by Kaitlin Housler | Aug 31, 2026 | News, Policy, Tennessee, The South
The Tennessee Department of Revenue issued guidance Wednesday regarding an upcoming change requiring Tennesseans to provide proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful presence when applying for the initial registration of motor vehicles beginning January 1, 2027. The...
by Kaitlin Housler | Aug 31, 2026 | Justice, News, Tennessee, The South
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has vacated a lower court’s decision denying NetChoice’s request for a preliminary injunction against Tennessee’s law requiring age verification and parental consent for minors to create social media accounts. The...
by Kaitlin Housler | Aug 31, 2026 | News, Politics, Tennessee, The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, The South
Longtime political reporter Neil W. McCabe, a U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Army veteran, said President Donald Trump’s decision to establish a commission to design a proposed U.S. Space Academy reflects the growing importance of space operations to America’s military....
by Kaitlin Housler | Aug 31, 2026 | News, Politics, Tennessee, The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, The South
Eagle Forum President Kris Ullman announced the organization’s 54th annual Eagle Council will be held in Nashville next month. Ullman discussed the upcoming conference during an interview Friday on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, highlighting the organization’s...
by Kaitlin Housler | Aug 28, 2026 | Culture, News, Tennessee, The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, The South
Geoff Shepard, a former Nixon White House attorney and longtime Watergate researcher, detailed what he says were significant due process violations surrounding the Watergate prosecutions during an exclusive interview this week with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and...
by Kaitlin Housler | Aug 28, 2026 | News, Policy, Tennessee, The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, The South
Williamson County School Board Vice Chair Dr. Claire Reeves, who holds a Ph.D. in cellular and molecular biology and previously worked in biomedical research, is calling for stronger protections for children online following Tennessee’s $17.1 billion settlement with...
by Kaitlin Housler | Aug 27, 2026 | Covenant School Shooting, News, Tennessee, The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, The South
Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, and Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and editor-in-chief of The Star, said Metro Nashville is continuing to withhold the will of Covenant School shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale despite a recent Tennessee Supreme Court decision...
by Kaitlin Housler | Aug 27, 2026 | Justice, News, Tennessee, The South
The Chattanooga Police Department (CPD) launched a Drone First Responder pilot program designed to give officers real-time information about emergency calls before they arrive on scene. CPD said the program uses two prepositioned unmanned aircraft systems located at...
by Zachery Schmidt | Aug 27, 2026 | News, Policy, Tennessee, The South
A small East Tennessee city implemented a temporary moratorium on new data center development. The Loudon City Council passed a resolution this week to approve a 12-month ban on data centers by a 3-2 vote. Loudon is a city of around 7,000 residents, located nearly 40...
by Kaitlin Housler | Aug 27, 2026 | News, Politics, Tennessee, The South
The Republican National Committee (RNC) announced new programming details for its upcoming Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas, which the committee touted as the first midterm convention in modern American history. RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said the two-night event at...
by Kaitlin Housler | Aug 26, 2026 | News, Policy, Tennessee, The South
Tennessee State Senator Jessie Seal (R-New Tazewell) announced Wednesday that he is proposing legislation to designate September 25 as “9 to 5 Day” in honor of country music legend Dolly Parton, who died Tuesday at age 80. The proposed designation would pay tribute to...
by Zachery Schmidt | Aug 26, 2026 | News, Politics, Tennessee, The South, TN LEAD
U.S. Representative Matt Van Epps (R-TN-07) introduced a resolution on the fifth anniversary of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, condemning the Biden administration’s handling of it. On August 26, 2021, during the final days of the American withdrawal from...
by Kaitlin Housler | Aug 26, 2026 | Justice, News, Tennessee, The South
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced Wednesday a landmark $17.1 billion multistate settlement with Meta Platforms, Inc., bringing an end to Tennessee’s lawsuit against the company over allegations that Instagram was designed to encourage addictive...
by Zachery Schmidt | Aug 25, 2026 | News, Policy, Tennessee, The South
A Middle Tennessee city is considering implementing a temporary moratorium on new data center development. On Monday, the Gallatin Municipal Planning Commission recommended the city council implement a 12-month moratorium on new data centers. The recommendation comes...
by Kaitlin Housler | Aug 25, 2026 | Culture, News, Tennessee, The South, TN LEAD
Tennessee icon Dolly Parton passed away at the age of 80, her family revealed Tuesday afternoon. Parton’s nephew, Bryan Seaver, announced the passing of his aunt in a video posted to the singer’s official social media accounts. Seaver, who has served as Parton’s...
by Zachery Schmidt | Aug 24, 2026 | News, Policy, Tennessee, The South
A congressional bill is attempting to stop taxpayer money from researching or publishing material that promotes gender transition procedures for minors. U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), along with U.S. Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and James Lankford (R-OK),...
by Zachery Schmidt | Aug 21, 2026 | News, Policy, Tennessee, The South
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) created a separate rate structure for data centers, aiming to keep ratepayers’ rates low. TVA’s board voted Thursday to create a separate rate structure for data centers to cover the costs of the power and infrastructure these...
by Kaitlin Housler | Aug 20, 2026 | Culture, News, Tennessee, The South
The Boring Company announced it will hold a hiring event next week to expand its Nashville workforce as construction continues on the Music City Loop The company said in a post on X that it is hiring workers for the project, with two tunnel boring machines currently...
by Kaitlin Housler | Aug 20, 2026 | News, Policy, Tennessee, The South
The Tennessee Transportation Modernization Board unanimously approved DriveTN on Wednesday as the private-sector partner for the I-24 Southeast Choice Lanes project, clearing the way for what state officials call America’s largest interstate choice-lanes...
by Kaitlin Housler | Aug 20, 2026 | Covenant School Shooting, News, Tennessee, The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, The South
Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, and Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Star, criticized local Nashville news outlets for a “total and complete media blackout” surrounding The Star’s recent legal victory securing access to records...
