News - Friday, June 6, 2025

In Chattanooga’s historic Ferger Place neighborhood, a stately American Foursquare-style home brims with character: a coal chute turned spice rack, a butler’s bell discreetly hidden beneath a dining room rug and a double-brick facade that has withstood more than a century of Tennessee weather.

At the Downtown Chattanooga Public Library, just past the shelves of books and study tables, a burst of color draws the eye. It’s an exhibit titled “Fun on the Spectrum,” and it’s unlike anything the library has ever hosted.

“My grandfather was a welder and a machinist,” says Keri Randolph, Ed.LD, executive director of Chattanooga 2.0. “He apprenticed at Ford in Detroit to learn the trade. When he came back to Tennessee, he secured a job that moved our family into the middle class.”

The idea of building a home from the ground up can be exciting – and overwhelming. The National Association of Realtors Consumer Guide: Buying Land & Building a New Home is a helpful tool that walks buyers through what to expect, from finding land and understanding construction loans to the pros and cons of new builds.

The city of Red Bank’s Active Older Adult program continues to feature free classes and special events aimed at residents 55 and older. All activities will take place at the Red Bank Community Center, located at 3653 Tom Weathers Drive. This month’s highlights include a return visit from local author and historian Lawrence Miller, who will present historic photos and stories about Red Bank Monday, June 9. Thursday, June 26, Red Bank Police Sergeant Steve Hope will lead a discussion on fraud prevention and theft awareness. In addition to these events, the AOA program continues to offer chair yoga, qi gong, guided exercise, music jam, bingo and art sessions presented by The Chattery and supported by a grant from Tennessee Arts Build. Complete schedule: www.redbanktn.gov/316/Red-Bank-Active-Older-Adults and @redbanktn on Facebook.

The Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition has released the results of the 2025 point-in-time count, offering a snapshot of homelessness across its 11-county continuum of care.

Conducted on the night of Jan. 22 in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requirements, the PIT count identified 1,092 individuals experiencing homelessness in the region. Of those, 656 were unsheltered and 436 were staying in shelters.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga School of Nursing will launch a new psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner program in fall 2025 in response to the growing need for mental health professionals in Tennessee and across the nation.

The new concentration, housed within UTC’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program, is designed to prepare advanced practice nurses to diagnose and manage mental health conditions across the life span.

Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel has added two experienced attorneys – Lodie Biggs and Daniel Cole – to its legal team. The pair will support several of the firm’s core practice areas, including business, intellectual property and real estate.

You should always be able to ask as many questions as you’d like when working with your financial adviser. So, before you have your annual review, think carefully about what you’d like to ask.

Here are a few suggestions:

• Are my goals still realistic? When you first began working with your financial adviser, you may well have articulated several financial goals. For example, you might have said that you wanted to pay for most of your children’s college education, that you’d like to retire at age 55 or that you hope to travel internationally every year during retirement. In fact, you could have many different goals for which you’re saving and investing.

All Taylor Pannell ever wanted to do was play in the Women’s College World Series. Growing up in Illinois, her family would make the trip to Oklahoma City and let her watch her idols play on the field. She sat in the stands dreaming of one day following in their footsteps.

So. Many. Forks. You’re glad you’re not doing the dishes at the end of this dinner, but in the meantime, what’s protocol? If this event wasn’t a make-or-break, filled-with-repercussions kind of deal for you, you wouldn’t care; you’d use one fork, one spoon and enjoy your meal, thank you. So please pass the salt and the new book “Just Good Manners” by William Hanson.

As if the impending arrival of your first child isn’t stressful enough, you’re undoubtedly shopping for a seemingly endless list of baby gear – cribs, strollers, bottle warmers, sound machines and whatever the heck a MamaRoo is. You’ll likely get most of that stuff from a baby registry. But the biggest baby gear item requires a more significant cash outlay: a new vehicle for your growing family.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A three-judge appeals panel rejected Apple's request to pause an April 30 order banning the company from charging a fee on in-app iPhone transactions processed outside its once-exclusive payment system in a two-page decision issued late Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A unanimous Supreme Court made it easier Thursday to bring lawsuits over so-called reverse discrimination, siding with an Ohio woman who claims she didn't get a job and then was demoted because she is straight.

The justices' decision affects lawsuits in 20 states and the District of Columbia where, until now, courts had set a higher bar when members of a majority group, including those who are white and heterosexual, sue for discrimination under federal law.

WASHINGTON (AP) — There was a notable absence last week when U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in a 58-second video that the government would no longer endorse the COVID-19 vaccine for healthy children or pregnant women.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three decades ago, foreign students at Harvard University accounted for just 11% of the total student body. Today, they account for 26%.

Like other prestigious U.S. universities, Harvard for years has been cashing in on its global cache to recruit the world's best students. Now, the booming international enrollment has left colleges vulnerable to a new line of attack from President Donald Trump. The president has begun to use his control over the nation's borders as leverage in his fight to reshape American higher education.

A private lunar lander from Japan descended toward a touchdown on the moon Friday, but flight controllers lost contact with the spacecraft and were unsure of its fate.

The Tokyo-based company ispace said its lander dropped out of lunar orbit as planned. But there was no immediate word on the outcome, following the hourlong descent.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia "fight for a while" before pulling them apart and pursuing peace, even as Germany's new chancellor appealed to him as the "key person in the world" who could halt the bloodshed by pressuring Vladimir Putin.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to cut Elon Musk's government contracts as their fractured alliance rapidly escalated into a public feud with Trump suggesting he would use the U.S. government to hurt his fellow billionaire financially.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials in some of the 12 countries whose citizens will be soon banned from visiting the United States denounced President Donald Trump's move to resurrect a hallmark policy of his first term and vowed Thursday to push back against the U.S.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that his first call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping since returning to office was "very positive," announcing that the two countries will hold trade talks in hopes of breaking an impasse over tariffs and global supplies of rare earth minerals.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Brown-Forman Corp. reported weaker sales Thursday as the maker of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey confronts challenging market conditions amid global trade conflicts and pinched consumer spending.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to pause a court order to reinstate Education Department employees who were fired in mass layoffs as part of his plan to dismantle the agency.

The Justice Department's emergency appeal to the high court said U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Boston exceeded his authority last month when he issued a preliminary injunction reversing the layoffs of nearly 1,400 people and putting the broader plan on hold.

Federal authorities are moving to drop a racial discrimination lawsuit against the Sheetz convenience store chain, part of a broader effort by President Donald Trump's administration to halt the use of a key tool for enforcing the country's civil rights laws.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has temporarily blocked a proclamation by President Donald Trump that banned foreign students from entering the U.S. to attend Harvard University.

Trump's proclamation was the latest attempt by his Republican administration to prevent the nation's oldest and wealthiest college from enrolling a quarter of its students, who account for much of its research and scholarship.

BOSTON (AP) — Democratic state attorneys general on Friday will seek to block President Donald Trump's proposal for a sweeping overhaul of U.S. elections in a case that tests a constitutional bedrock — the separation of powers.

The top law enforcement officials from 19 states filed a federal lawsuit after the Republican president signed the executive order in March, arguing that its provisions would step on states' power to set their own election rules and that the executive branch had no such authority.

As President Donald Trump and Elon Musk argued on social media on Thursday, the world's richest man threatened to decommission a space capsule used to take astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station.

A few hours later, Musk said he wouldn't follow through on the threat.

NEW DELHI (AP) — India has granted a key license to Elon Musk's Starlink, bringing the satellite provider a step closer to launching its commercial internet services in the country, a top Indian government official said on Friday.

"Yes. License has been granted," said the official with direct knowledge of the matter at the department of telecommunications. The official declined to be identified because the information isn't public.

NEW YORK (AP) — Artificial intelligence 's use in movie making is exploding. And a young film festival, now in its junior year, is showcasing what this technology can do on screen today.

The annual AI Film Festival organized by Runway, a company that specializes in AI-generated video, kicked off in New York Thursday night with ten short films from around the world making their debut on the big screen.

LEOPOLD, Ind. (AP) — On the ceiling of Abbie Brockman's middle school English classroom in Perry County, the fluorescent lights are covered with images of a bright blue sky, a few clouds floating by.

Outside, the real sky isn't always blue. Sometimes it's hazy, with pollution drifting from coal-fired power plants in this part of southwest Indiana. Knowing exactly how much, and what it may be doing to the people who live there, is why Brockman got involved with a local environmental organization that's installing air and water quality monitors in her community.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As transgender service members face a deadline to leave the U.S. military, hundreds are taking the financial bonus to depart voluntarily. But others say they will stay and fight.

For many, it is a wrenching decision to end a career they love, and leave units they have led or worked with for years. And they are angry they are being forced out by the Trump administration's renewed ban on transgender troops.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers slowed hiring last month, but still added a solid 139,000 jobs amid uncertainty over President Donald Trump's trade wars.

Hiring fell from a revised 147,000 in April, the Department of Labor said Friday. The job gains last month were above the 130,000 that economists had forecast.

NEW YORK (AP) — Craft labels from the now-shuttered fabrics seller Joann are making their way to a new home: Michaels.

The Michaels Companies announced on Thursday that it had completed its purchase of Joann's intellectual property and private label brands — in an acquisition that arrives as the Texas-based arts and crafting chain works to expand its own fabric, sewing and yarn offerings.

LONDON (AP) — Amazon has pledged to beef up fight against fake reviews, Britain's competition regulator said Friday after an investigation into whether big online platforms are doing enough to crack down on phony online ratings for products and services.

NEW YORK (AP) — Inside a Walmart store in New Jersey, a worker puts the finishing touches on a cake with an edible ink Sponge Bob on top. A colleague creates a buttercream rosette border for a different cake, while another co-worker frosts a tier of what will be a triple-deck dessert.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — President Donald Trump's pick to be the next U.S. surgeon general has repeatedly said the nation's medical, health and food systems are corrupted by special interests and people out to make a profit at the expense of Americans' health.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon's watchdog is looking into whether any of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's aides were asked to delete Signal messages that may have shared sensitive military information with a reporter, according to two people familiar with the investigation and documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the Republican Party braces for aftershocks from President Donald Trump's spectacular clash with Elon Musk, lawmakers and conservative figures are urging détente, fearful of the potential consequences from a prolonged feud.

At a minimum, the explosion of animosity between the two powerful men could complicate the path forward for Republicans' massive tax and border spending legislation that has been promoted by Trump but assailed by Musk.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Maybe it was always going to end this way, with two billionaires angrily posting about each other on social media, fingers flying across pocket-sized screens as their incandescent feud burned hotter by the minute.

But even if the finale was predictable, that didn't make it any less shocking. After long months when Donald Trump and Elon Musk appeared united in their chaotic mission to remake Washington, their relationship imploded this week like a star going supernova.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Days before she was to deliver opening remarks to World Pride's human rights conference in Washington, Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, the co-founder of UK Black Pride, said she was denied entry to the United States after her visa was revoked due to her travels to Cuba earlier this year.

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday, a day after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, that he encountered a U.S. administration open to discussion and returned confident that Washington remains committed to NATO.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. declined to label China a currency manipulator in a new Treasury report released Thursday, but accuses Beijing of standing out among America's major trading partners for lacking transparency in its exchange rate policies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans have made changes to their party's sweeping tax bill in hopes of preserving a new policy that would prevent states from regulating artificial intelligence for a decade.

In legislative text unveiled Thursday night, Senate Republicans proposed denying states federal funding for broadband projects if they regulate AI. That's a change from a provision in the House-passed version of the tax overhaul that simply banned any current or future AI regulations by the states for 10 years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When he first ran for office, Donald Trump appeared to be a new kind of Republican when it came to gay rights.

Years earlier, he overturned the rules of his own Miss Universe pageant to allow a transgender contestant to compete. He said Caitlyn Jenner could use any bathroom at Trump Tower that she wanted. And he was the first president to name an openly gay person to a Cabinet-level position.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Logan Maxwell had three hits, including a game-breaking grand slam, and Arkansas defeated defending national champion Tennessee 11-4 on Sunday to sweep the best-of-three Fayetteville Super Regional and advance to the College World Series for the 12th time.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Soccer enthusiasts in Music City once numbered so few that when a fan spotted someone with a soccer bumper sticker, they could probably recognize the car's driver.

Now? Don't wave. Odds are it's a stranger.

Soccer has grown by leaps and bounds from the immigrants who played at a park decades ago through semi-pro to teams drawing only a couple hundred diehard fans eager to watch.

MURFREESBORO (AP) — A runaway pet zebra that was on the loose for more than a week in Tennessee and became an internet sensation in the process was captured Sunday, authorities said.

Ed the Zebra was captured safely after being located in a pasture near a subdivision in the Christiana community in central Tennessee, the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office confirmed. The sheriff's office said aviation crews captured the zebra.

Southern Baptists meeting this week in Dallas will be asked to approve resolutions calling for a legal ban on pornography and a reversal of the U.S. Supreme Court's approval of same-sex marriage.

The proposed resolutions call for laws on gender, marriage and family based on what they say is the biblically stated order of divine creation. They also call for legislators to curtail sports betting and to support policies that promote childbearing.

LONDON (AP) — Getty Images is facing off against artificial intelligence company Stability AI in a London courtroom for the first major copyright trial of the generative AI industry.

Opening arguments before a judge at the British High Court began on Monday. The trial could last for three weeks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In his confirmation hearings to lead the National Institutes of Health, Jay Bhattacharya pledged his openness to views that might conflict with his own. "Dissent," he said, "is the very essence of science."

That commitment is being put to the test.

NEW YORK (AP) — Warner Bros. Discovery will calve off cable operations from its streaming service, creating two independent companies as the number of people "cutting the cord" brings with it a sustained upheaval in the entertainment industry.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When the FBI arrested an accused leader of the MS-13 gang, Kash Patel was there to announce the case, trumpeting it as a step toward returning "our communities to safety."

Weeks later, when the Justice Department announced the seizure of $510 million in illegal narcotics bound for the U.S, the FBI director joined other law enforcement leaders in front of a Coast Guard ship in Florida and stacks of intercepted drugs to highlight the haul.

LONDON (AP) — High-level delegations from the United States and China are meeting in London on Monday to try and shore up a fragile truce in a trade dispute that has roiled the global economy,

A Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng was due to hold talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at a U.K. government building.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Amazon said Monday that it will spend $20 billion on two data center complexes in Pennsylvania, including one it is building alongside a nuclear power plant that has drawn federal scrutiny over an arrangement to essentially plug right into the power plant.

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — After stumbling out of the starting gate in Big Tech's pivotal race to capitalize on artificial intelligence, Apple will try to regain its footing Monday at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference.

The presummer rite, which attracts thousands of developers to Apple's Silicon Valley headquarters, is expected to be more subdued than the feverish anticipation that surrounded the event during the previous two years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Donald Trump builds a crypto empire — including hosting a private dinner with top investors at his golf club — Democrats have united in condemning what they call blatant corruption from the White House.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has set an ambitious timeline for passing President Donald Trump's sweeping legislation to cut taxes and spending. But getting it on the Republican president's desk by July 4 will require some big decisions, and soon.

Republican senators are airing concerns about different parts of the legislation, including cuts to Medicaid, changes to food aid and the impact on the deficit. To push the bill to passage, Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota and other negotiators will need to find a compromise that satisfies both ends of their conference — and that can still satisfy the House, which passed the bill last month by only one vote.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's new ban on travel to the U.S. by citizens from 12 mainly African and Middle Eastern countries took effect Monday amid rising tension over the president's escalating campaign of immigration enforcement.

The new proclamation, which Trump signed last week, applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It also imposes heightened restrictions on people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela who are outside the U.S. and don't hold a valid visa.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The leader of al-Qaida's Yemen branch has threatened both U.S. President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip in his first video message since taking over the group last year.