The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says staffing, grants and tech upgrades would help it enter backlogged criminal information into the background-check system.

Beginning July 1, Memphis leaders will lay groundwork for a statewide nonprofit association, which they see as the place that will offer research on issues germane to nonprofits and help them get legislative access in Nashville.

The D.C. Scorecard shows partisan lines still intact among the city’s four representatives on the espionage indictment against Donald Trump. Also, Cohen talks Memphis to Nashville Amtrak service, while Kustoff talks workforce at Le Bonheur.

Not since 1920, when the New York State Assembly ousted five representatives for being socialists during the post-World War I Red Scare, had a legislature expelled a member for their views.

Gov. Bill Lee and U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty talked about several topics, including the federal court ruling declaring the state’s ban on drag shows unconstitutional and the federal debt ceiling.

Lee and a group of around 30 elected officials, TDOT employees and construction workers stood near the Crump Boulevard overpass, which is where a new roundabout is being built. The project has been talked about in some shape or another for more than 20 years. 

Related story:

Gov. Lee talks drag law court ruling, Sen. Hagerty talks debt ceiling vote

The multi-year project includes the construction of a new roundabout and is designed to allow I-55 traffic to avoid the “cloverleaf” at Crump. 

Tennessee leaders anticipate the end of legal abortion will lead to more children in foster care and say a package of adoption bills will speed the placement of kids in permanent, stable family situations.

The ruling, released early Saturday morning, found that the bill was an unconstitutional restriction on free speech.

The D.C. Scorecard tracks a rare crossing of partisan lines among the city’s representatives in Washington on the debt ceiling compromise. They voted along partisan lines on a Republican attempt to stop the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan.

Lee has previously praised the NRA’s efforts to protect the Second Amendment but has since faced opposition from the group as he works to pass gun control legislation.

“This is an effort of a reactionary group of lawmakers to push LGBT people back into the closet,” said attorney Brice Timmons. “We’re talking about pushing people back four decades.”

Traffic is increasing, and the locks and dams have aged far past their life expectancy. They slow barges down, and shippers and commodity groups fear a breakdown on the horizon.

Tennessee’s Medicaid agency expects to cut hundreds of thousands of people over the next year. Find out how to renew your coverage.

But opponents of nuclear energy say harm to the environment and public health — including from mining and nuclear waste — outweigh the benefits of it being a low-carbon energy source.

Former state Sen. Brian Kelsey’s criminal campaign fraud case will not proceed to trial after a Middle Tennessee judge Tuesday rejected his request to withdraw his two guilty pleas.

DCS Commissioner Margie Quin reported that no more children were sleeping in offices and the department has had success hiring since a state government-wide salary overhaul.

The announcement comes more than two weeks after lawmakers concluded their annual session without passing significant gun-safety legislation.

State Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) said the state’s lack of a cap on jet fuel taxes is part of the reason the Memphis International Airport doesn’t have more daily flights.

The deadline for candidates to file in the special election was noon Thursday, May 4. Justin J. Pearson and David Page are in the June Democratic primary.

Tennessee will be getting a new education commissioner this summer, the state Department of Education announced Monday morning.

Among those were two bills introducing blended sentencing for juveniles, two bills creating harsher sentences for adults and one making it easier to transfer kids to adult court.

The DOJ Civil Rights Division argues SB1 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment in part because it “denies necessary medical care to youth based solely on who they are.”

Following his attempt to back out of a plea deal, former state Sen. Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) will appear in federal court in Nashville May 16 for an evidentiary hearing in his campaign fraud case.