Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — More than 150 years after slaves were freed in the U.S., voters in five states will soon decide whether to close loopholes that led to the proliferation of a different form of slavery — forced labor by people convicted of certain crimes.

None of the proposals would force immediate changes inside the states’ prisons, though they could lead to legal challenges related to how they use prison labor, a lasting imprint of slavery’s legacy on the entire United States.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A day of terror that left four dead and three wounded in a Tennessee city this week tore a hole in the hearts of those left behind: the grandmother of three children left without parents, the man who lay down beside his fallen best friend and refused to leave, the daughter whose wounded father is her “whole world.”

Police have so far released few details of the rampage that sent Memphis into lockdown as a shooter drove around town for hours, opening fire on people and streaming some of the attacks on social media.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee man accused of killing four people and wounding three others in a livestreamed shooting rampage that paralyzed Memphis and led to a city-wide manhunt was granted a public defender during Friday morning court appearance and will remain jailed on a first-degree murder charge.

Ezekiel Kelly, 19, told a judge he could not afford a lawyer for accusations in Wednesday’s attack that caused panic and fear across the city.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A gunman who livestreamed himself driving around Memphis shooting at people, killing four and wounding three others in seemingly random attacks, was finally arrested after crashing a stolen car, police said early Thursday.

The hours-long rampage had police warning people across the city to shelter in place, locking down a baseball stadium and university campuses and suspending public bus services as frightened residents wondered where the man might strike next.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Federal agents in Memphis have seized a potentially 3,000-year-old ancient Egyptian artifact that was shipped in from Europe.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection says they intercepted the Egyptian canopic jar lid of the funeral deity named Imsety on Aug. 17. The jars were used to hold the internal organs of mummies.

The agency says the item was sent from a dealer to a private buyer in the U.S., and the shipper made contradicting statements about its value.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s disgraced former House Speaker Glen Casada and his top aide were arrested Tuesday on federal charges including bribery, kickbacks and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Their indictments follow the abrupt resignation in March of Republican Rep. Robin Smith, who pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud charges involving Casada and his chief of staff, Cade Cothren. Speculation has swirled about what additional charges might come in the corruption probe.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A private prison company has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit over a Tennessee inmate’s killing that got national attention after a judge ordered the plaintiff’s attorney to stop tweeting about it.

Tennessee-based CoreCivic and attorney Daniel Horwitz, who represents the family of the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center inmate who died, noted the settlement Tuesday in a federal court filing in Nashville.

(AP) --- Located along a remote stretch of Highway 395, the Fort Independence Travel Plaza touts a dozen gas pumps, clean restrooms and made-to-order meals for travelers visiting California’s Eastern Sierra.

The facility, which provides revenue for a Paiute Indian tribe, is about to quadruple in size thanks to an $8 million federal grant that will help build a new gas station with room for cultural displays and locally made products.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The moment nurse RaDonda Vaught realized she had given a patient the wrong medication, she rushed to the doctors working to revive 75-year-old Charlene Murphey and told them what she had done. Within hours, she made a full report of her mistake to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Murphey died the next day, on Dec. 27, 2017. On Friday, a jury found Vaught guilty of criminally negligent homicide and gross neglect.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Black college students once marched downtown from the north Nashville neighborhood where Aaron Marble preaches, sitting at whites-only lunch counters to fight for civil rights. Soon, his historically Black community will fold into a mostly rural, white 14-county territory, and he’ll likely have a Republican congressman.