Gov. Lee announces appointment to Tennessee Supreme Court
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WDEF) -- Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee appointed Mary L. Wagner to the Tennessee Supreme Court on Thursday. She will fill the vacancy created when Justice Roger…
Georgia Senate passes bill to legalize sports betting
ATLANTA, Ga. (WDEF) -- On Thursday, the Georgia Senate passed a bill that would legalize sports betting in the state. However, it must still pass the House before becoming law. SB 386 would allow the state of Georgia to regulate…
Tennessee, Virginia AGs suing NCAA over NIL-related recruiting rules with Vols under investigation
By TERESA M. WALKER and RALPH D. RUSSO/AP Sports Writers The attorneys general of Tennessee and Virginia filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA on Wednesday that challenged its ban on the use of name, image and likeness compensation in…
Tennessee offers free safety gun locks
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WDEF) - A local state lawmaker is encouraging people to take advantage of a state program for gun safety. The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDOSHS) is offering free cable gun locks to gun owners. You…
Georgia Sports Betting bill passes first legislative test
ATLANTA, Georgia (WDEF) - A bill to bring sports betting to Georgia has cleared its first hurdle in the legislature. It passed one Senate Committee and now heads to another committee to determine the full Senate will vote on it. The…
Republican governors support Texas in securing southern border
WASHINGTON (WDEF) -- Several Republican governors are announcing their support for Texas as the state attempts to secure its southern border. The Biden Administration tried to stop Texas from installing razor wire at the border. They took the case to…
Alabama man shook violently on gurney during first-ever nitrogen gas execution
By KIM CHANDLER ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — A man put to death using nitrogen gas shook and convulsed on the gurney as Alabama carried out the first-of-its-kind execution that once again placed the United States at the forefront of the…
Giant pothole takes out 7 vehicles in Alabama
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (WDEF) - Crews are patching highways across the south after last week's winter storm. But one pothole in Alabama became a sudden priority last night. A fire official in…
Georgia lawmakers, in support of Israel, pass bill that would define antisemitism in state law
By JEFF AMY/Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia lawmakers passed a bill Thursday that would define antisemitism in state law, with Republicans uniting in support of Israel's war on Hamas and some Democrats splitting over fears of suppressing support for…
Driving Our Economy Forward: Harrah's Casino
CHEROKEE, N.C. (WDEF) -- There are two casinos close by, owned by the same Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. We are learning more about the two properties operated by Caesars…
Georgia lawmakers consider bills to remove computer codes from ballots
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's state House and Senate are pursuing separate bills to remove barcodes from most of the state's ballots, part of a continuing Republican pushback against Georgia's voting machines. The Senate Ethics Committee voted 8-2 on Thursday to…
Supreme Court allows Alabama to carry out first-ever execution by nitrogen gas of death row inmate Kenneth Smith
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stop Alabama from executing an inmate by nitrogen hypoxia, a controversial and untested method that has prompted legal pushback and a rebuke from the United Nations. Kenneth Eugene Smith is scheduled to be the first person in the…
Boeing 757 lost nose wheel preparing for takeoff during a very rough stretch for the plane maker
A Boeing 757 jet operated by Delta Air Lines lost a nose wheel while preparing for takeoff from Atlanta, potentially creating more uncertainty around one of the nation's top manufacturers after a troubling string of incidents involving its planes. [caption…
TDOT fixing potholes after winter storm
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) - TDOT officials announced a program across the state to fix potholes on highways that were created in the recent winter storm. The storm brought ice and snow from Memphis to Tri-Cities, along with very cold weather.…
Bill would revise Tennessee's decades-old law targeting HIV-positive people convicted of sex work
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee would no longer be the only U.S. state to impose a lifetime registration as a “violent sex offender” on anyone convicted of engaging in sex work while living with HIV under a proposal that advanced…
Study: Georgia sees more deadly crashes in rural areas
ATLANTA, Ga. (WDEF) - The Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) released results from a 2021 study looking into rural versus urban car crashes. More than…
Former Georgia bulldog mascot Uga X dies with 2 national championships during his term
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Former Georgia mascot Uga X, whose eight-year run included back-to-back national championships, died Tuesday. Uga X, part of the line of English bulldog mascots which began in 1955, was 2 when he began his run on…
Monroe County man sentenced to prison on child rape charges
MONROE COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF) -- A Tellico Plains man recently pled guilty to six counts of raping a child. Brandon Wesley Lethco, 36, pled guilty on Monday, January 22, according to District Attorney Shari Tayloe. Brandon…
Blood Assurance suggests pause on elective surgeries
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) -- Blood Assurance is requesting blood donations from the public due to having a very low supply. Additionally, they are asking hospitals to hold off on elective surgeries until at least Wednesday, January 24. Blood Assurance is requesting…
Georgia's governor says more clean energy will be needed to fuel electric vehicle manufacturing
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia, a capital for electric vehicle production, needs to increase its supply of electricity produced without burning fossil fuels in order to meet industries’ demand for clean energy, Gov. Brian Kemp told world business leaders Thursday. Speaking…
Plan for $400 million monkey-breeding facility in southwest Georgia draws protest
BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (AP) — Some local residents and an animal-rights group are protesting plans for a monkey-breeding facility in southwest Georgia. Opponents on Tuesday urged the Bainbridge City Council to block plans by a company called Safer Human Medicine to…
Body recovered from Fall Creek Falls during -13 degrees
SPENCER, Tenn. (WDEF) -- Several rescue agencies assisted in recovering the body of a person who was lost in Fall Creek Falls State Park. The rescue mission took about 17 hours total to complete.…
TN Authorities investigating Cumberland County murder-suicide
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF) -- The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office began investigating a homicide in Fairfield Glade on Wednesday morning. From this incident, two people are deceased and one other is severely injured. At the time of the 911 call,…
Washington's Kalen DeBoer informs team he's leaving to replace Nick Saban at Alabama, AP source says
Washington coach Kalen DeBoer has informed the team he is leaving to replace Nick Saban at Alabama, according to a person who attended the meeting. DeBoer, 49, is a former NAIA coach who led Washington to the national championship game…