Free Republic

A federal jury has awarded $687,000 to a research scientist who was fired from BlueCross BlueShield in Tennessee for refusing to comply with the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.Tanja Benton, who had worked 16 years at the firm when she was fired, was awarded $177,240 in back pay, $10,000 in compensation, and $500,000 in punitive damages, according to a document made public by the federal court in eastern Tennessee on June 30.Company officials told Ms. Benton in August of 2021 that she would need to be “fully vaccinated” to keep her position, according to her lawsuit. Ms. Benton refused, saying aborted...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A man was shot in the arm Saturday night while trying to steal two cases of beer from a gas station convenience store. Metro police said officers with the Hermitage Precinct responded to reports of a shooting at a Shell gas station located in the 1500 block of Lebanon Pike at around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, June 22. When officers arrived, they found a 26-year-old man – who had been shot in the forearm – walking down the street. The officers tried to talk to him, but he tried to get away. He was eventually stopped and...

Veteran Tennessee senators seeking reelection this fall are running into challengers who question their conservative credentials, calling them soft on red-meat Republican issues such as abortion and transgender care. The Republican-controlled state Senate banned abortion except in cases when a mother is on the brink of death, outlawed gender-affirming care for trans youths and largely backed private-school vouchers this year as part of Gov. Bill Lee's plan to use state funds to allow students to enroll in private schools. Yet incumbents are facing opponents who contend they haven't gone far enough, creating a situation in which Republican primary voters will...

CV NEWS FEED // A Tennessee senator and a Nashville attorney are suing Tennessee over the recent abortion trafficking law, which criminalizes adults who help obtain abortions for minors without their parents’ permission. According to the Associated Press, the law would punish any adult who “intentionally recruits, harbors, or transports” a minor to get an abortion without their parents’ consent. The law would go into effect on July 1, and Tennessee would be the second state after Idaho to enact such a law. Idaho’s similar statute has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge since November 2023. Tennessee Rep. Aftyn...

When California native David Klein moved to the quiet city of Gallatin, Tennessee, 25 years ago, he did so to escape the chaos of West Coast urbanization. Now, he says, it feels like it is 'chasing' him. Since the pandemic, an influx of outsiders from the Golden State and elsewhere have turned a once tranquil community into an overcrowded 'hell'.

Tennessee Star editor-in-chief Michael Patrick Leahy unveiled the Nashville Covenant School mass shooter's personal writings earlier this month, but no mainstream news outlets appear to have reported about the revelations, and only one has reported on the subsequent legal battle that Leahy faces for uncovering the documents. Additionally, while journalists' rights organizations traditionally would have provided counsel to a reporter like Leahy in court, few are willing to comment on the case, and Leahy is being represented by America First Legal and Daniel Horwitz, a Nashville-based attorney who focuses on the First Amendment. Outlets such as Fox News, CNN, The...

Journalist Michael Patrick Leahy is facing jail at a hearing tomorrow because he published information from long-hidden journal of Covenant Killer Audrey Hale.. The lawfully obtained information comes from records that should already be public. Information that we have a right to know. Nashville Police confirm authenticity of Covenant Killer Audrey Hale journal pages obtained by The Tennessee Star.

Covenant School shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale reportedly used funds from a federal Pell Grant to buy the guns she used to perpetrate a mass shooting in March 2023. 99.7 WTN afternoon radio host Brian Wilson reported Wednesday that Hale “took money from an education grant she received to purchase her weapons and to pay for training at a local gun range.” Hale purchased seven guns, three of which were recovered from the Covenant School after she died during an encounter with Metro Nashville Police Department officers, police said at the time in a post to X. She killed six people,...

Tennessee governor Bill Lee signed a bill Tuesday making it illegal for non-parental adults to transport minors to another state for abortion without the knowledge or permission of the minor’s parents. HB 1895 specifies that anyone who “intentionally recruits, harbors, or transports” a minor to another state for an abortion without parental consent will be subject to a Class A misdemeanor, which comes with mandatory jail time of nearly a year. Currently, nearly all preborn children in the state are protected from abortion. Abortion proponents have spoken out with claims that the bill — which is in place to protect...

A retired Nashville-area police officer alleges that a psychologist who treated [the] shoot[er] in the 2023 Covenant School massacre referred her to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center psychiatric department before the killings. The claim was made by Tuesday by retired Metro Nashville Police Department Lt. Garet Davidson. He said that shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale, 28, who took her own life on the day of the killings, was referred to the medical center for treatment after she had fantasies about violence, according to a report from the Tennessee Star.

Elvis Presley’s granddaughter, actress Riley Keough, is attempting to halt the proposed sale of Graceland, the late singer’s home in Memphis, Tennessee. Keough inherited the mansion and much of Presley's estate after her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, died last year. However, Graceland is now at the centre of a dispute with a company that says the compound was used as collateral in a $3.8m (£3m) loan that was taken out by Lisa Marie but never paid back.

In April, we brought you special reports on families rocked by fatal overdoses. Tequila Bates‘ family was one of them, and on Monday, May 20, her family unveiled a large billboard in Nashville with Bates’ face and life-saving message on it. Those who knew Bates know she wasn’t afraid of a little limelight. “She is in heaven looking down saying, ‘You go, mama. Look at all this attention that I’m getting,” said Christy Rhoton, Bates’ mom. Family said Bates wouldn’t mind seeing herself on a billboard. Not one bit. “Oh yeah, she’d love it. ‘Look at everybody looking at me....

According to reports, a school security officer saw one of the students walk past another student and begin throwing up gang signs. That is when the student threw a graduation binder at the victim. As the first student was being held back, the victim jumped over three rows of seats and began hitting him. Two other students jumped into the fight.

Financial planning guru says providing a safe place for the event is a gift to friends from Israel.. Personal finance expert Dave Ramsey is rescuing a pro-Israel conference from cancellation after a Nashville hotel backed out from hosting because of alleged threats by anti-Israel activists. When Ramsey heard that a Nashville hotel revoked access for the Israel Summit, an event scheduled for next week that will feature prominent Christians and Jews, organizers say Ramsey got in touch and offered not only to host it, but also to help make it even bigger. “Dave Ramsey reached out and said, ‘You’re going...

In December 2022, Reason reported that both state and federal wildlife agents routinely trespass onto private land and plant cameras. Two Tennessee homeowners successfully sued the state over the practice, and a three-judge panel ruled in their favor. The state appealed the decision, and this week the court of appeals ruled in the homeowners' favor. At issue is a state law allowing officers of the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency (TWRA) to "go upon any property, outside of buildings, posted or otherwise," in order to "enforce all laws relating to wildlife." In the case of Terry Rainwaters and Hunter Hollingsworth, TWRA...

State leadership and delegation chairs from several Libertarian Party chapters, including those in Florida, California, Colorado, Tennessee, Minnesota, Vermont, Nebraska, and the District of Columbia, have extended an invitation to independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., urging him to seek the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination. The letter, published on Friday by Libertarians for Kennedy and signed by various party leaders, including an alternative region representative on the Libertarian National Committee, urges Kennedy to seek the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party, with the understanding that the undersigned would consider voting for him in the first round if he accepts. Notably, the...

The unionization vote at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee has been certified by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), according to a Tuesday announcement from the manufacturer and the United Auto Workers (UAW). Workers at the Chattanooga plant voted two weeks ago, with 73 percent, or 2,628 staffers, in favor of unionization, and 27 percent against, representing 985 employees. “Volkswagen and union workers around the world have a long history of successfully building vehicles together, and we are jointly committed to a strong and successful future at Volkswagen Chattanooga with the UAW,” the automaker and UAW said in a joint...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — A Tennessee bill that would authorize the death penalty as a punishment for rape of a child sits on Gov. Bill Lee's desk. This bill allows prosecutors to go after the death penalty when it comes to heinous crimes against children, like sexual assault of a child under the age of 12. It passed both the House and the Senate last month. Legislators say the person convicted would have to be 18-years or older. Supporters believe this would act as a deterrent. Critics say it might make it harder for the victim to come forward, especially...

The phrase “arming teachers” has standard meanings: To provide teachers with arms or to force teachers to carry arms. “Arming teachers” puts teachers in a passive role, with someone else “arming” them. It is being used to oppose a mild gun law reform bill in Tennessee.The phrase is being used in an Orwellian way by those opposed to an armed population. It is used by the left to prevent teachers from being allowed to protect themselves and the children in their care. The phrase “arming teachers” has become equated with removing restrictions on the ability of teachers to arm themselves....

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed House Bill 2435 into law on Tuesday, requiring all public schools in the state to include an approved prenatal child development segment in the state-mandated age-appropriate family life curriculum. A three-minute ultrasound or computer animation can satisfy the curriculum requirements; Live Action’s “Meet Baby Olivia” is listed as one such animation, though it is not specifically required. The legislation previously passed the House in an overwhelming 67-23 vote in March, and likewise, the Senate passed the bill by a wide margin, at 21-6. “Meet Baby Olivia” was created by Live Action in collaboration with medical...