Free Republic

The Tennessee House passed a bill on Wednesday allowing mental health counselors to refuse service to patients on religious grounds, the latest in a list of U.S. state measures that gay rights activists have criticized as discriminating against the LGBT community. A vote by the state House of Representatives protects therapists and counselors from civil lawsuits and criminal action if they deny services to clients whose religious beliefs conflict with their own. The bill passed by a 68-22 vote and sent to Gov. Bill Haslam for his signature. The state Senate passed the bill earlier this year. Supporters of the...

Having already made a .50-caliber sniper gun the official state rifle, Tennessee lawmakers on Monday gave final approval to making the Holy Bible the state’s official book. The state Senate voted 19-8 in favor of the bill despite arguments by the state attorney general that the measure conflicts with a provision in the Tennessee Constitution stating that “no preference shall ever be given, by law, to any religious establishment or mode of worship.” Opponents argued the Bible would be trivialized by being placed alongside other state symbols such as the official tree, flower, rock or amphibian. But both chambers of...

A 32-year-old Marion County, Tenn., mother faces an April court date on child neglect charges after deputies found her driving ahead of her young daughters as she made them walk miles to school on Valley View Highway. The charges are linked to an investigation launched March 1 after Marion County sheriff's deputy Chris Ladd and another deputy responded to a call about the situation and spotted two girls with a dog "walking the fog line just south of Ketner Mill Road and a gold Cadillac parked on the shoulder, engine running, just north of Ketner Mill Road," Ladd's report states....

The final slate from Tennessee included 33 delegates for Donald Trump, 16 delegates for Ted Cruz, and 9 delegates for Marco Rubio -- a total of 58 delegates. Of those 58 delegates, 14 are so-called at-large delegates, awarded to Tennessee by the Republican National Committee. The people who fill those spots on the convention floor are appointed by the Tennessee GOP, in contrast to the delegates who were selected by Tennessee voters during the presidential primary in March.

Threats, passionate protests and accusations of theft were all on tap at Saturday's Tennessee Republican Party Executive Committee meeting, where Donald Trump backers protested what they said was an attempt to "steal" rightful delegates from the GOP front-runner. At issue were the state's remaining 14 at-large delegates to the Republican National Convention, which were appointed Saturday by the Tennessee GOP Executive Committee. From the results of the primary, which Trump won by 14 points, he was due to receive 7 delegates from the 14. Trump's campaign earlier this week met with the state GOP chairman to outline its preferred slate...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – Two women are facing various charges after police say they attempted to run over a police officer while trying to get away after shoplifting from the Mall at Green Hills. Metro police said Stardreaka Eddings and Tawonda Parrish also drove into oncoming traffic while escaping on Thursday. It all began around 4:20 p.m. when Officer Dustin Tidwell saw Parrish run out of the Macy’s store with an arm full of clothes to a waiting Honda Accord, according to a press release. Police say Eddings was behind the wheel when she aimed her car at the officer...

Tell you what ladies and gentlemen and I havenÂ’t said this like other said Christian conservative purest have on national television and radio shows, you still fooling around with what the GOP front-runner Donald Trump has won and there will be consequences and repercussions, the likes of you have not seen before. ItÂ’s one thing to do this behind closed doors, but you are blatantly doing this in public daring the voters to revolt. I hope you realize, the American voter who voted for Trump is not a automatic for the GOP establishment if they steal votes. You would think...

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — The State Executive Committee of the Tennessee Republican Party approved a controversial slate of establishment-friendly Trump and Cruz delegates in a vote on Saturday. The exact final vote count was unclear, but sources tell Breitbart News that 40 of the 66 members of the State Executive Committee voted for the slate, while between 25 voted against the slate. snip What has infuriated Trump and Cruz supporters alike is that several of the Trump delegates appointed today have gone on the record as vigorous opponents of Donald Trump. As the Rocky Top political blog posted today: At least...

JASPER, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee mother faces child neglect charges after deputies say she made her daughters walk to school. The Chattanooga Times Free-Press reports that 32-year-old Lisa Marie Palmer was charged after authorities found her driving ahead of her daughters as she made them walk to school. Marion County sheriff’s Deputy Chris Ladd, who spotted the two girls, says it appeared Palmer was driving ahead of her children and allowing them to catch up to her car until the kids reached the school.

Justin and Stephanie Shults, natives of Nashville, Tenn. have been confirmed dead following this week’s terrorist attack in Brussels. ... Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski, of New York, were previously listed among the Americans missing, but their families have since confirmed that they were killed.

In March of 2012, two 24-year-old white males were abducted by a group of South Sudanese Africans in Antioch, TN. It was early in the morning and the victims were getting ready to do a paper route. The victims were subjected to 45 minutes of humiliating torture. They were forced to perform sexual acts on each other, sexually tortured, beaten, and stabbed. The perpetrators taunted them the entire time. After the torture, the men were left to die. They were dumped on the side of the road naked and covered in blood. Each had ten stab wounds. One of the...

MEMPHIS, TN - A violent sex offender was stopped by police with five children in his car—none of them were his. Police said Jerome Sawyer, a registered sex offender who is listed as a violent sex offender for aggravated sexual battery, was stopped on Ridgeway Road south of Winchester Road for not having a seat belt. Officers found two boys and three girls, ages five to 11, inside the car. Sawyer told police he was on the sex offender registry for assaulting three children ages six and seven in 1999 and 1987. Sawyer told police the children in the car...

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - A Memphis community is considering turning to guns in order to take back their neighborhood against crime. The Raleigh area held a meeting last week, and one neighborhood association wants to make sure residents are knowledgeable about gun safety and carry permits. "I've been here 11 years and I see it slowly just deteriorating, crimes coming here," said Reginald Reynolds. For Reynolds, what appears to be more crime in his neighborhood is enough for him to pack up and move out. "We're moving out of here in another year or two," said Reynolds.

We recently looked at how the “Fight for 15” had impacted employment in Seattle, with job numbers inside the affected zone plummeting as hiring spiked in the suburbs where wages and associated labor costs remained at relatively normal levels. So what can the employers who are hit with these higher costs do when their prices are driven to above competitive levels? One unfortunate but completely predictable choice for lower skill positions is to replace them with high tech, automated options. That’s the path that Andy Puzder, CEO of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, is considering after a recent visit to...

NEW YORK – A CEO of a fast-food company is causing a stir on social media after claiming that he wants to create a fully automated restaurant. “We could have a restaurant that’s focused on all-natural products and is much like an Eatsa, where you order on a kiosk, you pay with a credit or debit card, your order pops up, and you never see a person,” Carl’s Jr. CEO Andy Puzder told Business Insider. Puzder says the automated restaurant would be cheaper since he wouldn’t have to worry about rising minimum wage. “If you’re making labor more expensive, and...

The CEO of Carl's Jr. doesn't care if you find the burger chain's racy ads offensive. Well, he cares in one respect – if no one is offended, he's going to convince the marketing department to craft an even sexier commercial next time. "If you don't complain, I go to the head of marketing and say, 'What's wrong with our ads?'" says Andrew Puzder, CEO of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's parent company CKE Restaurants, describing a conversation with the head of an unnamed organization that regularly protests company marketing. "Those complaints aren't necessarily bad for us. What you look at...

Last week onClashDaily.comwe ran a story about Mormon twin sisters who founded “Beauty Redefined”, who are calling on folks to boycott Carl's Jr.’s hamburger joint because they run adverts with hot models. According to the religious twins, these ads, “objectify women”; and I guess, by that inference, girls everywhere, because of the ads, will start to feel badly about themselves, adopt some eating disorder and/or get ocean-buoy-sized breast implants in order to look like Kate Upton. Or something to that effect. Now, before I go on, here’s an FYI for forlorn ladies wanting to look like Kate after watching a Carl's...

CKE Restaurants' roots began in California roughly seven decades ago, but you won't see the parent company of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's expanding there much anymore. Related Stories What's causing what company CEO Andy Puzder describes as "very little growth" in the state? In part it's because "the minimum wage is so high so it's harder to come up with profitable business models," Puzder said in an interview. The state's minimum wage is set to rise to $9 in July, making it among the nation's highest, and $10 by January 2016. In cities in other states where the minimum wage...

Carl Karcher, who parlayed a single hot dog pushcart into a chain of more than 1,000 fast-food restaurants bearing his name, died Friday. He was 90. The affable, burly entrepreneur, known to millions as the jovial television pitchman for the Carl's Jr. chain, died of complications from Parkinson's-related pneumonia at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, according to Beth Mansfield, a spokeswoman for parent company CKE Restaurants. A stalwart Orange County Republican, Karcher worked tirelessly for the party and its candidates, still finding time for active and enthusiastic involvement in local causes, including United Way of Orange County, Orangewood Children's...

Paris Hilton is at it again. The 24-year-old hotel heiress is the feature attraction in Carl's Jr.'s new Spicy Burger ad campaign, aimed at the horny male TV-watching population. Scantily clad in a one-piece leather outfit plunging down to below her navel, Hilton struts into an empty warehouse, licks her finger, then suds up herself and a Bentley automobile, as a stripper-styled "I Love Paris" rendition slowly plays in the background. At the end of the spot, Hilton bites the burger and sucks her finger clean. The commercial closes with Hilton's tagline flashing across the screen: "That's Hot." The spot...