Free Republic

Tennesse Gov. Bill Lee was under fire from Republicans and Democrats alike Friday after signing a proclamation designating Saturday, July 13 as Nathan Bedford Forrest Day, a state "day of special observance" honoring a Confederate general and early leader of the Klu Klux Klan. "I signed the bill because the law requires that I do that and I haven’t looked at changing that law," Lee said Thursday according to reports by the Tennessean. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Tx., took to Twitter to demand that the state "change the law." "This is WRONG. Nathan Bedford Forrest was a Confederate general & a...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis police have made an arrest after an 18-year-old woman was reportedly shot in the face at a local restaurant. Angela Ryan was charged with three counts of aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a weapon when she was taken into custody on Sunday, July 7. According to the victim and two other women with her, they were all sitting in a silver Toyota Corolla at the Burger King in the 2800 block of Hickory Hill when Ryan suddenly opened fire. One woman was struck near her eye. She's expected to be okay. Police said the front...

A masked gunman who opened fire nearly two years ago at the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tenn., will spend the rest of his life in prison for the murder of church member Melanie Crow. A Nashville-area judge imposed the jury-recommended sentence after 27-year-old Emanuel Kidega Samson’s recent conviction in Crow’s death. Crow was walking to her car after worship on Sept. 24, 2017, when Samson shot her multiple times in the church parking lot. Samson then entered the church building and began shooting, injuring several others before a church member apprehended him, according to authorities and witnesses....

Things don’t seem so joyful over at The Joy of Knitting. Elizabeth Poe, the owner of the Franklin, Tennessee shop, published a post on her store’s Facebook page earlier this week that asked customers shopping for yarn in support of the Women’s March to take their business elsewhere. “The vulgarity, vile and evilness of this movement is absolutely despicable,” Poe wrote in a post that was shared over 5,000 times and attracted more than 7,000 comments. She added, “As the owner of this business and a Christian, I have a duty to my customers and my community to promote values...

At a recent fundraiser for restaurant workers struggling with addiction at the Nashville restaurant City House, Kamal Kalokoh, a chef with Jamaican roots, handed out plates of roast; a soul singer backed by a horn section belted out tunes; and Trevor Moran, an Irish chef who came to Nashville from Copenhagen’s Noma—often called the best restaurant in the world—stood behind a rickety table making Japanese kakigori, piles of matcha-dusted shaved ice hiding surprising hunks of greens or kiwi.

Mitsubishi Motors announced on Tuesday that it is relocating its North America headquarters to Tennessee, becoming the latest Japanese automaker to leave the state and head to a Southern state looking for lower operating costs. Mitsubishi, which employs 200 people in Cypress, told the Orange County Register in a statement that the Nashville area offers strong technology skills and “cost savings through the business-friendly work environment.” The  move will also bring the Japanese automaker closer to its sister company Nissan and strengthen Tennessee’s growing reputation as an epicenter of the automotive sector. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Department of Economic and Community...

Marines Identify Remains Recovered from KC-130J Salvage Operation By: Megan Eckstein June 26, 2019 10:08 AM The Marine Corps has identified the remains of three Marines recovered during a recent salvage operation to retrieve a KC-130J that crashed in December during a refueling mishap off of Japan. Five Marines assigned to Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron (VMGR) 152 were onboard the aircraft when it crashed last year, and all were killed. The Marine Corps conducted a salvage effort that spanned May 27 to June 7, and during that effort the remains of three of the Marines were found. After sending...

As we ramp up for the elections of 2020, we should take a moment to reflect on elections past. My personal experiences in the 2018 midterm election opened my eyes to the reality of the hyperpartisanship that currently grips our nation. I was the Democratic nominee for Tennessee’s First Congressional district -- a region characterized both by its complex mix of suburban and rural geography (more on that later) and by its seemingly unflinching support for the Republican party (no non-Republican candidate has held the seat since 1881). What I learned during my run was that, unfortunately, the leadership of...

NASHVILLE, Tenn.-A Tennessee detective and pastor is being denied hosting an event at Cracker Barrel following comments calling the LGBT community "freaks" and saying gay people were "worthy of death." Knox County Sheriff's Detective Grayson Fritts first came under fire last week after video of a sermon at All Scripture Baptist Church surfaced. Among the multiple comments taking aim at the LGBT community, Fritts stated "And God has instilled the power of civil Government to send the police in 2019 out to these LGBT freaks and arrest them and have a trial for them. And if they are convicted then...

Police identified the pregnant mother as Sierra Wilson Cahoon, 30, and her son as 2-year-old Nolan. They were the wife and son of Matt Cahoon, an assistant athletic trainer at Carson-Newman University, a Christian school that sits less than a quarter-mile from where the crash occurred. Investigators believe Phillips hopped behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Impala and drove west down East Main Street around 3:30 p.m. Monday, twice swerving onto the sidewalk to intentionally hit pedestrians, according to Jefferson City Police Department Capt. Darrell Turley. Phillips first hit Tillman Gunter, 61, who was taken to a local hospital with...

The 20-year-old “student” whom U.S. Marshals shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee, on Wednesday was a violent felon who arranged a car theft on Facebook, met the owner, then shot him five times.Marshals fired on Brandon Webber because he resisted arrest and attacked the marshals with his vehicle, then brandished a weapon when he tried to flee.As well, the “intelligent and funny” Webber, as the Commercial Appeal of Memphis described him in its lachrymose profile, had more than one brush with the law before he embarked on his short career as a car thief.But rioters didn’t wait to find out...

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 1, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee, yelled at an African-American woman today, accusing her of “ignorance,” after she testified before a Congressional committee about abortion being the “leading cause of death in the black community today.” Star Parker, founder and president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE), suggested it’s disingenuous to conflate abortion with social ills. Parker was testifying before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice as it discussed legislation banning abortions on babies with beating hearts.

Workers at Volkswagen’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted Friday night against forming a factory-wide union, handing a setback to the United Auto Workers’ efforts to gain a foothold among foreign auto facilities in the South. The vote of hourly workers began Wednesday and concluded Friday. Preliminary results show 833 employees voted against representation and 776 voted for it, the German automaker said in a statement. VW said about 93% of the roughly 1,700 eligible employees voted. “Our employees have spoken,” Frank Fischer, president and CEO of Volkswagen Chattanooga, said in the company statement. He said results are pending certification by...

A man who was killed by U.S. Marshals in Tennessee on Wednesday night, which sparked protests that injured dozens of police officers and sheriff's deputies, was wanted for stealing a car and shooting a man in Mississippi, authorities said.

All 44 crew members from two oil tankers that came under attack in the Sea of Oman south of the Iranian coast have been rescued.... The Associated Press reports that the two vessels were carrying Japan related cargo and the attacks come as Japan's Prime Minister was visiting Iran to discuss tensions..... President Trump tweeted just before 230 pm Eastern time Thursday his appreciation to Mr. Abe for talking to the Iranians but said that when it comes to making a deal: "They are not ready, and neither are we!". Meanwhile the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif says this regarding...

FULL TITLE: Tennessee DA faces probe after calling Islam an 'evil belief system' and saying gay people don't have legal protection from domestic violence A district attorney in Tennessee is facing an investigation after calling Islam an 'evil belief system' and saying that he would not prosecute domestic violence cases involving gay couples because he did not recognize their marriage. Craig Northcott has provoked fury from both LGBT groups and the Islamic community with a series of controversial remarks and Facebook posts. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has demanded he resign, saying he was 'clearly unfit to impartially carry...

FULL TITLE: Tennessee sheriff's detective who is also a pastor calls for government executions of LGBT people in sermon A detective in Tennessee has sparked outrage by delivering a church sermon calling for the government to execute LGBT people. Knox County Sheriff's Detective Grayson Fritts made the remarks on Sunday while preaching at the All Scripture Baptist Church in Knoxville, where he is a pastor. 'If you do not hate the homosexual then you are in violation and God's wrath will be upon you,' Fritts said. 'I don't think that the government is going to be putting them to death...

At least 24 Memphis Police Department officers were injured during a large protest Wednesday night, Mayor Jim Strickland says. The violence erupted after officers of the U.S. Marshals Service shot and killed Brandon Webber, 20. The shooting occurred around 7 p.m. local time, as officers from the U.S. Marshals Service as part of the Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force tried to take a man into custody. When the officers approached the man, law enforcement officials said, he was getting into his car in the Frayser community in northern Memphis, Tenn.

For my followers: my recent tweets are less for you than they are fir my pursuers. They are shots across the bow .. https://twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/1137799476507217921

That is to say, Ill be spending some time in Tennessee soon. The TN tourism page is near useless other than trying to get me to go to the civil rights museum and doesnt tell me how to truly do Tennessee like a native. What is the thing I must do when I visit? Where do you go and what do you like to do? Ill possibly be all over and everywhere so the whole state is open. Dont do professional sports but Im open to just about anything else. Favorite hike? Best food/hotel for the money? Whitewater rafting or...