Two Chattanooga-area pastors are listed on the Southern Baptist Convention's internal roster of church leaders credibly accused of sexual misconduct.

Republican mayoral nominee Weston Wamp, who won Hamilton County's May 3 GOP primary, will defend his victory to Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee members on Friday.

Frustrated onlookers urged police officers to charge into the Texas elementary school where a gunman's rampage killed 19 children and two teachers, witnesses said Wednesday, as investigators worked to track the massacre that lasted upwards of 40 minutes and ended when the 18-year-old shooter was killed by a Border Patrol team.

The gunman who massacred 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Texas warned in online messages sent minutes before the attack that he had shot his grandmother and was going to shoot up a school, the governor said Wednesday.

A gunman stormed into an elementary school Tuesday in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers in the United States' deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade.

Jurors in Johnny Depp's libel lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard heard a snippet of testimony Tuesday contradicting one of Heard's key witnesses, but much of the context was stripped away.

A weekend fire in Cleveland, Tennessee, destroyed a popular flea market and fireworks stand that stood off U.S. Highway 64 for more than four decades.

Come fall, Lee University will have more strict guidelines on students' speech and how they can present their gender and sexuality on campus, according to a leaked draft of school policy.

NASHVILLE — In her contest to Weston Wamp's victory in Hamilton County's May 3 Republican mayoral primary election, second-place finisher Sabrena Smedley wants the Tennessee Republican Party's State Executive Committee to set aside the results, citing what she says is crossover voting by Democrats as well as failures by the county election commission and the local party to adequately police the election.

President Joe Biden's approval rating dipped to the lowest point of his presidency in May, a new poll shows, with deepening pessimism emerging among members of his own Democratic Party.

In her formal challenge to fellow Republican Weston Wamp's victory in Hamilton County's May 3 GOP mayoral primary, Sabrena Smedley is relying on a rarely-invoked provision of Tennessee law.

Tennessee's highest court ruled Wednesday that Republican Gov. Bill Lee's school voucher program does not violate the state's constitution, clearing the path for families to soon use taxpayer dollars on private schools.

More than six months after the shootings that claimed the lives of two Chattanooga women and left five others injured, the Chattanooga Police Department's new chief, Celeste Murphy, held a news conference at Grove Street on Tuesday to declare her commitment to solving the case and ask the community for help.

A new Tennessee law signed by Gov. Bill Lee during the recent legislative session created a pathway for pharmacists to dispense ivermectin directly to patients who would like to use the treatment for COVID-19.

Since taking office in January 2019, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has yet to veto any bill approved by his fellow Republicans who dominate the General Assembly, that despite a growing list of bills he has refused to sign and sometimes criticized publicly.

As schools in Hamilton County have returned to mostly in-person learning this year, incidents of bullying have returned as well.

About 20 people attended a Hamilton County Election Commission meeting Friday to share their concerns about the integrity of the May 3 primary election, although commissioners found the results sound and certified the results.

The relationship between Tennessee Senate Finance Committee Chairman Bo Watson, R-Hixson, and his wife, lobbyist Nicole Osborne Watson, is under scrutiny after the powerful chairman's yes vote on the state's $52.8 billion budget bill last month.

Just two days after one of the most successful events in Finley Stadium history, and with less than two months to the end of what he says is one of the most financially successful fiscal years in the venue's history, Chris Thomas is stepping down as executive director of The Stadium Corp.

The Hamilton County Schools Board of Education may soon go before the County Commission to request $10 million in recurring maintenance revenue to begin tackling nearly $1 billion in deferred building repairs.

Brad Raffensperger says the Georgia and U.S. Constitutions should be amended to prohibit voting by people who aren't U.S. citizens. He oversaw a citizenship audit of the state's voter rolls and has announced plans to further integrate citizenship checks into the voter registration process.

While Gov. Bill Lee is in many respects at the top of his game, the Republican governor first elected in 2018 as a political outsider faces mounting challenges from the GOP supermajority, which has dominated the Tennessee legislature since 2011.

Parents' relationship to public education has changed since the pandemic, argues Brandy Howard, an Ooltewah parent of two who has worked for almost a year to engage more parents in the now rowdy politics of public schooling.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has refused to sign into law a controversial "truth in sentencing" bill championed by his fellow Republicans, House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Senate Speaker Randy McNally, saying previous get-tough-on-crime approaches have proven both costly and ineffective.

A Tennessee legislative effort to require local governments to provide workers' compensation benefits to Tennessee professional firefighters formally diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder failed to win approval as state lawmakers wrapped up their annual session last week.

Hamilton County will get a new mayor, sheriff, district attorney and at least seven new county commissioners and five new school board members in September as part of an ongoing process that started with the primary election Tuesday.

Nearly all abortions in Tennessee would be outlawed if the U.S. Supreme Court follows through with a leaked draft opinion in a Mississippi case that would overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion.

Hamilton County voters will pick a Republican candidate for mayor Tuesday, along with deciding on a primary election winner for district attorney. Voters will also take part in primary elections for county commissioners using district maps redrawn using 2020 census data — and take part in the first partisan primary for school board seats. Several judicial primaries will also be on the ballot.

The Northwest Georgia district represented by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in Congress is solidly — but not uniformly — Republican. Some areas adjacent to the Atlanta area, such as Paulding County, had only 64% support for Donald Trump when he ran unsuccessfully for re-election as president in 2020.

As voters prepare to go to the polls Tuesday for the Hamilton County primary elections, a new survey shows attorney Coty Wamp with a strong lead in her bid to oust Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston, and her older brother Weston Wamp is holding a narrow lead in the hotly contested three-person GOP contest to succeed Jim Coppinger as county mayor.

Dueling post-hearing briefs from both sides of the attempt to disqualify U.S.

Gov. Bill Lee's plan to change how Tennessee funds public education passed Thursday out of the legislature, setting the stage to replace the state's 30-year-old funding formula next year with one that provides more money for students with higher needs.

Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond was defiant Thursday as he responded in a news conference to complaints that his department has presided over incidents involving violence against prisoners at the Silverdale Detention Center and violence involving deputies against members of the public.

More than half of children in Tennessee, and 76% of children in south and central Chattanooga, live in households that cannot afford the local cost of living, according to a new report from the United Ways of Tennessee.

The iconic Ocoee Whitewater Center near Ducktown, Tennessee — host of the whitewater slalom event for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta — has burned to the ground.

A cross-state-line cleanup Saturday in Rossville was the culmination of two communities coming together with a shared interest in revitalizing the Rossville Boulevard corridor.

The top two Republicans running for governor in Georgia launched the first of three debates Sunday by bickering over who was responsible for 2020 and 2021 Republican election losses.

Thirty years ago this week, lines of children dressed as bass, bluegill and other aquatic animals wiggled and giggled down Broad Street to the thrumming refrain of a marching band to mark the opening of the Tennessee Aquarium.

Homelessness across Southeast Tennessee is surging for the second straight year, with particularly high jumps in Hamilton and Bradley counties, according to data released Friday by the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition.

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, will take the stand Friday morning to defend herself against an effort to remove her from the ballot for her alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

A sharp drop in subscribers sent Netflix shares into freefall Wednesday, forcing the company to consider experimenting with ads and -- hold onto your remote -- cracking down on millions of freeloaders who use passwords shared by friends or family.

A bill began moving Tuesday in the Tennessee legislature to allow Chattanooga to keep a portion of state sales tax revenues generated within a proposed new Lookouts stadium to help fund bonds for constructing the minor league baseball park.

Homeless people in Tennessee who camp or sleep in parks or on other public property could be subject to criminal felony charges while others camping around highways could face misdemeanors under a Republican-backed bill that's stirred up national headlines.

100,000 eggs were up for grabs at Easter at Coolidge presented by Stuart Heights Baptist Church on April 17, 2022. The event featured an egg hunt, live music, and Easter worship service.

There were a few items left on Ricky Taylor's checklist as of Wednesday afternoon — connect the drum system and keyboard to the sound system, finish the youth rooms.

The International Brotherhood of Police Officers has issued a scathing rebuke of Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston as he enters the final weeks of his primary election campaign against challenger Coty Wamp.

A bill brought by Tennessee's two top legislative leaders seeking to shed light on political "dark money" groups' spending within 60 days of Tennessee elections won easy approval in the state Senate on Thursday on a 25-3 vote.

As early voting kicks off Wednesday for May 3 county primary elections across Tennessee, Hamilton County Republican mayoral hopefuls Matt Hullander, Sabrena Smedley and Weston Wamp have already collectively raised more than $1.23 million and spent some $655,000 during their three-way race.

Leon Bridges, The National, Band of Horses, Local Natives and Greensky Bluegrass will perform as part of the Moon River Music Festival, which is presented by Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, on Sept. 10 and 11 at Coolidge Park.

The three Republicans vying to become Hamilton County's next mayor were less than enthused or noncommital Monday about using county tax dollars for a proposed new Chattanooga Lookouts minor league baseball stadium and accompanying residential and retail development.

With only 1,500 students on a small-town campus in southern Michigan, Hillsdale College is far from the power corridors of government and top-ranked universities.

The three candidates vying to be the Republican nominee for Hamilton County mayor will meet Monday in a debate hosted by the Chattanooga Times Free Press and Local 3 News.

Tennessee state officials say they are committed to replacing the 61-year-old mental hospital on Moccasin Bend with a larger, more modern treatment facility to help address the growing mental health needs in the 52 counties served by the state facility.

CHI Memorial officials said they're confident state regulators will approve their plan to build a new hospital in Catoosa County, Georgia, despite a nearby Tennessee hospital's efforts to stop the project.

The interchange on Interstate 75 at Hamilton Place mall is in the crosshairs of the Tennessee Department of Transportation's $3.6 billion three-year plan for 2022-25, with construction on new ramps expected to begin in 2023, according to a news release issued Thursday by Gov Bill Lee's office.

The Hamilton County Health Department will administer a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine booster shot to individuals who are eligible.

Two Bradley County school board members said Tuesday they will resign their posts at next week's meeting.

A Tennessee effort to ban sales or possession of delta-8 products if the hemp-derived substance contains more than 0.03% of the psychoactive drug THC is advancing in the General Assembly.

Gov. Bill Lee has included a $725,700 grant to help Chattanooga officials secure downtown Tennessee River front property seen as critical to build on the area's past successes and promote additional development and bring more people to the thriving area.

You could almost believe the crew boring holes in the ground this month along Interstate 24 near the infamous interchange with Interstate 75 known as the split was planting orange barrel seeds.

Tennessee and Georgia congressmen split along partisan lines this week in a vote on an election-year bill that seeks to cap insulin costs for insured patients at $35 a month.

Chattanooga's South Broad District is at a tipping point and a deal for a new multi-use stadium just off Interstate 24's entrance to the city needs to get done, some business people in the area said.

The Erlanger Health System Board of Trustees approved two changes to the group's bylaws Thursday, one of which allows trustees to be employed by or contract with the hospital in certain circumstances.

Chattanooga real estate agent Sarah Brogdon bought a $220,000 condominium just built on Fagan Street off of Main Street two weeks ago with the intent of using the one-bedroom unit as an Airbnb or other short-term vacation rental home for those visiting Chattanooga.

The Erlanger Health System Board of Trustees will vote Thursday on whether to amend its bylaws to allow trustees to be employed by or under contract with the hospital under "extenuating circumstances" with a majority vote.

Several residents on Tuesday denounced the Chattanooga City Council's handling of the redistricting process and called for members to restart the procedure entirely.

Will Smith gleefully danced with wife Jada Pinkett Smith and their family at the Vanity Fair Oscar party, waving his best actor trophy in the air like he just didn't care as he rapped along to a mash-up of his own songs, from "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" to "Summertime."

Hamilton County mayoral candidate Matt Hullander on his campaign website touts that he and his wife started a family foundation that has provided nearly $1 million in support for local nonprofit organizations, but records of those numbers are unavailable.

Amid the new million-dollar riverfront condos being added at Cameron Harbor and the $160 million Novonix battery equipment plant and new medical offices taking shape at The Bend, Chattanooga's oldest and biggest public housing complex is nearing the end of its useful life.

A proposed project to widen almost 2 miles of Bonny Oaks Drive from Bonnyshire Drive to Interstate 75 is in its early stages after a 21-day comment period ended Wednesday related to the work's impact on the Redoubt Soccer Complex property.

After getting sidetracked last fall, state Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, D-Chattanooga, believes he has a clearer path to winning approval for a revised version of his 2021 bill that requires the teaching of Black history in public schools, now focusing on grades 5-8.

Special state income tax refunds paid out of Georgia's historic budget surplus could be on their way to taxpayers in six to eight weeks, after Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday signed the $1.1 billion refund plan into law.

Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Google and other online companies could find themselves regulated by Tennessee government under a Republican-backed bill in the state legislature that seeks to stop social media platforms from banning users based on their political content or slapping them with fines if they do.

With winter in the rearview, many Chattanoogans are enjoying the warmer weather and extra hour of evening sunshine afforded by clocks "springing forward" on the second Sunday in March - which, according to a bill passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate last week, could become permanent.

The idea of palm-sized airborne spiders sweeping from Georgia up the East Coast has attracted a lot of media buzz.

Stephen Benjamin, former longtime mayor of this state's capital city, said it wasn't easy to push through a new minor league ballfield that anchors a 181-acre tract.

A Chattanooga firefighter union has endorsed Hamilton County Commission chair Sabrena Smedley in the county mayor's race.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin sent soldiers into Ukraine late last month, Vlada Galan was in her hotel room in Colombia, South America, where she was working on an election campaign as an international political consultant.

Gov. Brian Kemp says he will quickly sign a bill suspending Georgia's fuel tax through May after the state Senate voted 55-0 on Thursday to approve the measure.

Hamilton County Board of Education chair Tucker McClendon wants to give a one-time bonus of $500 to all of the school system's full-time employees and contract bus drivers, as well as a $250 bonus to part-time employees. But many board members are concerned with the $2.8 million cost that would come out of the school system's fund balance.

The Senate unanimously approved a measure Tuesday that would make daylight saving time permanent across the United States next year.

Dolly Parton has announced she is pulling out of this year's nominations for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, saying she hasn't "earned that right."

During his news conference last month announcing Deputy Chief Celeste Murphy of the Atlanta Police Department as his nomination for the next police chief of Chattanooga, Mayor Tim Kelly said that "over her two decades plus of service she has achieved a double-digit reduction of overall crime in a single year in 2020."

A Nashville developer eyeing $150 million in residential and commercial space next to a proposed new Chattanooga Lookouts stadium says "the stars are aligning" for a live-work-play district.

It's been two years since Hamilton County reported its first COVID-19 case, and though the pandemic isn't over, concerns over the coronavirus have largely shifted to the backburner across much of the Chattanooga region — at least for the time being.

It's no blizzard of '93, but a winter storm is expected to drop high temperatures by 30 degrees, deliver 1 to 3 inches of snow in the Tennessee Valley overnight and produce gusty winds Saturday.

A Soddy-Daisy political newcomer who spent more than $20,000 in a planned challenge to U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Ooltewah, in the Republican primary in August said he was forced to abandon the effort after running into a Tennessee Republican Party buzz saw.

A Cleveland, Tennessee, woman charged in February with criminal trespassing after she refused to leave a Cleveland medical business that required patients to wear masks has a hearing Thursday in Bradley County General Sessions Court.

During its final meeting Tuesday, the Hamilton County school board's book review committee heard suggestions from the board attorney and provided final comments on two board policies concerning school decisions on instructional and non-instructional material.

Gasoline prices have risen to their highest levels since 2008 and could be headed even higher due to the ongoing turmoil in the energy markets created by the invasion of Ukraine and economic sanctions imposed in response against Russia, one of the world's biggest oil producers.

It had been a year since Henry's last haircut, and Michelle Holbrook did not realize that her 7-pound, goofy toy poodle was now almost 9 pounds. His cute, shaggy look not only obscured his weight, it also made it harder for the Holbrooks to resist his begging.

When the pandemic hit, many restaurants in the Chattanooga area and around the nation went looking for ways to keep their businesses running.

Tennessee last week set three new execution dates for inmates in 2022, driving the total number of executions planned this year to five.

Hamilton County voters will have a chance to learn where local candidates stand on central conservative Christian issues using a local voting guide to be published later this month.

It's time for America to stop letting the coronavirus "dictate how we live," President Joe Biden's White House declared Wednesday, outlining a strategy to allow people to return to many normal activities safely after two years of pandemic disruptions.

Chattanooga police are asking area drivers to slow down in response to an uptick in traffic fatalities.

Republican candidates for Hamilton County mayor are slated to have at least three more chances to publicly lay out their platforms as debates shape up ahead of the May primary election.

Not littering can keep communities more beautiful, and also it can discourage crime and even avoid tragic consequences, according to Amy Hartline, the executive director of Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful.

Two seasons into his role as managing partner of the Chattanooga Lookouts, Jason Freier recognized there were significant drawbacks to AT&T Field, the 6,340-seat downtown facility that has housed the storied Class AA franchise since 2000.

Estimates have been released for a new stadium with the Chattanooga Lookouts as the primary user, including a donation of some land at the proposed Wheland Foundry/U.S. Pipe site.

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery this week became the latest statewide official to weigh in on an apparent nepotism situation in the office of Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston.

Gov. Bill Lee has unveiled his proposal for overhauling public school funding in Tennessee, including a base of $6.6 billion to provide per-pupil funding to educate nearly 1 million students and $1.8 billion in extra support for students needing the most help.

The Chattanooga City Council unanimously approved the creation of the municipality's Department of Early Learning, a key priority of Mayor Tim Kelly's administration.

Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly announced Tuesday the appointment of Celeste Murphy, a 25-year law enforcement veteran he said brings a demonstrated ability to reduce crime and proven commitment to community policing, as the city's next police chief.

Following the announcement of Celeste Murphy as Chattanooga's new chief of police, she answered a few questions from the media at City Hall. Reporters' questions and Murphy's answers have been edited for clarity.

Teandra Storey is in the midst of a grueling rehearsal schedule for her high school's rendition of "A Raisin in the Sun."

Mayor Tim Kelly will announce Chattanooga's new police chief by the end of the month, according to the city's timeline, and he has often said it could end up being "the most important decision" he makes during his time in office.

The father of two men who were killed and whose cases eventually went cold and became one of Hamilton County's most prominent murder cases is speaking out for fear of the local cold case unit being eliminated.

People just kept referring to the podcast.

In what AC Entertainment President Ted Heinig calls a "career highlight" and "a dream come true," Paul McCartney will perform in Thompson-Boling Arena on May 31.

Station Street nightclub Blue Light has again had its beer license suspended by the Chattanooga Beer and Wrecker Board.

A "truth in sentencing" bill pressed by Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton would require adults convicted after July 1 on any of 14 specific felony offenses to serve 100% of the sentence with the punishment "undiminished" by any time-reduction credits prisoners earn for good behavior.

After a festive evening spent viewing a display of holiday lights, Aditya Bhattacharya and his family were crossing a street to head home.

The Tennessee Valley Authority has attracted a record amount of economic investment over the past five years, but a conflict between federal and state laws over growing and processing marijuana is threatening to undermine the growth of the emerging marijuana-growing industry in parts of the Tennessee Valley that have legalized growing the plant for medical purposes.

It doesn't take long to figure out which team the residents of this 133-year-old town in Northeast Alabama will be rooting for during Super Bowl LVI on Sunday evening.

Even if you don't follow football as fanatically as the rest of America, you've probably heard there's a little game called the Super Bowl this weekend. Maybe you'll be watching for the commercials. Or the halftime show.

Hamilton County Schools on Friday released results of a review after a parent complained on Facebook about a Bible history teacher instructing her daughter's class about "how to torture a Jew."

Nearly a half-century after the Tennessee Valley Authority began building its last new nuclear power plant, the federal utility is moving ahead with plans to build the next generation of nuclear power in a smaller version than the seven reactors the agency now operates.

The East Ridge City Council on Thursday agreed to request $13 million in state funds to help the Chattanooga Red Wolves owner with public infrastructure in his planned $200 million development.

A GOP-led legislative effort to put lawmakers in operational control of Tennessee's state Board of Education with six of the panel's nine voting-member appointments is moving in the state House despite opposition from Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who now makes all the appointments.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee has filed an open records request for more information on the McMinn County Board of Education's removal of Art Spiegelman's "Maus: A Survivor's Tale," an award-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust, from the eighth-grade curriculum.

Status quo is no longer an option for the Erlanger Health System Board of Trustees, its leadership has determined, and officials are looking to transition the public hospital to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit model in an effort to level the playing field with the system's private competitors and remain the Chattanooga region's safety net medical provider for decades to come.

Hamilton County mayoral candidate Weston Wamp is warning about the dangers of casting doubt on the election process as he and other Republicans head into the May 3 primary election.

The woman found guilty in the 2019 hit-and-run death of a Chattanooga police officer has been sentenced to serve 11 years in prison.

Gov. Bill Lee's proposed 2023 budget would provide an estimated $110 million for three long-sought building and renovation projects on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus.

Despite starting his new role as superintendent of Hamilton County Schools amid the omicron surge in COVID-19 cases and the accompanying complexities of keeping the school system running despite staffing issues, Dr. Justin Robertson said his transition into the job has been relatively smooth.

The Tennessee Department of Health will stop investigating the vast majority of COVID-19 cases and instead focus contact tracing efforts on high-risk settings only, according to a department spokesperson.

After a two-year pandemic pause, the National Cornbread Festival will return to downtown South Pittsburg, Tennessee, this spring.

A "felon-friendly" two-day job fair will be returning to Chattanooga in February for what Troy Rogers, the public safety coordinator for the city of Chattanooga, is calling "returning talent."

Despite a nationwide decline, labor union membership grew in both Tennessee and Georgia last year, reversing years of decline in those represented by organized labor.

Chattanooga Airport officials, counting on an eventual return of passenger traffic to levels before the coronavirus pandemic, on Monday gave a thumbs up to the biggest-ever expansion to the terminal.

The state's plan to replace the 61-year-old Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute in Chattanooga with a new facility on the history-rich site has sparked the interest of Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly.

As happens every year, Chattanoogans are somewhat split on their satisfaction with the Riverbend 2022 lineup, but if ticket sales are any indication, people like it.

Fallout from the removal earlier this month of the Pulitzer-prize winning graphic novel "Maus: A Survivor's Tale" from the eighth grade curriculum in McMinn County, Tennessee, continued this week as local folks weighed in on the matter in social media posts and at least one event was set next week to discuss the book and its subject.

The city of Chattanooga has selected four finalist candidates to potentially take over as the new chief of the city's police department.

The McMinn County Board of Education in Athens, Tennessee, this month unanimously voted to ban the Pulitzer-prize winning book on the holocaust "Maus: A Survivor's Tale" by Art Spiegelman, citing obscenities and a nude drawing of a female cartoon mouse, according to media reports.

With better roads, cheaper gas and relatively lower costs for repairs than in most other states, Tennessee motorists enjoy the lowest average costs for owning and maintaining a car, according to a new study ranking driving conditions among the 50 states.

Russia's military buildup on the Ukrainian border is easy to see.

Chattanooga residents voiced their wish lists for the 2022-23 fiscal year budget Monday evening, covering topics ranging from infrastructure to public health.

RiverCity officials are bringing to downtown Chattanooga's riverfront an interactive art installation of 15 huge seesaws that light up and create sound when in use.

Gov. Bill Lee said this past week there's no need to declare a state of emergency, as Chattanooga hospitals and health care providers reported being pushed to the brink by an omicron-fueled COVID-19 surge that many frontline workers are calling the most stressful of the pandemic so far.

A recent rebranding effort by Chattanooga's WRCB-TV was boosted by a generous helping of serendipity.

The Republican-controlled Tennessee Senate has approved political redistricting plans for the state's nine congressional seats and 33 state Senate districts.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Hamilton County Schools is now significantly higher than at any other point in the pandemic.

Efforts to find an Uber driver who called her boyfriend Saturday night to report she was being raped by a passenger took four law enforcement agencies and three 911 emergency call centers an hour and 18 minutes, according to police.

After passing the Tennessee Senate last year with bipartisan support, a bill that would allow some state prison inmates sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder to seek parole after serving 25 years instead of 51 years has hit a snag in the House.

In a situation where there are no right or easy answers, Georgia and Tennessee are taking different approaches to dealing with COVID-19 and the unique challenges the virus presents to schools.

The city council in Calhoun, Georgia, approved mid-fiscal year hourly pay increases for city and public safety employees last week, an increase of $1 per hour more for city employees and $1.50 more per hour for public safety employees at the Calhoun Police Department and Fire Department.

Hamilton County residents are now able to receive newly designed license plates, but avoiding long lines to get them in person seemed unlikely as of Friday.

For months, Donald Trump and his defenders have downplayed the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, often citing the fact that no one had been charged with a crime involving overthrow of the government.

Schools across North Georgia are experiencing a post-holiday surge in positive COVID-19 cases for both students and staff.

The Supreme Court has stopped the Biden administration from enforcing a requirement that employees at large businesses be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing and wear a mask on the job.

Some Tennessee lawmakers this week already were expressing concerns that Gov. Bill Lee's proposal to overhaul the state's education funding formula was moving too fast.

Kirby Smart learned from his former boss that the time for celebrating is short in college football.

College football has a new top dog.

Updated COVID-19 mortality data from the Tennessee Department of Health reveals that September 2021 - the height of the delta surge that affected on average younger and predominantly unvaccinated residents - was the deadliest month of the pandemic for Hamilton County so far.

The decrease in Black residents in Chattanooga and Hamilton County over the past decade is the result of choices made by politicians and civic elites in the area, according to a presentation Sunday by Kenneth Chilton, associate professor of public administration at Tennessee State University.

Staffing concerns are top of mind for Hamilton County Schools officials as the district kicked off the new year and a new semester amid a COVID-19 surge fueled by the much more contagious omicron variant with fewer tools at their disposal to control it.

With unemployment at historic lows across Northwest Georgia, Walker County's biggest employer is in the midst of one of its biggest expansions ever to keep up with demand for its ovens, stoves and other appliances.

At least one case of someone infected with both influenza and coronavirus - a condition being dubbed "flurona" - has been detected in Hamilton County, according to the director of a local COVID-19 testing lab.

Bundle up Chattanooga.

Hamilton County officials expressed concerns Tuesday that a potential update to how schools are funded in Tennessee could siphon funding from the county's public schools.

The final straw for social media giant Twitter, in terms of Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's personal account, involved an obscure government database that tracks adverse events for people who get vaccinated.

Despite having no presidential or U.S. Senate contests on Tennessee's 2022 election calendar, voters will have plenty of reasons to go vote this spring, summer and fall.

A race for governor dominated by Donald Trump's ongoing complaints of election fraud.

Starting in the new year, the Tennessee Department of Health will stop reporting COVID-19 data on a daily basis and move to weekly updates instead at a time when the omicron variant is fueling a record-breaking surge in new cases across the state.

As Hamilton County sees a surge in COVID-19 cases attributed to the omicron variant, its leaders have no plans to implement mask mandates.

Some local churches will look back on 2021 and ring in the new year with a special service Friday evening.

After a record year of giving in 2020, ongoing pandemic recovery, equity and social justice stayed top of mind, and Chattanoogans reached into their pockets to create what's proven to be another strong year for charitable giving.

As the omicron variant drives an increasing number of COVID-19 infections in fully vaccinated people, a new data dashboard from the Tennessee Department of Health offers the most detailed picture of these so-called "breakthrough cases" in the state to date.

Tennessee health officials are scrambling to increase depleted stock of monoclonal antibody treatments amid a nationwide shortage as all but one version of the drugs they've relied on to keep COVID-19 patients out of hospitals are proving ineffective against the omicron variant.

Homeless organizations in Chattanooga are considering teaming up with a Washington-based company to build small, temporary, shed-like shelters for the city's growing homeless population.

What 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?

Eleven months ago, President Joe Biden assumed office during one of the most critical moments of the COVID-19 pandemic. Case counts and death rates were shockingly high. The vaccine rollout, which had started under former President Donald Trump, was disjointed. People were generally sequestered in their homes, and kids were relegated to remote learning.

At least a fourth of Tennessee counties risk outbreaks of diseases like measles, mumps and whooping cough because more children missed their routine vaccinations during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, data shows.

U.S. health regulators on Wednesday authorized the first pill against COVID-19, a Pfizer drug that Americans will be able to take at home to head off the worst effects of the virus.

With winter underway as of the solstice Tuesday, homeowners and businesses should prepare to feel an extra financial chill from their heating bills in January.

Gas prices are down, travel projections are up, but the fast-moving omicron variant has thrown a last-minute wrench into holiday getaway plans for some people.

COVID-19 vaccines were called "liquid gold" when the first shipment arrived in Chattanooga a year ago.

Religion and the role of spirituality continue to have a place in the lives of the youngest generations of Americans, even if their approaches to faith differ from traditional definitions of religion.

Yashika Ward, a case manager for the Partnership for Families, Children and Adults, was recently faced with a decision in which it seemed every option had a negative outcome.

Thanks to a donation from businessman John Linderman, a dozen pets at the Catoosa County Animal Shelter in Georgia have found a new home just in time for the holidays.

The omicron variant of the coronavirus has been reported in Hamilton County, health department officials confirmed Thursday, though it's likely been spreading undetected locally for several days, if not weeks, due to limited testing.

As Hamilton County government prepares its biggest land purchase in decades for a new industrial park, a conservative think tank in Nashville is blasting the move as "a horrible policy" that will allow only about a third of the property to be developed for new industry.

While COVID-19 continues to affect the financial stability of many Chattanooga residents, resources for financial assistance specifically for people affected by the pandemic have dried up, said Kathleen Wright, a case manager for Family Promise of Greater Chattanooga.

The government and health insurers made moves early in the pandemic to limit out-of-pocket costs to obtain COVID-19 services - such as testing and treatment - during the public health crisis.

What began as an East Brainerd family's quiet decision to share their Christmas has become much more.

Chattanooga's internal audit office will review whether a conflict of interest took place when the city helped empty out a homeless encampment from property owned by Mayor Tim Kelly as he prepared to sell it.

Government reports on rising inflation and the potential costs of President Joe Biden's social and environment legislation raised fresh questions Friday about the bill's fate, with both sides hoping the new numbers would influence pivotal Sen. Joe Manchin.

The Hamilton County Schools board on Thursday night chose Justin Robertson, a 13-year district veteran serving as interim deputy superintendent, as its permanent superintendent.

Hamilton County Commission chair Sabrena Smedley said Wednesday she would make an announcement "important to Hamilton County" at a Thursday news conference, three days after she filed paperwork with the county elections commission to begin a run for county mayor.

Emails to send. Coffee meetings to schedule. Zoom trainings to lead. The work of community organizing is not often glamorous.

Former U.S. Sen. David Perdue will challenge Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp for governor, he announced Monday, setting up a bitter 2022 Republican primary fight while Democrat Stacey Abrams is likely to await the winner.

As the Supreme Court court weighs the future of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, a resurgent anti-abortion movement is looking to press its advantage in state-by-state battles while abortion-rights supporters prepare to play defense.

Saying local school board members across Tennessee aren't fairly compensated for the time they spend on an important and demanding job, state Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, said Friday he is introducing a "pay equity" bill requiring board members receive the same salaries and benefits as people serving on county commissions or other local governing bodies.

A Republican effort to cut off funding for President Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandates failed on a close vote in the Senate this week, with 50 Democrats voting to continue funding the mandates and 48 Republicans voting to block them.

President Joe Biden on Friday signed into law the stopgap spending bill that will keep the federal government running through Feb. 18, after congressional leaders defused a partisan standoff over federal vaccine mandates.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee issued his first executive clemencies to 17 people on Thursday, a list that includes the full exoneration of a Grundy County man convicted of a 2006 murder that later evidence revealed he did not commit.

The Hamilton County Board of Education this week interviewed the first of three superintendent finalists, Christopher Bernier, chief of staff of the Clark County school district in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Nobody is getting any time off this weekend at the two Mellow Mushroom pizza restaurants in Chattanooga.

Unemployment fell last month in the Chattanooga region to its lowest level in more than two decades as employers scrambled to fill nearly four times as many job openings as the number of workers still in the labor force without a job.

As the 100th anniversary of Tennessee's first gas tax approaches in 2024, state government officials here are warily looking down the road at how financing for highway and bridge construction, improvements and repairs will fare in an age when vehicles are powered increasingly by electricity.

Tennessee's high school graduation rate has declined again, according to new data from the state.

As school systems across the nation wrestle with teacher shortages, education leaders in Hamilton County are looking at ways to attract new, diverse educators while retaining those that are already here.

With battery materials maker Novonix anchoring one part of The Bend, the owners of the huge tract are now focusing on the waterfront, where they're looking to shift the Riverwalk closer to the river.

Gov. Bill Lee's "Tennessee on Me" tourism promotion campaign - a $2.82 million effort offering $250 air flight vouchers for up to 10,000 travelers booking hotel packages to the state - has received about a fifth of the hoped-for takers.

When it comes to holiday shopping this year, the prices may be higher, the pickings may be slimmer and you might be running late if you haven't already started, economic and retail experts say.

Hamilton County Schools and other public school districts in Tennessee can no longer stop students who are exposed to or who test positive for COVID-19 from attending school based on their diagnosis alone, according to the district's interpretation of a new state law.

A group of Red Bank citizens has formed with a mission to "Save Red Bank Central Park," the name the group has given to the 12-acre former Red Bank Middle School property that now sits empty at 3715 Dayton Blvd. in the center of the city.

Three months after CHI Memorial announced it would require workforce COVID-19 vaccinations, Chattanooga's other two major hospital systems are quietly moving ahead to do the same per a rule from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Marcherie Savage spent Thanksgiving 2020 by herself in Chattanooga, staying home to avoid the pandemic, but this year will be a very different matter.

With the number of deaths by overdose in the U.S. now reaching a grim milestone - topping an all-time high of 100,000 in a 12-month period - data in Tennessee and Hamilton County show an even more alarming trend.

Hamilton County Schools kicked off its Choose Hamilton school choice campaign for the 2022-23 school year on Monday and opened choice applications.

The state's 60-year-old Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute would undergo a massive, $276.52 million renovation under a plan presented by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee's administration to state lawmakers.

President Joe Biden signed his hard-fought $1 trillion infrastructure deal into law Monday before a bipartisan, celebratory crowd on the White House lawn, declaring that the new infusion of cash for roads, bridges, ports and more is going to make life "change for the better" for the American people.

Increased food and transportation costs, labor shortages and supply chain disruptions are hitting local food banks hard as need ramps up during the holiday season.

Out of the darkest moments of her life, the Rev. Caryl Griffin Russell began thinking about how systems change. The retired Methodist minister and former nurse lost her 22-year-old daughter in 1997 after a preventable exposure to a virus in a research lab.

Smokey Bear taught kids the importance of preventing wildfires. McGruff the Crime Dog warned them not to talk to strangers. And in 1972, Big Bird lined up on "Sesame Street" to receive a measles vaccine as part of a campaign to get more youngsters inoculated against the disease.

Tennessee is expected to see nearly $8 billion dollars while at least another $12.2 billion is projected to come to Georgia for projects such as highways, bridges, broadband, airports and clean water under a $1.2 trillion bill expected to be signed by President Joe Biden next week.

The Hamilton County Commission next week will vote on whether to grow the school board to 11 members from the current nine as they go about adapting political boundaries using new 2020 census data.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is changing its pricing for the federal flood insurance program to more accurately reflect risks for individual properties, and the change will result in higher monthly rates for most Chattanooga-area policyholders.

A Georgia State Patrol trooper was seriously injured during a chase in Catoosa County last week when he attempted to apprehend the driver of a fleeing vehicle by sideswiping it into a spin.

Tennessee hospitals may soon be forced to allow visitors for coronavirus patients pending Gov. Bill Lee signing a bill passed by the Tennessee General Assembly in its recent special session.

The Hamilton County Commission last week approved new district boundaries based on 2020 census data, adding two districts to the county's current nine — but there is more that residents need to know about how their districts will be changed.

Some Chattanooga area homeowners could see a steep increase in heating bills this winter as natural gas and other fossil fuel prices jump.

Three-and-a-half hours wasn't enough time for the Chattanooga Beer and Wrecker Board to hear six violations related to the Blue Light, a new club that police say is "a time bomb waiting to go off" and could be the next Coyote Jacks, a now-closed nightclub that was the scene of several shootings.

For the third time since its original introduction in 2015, a bill seeking to keep a promise to return 76 acres of Cherokee homeland in East Tennessee to its people passed out of the U.S. House and is headed for the U.S. Senate.

The Hamilton County Commission voted along party lines Tuesday to approve a new redistricting map for the county that adds two more districts to the current nine.

Calhoun, Georgia, rejected a zoning request for a tiny homes development last month that would have allowed the construction of six cottage homes at the intersection of Beamer Road and Harris Beamer Road, with the idea of building more.

COVID-19 cases among Hamilton County Schools students and staff have largely trended downward over the past month, continuing a pattern from mid-September, according to data collected on the district's COVID-19 data dashboard.

Erlanger Health System's leadership team and staff will receive bonuses not to exceed a combined $4.23 million in light of what they describe as strong fiscal year performance from the hospital.

School board races across Tennessee can become partisan contests under a measure approved Friday by the GOP-controlled legislature.

Ford Motor Co., Volkswagen and General Motors are all voicing concerns about efforts in the Tennessee General Assembly that seek to block or weaken COVID-19 precautions the auto manufacturers have taken.

Led by trick-or-treating and pumpkin festivals, there's plenty of lighthearted Halloween fun to be had this weekend, but one event seems straight-up spooky.

After increasing each month since May, updated state data shows the proportion of serious and fatal COVID-19 infections among vaccinated Tennesseans fell slightly in September.

Members of the Hamilton County Board of Education and Hamilton County Commission discussed at a joint meeting Tuesday the pros and cons of splitting the county into 11 school board districts, which would result in adding two more seats to the school board.

A bill filed in advance of this week's Tennessee General Assembly special session on COVID-19 says government agencies and businesses can require vaccinations for employees — but are barred from requiring any proof.

As the Republican-controlled Tennessee General Assembly prepares to return Wednesday to the state Capitol — where GOP lawmakers have called themselves into a special session to target vaccination requirements and mask mandates — one GOP lawmaker is denouncing what he called an "evil" federal government.

Food Truck Alley owner Karol Brigham never imagined starting a business that organizes an alley between Market and Broad streets manned by four to six local food trucks would morph into "so much fun and cool."

Tennesseans could face power outages or other threats to critical infrastructure if the White House doesn't back off its plans for a federal workforce vaccine mandate, according to Republican congressional members in Tennessee.

After being blocked in her legislative effort to prohibit Ford Motor Co. from allowing the United Auto Workers to unionize workers at a planned plant in West Tennessee through a "card check" certification process viewed by critics as too union friendly, state Rep. Robin Smith says she intends to offer a retooled version of the bill to halt the method next year.

The Tennessee Valley Authority won a power battle with three of its customers Thursday and will not have to bring outside power supplies to local utilities in Tennessee on TVA transmission lines, a federal agency ruled Thursday.

Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger announced Wednesday he will not run for re-election at the end of his term in 2022.

New COVID-19 cases across Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama continue to decline - signaling that the record-breaking summer wave is coming to an end.

U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker has directly tied himself to Donald Trump as often as he can, touting the former president's endorsement and support for his policies at his campaign appearances.

Some of the defendants charged in the storming of the U.S. Capitol are turning away defense lawyers and electing to represent themselves, undeterred by their lack of legal training or repeated warnings from judges.

Tennessee is committing to spend nearly $900 million on incentives, infrastructure work and a new technical college as its part of an agreement with Ford Motor Co. and South Korea battery maker SK Innovation for a multibillion battery plant and assembly facility in rural West Tennessee.

Starting next month, Catoosa County Animal Control will no longer offer animal adoption services on Saturdays.

Talk about moving some metal.

The Humane Educational Society is encouraging Chattanooga area residents to donate or adopt after 21 dogs were rescued from a property in Rhea County, Tennessee, according to a society news release.

U.S. health advisers said Thursday that some Americans who received Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine at least six months ago should get a half-dose booster to rev up protection against the coronavirus.

Get ready to pay sharply higher bills for heating this winter, along with seemingly everything else.

Millions of retirees on Social Security will get a 5.9% boost in benefits for 2022. The biggest cost-of-living adjustment in 39 years follows a burst in inflation as the economy struggles to shake off the drag of the coronavirus pandemic.

Rising inflation is expected to lead to a sizeable increase in Social Security's annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for 2022. Exactly how much will be revealed Wednesday morning after a Labor Department report on inflation during September, a data point used in the final calculation.

Chattanooga gas prices jumped Monday to the highest level in seven years as oil prices rose after OPEC decided not to raise production more than it already agreed to in July.

After previously debating adding as many as half a dozen new political districts due to growth in Hamilton County, county commissioners indicated at their Wednesday redistricting workshop they are focusing on an "11-district option."

When Hamilton County Schools informed the families of 45,000 Hamilton County Schools students that their contact information was requested by a private citizen and would be released this week because the law requires it, there was something the district didn't mention.

Gov. Bill Lee says his administration will conduct a review of Tennessee's nearly 30-year-old funding formula for public school districts and explore changing the current system to one where state money "follows" a student to the school he or she attends.

Tennessee's biggest health insurer has terminated 19 of its front-line employees for refusing to get vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus.

Tennessee physicians who create or spread COVID-19 vaccine misinformation or disinformation could now face disciplinary action, including suspension or revocation of their medical licenses in the most extreme cases, according to a new policy from the state medical board that oversees doctors.

Supporters of Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp are fighting back against Donald Trump and their own party leaders, angered by a rally last month in which the former president again attacked the state's chief executive.

The same day Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Ford Motor Co. executives announced last week's agreement to put a $5.6 billion electric vehicle plant in rural West Tennessee, conservative opponents of school mask mandates and federal vaccination requirements rallied in Lt. Gov. Randy McNally's Oak Ridge hometown to pressure Lee and other Republicans into backing their efforts.

Doctors warn that this flu season could be particularly severe, renewing fears of a potential "twindemic" in which the spread of that virus and COVID-19 collide.

Fort Bragg is the largest military base in the nation, but not because its namesake was a giant of strategy or tactics.

Residential curbside recycling service will resume in Chattanooga next month, according to a news release from the Chattanooga Department of Public Works.

Droughts that cause leaves to turn brown and wither before they can reach peak color. Heat waves prompting leaves to fall before autumn even arrives. Extreme weather events like hurricanes that strip trees of their leaves altogether.

Hamilton County Commissioner Warren Mackey said Wednesday that he will host an open meeting for anyone in Chattanooga or the county to brainstorm ideas on how to address gun violence after a series of deadly shootings.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said Monday that he will use federal COVID-19 aid to pay $1,000 bonuses to every police officer, sheriff's deputy, firefighter and emergency medical technician statewide.

Dozens of residents gathered at the Westside Community Center on Monday evening to walk in unity with law enforcement and community leaders after a series of weekend shootings in Chattanooga that claimed the lives of 37-year-old Labrecia Dews, 21-year-old Keniqua Hughes and 21-year-old Jailen Wofford.

Tennessee experienced a 10-year high in violent crime in 2020, mirroring a trend that showed a sharp increase in homicides across the country, according to data from the FBI.

Southeast Tennessee's Bledsoe and Grundy counties are among nine in the state to be targeted by an economic initiative to grow tourism using state-owned lands.

State Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, D-Chattanooga, and some fellow Black Democrats are calling for more transparency from the Republican-led Hamilton County Commission as officials begin work on the once-a-decade redrawing of political boundaries for commission and school board districts to reflect population changes.

Billions more in profits are at stake for some vaccine makers as the U.S. moves toward dispensing COVID-19 booster shots to shore up Americans' protection against the virus.

A month into the new academic year, three-fourths of Tennessee parents said school was going well for their child, and 69% said their student felt safe attending classes in person, even as many districts closed temporarily under the strain of COVID-19's highly contagious delta variant.

Hamilton County Health Department officials say they will begin administering Pfizer COVID-19 booster shots Monday.

State Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, D-Chattanooga, has vowed to return next year with his effort to provide more Black history instruction to Tennessee public school students after the bill was omitted from a summer education study committee.

Many vaccinated Tennesseans could be denied access to monoclonal antibodies in favor of unvaccinated people as new recommendations aim to conserve the life-saving treatment for those at highest risk of COVID-19 hospitalization.

State Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, D-Chattanooga, is questioning why House Republicans aren't honoring what he views as their commitment to return to a Black history bill he sponsored that GOP lawmakers in April set aside for summer study.

As he prepares to make the first full-fledged overhaul to Tennessee license tags in nearly 16 years, Gov. Bill Lee is asking residents to "rate the plates" of his administration's four proposed redesigns.

Saying the nation pledged 20 years ago that "we would never forget" the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the country, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., believes Congress needs to stand by that promise by making the date a legal public holiday.

Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston has now moved both his wife and brother-in-law to the county's payroll instead of the state payroll amid concerns about a law against nepotism among state employees.

Tennessee lawmakers are eyeing modest tweaks to the state's privatized bail bond system, where lawsuits and data show poorer people charged even with nonviolent crimes often can't afford to get out of jail before their cases are heard — despite a justice system that allows for pre-trial release of detainees presumed innocent after being assessed for risk.

Wahid Dorany, an Afghan American and Chattanooga area resident, is awaiting the day that his parents, wife and two siblings can join him after he helped facilitate their evacuation from Afghanistan.

In a video posted mid-August, Joie St. Hubert sat sipping from a Dunkin' iced coffee beside a nondescript brick building.

Catoosa County, Georgia, government employees are now eligible to receive $500 and an additional 40 hours of paid time off if they get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Just weeks after Walker County, Georgia, residents marched down Main Street in LaFayette to the courthouse to call for the resignation of commission Chairman Shannon Whitfield, who they claimed illegally rezoned property related to the proposed Gateway at Rossville affordable workforce housing development, the county held a town hall meeting to address "inaccurate information" being spread about the project.

When people first started lining up to receive monoclonal antibody treatments at the convention center in Dalton, Georgia, last month in the hopes of fighting COVID-19, the city said prescriptions were not necessary for patients.

Hamilton County school-aged children have accounted for roughly 1 in 4 of the county's new COVID-19 cases in the past month — underscoring that the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus and other compounding forces are creating a new academic year far different from the last.

The world solemnly marked the 20th anniversary of 9/11 on Saturday, remembering the dead, invoking the heroes and taking stock of the aftermath just weeks after the bloody end of the Afghanistan war that was launched in response to the terror attacks.

Many large employers in Chattanooga and Tennessee have qualms about a federal mandate that would require workers at companies with 100 or more employees to get vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.

Three American presidents stood somberly side by side Saturday at the National September 11 Memorial in New York, sharing a moment of silence to mark the anniversary of the nation's worst terrorist attack with a display of unity.

The Rev. Brad Whitaker, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, was serving a parish in Northwest New Jersey when America was attacked.

Chattanooga area elected officials, service members and first responders gathered early Saturday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S.

The Times Free Press asked readers where they were and what they remember from Sept. 11, 2001. These are some of those memories. Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

A car passed, the driver's window rolled down and the man spat an epithet at two little girls wearing their hijabs: "Terrorist!"

Call it sweet surrender. After decades of pushing popcorn, local Boy Scouts have a new product for their fall fundraiser.

Members of the Tennessee National Guard arrived in Hamilton County on Wednesday to assist with CHI Memorial Health System's monoclonal antibody injection clinic, which recently expanded its capacity to treat up to 50 outpatients a day.

In President Joe Biden's vision of a green future, half of all new cars sold in 2030 will be electric. But something really basic is standing in the way of that plan: enough outlets to plug in all those cars and trucks.

Participation in curbside recycling is increasing in East Ridge, and so is the cost.

More than 400 people have been injected with monoclonal antibodies in Dalton over the past week as health officials and city leaders attempt to mitigate the late summer surge of COVID-19 that has overwhelmed North Georgia hospitals and schools.

As chaotic scenes from Afghanistan unfolded on TV in the past few weeks, Marina Peshterianu, associate director of Bridge Refugees Services, felt certain she would be helping to resettle Afghan refugees in Chattanooga in the near future.

At least a dozen Dalton Public Schools parents have filed a federal complaint with the U.S. Department of Education over the Georgia school district's policy allowing students to opt out of masking at school.

Catoosa County Schools in Georgia is using staff members who do not have full-time classroom assignments, such as counselors and media specialists, to cover classes amid a shortage of teachers.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic - or perhaps because of it - business starts jumped to a record high in the first half of 2021, according to filings with the Tennessee Secretary of State's Office.

The city of Dalton's Regeneron treatment clinic took its first official appointments Friday, just two days after the city announced it would be the first in the state to offer free monoclonal antibody treatment to people in the early stages of COVID-19 infection.

State Rep. Robin Smith is asking Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery for a legal opinion as to whether employers can require their workers to get COVID-19 vaccinations.

Jeff Luttrell's voice cracked at times as he laid bare the dire situation he is facing as director of Wilson County Schools three weeks into the academic year: 209 teachers absent, 38 bus routes down for the day, 562 active COVID cases among students and staff.

Standing in front of a judge in Hamilton County General Sessions Court, the single father of two teenage sons asked for more time.

Triple-digit temperatures inside the tram cars of the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway have employees raising concerns about unsafe working conditions and poor customer experiences.

Schools across the Chattanooga region that just started the new academic year are struggling to control COVID-19 as the highly contagious delta variant drives cases among largely unvaccinated students - prompting Hamilton County Schools to ask all students to wear face masks and forcing some schools to close altogether.

Councilwoman Demetrus Coonrod is proposing Chattanooga consider reclaiming control of its schools, now operated by Hamilton County.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. gave full approval to Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, a milestone that may help lift public confidence in the shots as the nation battles the most contagious coronavirus mutant yet.

Given strong strains of COVID-19 vaccine resistance in their flocks, some white evangelical leaders are too concerned about blowback to talk about the matter.

COVID-19 vaccines were never promised to be 100% effective, and experts are united in saying they remain the best way to combat the pandemic.

In light of his extensive success on the mat for Cleveland High School during the winter, it could be easy to forget that Tetoe Boyd has also starred in the fall, rushing for more than 1,500 yards as a sophomore for the Blue Raiders during the 2019 football season.

The high school football season kicked off throughout the Chattanooga area Friday night. Here are the scores:

Hamilton County Schools' mask policy is taking heat from parents and community members both in favor of and opposed to students wearing masks.

The percentage of students opting out of masks in Hamilton County ranges from less than 1% to more than 50% across the district, according to data from Hamilton County Schools as of Wednesday. Find your school's student opt-out percentage in the searchable database below.

The Hamilton County Commission voted Wednesday to increase the pay for the county sheriff's position to the legal maximum, but not until next year, so the action won't benefit the current sheriff.

Mandatory vehicle emissions testing will no longer be required in Hamilton County and four other Tennessee counties starting in mid-January after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave final approval to a years-long effort to end the program aimed at curbing nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide pollutants.

Chattanooga's public transportation system started charging bus fares again this week after allowing riders free boardings since April 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic outfall.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee issued an executive order Monday giving parents statewide the ability to opt out of local mask mandates for public school students, as a group of parents in Hamilton County reiterated their desire for a universal mask requirement.

Explosive population growth in Metro Nashville and surrounding counties with corresponding stagnation or losses in the western, northeast and several other sections of Tennessee will bring major changes to the boundaries of many congressional and state legislative districts next year.

Tennessee lawmakers speculated Thursday on how the state can further regulate companies providing services to unauthorized immigrants under federal contracts and if the state can levy stricter punishments on those aiding the immigrants.

The possible return to duty of a Hamilton County Sheriff's Office detective under federal investigation received attention from a national figure this week - prominent civil rights activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

By 7:15 a.m. Thursday, most students at Soddy-Daisy High School had made their way upstairs to start their first block classes as the sun shone brightly, giving one of the second-floor hallways an orange glow.

Hamilton County commissioners are again calling for District Attorney Neal Pinkston to answer concerns about potential nepotism in his office after he refused to appear before the board.

For at least the third time since Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene became a congresswoman, Twitter has suspended her account, this time for posting that the Food and Drug Administration should not approve the coronavirus vaccines and that the vaccines were "failing."

A group of Hamilton County parents and Tennessee doctors are calling on the Hamilton County school board and county Mayor Jim Coppinger to issue a temporary mask mandate for local schools in the face of political pressure to do otherwise.

When the first notes from George Thorogood's guitar ring out inside the Walker Theatre on Tuesday night around 7:30, they will be the first heard in the building since the Heartstrings concert in Memorial Auditorium on March 10, 2020, and the Marc Broussard show on March 12, 2020 in the Walker, which is upstairs.

For months, Karen Collins felt like she was living a double life. She spent nearly every day of the week working to get people in Chattanooga vaccinated, especially people of color, and fighting the rampant misinformation around the vaccine.

As a spike in pediatric respiratory illness pushes children's hospitals across Tennessee to their limits, officials at the Children's Hospital at Erlanger say they're prepared to handle more pediatric COVID-19 patients as the highly contagious delta variant sweeps through predominantly unvaccinated populations.

Two Tennessee congressmen are among 16 U.S. House Republicans warning U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that it's "illegal" for him to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for active-duty troops absent the medicine's full approval by the Food and Drug Administration.

Students in Whitfield County and Dalton public schools are encouraged but not required to wear masks as they return to class this week.

An increase in pediatric respiratory illness, including but not limited to COVID-19, is straining children's hospitals across Tennessee, and the state's health and education commissioners on Friday said mask mandates for schoolchildren remain a local matter, up to school districts.

The city of Chattanooga announced a new sweepstakes offering $1,000 per week to encourage Hamilton County residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Hamilton County Commission approved a lower certified tax rate on Wednesday, but some taxpayers will still see an increase due to property values.

The rate of people getting their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine has more than doubled over the past two weeks in Hamilton County and the surrounding area of Southeast Tennessee as the delta variant drives an increase in hospitalizations and new cases.

Tennessee students' combined scores across all grade levels declined 5 percentage points, from 36% in 2019 to 31% this year, according to new data released Monday by the Tennessee Department of Education.

Up to 40,000 people are expected to roll into the city for the Chattanooga Motorcar Festival in October, or about three times as many as the inaugural event two years ago, organizers say.

Katie Helms stepped onto East 8th Street minutes before 11 a.m. as the nearby church bells continued their slow toll.

The return of in-person schooling, consumers with extra cash from child tax credit payments and Tennessee's annual tax-free holiday have converged to create what retailers hope will be a season of brisk spending.

Children are far less likely than adults to face serious COVID-19 infections, but it can still happen and the spread of the highly infectious delta variant has some worried while researchers work to determine whether the youngest members of society face an increased risk from the latest strain.

Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Bryan Johnson doubled down on the district's decision to recommend that students and staff wear masks in schools - with no mandate - at a virtual town hall Thursday evening.

Chattanooga will temporarily suspend its curbside recycling service as the city faces a shortage of truck operators, according to a news release.

Wednesday marked 100 days since Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly was inaugurated.

Former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany will be the featured speaker in June for the 2022 Athens Area Chamber of Commerce's 15th Annual Benefit Banquet, extending a growing list of big-name political and sports figures to visit McMinn County's seat for the event.

The city of Chattanooga will fund support staff to "meet the holistic needs of students and families" in seven schools within the city, marking its first such investment in Hamilton County Schools since the 1990s.

The Tennessee Department of Children's Services suspended one residential child care license in the past five years, according to data from the department.

Hamilton County Schools will "strongly encourage" but not require students and staff to wear face masks when in-person learning resumes next month, despite rising COVID-19 cases, low vaccination rates and recommendations from leading medical organizations.

Tennessee will resume vaccine outreach - paused earlier this month amid pressure from some conservative state legislators - except for social media marketing aimed specifically at children, according to Tennessee's top health official.

Property taxes could go up next year if the Signal Mountain Town Council decides to implement recommendations made by its personnel committee to give some town employees significant raises.

Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston used county funds to supplement state pay for his wife and brother-in-law, state records show.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene blasted social media companies over her temporary suspension from Twitter on Tuesday, calling it "a Communist-style attack on free speech."

Volkswagen will cease production of the Passat in Chattanooga with the 2022 model year and end a decade of assembly of the sedan at the plant.

This week could mark Confederate cavalry general Nathan Bedford Forrest's final charge with a state panel scheduled to vote on whether to give final approval to removing the long-controversial 44-inch bust of the untutored military genius, former slave trader and early Ku Klux Klan leader from its perch of honor inside Tennessee's Capitol.

Bryan Johnson will take a leadership role at trucking and logistics business U.S. Xpress in August, shifting gears from a career spent entirely in education to a publicly-traded company with ambitious growth goals.

Tennessee has decided to halt all vaccine outreach for children and adolescents preparing to head back to school, which will cost lives and could worsen the state's current resurgence of COVID-19 cases, the pediatrician fired last week as the state's top immunization official said.

Mackee Mason says families choose his Austin, Texas, charter high school because it's safe, with little bullying or fighting. Mason, the school's principal and football coach, credits its ethnic studies courses.

Both the Hamilton County Health Department and the city of Chattanooga are continuing to advocate for childhood vaccinations, including the COVID-19 vaccine, despite the Tennessee Department of Health's recent decision to halt all youth vaccine outreach and fire its immunization programs director amid political pressure.

Legislative Democrats on Wednesday criticized Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee over the firing of the state's immunization director over outreach to youth to get coronavirus vaccines.

Drivers sped more on Chattanooga streets after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to officials from the police department and the city, which responded with speed limit reductions on eight city streets approved by the City Council at the end of March.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is calling the surge in migrants attempting to cross the U.S. southern border an overwhelming crisis and security risk following the Republican's weekend trip to visit 300 Tennessee National Guard members engaged in supporting U.S. Customs and Border Protection operations in Texas.

Chattanooga-area colleges are seeing continued interest in online classes for the fall 2021 semester, despite some classrooms reopening by the end of the last academic year and requirements for masks and distancing falling away as the COVID-19 pandemic wanes.

While the religious diversity of the United States continues to grow, the Southeast remains the most religiously homogeneous and majority white Christian region of the country.

Gov. Bill Lee is defending his new $2.82 million "Tennessee On Me" tourism promotion effort against criticisms, predicting the program will generate a "great return on investment."

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery and 36 other attorneys general have filed an antitrust suit against Google's app store, alleging the global tech giant maintains an illegal monopoly on distributing apps for its Android operating system used by most smartphones.

From pressure washers to a studio where you can create your own podcast, the Chattanooga Public Library offers citizens access to far more than books.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee's $2.8 million plan to provide thousands of $250 travel vouchers to attract visitors from other states is finding a rocky landing with critics of his policies on unemployment and other issues.

Some 300 East Brainerd residents, many fed up with clogged roads and worried about over-development with more home building on the way, have met with key city, Hamilton County and state officials.

Around a dozen people stood in front of the stage at Metro Tab Church on Sunday, each holding a various piece of U.S. currency, from a single cent to a $100 bill.

Lifelong Catoosa County resident Angie Stiggins has ridden the rollercoaster of North Georgia's health care market since she started working in respiratory care at Fort Oglethorpe's community hospital in 1987.

Accusations by two former staffers against former Chattanooga mayoral candidate Monty Bruell this week also brought to light financial reporting irregularities from Bruell's campaign.

Despite a pandemic and a reported shortage of available fireworks, many organizations and municipalities will have fireworks shows this weekend.

As the long Fourth of July weekend lifts off, local travel and tourism experts say the summer season is shaping up to rival 2019's record numbers.

Tennessee officials' revocation of the personalized license plate belonging to a Nashville astronomy buff and gamer for being "offensive" now faces a legal challenge charging the state is violating the woman's constitutionally protected right to free speech.

The Hamilton County Commission will vote next week on purchasing the McDonald Farm in Sale Creek for $16 million.

Before the pandemic hit, Jacqueline Bartley, a mother of two girls and a boy, had a comfortable life. Then the 41-year-old lost her job at American Airlines, quickly spent her savings and found herself months behind on the $1,350-a-month home she rented. Until then she had never missed a rent payment.

With a major lawsuit seeking to strike down Georgia's new elections law, the U.S. Justice Department started a long and difficult voting rights fight that will reverberate in political campaigns while winding its way through the courts.

Sculpture Fields officials in Chattanooga are going on offense as they continue to compete with the Chattanooga FC Foundation over the future use of 13 acres at the city's Montague Park.

Hamilton County's COVID-19 numbers continue to improve to levels not seen since the early days of the pandemic, but a more contagious strain of the coronavirus — known as the Delta variant — could reverse the positive trends.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee and the national ACLU sued in federal court Friday to block a first-of-its-kind state law requiring warning signs at businesses that allow transgender people to use the restroom of their choice.

Dramatic drops in patient visits, surgeries and revenue as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic created financial crises for hospitals across the nation, but Erlanger Health System in Chattanooga is one of the few fortunate ones expecting to head into the new fiscal year on July 1 on its most solid financial footing in recent years.

A panel of federal appellate judges on Tuesday reinstated a Tennessee law requiring first-time voters in the state to appear in person to vote, reasoning in part that the COVID-19 pandemic is "unlikely to pose a serious threat during the next election cycle."

Each May, Chattanooga's Hindu community celebrates the anniversary of its temple opening.

The Supreme Court decided unanimously Monday that the NCAA can't enforce rules limiting education-related benefits - like computers and paid internships - that colleges offer to student-athletes, a ruling that could help push changes in how the student-athletes are compensated.

The historic downtown area of Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, has been hit hard by time and changes to traffic flow.

A new study of federal weather data shows tornado activity in Tennessee and Georgia has increased by almost 36% in the past decade compared to activity from 2000-2009.

The ongoing fight for and against the arrival of Planned Parenthood in Chattanooga came before the Hamilton County Board of Education on Thursday night as abortion opponents rallied at the monthly meeting in support of the county's abstinence-only sexual education model.

Chattanooga Clergy for Justice, a group of faith leaders pushing for police reform, filed a complaint Thursday with the U.S. Department of Justice seeking an investigation of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.

If completion of the Interstate 75-Interstate 24 Interchange Improvement project near the Tennessee-Georgia state line is nearing completion, why is there still a daily backup for northbound traffic, often stretching miles into Georgia?

For years, Carmen Davis celebrated Juneteenth with friends and family, gathering for food, music and fellowship in observance of the day in 1865 when word of their freedom reached enslaved people in Texas.

Congressmen from Georgia and Texas have filed a federal lawsuit claiming that using metal detectors to screen members of Congress is unconstitutional and that the security measure is being used unfairly against Republicans.

As a teacher, principal, administrator and senior adviser to Chattanooga's Public Education Foundation, Edna Varner has spent most of her career working with and advocating for middle and high school students and teachers.

Fourth of July fireworks displays may lose some of their sparkle this year as consumers burn through a nationwide shortage of inventory.

While the pandemic shut down most live entertainment venues, the folks with the Tivoli Theatre Foundation used the time to make significant improvements to the Memorial Auditorium. Those improvements are one reason why the foundation decided to move the entire Broadway at the Tivoli season to the larger auditorium for the 2021-'22 season.

Southern Honda Powersports made its first sale this week at its new 73,000-square-foot East Ridge store — a Honda Africa Twin motorcycle capable on- and off-road with a $17,900 price tag.

The highly contagious coronavirus variant first seen in India and now overrunning Great Britain has been detected in Georgia, a potential threat to progress the state has made unless more people get vaccinated, health officials say.

The rich really are different from you and me: They're better at dodging the tax collector.

Chattanooga Police Chief David Roddy announced his retirement Monday.

Late last month, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed into law a bill sponsored by state Rep. Glen Casada that has raised concerns among transparency advocates.

Whatever or whoever they are, they're still out there. U.S. intelligence is after them, but its upcoming report won't deliver any full or final truth about UFOs.

Gov. Bill Lee said this week that federal transparency about the movement of migrant children was different under President Donald Trump, as the governor continues his criticism of federal immigration policies under President Joe Biden.

More than 272,000 registered voters don't have a driver's license or state ID on file with election officials, meaning they'd have to submit additional documents to vote by mail under Georgia's new voting law, state election records show.

The Chattanooga Police Department is making staffing changes as a way to better respond to shootings in the city, according to a statement.

A local conservation group is worried construction associated with the Red Wolves soccer stadium in East Ridge will permanently damage wetlands in the South Chickamauga Creek watershed after the state allowed the $150 million project to go forward.

Colleges and universities across the nation waived SAT and ACT requirements for applying students amid the coronavirus pandemic, and some — including schools in the Chattanooga area — continue to waive these requirements for the upcoming school year and years to come.

The Republican Governors Association this week bounced MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, from its annual conference held in Nashville, according to a published report.

Senate Republicans are ready to deploy the filibuster to block a commission on the Jan. 6 insurrection, shattering chances for a bipartisan probe of the deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol and reviving pressure to do away with the procedural tactic that critics say has lost its purpose.

The Tennessee Department of Children's Services approved a license for a Chattanooga shelter to house unaccompanied migrant children a year ago, before Gov. Bill Lee and other state officials this month expressed outrage about the transport of migrant youth through the state to shelters like the one near downtown.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed an executive order Tuesday that bans the state government from requiring proof of vaccination against the coronavirus, joining other Republican-led states in restricting the use of so-called "vaccine passports."

Tennessee businesses risk being charged with misdemeanor crimes punishable by fines and even jail if they ignore a new state "bathroom" law involving access for transgender patrons.

Several private schools in the Chattanooga area have decided not to require COVID-19 vaccinations for students returning in the fall, making McCallie School's decision last week to do so something of a stand-out.

After a crack in the Interstate 40 bridge over the Mississippi River in Memphis shut down one path over the nation's largest river earlier this month, a natural question comes to mind: What's the condition of bridges in the Chattanooga area?

Immigration advocates and researchers are pushing back against the claims of some Tennessee elected officials who are concerned about unaccompanied migrant children being transported through the Chattanooga airport to shelters in the region.

Most major retailers and many other businesses in the Chattanooga area have relaxed their mask policies this week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week said people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are safe not to wear a mask in most indoor settings.

Tennessee's congressional representatives issued strong words Thursday against President Joe Biden's administration and what they described as a lack of transparency around the alleged movement of unaccompanied migrant children through Chattanooga.

The House voted Wednesday to create an independent commission on the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

The Rev. Steve Caudle is trying to save lives.

Georgia's sweeping new overhaul of election laws threatens the fundamental right to vote, freedom of speech and the separation of powers, according to a federal lawsuit filed Monday.

Since Tennessee's first public charter schools opened in Memphis and Nashville in 2003, the state's charter sector has been contained to its four largest cities. But that could change in a few years under expansion work by Gov. Bill Lee's administration.

Starting next year, Tennessee teachers will have to restrict their instruction on race and racism under recently passed legislation that Gov. Bill Lee is expected to sign into law.

Federal health officials this week released new guidelines for fully vaccinated people, saying they no longer need to wear face masks or socially distance to protect themselves from COVID-19.

Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston defended his marriage to a subordinate in his office on Thursday, saying his management decisions "are both legal and ethical."

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, who has already signed into law two measures limiting transgender and LGBTQ rights approved by fellow Republicans in the legislature, says he anticipates signing several more as they reach his desk.

Some Chattanooga area fuel stations are running out of gasoline amid the Colonial Pipeline crisis with operators and motorists hopeful the outages are short-lived.

COVID-19 vaccination sites look much different today compared to several months ago, when eager drivers would often sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic to get their long-awaited first vaccine dose.

More than six months after voters elected Joe Biden as president, Tennessee's congressional Republicans continue to raise questions about the way the November 2020 election was conducted and want electoral changes before the mid-term congressional election next year.

Federal officials have been publicly silent in the four months following FBI raids on three sitting Tennessee Republican House members, two of them political consultants performing work for several GOP colleagues.

High school bands, military veterans, vintage car groups and an array of supporters for the nation's armed services marched through downtown Chattanooga on Friday in what U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann called "the most patriotic city in America."

A multimillion-dollar makeover is planned for a large chunk of historic Montague Park as the Chattanooga FC Foundation envisions synthetic turf soccer fields, sand volleyball and other upgrades.

Former President Donald Trump won't return to Facebook — at least not yet.

A pledge for racial equity developed by the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce has drawn about 40 business leaders' signatures, as well as some criticism that the work falls outside the mission of the economic development organization.

Tennessee's Republican lawmakers are mounting a last-minute effort to ban public schools' teaching of certain concepts involving systemic racism, with the bill's sponsor saying citizens "must take a stand against hucksters, charlatans and useful idiots peddling identity politics."

A federal lawsuit has been filed challenging Tennessee's new permitless handgun-carry law, which starting July 1 would allow most adults to carry the weapons in public without having firearms training, undergoing state criminal background checks or having state-issued carry permits.

Real estate investors are buying up Chattanooga area apartment complexes for prices that have shot up 35% to 40% over the past several years, and rents are rising along with those values, leaving some tenants struggling to hang onto their housing.

The creation of new affordable housing units in Chattanooga has made some headway in recent years, but the processes are slow and the need is high, local affordable housing advocates said.

A Chattanooga attorney is one of the prominent voices speaking out against a bill in the Tennessee legislature that would create a "super court" of three judges initially appointed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee that some say is a politically motivated tactic to control the state's judicial system.

A Dade County sheriff's deputy allegedly left bruises on the arms of an 82-year-old man after the two had a dispute about a shared property line that turned physical, leaving the older man in handcuffs.

Bars and restaurants in Tennessee could keep up the coronavirus-era offering of to-go beers and other alcoholic drinks for two years under a bill now awaiting action from Republican Gov. Bill Lee.

Although Gov. Bill Lee wants to back off of local mask mandates and COVID-related business restrictions, most Tennessee school leaders expect to continue mask and social distancing requirements for students and staff for the rest of the academic year.

Hamilton County's mask mandate will expire at the end of the day Wednesday, but local health officials are recommending that citizens, businesses and schools still follow the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and continue to wear face coverings in situations with higher risk for COVID-19 exposure.

Declaring the COVID-19 pandemic no longer a health crisis but a "managed public health issue," Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Tuesday announced the end of any statewide public health restrictions and the revocation of authority for local leaders to impose mask mandates in 89 counties whose health departments he controls.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee's proposed $250 million trust fund for student mental health is generating accolades for its magnitude, but new questions are emerging about the plan's unconventional funding approach.

"The first blessings box in Dade for free food and household item take-and-give was put up on the side of the library back in 2019," Huffman said.

NASHVILLE — Beginning July 1, most Tennesseans ages 21 and older will no longer be legally required to undergo state criminal background checks, firearms training or demonstrate firearm competency in order to carry a handgun either openly or concealed while in public.

In groups of four or fewer, families and loved ones whistled and cheered beneath their masks as University of Tennessee at Chattanooga undergraduates walked across the stage at McKenzie Arena at Friday morning's commencement ceremony.

Most Chattanooga leaders are concerned about COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Tennessee and believe politics and misinformation are the driving forces behind it, according to the latest Times Free Press Power Poll - which surveys people in Chattanooga and Hamilton County who make or influence policy decisions at the local, state and federal levels.

Eve Williams is planning to open her new Mojo Burrito restaurant just down the road from the existing location on Dayton Boulevard, but she's got one big worry.

Tennessee legislators will consider two bills Wednesday that could increase the number of families opting out of vaccinations for their children on religious grounds — a growing trend that a recent state report cited as likely driven by anti-vaccine philosophy, not religion.

The jurors who sat quietly off-camera through three weeks of draining testimony in Derek Chauvin's murder trial in George Floyd's death moved into the spotlight Tuesday, still out of sight but now in control of verdicts awaited by a skittish city.

Outgoing Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke attributes a drop in the city's gang violence under his tenure to the Violence Reduction Initiative, his flagship program, rolled out in March 2014 to fight gang violence in a new way.

Outgoing Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said he spent eight years striving to maintain a human connection as he sought "renewal" amid unprecedented challenges.

Former Democrat Vernon Jones crowd-surfed across adoring Trump supporters in October after speaking at one of the former president's campaign rallies.

As the city welcomes a new mayoral administration, a third of the Chattanooga City Council will also be replaced Monday with newly elected representatives, ushering in a new era of city government.

Chattanooga agencies that assist low-income families with utility payments are preparing for an increase in requests for help as electric bills rise with the warmer weather - just as pandemic-related assistance that has softened the financial blow for many Chattanoogans struggling to pay their utility bills is running out.

The world's only known transgender billionaire warned Monday she may move her private family trust out of Nashville if Tennessee Republican lawmakers continue efforts to enact a series of anti-LGBTQ measures into law.

Redemption to the Nations is housing unaccompanied migrant children who arrived at the border in recent weeks in one of its unused buildings, a move that thrust the Chattanooga-based Pentecostal church back into the latest nationwide immigration debate.

A record-breaking season in the garden industry last year has contributed to a nationwide plant shortage this spring, but officials at Chattanooga-area garden centers say they've worked hard to make sure customers won't notice.