Open records advocates believe they’re on the verge of major victories in eliminating and changing exceptions to Tennessee laws to offer a more transparent look at how government runs.

Democratic state Senate candidate Gabby Salinas, a three-time cancer survivor, moved with her family to the United States from Bolivia as a child to seek treatment at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Democratic U.S. Senate contender Phil Bredesen met a crowd of 500 at Rhodes College Thursday, Sept. 13, that consisted mostly of supporters on what was originally planned as a debate with Republican rival Marsha Blackburn. Blackburn would not commit to the debate.