Previous years
August after raising claims that racism tainted the jury selection process.
4. TENNCARE BLOCK GRANT: Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s administration shipped off a plan in November for the federal government to consider, requesting to become the first state to receive funding in a lump sum for its Medicaid program, Tenncare. The block grant proposal, which lawmakers called for under a new state law, drew plenty of concerns that the plan could compromise care for the state’s most vulnerable low-income and disabled citizens. Lee has insisted it won’t.
5. CYNTOIA BROWN: Fifteen years after Cyntoia Brown was charged with murder, the woman who says she was a 16-year-old sex trafficking victim when she killed a man in 2004 was released from prison in August after former Republican Gov. Bill Haslam commuted her life sentence in January. Brown drew celebrity support for her clemency plea and has published a book since her release from prison.
6. VOTER REGISTRATION PENALTIES: New restrictions on voter registration groups advocated by Republican Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett cleared the legislature and GOP Gov. Bill Lee signed off on them, only to see the penalties blocked by a federal judge before they would’ve taken effect. In a first among states, the law includes fines for groups with paid workers that submit too many incomplete registration forms. Groups could also face misdemeanors if they don’t comply with new administrative rules. The restrictions aren’t scheduled to face trial until February 2021.
7. VOLKSWAGEN UNION: Workers at Volkswagen’s plant in Chattanooga
Here is a look at the top stories of the previous five years:
2018: Former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry revealed in January that she had a prolonged extramarital affair with her former bodyguard. The two pleaded guilty separately to felony theft charges related to the affair, and Barry resigned.
2017: Republican Bob Corker engages in a war of words with President Donald Trump and makes a surprise decision to retire from the Senate after two terms.
2016: Wildfires roar out of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, torching hundreds of buildings and leaving 14 people dead.
2015: Four Marines and a sailor are shot and killed in Chattanooga.
2014: Voters approve constitutional amendment to give Tennessee lawmakers more power to restrict abortions.
in June voted against forming a factory-wide union, handing a setback to the United Auto Workers’ efforts to gain a foothold among foreign auto facilities in the South. The vote followed an announcement in January that the Chattanooga factory will be the focus of an $800 million investment in the company’s manufacturing of electric vehicles in North America.
8. NASHVILLE NFL DRAFT: Nashville transformed its downtown to draw about 600,000 people over three days for the NFL Draft in April, smashing the previous record when Philadelphia drew 250,000 fans for the 2017 draft.
9. INMATE ESCAPE: Tennessee convict Curtis Watson was charged with sexually assaulting and strangling female corrections administrator Debra Johnson at West Tennessee State Penitentiary before escaping prison grounds on a tractor in August.
10. RURAL KILLINGS: Michael Cummins was charged with killing eight people in rural Westmoreland in April, including his parents, uncle and a 12year-old girl. At the time of the slayings, Cummins was close to being arrested for probation violations after a conviction for attempting to burn down a neighbor’s house and assaulting her. A prosecutor has indicated he plans to seek the death penalty against Cummins.