Ben Benton is a news reporter at the Chattanooga Times Free Press. He covers Southeast Tennessee, North Georgia and Northeast Alabama. Ben has worked at the Times Free Press since November 2005, first covering Bledsoe and Sequatchie counties. Ben was born and raised in Cleveland, Tenn., a graduate of Bradley Central High School. He has a bachelor's degree in communications from the the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In 2014, he placed third in the Green Eyeshade Awards for Disaster Coverage- All Dailies for his story on the South Pittsburg flood, and third place in the Specialized Site category for the newspaper's Civil War 150th anniversary online special section. Ben previously worked at The Daily Post-Athenian in Athens, Tenn., The Herald-News, in Dayton, Tenn., and at the Knoxville Journal, in Knoxville, Tenn. Ben, a lifelong UT fan, lives in Chattanooga with his wife, Lisa, and has been a Chattanooga resident since 1988. Ben has one son, Benjy, who works in town as a web developer. When he's not working, Ben likes to cook and hit the backroads in search of barbecue and the region's natural beauty. Contact Ben at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or twitter.com/BenBenton or www.facebook.com/ben.benton1 or 423-757-6569.
A Tracy City, Tennessee, man has been charged with attacking a trooper with the Tennessee Highway Patrol during a Sunday night traffic stop in Grundy County and authorities are seeking an unnamed suspect.
by Ben Benton 40 minutes agoSupply chain issues have put the $47.9 million Tennessee State Veterans' Home in Cleveland, Tennessee, about a month behind its hoped-for completion date of June 30, and about 60 people are already on the waiting list, according to state officials.
by Ben BentonTennessee State Parks and 23 Ocoee River outfitters have joined forces again this year to offer military veterans a free rafting trip on the Fourth of July, and for the first time, their families can get half-off rates, too.
by Ben BentonPlanning to head out on the water for the Fourth of July holiday weekend?
by Ben BentonAn Ooltewah, Tennessee, man was killed by a bull Saturday on his farm in Meigs County, according to county officials.
by Ben BentonAthens City Schools' teacher of the year has been arrested on allegations she illegally entered a car detained in a local impound lot and when police searched the car she used to get there they found suspected marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
by Ben BentonThe man charged in a Bradley County, Tennessee, woman's 2020 slaying has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a sentence of more than two decades in prison.
by Ben BentonYearling male black bears are on the move this month, looking for their own territory, while female bears with young cubs are looking for food, and that search can put the large mammals and humans in dangerous conflict, according to bear advocates and state and federal officials.
by Ben BentonAn $8.6 million, 1.2-mile improvement project underway on Ringgold Road in East Ridge will change the face of the town's western half from Kingwood Drive to McBrien Road.
by Ben BentonA Bradley Central High School teacher and coach was arrested June 11 after an altercation at a party in Hamilton County in which someone allegedly used an offensive term for a person with developmental disabilities.
by Ben BentonA McMinn County, Tennessee, woman charged in February with 23 counts related to her alleged sexual contact with nine teenage boys has been indicted on additional counts involving nine more alleged victims.
by Ben BentonOne person died in a rafting incident Saturday on the Ocoee River in Polk County, Tennessee, but details of what happened and that person's identity have not been released by authorities.
by Ben BentonNighttime work over the next several weekends in a state concrete and bridge repair project on Interstate 75 means contract crews must close some lanes in both directions on a 6-mile stretch between Shallowford Road and a little north of Ooltewah.
by Ben BentonWork to preserve the iconic Englewood, Tennessee, water tower — added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2020 — is finally going to bid, and supporters say local folks will see work begin soon.
by Ben BentonThe Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has identified a man killed early Thursday by a Bradley County sheriff's deputy during a call to a home on Blue Springs Road regarding a suicidal person, according to a news release from the state agency.
by Ben BentonA June 4 crash that claimed the young lives of four former and current South Pittsburg High School football players leaves behind lasting uncertainty for their families, and organizations in the town are spearheading a drive to provide ongoing help to the loved ones they left behind and the teen who survived the crash and is still recovering.
by Ben BentonA man charged in a Sunday shooting in Marion County, Tennessee, was on probation for a previous homicide conviction in the shooting of another man more than a decade ago.
by Ben BentonA Tracy City, Tennessee, man has been charged with aggravated assault in the alleged beating of another man with a bat, leaving him hospitalized, according to authorities in Grundy County.
by Ben BentonMost of the property at the Ocoee Whitewater Center in Polk County, Tennessee, has been reopened to the public while the Tennessee Valley Authority works to replace a warning system that alerts visitors to rising water levels that was damaged by the blaze in April that destroyed the primary building on the grounds.
by Ben BentonThe grassroots effort launched in 2021 seeking to get the Benton MacKaye Trail that spans three states in the Southern Appalachian Mountains named a National Scenic Trail has gained bi-partisan congressional support in a new bill introduced in the U.S. House.
by Ben Benton