Latest news with #TennesseeDepartmentofTransportation
Axios
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Axios
New Tennessee laws on AI deepfakes, lab-grown meat take effect July 1
Scores of new laws take effect Tuesday in Tennessee, touching on everything from AI deepfakes to lab-grown meat. Why it matters: The measures will reshape elements of health care, education and criminal justice in Tennessee, among many other things. Zoom in: We've compiled a list of some of the July 1 laws that have gotten attention. 🏠 Immigration: Lawmakers approved legislation creating a criminal penalty for people or organizations that provide shelter for undocumented immigrants. People who do so could be charged with "human smuggling." The Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and other advocates are suing to block the law in federal court. Republicans said the bill was designed to fight human trafficking. But the religious leaders argue the law will penalize churches and landlords for offering services to immigrants. 🤝 Good Samaritan law: A new law expands immunity protections for people who seek medical help for themselves or someone else in the face of a possible alcohol or drug overdose. The law previously applied only to drug overdoses. This expansion allows minors to call for help without fear of being punished for underage drinking. 💰 Payday loans: Loan providers can now charge up to 36% interest on loans of more than $100. The previous limit for smaller loans was 30%. 🥩 Lab-grown meat: Makers of lab-grown meat, or "cell-cultured food product," must now get a permit to sell in Tennessee. Those products cannot be labeled as "meat." 🚗 Family travel: The Tennessee Department of Transportation must have roadside signage alerting drivers if an upcoming rest stop has a single-stall family restroom with enough room for people with disabilities or people who need a caregiver to help them. TDOT must also list rest stops and welcome centers with those accommodations online. 🍎 Vouchers: Gov. Bill Lee's $447 million plan will expand school vouchers statewide. Under the plan, Tennessee families can apply to use taxpayer dollars to help pay tuition at private schools. The state has already received tens of thousands of applications. 🧑🧒 Foster care: Support services for foster children who age out of the system are extended until the age of 23, provided that they are working or enrolled in school. 💻 Deepfakes: People who are targeted by AI deepfakes that depict them in sexual situations can now sue creators for damages in civil court.
San Francisco Chronicle
27-06-2025
- Climate
- San Francisco Chronicle
Interstate 40 in the Smoky Mountains reopens faster than expected after rock slide and flooding
HARTFORD, Tenn. (AP) — Crews on Friday reopened a section of Interstate 40 along its narrow corridor through the Great Smoky Mountains after flooding and a rock slide closed the major cross country highway for nine days. The highway was already undergoing major repairs from massive damage and washouts during Hurricane Helene last fall and is down to one lane in each direction in far western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. About 2.5 to 3.5 inches (63 mm to 89 mm) of rain fell in the area over about three hours on June 18, swamping I-40 around Exit 451 in Tennessee, just to the west of the state line with North Carolina, officials said. The Tennessee Department of Transportation originally thought I-40 would be closed until July 3. The damaged section is part of 12 miles (19 kilometers) of I-40 in North Carolina and Tennessee that were washed away or heavily damaged by flooding that roared through the Pigeon River gorge during Hurricane Helene in late September. Crews repaired and shored up enough of the old highway to open one narrow lane in each direction in March. The lanes are separated by a curb several inches high. The permanent fix to stabilize what is left of the road will involve driving long steel rods into bedrock below the highway, filling them with grout and spraying concrete on the cliff face to hold them in place. It will take years.
Winnipeg Free Press
27-06-2025
- Climate
- Winnipeg Free Press
Interstate 40 in the Smoky Mountains reopens faster than expected after rock slide and flooding
HARTFORD, Tenn. (AP) — Crews on Friday reopened a section of Interstate 40 along its narrow corridor through the Great Smoky Mountains after flooding and a rock slide closed the major cross country highway for nine days. The highway was already undergoing major repairs from massive damage and washouts during Hurricane Helene last fall and is down to one lane in each direction in far western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. About 2.5 to 3.5 inches (63 mm to 89 mm) of rain fell in the area over about three hours on June 18, swamping I-40 around Exit 451 in Tennessee, just to the west of the state line with North Carolina, officials said. The Tennessee Department of Transportation originally thought I-40 would be closed until July 3. The damaged section is part of 12 miles (19 kilometers) of I-40 in North Carolina and Tennessee that were washed away or heavily damaged by flooding that roared through the Pigeon River gorge during Hurricane Helene in late September. Crews repaired and shored up enough of the old highway to open one narrow lane in each direction in March. The lanes are separated by a curb several inches high. The permanent fix to stabilize what is left of the road will involve driving long steel rods into bedrock below the highway, filling them with grout and spraying concrete on the cliff face to hold them in place. It will take years. I-40 runs from Wilmington. North Carolina, to Barstow, California.
Associated Press
27-06-2025
- Climate
- Associated Press
Interstate 40 in the Smoky Mountains reopens faster than expected after rock slide and flooding
HARTFORD, Tenn. (AP) — Crews on Friday reopened a section of Interstate 40 along its narrow corridor through the Great Smoky Mountains after flooding and a rock slide closed the major cross country highway for nine days. The highway was already undergoing major repairs from massive damage and washouts during Hurricane Helene last fall and is down to one lane in each direction in far western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. About 2.5 to 3.5 inches (63 mm to 89 mm) of rain fell in the area over about three hours on June 18, swamping I-40 around Exit 451 in Tennessee, just to the west of the state line with North Carolina, officials said. The Tennessee Department of Transportation originally thought I-40 would be closed until July 3. The damaged section is part of 12 miles (19 kilometers) of I-40 in North Carolina and Tennessee that were washed away or heavily damaged by flooding that roared through the Pigeon River gorge during Hurricane Helene in late September. Crews repaired and shored up enough of the old highway to open one narrow lane in each direction in March. The lanes are separated by a curb several inches high. The permanent fix to stabilize what is left of the road will involve driving long steel rods into bedrock below the highway, filling them with grout and spraying concrete on the cliff face to hold them in place. It will take years. I-40 runs from Wilmington. North Carolina, to Barstow, California.
Hamilton Spectator
19-06-2025
- Climate
- Hamilton Spectator
Flooding and rock slides close heavily damaged I-40 section in Smoky Mountains
HARTFORD, Tenn. (AP) — Heavy rain, flooding and a rock slide have again closed a section of the major cross country highway Interstate 40 along its narrow corridor through the Great Smoky Mountains. The slide and flood happened Wednesday afternoon around mile marker 450 in Tennessee, just to the west of the state line with North Carolina, the Tennessee Department of Transportation said on social media. Crews continued to work Thursday to get the water and rock off the highway and had not released when they think the road could be reopened, the DOT said. Engineers have found significant damage on both the highway and nearby ramps which was more extensive than originally thought, Republican Tennessee Rep. Jeremy Faison said on social media. 'Several areas remain under water, and there are potentially compromised slopes. Geotechnical engineers are on-site today to assess the stability of those slopes,' wrote Faison, who represents the area. The damaged section is part of 12 miles (19 kilometers) of I-40 in North Carolina and Tennessee that was washed away or heavily damaged by flooding that roared through the Pigeon River gorge during Hurricane Helene in late September. Crews repaired and shored up enough of the old highway to open one narrow lane in each direction in March. The lanes are separated by a curb several inches high that had to be removed to let vehicles stuck by the flooding and rockslide to turn around and go the other way. About 2.5 to 3.5 inches (63 mm to 89 mm) of rain fell in the area over about three hours, according to the National Weather Service. The permanent fix to stabilize what's left of the road will involve driving long steel rods into bedrock below the road, filling them with grout and spraying concrete on the cliff face to hold them in place. It will take years. I-40 runs from Wilmington. North Carolina to Barstow, California, and any detour around the Great Smoky Mountain section is dozens of miles. Trucks have gotten stuck on twisty narrow mountain roads and are banned on another major highway through the area U.S. 441 through Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
