Tennessee
After getting help from health care charity RAM, Tennessee man says he
Dave Burge slept in his truck overnight in frigid weather for a dental appointment.
Burge needed dentures, but was unable to afford them. He was one of more than 1,200 patients, some of whom waited in line for days, to get a free appointment at a Remote Area Medical pop-up clinic in Knoxville, Tennessee. RAM provides medical, dental and vision care to uninsured and underinsured Americans around the country.
“When they hand you your life back, that’s life changing,” Burge said. “That’s what teeth mean to me. I could be a normal human again.”
The people who need help
Burge already spent around $140,000 on medical bills after an uninsured drunk driver ran a red light and nearly killed him in 2012, he said. Then, one day, a construction accident while at work wrecked his teeth again.
“By then I was pretty thin on money to do much about it. So I didn’t have a lot of choices. I just kept working.”
Sandra Tallent, who drove more than 200 miles from Alabama and spent two nights sleeping in her car for a dental appointment with RAM, said she would also be unable to afford dentures if not for the free clinic.
Health care is a major cost across the U.S., and one many cannot afford. About a third of Americans say they’ve skipped meals, borrowed money or cut back on utilities to pay for health care, according to a March Gallup poll.
And while the Trump administration has lowered prices on more than 50 drugs, it has also let premiums rise in the Affordable Care Act marketplace, and made the biggest cuts ever under Medicaid. Around 3 million people have lost insurance under the Trump administration, according to government data, and it’s estimated up to 10 million could lose insurance in the next three years.
About half of the patients at RAM clinics have no insurance. The rest have insurance they can’t afford to use because of co-pays and deductibles – or they can’t find a provider who will take their insurance.
According to RAM CEO Chris Hall, approximately 60% of patients need dental care. About 30% request eye exams and glasses, with around 5% asking for medical care. There’s also screenings for blood sugar, blood pressure, breast cancer, skin cancer and more.
The volunteers helping
RAM, which got its start decades ago parachuting doctors into South American jungles, today operates clinics nearly every weekend around the U.S.
“Nobody here that’s working or volunteering today is going to judge any person that comes through that door. We are here to help,” Brad Sands, a former paramedic who coordinates RAM clinics, said.
There were 887 volunteers at the Knoxville weekend. Medical professionals pay their own way to come and bring medical students with them.
“I’ve said it a million times, if you ever lose faith in humanity, go spend ten minutes at a RAM clinic. You’re going to see hundreds of people there that are donating their time,” Sands said. “They’re coming out and they’re donating large swaths of their own money, slash time, to help their neighbors.
Dr. Glen Goldstein, a New Jersey dentist, started volunteering with RAM after seeing a 60 Minutes report in 2008 on the organization.
“And as soon as your segment was over, about this organization, I immediately went online, looked it up and registered down here,” he said.
In the years since, volunteering with RAM has become a regular event in his family, with his wife, his children and his daughter-in-law volunteering as well.
Goldstein said he sees patients who’ve suffered without health care, and who have no hope for the future. He’s had young patients who’ve asked him to remove all their teeth, because they don’t have money to get them fixed.
“And it’s heartbreaking to take all the teeth out,” Golden said. “It’s terrible.”
RAM operations
Depending on the size of the clinic, RAM will spend between $100,000 and $500,000 over a weekend. The money comes from donations, Hall, the CEO, said.
“Over 81% of our supporters are individual donors, people that write $5, $10, $20 checks every month,” Hall said.
RAM also gets supplies and clinic space donated.
The charity got its start under the late Stan Brock, an eccentric Englishman, who was a cowboy in the Amazon, a pilot, and later one of the stars of TV’s “Wild Kingdom.” When 60 Minutes met Brock in 2008, he was 73, had no family, took no salary, lived in an office he donated to RAM, and showered with a garden hose.
At the time, he was staging 12 clinics a year. After the broadcast, $4 million in donations poured in, along with thousands more volunteers. RAM now runs 90 clinics a year.
RAM has now treated more than a million patients since its start, thanks to more than a quarter-million volunteers.
Across the Knoxville weekend, RAM provided over a million dollars in medical care, at no cost to the patients. RAM volunteers treated 1,224 patients, made 588 pairs of glasses, pulled 1,467 teeth, filled 283 cavities, did 342 dental cleanings and conducted 247 medical exams.
And then there were the denture patients, including Dave Burge and Sandra Tallent.
At the Knoxville clinic, there was a trailer where 3D printers were used to make and print dentures. Connor Gibson, the 22-year-old engineer who helped build it, has slept in the trailer to keep the printers running nonstop. He’s inspired by something he calls the mirror moment: when a patient with a new set of dentures sees themselves in the mirror.
“You just see all that stress melt away. And no matter if they’re 18 or 80, we see grown men cry sitting in the chair,” Gibson said.
Burge and Tallent, with their new sets of dentures, both smiled when they had their mirror moments.
“I don’t know what I’d do [without RAM,]” Tallent said. “You know, the Lord would make a way. But I feel like he has made a way through RAM.”
Tennessee
Tennessee Titans’ Star Jeffrey Simmons Addressed Health and Contract Concerns on Wednesday
The Tennessee Titans wrapped up minicamp on Wednesday and will now head for a summer break. Before heading out, several players spoke with the media. Jeffery Simmons was one of those, and the veteran revealed he’d been managing an elbow issue for years before deciding to address it this offseason.
“That’s the reason why I’ve been wearing a brace, you know? Probably, what, two and a half years to where I wasn’t even able to straighten out my right arm,” Simmons said.
“So to just be able to get that cleaned up… I feel good. I don’t think it’s gonna be a big difference from last year because, like I said, it’s already years in the past… I mean, I played with the brace, and [I might] play with the brace this year, who knows? But at the same time… I feel great. My body feels good, I’ll be ready to go. I’m gonna get back to training camp and hopefully this year continue to keep getting better as a player.”
Let that sink in. Simmons just put together the best season of his career while unable to fully straighten his right arm. That’s absurd.
Big Jeff Speaks: Dollars and Cents
Simmons also made it abundantly clear he’s not interested in any noise on the contract front.
“I think the biggest thing is, since I got to Tennessee, this organization has been nothing but good to me. We’ve been on the same page since I got here. So when it comes down to the contract, I [let] everything play out,” Simmons said.
“Since I got here, I don’t think we [missed] a [beat] in the front office. Me and Ms. Amy, everyone been on the same page. And whenever [it’s] time to talk contract… I know my agent… they’re going to work together to make sure it’s done the right way.
That’s a veteran who knows exactly where he stands — and trusts the people around him to handle the business side.
“One thing when it come down to that contract, we know how messy it could get. And that’s not what I’m looking for, especially going on year eight… This organization been nothing but good to me. So I’m not so focused on the contract right now. Like I said, my goal this offseason is, let me go work my tail off and get ready for training camp.”
The Scariest Part for the Rest of the AFC
Here’s where it gets fun. It’s going to be fascinating to watch how defensive guru and new Titans’ head coach Robert Saleh chooses to deploy Simmons — especially alongside his new running mate, John Franklin-Myers, who signed a three-year, $63 million deal in the spring.
Simmons is legitimately one of the best defenders this organization has ever had. In 2025, he racked up a career-high 11 sacks, three forced fumbles, and 67 tackles. He’s an absolute monster. For his career, he’s now at 42.5 sacks and eight forced fumbles.
Pairing a player at the peak of his powers with a legit interior running mate, under a head coach whose entire reputation is defensive violence? It’s not a stretch of the imagination to now call Jeffery Simmons arguably the best defender in the AFC. And if he played all of last season with one good arm? Look out.
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The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says a Kingsport man was sentenced to 24 years in federal prison after an investigation found that he trafficked large amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl from Chattanooga to Sullivan County for distribution.
A release says Aaron Tyshawn Jackson, of Kingsport and formerly of Chattanooga, was sentenced Wednesday to 288 months behind bars by a U.S. District Judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Greeneville.
Jackson is set to serve 10 years of supervised release after his prison term.
The release says a federal jury in February convicted Jackson of conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
He was also convicted of two other drug-related offenses.
Evidence presented at trial showed Jackson purchased large quantities of methamphetamine and fentanyl in Chattanooga for years, and distributed the drugs in Kingsport.
TBI says Jackson was pulled over on October 22nd, 2024, following what they say was a trip to Chattanooga to purchase drugs.
Jackson was in a vehicle with three other people when police attempted to stop the car.
When officers activated their lights and sirens, TBI says Jackson told the driver to “drive,” and a pursuit followed, ending in a crash.
The release says the vehicle reached speeds in excess of 120 mph before the collision.
Authorities said Jackson threw a duffel bag out of the window while fleeing.
The bag contained more than 2.7 kilograms of methamphetamine and 11 ounces of fentanyl.
Agencies involved in the joint investigation included the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Kingsport Police Department, Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, Greene County Sheriff’s Office, Chattanooga Police Department, and Etowah Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meghan L. Gomez and AnCharlene Davis represented the United States.
TBI says the case was part of Operation Take Back America, a Department of Justice initiative focused on illegal immigration enforcement, eliminating cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protecting communities from violent crime.
Depend on us to keep you informed as we learn more.
The Miss Tennessee Opportunity welcomes contestants, families, alumni, and supporters from across the state to Nashville June 15-20, 2026, for Miss Tennessee Competition Week at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of Belmont University. The week will culminate with the crowning of a new Miss Tennessee and Miss Tennessee’s Teen as current titleholders Zoe Scheiderich and Analee Shaver pass on their crowns. The Miss Tennessee Opportunity is the officially licensed state program of the Miss America Opportunity, one of the nation’s leading achievement and scholarship organizations for young women. Click for More Events
Competition week features interviews, rehearsals, preliminary competitions, special events, and scholarship opportunities for talented young women representing communities throughout Tennessee. Throughout the week, attendees will have opportunities to participate in special events and celebrations leading up to the final night of competition. These events include a Red Carpet Gala on Wednesday, June 17 and the Miss Tennessee Par-Tea on Thursday, June 18, both taking place in the lobby of the Fisher Center. Tickets for the competition and official events are available through the Miss Tennessee website at misstennessee.org.
Miss Tennessee 2025 Zoe Scheiderich, a native of Lebanon and student at Middle Tennessee State University, has represented Tennessee with distinction throughout her year of service. At the Miss America Competition, Scheiderich earned recognition as a Top 11 finalist and Preliminary Fitness Award winner while advancing her initiative to empower and equip women and girls. A classically trained dancer and aspiring sports broadcaster, she has earned significant scholarship support through the Miss America Opportunity and has served as an ambassador for the organization across Tennessee.
Joining her on the final night stage will be Miss Tennessee’s Teen 2025 Analee Shaver of Collierville. A student leader, accomplished dancer, and advocate against bullying, Shaver has spent her year promoting her community service initiative, Stand4Me, which encourages students to become advocates for peers experiencing bullying. Through school visits and community appearances, she has championed inclusion, empathy, and kindness among Tennessee’s youth.
The Miss Tennessee competition celebrates its 73rd year this June and is honored to welcome the reigning Miss America and former Belmont student, Cassie Donegan, to join in on the competition week festivities and perform a special showcase of music. Donegan has enjoyed a whirlwind year of appearances and advocacy since being crowned the 98th Miss America last September. She will be a featured guest Wednesday – Friday of competition week.
“We are excited to welcome Tennessee’s outstanding young women and their supporters to Nashville celebrating service, scholarship, style, success, and sisterhood,” said Dr. Colene Trent, CEO and Executive Director of the Miss Tennessee Opportunity. “We look forward to celebrating the accomplishments of Zoe and Analee while introducing Tennessee to the reigning Miss America and the next generation of leaders who will represent our state.”
The competition is supported by a robust team of sponsors including The Clothes Tree Nashville, which provides all competition and appearance gowns and clothing for the titleholders and Beaman Toyota, which provides the official Miss Tennessee vehicle. The official transportation partner of the Miss Tennessee Competition is Gray Line Tours. The competition is also grateful for its partnership with the Fisher Center and Belmont University. The new Miss Tennessee will receive a $10,000 scholarship, a year of opportunities and travel throughout the state, and the honor of representing Tennessee in the iconic Miss America Competition in September.
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