Tennessee’s candidates for governor took disparate stances on what parts of the next state budget they’d trim during the first televised gubernatorial debate Monday night.

One in five Tennesseans affected by May’s flooding is retirement age and beyond, according to new figures from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Of the 64,000 applicants for FEMA assistance, more than 12,000 are over 60.

A Republican Congressman running for governor defended his vote for a federal bailout during last night’s statewide debate.

Last night a televised debate for governor at Belmont University saw Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam take repeated attacks from rivals, particularly over his personal finances. The millionaire Haslam is part-owner of the Pilot truck-stop company.

The major candidates for governor are preparing for the highest-profile debate of the election so far. Tonight’s forum at Belmont University will be televised across the state.

The Department of Defense announced Monday a Fort Campbell soldier died in Afghanistan late last week.

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen says he has no intention of taking it easy during his last six months in office.

The state of Tennessee is bailing out a struggling trust fund that allows families to prepay for college at current tuition rates. The budget that goes into effect this month pumps $15 million into a program which was designed to be self-sustaining.

A congressional primary race in Tennessee will test the boundaries of campaign finance laws. Robert Kirkland, who co-founded Kirkland’s home décor and gift stores, has already spent more than $750,000 to get his brother elected to Congress.

For more than a century, a Democrat has gone to Washington representing the farm towns and suburbs stretching from Dickson, west to the Mississippi River. Since 1989, Rep. John Tanner has held the 8th Congressional District seat. But he’s retiring, and the GOP sees opportunity. Leading the 8th district’s first competitive Republican primary in decades are a pair of physicians and a family farmer. WPLN’s Blake Farmer reports.