News - Friday, July 10, 2026

“At this point in my life, I want to help people who remind me of the young man I once was.”

A. Hamid Andalib leans forward for emphasis before finishing the thought that has come to define the next chapter of his life.

“I want to multiply myself in the lives of others.”

A. Hamid Andalib was recently awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, one of the nation’s most prestigious recognitions celebrating the contributions of immigrants and other Americans who have made a lasting impact on the country through professional achievement, community service and patriotism.

When Gary Starnes first took the bench in August 2012, he brought with him nearly three decades of legal experience, a tireless work ethic and a promise to treat every person who entered his courtroom with dignity and respect.

Fourteen years later, those qualities have become the hallmarks of his judicial career – and they were the very traits colleagues celebrated Monday as dozens of attorneys and judges gathered outside the Hamilton County Courthouse to send him a message of encouragement as he faces the battle of his life: cancer.

With flames racing across the roof of an apartment building in Hixson, firefighters faced a problem that had nothing to do with fire.

They needed water.

Hydrants inside the Integra Vistas apartment complex could only provide so much. The nearest city hydrants capable of supplying the volume firefighters needed were about a mile away on Highway 153.

Moving into a new home is exciting, but the unpacking can feel like its own full-time job. After the paperwork, packing, closing and moving day, it’s easy to look around at all those boxes and wonder where to start.

The National Association of Realtors offers a helpful guide with practical unpacking tips to make settling in feel more manageable. We’re sharing that guidance here to help homeowners tackle the process, one realistic goal at a time.

Dr. Elizabeth O’Brien, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s vice provost for faculty affairs, has been selected for the 2026-27 Becoming a Provost Academy, a national leadership program offered by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.

Hamilton County recorded more than $511.7 million in property sales during June 2026, the monthly sales and mortgages report released by Register of Deeds Marc Gravitt reveals. The office also recorded more than $574.7 million in mortgage activity during the month.

Hamilton County Emergency Medical Services, in partnership with Blood Assurance and local public safety agencies, will host the Scenic City Saves Lives Community Blood Drive July 11, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at Miller Park, 928 Market Street in downtown Chattanooga. The event aims to raise awareness about the ongoing need for blood donations while supporting HCEMS’s recently launched prehospital whole blood program, which enables specially trained crews to administer whole blood to patients suffering severe trauma and life-threatening hemorrhaging before reaching the hospital. In addition to donating blood, attendees can meet representatives from public safety agencies, view emergency vehicles and equipment, and learn more about emergency preparedness, trauma care and the lifesaving role blood donors play in supporting emergency medical services.

Visitors to the Tennessee Aquarium Plaza this summer will discover a new way to experience the state’s rivers.

As part of the nationwide celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, the Tennessee Aquarium installed a series of outdoor signs highlighting 10 remarkable Tennessee rivers and the roles they’ve played in shaping the state’s history, ecology and identity.

From the moment Candace Parker left the University of Tennessee campus it was almost assured she would return to Knoxville one day to be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

That time arrived last month as Parker was part of the eight-member Class of 2026 that was honored for their outstanding contributions to the sport. Parker was the final speaker of the night, and arrived on stage at the Tennessee Theatre wearing an outfit that honored the late legendary Lady Vols head coach Pat Summitt.

The United States is out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The U.S. Men’s National Team lost 4-1 to Belgium in Seattle Monday night, crashing out in a dismal showing after beginning to feel hope following their impressive group showing. 

From before the match ever began, the good vibes that had surrounded this team had started to wane, and ultimately, off-pitch controversy seemed to suck the energy out of what had been a vibrant team.

Years and years ago, in response to a book titled “Real Texans Don’t Drink Scotch in Their Dr Pepper,” I wrote a column suggesting what “Real Missipians” do and don’t do.

(And yes, that’s how I spelled it, to align with proper Magnolia State pronunciation. Who needs every one of those syllables?)

Financial security doesn’t have to come from a big salary, a lucky investment or some dramatic turning point. For most people, wealth is built more simply, through small habits repeated many times over. 

If you’re like many young people, you may feel you don’t have enough money to start investing. The reality is that you’re in a great position to build the small habits that will help you create lasting wealth. Here are five tips to help you get started.

Many new electric vehicles are prohibitively expensive for car shoppers. But there are a few relatively low-cost options that provide plenty of usable range and utility. 

One great example is the Nissan Leaf. Originally debuting for 2011, it’s today’s longest-tenured EV and remains among the most affordable ways to go electric. The 2026 Leaf has been fully redesigned and features sleeker styling and a maximum estimated range of more than 300 miles.

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Times, the Daily News and other media outlets are asking a federal judge to impose sanctions on OpenAI, escalating a fight over artificial intelligence and copyright that could shape the future of a struggling news industry.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Olympic canoe racer pleaded not guilty on Thursday to deliberately damaging the recently renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a politically charged case that his defense attorneys and other Trump administration critics have derided as an abuse of prosecutorial power.

NEW YORK (AP) — PepsiCo reported stronger-than-expected revenue in the second quarter despite weaker demand in North America, where it said consumers tightened their budgets as the Iran war caused gas prices to spike.

"I think the consumer is worse than what we had anticipated, and it's driven mainly by gas prices," PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said Thursday during a conference call with investors.

CINCINNATI (AP) — An Ohio judge has granted a preliminary injunction for 24 men's and women's college basketball players suing the NCAA for eligibility, claiming the new age-based model unfairly shuts them out of further competition.

Judge Christopher Wagner said Thursday the NCAA eligibility rules have been applied in an arbitrary and capricious manner.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York's attorney general sued several large chemical and agricultural companies on Thursday, alleging they knowingly sold harmful so-called forever chemicals used in cosmetics, non-stick cookware and other products.

The lawsuit against 3M, DuPont de Nemours, The Chemours Company and Corteva and other manufacturers is the latest legal action over PFAS, which have been linked to an increased risk of certain cancers and developmental delays in children.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he believes the ceasefire with Iran is over. He says he's not sure he wants a deal anymore and says the U.S. should "finish the job." But he also insists that continued attacks do not mean a return to war or long-term action.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States launched new airstrikes against Iran early Thursday, and Tehran responded by targeting U.S.-allied Mideast countries in an exchange of fire that threatened an interim deal intended to help end the war in the Middle East.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, economist Raj Chetty and former Bank of England governor Mervyn King are among a slate of names released by the Federal Reserve Thursday that will help develop recommended changes to the central bank's operations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's plans to build a skyline-altering arch in the nation's capital is getting another review from the federal commission whose approval he needs, but the agency's staff says the project should be revised before it gets the go-ahead.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose, and oil prices eased Thursday as financial markets calmed in the wait to see what will come next after President Donald Trump raised doubts about the temporary truce in the war with Iran.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% and more than recovered its loss from the day before, even though the United States launched new airstrikes against Iran, which responded by targeting U.S. allies in the Middle East. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 139 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 1.3%.

NEW YORK (AP) — The former chief financial officer of The Epoch Times, a conservative multinational media company, interrupted jury selection at his money laundering trial on Thursday to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge in a $67 million fraud scheme.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will let the bipartisan housing bill approved by Congress become law without his signature, saying Friday that he was refusing to put his name on it because of the little progress made in passing a strict voter ID bill that he has been pushing.

NEW YORK (AP) — When two steel columns buckled this week inside the former Pfizer headquarters in midtown Manhattan, the scare prompted evacuations and halted work on one of the nation's largest office-to-apartment conversions.

It also highlighted the complex engineering behind adaptive reuse projects, which have become increasingly popular as officials try to tackle a nationwide housing shortage by transforming offices that have sat underused since the COVID-19 pandemic.

BERLIN (AP) — Volkswagen reported weak sales numbers on Friday, a day after the giant German automaker announced plans to slash the number of models by nearly half as sales plunged, particularly in China.

The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company said group sales fell 8.6% in the second quarter to just under 2.1 million vehicles, with sales in China alone plummeted by more than one-third.

NEW YORK (AP) — Kia America has issued a new recall for nearly 463,000 of its Telluride SUVs, urging owners to again park their vehicles outside and away from buildings after several customers reported fires following previous repairs.

The recall, announced this week by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, replaces a prior one Kia initiated in 2024. Certain Tellurides from the 2020-2024 model years are affected, with the NHTSA warning that the front power seat motor of these vehicles may overheat due to a stuck slide knob.

Most of America's Lower 48 states are about to swelter under an unusually large, strong and long-lasting heat dome that will spike temperatures in a way that the National Weather Service calls "significant and dangerous."

The heat wave will start this weekend and last at least a week, with some areas feeling its effects until the end of the month, meteorologists said. Temperatures will be 15 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit (8 to 14 degrees Celsius) warmer than normal in many areas, including at night, they said. Hotter nighttime temperatures are especially bad for both human health and efforts to tamp down an already active wildfire season.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Last December, after Make America Healthy Again activists drew up a petition to get him fired, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin pledged to release a formal agenda of MAHA priorities that his agency would pursue, including protections against harmful chemicals and other health concerns.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — African countries have secured $900 million in new financial commitments to expand access to clean cooking technologies, which replace polluting fuels with cleaner alternatives, the International Energy Agency, IEA, said Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Many Jewish adults feel unsafe in the United States, a new AP-NORC poll finds, with a majority saying they feel less safe than they did before Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research points to how Jewish adults' attitudes toward their own personal safety have changed over a relatively short period as more Americans became critical of the United States' close alliance with Israel. The war in Gaza sparked U.S. protests over Israel's military actions against the Palestinians in Gaza, and coincided with an increase in violent attacks against U.S. Jewish communities.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States launched new airstrikes against Iran early Thursday, and Tehran responded by targeting U.S.-allied Mideast countries in an exchange of fire that threatened an interim deal intended to help end the war in the Middle East.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Mysterious, unclaimed airstrikes that hit Iran after the U.S. said it finished its attacks have again raised questions of who else may be targeting the Islamic Republic.

The strikes Thursday, just as Iran prepared to bury the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hit areas across southern Iran. The country's theocracy hasn't directly blamed anyone, though one lawmaker warned the United Arab Emirates about allegedly providing support to the U.S. campaign against Iran.

President Donald Trump has ousted members of a bipartisan federal election commission that resisted his efforts to require would-be voters to document their U.S. citizenship before registering.

The White House on Friday confirmed the executive action against members of the Election Assistance Commission, which distributes federal grants to states, oversees the testing of voting systems and maintains the national voter registration forms.