely hang over the nation’s capital in the weeks following Election Day, security experts say, despite intensive preparations by law enforcement officials determined to avoid another Jan. 6 insurrection. The 2,000-plus officers who make up the U.S. Capitol Police, as well as other federal law enforcement agencies […]
Trump claims the title of ‘father of IVF’ in Fox News town hall with women voters
Former President Donald Trump fielded questions from women voters during a Fox News town hall in Georgia that aired Wednesday, and dubbed himself “the father of IVF” while discussing the fertility treatment that grabbed the spotlight after an Alabama court’s ruling earlier this year. The GOP presidential nominee — who’s also called himself a “protector” […]
Court: Confederate-themed street names in Forest Hills not protected by historic preservation law
An affluent satellite city within Davidson County in Tennessee has won the latest round in its fight against the State Historical Commission to rename Confederate-themed city street names, potentially opening the door for other cities and towns to do the same. Forest Hills, a community of about 5,000 people, fought for two years for the […]
Wrongful death suit filed by East Tenn. factory worker’s family contests company’s account of flood
As advocacy groups press Tennessee authorities for stronger worker protections and state agencies investigate the deaths of five employees swept away by Hurricane Helene floodwaters at an East Tennessee plastics plant, a lawsuit filed by the family of one deceased worker offers a glimpse into what happened on Sept. 27. The lawsuit filed by the […]
Social Security and Medicare: Where do Harris and Trump stand?
This is one in a series of States Newsroom reports on the major policy issues in the presidential race. WASHINGTON — The presidential debate in early September included just one mention of Social Security and three references to Medicare, making the safety net programs a minuscule part of the policy discussion, despite their importance to […]
Harris campaign stresses ‘the threat that Donald Trump is to Latino communities’
WASHINGTON —Top advisers to the Kamala Harris presidential campaign held a Wednesday press conference including children who were separated from their parents under the highly criticized Trump administration immigration policy, as a warning of what a second term under the former president could bring for the Latino community. The press conference in Doral, Florida, came […]
TBI makes progress in reducing rape kit backlog
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has made progress in shortening monthslong delays in laboratory testing of sexual assault evidence, according to a new audit by the state’s comptroller. Two years ago, the bureau reported turnaround times of up to 45 weeks, delays that hindered criminal prosecutions and deferred justice for survivors. That processing time has […]
District 75 state House race could prove an early referendum on abortion
Tennessee doesn’t have an abortion referendum on the ballot this year, but the state House race in District 75, which encompasses the city of Clarksville, may yield the clearest indication yet of how much the issue sways Tennessee voters. Incumbent Republican Rep. Jeff Burkhart, a former city councilmember and small business owner first elected to […]
Early voting kicks off in Tennessee: Our guide to the 2024 election
Tennessee voters can start casting their ballots today for the Nov. 5 election. The early voting period in Tennessee runs from Oct. 16 through Oct. 31. Beyond voting for the next U.S. president, voters will have full ballots: one U.S. Senate seat and nine U.S. House races are up for grabs. In Tennessee’s state government, […]
Trump vows to levy ‘horrible’ tariffs on imports, rejecting fears of inflation spike
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump defended his plans for steep tariffs on Tuesday, arguing economists who say that those higher costs would get passed onto consumers are incorrect and that his proposals would benefit American manufacturing. During an argumentative hourlong interview with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait hosted by the Economic Club of Chicago, Trump vehemently […]
Community members: Shooting ‘not representative’ of Jefferson Street culture
Parishioners of Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church gathered Sunday morning on the sidewalk outside the church sanctuary to pray less than 300 feet from an intersection where 10 people were shot the night before. Bishop Aaron X. Marble, senior pastor, said Tennessee State University’s annual homecoming parade, which had concluded hours before the violence, “really […]
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