Incumbents sweep federal, state seats in Tennessee Incumbents won big on election night in Tennessee with returning candidates winning the vote in both federal and state races. Tennesseans voted to elect federal and state representatives along with... Liquor, transit, sales tax and charter amendments on the ballot in 27 municipalities In addition to 204 elections for city officials, referendums were held in 27 municipalities. Knoxville residents approved a charter amendment changing when the city’s fifth council district... TML holds autumn board meeting in Nashville The Tennessee Municipal League held its autumn board meeting on Oct. 30, 2024, at the offices of Spencer-Fane in Nashville. Opioid Abatement Council addresses underpayment, discusses funding strategies The Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council will be correcting an underpayment of county allocations in a future disbursement. News Across Tennessee Cities share in $101.6M in broadband expansion grants The state will award 20 cities part of $101.6 million in funding as part of the second round of broadband and digital opportunity grants. Collierville opens expanded disc golf course The town of Collierville has opened the expanded disc golf course at Hinton Park. Holes 10 through 18 of the course are now open for play after the expansion project began in May. The project was completed primarily by the dedicated Hinton Park grounds maintenance crew alongside their regular day-to... DENSO to create 200 additional jobs in Athens DENSO officials announced the company is expanding its presence in Southeast Tennessee, establishing additional manufacturing operations in Athens. The expansion includes 54,560 square feet of new production space and renovations to existing areas. DENSO will add 200 jobs at its Athens location and... Crossville breaks ground on new fire station Officials with the city of Crossville have broken ground on the city’s new Fire Station No. 2. Located at Interstate and Cottonpatch drives, the new station will replace an aging facility on Industrial Boulevard. The $3.55 million project will allow more efficient service to the community with a... Cleveland awarded for urban forestry, environmental health Cleveland's Shade Tree Board has been awarded the 2024 Community Partnership Award by the Tennessee Environmental Health Association (TEHA). This honor recognizes the Board's outstanding efforts in promoting urban forestry and enhancing the environmental health of our community.The Shade Tree Board... Reconext to establish first Tennessee location in Memphis Reconext officials announced the company will invest more than $9 million to expand its operations and establish new operations in Memphis, the company’s first location in Tennessee. By expanding into Memphis, Reconext will create approximately 200 new jobs to better support the company’s client... People Nick Surre Nick Surre Capt. Nick Surre has been selected as the next assistant police chief for the Brentwood Police Department. Surre has 18 years of experience and will take over from new Chief Jim Colvin in February. He has been with the Brentwood Police Department since April 2007, serving as a crime scene technician... Jenneen Reed Jenneen Reed Jenneen Kaufman Reed has been unanimously confirmed as the finance director for Metro Nashville. Reed takes over the role from interim finance director Kevin Crumbo and comes to the city with 30 years of experience – including serving as deputy finance director and chief accountant for the city... Alicia Summers Alicia Summers Alicia Summers has been named the new assistant city manager for the city of Johnson City. In her new role, she will oversee the planning and development services and economic development departments. Summers has served as the city’s economic development director since 2022 and has nearly two... Ken Webb Ken Webb Ken Webb has been selected as the new vice mayor of Cleveland following the retirement of longtime Vice Mayor Avery Johnson in August. Webb has been an at-large member of the Cleveland City Council since 2018. Webb graduated from Tennessee Wesleyan University and worked as a staff accountant for a... Russell Treadway Russell Treadway Russell Treadway, longtime city administrator of Sevierville, has announced he will retire on Jan. 3, 2025. Treadway served twice as city administrator for Sevierville, first from 1978 to 1993 and then again since 2012. Between his two terms as Sevierville's top administrative officer, he served as... Tommy Head Tommy Head James Thomas “Tommy” Head, who served nine terms representing Clarksville in the Tennessee House, passed away on Oct. 19, 2024, at the age of 79. Head was first elected to represent House District 68 in 1986, and he served as chair of the House Finance, Ways and Means committee among many roles in... State Briefs Tennessee graduation rate breaks record Tennessee’s high school graduation rate broke another record in the 2023-24 school year. The rate was 92.1%, above the previous school year’s record-breaking 90.6%. Clay County Schools, McKenzie Special School District, South Carroll Special School District, and West Carroll Special District each... Tennessee’s Retail Accountability program produces sales tax compliance The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office has completed an evaluation of Tennessee’s Retail Accountability Program (RAP) which is designed to ensure businesses remit the proper amount of sales tax revenues... Sports betting has generated $261M in tax revenue for Tennessee Sports betting has generated more than $261 million in taxes for Tennessee since its legalization in 2019. More than $14.7 billion in sports bets have been placed in Tennessee during that period with Tennessee being the first state to go fully online for its sports betting. The industry has... Tennessee September unemployment rate increases Tennessee’s unemployment rate increased in September but remained 1% lower than the national rate. The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development said the state’s September unemployment rate was at 3.2%, up from 3.1% the previous month and a three-month record-low of 3% between May and... Tennessee's September revenues $101.2M above estimates Tennessee revenues exceeded budgeted estimates for the month of September. Finance and Administration Commissioner Jim Bryson reported total September tax revenues were $2.2 billion, $101.2 million more than the budgeted estimate and $18.9 million more than September 2023. The total tax growth rate... FBI to open new Nashville headquarters, continue field offices in Knoxville, Memphis The Federal Bureau of Investigation has moved its main Tennessee headquarters to a new office in Nashville, but said it will continue to operate “resident agencies” in Memphis and Knoxville. Instead of having two separate sets of leadership operating in Knoxville and Memphis, FBI Director Chris... TML Updates Charging Smart program to provide no-cost technical assistance to municipalities Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council opens funding for community grants Delta Regional Authority announces funding opportunities Federal departments announce deadlines for major grant applications Restore Return Relief Advocacy
