News - Friday, April 25, 2025

Just off Brainerd Road, among a stretch of storefronts that includes nail salons and fast food chains, sits BetterFi, a nonprofit with an ambitious mission to take on the payday lenders who have ensnared thousands of families in the region.

The location is no accident.

Above the imposing doors of the United States Supreme Court in our nation’s capital appear the words “Equal Justice Under Law.” These four words encapsulate the aspiration of the federal judiciary to do justice to all who come before its courts regardless of their personal circumstances. These four words serve as a cornerstone of the American judicial system.

Juniper Russo grew up in a Birmingham, Alabama, suburb feeling out of place. Unlike most kids, she struggled with social interactions, missed out on the developmental play that comes naturally to others, and felt disconnected from her peers.

Russo didn’t realize why until adulthood. After her oldest daughter was diagnosed with autism, Russo learned she’s autistic as well. But autism diagnoses were rare when she was a child, so she existed alone in a space no one near her understood.

Here’s a pro tip for when you take a date to Little Venezuela, an authentic Venezuelan eatery at 511 Market Street in the heart of downtown Chattanooga: Don’t order a cachapa.

I recommend this not because the cachapas are a poor choice for a meal. On the contrary, if I was standing next to you in line and heard you order a cachapa while you were dining alone, I’d respond with “Excellent choice.”

In today’s market, real estate never stands still – as the latest national and local stats prove. Sales saw a noticeable bump across the country in April, while the Chattanooga region enjoyed encouraging trends in both new listings and inventory levels. These changes are helping to balance the market and creating more options for buyers and sellers alike.

Sculpture Fields at Montague Park will debut artist John Henry’s final work, “Best for Last,” during a dedication ceremony beginning Friday at 1 p.m. The ceremony will also celebrate Henry’s artistic legacy and his lasting contributions to contemporary sculpture. Pamela Henry, co-founder of Sculpture Fields and wife of the late artist, will lead the dedication.

Stargazers in Chattanooga can now explore the cosmos from their own backyards thanks to a new telescope lending program at the Eastgate Library.

The Chattanooga Public Library has launched its Library Telescope Program, allowing library cardholders to check out high-powered telescopes just like books. The initiative is the result of a collaboration between CPL, the Barnard Astronomical Society (BAS), the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the international Library Telescope Program.

La Paz Chattanooga has made a wave of staffing changes aimed at supporting its continued growth. The changes include the promotion of three existing team members and the addition of one new full-time staff member.

La Paz elevated longtime team members Jessica Cliche and Lily Sanchez to senior leadership roles. Cliche, who has been with La Paz for more than 15 years, will now serve as senior director of education and engagement, building on her work in health, wellness and community outreach. Sanchez, who joined the organization in 2017, steps into the role of communications and development director.

Achieving financial stability doesn’t happen overnight. It takes a journey. And, as with every journey, you’ll need to make some stops along the way.

These stops, or milestones, can tell you how far you’ve gone and where you need to go next.

A coalition of local and state agencies has launched the Hamilton County Traffic Task Force in a unified effort to combat rising traffic crashes and fatalities throughout the county. Officials announced the initiative Monday during a news conference held at the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.

Speaking at Monday’s Hamilton County Traffic Task Force news conference, Jessica Holladay, vice president and associate chief nursing officer of surgical and trauma services at Erlanger Health System, delivered a reminder of the human toll behind traffic crashes – especially those involving pedestrians.

This is the time of year when many parents are thinking about buying a used vehicle for their teen drivers. The vehicle might be a graduation gift or a needed set of wheels for a summer job or trip to college. SUVs are a common choice because of their sales popularity. But which one to get?

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Cam Ward went from zero-star recruit to No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. Travis Hunter cost Jacksonville a premium. Jaxson Dart was selected before Shedeur Sanders.

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans hope picking a quarterback in the first round for the third time in 15 NFL drafts proves to be the charm.

The Titans took Miami's Cam Ward with the No. 1 overall selection Thursday night after turning down trade offers throughout the draft process.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The FBI on Friday arrested a Wisconsin county judge accused of helping a man avoid immigration enforcement, Director Kash Patel said.

Patel made the announcement in a post on X and said his office believes Judge Hannah Dugan "intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse."

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — Disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos, who lied about his life story and defrauded donors, was sentenced Friday to over seven years in prison, sobbing as he heard his punishment.

Santos, who pleaded guilty last summer to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, appealed for mercy, telling a court through tears that he was "humbled" and "chastised" and realized he had betrayed his constituents' trust.

NASHVILLE (AP) — The trial of former Tennessee House speaker and his onetime chief of staff on bribery, kickback and money laundering charges began on Thursday with defense attorneys arguing that the pair did nothing illegal.

The case accuses former Republican Rep. Glen Casada and his former aide Cade Cothren of taking taxpayer money to produce political mailings while hiding Cothren's involvement after the two had been pressured out of their leadership roles following a political scandal.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three advocacy groups are suing the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Kristi Noem, seeking to restore staff jobs at three gutted offices that oversee civil rights protections across the department's broad mission.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday by the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization, the Southern Border Communities Coalition, and the Urban Justice Center.

Tennessee health officials confirmed a measles outbreak on Thursday, bringing the number of U.S. states with outbreaks to 10.

Nearly a week ago, the U.S. was up to 800 cases of measles nationwide. Texas has more than 600 known cases with the outbreak in the western part of the state approaches the three-month mark.

The Agriculture Department will not require poultry companies to limit salmonella bacteria in their products, halting a Biden Administration effort to prevent food poisoning from contaminated meat.

The department on Thursday said it was withdrawing a rule proposed in August after three years of development. Officials with the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service cited feedback from more than 7,000 public comments and said they would "evaluate whether it should update" current salmonella regulations.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration is loosening rules to help U.S. automakers like Elon Musk's Tesla develop self-driving cars so they can take on Chinese rivals.

U.S. companies developing self-driving cars will be allowed exemptions from certain federal safety rules for testing purposes, the Transportation Department said Thursday. The department also said it will streamline crash reporting requirements involving self-driving software that Musk has criticized as onerous and will move toward a single set of national rules for the technology to replace a patchwork of state regulations.

SHANGHAI (AP) — Booths of big Chinese, German and Japanese automakers were bustling at Shanghai's auto show this week as the industry kept its focus on a wider global market not subject to steep U.S. tariffs on imports of cars and auto parts.

Signs are that U.S. President Donald Trump's 25% tariffs on auto imports is causing companies to recalibrate their strategies, and in some cases find new opportunities.

GENEVA (AP) — The Swiss president says Switzerland is among 15 countries with which the United States plans to conduct "privileged" negotiations to help reach a deal in the wake of sweeping U.S. tariffs on dozens of countries that have shaken global markets.

TOKYO (AP) — The first foreigner tapped to head 7-Eleven expressed confidence Friday the Japanese convenience store chain will continue to attract thrifty customers, even in an economic slowdown.

But Stephen Hayes Dacus, an American with a Japanese mother, declined to comment on the specifics of the various investment plans now being studied, including an acquisition proposal by Alimentation Couche-Tard of Canada.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's handling of immigration remains a point of strength as he takes wide-ranging actions to ramp up deportations and target people in the U.S. illegally, according to a new poll.

The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 46% of U.S. adults approve of Trump's handling of immigration, which is nearly 10 percentage points higher than his approval rating on the economy and trade with other countries.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The day before he died, in his final public address, Pope Francis expressed an Easter Sunday message of unity and an appeal for the marginalized and migrants. "All of us," he proclaimed, "are children of God!"

In a dramatically different message Sunday, President Donald Trump issued an insult-laced post wishing a happy Easter to his opponents, including "Radical Left Lunatics," "WEAK and INEFFECTIVE Judges and Law Enforcement Officials," and former President Joe Biden, "our WORST and most Incompetent President."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Houthi rebels in Yemen have shot down seven U.S. Reaper drones in less than six weeks, a loss of aircraft worth more than $200 million in what is becoming the most dramatic cost to the Pentagon of the military campaign against the Iran-backed militants.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has ordered the Justice Department to investigate the Democratic Party's top fundraising platform, the latest example of Trump using the tools of the government to go after his political opponents.

Trump, in an executive order signed Thursday, directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate allegations that Republicans have raised that ActBlue allows illegal campaign donations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had an internet connection that bypassed the Pentagon's security protocols set up in his office to use the Signal messaging app on a personal computer, two people familiar with the line told The Associated Press.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Donald Trump said in an interview published on Friday that "Crimea will stay with Russia," the latest example of the U.S. leader pressuring Ukraine to make concessions to end the war while it remains under siege.

"Zelenskyy understands that," Trump said, referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, "and everybody understands that it's been with them for a long time."

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has decided that the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees is not immune from being sued, reversing the U.S. government's longstanding position that the organization was protected from civil liability.

The Justice Department revealed its new stance in a letter it filed in federal court in New York on Thursday as part of a lawsuit that aims to hold the agency, known as UNRWA, accountable for the Oct. 7, 2023, deadly attack on Israel by Hamas. The change in position underscores the hardened perspective toward the agency under the Trump administration following allegations by Israel that some of the agency staff was involved in the Hamas rampage.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The FBI on Friday arrested a Milwaukee judge accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities, escalating a clash between the Trump administration and the judiciary over the Republican president's sweeping immigration crackdown.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Diana and Rick Bellamy initially planned to take a Caribbean cruise out of Houston before heading to Laurel, Mississippi, to visit the home of one of their favorite HGTV shows, "Home Town."

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump can't stop contradicting himself on his own tariff plans.

He says he's on a path to cut several new trade deals in a few weeks — but has also suggested it's "physically impossible" to hold all the needed meetings.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Why not tax the millionaires? As Congress begins drafting a massive package for President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" with trillions of dollars in tax breaks and federal program cuts, it's a question that won't seem to go away.

MEMPHIS (AP) — Three former Tennessee police officers will face an out-of-town jury when their trial in state court starts Monday on second-degree murder charges in the beating death of Tyre Nichols after a 2023 traffic stop in Memphis.

Opening statements are expected to begin in the trial of former Memphis Police Department officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith, who have pleaded not guilty and already face the prospect of years behind bars after they were convicted of federal charges last year.

NEW YORK (AP) — Dick Barnett, a basketball Hall of Famer who played on both New York Knicks NBA championship teams after being part of a historic college powerhouse at Tennessee A&I, has died. He was 88.

The Knicks announced the death of the former guard Sunday. There were no details provided about his death.

NEW YORK (AP) — First-time nominees Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker and Bad Company will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a class that also includes pop star Cyndi Lauper, the hip-hop pioneers Outkast, the rock duo the White Stripes and grunge masters Soundgarden.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michael Romano spent more than 17 years at the Justice Department, eventually becoming a supervisor on the team that would prosecute more than 1,500 people charged in the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The moment he watched the largest investigation in department history get wiped away with the stroke of a pen — on President Donald Trump's first day back in the White House — Romano knew he had to leave.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — As pressure grows to get artificial colors out of the U.S. food supply, the shift may well start at Abby Tampow's laboratory desk.

On an April afternoon, the scientist hovered over tiny dishes of red dye, each a slightly different ruby hue. Her task? To match the synthetic shade used for years in a commercial bottled raspberry vinaigrette — but by using only natural ingredients.

"60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley paid tribute Sunday to Bill Owens, the show's executive producer who resigned last week, saying on the air that "none of us is happy" about the extra supervision that corporate leaders are imposing.

China's leaders are downplaying the potential impact from U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war, saying they have the capacity to protect jobs and limit damage from higher tariffs on Chinese exports.

The briefing Monday by several senior officials of different government ministries appeared aimed at shoring up confidence with promises of support for companies and the unemployed, easier lending conditions and other policies to counter the impact of combined tariffs of up to 145% on U.S. imports from China.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ahead of his second go-around in the White House, President Donald Trump spoke with certainty about ending Russia's war in Ukraine in the first 24 hours of his new administration and finding lasting peace from the devastating 18-month conflict in Gaza.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The weeks since President Donald Trump returned to office have been a whirlwind of activity to show Americans that his administration is relentlessly pursuing his promises.

With a compliant Republican-controlled Congress, Trump has had a free hand to begin overhauling the federal government and upending foreign policy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — One went to the United States. The other went to China. It was a sign of the times.

While the Swiss president was in Washington last week to lobby U.S. officials over President Donald Trump's threatened 31% tariff on Swiss goods, the Swiss foreign minister was in Beijing, expressing his nation's willingness to strengthen cooperation with China and upgrade a free trade agreement.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk spent years building cachet as a business titan and tech visionary, brushing aside critics and skeptics to become the richest person on the planet.

But as Musk gained power in Washington in recent months, his popularity has waned, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

LYNGBY, Denmark (AP) — New Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said Sunday that U.S. statements about the mineral-rich Arctic island have been disrespectful and that Greenland "will never, ever be a piece of property that can be bought by just anyone."

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker sharply criticized fellow Democrats on Sunday for not doing enough to oppose President Donald Trump, drawing a clear divide between himself and other high-profile Democrats seen as future presidential contenders.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Another federal judge in Washington has expressed skepticism on the legality of President Donald Trump's executive order targeting a prominent law firm, saying he was concerned that the clear purpose of the edict was punishment.

U.S. District Judge John Bates had already temporarily halted the Trump administration's executive order against the firm of Jenner & Block but heard arguments Monday on a request by the firm to block it permanently. Lawyers for two other firms — Perkins Coie and WilmerHale — made similar arguments last week to judges who appeared receptive to their positions.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former career Justice Department prosecutor is challenging his firing by the White House, saying it was for "unprecedented partisan and political reasons" and undermines a "bedrock principle" of the justice system after he was dismissed following a post by right-wing activist Laura Loomer.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia announced on Monday he is stepping down as the top Democrat on the powerful House Oversight Committee and will not be seeking reelection next year due to his cancer returning, ending his long career in public life.

MEMPHIS (AP) — Former Memphis police officer Desmond Mills Jr. testified Tuesday that he regrets his failure to stop the beating of Tyre Nichols after Nichols ran away from a traffic stop in 2023.

Mills' testimony came in the second day of the trial of Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith, who have pleaded not guilty to state charges including second-degree murder in the death of Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who was beaten as he cried out for his mother just steps from his home. The three defendants already face the prospect of years behind bars after they were convicted of federal charges last year.

MEMPHIS (AP) — Three former Memphis police officers were frustrated, angry and full of adrenaline when they fatally beat Tyre Nichols after he ran away from a traffic stop in 2023, a prosecutor said Monday during opening arguments in their trial on second-degree murder charges.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Catholic Church in Oklahoma wants taxpayers to fund an online charter school that "is faithful to the teachings of Jesus Christ." The Supreme Court could well approve.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Atlanta woman whose house was wrongly raided by the FBI will go before the Supreme Court on Tuesday in a key case over when people can sue to try to hold federal law enforcement accountable.

Trina Martin's lawyers are asking the justices to revive the lawsuit she filed after agents broke down her door before dawn in 2017, pointing guns at her then-boyfriend and terrifying her 7-year-old son.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A disability-rights case at the Supreme Court grew unusually heated on Monday, including accusations of lying and references to one side's position being a potential "five-alarm fire."

The appeal comes from a teenage girl with a rare form of epilepsy whose family says some courts have made it too hard to sue public schools that fail to make sure students get what they need to learn.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration's effort to impose new requirements on Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine — the nation's only traditional protein-based option for the coronavirus — is sowing uncertainty about updates to other vaccines, too.

Novavax said Monday that the Food and Drug Administration was asking the company to run a new clinical trial of its vaccine after the agency grants full approval. The company said it had responded and that it believed its shot remains "approvable."

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Consumers across the U.S. still will be able to buy higher-ethanol blend E15 gasoline this summer, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday, saving them a little money at the pump but frustrating environmentalists who believe the move potentially harms the air and water.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Tuesday to relax some of his 25% tariffs on autos and auto parts, the White House said, a significant reversal as the import taxes threatened to hurt domestic manufacturers.

Automakers and independent analyses have indicated that the tariffs could raise prices, reduce sales and make U.S. production less competitive worldwide. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a Tuesday briefing that Trump would sign the order later in the day but declined to provide details on the order.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans' confidence in the economy slumped for the fifth straight month to the lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as anxiety over the impact of tariffs takes a heavy toll.

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell 7.9 points in April to 86, its lowest reading since May 2020. Nearly one-third of consumers expect hiring to slow in the coming months, nearly matching the level reached in April 2009, when the economy was mired in the Great Recession.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Job openings in the United States fell in March as President Donald Trump's trade wars clouded the economic outlook.

U.S. employers posted 7.2 million vacancies in March, down from 7.5 million in February and 8.1 million in March 2024, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. It was the fewest number of openings since September and below the 7.5 million that economists had forecast.

NEW YORK (AP) — Major orders canceled. Containers of products left stranded overseas. No roadmap for what comes next.

The Trump administration raised tariffs on goods from China to 145% in early April. Since then, small business owners who depend on imports from China to survive have become increasingly desperate as they eye dwindling inventory and skyrocketing invoices.

NEW YORK (AP) — Executives at some of the world's biggest companies are faced with the tricky task of explaining how President Donald Trump's tariffs are impacting their business as they discuss the latest financial results. Some are making their best estimate based on what they know at the moment; others are pulling their outlooks altogether.

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal Party has won the federal election, capping a stunning turnaround in fortunes fueled by U.S. President Donald Trump's annexation threats and trade war.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has frozen, stalled or otherwise disrupted some $430 billion in federal funds — from disease research to Head Start for children to disaster aid — in what top Democrats say is an "unprecedented and dangerous" assault on programs used by countless Americans.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's first 100 days back in the White House have been a demolition job — and that's a point of pride for his administration.

For the Republican administration, the raw numbers on executive actions, deportations, reductions in the federal workforce, increased tariff rates and other issues point toward a renewed America. To Trump's critics, though, he's wielding his authority in ways that challenge the Constitution's separation of powers and pose the risk of triggering a recession.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court seemed likely Tuesday to rule narrowly in favor of a family trying to hold federal law enforcement accountable in court after an FBI raid wrongly targeted their Atlanta home.

The justices seemed open to giving them another chance to sue over the raid, but wary of handing down a more sweeping ruling on federal liability in law enforcement cases.

With one-fifth of states seeing active measles outbreaks, the U.S. is nearing 900 cases, according to figures posted Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC's confirmed measles cases count is 884, triple the amount seen in all of 2024. The now three-month-long outbreak in Texas accounts for the vast majority of cases, with 663 confirmed as of Tuesday. The outbreak has also spread to New Mexico and Oklahoma.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Harvard University is promising to review its academic offerings and admissions policies in response to a pair of internal reports on antisemitism and anti-Arab prejudice at the Ivy League campus commissioned in the aftermath of last spring's pro-Palestinian protests.

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon says it's not planning to list added tariff costs next to product prices on its site — despite speculation spanning from a report that claimed the e-commerce giant would soon show new import charges, as well as fiery comments from President Donald Trump's White House denouncing such a move.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A key player in the U.S. government's battle to combat the flow of deadly fentanyl is a team at a little-known research lab in northern Virginia that's working to analyze seized narcotics and gather intelligence to find ways to stop the supply.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boasted on social media Tuesday that he had dismantled a program supporting women on security teams, an initiative that he called "woke" but actually was signed into law by his boss, President Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Tuesday confirmed former Sen. David Perdue as ambassador to China, just as the U.S. and China are locked in a tariff showdown that threatens to redefine diplomatic relations between the world's two largest economies.