AP/WMOT

NEW YORK (AP/WMOT) — Health officials say the flu is more widespread across the nation this year, and Tennessee is one of the states hardest hit.

Flu season started early this winter, and includes a strain that tends to make people sicker. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the flu is widespread in 47 states.

Dr. Kelly Moore  is with the Tennessee Department of Health.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — Some students may lose their lottery scholarships just as they enter their final semester, thanks to a bill passed by the Tennessee legislature two years ago.

A 2011 statute limits HOPE Scholarship funding to the minimum hours required for a degree program.

According to The Knoxville News Sentinel, nearly 3,000 students are expected to run out of scholarship funding over the next two years, before the end of their fourth year in school.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — The Tennessee Highway Patrol will be stepping up enforcement over the Christmas holiday. 

Christmas is one of the most dangerous times of the year for motorists due to an increase in impaired driving. According to the Tennessee Department of Safety, the increased enforcement begins just after midnight tonight and runs through midnight Dec. 25.

THP Captain David McGill says it includes saturation patrols, bar and tavern checks, and driver license and sobriety checkpoints.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — The State of Tennessee is stepping up to help homeowners faced with possible foreclosure.

The state attorney general's office is recommending homeowners in trouble call the Tennessee's Mortgage Assistance Hotline to get reliable information and referrals to free foreclosure prevention counseling.

The hotline is a partnership between the state and the Homeownership Preservation Foundation — a nonprofit that’s been operating a national hotline for the past five years.

WASHINGTON (AP/WMOT) —  Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker is getting national media attention as he weighs in on tax reform negotiations.  Republican mavericks like Corker are pressuring their leaders to rethink some of the most contentious issues, like taxes.

Corker is being quoted saying Senate Republicans would probably agree to higher taxes for the wealthiest Americans if it leads to overhauling entitlement programs. Here’s what he had to say when he spoke to reporter Judy Woodruff recently on the PBS NewsHour.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP/WNOT) —Gov. Bill Haslam and first lady Crissy Haslam are hosting the 10th annual "Tennessee Season to Remember" this evening, commemorating victims who lost their lives to violent crime. The ceremony begins tonight at 5:30 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in downtown Nashville. <?xml:namespace prefix = o />

Friends and families of victims are invited to attend and hang ornaments in memory of their loved ones on memorial wreaths. After the ceremony, the wreaths will be displayed at the Tennessee Tower.

GALLATIN, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — Tennessee Senator Bob Corker is sponsoring an event Friday in Gallatin designed to connect military veterans and their family with needed services.

"Rally Point" will be one-stop shopping for Tennessee vets hoping to access services like VA claims assistance, vocational rehabilitation, education, employment help, mental health services, and home and business loans.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — More than 264,000 students were considered truant in Tennessee last year, according to researchers at the University of Tennessee.

In Tennessee, any student missing five or more days without adequate explanation is truant.

Professor Dean Rivkin at the UT College of Law, has examined truancy laws, data and enforcement across the state for the past four years.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — The Sierra Club has filed a lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority over a Freedom of Information Act request for documents.

The environmental organization is trying to learn more about the utility's plan to spend nearly $1 billion to reduce emissions at its coal-fired power plant in Gallatin.

Louise Gorenflo with the Tennessee chapter of the Sierra Club notes that the Gallatin plant is nearly 60 years old. She says the group believes the cost of updating its environmental controls will exceed the value of the plant.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A task force of state health officials is trying to reverse an alarming rise in the number of Tennessee babies born addicted to drugs.

Babies born wiith addictions often spending many days in the hospital as they go through the painful withdrawal process.

Dr. Adam Huggins, an OB-GYN at Summit Medical Center, says he’s definitely seen an increase in the number of drug addicted newborns. He says it’s physically hard on the child and emotionally difficult for the medical staff that cares for them.