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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  Tennessee’s largest undergraduate institution granted a degree to its 100,000th four-year student Saturday.

Middle Tennessee State University passed the mark as it graduated more than 2500 students. Degrees were awarded to more than 2,100 undergraduates and over 430 graduate students.

The 2012 commencement ceremonies marked the conclusion of MTSU’s centennial celebration. The school opened in 1912 as a so-called “normal” school dedicated to training teachers.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  Today marks the 2nd anniversary of the devastating floods that would eventually claim the lives of 21 Tennesseans.

The Corps of Engineers later reported that more than 17 inches of rain fell in some areas of the state over a two day period, the most rain in 140 years of recording keeping.

More than half of all Tennessee counties, 54 in total, were eventually declared federal disaster areas. Nashville alone suffered more than $1.5 billion in property damage.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — A bill under consideration by the Tennessee General Assembly is creating tension between the governor and an East Tennessee newspaper.

The Governor’s staff has declined to release some records about legislation meant to overhaul the Tennessee Regulatory Authority.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press says the governor's office sought advice from nearly a dozen of the groups regulated by the agency about the proposed legislation.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Hate crimes in Tennessee jumped in 2011, rising 51 percent above 2010 levels.

According to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation there were 261 recorded hate crimes last year.

Hate crime statistics tend to fluctuate a lot from year to year. There were 426 in 2008, 243 in 2009 and 173 in 2010.

Here in Middle Tennessee, hate crimes were reported in the cities of Clarksville, Manchester, Gallatin, Lebanon, Nashville and Spring Hill.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  Middle Tennessee State University broke ground on its new $147 million dollar science building Thursday afternoon.

Governor Bill Haslam, Speaker of the Tennessee House, Beth Harwell, and a large delegation of state legislators joined MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee in turning ceremonial shovels of dirt on the construction site.

MTSU’s enrollment has more than quadrupled in the years since the school’s current science buildings were constructed. The new building has been at the top of Tennessee higher education’s wish list for years.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn (WMOT)  --  On this sixth annual World Malaria Day, a Tennessee historian recalls the little remembered connection between the deadly disease and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Few Americans remember that malaria was once common in the U.S., or that the TVA played a crucial role in eradicating the mosquito-borne disease.