News - Friday, August 7, 2026

The blueprint for an American bachelor’s degree has remained essentially unchanged for more than a century. Ironically, one of its defining features – the college credit hour – wasn’t originally designed to measure learning at all.

Chattanooga’s riverfront has undergone dramatic transformations over the past several decades, but city leaders say its next evolution depends on something that has become almost as much a part of the city’s identity as the Tennessee River itself: public-private collaboration.

Within the span of two weeks, two Chattanooga families lost family members in separate pedestrian crashes.

Shortly after 11 p.m. on July 12, a 38-year-old man was struck while crossing Lee Highway. He later died at a local hospital.

Then, just before 10 p.m. on July 26, a 60-year-old man walking along Highway 58 was struck by a southbound vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene.

Pinnacle Financial Partners has hired Ivan Brown as a community financial adviser in Chattanooga.

Brown joins the firm with experience in commercial banking, commercial lending and Community Reinvestment Act initiatives. Most recently, he served as vice president and relationship manager at Cadence Bank, where he managed a commercial real estate loan portfolio, underwrote development and construction loans and led commercial loan underwriting efforts.

Every solid house starts with a good blueprint and a strong foundation. Saving for a child’s education is very similar.

College costs can seem daunting. In addition to tuition, you’ll need to account for housing and food, books and supplies, transportation and other expenses. The average annual budget at an instate public university runs around $30,990, and a private school is $65,470 the College Board reports. 

In an era when some college athletes are earning millions of dollars, Tennessee star senior linebacker Arion Carter has been suspended for a $427 plane flight.

The NCAA has sidelined Carter for the first two games of the 2026 season for accepting money from an agent to fly to a training facility after he declared for the NFL Draft. Carter declared for the draft but decided to return to college after aggravating a foot injury and having surgery. Although Carter paid the $427 back to the agent, the NCAA still levied the suspension for a Level III violation.

Will Levis’ start-and-stop journey as a quarterback for the Tennessee Titans could be seen as having parallels with an Eagles’ hit from 1977.

Two years ago, Levis was the “New Kid in Town,” expected to lead the Titans to success. Instead, he and the Titans endured a 3-14 season, which led to another new kid coming to town in Cam Ward. 

 Will Levis was the easy scapegoat for the Tennessee Titans’ failures in 2024.

The images of two costly plays that led to losses in the first two games of his tenure with Brian Callahan, and then his benching later against Cincinnati, are forever etched in the minds of Titans fans.

By Dan Frio | Edmunds

Size, space and utility have made the three-row SUV a mainstay of American family life. But with more than a dozen models on the market, choosing one can feel daunting. Edmunds has tested them all and identified the five best midsize three-row SUVs. 

It’s sometimes said that bonds are a better investment than cash because bonds have the potential for underlying capital appreciation in addition to their regular yields. But what does the historical record say about that? Do bonds appreciate over time? And if so, how much? And how has this differed historically among different types of bonds?

Many aspects of retirement planning are the subject of hot debate, even among experts. Here are three tricky decisions that confront people planning retirement.

Decision 1: How much to withdraw each year in retirement

It’s impossible to say at the outset of retirement what the “right” withdrawal rate is. You don’t know what the major asset classes will return or how high (or low) inflation will run during your retirement. Nor do you know how long you’ll live.

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans got starting left tackle Dan Moore Jr. back in practice Thursday after he left the last session early. Unfortunately, wide receiver Elic Ayomanor hurt a shoulder that ended his practice early.

"Feels stable, but we'll get more information later," coach Robert Saleh said of Ayomanor. "And then JFM's (defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers) dealing with a low back. Doesn't seem concerning."

An offshore wind company said Thursday that it reached a $1.2 billion settlement with the Trump administration to walk away from projects under development off New York, California and Louisiana. This latest agreement brings the total amount spent on such settlements to nearly $4 billion.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Joe Shearer was a Marine fighting in Iraq, a blast from an enemy mortar round knocked him down and made him vomit. He got up and kept going despite a searing headache.

When a roadside bomb struck his Humvee convoy months later, the explosion's shock wave swept through his body before headaches and sleeplessness set in for days.

President Donald Trump has been extolling his economic accomplishments on social media and at events like a rally at a Las Vegas resort Wednesday. He touts recent record stock market highs and claims a boom in hiring, manufacturing and investment. Some of the claims are clearly true, some exaggerated, some unclear.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted called on Rep. Max Miller of Ohio Thursday to resign his House seat and abandon his fall reelection bid.

In a post on X, Husted said he knows both Miller, his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno, and their daughter, and "I do not see how a campaign for Congress benefits any of them."

MEMPHIS (AP) — Former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher defeated U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles in a Republican primary Thursday for a significantly reshaped congressional district — marking a rare rejection of a candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court on Friday ordered the Trump administration to halt construction of its $400 million ballroom at the White House without congressional approval.

President Donald Trump doesn't have the unilateral authority to construct a 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom where the White House's East Wing stood before he ordered its demolition, according to the decision by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The labor union representing Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service workers asked a judge Thursday to block a sweeping tax audit immunity agreement for President Donald Trump, arguing it would force career employees to choose between following a political order and abiding by the law.

ATLANTA (AP) — An Atlanta-area woman alleges that she was wrongly diagnosed with cancer and underwent an unneeded hysterectomy because of a labeling error.

Cassandra Barksdale and her attorneys filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Kaiser Permanente alleging the mix-up led to the surgery and months of physical and emotional pain.

NEW YORK (AP) — Some U.S. adults are using artificial intelligence for financial guidance, but it's far from the most trusted source of advice, according to a new Gallup survey conducted in partnership with Edward Jones, a financial services firm.

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — The Justice Department on Thursday accused Duke University's law school of unlawfully considering race in admissions in the latest Trump administration action against higher education institutions.

In a findings letter to the school, the department said that while administrators paid lip service to being race-neutral in admissions, they used other factors as stand-ins for race, including personal essays and whether someone was a first-generation college student.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico began sending 1,500 more troops to the western state of Michoacan on Thursday, a day after the U.S. announced the suspension of government operations in that region — including halting avocado inspections required for their export — because of a non-specific threat to U.S. interests.

CAIRO (AP) — Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for a series of deadly attacks this week, escalating the conflict between them and Saudi-backed Yemeni forces and raising fears of a wider regional conflagration.

The attacks have killed dozens of civilians and troops and also targeted Saudi tankers in transit from Red Sea ports through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait out to the Gulf of Aden and the rest of the world.

WASHINGTON (AP) — To reach a deal with Iran that reopens the economically vital Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump may need to do something out of character — compromise.

Any concession would be tough for the Republican president, who has insisted there is no truth to his sagging poll numbers, the sluggish economy and the U.S. military's dwindling stockpiles of key weapons following the Iran war he launched with Israel more than five months ago.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is moving to equip officers with body cameras in the next two months but the agency's policy gives it broad control over what footage will be made public by specifying any releases must be in its "best interests."

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers unexpectedly cut 23,000 jobs last month, and Labor Department revisions shaved 103,000 jobs off payrolls in May and June. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.1% only because Americans left the job market.

The June jobs numbers from the Labor Department Friday marked a sharp reversal for the American labor market and a political setback for President Donald Trump less than three months before his Republican party seeks to keep full control of Congress in the midterm election.

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that trade negotiations with the United States had turned "nasty" after President Donald Trump derided America's neighbor and its leadership while threatening to expand tariffs.

BANGKOK (AP) — China's exports slowed slightly in July from the month before but still were higher than forecast thanks to strong demand for high-tech electronics and vehicles.

Customs data released Friday showed China's trade surplus narrowed to $112.5 billion from $125.6 billion in June.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said on Friday that he will back Todd Blanche's nomination as attorney general, likely paving the way for Blanche's confirmation to lead President Donald Trump's Justice Department.

The Louisiana senator announced his support on the Senate floor after Blanche's confirmation was thrown into doubt over opposition from two other Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will tell you: The grass is always greener on his side of the fence.

And tell you. And tell you.

Trump has spoken repeatedly of his prowess with green lawns since returning to the White House — at some events even spending more time talking about it than the war in Iran, the economy or November's midterm elections.

CHICAGO (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration this week ordered inspections for hundreds of Boeing planes, following reports of cracks in some older models.

The now-finalized rule, which was unveiled Thursday and kicks in Sept. 10, applies to certain aircraft under three Boeing 737 Max models: the 737-8, 737-9 and 737-8200. The FAA estimates this covers 471 planes — and said it is using this directive to address "the unsafe condition" tied to prior reports.