Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Good Morning! On this day in 1967, guitarist Jeff Cease, who notably played for The Black Crowes from 1988 to 1991, was born in Nashville. Cease has also played lead guitar for singer-songwriter Eric Church.

More than 600 acres of forestland near Cades Cove is one step closer to becoming part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. See details about the land in the story below.

Today’s sponsor, Miso Robotics, is betting that the future of fast food isn’t replacing workers with robots. It’s pairing employees with AI-powered “cobots” that help restaurants run faster, smarter, and more profitably.

Judge Blocks Tennessee’s SNAP Soda Ban

A federal judge has blocked Tennessee’s ban on using SNAP benefits to purchase soda, ruling that the USDA exceeded its authority in approving the restrictions.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that Congress defines what qualifies as food under SNAP, and the agency had no authority to change that definition. The ruling vacates pilot project approvals in Tennessee and four other states where SNAP recipients filed suit.

A total of 23 states had received similar waivers endorsed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as part of the Make America Healthy Again initiative. It’s unclear whether the ruling applies to all of them.

The news comes just over a month before the ban was set to take effect on July 31.

Great Smoky Mountains Park to Gain 600 Acres

The Foothills Land Conservancy has acquired a 600-acre tract of forestland near Townsend and Cades Cove that it plans to transfer to the National Park Service, expanding Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Oliver Tract, named for one of Cades Cove’s earliest European settlers, is nearly the size of the primary historic area surrounding the Cades Cove Loop.

The land contains continuous forest, wildlife habitat, migration corridors, and scenic ridgelines that connect directly with land already inside the park.

The Foothills Land Conservancy says the acquisition is one of the most significant conservation achievements in East Tennessee in nearly two decades. The land is pending a federal review and acceptance process before the transfer is finalized.

UT Knoxville Professor Named Pew Scholar

A University of Tennessee professor has been named a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences, one of just 21 researchers selected from more than 200 nominations nationwide.

Andrew Monteith, an assistant professor of microbiology, will receive four years of funding to pursue a surprisingly overlooked question: What does fever actually do to the body?

Monteith is developing new lab models that allow test subjects to run a fever during infection, something most existing research actively suppresses, to study how fever-range temperatures change immune behavior, inflammation, and the body’s ability to fight cancer and autoimmune disease.

Monteith hopes to validate new treatments and get them to patients within four to five years, potentially cutting down on the number of drugs that fail before ever reaching a hospital.

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“Cobots” Are Transforming This $1 Trillion Market

They’re not replacing humans; they’re working with them. That’s the promise of “cobots,” or collaborative robots.

In a robotics market NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang called “one of the largest industries ever,” the cobot segment is projected to grow 15X by 2035.

And Miso Robotics is proving its value in the $1 trillon fast-food industry.

Their Flippy fry station AI robot boosts restaurant profits up to 3X, logging 200k hours in live kitchens alongside human employees for brands like White Castle.

Flippy carries $4 billion/year in U.S. revenue potential on its own. And that’s just one piece of Miso’s platform.

Big-name brands like Jersey Mike’s and Cinnabon just became customers. Industry powerhouse Ecolab already invested. Join them as an early-stage shareholder before Miso hits their $2.5 million raise goal for June.

➤ Lewisburg: A 17-year-old was killed Saturday night when his car flipped during a race at Duck River Raceway Park. His cousin survived and is recovering. (More)

➤ Chattanooga: Monday’s storms toppled trees onto homes across the region, causing significant roof damage in multiple neighborhoods. More than 800 customers were still without power Tuesday morning. (More)

➤ Antioch: A man was left soaked and covered in glass after what the family believes was a prank. Someone tossed a water bottle from a moving car that smashed through his windshield. (More)

➤ Kingsport: The city will equip its police force with body cameras after approving a roughly $1 million investment over five years. Police Chief Jason Bellamy said the cameras will improve transparency and help protect officers and residents. (More)

➤ Red Bank: Homeowners face their third property tax increase in five years, a 14% hike for the coming budget year. City leaders cite limited revenue and a past budget shortfall, while defending employee pay as needed to compete with nearby towns. (More)

➤ Gallatin: City leaders are considering a ban on sparklers and similar products ahead of Independence Day. Sparklers, which can reach up to 2,000 degrees, sent 1,700 people to the ER nationwide in 2024. (More)

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➤ The Memphis Grizzlies selected Duke forward Cam Boozer with the No. 3 pick in last night’s NBA Draft, followed by Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz at No. 16—the pick they acquired via Orlando in the Desmond Bane trade. (See Full Draft)

➤ Former Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday, becoming the first player inducted after spending his entire career with the franchise. Rinne won the Vezina Trophy in 2018 and recorded 369 wins and 60 shutouts over 15 NHL seasons. (More)

➤ Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium was ranked the eighth-toughest place to play in the upcoming EA Sports College Football 27 video game, jumping from 12th in last year’s edition. (More)

➤ Titans quarterback Cam Ward reportedly struggled during OTAs and minicamp this month. A fan poll, however, found only 9% of respondents are “very concerned” about the second-year quarterback’s progress. (More)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: World Cup | MLB | WNBA

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➤ More than 5,000 Tennessee workers have been affected by layoffs or closures halfway through 2026, up from 4,023 in late May. (More)

➤ Burger Boys, a South Knoxville favorite, is targeting a July 6 reopening at its new North Broadway location. The restaurant closed last year after road improvements near Kern’s Food Hall displaced its Chapman Highway site. (More)

➤ Nashville home sales rose 5.6% year over year in May, with homes selling in an average of 35 days, two days faster than last year. The average home price now sits at $480,000. (More)

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¹ LIMRA and Life Happens, 2025 Insurance Barometer Study, as cited in LIMRA, “2025 Facts About Life Insurance.”

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Musk: This Will Make Everyone Wealthier Than Me

After SpaceX’s history-making IPO, Elon Musk has become the world’s first trillionaire. But he says the forthcoming AI and robotics boom will make everyone wealthier than him.

Over 44,000 people are tapping into this boom by investing in a private robotics company: Miso Robotics.

Miso’s AI and robots are becoming fixtures across the $1 trillion fast-food industry, serving customers at Cinnabon, Jersey Mike’s, Jamba, and many more. In fact, Miso’s Flippy Fry Station AI robot has already logged over 200,000 hours in real kitchens like White Castle.

Now Miso’s scaling Flippy across a $4 billion/year US revenue opportunity. And it’s only one piece of Miso’s growing platform.

This is your chance to tap into this growth as a Miso shareholder. Invest before Miso hits their $2.5 million raise goal for June.

This is a paid advertisement for Miso Robotics’ Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.misorobotics.com

➤ Free milkweed seed packets are available to Tennesseans to celebrate National Pollinator Week. Last year the program fulfilled over 18,000 requests and distributed 93,000 packets statewide. (More)

➤ Nashville’s Makalyn Heaslett was crowned Miss Tennessee 2026 at Belmont University Saturday, marking the fourth consecutive year a Middle Tennessee contestant has taken the state title. (See Video)

➤ A black bear climbed into the back of a pickup truck off Baskins Creek in Gatlinburg after smelling trash left inside. A bystander’s honking horn eventually drove him out. (See Video)

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➤ A Harvard scientist discovered a new “facelift protein” that smooths wrinkles, shrinks pores, and evens-out red blotchy skin in just 7 seconds a day. What surprised researchers the most wasn’t just the results…It was that women with higher levels of this “facelift protein” appeared to age dramatically better than their peers. Learn about this new discovery here.

The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes. Clicking the links will take you directly to these stories:

➤ Savannah Guthrie made a tearful on-air plea as new details emerge in her mother’s disappearance. (Listen Here)

➤ Should weight-loss drugs be banned in sports? Serena Williams reignited the debate. (Hear More)

➤ These are the 20 highest-paying jobs in America that aren’t doctors. (Tune In)