News - Friday, November 28, 2025

On Nov. 21, the second division courtroom in which Judge Tom Greenholtz once pronounced his rulings felt more like a gathering of old colleagues than a place of criminal proceedings as attorneys, judges and friends filled the benches to witness the unveiling of Greenholtz’s portrait.

The first thing visitors might notice inside Black Cat Spa and Lounge is the scent. It drifts through the air – earthy, citrusy or warmly spiced, depending on which custom candle is glowing – and signals that the world outside has been dialed down a few degrees.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has released its first conceptual renderings for the long-anticipated redevelopment of historic Engel Stadium, offering the public an early look at plans to transform the former baseball venue into a new home for UTC women’s athletics and the Hamilton County Health Department.

On a warm autumn afternoon, with school groups milling nearby and civic leaders gathered under the shadow of the Tennessee Aquarium’s familiar peaked roofs, a significant shift unfolded on the Aquarium Plaza. After more than three decades of delivering educational programming from scattered corners of its campus, the Tennessee Aquarium opened the STREAM Learning Center – a centralized home for the hands-on learning that has touched students and educators since the Aquarium’s debut in 1992.

Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers is continuing its march across Tennessee, opening its newest Chattanooga-area restaurant last week at 1833 Gunbarrel Road.

The fast-growing chain, known nationally for its minimalist menu and cult-favorite Cane’s Sauce, is the company’s second Chattanooga-area location following a Hixson opening in January that Doug Haley, area leader of restaurants for Raising Cane’s, says has performed well.

For most people, a home is more than just four walls and a roof. It’s a place filled with memories and has significant meaning to you and your loved ones. That’s why it’s beneficial to start thinking now about how this major financial investment property should be handled if you’re unable to manage it or after you’re gone.

Cempa Community Care’s director of clinic services, Amy Eldridge, has been appointed to the Regional Health Council following a unanimous vote by the Hamilton County Commission. The appointment came on the recommendation of District 8 Commissioner Mike Chauncey.

Hamilton County aSchools has approved Centerstone to continue providing school-based mental health services following its recent request for proposal process, extending a partnership that has supported students and families for more than a decade.

Giving to charity feels good, but understanding the tax benefits can benefit both the charity and you. Whether you donate regularly or are planning your first gift, knowing how charitable tax deductions work can help you make informed decisions while supporting causes you care about. Here are things to consider:

You must’ve spent that five bucks that was tucked in your wallet’s secret compartment.

Where and when is a good question. A cold drink, a hot one, a snack, who knows? You’ll just tuck another Lincoln away and there you go - covered, until the next time you need a fiver and it’s not there. 

The University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University have played 118 football games in a rivalry dating back to 1892. They have witnessed just about everything possible on the field over the 133-year span. This season, however, will provide a consequential milestone.

The end of the year is approaching, and there will be some compelling options available if you’re shopping for an inexpensive SUV. One of the newest is the Chevrolet Trax. The Trax is Chevy’s smallest crossover SUV, yet it’s practical for its size and comes well equipped with the latest technology features.

ATLANTA (AP) — A judge on Wednesday dismissed the Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump and others after the prosecutor who took over the case said he would not pursue the charges, ending the last effort to punish the president in the courts for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee death row inmate Harold Wayne Nichols on Monday declined to choose between the electric chair and lethal injection for his Dec. 11 execution, meaning the state will default to lethal injection.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court won't immediately allow the Trump administration to fire the director of the U.S. Copyright Office, instead delaying a decision until after they rule in two other high-profile firing cases.

The justices' Wednesday order leaves in effect for now lower court rulings that held that the official, Shira Perlmutter, could not be unilaterally fired.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A Massachusetts woman who was once engaged to the brother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt remains in ICE custody two weeks after being arrested on her way to pick up the son she shares with her former fiancé.

Bruna Ferreira, 33, was driving to her son's school in New Hampshire on Nov. 12 when she was pulled over in Revere, Massachusetts, her attorney, Todd Pomerleau, said Wednesday.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Vanderbilt has given coach Clark Lea a contract extension after he led the Commodores to their best regular season since 1915 and put the program that began in 1890 within one victory of its first 10-win season.

Athletic director Candice Storey Lee announced the extension Friday for Lea, the 2024 Southeastern Conference coach of the year. The private university did not announce the length or money involved, but the extension reportedly is for six years.

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Jacksonville Jaguars are showing how quickly a franchise can turn around in a coach's first season.

Trevor Lawrence threw for 229 yards and two touchdowns and the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Tennessee Titans 25-3 Sunday for their third straight victory.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Titans running back Julius Chestnut said Jacksonville Jaguars punter Logan Cooke said he was going to kill him during Sunday's game.

Chestnut blocked Cooke as the punter got a leg up to trip Titans returner Chimere Dike at the end of a 47-yard return with 14:06 left. Cooke was hurt and evaluated for a concussion before returning to punt at the end of the Jaguars' next series.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Less than a month after Democrats scored a string of victories over Republicans in the Nov. 4 general election, the next test at the ballot box for both parties heading into the 2026 midterm season will be Tuesday in a Tennessee special congressional election on usually reliable GOP turf.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Alina Habba is disqualified from serving as New Jersey's top federal prosecutor despite his administration's maneuvers to keep her in the role, an appeals court said Monday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — For many children, the experience of getting their first pair of glasses is an inevitable milestone, the first in a lifetime of visits to the eye doctor.

But what if those lenses could actually help preserve the child's vision and reduce the chances for more serious eye problems in adulthood?

NEW YORK (AP) — Chain stores have Black Friday. Online marketplaces have Cyber Monday. For local businesses, it's Small Business Saturday.

In the last 20 years, more segments of the retail industry have vied for their own piece of the holiday shopping season. The travel trade has firmly joined the trend with another post-Thanksgiving sales push: Travel Tuesday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Cat Murphy, a college student, has wanted to be a journalist since she was 11. Many of her friends don't understand why.

When they engage with the news — if they do — they hear a cacophony of voices. They don't know who to believe. Reporters are biased. They make mistakes. Besides, why would you hitch your future to a dying industry?

WASHINGTON (AP) — The holiday season is a time for giving thanks, giving gifts — and for many, a time for giving back.

Food banks, services that deliver meals to seniors and other U.S. charities typically see a surge in volunteering between Thanksgiving and the end of the year. But there are good reasons to volunteer at any time of the year.

NEW YORK (AP) — Major retail chains and tech companies are offering new or updated artificial intelligence tools in time for the holiday shopping season, hoping to give consumers an easier gift-buying experience and themselves an augmented share of online spending.

NEW YORK (AP) — Deals promoted as some of the best of the holiday season are expected to keep people across the United States glued to their computers and smartphones as the post-Thanksgiving shopping marathon wraps up on Cyber Monday.

It's no secret that buying things online is now a staple of many people's everyday routines. And year after year, those purchases mount during the gift-giving holiday rush. Experts expect consumers to drive record Cyber Monday spending this year, even amid wider economic uncertainty.

WASHINGTON (AP) — From corporate executives to Wall Street analysts to Federal Reserve officials, references to the "K-shaped economy" are rapidly proliferating.

So what does it mean? Simply put, the upper part of the K refers to higher-income Americans seeing their incomes and wealth rise while the bottom part points to lower-income households struggling with weaker income gains and steep prices.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday defended his Treasury chief against opposition claims that she misled the public and the markets about the state of the public finances before last week's budget.

Starmer said "there was no misleading" in the run-up to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves' tax-hiking budget, which the government hopes will raise money to reduce government borrowing, invest in infrastructure and public services, ease the cost of living and spur elusive economic growth.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump has commuted the prison sentence of former investment manager David Gentile, who was convicted of defrauding investors — the latest in a series of clemency actions Trump has taken in white-collar criminal cases.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said he'll release the results of his MRI test that he received in October.

"If you want to have it released, I'll release it," the Republican president said Sunday during an exchange with reporters as he traveled back to Washington from Florida.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers from both parties said Sunday they support congressional reviews of U.S. military strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, citing a published report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order for all crew members to be killed as part of a Sept. 2 attack.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon's investigation of Sen. Mark Kelly over a video that urges American troops to defy "illegal orders" has raised a slew of questions, and some criticism, from legal experts.

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia is The Associated Press college football national player of the week for the second time in four weeks.

He threw for 268 yards and a touchdown and ran for a career-high 165 yards and a score in the Commodores' 45-24 win over in-state rival Tennessee. It was his second game with 200-plus yards passing and more than 100 yards rushing.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s controversial vaccine advisory committee will be meeting later this week under a new chairperson, federal officials announced Monday.

Martin Kulldorff is leaving the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to take a leadership role within the Department of Health and Human Services, officials said.

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. has secured a 0% tariff rate for all U.K. medicines exported to the U.S. for at least three years, officials said Monday, in return for the U.K. spending more on new medicines.

Under the deal, the U.S. agreed to exempt U.K.-origin pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical ingredients, and medical technology from import taxes.

NEW YORK (AP) — Starbucks will pay about $35 million to more than 15,000 New York City workers to settle claims it denied them stable schedules and arbitrarily cut their hours, city officials announced Monday.

The company will also pay $3.4 million in civil penalties under the agreement with the city's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. It also agrees to comply with the city's Fair Workweek law going forward.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Monday that a Navy admiral ordered a second strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea and insists that a September attack that has come under bipartisan scrutiny was lawful.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt offered a justification for the Sept. 2 strike after lawmakers from both parties on Sunday announced support for congressional reviews of U.S. military strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, citing a published report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order for a second strike that killed survivors on the boat in that incident.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Leveling a second strike on the survivors of an initial attack on an alleged drug boat would have been a crime, legal experts say.

It doesn't matter whether the U.S. is in "armed conflict" with drug cartels as the Trump administration asserts. Such a fatal attack would have violated peacetime laws and those governing armed conflict, the experts say.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Monday that three of his New York offices were targeted with emailed bomb threats from an email address alleging the "2020 election was rigged."

Schumer said in a statement that local law enforcement received bomb threats referencing his offices in Rochester, Binghamton and Long Island with the email subject line "MAGA."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump' s doctor says the president had MRI imaging on his heart and abdomen in October as part of a preventative screening for men his age, according to a memo from the physician released by the White House on Monday.