Free Republic

NASHVILLE — When she was just 16, Cyntoia Brown climbed into a pickup truck with a stranger, drove to his home, got into his bed — then shot him in the back of the head with a .40-caliber handgun as he lay naked beside her. Brown, now 28, is serving a life sentence at the Tennessee Prison for Women for the murder of Johnny Mitchell Allen, a 43-year-old Nashville real estate agent.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. --- Bloodied and bruised Hannah Cohen was led from Memphis International Airport in handcuffs. The 19-year old was headed home to Chattanooga after treatment for a brain tumor at St. Jude Hospital June 30, 2015. It's a trip they've made for 17 years. This time, an unarmed Hannah, set off the metal detector at a security checkpoint “They wanted to do further scanning, she was reluctant, she didn't understand what they were about to do," said her mother Shirley Cohen. Cohen told us she tried to tell TSA agents her daughter is partially deaf, blind in one eye,...

In a nine-word per curiam decision, eight justices of the United States Supreme Court have revealed they are deadlocked in a 4 to 4 divide on the new immigration procedures of the Obama administration, with its executive decision to not deport the immigrant parents of children born in the United States (thus citizens) and give them legal status but less than citizenship in the process. The State of Texas, joined by 25 others states, filed a lawsuit to block this executive action, which affects between 4 and 5 million immigrants in the United States. The case was before the Supreme...

The Tennessee Legislature sent SB1736 (HB2033) to Governor Bill Haslam (R) on April 21, 2016.  Governor Haslam signed it on 27 April, 2016.  It goes into effect today, 1 July, 2016.  Most places will start taking down their “No Guns” signs as of today.  SB1736, now Pub. Ch. 947, does this without stepping on private property rights. It does so by making property owners or property managers responsible for a legal gun carrier’s defense if they take positive action to disarm legal gun carriers and the gun carrier(s) suffer harm as a result.Here is a summary of the bill. ...

The 24-year-old Muslim man who carried out the July 16 terrorist attack in Chattanooga was radicalized for at least a year before he opened fire on two military sites and killed five U.S. service members, an FBI agent told the Times Free Press today. The FBI believes people who knew Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez knew he was becoming radicalized before the attack, but failed to report Abdulazeez to authorities, Special Agent Ed Reinhold said. Abdulazeez was radicalized online before he took a July 2014 trip to the Middle East to visit family and discussed committing jihad before he carried out the...

As of July 1, if a handgun carry permit holder in Tennessee is injured, suffers bodily injury or death, incurs economic loss or expense, property damage or any other compensable loss on a property posted as a gun-free zone, they can sue the person or entity who stripped them of their right to self defense.

Pat Summitt, the winningest coach in Division I college basketball history who helped boost the women's game to the big time in a 38-year career at Tennessee, has died at 64.

After 150 years, Jack Daniels has finally revealed that a slave was behind the world-famous recipe of America's most popular whisky. Until now, the story told was that a white moonshine distiller named Dan Call had taught his young apprentice, Jasper Newton 'Jack' Daniel, how to run his Tennessee distillery.

A Tennessee woman who found her stalker ex-boyfriend hiding under her bed shot him in the foot and held him until his arrest Tuesday, police said. Tony Joe Gunter, 52, violated the woman’s order of protection against him by sneaking into her Nashville-area home while she was having a security system installed around 3 p.m., according to a Goodlettsville police affidavit cited by WZTV. The woman had ended her relationship of two years with Gunter earlier this month after finding out about his criminal history, according to investigators. He vowed, “I will kill you, you stupid c--t,” when she told...

Jimmy Cheek, the chancellor of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, is resigning to rejoin the faculty. In a Tuesday announcement, the university praised Cheek for increased diversity at the school, record fundraising and $1 billion in new construction and renovation. Cheek has also faced numerous challenges during his tenure. They include a lawsuit over the university's handling of sexual assault complaints and lawmaker anger that led to the defunding of the UT Office of Diversity last month. Lawmakers had opposed the Office of Diversity's recommendations to use gender-neutral pronouns for transgender students and to avoid religious-themed holiday parties. They...

As some Republicans struggle with justifying their support for Donald Trump after a series of controversies — including his recent attack on an American-born judge for his “Mexican heritage” and a doubling down on his call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S. — the two Republican senators from Tennessee aren't lending their overt support. Sen. Lamar Alexander isn't calling Trump the GOP nominee just yet, as reported by an Associated Press reporter. When his office was asked about the comments, Communications Director Jim Jeffries confirmed them and said, “Republicans officially choose our nominee in July. Sen. Alexander...

One day after the worst mass shooting in American history, Tennessee State Rep. Andy Holt (R) said he plans to give away two AR-15 assault rifles — the same kind of weapon used in the massacre — as a “door prize” at an upcoming political fundraiser. Holt, a self-described conservative Christian, had announced last week that he would give away one AR-15 at “Hogfest,” a barbeque fundraiser on his farm that has a petting zoo and hay rides. But when reporters asked him after the Orlando, Florida, shooting on Sunday whether he still planned to give away the assault weapon,...

It's time to update your copy of the periodic table. Four new elements discovered in recent years have now been named, pending final approval by the international group of scientists in charge of the table. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry has announced these proposed names: Nihonium and symbol Nh, for the element 113 Moscovium and symbol Mc, for the element 115 Tennessine and symbol Ts, for the element 117 Oganesson and symbol Og, for the element 118 The new superheavy, radioactive elements were actually added to the periodic table late last year and given these temporary and...

Nihonium, named after Japan (Nippon is a Japanese word for Japan), with an atomic number of 113. Its symbol is Nh. Moscovium (Mc), element 115, named after the Russian capital city. Tennessine (Ts), 117, named after — you guessed it — the state of Tennessee. ("Tennessine is in recognition of the contribution of the Tennessee region, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, to superheavy element research," the IUPAC states.) And finally, 118 is oganesson (Og), which bears the name of Russian physicist Yuri Oganessian, who led several elemental discoveries. Nature reports this...

SMYRNA, Tenn. (WKRN) – A U.S. Navy Blue Angels jet crashed Thursday afternoon in Smyrna ahead of their weekend air show at the city’s airport. A La Vergne official confirmed the accident happened around 3 p.m. near Weakly Lane, not far from the bowling alley. LifeFlight helicopters from Vanderbilt University Medical Center were called to the scene. Further details have yet to be released.

SMYRNA, TN (WSMV) - A Blue Angels airplane has crashed at or near the Smyrna-Rutherford County Airport, airport authority confirmed. According to Rutherford County Emergency Medical Service, one person was killed in the crash. The Blue Angels had been practicing on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Great Tennessee Airshow in Smyrna. They flew over downtown Nashville on Thursday morning.

Sen. Marco Rubio is facing intense pressure to run for re-election to his Florida Senate seat, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell taking the lead in a campaign to get him to reconsider his plans to retire. Republicans fear that if Rubio doesn’t run for a second term they could lose his seat. And if Republicans lose Florida they increase their odds of losing their Senate majority altogether. […] At least one Republican, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, subsequently took the unusual step of issuing a public statement calling Rubio a “very valuable member of the Senate” and disclosing that...

CROSSVILLE (WATE) – A Crossville congressional candidate said she’s guilty after a large-scale marijuana grow operation was busted last week, but says she’s also victim of a bad law. Detectives raided Flo Matheson’s property Friday after “in-depth undercover investigations led to the discovery of an indoor grow operation,” according to a press release that says Crossville Police Department narcotics detectives worked with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, 13th Judicial Drug Task Force, the HIDTA/TBI Drug Task Force, and the Office of the District Attorney General to execute the search warrant at Matheson’s home. Matheson said they broke through her gate...

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., was labeled by Charles Krauthammer on Friday as the pundit’s leading pick to be the running mate of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, said Corker will be meeting Monday with Trump at Trump Tower in New York City Krauthammer used a hypothetical pot of $100 in casino chips to make his point, putting $25 on Corker, $20 on former Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., $20 on Ohio Gov. John Kasich, $10 on former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and $5 on Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint. The rest went to “the field,”...

During a May 14 commencement address to Old Miss graduates, retired news anchor and journalist Tom Brokaw said, “more guns … will mean more homegrown acts of terror.” Tom Brokaw lamented the continuing expansion of gun ownership and the success of gun rights organizations that support that expansion. According to The Commercial Appeal, Brokaw referenced the homicide rate in Democrat-run Memphis, Tennessee, then said: I’m appalled by the determination of organizations and individuals to arm more people without any appreciation of the consequence of evermore lethal weapons in our midst. More guns and more firearm tolerance will mean more homegrown...