Bill Boner slunk away to Kentucky and into the pallet business after his sexual shenanigans as Nashville’s mayor. Megan Barry stuck around after hers, ran for Congress and wrote a book.

The congressional run, against the Republican incumbent in the 7th District, had predictable results: Barry lost by 20-plus points. The book, published one week after the election, is similarly unsurprising: She is repentant.

2. Class action lawsuit on AI-related discrimination reaches final settlement - Friday, November 22, 2024

Mary Louis' excitement to move into an apartment in Massachusetts in the spring of 2021 turned to dismay when Louis, a Black woman, received an email saying that a "third-party service" had denied her tenancy.

3. Local Washington officials brace for four years of playing defense against Trump - Friday, November 15, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's first stint in the White House proved to be a chaotic ride for the District of Columbia.

Now with Trump set to return to power — backed by a Republican-controlled Congress and the momentum of a sweeping electoral win — local officials in the nation's capital are trying to sound conciliatory while preparing for the worst.

4. Advocacy group sues Tennessee over racial requirements for medical boards - Friday, November 15, 2024

NASHVILLE (AP) — A nonprofit dedicated to opposing diversity initiatives in medicine has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the requirements surrounding the racial makeup of key medical boards in Tennessee.

5. A record 13 women will be governors next year after New Hampshire elected Kelly Ayotte - Friday, November 8, 2024

The election of Republican Kelly Ayotte as New Hampshire's governor means 13 women will serve as a state's chief executive next year, breaking the record of 12 set after the 2022 elections.

Governors hold powerful sway in American politics, shaping state policy and often using the experience and profile gained to launch campaigns for higher offices.

6. Biden's White House invitation to Trump continues a tradition Trump shunned in 2020 - Friday, November 8, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Before he comes back for good on Inauguration Day, Donald Trump will return to the White House briefly at the invitation of Democratic President Joe Biden, who had hoped to defeat his Republican predecessor a second time and reside there for four more years.

7. Hakeem Jeffries chooses calm over chaos as Democrats work to win the House majority - Friday, November 1, 2024

PALMDALE, Calif. (AP) — This election, he has warned, is about the economy. Freedom. Stopping Project 2025 and the MAGA extremes.

And, after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, it's about democracy.

8. Trump and Harris will both visit the Milwaukee area in a final push to win Wisconsin - Friday, November 1, 2024

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will host dueling rallies within seven miles of one another on Friday night in the Milwaukee area as part of a final push for votes in swing-state Wisconsin's largest county.

9. Democrats escalate attacks on Trump after comedian calls Puerto Rico 'floating island of garbage' - Friday, October 25, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats stepped up their attacks on Donald Trump on Monday, a day after a comedian opening a rally for the former president called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage," a comment that drew wide condemnation and highlighted the rising power of a key Latino group in the swing state of Pennsylvania.

10. A decade of racial justice activism transformed politics but landmark reforms remain elusive - Friday, October 25, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Cori Bush went from helping to lead an informal movement for racial justice to winning two terms as a congresswoman from Missouri, with an office decorated with photographs of families who lost loved ones to police violence. One picture is of Michael Brown.

11. Trump again denigrates Detroit while appealing for votes in a suburb of Michigan's largest city - Friday, October 25, 2024

NOVI, Mich. (AP) — Donald Trump further denigrated Detroit while appealing for votes Saturday in a suburb of the largest city in swing state Michigan.

"I think Detroit and some of our areas makes us a developing nation," the former president told supporters in Novi. He said people want him to say Detroit is "great," but he thinks it "needs help."

12. Obama, Springsteen boost Harris as she warns of 'brutally serious' consequences if Trump wins - Friday, October 25, 2024

CLARKSTON, Ga. (AP) — Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama lent their star power to Kamala Harris' quest for the presidency on Thursday, as the vice president implored Georgia voters to consider the "brutally serious" consequences if Donald Trump wins a second term in the White House.

13. Trump makes more debunked claims about FEMA as he surveys storm damage in North Carolina - Friday, October 18, 2024

SWANNANOA, N.C. (AP) — Surveying storm damage in North Carolina, former President Donald Trump on Monday blasted federal emergency responders whose work has been stymied by armed harassment and a deluge of misinformation, but he said he was not concerned that the aftermath of Hurricane Helene would affect election results in the battleground state.

14. Trump delivers a pointed and at times bitter speech at Al Smith charity dinner - Friday, October 18, 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump laced into Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats on Thursday in a pointed and at times bitter speech as he headlined the annual Al Smith charity dinner in New York.

15. Harris zeroes in on Black men, Trump focuses on women as both seek to fire up key voting blocs - Friday, October 11, 2024

DETROIT (AP) — Kamala Harris and Donald Trump both pushed Tuesday to energize key constituencies that their allies worry might be slipping away, with the vice president looking to reach Black men and the former president focusing on women.

16. Former President Bill Clinton travels to Georgia to rally rural Black voters to the polls - Friday, October 11, 2024

ALBANY, Ga. (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton urged churchgoers in Albany, Georgia, on Sunday to rally behind Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign for the office he once held.

17. Harris faces new urgency to explain how her potential presidency would be different from Biden's - Friday, October 11, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — With less than four weeks until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris is facing new urgency to define how her potential presidency would be different from that of President Joe Biden.

18. Helene's death toll reaches 200 as crews try to reach the most remote areas hit by the storm - Friday, October 4, 2024

BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. (AP) — Hurricane Helene's death toll reached 200 on Thursday and could rise higher still, as searchers made their way toward the hardest to reach places in the mountains of western North Carolina, where the storm washed out roads and knocked out electricity, water and cellular service.

19. Human connections bring hope in North Carolina after devastation of Helene - Friday, October 4, 2024

BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. (AP) — Sarah Vekasi is a potter who runs a store in Black Mountain, North Carolina, called Sarah Sunshine Pottery, named after her normally bubbly personality. But these days she's struggling with the trauma of Hurricane Helene and uncertainty about the future of her business.

20. Search crews with cadaver dogs wade through muck of communities 'wiped off the map' by Helene - Friday, September 27, 2024

SWANNANOA, N.C. (AP) — Cadaver dogs and search crews trudged through knee-deep muck and debris in the mountains of western North Carolina on Tuesday looking for more victims of Hurricane Helene days after the storm carved a deadly and destructive path through the Southeast.

21. Long water and power outages from Helene test patience in the Carolinas, Georgia - Friday, September 27, 2024

SWANNANOA, N.C. (AP) — Many residents of the Carolinas still lacked running water, cellphone service and electricity Wednesday as rescuers searched for people unaccounted for after Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic damage across the Southeast and killed at least 166 people.

22. Trump slams US response to Helene, even as supporters urge cutbacks to federal disaster agencies - Friday, September 27, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump criticized the Biden administration's response to the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, even as his supporters call for cuts to federal agencies that warn of weather disasters and deliver relief to hard-hit communities.

23. Vance criticized an infrastructure law as a candidate then embraced it as a senator - Friday, September 27, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — As he campaigned for the Senate two years ago, JD Vance harshly criticized a bipartisan 2021 law to invest more than $1 trillion in America's crumbling infrastructure, calling it a "huge mistake" shaped by Democrats who want to spend big taxpayer dollars on "really crazy stuff."

24. Events - Friday, September 27, 2024

Leads Exchange. Connect with fellow members while gaining exposure for your business at our monthly Member Connects. Member Connect is a facilitated, small-group networking opportunity allowing each attendee to talk about their business in an intentional way. Williamson, Inc. Power Room, 4031 Aspen Grove Dr., Suite 630. Parking 4000 Rush Street. Free to attend. Wednesday, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Information

25. Do you know the 3 branches of US government? Many don't, leading to a push for civics education - Friday, September 13, 2024

BLUFFTON, South Carolina (AP) — On the first day of his American National Government class, Prof. Kevin Dopf asks how many of his students are United States citizens. Every hand shoots up.

"So, how did all you people become citizens?" he asks. "Did you pass a test?"

26. Harris presses a more forceful case against Trump than Biden did on abortion, economy and democracy - Friday, September 6, 2024

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kamala Harris pressed a forceful case against Donald Trump on Tuesday in their first and perhaps only debate before the presidential election, repeatedly goading him in an event that showcased their starkly different visions for the country on abortion, immigration and American democracy.

27. The Harris-Trump debate becomes the 2024 election's latest landmark event - Friday, September 6, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will meet for the first time face-to-face Tuesday night for perhaps their only debate, a high-pressure opportunity to showcase their starkly different visions for the country after a tumultuous campaign summer.

28. Trial begins over Texas 'Trump Train' highway confrontation - Friday, September 6, 2024

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — On a busy Texas highway days before the 2020 election, former Democratic lawmaker Wendy Davis used her phone to record the scene unfolding around their Biden-Harris campaign bus: A convoy of President Donald Trump supporters weaving close while her fellow passengers called 911 for help.

29. Jury selection continues in the trial of 3 ex-Memphis officers charged in Tyre Nichols' death - Friday, September 6, 2024

MEMPHIS (AP) — The process of picking a jury marched on Tuesday in the federal trial of three former Memphis police officers charged with federal civil rights violations in the January 2023 beating death of Tyre Nichols.

30. Trial begins over Texas 'Trump Train' highway confrontation - Friday, September 6, 2024

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal trial is set to begin Monday over claims that supporters of former President Donald Trump threatened and harassed a Biden-Harris campaign bus in Texas four years ago, disrupting the campaign on the last day of early voting.

31. Can Harris prosecute the political case against Trump? Key questions ahead of their debate - Friday, September 6, 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will debate for the first — and perhaps, last — time on Tuesday night as the presidential candidates fight to sway voters on the biggest stage in U.S. politics.

32. Presidential campaigns brace for intense sprint to Election Day - Friday, August 30, 2024

LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — After a summer of historic tumult, the path to the presidency for both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump this fall is becoming much clearer.

The Democratic vice president and the Republican former president will devote almost all of their remaining time and resources to just seven states. They will spend hundreds of millions of dollars targeting voters who, in many cases, have just begun to pay attention to the election. And their campaigns will try to focus their messages on three familiar issues — the economy, immigration and abortion — even in the midst of heated debates over character, culture and democracy.

33. Memphis City Council sues to reinstate gun control measures on November ballot - Friday, August 30, 2024

MEMPHIS (AP) — The Memphis City Council on Friday sued the commission that oversees the Tennessee city's elections for removing three gun control questions from the November ballot after top Republican state leaders threatened to withhold tens of millions of dollars in state funding.

34. Boar's Head plant linked to deadly outbreak broke food safety rules dozens of times, records show - Friday, August 30, 2024

A Boar's Head deli meat plant in Virginia tied to a deadly food poisoning outbreak repeatedly violated federal regulations, including instances of mold, insects, liquid dripping from ceilings, and meat and fat residue on walls, floors and equipment, newly released records show.

35. Gun control initiatives to be left off Memphis ballot after GOP threat to withhold funds - Friday, August 23, 2024

MEMPHIS (AP) — Election officials in Memphis decided Tuesday to leave three gun control questions off the November ballot after top Republican state leaders threatened to withhold tens of millions of dollars in state funding.

36. Tennessee Republican leaders threaten to withhold funds as Memphis preps to put guns on the ballot - Friday, August 23, 2024

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's top Republican leaders on Monday threatened to withhold tens of millions of dollars in state funding from left-leaning Memphis should leaders continue with plans to place three local gun control initiatives on the November ballot.

37. Harris summons Americans to reject political divisions, warns of consequences posed by a Trump win - Friday, August 23, 2024

CHICAGO (AP) — Kamala Harris summoned Americans on Thursday to reject political division and instead chart what she called a "new way forward," as she accepted her party's nomination while blending biography with warnings about electing Donald Trump again to the White House.

38. What do marijuana, the death penalty and fracking have in common? Harris shifted positions on them - Friday, August 16, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — As California's attorney general, Kamala Harris successfully defended the death penalty in court, despite her past crusade against it.

As a new senator, she proposed to abolish cash bail — a reversal from when she chided San Francisco judges for making it "cheaper" to commit crimes by setting bail amounts too low.

39. Why the progressive 'Squad' is getting smaller after defeats this primary cycle - Friday, August 16, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — The "Squad," a group of progressive lawmakers in the House, is set to shrink next year after two members suffered primary defeats this election cycle following an unprecedented deluge of special interest spending.

40. Wildfires are growing under climate change, and their smoke threatens farmworkers, study says - Friday, August 16, 2024

LOS ANGELES (AP) — As wildfires scorched swaths of land in the wine country of Sonoma County in 2020, sending ash flying and choking the air with smoke, Maria Salinas harvested grapes.

41. How to get relief from unexpectedly high medical bills - Friday, August 9, 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — Unexpectedly high medical bills are common in the United States, but there are ways to get relief. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, one in five Americans are affected by outstanding medical debt, for a total cost of $88 billion.

42. Fall matchup set between 'Tennessee Three' Democrat Gloria Johnson and GOP US Sen. Marsha Blackburn - Friday, August 2, 2024

NASHVILLE (AP) — U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a top Republican ally of former President Donald Trump, will square off this fall in Tennessee against Democratic state Rep. Gloria Johnson, whose progressive profile rose nationally when her GOP colleagues tried to boot her from office over a gun control protest on the chamber floor.

43. Trump ramps up his defense of Vance after one of the rockiest VP rollouts in recent memory - Friday, August 2, 2024

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Donald Trump is used to defending himself. But this week, the Republican presidential nominee has been put in the rare position of having to defend someone else — his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.

44. Member of 'Tennessee Three' hopes to survive state Democratic primary for Senate seat - Friday, August 2, 2024

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's primary election Thursday will decide whether state Rep. Gloria Johnson, who shot to national fame after surviving a Republican-led expulsion effort for her participation in a gun control protest, will become the Democratic nominee in a fall matchup for the seat held by Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who must first clear her own primary contest.

45. Harris is planning a tour of battleground states next week with her yet-to-be-named running mate - Friday, July 26, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is set to launch a battleground tour next week with her yet-to-be-named running mate, with stops in seven swing states stretching from Pennsylvania to Nevada, her campaign said Tuesday.

46. A speaking invitation to Trump splits the most prominent American group for Black journalists - Friday, July 26, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's invitation to address the National Association of Black Journalists has sparked an intense debate within the organization and a flurry of arguments online.

Journalism organizations for people of color traditionally invite presidential candidates to address their summer gatherings during election years. But Trump's acceptance of NABJ's invitation has led at least one high-profile group member to step down as a convention co-chair and others to argue their convention may become a platform for Trump to make false claims or be seen as winning NABJ's endorsement.

47. 'White Dudes for Harris' is the latest in a series of Zoom gatherings backing the vice president - Friday, July 26, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — On a "White Dudes for Harris" virtual call, it was probably fitting that "The Dude" dropped in.

Actor Jeff Bridges addressed a fundraising event geared toward white men supporting Vice President Kamala Harris and sang her praises on Monday night, before channeling his iconic role as "The Dude" in 1998's "The Big Lebowski," declaring, "As the Dude might say, 'That's just my opinion, man.'" (The original line was "That's just, like, your opinion, man.")

48. Biden is pivoting to his legacy. He speaks Monday at the LBJ Presidential Library - Friday, July 26, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden, who belatedly opted against seeking reelection, will pay a visit on Monday to the library of the last president to make the same difficult choice, more than a half-century ago.

49. Wood pellets production boomed to feed EU demand. It comes at a cost for Black people in the US South - Friday, July 26, 2024

GLOSTER, Miss. (AP) — This southern Mississippi town's expansive wood pellet plant was so close to Shelia Mae Dobbins' home that she sometimes heard company loudspeakers. She says industrial residues coated her truck and she no longer enjoys spending time in the air outdoors.

50. Democratic convention planners are working to pull off a dramatic Biden-Harris role reversal - Friday, July 26, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — After nearly a near year of careful planning, organizers of the Democratic National Convention are in a mad dash to accommodate a new nominee, a re-crafted program and a highly compressed deadline to pull everything off as though this was the plan all along.

51. Biden will make a case for his legacy - and for Harris to continue it - in his Oval Office address - Friday, July 19, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Even though President Joe Biden won't be on the ballot i n November, voters still will be weighing his legacy.

As Vice President Kamala Harris moves to take his place as the Democratic standard-bearer, Biden's accomplishments remain very much at risk should Republican Donald Trump prevail.

52. Oops. Southern Baptist agency announces firing of its leader, then retracts that announcement - Friday, July 19, 2024

In under 48 hours, the head of the staunchly conservative public-policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention rankled fellow Baptists by applauding President Joe Biden's "selfless act" of withdrawing his candidacy for re-election. Then, his agency reported he was fired — and now they have reaffirmed his leadership.

53. Nashville-area GOP House race and Senate primaries top Tennessee's primary ballot - Friday, July 19, 2024

NASHVILLE (AP) — A first-term Tennessee congressman backed by former President Donald Trump will face a Republican challenger who calls the lawmaker ineffective, a contest that is among the top races in the state's August primary election.

54. Biden's legacy: Far-reaching accomplishments that didn't translate into political support - Friday, July 19, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sitting in the Oval Office behind the iconic Resolute desk in 2022, an animated President Joe Biden described the challenge of leading a psychologically traumatized nation.

The United States had endured a life-altering pandemic. There was a jarring burst of inflation and now global conflict with Russia invading Ukraine, as well as the persistent threat to democracy he felt Donald Trump posed.

55. Obama's dilemma: Balancing Democrats' worry about Biden and maintaining influence with president - Friday, July 19, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Barack Obama has a delicate balance to strike: how to weigh the mounting opposition to President Joe Biden continuing his campaign with his loyalty to his former running mate.

56. Vance's night but Trump's party, Jan. 6 curtain call, Trump health still under wraps: RNC Takeaways - Friday, July 19, 2024

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Republicans welcomed JD Vance as Donald Trump's running mate on the same night devoted to blasting President Joe Biden's leadership on the world stage.

Vance, the 39-year-old Ohio senator, offered his life story as a son of Appalachia to reaffirm Trump's connections to Americans who feel alienated socially, economically and politically.

57. Arthur Crudup wrote the song that became Elvis' first hit. He barely got paid - Friday, June 28, 2024

FRANKTOWN, Va. (AP) — Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup helped invent rock 'n' roll.

His 1946 song "That's All Right," an easygoing shrug to a lover, would become the first single Elvis Presley ever released. Rod Stewart would sing it on a chart-topping album. Led Zeppelin would play it live.

58. The Republicans who want to be Trump's VP were once harsh critics with key policy differences - Friday, June 28, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's hard to refer to someone as "Hitler" and end up in their good graces, let alone potentially become the person they choose to help lead the country.

But Ohio Sen. JD Vance's shifting position on Donald Trump over the years from onetime critic of the former president to staunch ally is a metamorphosis shared by many of Trump's potential running mates.

59. FACT FOCUS: Here's a look at some of the false claims made during Biden and Trump's first debate - Friday, June 28, 2024

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump traded barbs and a variety of false and misleading information as they faced off in their first debate of the 2024 election.

Trump falsely represented the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol as a relatively small number of people who were ushered in by police and misstated the strength of the economy during his administration.

60. Justice Department charges nearly 200 people in $2.7 billion health care fraud schemes crackdown - Friday, June 28, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 200 people have been charged in a sweeping nationwide crackdown on health care fraud schemes with false claims topping $2.7 billion, the Justice Department said on Thursday.

61. Ozy Media went from buzzy to belly-up. Its founder, Carlos Watson, is now on trial - Friday, June 14, 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — For nearly a decade, Ozy Media projected an image of new-media success.

The company boasted big-name interviews, an Emmy-winning TV show, a buzzy music and ideas festival and impressive numbers to show prospective investors — until it imploded in 2021 amid doubts about its audience size, viability and basic integrity.

62. A new account rekindles allegations that Trump disrespected Black people on 'The Apprentice' - Friday, June 7, 2024

Gene Folkes had just been jettisoned as a contestant on "The Apprentice" and was commiserating with a crew member at a bar inside the lobby of Trump Tower. He was indignant — and not just at having been kicked off the reality show after its star, Donald Trump, had delivered his catchphrase: "You're fired."

63. What to know about new claims that Trump made racist comments on 'The Apprentice' - Friday, June 7, 2024

As Donald Trump seeks to make inroads with African American voters in his third run for the White House, fresh allegations are surfacing about his disrespectful behavior toward Black people on " The Apprentice," the hit reality TV show that launched his political career.

64. Voter outreach groups targeted by new laws in several GOP-led states are struggling to do their work - Friday, May 24, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — During the presidential election four years ago, the Equal Ground Education Fund hired over 100 people to go door-to-door and attend festivals, college homecomings and other events to help register voters across Florida. Their efforts for this year's elections look much different.

65. Melinda French Gates to donate $1B over next 2 years in support of women's rights - Friday, May 24, 2024

Melinda French Gates says she will be donating $1 billion over the next two years to individuals and organizations working on behalf of women and families globally, including on reproductive rights in the United States.

66. Reading this book might change your life – or not - Friday, May 24, 2024

If only things were different. If you’d had other parents, if you’d grown up in another place, you likely wouldn’t be the same person you are. What if you’d zigged when you could’ve zagged, traveled here and not there, picked a different spouse or a different career?

67. All that 'checkout charity' adds up. Domino's plans $174M from it for St. Jude hospital - Friday, May 17, 2024

The world's top-selling pizza chain is betting big on the generosity of its customers. And it is not alone.

Domino's recently pledged $174 million over the next ten years to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, expecting the funds to come from its longstanding roundup campaign that invites customers to donate the difference between their purchase total and the next-highest dollar amount. The pizza chain has already raised more than $126 million this way across the past two decades for ALSAC, the fundraising organization for the Tennessee-based hospital.

68. Trump or Biden? Either way, US seems poised to preserve heavy tariffs on imports - Friday, May 17, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — As president, Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on foreign steel, which hurt Clips & Clamps Industries, a Michigan auto supplier — raising its materials prices, making it harder to compete with overseas rivals and costing it several contracts.

69. 70 years ago, school integration was a dream many believed could actually happen. It hasn't - Friday, May 10, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Seventy years ago this week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled separating children in schools by race was unconstitutional. On paper, that decision — the fabled Brown v. Board of Education, taught in most every American classroom — still stands.

70. Apps allow workers to get paid between checks, but ... - Friday, May 3, 2024

When Anna Branch, 37, had her hours at work reduced in 2019, she suddenly noticed ads for an app called EarnIn.

“You know how they get you – the algorithms – like they’re reading your mind,” Branch said. “The ad said I could get up to $100 this week and repay it in my next pay period.”

71. Tennessee lawmakers adjourn after finalizing $1.9B tax cut, refund for businesses - Friday, April 26, 2024

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's GOP-controlled General Assembly on Thursday adjourned for the year, concluding months of tense political infighting that doomed Republican Gov. Bill Lee's universal school voucher push. But a bill allowing some teachers to carry firearms in public schools and one adding a nearly $2 billion tax cut and refund for businesses received last-minute approval.

72. Tennessee lawmakers join movement allowing some teachers to take guns into schools - Friday, April 26, 2024

Some public school teachers in Tennessee could gain new powers to carry concealed guns into the classroom, a year after a deadly school shooting in the state's capital city stirred impassioned debate about the best ways to curb such violence.

73. Tennessee House kills bill that would have banned local officials from studying, funding reparations - Friday, April 26, 2024

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's Republican-dominant House on Wednesday spiked legislation that would have banned local governments from paying to either study or dispense money for reparations for slavery.

74. Biden just signed a bill that could ban TikTok. His campaign plans to stay on the app anyway - Friday, April 19, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Joe Biden showed off his putting during a campaign stop at a public golf course in Michigan last month, the moment was captured on TikTok.

Forced inside by a rainstorm, he competed with 13-year-old Hurley "HJ" Coleman IV to make putts on a practice mat. The Coleman family posted video of the proceedings on the app — complete with Biden holing out a putt and the teen knocking his own shot home in response, over the caption, "I had to sink the rebuttal."

75. Tennessee lawmakers pass bill to allow armed teachers, a year after deadly Nashville shooting - Friday, April 19, 2024

Some public school teachers in Tennessee could gain new powers to carry concealed guns into the classroom, a year after a deadly school shooting in the state's capital city stirred impassioned debate about the best ways to curb such violence.

76. What's EMTALA, the patient protection law at the center of Supreme Court abortion arguments? - Friday, April 19, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday in a case that could determine whether doctors can provide abortions to pregnant women with medical emergencies in states that enact abortion bans.

77. These apps allow workers to get paid between paychecks. Experts say there are steep costs - Friday, April 19, 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — When Anna Branch, 37, had her hours at work reduced at the start of the pandemic in 2020, she suddenly noticed ads for an app called EarnIn.

"You know how they get you — the algorithms — like they're reading your mind," Branch said. "The ad said I could get up to $100 this week and repay it in my next pay period."

78. These questions might make for better poll results - Friday, April 19, 2024

The latest poll by the Beacon Center of Tennessee, a conservative think tank, is out. Full of surprises it is not. Upon surveying 1,197 registered Tennessee voters online, it reports that:

• Tennesseans favor Donald Trump over Joe Biden for president by 57% to 29%. If Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is tossed into the mix, the margin drops to 48 to 25, with Kennedy attracting 16% – a political choice roughly on a par with supporting Mickey Mouse, but there you have it.

79. A Trump campaign stop at an Atlanta Chick-fil-A offers a window into his outreach to Black voters - Friday, April 12, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — The scenes of Donald Trump being warmly greeted on Wednesday by a Black audience at a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Atlanta electrified conservative political media at a moment when Republicans hope to make inroads with Democrats' most committed voting bloc.

80. Tennessee GOP Rep. Andy Ogles draws Republican and Democratic challengers - Friday, April 5, 2024

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles will have Republican opposition in the August primary as he seeks to retain a congressional seat passing through Nashville.

Officeholders including the first-term congressman from Columbia learned who their challengers will be as candidates met last week's filing deadline for state and federal positions.

81. States move to shore up voting rights protections after courts erode federal safeguards - Friday, March 29, 2024

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — An appeals court ruling that weakened a key part of the Voting Rights Act is spurring lawmakers in several states to enact state-level protections to plug gaps that the ruling opened in the landmark federal law aimed at prohibiting racial discrimination in voting.

82. Gov. Lee appoints new TSU board after legislature vacates old - Friday, March 29, 2024

NASHVILLE (AP) — Trustees of Tennessee's only publicly funded historically Black university were removed Thursday under legislation signed into law by Republican Gov. Bill Lee. Black lawmakers and community leaders said state leaders, a majority of whom are white, are unfairly targeting Tennessee State University.

83. Gov. Lee signs bill to undo Memphis traffic stop reforms after Tyre Nichols death - Friday, March 29, 2024

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday signed off on the repeal of police traffic stop reforms made in Memphis after the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols by officers in January 2023, despite pleas from Nichols' parents to GOP lawmakers and the governor to give them a chance to find compromise.

84. No mystery why legislators killed reparations study - Friday, March 22, 2024

Legislation, like people, can die a variety of deaths: fast or slow, public or private, merciful or cruel. But perhaps the most humiliating form – sometimes intentionally so – might be thought of as death by silence.

85. State Medicaid offices target dead people's homes to recoup their health care costs - Friday, March 15, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — As Salvatore LoGrande fought cancer and all the pain that came with it, his daughters promised to keep him in the white, pitched roof house he worked so hard to buy all those decades ago.

86. Cruz says there's a 50-50 chance of Congress passing college sports legislation this year - Friday, March 8, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Ted Cruz said Tuesday there is a 50-50 chance of Congress passing legislation that would provide antitrust protection and regulation to college athletics in the U.S. by the end of the year.

87. Female representation remains low in US statehouses, particularly Democrats in the South - Friday, March 8, 2024

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Democrat Kayla Young and Republican Patricia Rucker frequently clash on abortion rights and just about everything else in West Virginia's Legislature, but they agree on one thing: Too few of their colleagues are women, and it's hurting the state.

88. Transcript of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address - Friday, March 8, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — A transcript of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address on March 7, 2024, as prepared for delivery and provided by the White House:

Good evening.

Mr. Speaker. Madam Vice President. Members of Congress. My Fellow Americans.

89. AI pervades everyday life with almost no oversight. States scramble to catch up - Friday, March 1, 2024

DENVER (AP) — While artificial intelligence made headlines with ChatGPT, behind the scenes, the technology has quietly pervaded everyday life — screening job resumes, rental apartment applications, and even determining medical care in some cases.

90. Democratic lawmakers ask Justice Department to probe Tennessee's voting rights restoration changes - Friday, March 1, 2024

NASHVILLE (AP) — A group of Democratic Tennessee lawmakers is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate how the state has further restricted the process for people with felony records to get their voting rights back.

91. Republicans block Senate bill to protect nationwide access to IVF treatments - Friday, March 1, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans have blocked legislation that would protect access to in vitro fertilization, objecting to a vote on the issue Wednesday even after widespread backlash to a recent ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that threatens the practice.

92. Biden backed off a pledge to abolish the federal death penalty. That's left an opening for Trump - Friday, February 23, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — As he prepared to take office three years ago, Joe Biden's incoming administration considered a host of possible options to fulfill a campaign pledge to end the federal death penalty.

93. Tennessee House advances bill to ban reappointing lawmakers booted for behavior - Friday, February 23, 2024

NASHVILLE (AP) — Republicans in the Tennessee House voted Monday to advance a bill that would prevent local governments from reappointing state lawmakers who were expelled due to behavior.

The proposal is one of several restrictions being considered after the GOP's high-profile expulsion proceedings last April against Democratic state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson. It would bar what happened after: Jones and Pearson were reappointed and quickly went back to work.

94. Tennessee GOP could change law to prevent Democrat's simultaneous bids for Senate and statehouse - Friday, February 9, 2024

NASHVILLE (AP) — Less than a year after Tennessee Republicans attempted to expel her from the state House, Democrat Gloria Johnson is seeking another term there while simultaneously waging an uphill campaign for U.S. Senate.

95. Republicans work to recruit female and minority candidates even as they criticize diversity programs - Friday, February 9, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are critical of diversity and inclusion programs within the federal government and elsewhere, but they see recruiting women and minority candidates, along with veterans, as key to expanding their slim majority in November.

96. State GOP leaders see no issue with state's voting-rights restoration system - Friday, January 26, 2024

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee's top Republican lawmakers say they have no issue with the state's strict policy on restoring voting rights for those convicted of a felony, arguing that people shouldn't have violated the law if they wanted to continue casting ballots.

97. Titans make it official, hiring Callahan to replace Vrabel - Friday, January 19, 2024

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have hired Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan as their head coach, tasked with trying to turn them back into winners and groom Will Levis into their franchise quarterback.

98. Following review, Business Insider stands by reports on wife of ex-Harvard president's critic - Friday, January 12, 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — Business Insider's top executive and parent company said Sunday they were satisfied with the fairness and accuracy of stories that made plagiarism accusations against a former MIT professor who is married to a prominent critic of former Harvard President Claudine Gay.

99. Tennessee House Republicans defend requiring tickets for more than half of the public gallery seats - Friday, January 12, 2024

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee House Republican leaders went on the defensive Thursday after surprising people who showed up to watch their lawmakers kick off this year's work by asking some of them if they had a ticket to get in. The new and previously unpublicized requirement has only fueled lingering criticism that the GOP supermajority is unfairly flexing its ability to silence those with differing political views.

100. 3 time-sensitive money tasks for those left behind - Friday, January 12, 2024

Widows and widowers are often told not to make any major decisions for a year or more after a spouse’s death. Grief can cause you to make choices you later regret.

Some financial tasks, though, shouldn’t be postponed. Revising your budget, meeting with a tax pro and securing access to credit can help protect you from unpleasant surprises later.