Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey lost his candidate for the GOP presidential
Bid Thursday when Texas Governor Rick Perry dropped out of the race. So, suddenly, Ramsey’s phone is ringing as the remaining candidates seek his backing.

State lawmakers have proposed making it illegal to squat on public property – a move to get rid of the “Occupy Nashville” protesters, whose tents line the War Memorial Plaza just outside the General Assembly’s offices.

A funny thing happened when the General Assembly passed new voting districts for the state last week. Lawmakers lost a whole county.

The statewide teachers union wants results from new classroom evaluations to be disregarded, at leaset this year. The Tennessee Education Association released a list of recommendations Wednesday.

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is part of a coalition warning it could sue the Environmental Protection Agency this spring. The Tennessee-based watchdog group wants EPA to finish rules over coal ash – a byproduct of power plants burning coal.

State lawmakers hoping to quickly ban new designer drugs are pausing to get their game-plan straight. A proposal that had been fast-tracked to a Senate committee for today is being put off a week.

A charter school operator from Arizona wants to open one of the first publicly financed schools in the state that’s designed not just for low-income kids. Representatives from Great Hearts Academies will meet with prospective parents Wednesday and Thursday nights.

First it cut tuition by 10 percent, then held the line. Now the University of the South has announced it will freeze tuition rates for incoming freshmen until they graduate in 2016.

Nashville Congressman Jim Cooper says the U.S. and its European allies aren’t looking for a fight in Syria. Cooper sits on the House Armed Services Committee, and says despite the Syrian government’s deadly crackdown on protesters, there’s not much appetite to get involved.

Nashville Congressman Jim Cooper says state legislators shouldn’t wait long before taking a role in the federal healthcare overhaul. Some lawmakers have talked about putting such a move off until after the Supreme Court decides if the law can legally make people buy health insurance.