Kelly Puente

2 weeks ago | tennessean.com | Craig Shoup |Kelly Puente |Nicole Young

Heavy rains and flooding will continue to threaten Nashville and most of Tennessee heading into the weekend as a series of strong storms continues to make their way through the area. Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday night, flanked by emergency officials and forecasters during a news conference at the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Nashville, urged everyone to remain vigilant because there will be more possible tornado warnings, hail and flash flooding in the coming days.

1 month ago | tennessean.com | Kelly Puente

TBI still has a backlog of more than 57,000 criminal arrests not linked to court cases. The state is developing a unified court system that will improve background checks, but the project will take years. Tennessee has in federal grants over the years to help improve its criminal history data and clear backlogs in its gun background check system. But officials are concerned that grant funding could dry up as the Trump administration has made massive, across-the-board cuts to federal programs.

1 month ago | tennessean.com | Kelly Puente

Tennessee plans to resume capital punishment this year under vague new protocol for lethal injection. Opponents say the drug is akin to chemical waterboarding. Tennessee plans resume executions this year using pentobarbital, but where it will source the drug and how much it will cost taxpayers remains a secret. The state currently has 45 men and one woman on death row. With the challenges of finding lethal injection drugs, some states are considering gas chambers and firing squads.

1 month ago | tennessean.com | Kelly Puente

The case was cold for nearly a decade before police arrested three men in connection with the murder. Attorneys said the Huddleston family strife began after its wealthy patriarch, Charles S. Huddleston, known in family as “Big Daddy,” died in 2013. Jurors heard closing arguments Friday in the case of a Nashville man who was shot and killed in robbery allegedly ordered by his sister after a family fallout over inheritance money, lawyers said.

1 month ago | tennessean.com | Kelly Puente

Tennessee plans to resume executions this year with the single drug pentobarbital. TDOC provided heavily redacted records showing only the amount paid. TDOC has not said where and when the drug pentobarbital was purchased. Tennessee has paid nearly $600,000 for lethal injection drugs in recent years, but the details are shrouded in secrecy. The scarce information comes as the state plans to resume executions this year under a new protocol using a single drug called pentobarbital.