Tennessee

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Democrat Governor May Reject Stimulus Funds

Bredesen of Tenn. joins GOP critics

(Newser) - A Democrat has joined the ranks of GOP governors who may turn down stimulus funds. Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee says the state may reject $143 million for unemployed workers because it won't be able to afford the long-term budget repercussions, reports the Tennessean. Six other governors, all of them...

Man Arrested for Kidnapping Grandkids 20 Years Ago

Tenn. boy, girl raised in Calif.; they're fine

(Newser) - California police are holding a man they say confessed to kidnapping his two grandchildren in Tennessee in 1989 and raising them as his own 2,000 miles away, the San Jose Mercury News reports. John Bunting seemed like a model citizen, home-schooling the boy and girl; cops acted after a...

Nashville Rejects English-Only Law

English-only proposal defeated

(Newser) - Nashville voters last night defeated an attempt to make English the city's official language, the Tennessean reports. The measure, which would have forced the city council to conduct public business only in English, would have made Nashville the nation's largest city to do so. The referendum failed by a vote...

Frist Declines Run for Tenn. Governor

Ex-majority leader says he'll sit out 2010 race, focus on health care

(Newser) - Bill Frist was widely considered the Republican to beat in Tennessee’s 2010 gubernatorial election, but yesterday the former Senate majority leader announced that he wouldn’t even be in the running. “I have decided to remain a private citizen for the foreseeable future,” said Frist, who likewise...

Tennessee Tests Massive Sludge Spill for Toxins

Huge spill of coal ash has locals worried

(Newser) - EPA officials are working through Christmas running tests on a river of sludge that inundated 400 acres in Tennessee, the Tennessean reports. The gloop, coal ash waste that spilled from a power plant retention pond early Monday, is suspected of containing high levels of arsenic, lead, mercury, and other toxins....

River of Sludge Wipes Out Tenn. Homes

Hundreds of acres look like a moonscape after coal plant's pond collapses

(Newser) - A 500 million gallon spill of potentially toxic goop escaped from a Tennessee power plant to destroy the landscape, wreck 15 homes and contaminate local rivers, reports CNN. The sludgy residue of coal burning busted through the walls of a containing pond. Up to 400 acres have been coated in...

McGraw: I'm Not Running for Guv. Yet.

Singer still interested, but not yet

(Newser) - Those of you drooling at the thought of Gov. Tim McGraw will have to wait a little longer. The country star is not running for governor of Tennessee—yet, People reports. A rep for McGraw denied the rumors, sparked by an item in The New Republic earlier this month, but...

McGraw May Run for Tenn. Guv

State's Democrats desperate to find challenger for Frist

(Newser) - Gov. Tim McGraw? The country star is “seriously considering” a run for the post in Tennessee in 2010, Clay Risen writes in a New Republic blog post. Risen notes that Democrats are trying to find a high-profile candidate to run against the all-but-certain Republican entry, Bill Frist. A McGraw...

US Health Ranking Puts Vermont First, Louisiana Last

Southern states plagued by high obesity, smoking rates

(Newser) - Move over, Mississippi: Louisiana is now America’s unhealthiest state, Reuters reports. An annual state-by-state report that measures factors like smoking, obesity, and health insurance coverage also put Vermont at the top for the second year in a row. The five healthiest states are:
  1. Vermont
  2. Hawaii
  3. New Hampshire
  4. Minnesota
  5. Utah
...

Student's Hefty Handbag Takes Bullet for Her

Stuffed tote saves life during struggle with mugger

(Newser) - A 22-year-old Tennessee college student has her overstuffed, oversize handbag to thank for escaping unscathed from a struggle with an armed mugger, she tells NBC’s Today Show. After stealing her cell phone, the attacker fired at Elizabeth Pittenger from 4 feet away. The junk in her handbag—including an...

ATF Foils Skinhead Plot to Kill Obama

Tenn. neo-Nazis would have shot, decapitated 102 blacks before going after candidate

(Newser) - Federal agents have broken up a plot by two neo-Nazi skinheads to assassinate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 88 black people, the AP reports. ATF agents said the pair planned to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school in a murder spree that was to...

Palin 'Hacker' Dodges Charges —for Now

Grand jury to resume hearing testimony on Tenn. student

(Newser) - A federal grand jury ended its session yesterday without handing down an indictment against a University of Tennessee student accused of breaking into Sarah Palin’s email account, reports the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The panel heard testimony from schoolmates of David Kernell, the 20-year-old son of state Democratic Rep....

Husband-Killer Gets Custody of 3 Daughters

Says she and former in-laws now 'love each other'

(Newser) - A woman convicted of killing her minister husband 2 years ago was granted permanent custody of their three daughters today and said she has resumed a cordial relationship with the grandparents who fought to take the children away from her, the AP reports. A judge in Huntingdon, Tenn., returned full...

Teen Gunned Down by Classmate at Tenn. HS

Suspect is in custody; Knoxville's Central HS placed under lockdown

(Newser) - A student fatally shot a 16-year-old classmate during a dispute today at a Tennessee high school. Other teens watched in horror as the victim clutched his chest and fell to the floor. "This wasn't a shooting that was a random act," a Knoxville policeman said. "It was...

Freeman Leaves Hospital
 Freeman Leaves Hospital
Aug 7, 2008 2:08 PM CDT

Freeman Leaves Hospital

Weekend wreck left actor, 71, with broken bones, other injuries

(Newser) - Morgan Freeman was discharged today from the Tennessee hospital where the Oscar-winning actor was treated for broken bones and other injuries sustained in a weekend car crash in Mississippi, the AP reports. A spokeswoman for the hospital gave no details other than that Freeman had checked out.

Freeman in 'Good Spirits'
 Freeman in 'Good Spirits'
Aug 5, 2008 10:01 AM CDT

Freeman in 'Good Spirits'

(Newser) - Morgan Freeman “has a broken arm, broken elbow, and minor shoulder damage but he is in good spirits," his publicist told People. The actor underwent successful surgery to correct the damage from a car accident Sunday night in Mississippi, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports. "He's worried about his...

Is Killing Liberals a Hate Crime?
 Is Killing Liberals a Hate Crime? 
ANALYSIS
Jul 31, 2008 5:45 PM CDT

Is Killing Liberals a Hate Crime?

Slate finds few states consider political violence a hate crime

(Newser) - The suspect in last weekend’s Knoxville church shooting told police that “liberals should be killed because they were ruining the country.” But Tennessee, like the federal government and most states, doesn’t extend hate-crime law to political affiliation, explains Chris Wilson in Slate. In fact, legal experts...

Letter: Tenn. Gunman Hated 'Liberals,' 'Gays'

Adkisson details deep disdain for groups, inability to find work

(Newser) - A letter found in the vehicle of a gunman who killed two people at a Tennessee church yesterday indicated a deep hatred of liberals and gays, and frustration over unemployment, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. The liberal Unitarian church claims involvement with social causes dating to the 1950s, and hosts...

Gunman Charged in Deadly Attack on Tenn. Church

Children were performing Annie when attack occurred

(Newser) - A gunman opened fire at a Knoxville, Tenn., Unitarian church today, killing two and wounding seven others before he was subdued, CNN reports. He was later charged with first-degree murder in the death of the first victim. The attack occurred about 10am while children were performing the musical Annie, church...

Deep South Leads in Obesity
 Deep South Leads in Obesity 
Jul 18, 2008 7:13 AM CDT

Deep South Leads in Obesity

Southern states have highest rate, led by Mississippi

(Newser) - The South has the nation's largest percentage of obese residents, a new survey by the Centers for Disease Control finds, with 30% of adults in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee qualifying as obese. Even in Colorado, the state with the best fat stats, 19% of the populace is obese.

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