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Audit cites Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation for Eastman Chemical pollution
For nearly a decade, the Eastman Chemical Company has been emitting unsafe levels of sulfur dioxide into the communities surrounding its Kingsport, Tenn. plants in violation of national air quality standards. A new audit by the Tennessee Comptroller, released last week, found that the state has more work to do to bring the company in […]
In West Tennessee, a group of Black farmers take on Tyson Foods
Brenda Scott’s father came to west Tennessee as a sharecropper. By 1971 — as a result of hard work and government loans — he had 129 acres of his own, some of which his descendants occupy today. His adult children and grandchildren belong to an enclave of Black farming families that have lived in Henderson […]
Department of Children’s Services Commissioner Quin outlines efforts to address ongoing crises
A day after a damning report chronicling ongoing crises within the Department of Children’s Services, agency leaders testified about efforts to address problems that have led to children being taken from their families as a result of abuse or neglect only to be subjected to additional abuse and neglect while in state custody. Margie Quin, […]
Scathing audit of Tennessee Department of Children’s Services finds kids are placed in danger
The mission of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services is to protect vulnerable kids, but a new report paints a detailed and disturbing portrait of a state agency that has repeatedly placed children in harm’s way. The 164-page audit released Tuesday by the state Comptroller chronicles multiple failures by DCS to keep kids safe once […]
Longtime Tennessee domestic violence leader is out following critical federal investigation
This story was jointly reported by WPLN News and the Tennessee Lookout. The longtime leader of the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence has left the organization. The change comes less than a week after WPLN News and the Tennessee Lookout reported on federal findings of whistleblower retaliation at the nonprofit. Kathy Walsh […]
Investigation finds Tennessee domestic violence nonprofit retaliated against employee
This story was jointly reported by WPLN News and the Tennessee Lookout. A federal watchdog has found that the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence unlawfully retaliated against and then forced out an employee who blew the whistle about potential misuse of federal funding. The investigation by the Department of Health and Human […]
Former Tennessee vaccine chief Fiscus seeks to have name cleared in court
Tennessee’s former vaccination chief is asking a federal judge to order a public “name clearing” hearing — open to members of the media and with her former bosses at the Department of Health required to attend, newly filed federal court records in an ongoing lawsuit show. Dr. Michelle Fiscus was fired from her job as […]
Paddler groups frustrated by lack of regulation by state wildlife agency
Brandon Archer was canoeing down the Buffalo River with friends over Labor Day weekend three years ago, when he jumped out for a swim and tragically drowned. Archer had become entangled in a trotline, an unmanned fishing line studded with hooks that stretched across the river. The MTSU football player died a day shy of […]
Howard Atkins was sentenced to life at age 16; a TN Supreme Court ruling could soon free him
Howard Atkins first got the news that may soon change his life from a fellow inmate inside Tennessee’s Northwest Correctional Complex, who appeared at the front door of his unit, called him out then started jumping up and down, saying “have you heard?” It was the Friday before Thanksgiving and the Tennessee Supreme Court had […]
Department of Children’s Services housing children–many disabled–in hospitals for 8+ months
Children taken into the custody of the Department of Children’s Services are spending upwards of eight months in hospital beds across Tennessee because the agency has nowhere else to put them. The children typically land in DCS custody after being removed from homes on allegations of abuse or neglect and often carry the dual weight […]
DCS: Kids sent to hospitals for up to 100 days because there is no place to put them
For months, children taken from their families as a result of abuse or neglect allegations have been forced to sleep on office floors – supervised overnight by already-overworked social workers. On Thursday, the Department of Children’s Services chief asked Gov. Bill Lee for a $156 million boost to the department’s $1.1 billion budget to address […]
One county posted misleading information about an anti-slavery referendum & ‘no’ votes piled up
Throughout months of campaign work, Kathy Chambers had never seen a single message pop up through the “contact us” page on the website for the Yes on 3 campaign — the bipartisan effort to urge voters to approve a constitutional amendment prohibiting slavery in Tennessee forever. But at 8:31 am on Election Day, Chambers — […]