State Briefs | Tennessee Town & City - Tennessee Municipal League

Tennessee State Parks unveils new signage

New signage has been installed across the Tennessee State Parks system allowing visitors to access more information about trails, including t grade of a trail, the degree of the slope on the width of a trail, and the type of surface the trail provides. The signs are aimed at improving accessibility...

CDBG funds awarded to 30 municipalities

Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) have been awarded to 30 municipalities across Tennessee.

Tourism grants awarded to 19 municipalities

Tourism Enhancement Grants have been awarded to 19 municipalities across the state by the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development.

TWRA aquires nearly 4,700 acres of Hatchie Bottom

A 7,457-acre tract of ecologically rich bottomland hardwood forest along the Hatchie River has been acquired by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), in partnership with The Nature Conservancy of Tennessee (TNC) and The Conservation Fund (TCF). The Hatchie Bottom acquisition represents a...

Three cities receive historic preservation grants

Three municipalities have received federal historic preservation grants through the Tennessee Historical Commission.

The office recently awarded 26 matching grants totaling more than $1.1 million to non-profits, local governments, universities, and civic organizations across the state to support...

Tennessee graduation rate improves

Tennessee’s graduation rate for 2024-25 was 92.3%, breaking the state’s previous record set in the 2023-24 school year of 92.1%. The Tennessee Department of Education (TDE) said 1,892 more students graduated in the 2025 cohort compared to last year, for a total of 69,124 students graduating across...

Nine cities to receive park planning grants

Nine municipalities are among the local governments sharing nearly $968,000 in Local Parks and Recreation Fund (LPRF) grants recently announced by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. The program awards state funding to match local government investments to create or update a...

State agencies to restore Red-cockaded Woodpecker

Plans are underway to reintroduce the red-cockaded woodpecker(opens in a new tab) (RCW) to Tennessee. , The RCW was once native to upland mature pine and oak-pine savannas in Tennessee, but disappeared from the landscape due to fire suppression, logging, and habitat fragmentation. The last known RCW in Tennessee was...

More than 1,200 Tennesseans are aged 100 or older

There are 1,256 centenarians living in Tennessee – putting approximately 1.82% of the state’s population over the age of 100, according to the U.S. Census Bureau(opens in a new tab). There were only about 80,000 centenarians in the U.S. in 2020 – 0.02% of the population – but the milestone is becoming more common...

Tennessee September revenues $20.6M above estimates

Tennessee revenues exceeded budgeted estimates for the month of September. Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Jim Bryson reported that total September tax revenues were $2.2 billion, $20.6 million more than the budgeted estimate and $1.3 million more than September 2024.

The...

Five cities to share in museum grants

Five cities will share in $5 million in grants for capital maintenance and improvements to museums, historic sites, and preservation groups across Tennessee.

The Tennessee State Museum has announced the recipients of grants from the 2025-26 Capital Maintenance and Improvements program from the...

Tennessee Aquarium celebrates 29 million visitors

The Tennessee Aquarium has celebrated the arrival of its 29 millionth guest during its 33-year history. The guest in question was a member of the Lee family from Tupelo, Miss., which included mom and dad, Vince and Olivia, and sons Connor, 5, and Calvin, 3. In addition to seeing the Sand Tiger...