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.

Tennessee authorities probe shooting of deputy during standoff

by Ben Benton ·December 31, 2024

Monroe County man faces five counts of attempted murder

Staff Photo / The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's headquarters in Nashville is pictured in 2015. The state agency is investigating the shooting of a deputy Dec. 29, 2024, during a standoff in Philadephia, Tenn.

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Split, Cleveland’s Highway 60, Apison Pike projects to wrap up in 2025

by Ben Benton ·December 29, 2024

Hamilton Place/I-75 project at full throttle

Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Cars speed along Dec. 27, 2024, near the Interstate 24/75 split as work continues along I-75 .

UPS to idle 150 jobs in Athens due to Dec. 3 fire

by Ben Benton ·December 26, 2024

Layoffs effective Jan. 10

The image of a parked car is reflected on the side of a UPS truck in 2011 in Little Rock, Ark. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)

Sweetwater officials dinged for questionable spending on taxpayers’ dime

by Ben Benton ·December 25, 2024

City officials in Sweetwater, Tennessee, were regularly dining and celebrating at city taxpayers' expense, tallying almost $133,000 in questionable spending on city credit cards and expenditures from 2014 to 2023, according to a state comptroller's investigation.

Tennessee Comptroller's Office / State investigators found questionable spending in almost $133,000 of credit card purchases in Sweetwater City Hall between 2014 and 2023.

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Rainfall deficit lingers as parts of region plunge into extreme drought

by Ben Benton ·December 24, 2024

Chattanooga’s rainfall shortfall stands at 15 inches for the year, Rhea County at 20 inches or more

Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Evidence of low water levels show as Jonathan White puts in his kayak at North Chickamauga Creek Gorge State Park on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024.

I-24 repair over Dodds Avenue complete but must be monitored

by Ben Benton ·December 18, 2024

State transportation officials said repairs on the Interstate 24 bridge over Dodds Avenue are complete, but because of the patch's location, it will have to be monitored.

Staff Photo by Ben Benton / On Dec. 18, 2024, a white Tesla passes under the Interstate 24 bridge over Dodds Avenue, where falling debris 48 hours earlier closed two lanes of the interstate and two lanes of Dodds Avenue. In the upper left, a Tennessee Department of Transportation crew member heads back to his truck after checking repairs to the bridge deck.

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Lookout Mountain man’s sentencing memo describes childhood abuse, confession

by Ben Benton ·December 17, 2024

The Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, man facing two decades in federal prison for taking minor boys over state lines for sex describes a childhood of sexual abuse while confessing to his 20-year-old crimes in documents filed in Chattanooga.

Hamilton County Sheriff's Office / James Coleman Thompson, 72, of Lookout Mountain, Tenn.

Authorities name Mentone couple in apparent murder-suicide

by Ben Benton ·December 13, 2024

Authorities in DeKalb County, Alabama, have identified a Mentone couple found dead Dec. 6 in an apparent murder-suicide, along with their two dogs.

Staff Photo / A stone entrance sign is seen in Mentone, Ala., in 2012 on Alabama Highway 117 in DeKalb County. The DeKalb County Sheriff's Office in Fort Payne, Ala., has released the names of the couple involved in an apparent murder-suicide on Dec. 6, 2024, that left the pair dead along with their two dogs.

Local Update: Brothers’ suit over fire hall land in Marion County dismissed

by Ben Benton ·December 12, 2024

Then: Brothers Charles T. King III and Michael D. King filed a lawsuit against the town of New Hope in Marion County over property on which New Hope has a fire hall, parking lot and fuel tanks.

Staff Photo by Ben Benton / The old New Hope fire hall in Marion County is shown April 7, 2023, in New Hope, Tenn. A Chancery Court suit filed in 2023 against the town by two brothers whose family owned the property has been dismissed, and the property awarded to New Hope.

Two dead in apparent murder-suicide in Mentone, Ala.

by Ben Benton ·December 10, 2024

Authorities in DeKalb County, Alabama, say two people were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide along with two dogs at a home in Mentone.