Investigation into unlicensed childcare listings leads to change
Investigation into unlicensed childcare listings leads to change
In Knoxville last summer, 3 children died while in the care of unlicensed providers. It's easy for providers to make false claims on sites like Care.com, which don't vet listings. Income challenges magnify problems finding child care for many working and student parents.
Corrections and clarifications: This report has been updated to reflect that Care.com says it has always done a preliminary screening of individual caregivers' criminal records, but will now not allow those caregivers to apply to jobs or contact families on the platform until the screening is completed.
The state of Tennessee announced it's taking steps to protect parents from misleading advertising by unlicensed child care providers. With the announcement this month, the state disclosed a letter from Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery's office requesting a partnership with Care.com to address concerns.
More Investigations
COLUMBIA - William "Justin" Jones died on a furniture pad on Bill and Sheila Thompson's driveway, eight days after his 42nd birthday. The symptoms started about 20 minutes after Jones smoked K2, a drug purported to be a synthetic cannabinoid. His best friend, Bobby Loux, saw the whole thing.
COLUMBIA - It was known to local authorities but hidden from the view of the public: a brothel operating in a house on Vandiver Drive for decades. And then, in February, a man was arrested for sex trafficking a teenage runaway.
Two years after a Smokies tourist helicopter crash killed all five people on board, most of the tourist helicopters in the area now have lifesaving fuel systems that might have spared some of the occupants' lives in the 2016 crash.
This story has been updated to clarify the KUB energy usage charges pertain to 1,000-kilowatt hours per household. New, more energy-efficient technology should mean utility bills are lower than they have been in years past, but that's not the case for many Knoxville residents.
Features and life stories
Adolf Hitler's quest to build a master race drove European scientific talent into the United States' ranks, giving the nation a jump-start on the race to develop the first atomic bomb. But even as the United States held its arms open to immigrating scientists, many persecuted Jews, it constrained African-Americans who wanted to commit their talents to the war effort.
When Julie Meunier met Fred Pepperman at Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Campground in Robert, Louisiana, she didn't know it was the "once upon a time" that would begin her 32-year love story. On Friday, July 26, the Maryville couple would have celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary.
PALL MALL, Tenn. - One of the biggest heroes of World War I was a pacifist who asked to become a conscientious objector. Thursday marks the 100th anniversary - April 6, 1917 - of the day the United States joined its allies to fight in the war to end all wars.
COLUMBIA - Twenty people living in the historic James Condominium downtown need new homes by the end of February after the property at 121 S. Tenth St. was sold to Fields Holdings LLC. The California-based development company plans to demolish the building to make way for a 10-story apartment complex.
Science, energy and nuclear
President Donald Trump's budget proposal slashing funds for scientific research was declared "dead on arrival" when it reached Congress. But as the 2018 fiscal year begins Sunday, questions remain about important programs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory now that Republicans control the national government.
An isotope found in the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee is saving the lives of cancer patients in medical trials, and is on its way to helping more Americans as the president prepares to sign new legislation that would allow more patients to try experimental medical treatments.
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. - Oak Ridge National Laboratory and IBM have successfully built and launched the Summit supercomputer, the world's most powerful and smartest supercomputer. The powerful computer is the next step toward a national goal of developing the world's first fully capable exascale machine by 2021.
Questionable program management by the National Nuclear Security Administration has again placed the uranium program at risk of exceeding its budget as construction for the Uranium Processing Facility approaches, according to a Government Accountability Office report.