Investigates

The remains of a home smolder in the wake of a wildfire November 30, 2016 in Gatlinburg, Tenn. More than 100 houses and businesses were damaged or destroyed. Drought conditions and high winds helped the fire spread through the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images)

Federal judge in Tennessee dismisses suits on behalf of Gatlinburg wildfire victims

BY: - April 1, 2022

A federal judge has dismissed a slew of lawsuits filed on behalf of hundreds of victims of a deadly wildfire that swept through Gatlinburg more than five years ago. U.S. District Court Judge Ronnie Greer says the wildfire victims failed in preliminary claim forms to warn the National Park Service that they intended to accuse […]

Network cables are plugged in a server room in New York City.(Photo by Michael Bocchieri/Getty Images)

City of Knoxville forcing Netflix, Hulu fee case to Tennessee Supreme Court

BY: - March 28, 2022

The City of Knoxville is leading an effort in Tennessee to use the judicial system to try to force video streaming providers Netflix and Hulu to pay local governments the same operational fees assessed to cable television firms, court records show. If the city’s proposed class-action lawsuit is successful, it could impact both the pricing […]

Tennessee State Capitol (Photo: John Partipilo)

Tennessee Rep. Bud Hulsey confirms he was served with federal subpoena

BY: - March 23, 2022

Only one state House member other than Speaker Cameron Sexton admitted Wednesday to being subpoenaed this week to testify before a federal grand jury. Rep. Bud Hulsey confirmed to the Tennessee Lookout he was served Tuesday as part of a federal probe into corruption on Capitol Hill. Hulsey speculated the grand jury wants to interview […]

Tree trunks in the Bridgestone Firestone Centennial Wilderness Area in Sparta marked for clearcutting, despite local opposition. Photo: John Partipilo

Wildlife officials scale down deforestation plans in White County

BY: - February 3, 2022

State wildlife officials have reluctantly scaled back plans to raze large portions of forest on public land in rural White County after blowback from local residents, a threatened lawsuit and the demand last week from a bipartisan group of 34 Tennessee lawmakers to “stop all action on the plan immediately.” The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, […]

(Photo: Getty Images)

$200M TNInvestco program winds down, serving as a cautionary tale for some Tennessee lawmakers

BY: - January 4, 2022

Steve Berneman began working on a gaming startup in Austin, Texas. In 2012, he moved to Nashville, where he could access investment capital for the company through a new $200 million program funded by the state of Tennessee called TNInvestco.  His company, Overdog, grew to about 15 employees before it was acquired by a New […]

Satellite image of a portion of the Megasite of West Tennesseee. (Tennessee Department of General Services.)

Ford megasite atop ‘recharge zone’ for underregulated Memphis Sands aquifer 

BY: - January 3, 2022

Ford Motor Co. promises a green future at its Blue Oval campus, where it will produce zero-emissions pickup trucks with advanced batteries. But forthcoming plans and actions in the new year will prove whether the company and the state are committed to protecting the existing environment at the megasite – like the Memphis Sands aquifer […]

(Photo illustration by John Partipilo.)

Rogue funeral director continues operation

BY: - December 15, 2021

About three months ago, Guliana Miranda and her husband learned they were the only family members in the U.S. who could oversee the funeral proceedings of a recently departed family member and heard about a Spanish-speaking funeral director, Reid Van Ness, who could help them.  They knew Dolores Jimenez Garcia, a relative of her husband, […]

Xtend Healthcare in Hendersonville, had no experience with contact tracing when it scored its first state contract for $20 million. (Photo: John Partipilo)

No-bid contract earns company $55 million from state for contact tracing

BY: - November 23, 2021

In the early summer of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic overwhelmed even the nation’s most robust public health programs, Tennessee became one of a handful of states that chose to outsource contact tracing to a private vendor. In June 2020, Hendersonville-based Xtend Healthcare, a for-profit medical billing firm without prior experience in infectious disease, inked […]

(Photo illustration by John Partipilo.)

Lawsuits pile up against former funeral director

BY: and - November 3, 2021

Lawsuits continue to pile up against four funeral homes and an ex-funeral director accused of failing to send the remains of deceased immigrants back to their families overseas for burial. On Monday, the family of Ramon Lara Castillo — a 63-year-old Nashville house painter who succumbed to liver cancer in October 2020 — filed a […]

In grainy still photos cropped from video sent to the Tennessee Lookout by staff at the Tennessee Department of Children's Service, a teen sleeps on the bare floor while another lies on an air mattress with no blanket. (Photo: submitted)

Workers describe “unmanageable” caseloads, high turnover and low morale at Department of Children’s Services

BY: - August 6, 2021

Caseloads are too high, turnover is constant and morale has reached new lows, a March survey of workers responsible for protecting Tennessee children from abuse and neglect revealed. The internal Department of Children’s survey obtained by Sen. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, and Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville — released to reporters Thursday — included scores of comments […]

Saddler Funeral Home in Lebanon, where Reid Van Ness stored bodies for months at a time. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Second lawsuit filed against unlicensed funeral director and two funeral homes

BY: - August 4, 2021

A second lawsuit has been filed against two Middle Tennessee funeral homes and a Tennessee funeral director who lost his licenses for failing to send bodies of deceased immigrants overseas for burial. Filemon Dominguez Diaz died in November, 2019.  After his death, an acquaintance, Domingo Carlin Sanchez, contacted Diaz’s sister, Martha Angelica Dominguez Torres, to […]

In grainy still photos cropped from video sent to the Tennessee Lookout by staff at the Tennessee Department of Children's Service, a teen sleeps on the bare floor while another lies on an air mattress with no blanket. (Photo: submitted)

Dixie calls for Department of Children’s Services investigation

BY: - August 2, 2021

Rep. Vincent Dixie, D-Nashville is calling on the chairs of the legislative Government Operations Committee to conduct an investigation into the Department of Children’s Services after the Tennessee Lookout reported kids in state custody are being forced to sleep on the floor of state office buildings. “Recent reports of children in state custody sleeping on […]