"To the very, very few Americans in here, happy Independence Day," the conductor said. "To the rest of you, welcome to the greatest country on the face of the planet, and if you disagree, you can leave." www.timesfreepress.com/news/2026/ju... @timesfreepress.bsky.social

20yo Memphis man dead after two National Guard soldiers fire shots early Sunday, according to TBI There are currently 1,450 National Guard soldiers in Memphis, according the U.S. Marshals Service, which declined to answer question about how many are armed tennesseelookout.com/2026/07/06/n...

Report: Tennesseans Living Near Data Centers See Bigger Jumps in Electricity Costs nashvillebanner.com/2026/07/07/t... @nashvillebanner.bsky.social

Nearly 50K Tennessee households may not have access to air conditioning Story: @cstephenson.bsky.social tennesseelookout.com/2026/07/07/c...

National Guard troops on patrol in Memphis as part of a Trump-convened task force fatally shoot 20-year-old man, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating tennesseelookout.com/2026/07/06/n... @tennesseelookout.com

House Speaker Cameron Sexton appointed John Cheadle, a lawyer for payday lender Advance Financial whose firm has sued thousands of Tennesseans over 279.5% loans, to the Metro Nashville Airport Authority Board. @friedmanadam5.bsky.social reports.

The Southwest Human Resource Agency’s Summer Nutrition program, which provides meals to children in West Tennessee during summer months, is on track to deliver roughly double the number of meals it distributed last year. @cstephenson.bsky.social reports.

Judge extends order blocking Tennessee from reporting disabled immigrant kids, enrolled in a publicly-funded healthcare program, to the state's Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division. The division was established last year to oversee collaboration with ICE tennesseelookout.com/2026/07/02/j...

As Tennessee’s new ban on popular hemp products takes effect Wednesday, two Democratic lawmakers are reigniting a drive to legalize marijuana and use the proceeds to patch craters in highways across the state. tennesseelookout.com/2026/07/01/t... @tennesseelookout.com

Just in from @itsmelissabrown.bsky.social with @chalkbeat.org: A federal judge has temporaily blocked the Memphis school takeover board’s authority, after school officials said it could delay the start of the school year or even force building closures as the district.

Took a break from reporting on some other stuff to dig deep into a topic I know you're all curious about: religion and aliens. No, really. Come for the "Disclosure Day" discourse, stay for the shockingly specific cosmology of a Seventh-day Adventist co-founder. religionnews.com/2026/06/26/r...

Express Scripts and the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association each filed separate lawsuits against the state of Tennessee this month over legislation that bans a pharmacy benefits manager, PBM, from owning a pharmacy. They follow a similar suit from CVS. @friedmanadam5.bsky.social reports.

Among the assertions in lawsuit, now temporarily blocked, is the Tennessee health dept. is ill-equipped to assess immigration status. Parents of at least 2 kids lawfully present in U.S. got letters warning their child would be reported to immigration officials tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/24/d...

Tennessee increases private-school vendor voucher contract by $356M with Student First Technologies, a company with a checkered record of managing similar programs in two other states tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/25/t... @tennesseelookout.com

Just in: Nashville judge issues a temporary restraining order barring Tennessee health officials from reporting children to a state immigration enforcement division as a condition of keeping healthcare through a public program for chronically ill kids tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/24/d...

Three doctors filed suit today challenging the Tennessee Department of Health's plan to report 400 medically fragile immigrant kids to a state immigration enforcement division. They're seeking an immediate restraining order/injunction tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/24/d... @tennesseelookout.com

A newly released independent review notes Nashville Electric Service's lack of preparedness for emergency management, restoration and communications after January's ice storm.

State Rep. Johnny Garrett and former Congressman Van Hilleary are running as Trump-supporting candidates in the Republican primary for Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District seat that was redrawn dramatically this year.

Advocates call on Gov. Lee to act ahead of deadline to report kids' immigration status Meanwhile, the GOP sponsor of reporting legislation seems unhappy it's being used against disabled kids “Still looking into options to possibly adjust or make changes" he said tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/24/a...

Federal judge voids SNAP restrictions on sugary foods in Tennessee, other states, set to take effect 7/31 USDA chief Brooke Rollins did not have the legal authority to approve the state's plans, the judge wrote tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/23/f... @cstephenson.bsky.social @tennesseelookout.com

Shelby County government sues Tennessee lawmakers over school board takeover law tennesseelookout.com/briefs/shelb... @friedmanadam5.bsky.social @tennesseelookout.com

The Shelby County Health Department has raised questions about the integrity of data behind a May community air monitoring project that indicated that South Memphis residents are being regularly exposed to unhealthy air pollution. From @cstephenson.bsky.social.

Just in from @anitawadhwani.bsky.social: The Trump administration filed notice it intends to appeal the dismissal of its Tennessee criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation to an El Salvador prison last year served as an early flashpoint over Trump immigration tactics.

Rural Tennessee needs family doctors. Can $200,000 lure them to the state’s small towns? tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/22/r... @tennesseelookout.com

Chattanooga airport board sues to stop state takeover tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/22/c... @tennesseelookout.com

John Rose targets Starbucks for “pushing DEI and weird transgender stuff” in his new ad, after calling Nashville’s incentives for the company “corporate Welfare” last month. ✍️ @sarahgracetaylor.bsky.social

Sign up for our newsletter at kansasreflector.com/subscribe for exclusive writing like the following, from reporter @anna-writes.bsky.social! #ksleg

“As you wind down your term of Governor, consider your Christian background as you implement policies that will define your legacy,” U.S. Rep Steve Cohen wrote to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, urging he revoke a directive to report disabled kids to immigration agency tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/17/c...

Tennessee U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen on Wednesday urged Gov. Bill Lee to revoke a state directive that requires the reporting of approximately 400 sick or disabled children enrolled in a public health program to a state immigration enforcement division. @anitawadhwani.bsky.social reports.

ICYMI: A 7,500-person ICE detention center planned for a former Big Lots warehouse in Tremont Township would add more people to the area than live in any community in Schuylkill County, except the largest – Pottsville (pop. 13,000).

Four years ago, Tennessee became the first to allow Ivermectin sales without a prescription, an effort led by an anti-vaccine doctor who now has multiple contracts with pharmacies to be their designated oversight physician tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/17/t... @tennesseelookout.com

Tennessee soybean farmers get morale boost from better prices, but future remains ‘daunting’ tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/17/t... @cstephenson.bsky.social @tennesseelookout.com

Nashville Noticias reports from beside of profoundly disabled child whose family is among 400 in Tennessee given a choice: if they continue care for their child, they will be reported to immigration officials Noticias story: www.facebook.com/watch/live/?... More: tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/15/p...

Shelby County Clerk Tami Sawyer indicted by U.S. DOJ for using $44k in public funds for personal use Sawyer's been a target of Republicans after pushing back against the Trump-convened Memphis Safe Task Force and butting heads with local politicians tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/16/s...

Nearly 100,000 people in Tennessee who have lost SNAP, the federal food aid program, since July 2025, according to state enrollment data. The drop coincides with a new law from the Trump Administration that rewrote many of the rules in the program. @anitawadhwani.bsky.social.

One US-made drug treats congenital syphilis, and the country is running short stateline.org/2026/06/15/o... @nadahassan.bsky.social @stateline.org

One mother of 10yo with spina bifida, kidney disease and autism told me she's withdrawing him from the Tennessee public healthcare program. The family has a pending asylum claim. They fear ICE. 400 immigrant families across Tennessee have until 6/30 to decide tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/15/p...

Providers 'working round the clock' to find alternatives (that may not exist) as Tennessee tells sick, disabled immigrant kids they will lose healthcare, with no transition plans in place for kids mid chemo, on ventilators, feeding tubes... tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/15/p... @tennesseelookout.com

Tennessee lawmakers are considering changes to the Jackson Law, which gives local communities control over whether to approve or reject landfills tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/12/t... @tennesseelookout.com @cstephenson.bsky.social

GOP Rep. Mark Cochran: "Tennessee taxpayers expect and deserve to have their resources prioritized for legal residents and citizens first. (This) ensures Tennessee public benefits are reserved for those legally present in the U.S. and directs appropriate referrals to ICE" fox17.com/news/local/t...

Coolican: I spoke with Melissa Hortman 36 hours before she was killed. Here’s some of what she said.

Letters to immigrant families warn critically-ill kids to be reported to Tennessee Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division if they remain in a public health program “For some of these children, loss of life is not a hyperbolic outcome in this scenario” one clinic director told me bit.ly/4urK22Q

Just in: Metro Nashville was set to file suit Wednesday, joined by the Metro Nashville Airport Authority, against the state of Tennessee to stop another airport board takeover. This is the latest in a more than three-year long legal fight.

NAACP files for federal court injunction to stop new Tennessee Congressional map tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/10/n... @friedmanadam5.bsky.social @tennesseelookout.com

Sen Richard Briggs said he is “appalled” that Knox County Schools removed Pulitzer Prize-winning “Roots” after a school district committee determined it violated Tennessee state policy. tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/10/t... @tennesseelookout.com

Republicans in Congress clear final hurdle for $70B boost in immigration enforcement www.newsfromthestates.com/article/repu...

DAMNING DETENTION CENTER REPORT: A hastily constructed immigrant detention facility wasted millions in federal funds & failed to meet basic standards, says report by nonpartisan government watchdog @arianalfigueroa.bsky.social @statesnewsroom.com DC www.newsfromthestates.com/article/gao-...

“...the commissioner was not happy with us being there unannounced. But it is what it is. We’re the oversight committee, and I didn’t know that we, as senators, had to get permission from anybody to visit a state office anywhere" - TN GOP state Sen. Tom Hatcher tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/09/t...

"This leaves us defenseless and adrift” said mom of 10yo with spina bifida. “If we go back to Honduras, he’s not going to make it...We were afraid before this. I’m afraid all the time. I’m afraid to go outside. I’m afraid they’ll take me without my kid” tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/09/t...

"The plan...would have used one of the government’s most consequential identity databases to effectively erase people from the financial system, potentially cutting them off from wages, banking, government benefits and other services" www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...