(AP) – Forestry officials in Tennessee say a strike team is being created to perform prescribed burning on public and private forest land in the Cumberland Plateau. Tennessee Division of Forestry officials said Tuesday that a $200,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation will be used to expand forest fire use and management…… MORE

Authorities looking for a suspect in Greene County accused of setting fire to a church. Officials say someone set a cross on fire hanging on the front door of Gethsemane Methodist Church. The church is on Waterfork Road in Greeneville. Officials believe it happened earlier this week. Their asking for anyone with information to come…… MORE

A man is in critical condition after he was hit by a car on Broadway Monday night. The 49-year-old man was walking on Broadway at Woodrow Drive. He was rushed to the hospital with life threatening injuries. Officials say the man was walking across the road outside of the crosswalk when he was hit. Police…… MORE

A Hamblen County man is in custody accused kidnapping and raping a woman. Officers were called to Leapers Ferry Road in White Pine Saturday morning. A 27-year-old woman says she met the suspect at a sports bar late Friday night. She says the suspect beat and raped her. Investigators identified the suspect as William Madison…… MORE

Police are investigating a fatal crash this morning on Middlebrook Pike. The single-vehicle crash happened around 7:30 on Middlebrook at Lonas Drive. Officials say the driver had crashed into a utility pole. A 51-year-old man was rushed to the hospital, but later pronounced dead. No one else was in the vehicle. Police are working to…… MORE

State health officials say a second person in Tennessee has died from a vaping-related respiratory illness. The death in West Tennessee was confirmed Thursday by the state Department of Health. No other details about the victim were immediately available. Tennessee’s first confirmed vaping-related death was reported last week. The victim was a 26-year-old Nashville man.…… MORE

A landmark in Crossville is in ashes after a fire Tuesday night. Cumberland County Fire Rescue have confirmed they responded to a fire at the Minister’s Tree House on Beehive Lane. The fire started around 11:30 p.m. and burned to the ground in about 15 minutes. Officials say the fire is under control. The structure…… MORE

Blount County authorities are asking for help finding for an elderly man with Alzheimer’s. 76-year-old John Jennings left his home on Knouff Drive near Butterfly Gap Loop sometime overnight. Jennings is 6’1″ about 200 pounds with brown eyes. He was last seen wearing gray or navy sweat pants and a long sleeve shirt. Jennings has…… MORE

(AP) – A Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper has been charged with driving under the influence. The Jackson Sun reports 36-year-old Daryl Veliz was arrested Monday in Paris, Tennessee, and later freed after posting bail. A Paris police statement says an officer saw a man slumped over in an idling car near a roadway that morning.…… MORE

A Monroe County man is facing several charges after a police chase early Sunday. A deputy spotted a car speeding on New Highway 68 in Madisonville around 2:30 a.m. The deputy initiated a pursuit and the suspect, identified as Jason Murphy, sped up. Officials say the chase went from New Highway 68 to Old State…… MORE

KPD searching for a man after a gas station robbery Saturday night. Officers were called to the Weigels on the 6000 block of Maynardville Pike around 9:30 p.m. The man robbed the store at gunpoint then fled on foot. KPD brought in K-9’s but were unable to locate the suspect. The man is described as…… MORE

Dollywood is being sued for unauthorized use of a copyrighted song. The lawsuit claims the park has been performing “Christmas Time is Here” during their Twas the Night Before Christmas show since 2007, if not earlier. It’s the song from the Charlie Brown Christmas Special written by Lee Mendelson and Vince Guaraldi. The Lee Mendelson Film Productions…… MORE