Tennessee
Families prepare for possible separation after ICE raids in Tennessee
FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — Undocumented immigrants in Middle Tennessee are rushing to prepare legal documents for their children as fear spreads following recent ICE operations that arrested nearly 200 people in Nashville and surrounding areas.
Many parents are notarizing power of attorney documents to ensure their children will be cared for if they are detained or deported.
“This is a letter of power of an attorney for care of a minor child,” reads one document being prepared by families. “Is sufficient to authorize enrollment of a minor in school and to authorize medical treatment.”
A single mother, who asked to be identified only as Andrea to protect her identity, described the anxiety of potentially being separated from her children.
“It was the fear that I would be gone and there would be no one to care for my kids,” she said.
Andrea recalled having to sit down with her 13-year-old son to explain that one day she might not come home.
“He hugged me, and said, ‘Mom, I am going to cry a lot.’ I broke down as a mom because you don’t know what to do. I can’t stay home because it’s just me,” she said.
Andrea and her two sons arrived in the US with a visa eight years ago. She said safety concerns prevented her from returning to her home country, and she decided to stay to provide better opportunities for her children as a single mother. Overstaying a visa is not considered a criminal offense, but is a civil violation of U.S. immigration law.
“Going back to my country isn’t an option, especially because of my children,” she said.
Andrea sought help from Pastor Luis Sura to complete the power of attorney paperwork. Through his nonprofit Better Options TN, Sura has assisted more than 20 families since the raids.
“They’re afraid, they’re crying, they don’t know what to do,” Sura said.
As an immigrant from Mexico himself, Sura understands their situation but notes his own path to legal status came through the most recent immigration reform signed during the Reagan administration in 1986.
“That’s why I’m here, because of the amnesty,” he said.
Sura believes current immigration policies offer few options for families like Andrea’s.
“These people will be here for 20 years. They cannot do it the right way, because there is no other way,” Sura said.
The uncertainty has changed how Andrea and her children say goodbye each day.
“So, every time we leave we hug each other and try to make it very special because there really might not be another time,” she said.
Click here to learn more about Better Options TN and power of attorney forms.
The Hispanic Foundation is also hosting a power of attorney clinic June 1, 2025. For more information: send email to vgentry@immigrationgrp.com
Andrea’s quotes have been translated from Spanish to English by bilingual reporter Patsy Montesinos.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Patsy.Montesinos@Newschannel5.com
On 150-year anniversary, YMCA of Middle Tennessee looks at its past and future
Happy Birthday to the YMCA of Middle TN. They just celebrated their 150th anniversary! A lot has changed with the Y over the years. I have personally seen some of that firsthand when I was a long-time board member at the Northwest Family Y and part of their Black Achievers Program. Forrest Sanders has a look back.
– Lelan Statom
WHITE HOUSE, Tenn. (WZTV) — A heavy law enforcement presence was reported Tuesday near the intersection of U.S. Highway 31W and Rolling Meadows Road in White House.
FOX 17 News has a crew headed to the scene and is working to learn more about the situation.
Law enforcement vehicles line a roadway near the intersection of U.S. Highway 31W and Rolling Meadows Road in White House, Tennessee, as authorities respond to an active incident on Tuesday. Officials had not released details about the investigation at the time the photo was taken. (Photo: FOX 17 News )
A viewer told FOX 17 News a man was barricaded inside a home with other people inside. However, FOX 17 News has not independently confirmed those details.
Once at the scene, FOX 17 News learned that a man who was inside the home during the operation had exited the residence. FOX 17 News is working to obtain more information on the incident that is now subsiding.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Tennessee
Former Tennessee teacher who allegedly showed nude photo to student indicted by grand jury
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Tenn. (WZTV) — A grand jury has indicted a former Montgomery County high school teacher for allegedly showing an inappropriate photo to a student.
In March, FOX 17 News reported that 52-year-old Matthew Vedder, a teacher at Montgomery Central High School at the time, showed a 17-year-old student a nude photo of himself. Vedder told investigators he accidentally swiped to the photo while showing students photos of a school project. He later resigned from Montgomery Central High School.
Makenzie Ellithorpe, is the Montgomery Central High School student who Matthew Vedder allegedly showed inappropriate photos to. (Photo: FOX 17 News)
MORE | Teacher accused of showing nude photos to student resigns, family pushes for charges
On July 7, the Sumner County District Attorney’s Office presented the results of a law enforcement investigation into Vedder to the Montgomery County Grand Jury, which voted to indict him on four counts of exhibiting obscene material to a minor.
Vedder was taken into custody by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. A Montgomery County judge set his bond at $10,000.
RELATED COVERAGE | Family renews calls for CMCSS director’s resignation during heated school board meeting
Although Vedder resigned, the family of a Montgomery Central High School student called for the resignation of the Director of Schools, Dr. Jean Luna-Vedder, Matthew Vedder’s spouse. The district previously told FOX 17 News that Luna-Vedder removed herself from any disciplinary decisions and the investigation involving her husband.
As of June, Luna-Vedder has not publicly commented on calls for her resignation.
This is an ongoing story. Stick with FOX 17 News as we bring you the latest.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Isolated showers and storms over the next few days will make for more brilliant color displays across the sky.
Rainbows have been very common across Middle Tennessee for several evenings now. With all the recent rain, conditions have been ideal for fabulous displays of brilliant colors. Some of you have even reported seeing double rainbows. WSMV4 viewer, Leslie Whited, captured the one above, early Tuesday evening, July 14th.
To find out how double rainbows form, let’s first examine how a single rainbow occurs.
Single rainbows form when the sun, positioned behind you, has its light refracted through raindrops ahead of you.
Those raindrops bend sunlight as it passes into the drops. Then, some of that light reflects off the back of the drop and is bent one more time as it exits the drop. That entire process is called single reflection. Single reflection produces the primary or brightest rainbow.
Sometimes, some light reflects twice while in a raindrop before exiting. This is called double reflection. Double reflection produces a secondary rainbow. The order of colors within a secondary rainbow is a mirror image of the primary rainbow (i.e. the reverse). Secondary rainbows are not as bright as primary rainbows because less light is double reflected than is single reflected (i.e. some light is lost or attenuated every time light is reflected). Notice the fainter secondary rainbow in Leslie Whited’s double rainbow/storm picture at the top of this article.
The ideal time to see a rainbow is when the sun is relatively low in the sky (and has the best chance of being at your back). That translates to early morning or evening. Since in our current weather pattern, showers and storms are most numerous during the late afternoon and evening, that’s when you’ll have the best chance of seeing a rainbow through the rest of this week. If you’re very lucky, you might even see a double rainbow.
Happy sky watching!
For life-saving weather alerts, customized messages on conditions and forecasts, and videos detailing upcoming weather events, download the WSMV 4 First Alert Weather app for iPhone or Android. Have weather pictures or videos? Share them here.
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