Tennessee
Lawmakers approve ballistic film for Tennessee capitol and other office buildings. What about schools?
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Over the next three years, state office buildings in Downtown Nashville are scheduled to get major security upgrades. The question becomes — should those projects get priority over making schools safer?
While crowds have been tense up on Tennessee’s Capitol Hill, Democrats say there’s no question that they’re still safe when they’re up on the hill. “We have a building full of troopers, security, we are safe,” said Sen. London Lamar, a Democrat from Memphis who serves as the Senate Democratic Caucus Chair.
Still, lawmakers recently approved a plan to equip all of the state’s downtown buildings, including the state capitol, with bullet and riot resistant film that is attached to the existing windows and doors. “We’re going to be looking at state buildings as well to make sure our state employees are safe, to make sure all of the visitors to our state buildings are safe,” explained Rep. William Lamberth, a Republican from Portland who serves as House Majority Leader.
The film is created and installed by the company Safe Haven Defense. According to the state, the ballistic film can withstand rounds from an AR-15. Total cost of the project: $3.1 million.
“It actually sounds like they spending more money on keeping themselves safe than actual Tennesseans,” said Sen. Lamar .”You can use that 3.1 million dollars to fund conflict resolution programs in our schools. You can use that money to increase job programs, to increase people’s pay.”
Republicans argue, last year, they offered up about $40 million for school districts to spend on safety upgrades as a part of a larger school security legislative package. “That’s our top priority, is to make sure every single school in this state is safe. That’s film on windows, that’s going to be new construction standards,” explained Lamberth.
“That didn’t require [ballistic] film in every school, did it?” asked NewsChannel 5.
“Allowing them to have the flexibility to decide what’s important for them first is the way to go,” replied Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton, a Republican from Crossville. “Hopefully we’ll continue to put money in the budget to continue to fund security enhancements for schools.”
While some districts applied for the grant money, and installed ballistic film, most spent it on other safety measures. But in the years to come, that could be changing. “My hope and my desire would be, every single school has glass on their exterior doors that cannot be broken, penetrated through, entered through,” said Lamberth.
Metro Nashville Schools voted to put ballistic film on all of their schools last year. They used a different vendor. The cost was also about $3 million.
Amy recommends:
Snow photoshoots show joy, fun and ability
“Forrest Sanders introduces us to a woman named Hope, who had an incredible journey from Africa to Nashville. She spent time in the snow this week making memories for others and sharing that nothing can hold you back.”
-Amy Watson
Tennessee baseball received a commitment from UC Irvine pitcher Ricky Ojeda on June 19.
Ojeda, who is eligible for the MLB draft in July, announced his decision on social media. He visited Tennessee on June 15-16.
The lefthanded Ojeda had a strong 2026 season primarily as a reliever, posting a 3.77 ERA with 62 strikeouts and 20 walks in 62 innings. In 2025, he became the first reliever to be named Big West Pitcher of the Year after going 13-1 with a 3.55 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 66 innings, which also earned him a third-team all-American nod from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and Perfect Game.
Whether Ojeda makes it to Tennessee remains an open question. Perfect Game ranked him as the No. 179 prospect for the draft. That would place him in the sixth round.
Should Ojeda join the staff, however, he would instantly become one of the team’s top options out of a bullpen that struggled immensely in 2026. The pitching staff is also under new leadership under pitching coach Austin Knight, who was hired from ECU.
Ojeda is the fourth player to announce they will transfer to Tennessee this offseason, joining two-way Mercer transfer Braydon Kersey, Northwestern State pitcher Brody Trosclair and Air Force infielder Wyatt Hanoian.
Who’s leaving Tennessee baseball
- UTL Jay Abernathy (Oklahoma)
- RHP Nic Abraham
- INF Ariel Antigua (Arizona)
- INF Finley Bates
- RHP Ari Bethea
- OF Hutson Chance
- RHP Sawyer Deering (San Diego State)
- OF Nate Eisfelder
- 1B Evan Hankins (Virginia Tech)
- UTL Hunter High
- RHP Brayden Krenzel (Arkansas)
- INF Manny Marin
- INF Ethan Moore (Missouri)
- UTL Chris Newstrom
- LHP Taylor Tracey
- C Cash Williams (West Virginia)
Who’s joining Tennessee baseball
- RHP/DH Braydon Kersey
- LHP Brody Trosclair
- INF Wyatt Hanoian
- LHP Ricky Ojeda
Emmett Siegel covers Tennessee baseball for Knox News. Email: emmett.siegel@knoxnews.com; X: @EmmettSiegel_
JACKSON, Tenn. (WBBJ) – An exciting day of sporting clays in West Tennessee is doubling as a major fight against hunger.
Today’s “Shooting Hunger” event took place at the Carroll County Shooting Sports Park in Huntingdon. It’s a partnership between Tennessee Farm Bureau, Tennessee Farmers Co-Op, Farm Credit Mid-America and Rural First.
Since 2015, Shooting Hunger has helped provide more than three million meals to Tennesseans with money going to food banks, backpack programs, and local hunger relief. A $500 scholarship will also go to the top youth shooter in each flight.
“We’re joining together to raise money for school backpacks to feed hungry kids. We do these, we actually do three of these across the state of Tennessee so at the end of the day we take, we take all the money we put it into a pile and when we divide equally amongst all 95 counties across the state of Tennessee,“ said Bryan Wright, executive vice president for the Tennessee Farm Bureau.
Organizers say events like this matter because one in six children in Tennessee struggle with hunger.
Copyright 2026 WBBJ. All rights reserved.
Tennessee director of track and field Duane Ross gauged the hunger of the men’s 4×100-meter relay team to pull off the upset.
“They said, ‘Coach, we’re going to win,’ ” Ross said. “When they bring you that much confidence, you can grab your popcorn and enjoy the meet.”
No popcorn was consumed, but the appetite was there from the start.
Traunard Folson, Davonte Howell, T’Mars McCallum and Elijah Clark finished in a school record time of 37.98 seconds at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on June 12 in Eugene, Oregon. It was the the program’s first national title in the 4×100 since 1983 and the fourth-fastest in NCAA history.
Four other relay teams never crossed the line. Auburn, the two-time defending champion, had run an NCAA-record 37.75 in the semifinal, but had a botched handoff on the last exchange. Arkansas, the reigning SEC champion, also dropped its baton, along with Oregon and Houston.
McCallum said staying clean through a race of chaos starts with a focus on winning, even in practice.
“In the moment we can’t really worry about anything else, just what we can control,” McCallum said on June 18. “We came to practice every time with the idea of, ‘OK, we’ve got to make sure this is fixed, because we know if we run that time, we can win.’ “
It was the final event of McCallum’s college career. It didn’t fully hit until the long flight home to Knoxville.
“I was like, we really did it,” he said. “Now we have a school record, the first team to ever go under 38 seconds here.”
Whether belief had anything to do with what went wrong in those four other lanes isn’t something Tennessee’s runners can answer. It’s exactly what they point to for why theirs didn’t.
Clark, a freshman who ran the anchor leg, said winning was just a matter of starting the race.
“We knew we had it the whole time,” he said. “No matter who did what, what happened, we knew what the outcome would come to.”
Ross said the victory wasn’t a surprise inside the program either.
“I wouldn’t say unsung,” Ross said. “I’ve watched this team all year long, and we were expecting to come out of there with the championship. It was a tight competition down to the last event.”
Tennessee finished third in the men’s team standings with 46 points, its best total since 2002.
Howell, a junior who ran the second leg, said the belief behind the relay team’s confidence was built long before the race.
“Three of the four of us already ran under 10 seconds,” he said. “Last year we all trained together during the summer, all lived together. We already had the bond, and adding the freshman on anchor was just a cherry on top. He figured it out at SECs, ran a 10.1, season’s best, and we trusted him to bring it home.”
Clark said the title is already part of something bigger to him.
“The goal is to always make history,” said Clark, who was hired by Tennessee four years ago after a successful run at North Carolina A&T. “It’s been one of my dreams. To be able to be on the wall, especially at a school like this, I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
-
West Virginia1 minute agoNotebook: MCWS as good as advertised; West Virginia no overnight success story – WV MetroNews
-
Wyoming8 minutes agoWith high costs and access gaps, Wyoming’s elder care landscape is ‘in crisis’
-
Crypto11 minutes agoIran Moves to Close the Strait of Hormuz as Tensions Erupt Over Broken Ceasefire Deal
-
Finance16 minutes agoPersonal Finance: SpaceX IPO bends the rules | Chattanooga Times Free Press
-
Fitness23 minutes ago8News tries Pilates exercises for Fitness Friday
-
Movie Reviews31 minutes ago1986 Movie Reviews – Karate Kid Part II and Legal Eagles | The Nerdy
-
World41 minutes agoVideo: Moscow Tanker Blast Most Likely Russian Missile, Video Shows
-
News46 minutes agoVideo: The Sacred Catholic Site Where Trump Wants a Border Wall
