TENNESSEE

By Victor TrammellOn Thursday (November 18), Tennessee’s Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich stated that her office would no longer pursue a death sentence against death row prisoner Pervis Payne (pictured left). Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill in April that allows death row prisoners like Payne to challenge their sentences based on intellectual handicap. Payne maintained his innocence throughout his 1988 trial, claiming that he found the murder scene after hearing distress cries through an open door in his apartment. Payne was due to testify at an evidentiary hearing on Dec. 13 to determine whether he is intellectually handicapped. According to The Tennessean, that hearing will no longer take place.

A Tennessee judge has vacated two death sentences for a prison inmate convicted of fatally stabbing a mother and daughter more than 30 years ago.

Carrefour Associates LLC; Crossroads Hospice of Cincinnati LLC; Crossroads Hospice of Cleveland LLC; Crossroads Hospice of Dayton LLC; Crossroads Hospice of Northeast Ohio LLC; and Crossroads Hospice of Tennessee LLC (Crossroads Hospice), operating in Ohio and Tennessee, have agreed to pay $5.5 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting claims to Medicare for non-covered hospice services. Hospice care is special, end-of-life care intended to comfort terminally ill patients. This settlement resolves allegations that Crossroads Hospice knowingly submitted false claims to Medicare for hospice services for patients who were not terminally ill. “Our agency is dedicated to safeguarding both the Medicare program and Medicare patients. David Weber v. Crossroads Hospice of Tennessee, LLC, No.

Glass bottles are in short supply, putting pressure on winemakers and distillers ahead of the holiday season.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex condemns days of rioting against Covid-19 restrictions which have taken place in Guadeloupe. Paris authorities have sent elite police and counter-terrorism officers to the French overseas territory to quell the unrest.

A Tennessee man has been charged in Southern California with kidnapping his 3-year-old son and sexually assaulting his 16-year-old niece after authorities said he drove across the country with the children. The kids were found safe and Jacob Clare, 35, was arrested last Thursday in Dana Point, California after a resident recognized them from surveillance video released by authorities. The son, Noah Clare, was reported missing in Tennessee and his cousin, Amber Clare, was reported missing from Kentucky.

Police say they have tied a car used in the killing of rapper Young Dolph to a shooting that left a woman dead and wounded another person days before the ambush on the hip-hop artist.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is defending a new law assigning sprawling limits on COVID-19 restrictions, despite his office’s warning that it would violate federal disability law.

Tennessee's governor on Monday stood by his decision to sign sprawling limits on COVID-19 restrictions into law, even though his own office warned the bill would violate federal disability law and put the state at risk of losing federal funds. Republican Gov. Bill Lee, in his first public comments since The Associated Press revealed his legislative counsel's email warning to lawmakers, said he thinks “the bill on balance is good." Instead, he said, “we have to determine first what really needs to be changed” before the next legislative session in January.

A unanimous Supreme Court on Monday rejected a claim that the Memphis, Tennessee, area has been taking water that belongs to Mississippi from an underground aquifer that sits beneath parts of both states. The high court's first decision of the term came in a case argued in October, deflating expectations that the justices would resolve the issue of whether Texas' ban on most abortions could be challenged in federal court. Two cases on the Texas issue were argued Nov. 1 under an accelerated process that the court has previously used only rarely and in some of its most notable decisions, including the Bush v. Gore case that settled the 2000 presidential election.

Emails obtained by The Associated Press show that Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s office warned top legislative staffers that a bill limiting public health measures during the COVID pandemic would violate federal law.

A missing 3-year-old boy from Tennessee and a 16-year-old girl from Kentucky were found safe in Southern California and the younger child’s father was arrested, authorities said. Deputies found Noah Clare and his cousin, Amber Clare, Thursday morning in Dana Point, south of Los Angeles, the Orange County Sheriff's Department said on Twitter. Late Wednesday the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released surveillance camera images from nearby San Clemente, California, showing what appeared to be Noah and Amber along with 35-year-old Jacob Clare.

In a video, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee invited police officers from New York to Los Angeles to join the Tennessee Highway Patrol, saying that "we won't get between you and your doctor."

The rapper was 36.

Georgia, Alabama, Oregon and Ohio State held their places in the College Football Playoff ranking, with Cincinnati still sitting at fifth.

The new instruments have given students a sense of normalcy after some lost their homes.

Police said another driver heard the baby crying and stopped and found him on the sidewalk.

There must be at least 1,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases for every 100,000 residents within a 14-day period before schools can enforce mask-wearing, according to the new law.

Olivier Nkamhoua scored a career-high 23 points and Kennedy Chandler added 16 as No. 18 Tennessee beat East Tennessee State 94-62.

Stetson Bennett ran for a touchdown and threw for another as top-ranked Georgia remained perfect, wrapping up its Southeastern Conference schedule by routing Tennessee 41-17.

A crack in a steel beam that forced the closure of the Interstate 40 bridge connecting Arkansas and Tennessee for three months likely began when the span was fabricated in the 1970s and went undetected for years, a report by Arkansas' Transportation Department released Thursday said. A forensic investigation by an outside firm hired by the department said the crack occurred in a weld between two plates during the bridge's fabrication. The crack had been visible in 2016, and an inspector who had missed it was fired by the department in May. The report said the weld fracture initially was not visible by conventional inspection and was not caught by an ultrasonic inspection in 1982.

Top-ranked Georgia and No. 3 Alabama appear headed for a showdown in the Southeastern Conference championship game.

The Republican governor told reporters Wednesday he plans to sign the legislation by Friday.

Chris Stapleton won the most trophies, but Luke Combs won the biggest one at the Country Music Association Awards.

The boy’s father, who is the girl’s uncle, is wanted in both states.

The law enforcement officers who helped save the 16-year-old girl said they hope more people learn about the hand signal.

Kevin Byard returned an interception 24 yards for a touchdown, and Tennessee’s defense carried the Titans to a 28-16 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in a showdown between conference co-leaders.

The suit calls the law unconstitutional and discriminatory against transgender children.

The suit calls the law unconstitutional and discriminatory against transgender children.

A federal jury convicted a Tennessee man today on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges, including murder in aid of racketeering activity, stemming from his participation in a violent, criminal racketeering enterprise known as the Gangster Disciples. “Local, state, and federal law enforcement partners worked for nearly a decade with federal prosecutors to build this case against the Gangster Disciples, and this defendant in particular,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. “This investigation resulted in federal charges against 32 gang members and associates, including 12 in this RICO indictment. Evidence presented at trial showed that on Jan. 6, 2012, Hardison murdered a Gangster Disciples’ associate for failing to repay a drug debt. Hardison enlisted other Gangster Disciples members to dispose of the murder weapon.

In Oklahoma, a grisly lethal injection death underscores the crucial role of media witnesses.

The CMA Awards will be a night of all-star collaborations between Carrie Underwood and Jason Aldean, Kane Brown and Chris Young, and Mickey Guyton with Brittney Spencer and Madeline Edwards.

"I knew his voice, and I was like, 'Okay, this is happening,'" Courtney Potts said when Bryan approached her.

A Tennessee woman pleaded guilty today to fabricating discharge monitoring reports required under the Clean Water Act and submitting those fraudulent documents to state regulators in Tennessee and Mississippi. Customers, typically concrete companies, hired ECT to take samples and analyze them in a manner consistent with Clean Water Act permit requirements. Gordon claimed to gather and send the samples to a full-service environmental testing laboratory. “Correct and accurate test results of discharges into rivers and stream and the honest reporting of those results to regulatory authorities are important parts of the Act’s regulatory framework. Without accurate test results and reporting of those results, the Clean Water Act will not work as Congress intended.

Michelle Fiscus was fired under pressure from GOP lawmakers angry over efforts to vaccinate children against COVID. Emails obtained by the AP show the health commissioner fumed over praise for Fiscus.

A Tennessee state senator and a Nashville social club owner were indicted on charges that they violated campaign finance laws by illegally concealing the transfer of $91,000 during the Republican lawmaker’s 2016 failed congressional campaign, federal investigators announced Monday. A federal grand jury in Nashville handed down the five-count indictment against state Sen. Brian Kelsey and Joshua Smith on Friday, the acting U.S. attorneys for the state's middle and western districts and an assistant attorney general from the federal Justice Department said in a news release. Kelsey and Smith “unlawfully and secretly” funneled funds from Kelsey's state Senate campaign committee to his federal congressional campaign committee, according to the indictment released Monday.

A federal grand jury in Nashville, Tennessee, returned an indictment Friday charging Tennessee State Senator Brian Kelsey and a Nashville social club owner with violating campaign finance laws as part of an alleged scheme to benefit Kelsey’s 2016 campaign for U.S. Congress. Kelsey is also charged with making excessive contributions to a federal campaign and accepting excessive contributions. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Attorneys Mary Jane Stewart for the Middle District of Tennessee and Joseph C. Murphy Jr. for the Western District of Tennessee made the announcement. Attorneys Amanda Klopf of the Middle District of Tennessee and David Pritchard of Western District of Tennessee are prosecuting the case.

Ryan Tannehill threw for 270 yards and a touchdown, and he also ran for a score and the Tennessee Titans routed the Kansas City Chiefs 27-3 Sunday for their fifth win in six games.

Alabama inched up to No. 3 in The Associated Press college football behind top-ranked Georgia and No. 2 Cincinnati.

Bryce Young passed for 371 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more scores, carrying No. 4 Alabama to a 52-24 victory over traditional rival Tennessee.

Among the attendees are people who also spread misinformation about 2020 presidential election and other conspiracy theories.

The boss of a notorious Haitian gang accused of kidnapping 17 members of a U.S.-based missionary group last weekend is warning that the hostages will be killed if his demands aren’t met

A Tennessee man pleaded guilty today to civil rights violations for a series of church arsons. During the plea hearing, Fox admitted to intentionally setting the fires because of the religious character of the four churches. “The defendant in this case set fire to four Christian churches, causing fear and anguish to church members and their denominations. The FBI, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, and the Nashville Fire Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Beth Myers and Trial Attorney Kyle Boynton of the Department’s Civil Rights Division are prosecuting it.

A failed Russian spy satellite crashed back to Earth early this morning (Oct. 20), burning up in a brilliant fireball spotted by many observers in the American Midwest.

A Tennessee physician was sentenced today in the Western District of Tennessee to 20 years in prison for his unlawful prescribing of opioids that caused the death of one of his patients. Ballard’s unlawful prescribing to one patient led to her death. On June 23, 2021, Ballard pleaded guilty to one count of illegal drug distribution resulting in death. “Today’s sentence reflects the gravity of physicians causing death by illegally prescribing opioids,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. The ARPO Strike Force is part of the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, which since March 2007 has charged more than 4,200 defendants who collectively have billed the Medicare program for more than $19 billion.

Derrick Henry scored his third touchdown with 3:05 left, and the Tennessee Titans stopped Josh Allen on a fourth-down quarterback sneak in the final seconds to beat Buffalo 34-31.

Country star Luke Bryan is stepping into a new role as host of the CMA Awards this year.

Water Valley, which is 50 miles south of Nashville, has four former stores and a barn. The real estate broker said she'd received 93 calls in one day.

"I'm very harsh. I like to think I'm fair, but I'm tough," the judge, who touted her record as a disciplinarian, said in a 2015 interview.

Mid City Grill, a restaurant in Johnson City, Tennessee, is rethinking its late-night operations after a spate of disorderly conduct, reports said.

No. 13 Mississippi held off Tennessee 31-26 after Rebels coach Lane Kiffin avoided being by hit by golf balls as Volunteers fans pelted the field with objects in the chaotic final minutes.

A pro-Trump religious group, led by Pastor Hyung-jin “Sean” Moon, that uses AR-15 rifles during ceremonies has purchased a 130-acre holy retreat in Tennessee. “Spiritual download”: Moon leads services at Rod of Iron Ministries, also known as The World Peace and Unification Sanctuary, while wearing a metal crown of bullets and carrying a golden rifle. In a recent broadcast of Moon’s “The King’s Report,” he said the nearly-half-a-million-dollar Tennessee property is similar to a spiritual retreat in Cheongpyeong, a city in South Korea, and made him feel a “spiritual download.”

The mother of a letter carrier who shot a supervisor and a manager before killing himself in a Tennessee postal facility says he was not a violent person and had been bullied at work.

A U.S. Postal Service letter carrier who shot a manager and a supervisor before killing himself at a Tennessee postal facility was not a violent person and was being bullied at work by his superiors, his mother said Thursday. Tracey Haley told The Associated Press that her 28-year-old son, Johntra Haley, was the person who shot two postal service co-workers Tuesday at a sorting facility in Memphis. Haley spoke to an AP journalist at the apartment complex where her son lived as postal inspectors took the man’s sister aside for questioning.

The three U.S. Postal Service workers who died in a shooting at a Tennessee sorting facility included a supervisor, a manager and a letter carrier temporarily assigned to the postal annex.

Postal workers are back on the job at a sorting facility in Tennessee, hours after a co-worker turned it into a crime scene.

A man was shot dead in Tennessee over the weekend after confronting someone for allegedly fondling a member of his family.

A TikTok challenge called "devious licks" incites kids to steal or destroy school property and post it online.

A Black man who witnessed the comments punched him in the face, saying he "couldn't take it anymore" and knocking the off-duty officer unconscious.

Police said they were running across the interstate when they were hit.

“You are in an alien world,” said archaeologist Jan Simek of the dangerous caves he explores.

Less than 10 percent of U.S. consumer plastics are actually being recycled.

A stalled weather front dropped as much as 13 inches of rain, leaving entire communities under water, with still more drenching storms to come. Dozens of people had to be rescued.

Police in Arizona released a trove of evidence in the murder of Charles Vallow, the first husband of Lori Vallow. Among those seen in interview videos is Tylee Ryan, whom Lori Vallow is accused of killing just months later. Nikki Battiste reports.

A judge will allow attorneys who filed a lawsuit against a Waffle House in Tennessee after a mass shooting to access some of the files that have been sealed in the criminal case against the gunman.

The Fisk Jubilee Singers first started performing 150 years ago to raise money for their university.

A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment today charging a former Tennessee supervisory corrections officer with federal civil rights and obstruction offenses. The indictment alleges that, on Aug. 30, 2019, Kenan Lister, 42, assaulted an inmate in a holding cell at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Facility in Hartsville, Tennessee. Despite Lister’s knowledge that the inmate needed medical attention, Lister failed to provide medical care or to make the necessary notifications to get the inmate medical care. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Mary Jane Stewart for the Middle District of Tennessee made the announcement. The case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Beth Myers of the Middle District of Tennessee and Trial Attorney Michael J. Songer of the Civil Rights Division.

The court remains closed to the public, and a masked, limited audience witnessed oral arguments

Desheena Kyle was reported missing by her grandmother on June 28, and Knoxville, Tennessee police later named her boyfriend as a person of interest.

Correction: Ford-Union Jobs story.

The 13-year-old boy was in stable condition at the hospital Thursday. The suspect was in custody.

Gun-maker cited state's "unwavering support of the Second Amendment" in saying it would relocate in 2023.

Smith & Wesson is moving from blue Massachusetts to red Tennessee.

Authorities say a teenage boy was shot and wounded at a school in Memphis, Tennessee, and they have detained a second boy believed to be the shooter.

A hospital spokeswoman says six people who were wounded in a mass shooting at a Tennessee supermarket are no longer in critical condition.

Residents have gathered in a Tennessee town to pray for healing as details emerged about a gunman who went on a rampage Thursday at the grocery store where he worked.

Police say a gunman attacked a grocery store in an upscale suburb of Memphis, Tennessee, and killed one person and wounded 12 others before the suspect was found dead.

Musical multi-hyphenate Brandi Carlile has another trophy for her shelf as she won artist of the year at the 2021 Americana Honors and Awards show.

Kyler Murray scored five touchdowns and linebacker Chandler Jones had a career-high five sacks as the Arizona Cardinals simply dominated the Tennessee Titans 38-13 for a big road win to open the season.

The unusual legal strategy used to ban most abortions in Texas is already increasingly being employed in Republican-led states to target pornography, LGBT rights and other hot-button cultural issues.

Heavy rains from Hurricane Ida have forced Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee to cancel as organizers say the waterlogged festival grounds are unsafe for driving or camping.

What’s left of Ida is moving out of Mississippi and into Tennessee on its way to the northeastern U.S.

Search crews with dogs continued the grim work of going door-to-door and looking through debris to find the missing after floodwaters roared through rural Tennessee over the weekend, killing at least 22 people.

The general manager of the Tennessee Titans’ lone Super Bowl team has died.

An Amber Alert was issued for 17-year-old Autumn Turner.

Ready to go out on the town before summer ends.

Elevation Worship, a worship group from North Carolina, and singer-songwriter Brandon Lake are each nominated for seven awards at the Gospel Music Association's Dove Awards.

Country stars Keith Urban, Toby Keith and Carly Pearce will perform at the Academy of Country Music Honors this month, to honor Loretta Lynn, Dan + Shay and Luke Combs among others.

Tennessee is being sued over a law that puts public schools and their districts at risk of legal consequences if they let transgender students or employees use multi-person bathrooms or locker rooms that do not reflect their gender at birth.

Despite having some of the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the country, Tennessee isn’t planning to offer any incentives for people to get the shot.

Two Tennessee Republican lawmakers have said they received assurance that the state Department of Health won’t vaccinate children for COVID-19 without parental consent.

The rich got even richer in the Southeastern Conference when the transfer floodgates opened wide.

Moving on from the past is the early theme of the NHL offseason.

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.

Grammy-winning rock bands Evanescence and Halestorm are sharing stages this fall with a new tour that will bring a double dose of heavy rock riffs.

Environmentalists are claiming victory after a company canceled plans to build an oil pipeline through southwest Tennessee and north Mississippi and over an aquifer that provides drinking water to 1 million people.

The few Christmas trees standing in the back of the bombed-out building took the workers aback for a moment.

Freshman Tanner Witt pitched 5 2/3 innings of shutout relief and Silas Ardoin hit a tie-breaking, two-run single as Texas eliminated Tennessee from the College World Series with an 8-4 victory.

Logan Michaels homered for the first time this season and Andrew Abbott pitched six shutout innings as Virginia beat Tennessee 6-0 at the College World Series.

After a year of protests over police brutality, some Republican-controlled states have ignored or blocked police-reform proposals and moved instead in the other direction.