Coming to you live from the Tennessee Press Association awards, where John Partipilo hauled in a first place for Best News Photography for @tennesseelookout.com.

Tennessee lawmakers are giving a $356 million raise to the Student First Technologies, LLC, company handling the state’s two private-school voucher programs, despite the vendor’s woes in two other states.

A Nashville judge on Wednesday swiftly issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Tennessee Department of Health from turning over the names of about 400 disabled and critically ill kids to a state immigration agency that cooperates with federal immigration enforcement.

Precious had a hissy fit at lunch.

Sold-out crowd in Bismarck tonight for Prairie Public event featuring NPR's Steve Inskeep interviewing Robbie Lauf, executive director of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. Attendees got a preview of what to check out when the library opens next week in Medora.

I give you The Peoples' President.

"The state’s new reporting requirement forces families to choose between foregoing such care or exposing themselves and their children to immigration enforcement, potentially resulting in detention or deportation action that would itself disrupt the child’s medical care,” a legal filing said.

New: A 63-year-old man died in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Laredo this month, marking at least the fifth death in Texas ICE detention centers this year, a quarter of the nationwide total, as the fatalities have skyrocketed to a record pace not seen in decades.

Three Tennessee doctors have filed a lawsuit against the Tennessee Department of Health over its plans to share information about sick and disabled immigrant children with a state immigration enforcement division as a condition of continued enrollment. From @anitawadhwani.bsky.social.

State troopers are standing between the monument to unborn children and protesters outside the Tennessee Capitol.

Covering the unveiling at the Tennessee Capitol of the Monument to the Unborn: Texas and Arkansas also have similar monuments coming. There's a passel of Republican lawmakers here, including Reps. Justin Lafferty and Kevin Raper, pictured below. Also, counterprotesters.

COMMENTARY. John Cole’s Tennessee: Trolling with treasure. The Tennessee Academy of Family Physicians Foundation has launched a program offering young physicians up to $200,000 to pay off medical school debt in return for practicing In small or rural Tennessee communities.

Ohio Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign for governor has racked up more than half a million dollars in credit card bills without disclosing what it’s purchasing. And the campaign’s credit card spending has jumped dramatically in recent months. ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/06/24/o...

"Today we’re calling on Gov. Lee to take the steps needed to protect these children,” said Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition. @anitawadhwani.bsky.social reports.

Old school v. new blood? Former U.S. Rep. Van Hilleary attempts a comeback in the newly drawn Tennessee Congressional 6th District but first, he's got to get past state Rep. Johnny Garrett. Sam Stockard reports @tennesseelookout.com.

“Today we’re calling on Gov. Lee to take the steps needed to protect these children,” said Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition. via @tennesseelookout.com

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.

A Republican state senator in South Dakota was just charged with election fraud. (Note that the senator, Pishke, has supported various pieces of legislation that make it harder to vote or register to vote in the name of fighting fraud.) www.sdpb.org/politics/202...

The Republican-led U.S. Senate served up a rare public check on President Donald Trump’s agenda Tuesday when it voted to approve a House-passed War Powers Resolution to end hostilities in Iran. @ashleymurray.bsky.social reports.

In 2006, Carolina Hurricanes captain Rod Brind’Amour hoisted the Stanley Cup in the chambers of the NC General Assembly after leading the team to their first championship. Twenty years later, he returned to Jones Street to bring it back — this time as head coach. @kingdollar.bsky.social #ncpol

On a non-work note, I took the day off to go with my stepson to Tight End University at Vanderbilt and Travis Kelce is firing a t-shirt cannon at people screaming, "I love this shit!"

A federal judge on Monday voided pilot programs that allowed a handful of states — including Tennessee — to restrict the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to purchase soda and sugary processed foods. From @cstephenson.bsky.social.

First reported by Nashville Business Journal, reported for @tennesseelookout.com by @friedmanadam5.bsky.social: Former CoreCivic CEO Damon Hininger has set up a PAC to promote himself and other Republicans and is interested in a U.S. Senate seat.

Damon Hininger, the former CEO of Tennessee-based private prison operator CoreCivic, is interested in being Tennessee’s next U.S. senator when the seat opens up. @friedmanadam5.bsky.social reports.

Sue, lawyer, sue! Shelby County has filed a lawsuit against the State of Tennessee over a state takeover of the Memphis Shelby County Schools Board. It's the sixth law passed in the recent legislative session to face a challenge, reports @friedmanadam5.bsky.social.

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.

Almost one-third of rural hospitals in the United States are considered financially vulnerable. Today, roughly 720 rural hospitals across the country are at risk of closure, including 294 that face an immediate threat. (cont.) feminist.org/news/one-yea...

Oh look! The never ending story/persecution, round 345.

COMMENTARY: As July 4 and America’s 250th anniversary approaches, Tennesseans will head to the state’s federally-managed parks. But signage at several of those parks is slated to be rewritten at the demand of the Trump administration — a means of rewriting history. From Ren Brabenec.

“I love medicine. I would keep doing this for a very long time,” said Dr. Ty Webb. “The problem is the bureaucracy of medicine and it’s killing me.” Webb has been practicing family medicine in White County for nearly 30 years, a member of a shrinking tribe: docs in rural Tennessee.

The Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority has filed suit to prevent the state from taking control of its board of commissioners, following a similar suit by the Metro Nashville Airport Authority.

Dr. Ty Webb has been practicing medicine in Sparta, Tennessee, for almost 30 years. As he nears retirement, he talks about a crisis in rural healthcare and a plan by a family medicine association to try to attract more doctors to the state by paying off med school debt.

COMMENTARY OF THE WEEK: This Father's Day, columnist and dad @ghart14.bsky.social writes that Tennessee's proclaimed Nuclear Family Month is a slap in the face of single dads.

Since Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act in 1993, nearly all states must allow residents to register to vote at motor vehicle offices. But fewer teens are obtaining driver’s licenses today and missing a chance to register to vote. From @jonshorman.bsky.social

U.S. Senate Democrats introduced legislation on Thursday to require Congress to sign off on any deployment of federal troops to the polls, as President Donald Trump and his administration refuse to rule out the idea. From @jonshorman.bsky.social.

Earlier this week, @anitawadhwani.bsky.social wrote that in the last year, more than 100,000 Tennesseans have lost SNAP, including those with cancer, and those living in homelessness, who were previously eligible.

After killing TN's only Dem congressional seat last month, GOP said it will seek next year to redraw state senate and house districts for partisan gain. Will they go for 33-0 and 99-0? Could they? My latest column up this week at @tennesseelookout.com. tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/16/w...

Families are facing rising grocery prices at the same time that many of the most vulnerable are losing access to the nation’s largest food assistance program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

A spokesman for U.S. Rep. John Rose said "Senator Blackburn is doing a disservice to the citizens of Tennessee by refusing to debate. We deserve a governor who doesn’t hide from the voters in their basement and who is not afraid to discuss the issues that are important to our state."

With less than a month before early voting starts for the August primary elections, the chances for a forum or debate between leading Republican gubernatorial candidates look slim to none, reports Sam Stockard.

The only hospital in Leflore County could be forced to close by June 30 after the Mississippi Division of Medicaid pushed today to stop millions in payments to the hospital. That could derail an effort to save the hospital with a takeover from the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

A report from the Brennan Center finds a lack of local news leaves voters vulnerable to misinformation, but we are filling gaps: all our stories free to republish and more than 50 outlets across Tennessee do. Support our public service work. tennesseelookout.com/donate/

An annual report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows Tennessee faced a sharp decline in measures of wellbeing, based on analysis of educational, economic and health data, reports @anitawadhwani.bsky.social.

The U.S. Department of Justice is asking a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the NAACP against Elon Musk’s xAI plants in Memphis and Mississippi, claiming they are critical to the country’s defense efforts.

Tennessee experienced a sharp decline in measures of child well-being in recent years, according to a state-by-state assessment of federal economic, educational, census and health data analyzed yearly by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. From @anitawadhwani.bsky.social.

New @nbcnews.com poll: The only divide bigger than Republicans vs Democrats is haves vs have-nots. www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...

When I see "I didn't vote for this" from the anti anti crowd:

At @tennesseelookout.com, we, along with other @statesnewsroom.com outlets in state capitals, are busting tail to fill the gap: we share all our content free with other publications across the state so all Tennesseans get access to candidate information.

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.

“As you wind down your term of Governor, consider your Christian background as you implement policies that will define your legacy,” wrote U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, a Democrat, to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee. Lee, a Republican, is in the last year of his second term in office.