Tourism vital to Northeast Tennessee's Helene recovery Officials in Northeast Tennessee say that continued visitation to the area will aid in recovery from Hurricane Helene. Handle With Care brings together police, schools to help children in crisis Local schools and law enforcement are partnering to help vulnerable children in a program sponsored by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI). The Handle with Care program is a simple model... Kingsport holds first prescribed burn at Bays Mountain Bays Mountain Park completed its very first prescribed burn on April 9. The burn covered roughly seven acres of land near the peak of the mountain (where the radio towers are located) and was planned... 10 fatalites result from extreme weather across Tennessee Ten deaths have been reported, and Gov. Bill Lee has declared a state of emergency following an overnight outbreak of tornadoes in the early morning hours of Thursday, April 3, and Saturday, April 5... News Across Tennessee Columbia Special Census nets $6.4 million in state shared revenue The city of Columbia has announced the results of a special census have shown a 17.26% population increase since 2020. The special census counted 48,885 individuals and 21,492 housing units. This data provides a more current and detailed snapshot of the city’s population and housing landscape than... McMinnville breaks ground on water treatment plant upgrades Ground has been broken on the first major upgrade to McMinnville’s water treatment plant in 64 years. The McMinnville Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved a $15,626,000 bid to overhaul the facility, originally built in 1961. Funding for the project comes from $6 million in loans, more than $7.5... Nuclear centrifuge company to establish facility near Oak Ridge BWXT Enrichment Operations, LLC, a subsidiary of BWX Technologies, Inc., will establish a facility for the manufacturing of centrifuge assemblies in Oak Ridge near Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). As part of the project, BWXT plans to create at least 60 new jobs and invest at least $45 million... Bristol PD receives fifth TLEA re-accreditation The Bristol Police Department has received its fifth re-accreditation from the Tennessee Law Enforcement Accreditation (TLEA). The presentation was made during the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police (TACP) meeting held in Nashville in April. The Bristol Police Department successfully... Parkers Crossroads receives funds for historic battlefield preservation The city of Parkers Crossroads has received $7,500 from the Tennessee Wars Commission Grant Fund to perform a geological survey to locate the graves of Confederate soldiers buried following the Battle of Parkers Crossroads on Dec. 31, 1862. About 368 acres of the former battlefield have been... Johnson City unveils Storybook Trail on Tweetsie Trail Johnson City Parks and Recreation held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to unveil the Tweetsie Storybook Trail. The trail, located along a 400-foot stretch near the 4.2-mile marker of the Tweetsie. Children who attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony received a copy of the book “The Courage of the Little... People Brian Goss Brian Goss Brian Goss, chief of the Brentwood Fire and Rescue Department, retired on May 11 after 42-years in the fire service. His tenure includes 17 years as assistant fire chief for Brentwood and 14 as chief. Goss began his career in 1983 as a paid-on-call firefighter in Bangor, Mich. In 1988, he joined the... Darren Goods Darren Goods Col. Darren Goods has been appointed as the new public safety advisor for the city of Memphis. Goods will report directly to the mayor and oversee both the Group Violence Intervention Program (GVIP) and the Joint Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (JONSE). He brings more than 35 years of... Marty White Marty White Marty White has been selected as the new chief of the McMinnville Fire Department after the retirement of Chief Kendall Mayfield. White has more than 20 years of experience with the department, most recently serving as deputy chief. White brings decades of dedicated service to the department, rising... Kendall Mayfield Kendall Mayfield Kendall Mayfield has retired as chief of the McMinnville Fire Department after 40 years of service to the city. Mayfield served as chief for 10 years, appointed to the position in 2014, and prior to that had 30 years of experience with the department. He joined the McMinnville Fire Department in... Barrett Jones Barrett Jones Barrett Jones, former city manager for Columbia and Cookeville, died Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at the age of 92. A native of Sioux Falls, N.D., Jones earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of South Dakota and then a master’s in governmental administration from the Wharton School at the... Joe Rape Joe Rape Joe Rape has been selected as the new chief of emergency services for the Collierville Fire Department. Rape has more than two decades of service and is the third generation in his family to serve as a firefighter in the local area. His grandfather founded the Forest Hill Volunteer Fire Department... State Briefs Tennessee March revenue $33.3M less than estimated Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Jim Bryson announced that revenues for March were $1.6 billion, which is $33.3 million less than the budgeted estimates and $69.3 million less than March of last year. General fund revenues were $35.4 million less than the March... Tennessee March unemployment down Tennessee’s unemployment rate declined for the first time in nearly a year in March 2025. The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) reported a 3.6% unemployment rate in March, down one-tenth of a percentage point from February. The rate had stayed at 3.7% for the previous... State awards $5.2M to help with housing for those in mental health, addiction recovery The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (TDMHSAS) is releasing $5.2 million in grant funding to create safe, quality, affordable housing for people living with mental... Tennessee launches program to help first responders address mental health concerns The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (TDMHSAS) announced a new campaign to reduce stigma and increase awareness of mental health resources for first responders. Research shows first responders suffer from mental health and substance use disorders at a rate higher... New dashboard brings greater transparency to economic incentives The Comptroller’s division of Local Government Finance working with the State Board of Equalization has launched a new interactive map and dashboard that highlights how local governments are using... Tennessee February unemployment rate remains unchanged Unemployment in Tennessee remained steady at 3.7% in February, the six continuous month at that average. The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) said the rate has remained unchanged since September. In 2024, the February unemployment rate was 3.1%. Tennessee’s... TML Updates Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Grant Program TDEC Seeks Medium-Duty, Heavy-Duty Vehicle Projects Under Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust Call for Nominations Set for April 1 for TML Achievement Awards TDEC accepting applications for waste tire reuse TDEC accepting applications for Solid Waste Management grants Restore Return Relief Advocacy
