Tennessee lawmakers passed a ban Monday against instant runoff voting in elections, a move that seeks to end a long-running legal dispute between state election officials and the city of Memphis. Voters there still haven’t used the method since voting in 2008 to adopt it for city elections. The state House and Senate, where Republicans … Read more
Tennessee’s largest school district says a review of school safety that started after a 13-year-old student was critically wounded in a shooting last year is progressing. Memphis-Shelby County Schools asked former Memphis police chief Toney Armstrong to lead an assessment of school security after a Sept. 30 shooting inside Cummins K-8 School. The school was … Read more
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee asked federal emergency management officials on Wednesday to help assess whether counties affected by last week’s icy winter storm can receive funds to assist with power restoration. The Republican governor asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to work with the state’s emergency department on a preliminary damage assessment after a storm … Read more
Tennessee lawmakers have confirmed a Shelby County judge for an opening on the state Court of Criminal Appeals. The Republican-supermajority General Assembly voted Thursday to confirm John W. Campbell Sr. Campbell was a criminal court judge for the 30th Judicial District, which covers Shelby County and Memphis. He previously was an assistant district attorney for … Read more
A Tennessee woman convicted of stabbing her four children to death was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday. Criminal Court Judge James Lammey Jr. found Shanynthia Gardner, 34, guilty last month of the 2016 slayings of the children, ages 4, 3, 2 and 5 months. Another child, who was 7 at the time, escaped to … Read more
Starbucks has fired seven employees who were leading an effort to unionize a Memphis store. The Seattle coffee giant said Tuesday that the employees violated company policy by reopening a store after closing time and inviting non-employees to come inside and move throughout the store, including behind the counter and in back rooms. The employees … Read more
A Memphis-based food manufacturer has opened a new facility in the state that is expected to include a $53.5 million investment and nearly 400 new jobs. The state Department of Economic and Community Development says Monogram Foods located the expansion in Dickson. The company bought a building formerly owned by Conagra, which announced in early … Read more
More than 50,000 homes and businesses were without power Monday in Memphis, Tennessee, four days after a winter storm led to ice accumulations that downed power lines and damaged electrical circuits. The city’s power company, Memphis, Light, Gas & Water, hopes to have electricity restored to those who lost power during the storm by the … Read more
A Tennessee man lured the mother of his 2-day old daughter to a location in Memphis, shot the woman, and tossed the baby into the water off a boat ramp near the Mississippi River, police said. Brandon Isabelle was charged Wednesday with two counts of first-degree murder, murder in the perpetration of aggravated kidnapping, especially … Read more
Memphis authorities have charged a man with murder in connection to the deaths of his 2-day old infant daughter and the child’s mother. Officials were still searching for the infant, but Memphis police said in a tweet that evidence suggests she is dead. Officers found an abandoned car late Tuesday and nearby found the body … Read more