News - Friday, June 19, 2026

Ford has tapped two technology platforms created by Vehlo, a Knoxville-based producer of software and financial tools for auto dealers’ service departments and independent repair shops, for use in its Preferred Partner program.

The fixed-operations software and communications solutions, Total Customer Connect and Dealerlogix, will be integrated into the Ford Commitment Program to support Video Multi-Point Inspections, or MPI. As such, they will be used to facilitate digital inspections, text-based communications and service-lane efficiency for Ford dealers. This is the second major OEM deal in a year for Dealerlogix was approved as a certified provider in Volkswagen’s eConnect Program in June 2025.

Tennessee’s auto industry sector currently employs more than 144,700 Tennesseans across 900+ automotive companies in 88 of the state’s 95 counties. These are composed of Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) assembly plants, EV/battery campuses, a network of Tier 1 and 2 parts suppliers and mobility/logistics hubs.

• Approved Platforms: Total Customer Connect and Dealerlogix are officially recognized for Ford’s video MPI requirements.

• Service Tools: Provides Ford dealers with digital inspections, mobile/contactless payments, automated SMS status updates, and e-approvals.

Capitalization and investment milestones

• 2019: Launched by Knoxville-based Greater Sum Ventures (GSV) via the acquisitions of ShopBoss and Text2Drive.

• 2022: Secured a strategic growth investment (totaling approximately $289 million in historical funding) led by Lightyear Capital and existing investors, including Greater Sum Ventures and PSG. 

The rain fell slowly at first, tapping the surface of South Chickamauga Creek in widening circles.

N’nako Kande sat alone on Resurrection Rock at Audubon Acres, watching the ripples spread through the water. She’d come to the preserve on an October morning in 2023 carrying more than she could explain.

At one end of Gunbarrel Road is one of Chattanooga’s most recognizable markers of growth.

What once was a quiet rural route has become the city’s premier commercial corridor, lined with shopping centers, restaurants, hotels and the sprawling Hamilton Place district. Cars stream through the area at all hours and new development seems perpetually underway.

The Chattanooga Audubon Society has announced the remaining schedule for its 2026 Little Owl Lecture Series, held at Little Owl Village. Each event includes a guided history hike 2-4 p.m., followed by a 4:30-6 p.m. lecture.

The series continues June 20 with historian Watson Harlan presenting “Centering the Nation: Establishing Autonomous Narratives in 18th Century Cherokee History.”

June is National Homeownership Month, making this a good time to discuss what it takes to help more people become homeowners.

For many families, the biggest barrier isn’t desire, it’s supply. Limited inventory keeps prices high and choices tight. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has outlined several federal policy solutions aimed at increasing housing supply, supporting first-time buyers, strengthening communities, and expanding fair access to homeownership.

Saving for retirement is important, but it’s only part of the picture. If you’re within five to 10 years of your target retirement date, it’s time to start thinking about what you actually want your retirement to look like. After all, getting to retirement isn’t the end goal – it’s what you want to do once you’re there that matters.

Amazon plans to build a new delivery station in Chattanooga that is expected to create more than 300 jobs and expand the company’s logistics network across Southeast Tennessee.

The company announced plans to develop a 200,000-square-foot facility at 3400 Cummings Road. The delivery station is expected to begin operations in 2028 and will support local package processing and last-mile delivery services throughout the region.

An exhibit celebrating both the nation’s natural landscapes and the ideals of freedom and democracy is on display at the Jewish Cultural Center through Aug. 14.

“America the Beautiful” features works by 23 artists from across the United States. The exhibit includes paintings, photographs and mixed-media pieces that explore the country’s physical beauty while also examining contemporary themes related to freedom of expression and democratic values.

If you like the idea of owning a car that’s fun to drive but can’t afford a new one, this summer is an ideal time to consider buying used, as several performance cars that might have been out of your reach when new can be had for less than $25,000 on the used market.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bill that top lawmakers and athletic leaders have described as the best chance to stabilize college sports cleared a key vote in the Senate on Thursday with bipartisan support after weeks of input from schools, conferences and athletes.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Trump administration can replace a slavery exhibit at George Washington's home in Philadelphia, a federal appeals court panel said Thursday, striking down a lower court's injunction that required the National Park Service to reinstall the interpretive panels.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new kind of flu vaccine moved a step closer to the U.S. market Thursday as federal health advisers recommended approval of the first made with the same mRNA technology that was key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Food and Drug Administration is evaluating Moderna's new shot, dubbed mFlusiva, for older Americans ahead of the winter flu season. Moderna is seeking full approval for the vaccine's use in people ages 50 to 64 — along with authorization for use in those 65 and older while it conducts additional testing.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators on Thursday ordered regional grid operators to help large energy users connect more quickly to the nation's inefficient and aging electric transmission system, a step they said is needed to accommodate surging demand from power-hungry artificial intelligence data centers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Thursday lifted its blockade of Iran, and oil tankers began freely moving through the Strait of Hormuz after months of being unable to use the critical channel, as the tentative agreement to end the war took effect.

WASHINGTON (AP) — JD Vance was supposed to be spending the week promoting his new book, the kind of event a potential presidential candidate like the vice president typically uses to speak to a wide audience about his life and values ahead of a campaign.

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than $350 million from President Donald Trump's " big, beautiful bill " has been quietly directed to White House security, an allotment that Democrats warn appears to be helping fund his new ballroom project — despite the president's insistence that no taxpayer dollars would be used.

The Protect College Sports Act took a step forward Thursday with a Senate committee approval. Plenty of potential pitfalls remain ahead, including opposition from the Big Ten and Southeastern conferences.

The two most powerful conferences in college sports made clear that "revisions are needed to secure our support" for a bill designed to stabilize college sports. The opposition has renewed speculation that the two leagues and their 34 schools stretching from coast to coast will split from the NCAA and form a super league.

ATLANTA (AP) — Bina Ramroop broke down in tears when she realized she wasn't going to get the World Cup tickets she had bought for her grandson's 13th birthday.

As thousands poured into Atlanta Stadium on Monday to see Spain face Cape Verde in what turned out to be a remarkable scoreless draw, Ramroop stood outside, increasingly stressed as she went back and forth for hours between StubHub representatives on the phone and FIFA representatives in the ticket booth. Each blamed the other.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio's law requiring children under 16 to get parental consent to use social media apps must be restored, a divided panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.

The decision comes as a blow to NetChoice, which has won court victories against identical digital identification laws in other states, including Arkansas, Louisiana and Georgia. The trade group representing TikTok, Snapchat, Meta and other major tech companies said the Ohio decision went against "clear national consensus" and that it intended to keep fighting.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department on Thursday announced a reduction in interest rates for federal student loans, describing it as part of a plan to make higher education more affordable.

With growing numbers of borrowers in default, the Trump administration pitched the temporary, 1% reduction in student loan interest rates as a salve for those struggling with repayment.

One of the few Black-owned banks in the United States is introducing a debit card aimed at helping single mothers who live in government-subsidized housing escape poverty.

The Bank King Card debit card will be offered beginning Friday in honor of Juneteenth by Redemption Bank, which will make a donation from every account opened to nonprofits that will steer the funding to needy families.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump gave the Medal of Honor to three veterans on Thursday, honoring acts of heroism that saved lives and repelled enemy forces in Vietnam and Afghanistan.

Trump bestowed the military's highest honor on Marine Corps Maj. James Capers Jr. and Army Maj. Nicholas Dockery. He also awarded it posthumously to Marine Corps Col. John W. Ripley, who died in 2008.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Talks between the U.S. and Iran were called off Friday after intense fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, officials said, raising questions about an initial agreement to end the war in Iran.

Israel and the militant group later agreed to a ceasefire, three officials said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most Americans continue to disapprove of how President Donald Trump is handling Iran, while his overall presidential approval holds steady, according to a new AP-NORC poll that was conducted as Trump suggested a deal with Iran had been reached.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Thursday night that Vice President JD Vance was delaying a trip to Switzerland, where he'd been set to lead a new round of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program — raising questions about what's next for the tentative agreement to end the war.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, including top national security figures, were voicing strong reservations Thursday —- and some outright condemnation — of the Trump administration's agreement to end the fighting in Iran.

The memorandum of understanding signed by President Donald Trump started a 60-day negotiating clock to reach a final deal on the future of Iran's nuclear program. While Trump allies noted the agreement is not final, the lifting of economic sanctions on Iran's sale of oil and the plan for a $300 billion fund to rebuild Iran and its economy were met with criticism from Republican leaders and conservative influencers, including some close Trump supporters.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The relationship between President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans neared a breaking point this week as he upended their efforts to speedily confirm one of his own nominees and said he would not sign the renewal of a key surveillance law unless they agree to new terms.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators are seeking to block Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's travel funds until the Pentagon submits several overdue reports to lawmakers, including its investigation into a deadly strike on an elementary school in Iran at the start of the U.S.-Israeli war.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Showing off towering new flagpoles he had erected on the White House North and South Lawns last summer, President Donald Trump suggested that he wanted to make similar renovations in his first term but was worried about the negative press.

ROME (AP) — The Italian government on Friday slammed U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that Premier Giorgia Meloni had "begged" for a photo with him during the recent G7 summit, a pushback that suggested the longtime U.S. ally had had enough of Trump's boasting.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As Janeese Lewis George paves a path to the mayor's office in Washington, D.C., she's told voters they could have it all.

Her unapologetically expansive, left-wing agenda includes subsidized or even free childcare, increased down payment assistance for homebuyers and community resources to reduce crime, plus a promise to aggressively confront President Donald Trump's attempts to reshape the nation's capital.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — As Iranian media boast of the "magnificent defeat" of the United States, Tehran is pressing its advantage, racing to sell oil under the interim peace agreement signed this week and trying to halt Israeli attacks in Lebanon.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group agreed Friday to halt the heavy fighting in southern Lebanon that had threatened to unravel an interim agreement between the United States and Iran to end their war, officials said. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah immediately confirmed the truce.

ZURICH (AP) — The American push to quickly begin high-stakes talks with Iran hit a snag Friday, just days after the signing of an agreement that opens a two-month window for negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program and returning oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to prewar levels.