Residents across a wide swath of the U.S. are racing to assess the destruction from fierce storms that spawned possibly dozens of tornadoes from the South and the Midwest into the Northeast.

Storms that dropped possibly dozens of tornadoes killed at least 26 people in small towns and big cities across the South and Midwest.

Jason Martin has spent more than two years trying to get Gov. Bill Lee’s attention in Tennessee.

Emails show that Tennessee’s health officials will not acknowledge that August is National Immunization Awareness Month per an order from the state’s health commissioner.

FILE - Dolly Parton performs in concert on July 31, 2015, in Nashville, Tenn. Parton is asking Tennessee lawmakers to withdraw a bill that would erect a statue of her on the Capitol grounds in Nashville. In a statement released Thursday, Parton says that given current events, she doesn't think being put on a pedestal is appropriate at this time. (Photo by Wade Payne/Invision/AP, File)NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Dolly Parton is asking Tennessee lawmakers to withdraw a bill that would erect a statue of her on the Capitol grounds in Nashville. Democratic Rep. John Mark Windle introduced the bill last month that aims to honor Parton “for all that she has contributed to this state." (She’s) a passionate person who loves everyone, and everyone loves her.”In her Thursday statement, Parton thanked the legislature for their consideration of the bill and said she was honored and humbled by their intentions.

FILE - In this April 14, 2018, file photo, Blue team coach Johnny Majors, a former Pittsburgh NCAA college football coach, is shown before the annual Blue Gold game in Pittsburgh. Majors, the coach of Pittsburghs 1976 national championship team and a former coach and star player at Tennessee, has died. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)KNOXVILLE, Tenn. College Football Hall of Famer Johnny Majors, the coach of Pittsburghs 1976 national championship team and a former coach and star player at Tennessee, died Wednesday. Majors went 33-13-1 in four years there and led Pittsburgh to a 12-0 record and national title in 1976. His father, Shirley Majors, was a longtime football coach at the University of the South in Sewanee.

Bill Lee signed a proclamation declaring Saturday "Nathan Bedford Forrest Day," in honor of the Confederate Army general who was a slave trader and an early member of the Ku Klux Klan. The Republican governor signed the proclamation on Wednesday, sparking backlash on social media from some lawmakers and local leaders. "Nathan Bedford Forrest is a recognized military figure in American history and a native Tennessean," the proclamation says. "Nathan Bedford Forrest was a Confederate general & a delegate to the 1868 Democratic Convention. "We should not be honoring Nathan Bedford Forrest, the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and the perpetrator of the massacre at Fort Pillow," the Democratic congressman said on Twitter.