Years after the wine in grocery stores battle was fought, a new battle is brewing — over spirit-based seltzers. 

House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Gov. Bill Lee say they don’t want to deal with the requirements that accompany federal funding for education and HIV prevention and Tennessee is in the financial shape to replace it.

While emissions from sectors such as energy production have fallen in the past few decades, those from agriculture — especially livestock and corn — are growing in most places. 

Mayor Jim Strickland made a $684 million improvement proposal. Gov. Bill Lee earmarked $350 million for FedExForum and Liberty Stadium renovations in Tennessee’s budget plan. Where do things go from here? Some questions and answers.

Tennessee Senate lawmakers approved the expansion of an education voucher program, currently just for Shelby and Davidson Counties, that allows public tax dollars to be given to families to pay for private schooling to Hamilton County.

Two members of the Tennessee National Guard were killed during a flight-training mission. The helicopter crashed around 3 p.m. local time and caught fire.

If the Shelby County Commission adopts a resolution of no confidence in Halbert, 88,481 voters have to sign a petition to put a recall question on the ballot. Republican state Rep. Mark White’s bill brings that down to 5,899.

According to the Shelby County Health Department, nearly 7,000 residents were living with HIV as of 2021, and the county ranks third nationally in incidence rates of new HIV cases. 

The first dollars from the 2021 investment for the Mental Health Trust Fund will be spent in fiscal year 2025. A Republican senator said, “I thought we should have just used that money... It just languishes in the Treasury.”

In a General Assembly dominated by Republicans, an incident over the dress code was the first test of how freely Pearson can express his values — without antagonizing colleagues whose help he’ll need to pass legislation.

Amtrak has proposed a new service that would connect Atlanta to Chattanooga and Nashville, but the Tennessee Department of Transportation could push for a Memphis-Nashville line.

His ex-boyfriend said Harris shouted at him and pushed and grabbed him, then he “ransacked” his apartment.

Memphis is hoping to expand ways state money can be used. 

“The state of our beloved state is prosperous, hopeful, and unrivaled,” Lee said. Doctors stood outside the state House chamber protesting a bill that bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

The proposed funding, part of the governor’s budget, still needs to pass the Tennessee General Assembly.

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Bill Lee’s State of the State highlights his priorities despite vocal opposition

“I wish you could understand what these kids go through, what it’s like to be forced to live in the wrong body,” one Memphis physician told lawmakers.

The Tennessee Emergency Medical Services Board voted unanimously Friday, Feb. 3, to suspend the licenses of former Memphis Fire Department EMTs JaMichael Sandridge and Robert Long, effective immediately.

Gov. Bill Lee’s decision to reject federal funding for HIV prevention is a “debilitating and destabilizing move for our organization,” said OUTMemphis’ executive director. 

Tennessee’s Republican-dominant Legislature has advanced a handful of proposals that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth and severely limit where drag shows can take place. 

“The state has determined right now that it’s in the best interest of Tennesseans for the state to assume direct financial and managerial responsibility for these services,” Health Commissioner Ralph Alvarado told Tennessee lawmakers.

What’s at stake in the case is the federal jurisdiction over the nation’s most valuable natural resource: water. 

In the absence of more protective trotline regulations from the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission, the American Canoe Association is sponsoring a bill in the state legislature to help prevent aquatic accidents.

In his first race for elected office, Pearson easily beat attorney and former Shelby County Commissioner Julian Bolton in the Democratic primary. Pearson will be running uncontested in the general election.

The County Commission will vote Wednesday on a move to make the primary winner of the District 86 special election the appointee until the uncontested March election results are certified.

With an empty Republican primary on Tuesday’s ballot and no independent candidates, the winner of the 10-candidate Democratic primary will be the de facto winner of the seat after the token March special general election.