$500 million is the latest figure of how much it will cost to repair all of the damage caused by the Smoky Mountain wildfires. Sevier County officials held a news conference on Tuesday and reported the fires have been 100 percent contained. The focus has now completely shifted to rebuilding efforts. The wildfires have been devastating, not only to the residents who lost their homes, but also to the families of the 14 people who were killed. During Tuesday’s news conference, park rangers broke down their response day by day. They say they were fighting a severe drought paired...

A tragic fire occurred Monday morning around 8:30am on Blue Creek Road in Tullahoma inside Franklin County. When authorities arrived, deputies say bystanders helped pull three children from the home. Tragically one child died after being taken to Southern Tennessee Regional Healthcare in Winchester. The two others were flown to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville where they remain in the burn unit. There is an ongoing investigation into the fire by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in conjunction with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and state bomb and arson...

If you smoke in your home and you live in public housing, soon you’ll be required to stop smoking or you’ll have to move. Public housing developments nationwide, including all those in Coffee County will be required to provide a smoke-free environment for their residents. The new U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rule, set for full implementation by August 2018, requires each agency administering public housing to ban lit tobacco products (cigarettes, cigars or pipes) and waterpipes (hookahs) in all living units, indoor common areas, administrative offices and all outdoor areas within 25 feet of housing...

A Tennessee congressman has introduced a school bus seat belt bill designed to help protect school children. U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, who represents Tennessee’s 9th U.S. Congressional District around Memphis, is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Cohen introduced the Bring Enhanced Liability in Transportation for Students (BELTS) Act to help protect children who ride on school buses. The bill would create federal grants to purchase new school buses with lap/shoulder seat belts or equip existing ones with such belts and creates federal grants to equip school buses with motion-activated detection systems, according to a news...

Medical marijuana will again be a topic of discussion in the Tennessee state legislature as Rep. Jeremy Faison plans to introduce a bill during the next legislative session. Faison’s office said Friday a formal announcement about the bill proposal would come Wednesday. Specifics about the bill will be discussed at that time. Faison said in October he planned to introduce a medical marijuana bill after meeting with several families who moved from Tennessee to Colorado to get treatment they can’t get...

Politicians on both sides of the aisle would admit that there is room for improvement for the Affordable Care Act and the Health Exchange, but a growing number of Republicans are calling for repeal of the legislation. While starting over sounds logical to some, a new report from the Urban Institute finds that would come at a significant cost to millions of Americans. Michele Johnson, executive director of the Tennessee Justice Center, says before a repeal, lawmakers must have a plan in place. “Rural Tennesseans are going to be impacted by a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, unless...

One person has been killed in a crash on Interstate 24 in Coffee County. The wreck involving two vehicles happened in the eastbound lanes near mile marker 99 around 1:15 a.m. Saturday morning. Karlea A. Hedgepath, 24, of Smyrna, was killed in the Saturday morning crash. Hedgepath was the passenger in a pickup truck heading eastbound on I-24. The driver of the pickup, 23-year-old Zachary T. Kilburn, sustained injuries and was flown to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga. The vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed when it attempted to change lanes from the left to the right....