This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters A new universal school voucher proposal will be the first bill filed for Tennessee’s upcoming legislative session, signaling that Gov. Bill Lee intends to make the plan his No. 1 education priority for a second straight year. Senate Majority Leader Jack […]

Vice President Kamala Harris faced questions about whether sexism is a factor in the presidential race during a Tuesday interview on NBC News, and said she makes no assumptions about whether voters will make their choices based on race or gender. Polls depict Harris, the Democratic nominee, and former President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, […]

COLUMBIA, South Carolina — The head of the state agency that oversees foster care, grocery assistance and other programs for children and vulnerable adults is resigning. His last day is Jan. 2. Michael Leach has led the state Department of Social Services since Gov. Henry McMaster picked him as director in March 2019. He came […]

Candidates in a critical Middle Tennessee congressional campaign are taking digs at each other through heavy TV ad buys in the waning days of the Nov. 5 election. In the 7th Congressional District race, former Metro Nashville Mayor Megan Barry launched an ad recently claiming Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Green “rigged” rules for Congress members […]

Legislative momentum against PFAS has surged this year, as at least 11 states enacted laws to restrict the use of “forever chemicals” in everyday consumer products or professional firefighting foam. The legislation includes bans on PFAS in apparel, cleaning products, cookware, and cosmetic and menstrual products. Meanwhile, lawmakers in some states also passed measures that […]

With less than three weeks remaining in the campaign season, Tennessee’s House Republicans and Democrats are making a final push to build their brand and win targeted races. House Speaker Cameron Sexton embarked on the “Tennessee Freedom Tour” Monday, with the first stop in Knoxville at an event held by the Volunteer Republican Women’s Club. […]

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Libby and Andrew Potter usually ignore the avalanche of Medicare Advantage ads that land in the mailbox at their home in Huntsville, Alabama, each fall as Medicare’s open enrollment period begins. Libby, a retired middle school librarian, has what she considers good health insurance through the state employee health plan. Andrew has […]

Among the most persistent political talking points raised by opponents of immigration is that migrants bring crime with them into the U.S. “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” former President Donald Trump famously said on the campaign trail in 2016. “Has anybody ever seen the movie ‘Gangs of New York’?” Republican […]

PITTSBURGH — The 2024 presidential contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump could come down to Pennsylvania, and nobody knows that more than the Pennsylvanians inundated by the campaigns. The commonwealth, with its nearly 13 million residents and 19 Electoral College votes, carries the biggest prize for the winner among the […]

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters The operator of Wooddale Middle School, a Memphis charter school exiting the state turnaround district, will continue managing it after a state panel overturned a decision by Memphis-Shelby County Schools to deny its application. The Tennessee Public Charter School Commission followed […]

The Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments for Dec. 4 in the case challenging Tennessee’s law banning gender-affirming care for minors brought by three young people and their families. The state law — which took effect on July 1 of last year — bars Tennessee doctors and nurses from providing medical care — including puberty […]

WASHINGTON — With less than three weeks to Election Day, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump spent Wednesday evening zeroing in on undecided voters, in a race that polls have in a dead heat. In Doral, Florida, Trump made his pitch to undecided Latino voters for an hour-long Univision town […]

More than 200,000 Tennesseans cast ballots on the first day of early voting for the second consecutive presidential election.  Wednesday’s totals surpass 2016 but not 2020. The Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office reported that 216,446 people voted in person or by absentee ballot on Wednesday, Oct. 16, the first day of in-person voting in the […]

This story has been updated to reflect the parties appealing the Columbia Power and Water Systems permit. Middle Tennessee property owners and residents are joining environmental groups in calling for stronger state protections for the most biodiverse freshwater river in North America. Drought and utility companies’ plans to withdraw millions more gallons of water from […]

A three-judge panel ruled Thursday that the limited emergency health care exceptions outlined in Tennessee’s near-total abortion ban are so vague that doctors have a legitimate fear of prosecution or professional discipline for performing medically necessary abortions. The Chancery Court panel temporarily blocked the state’s medical board from disciplining doctors for providing emergency abortions but […]

This is one in a series of States Newsroom reports on the major policy issues in the presidential race. WASHINGTON — A mass shooting at a Georgia high school in September thrust the issue of gun violence to the forefront of the presidential race. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump agree that […]

WASHINGTON — The threat of political violence will likely hang over the nation’s capital in the weeks following Election Day, security experts say, despite intensive preparations by law enforcement officials determined to avoid another Jan. 6 insurrection. The 2,000-plus officers who make up the U.S. Capitol Police, as well as other federal law enforcement agencies […]

Former President Donald Trump fielded questions from women voters during a Fox News town hall in Georgia that aired Wednesday, and dubbed himself “the father of IVF” while discussing the fertility treatment that grabbed the spotlight after an Alabama court’s ruling earlier this year. The GOP presidential nominee — who’s also called himself a “protector” […]

An affluent satellite city within Davidson County in Tennessee has won the latest round in its fight against the State Historical Commission to rename Confederate-themed city street names, potentially opening the door for other cities and towns to do the same. Forest Hills, a community of about 5,000 people, fought for two years for the […]

As advocacy groups press Tennessee authorities for stronger worker protections and state agencies investigate the deaths of five employees swept away by Hurricane Helene floodwaters at an East Tennessee plastics plant, a lawsuit filed by the family of one deceased worker offers a glimpse into what happened on Sept. 27. The lawsuit filed by the […]