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.
An effort to establish a national wildlife refuge along the Tennessee-Alabama line that takes in up to 25,000 acres of the southern Cumberland Plateau is gaining momentum.
by Ben Benton 2 hours agoA Marion County, Tennessee, jury last week awarded a local man more than $6 million in a civil lawsuit brought against the local Cracker Barrel Old Country Store restaurant after he was served a corrosive chemical containing bleach in place of his ice water.
by Ben BentonA Palmer, Tennessee, man was sentenced Tuesday to 150 years behind bars on multiple counts of rape of a child and a count of criminal attempt to commit rape of a child.
by Ben BentonA foursome of regional conservation groups have a few problems with the U.S. Forest Service's restoration plans across 157,625 acres of Georgia's Conasauga, Blue Ridge and Chattooga River ranger districts in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests.
by Ben BentonBundle up Chattanooga.
by Ben BentonTennessee Gov. Bill Lee opened the $40.3 million, 85-room Lodge Fall Creek Falls on Tuesday, the latest addition to the 29,800-acre state park on the Cumberland Plateau.
by Ben BentonTennessee Gov. Bill Lee will officially cut the ribbon Tuesday on the state's new, $40.4 million 85-room Lodge at Fall Creek Falls State Park, the centerpiece of man-made features at the 29,800-acre state park on the Cumberland Plateau.
by Ben BentonA regional conservation association is recognizing a Chattanooga native for his contributions over more than 15 years on the Benton MacKaye Trail in the mountains of Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina.
by Ben BentonThe next generation of military jet engines will be tested at Tennessee's Arnold Engineering and Engineering and Development Complex as the military facility in Tullahoma undergoes upgrades to prepare for new tasks.
by Ben BentonThousands of Chattanooga area residents have been offered a hand up through the Neediest Cases Fund over more than a century, and help is needed now more than ever.
by Ben BentonFor more than a century, Chattanoogans and their daily newspaper have teamed up to help those in the community who have fallen on hard times.
by Ben BentonWhat better way to celebrate the opening of Lodge Cast Iron's new museum in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, and fry up a little history and culture of cast iron cooking than with a contender for world's largest skillet?
by Ben BentonWith a $15 million investment, Tennessee will become home to 18 Bill Dance Signature Lakes bearing the angler's stamp of approval — and three of them are in the Chattanooga region.
by Ben BentonThe $47.9 million, 108-bed Tennessee State Veterans' Home in Bradley County is on track for completion in 2022.
by Ben BentonSeven dams on the Tennessee River should have barriers installed to mitigate invasive Asian carp that pose problems for native fish and can even injure boaters, according to a final environmental assessment from the Tennessee Valley Authority last week.
by Ben BentonBradley County Sheriff's Office K-9 Joker returned to duty Wednesday after recovering from being shot multiple times while attempting to apprehend suspects in September.
by Ben BentonThe Interstate 75/Interstate 24 Split is still No. 7 on the national Top 20 list of trucking bottlenecks, even after completion of phase 1 of the Tennessee Department of Transportation's $133.5 million reconstruction project to add lanes and ease traffic flow, according to a recent national study of traffic data by a nonprofit group.
by Ben BentonA Tullahoma, Tennessee, woman with a 27-year-old secret has been booked on charges in connection with a newborn's remains found in a storage unit she rented in 1994.
by Ben BentonTwo Meigs County, Tennessee, men are behind bars in Cherokee County, North Carolina, on drug trafficking charges after the discovery of almost half a ton of marijuana in a U-Haul following an assault call at a casino Thursday morning.
by Ben BentonA group of animal and pet advocates in Marion County, Tennessee, is planning a demonstration on the courthouse square in Jasper on Monday to raise awareness about laws related to pets, animal cruelty and resources available to pet owners.
by Ben Benton