Tennessee

According to an order issued in May, people serving time in White County Jail can shave 30 days off their sentences if they obtain long-term contraception. Critics say the order is unconstitutional.

Free college programs are popping up across the country, but Tennessee is the first state to offer free community college to almost every adult, regardless of when they finished high school.

People are taking stock of the damage after heavy rain, flooding and tornadoes swept through over the weekend. The American Red Cross is calling it the deadliest start to tornado season in nine years.

The fire in east Tennessee that began last month has killed at least 14 people and caused widespread destruction in the town of Gatlinburg. Two minors have been arrested and might be tried as adults.

As the death toll continued to rise from a wildfire that destroyed parts of Gatlinburg, Tenn., officials began to assess the response to a blaze that grew out of control in a matter of minutes.

Eight new blazes raged Wednesday near Gatlinburg, Tenn., where fire has already destroyed more than 150 structures and injured dozens of people. "There were rivers of fire," said a resident who fled.

Four children were critically wounded in Alabama by a tornado and severe thunderstorms, the National Weather Service says. Tornadoes were also reported in Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana.

At least three people died and hundreds of structures were damaged or destroyed in Tennessee's Sevier County after a wildfire moved through populated areas overnight.

Some unlikely allies in Nashville have united to expunge the record of a man convicted of a so-called "sodomy" law in 1995. His record has been cleared, but charges against 41 men have come to light.

The pipeline's operator plans to have a workaround in place by the end of the week, but in the meantime prices are up 20 to 30 cents per gallon and some stations are running dry.