Andy Sher

Following stints as a teacher — as well as in senior education leadership roles in California and Delaware — Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn finds herself in the midst of a new learning experience, navigating the Volunteer State's sometimes-treacherous intersection of politics, policy and management.

All five Republican U.S. senators from Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama say they support President Donald Trump's plan to push through a GOP replacement for the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice and Democratic appointee Ruth Bader Ginsburg this year.

Gov. Bill Lee, who has told fellow Tennesseans that "wearing a mask is the simplest action you can take to fight the spread of COVID-19," on Thursday found himself defending not wearing one earlier this month at a boat parade to support President Donald Trump on Tims Ford Reservoir near Winchester, Tennessee.

Tennessee government has successfully "clawed back" $18.4 million in taxpayer-funded economic incentive grants given to 17 companies that officials say failed to fulfill job-creation and investment promises under the state's FastTrack Economic Development Grant program.

A top Chattanooga-based BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee official is questioning a private data firm's assertions the nonprofit insurer paid out $11 million in medical overcharges during a three-year period in its role as a third-party administrator of state employees' health plan.

In a state where their party is a "super minority" in Tennessee's Republican-dominated Senate and House, Democrats hope to make inroads in the November election in changing urban and suburban-based districts, including a Chattanooga-based Senate seat.

Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday unveiled new recommendations to strengthen policing policies, boost law enforcement training and improve inter-agency sharing of disciplinary actions about problematic police officers amid civil and racial unrest as well as national calls for systemic police reform.

State Rep. Yusuf Hakeem and fellow legislative leaders warned Wednesday that Black residents and other poor-to-lower-middle-class Tennesseans face being undercounted by the U.S. Census Bureau, which could cost them in terms of political representation and millions of dollars in funding for programs.

State education officials launched Tennessee's new COVID-19 reporting website on Wednesday, which shows 756 active coronavirus cases among students and staff in public and public charter K-12 schools.

Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee is torpedoing rumors that he's no longer enjoying his job and won't seek re-election in 2022 amid battles on the COVID-19 pandemic, politics and other fronts.

While some prominent national-level Republicans publicly oppose President Donald Trump's reelection, that isn't the case among top local and Tennessee Republicans, where even the state's most prominent 2016 "never Trumper" is silent this year.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is calling the Trump administration's plan to begin distributing a COVID-19 vaccine to states possibly as early as Nov. 1 "a very hopeful prospect."

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee's administration is spending $4.32 million on the state's "Face It" multimedia ad campaign in which the governor is betting on persuasion over a statewide mask mandate to convince Tennesseans to proactively curb spread of the coronavirus.

A new wave of COVID-19 is sweeping through a Tennessee prison with 965 inmates and staffers at the privately run South Central Correctional Facility in Middle Tennessee testing positive, state officials announced Monday.

Democratic state Senate candidate Glenn Scruggs, an assistant Chattanooga police chief, says it was irresponsible for incumbent Republican Sen. Todd Gardenhire to vote in support of a 2015 law allowing Tennesseans with state-issued handgun permits to go armed in parks.

Tennessee Finance Commissioner Butch Eley said that while a private data firm's initial findings that state health plans erroneously paid $17.58 million in medical bill overcharges were "helpful," a planned "deep dive" is necessary before drawing firm conclusions.

Upset Tennessee Black legislators are publicly airing a list of frustrations with Republican Gov. Bill Lee while condemning his fellow Republican, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, over reposting of a Facebook meme they charged encourages "vigilante-type justice" against the Black Lives Matter and antifa movements.

State Rep. Mike Carter, hospitalized earlier this month after contracting the coronavirus, says he has been released from Erlanger Medical Center.

A Republican-led Tennessee House panel is drawing criticism for asking that witnesses who testify before it first remove their COVID-19 masks before speaking.

During a Wednesday night speech at the Republican National Convention, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee praised American "heroes" such as volunteers and emergency room nurses while then accusing Democrats of invoking "cancel culture" by refusing to acknowledge members of law enforcement and the U.S. military in the hero category.