Tennessee, Chattanooga | featured news

FERGUSON, Mo. — The stepfather of Michael Brown has apologized for angry comments he made after the grand jury decided not to indict the police officer who killed his stepson, but said his remarks had nothing to do with the arson and looting that ravaged Ferguson and the surrounding area.

WASHINGTON — Iranian jets have carried out airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq in recent days, Pentagon officials and independent analysts say, underscoring the strange alliances generated by the war against the extremist group that has beheaded Americans and killed and terrorized Iraqi civilians.

OTHELLO, Wash. — A Washington state teacher acknowledged ordering an 8-year-old student to unclog a toilet with his bare hands, and the boy's parents say the educator deserves more than a reprimand.

FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. — Authorities looking into the death of a Winona State University gymnast at a western Wisconsin restaurant haven't found a witness to explain how the woman ended up in a food elevator, according to the chief investigator.

NEW YORK — A white New York City police officer was cleared Wednesday in the alleged chokehold death of an unarmed black man stopped on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes — a case that sparked outrage and drew comparisons to the deadly police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri.

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California surgeon has been disciplined for removing a prisoner's healthy kidney and leaving the diseased one intact.

WASHINGTON — The White House is singling out Boston, San Francisco, Seattle and 13 other cities for leading their peers in efforts to address climate change.

NASHVILLE — Police have tentatively identified the second truck driver involved in a fatal wreck that closed westbound lanes of Interstate 24 north of Nashville for several hours.

KNOXVILLE — A student aboard one of two Tennessee school buses that crashed, killing two children and an adult, said she feared for her life as passengers were thrown from their seats and she tried to comfort fellow children who were scared, confused and hurt.