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Rutherford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in Middle Tennessee. As of a 2023 estimate, the population was 367,101, making it the fifth-most populous county in Tennessee. A study conducted by the University of Tennessee projects Rutherford County to become the third largest county in Tennessee by population by 2050. Its county seat is Murfreesboro, which is also the geographic center of Tennessee. As of 2010, it is the center of population of Tennessee. Rutherford County is included in the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Philip Norman Bredesen Jr. is an American politician and businessman who served as the 48th governor of Tennessee from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected in 2002 with 50.6% of the vote and re-elected in 2006 with 68.6%. He served as the 66th mayor of Nashville from 1991 to 1999. Bredesen is the founder of the HealthAmerica Corporation, which he sold in 1986. He is the last Democrat to win and/or hold statewide office in Tennessee.
Nashville Superspeedway is a 1.330 mi (2.140 km) tri-oval intermediate speedway in Lebanon, Tennessee. The track has held a variety of racing events since its opening in 2001, including NASCAR and the IndyCar Series. It is currently owned by Speedway Motorsports, LLC (SMI) since 2021 and led by track general manager Matt Greci.
Timothy Floyd Burchett is an American politician who is the U.S. representative for Tennessee's 2nd congressional district, based in Knoxville, serving since 2019.
The Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant is an American automobile assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The plant was formally announced in July 2008 and was formally inaugurated in May 2011.
The 2014 United States Senate election in Tennessee took place on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate from the State of Tennessee. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander defeated Democrat Gordon Ball, and was re-elected to a third term in office with 61.9% of the vote against 31.9%.
Owen Michael Carter was an American politician and a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives representing District 29 from January 8, 2013 to May 15, 2021. He served as the Chair of the House Civil Justice Committee.
Debra Moody is an American politician and a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives representing District 81 since January 8, 2013.
Mary Littleton is an American politician. A Republican, she has represented District 78 in the Tennessee House of Representatives since January 8, 2013.
Gloria Johnson is an American politician and Democratic member of the Tennessee House of Representatives currently representing District 90, and formerly District 13, based in Knoxville. In April 2023, she and two other state representatives faced expulsion votes from the Tennessee General Assembly after taking to the floor of the State House unrecognized to protest gun violence. Johnson was the only one of the three legislators not to be expelled. Johnson was the Democratic Party nominee for the 2024 United States Senate election in Tennessee, losing in a landslide to incumbent Republican Marsha Blackburn.
Tilman Goins is an American politician and a Republican who represented District 10 in the Tennessee House of Representatives from 2013 to 2018, and a former county commissioner from Hamblen County, TN. He is a veteran of both the US Marine Corps and the US Army.
Andrew Ellis Farmer is an American politician and a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives representing District 17 since January 8, 2013.
Ryan Williams is an American politician and a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives representing District 42 since January 2011. In 2016, he was elected by his colleagues to serve as the Republican Caucus Chairman.
Pat Marsh is an American politician and a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives representing District 62 since winning the special election on October 13, 2009, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Representative Curt Cobb.
Goffrey A. 'G. A.' Hardaway, Sr. is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Tennessee House of Representatives representing District 93 since January 2013. Hardaway served consecutively from his special election March 13, 2007, until January 8, 2013, in the District 92 seat.
Joshua G. Evans is an American politician and a former Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives representing District 66, from 2009 to 2015. He unsuccessfully ran for the Tennessee Senate's 21st District in 2014.
Karen D. Camper is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Tennessee House of Representatives representing District 87 since her special election March 31, 2008 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Gary Rowe. She was a candidate for the 2023 Memphis mayoral election.
The Nissan Smyrna assembly plant is an automobile assembly plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, that began production in 1983 and employs approximately 8,000 people. The plant has an annual capacity of 640,000 cars, which was the highest in North America in 2017.
The juvenile justice system and jail of Rutherford County, Tennessee became a subject of state-wide, national and international controversy in the 2020s, when a journalistic investigation revealed a pattern of abnormal and illegal incarceration of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of children in the county's juvenile jail at a rate ten times the state's average.
Donna Scott Davenport is the first judge to have overseen the Rutherford County, Tennessee juvenile justice system, filling the newly created position in 2000. She is also a former adjunct professor at her alma mater, Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). She presided over the juvenile court and legal system for the county, appointed magistrates, set protocols, directed police and heard cases involving minors, including parents charged with child neglect. Despite published reports that Davenport operated juvenile court outside of the tenets of law, including by her own admission, Davenport remained on the bench until retiring at the end of her term in September 2022 while lawmakers debated ending her tenure sooner. Her actions while on the bench are the subject of a four-part podcast, The Kids of Rutherford County.
References
- ↑ "Rep. Mike Sparks". Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee General Assembly . Retrieved March 17, 2014.
- ↑ "Mike Sparks' Biography". Project Vote Smart . Retrieved March 17, 2014.
- ↑ "Mike Sparks earns endorsement from Tennessee Professional Fire Fighters Association" Murfreesboro Voice, October 10, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
- ↑ "'I was on to something'" J. Holly Dolloff, Nashville Business Journal, April 3, 2005. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
- ↑ "How to Do More with Less During Tough Times" Michael J. Sparks, Createspace, 2014. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
- ↑ "HB 0720 by Sparks" Tennessee General Assembly. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
- ↑ "Legislation aims at averting excessive jailing of juveniles" Sam Stockard, Tennessee Lookout, January 18, 2023. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
