Ben Benton

Ben Benton is a news reporter at the Chattanooga Times Free Press. He covers Southeast Tennessee’s Bledsoe, Bradley, Franklin, Grundy, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Rhea and Sequatchie counties. Ben has worked at the Times Free Press since November 2005. Ben was born and raised in Cleveland, Tennessee, a graduate of Bradley Central High School. He has a bachelor's degree in communications from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Contact Southeast Tennessee reporter Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.

Red Clay State Historic Park ranger nets award for ‘Outstanding New Interpreter’

by Ben Benton ·December 25, 2025

Who'd have thought a nature lover from Apison, Tennessee, would grow up a 10-minute drive from her dream job?

Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Red Clay State Historic Park's interpretive ranger Taylor Young has been recognized as 2025's "Outstanding New Interpreter" by the National Association for Interpretation. In the background is the park's Blue Hole Spring, one of Young's favorite features of the park.

South Pittsburg, Athens get major chunk of $4.3M in grants for downtown updates

by Ben Benton ·December 19, 2025

The Tennessee cities of South Pittsburg and Athens together netted almost $1 million in downtown improvement grant funding doled out Thursday by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.

Staff Photo / The town clock on Cedar Avenue is pictured in 2014 in South Pittsburg, Tenn. A $500,000 downtown improvement grant has been awarded to South Pittsburg, Tenn., for updates to downtown building facades and streets.

Comptroller cites fake time sheets at Jasper Middle School

by Ben Benton ·December 19, 2025

School program coordinator allegedly submitted 31 hours not worked

staff Photo by Ben Benton / The central office for the Marion County Board of Education is pictured Dec. 11, 2024. A former coordinator of a family and community program at Jasper Middle School in Marion County falsified more than 31 hours on work time sheets between July 22, 2024, and May 31, 2025, according to an investigative report from the Tennessee Comptroller's Office.

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Mediation ordered in former Rhea County executive’s wrongful death suit filed in U.S. District Court

by Ben Benton ·December 18, 2025

Federal action seeks unspecified damages over in-custody death

Rhea County government / Former Rhea County Executive George Thacker. Thacker's daughter, April Wesolowski, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in U.S. District Court in South Carolina, and a judge on Thursday granted a motion for the case to go before a federal magistrate for mediation.

Human remains found Dec. 8 in Marion County identified as Griffin, Ga., man

by Ben Benton ·December 18, 2025

Slaying still under investigation

Staff Photo / The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation headquarters is in Nashville.

TBI joins probe into fatal McMinn County fire

by Ben Benton ·December 18, 2025

State arson investigators are probing a fatal fire in McMinn County that claimed the lives of two people on Tuesday.

Area fire departments / Firefighteers are shown at the scene of a fire that claimed two lives on Highway 163 in South McMinn County. The TBI has joined the investigation.

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State relents after Bradley County Commission, residents oppose site near I-75 for new mental hospital

by Ben Benton ·December 17, 2025

Sen. Lowe: State officials agree to seek ‘more suitable location’

Bradley County Commission / Bradley County resident Matthew Whitmire speaks to the Bradley County Commission on Dec. 15, 2025, about a site state officials were eyeing for a replacement for the Moccasin Bend State Mental Health Institute in Chattanooga.

Man fatally shot by Sweetwater, Tennessee, detective identified

by Ben Benton ·December 16, 2025

TBI investigating incident on McMinn-Monroe County line

Sweetwater Police Department / The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is looking into the deadly shooting of a Sweetwater, Tenn., man by a local police detective. Justin Robinson, 30, has been identified as the man killed during an encounter with authorities, according to preliminary information released by the state agency.

Rhea County man’s vacated 1994 rape conviction draws lawsuit

by Ben Benton ·December 14, 2025

Complaint alleges civil rights violations, coercion, fabricated evidence

Scott Minton is seen leaving the courtroom in Chattanooga on Jan. 23, 2025, after his 1994 convictions were vacated and he was released from prison, where he served more than three decades. Minton, of Rhea County, Tenn., has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Bradley County, Tenn., a former sheriff and two former detectives, seeking unspecified damages. (Innocence Project Photo by Alyssa Pointer)

Body found by landowner in Marion County woods

by Ben Benton ·December 10, 2025

Foul play suspected, authorities say

Staff File Photo by Robin Rudd / The Marion County Justice Center is pictured. County and state authorities are investigating the discovery of a man's body off Sequatchie Mountain Road. Authorities believe the case is a homicide.