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.
Cabin fever and the coronavirus combined to drive people outdoors and into public parks as the number of visitors and campers across the region hit record highs in 2020.
by Ben BentonA proposed consolidation of operations at TVA's 110-year-old Ocoee Dam No. 1 in Polk County, Tennessee, could lead to the preservation of some of its aging historic buildings, according to a 126-page environmental report issued in February.
by Ben BentonThe Tennessee Valley saw more rain in 2020 than any time in recorded weather history going back well over a century despite following two consecutive record-setting wettest years in a row, according to the Tennessee Valley Authority.
by Ben BentonTwo juveniles and four adults were arrested Wednesday in connection with a videotaped fight that broke out Sunday in a Bradley County neighborhood off U.S. Highway 64 that left one man unconscious as he was repeatedly punched and kicked in the head.
by Ben BentonA 2020 TBI case against a Monroe County, Tennessee, couple that led to felony theft charges that were dismissed Monday should never have been prosecuted in the first place, according to an attorney defending two of the three people arrested in the investigation.
by Ben BentonThree members of the Marion County, Tennessee, Sheriff's Office were treated for suspected exposure to the drug fentanyl Saturday after they arrested two people from California who were "passed out" in a vehicle in a local parking lot.
by Ben BentonThe Watts Bar Ecology and Fishery Council has issued a report on the Asian carp threat to the upper Tennessee and Cumberland river basins calling for the state to adopt its plan of action, which includes temporarily closing the lock at Watts Bar Dam.
by Ben BentonAn $18 million conservation effort aimed at protection and conservation of the forests of the Appalachians was launched this week targeting the Chattanooga region with an initial $5.25 million grant focused on protecting key portions of Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia while combating climate change.
by Ben BentonThe Federal Highway Administration has named five scenic byway routes in Tennessee, including one in the nearby Sequatchie Valley, to its America's Byways list.
by Ben BentonThe Rhea County Justice Center is finally complete.
by Ben BentonIt could be months or longer before coronavirus-stalled court dockets return to any semblance of normal in Tennessee's 10th and 12th judicial districts, even after a continuing decline in COVID-19 cases led the Tennessee Supreme Court to ease recent restrictions.
by Ben BentonThe Tullahoma and Manchester area in Middle Tennessee is one of the nation's strongest micropolitan areas, according to a new study prepared by an independent economics research that specializes in analyzing local and state economies and economic development.
by Ben BentonThe path is opening up for a project to turn two of U.S. Highway 27's downtown Chattanooga interchanges into garden-like gateways as the delayed $143.3 million improvement project to improve the 1960s-era traffic artery through the city's heart finally wraps up.
by Ben BentonThe first Black vice chancellor at the University of the South atop Monteagle Mountain in Tennessee has endured repeated attacks and vandalism at his campus home since he became the school's leader just less than a year ago.
by Ben BentonIt's been almost two years since 11-year-old Amberly Alexis Barnett was found strangled to death in the woods near her DeKalb County, Alabama, home in March 2019 and the man facing the death penalty in her slaying is still no closer to trial or even a grand jury presentation.
by Ben BentonThe Tennessee Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights is investigating a complaint alleging racial discrimination in Franklin County Schools after a school board decision in October not to remove the "Rebel" mascot and fight song "Dixie" from Franklin County High.
by Ben BentonA 35-year-old Grundy County, Tennessee, man has been charged in the 2019 death of a man reported missing that November. His body was found just over a week later.
by Ben BentonThe Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is looking into the death of a 37-year-old female inmate who died after collapsing Sunday at the Marion County Justice Center in Jasper, Tennessee.
by Ben BentonA $10 million federal lawsuit filed in December against Cleveland City Schools claims a female student was repeatedly sexually assaulted by another student at Cleveland Middle School while school officials looked the other way.
by Ben BentonThe Foster Falls Volunteer Fire Department in Marion County, Tennessee, is missing more than $6,000 in equipment after a break-in on Tuesday.
by Ben Benton