The defendant, David Elias Hernandez Sanchez, appeals the Montgomery County Circuit Court’s denial of his bid for judicial diversion of the four-year sentence imposed for his guilty-pleaded conviction of aggravated assault. Discerning no error, we affirm.

A Bradley County jury found Defendant, Lori Anne Pierce, guilty of possession of methamphetamine with the intent to sell or deliver, a Class B felony (Count 1); possession of alprazolam with the intent to sell or deliver, a Class D felony (Count 2); possession of clonazepam with the intent to sell or deliver, a Class D felony (Count 3); and attempted unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to deliver, a Class A misdemeanor (Count 4). On appeal, Defendant challenges whether the evidence was sufficient to prove that she constructively possessed the contraband on all four counts. Defendant also challenges whether the evidence was sufficient to prove intent to sell or deliver on all counts. After review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court but remand for correction of the judgment forms to indicate Defendant’s proper offender status and release eligibility.

This case involves the respondent’s pro se appeal from an order of protection granted by the trial court in favor of the petitioner. The petitioner initially obtained an order of protection for one year from the general sessions court, which the respondent appealed to the circuit court. After a de novo hearing, the trial court extended the order of protection for three years, to expire on January 24, 2026. The respondent timely appealed to this Court. Because the respondent’s appellate brief does not comply with Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 27 and Tennessee Court of Appeals Rule 6, we hereby dismiss the appeal.

This appeal concerns governmental immunity. Steven W. Lawson (“Decedent”), by and through his widow, Penny Lawson, and on behalf of Corey Lawson, Decedent’s child (“Plaintiffs,” collectively), sued the Hawkins County Emergency Communications District Board (“ECD-911”), Hawkins County, Tennessee, and Hawkins County Emergency Management Agency (“the EMA”) (“Defendants,” collectively) in the Circuit Court for Hawkins County (“the Trial Court”) alleging negligence, gross negligence, and recklessness in Defendants’ response to a road washout that led to Decedent’s death. Defendants filed motions for judgment on the pleadings, which the Trial Court granted partly on grounds that claims of recklessness could not proceed against the Defendant entities under the Governmental Tort Liability Act (“the GTLA”). Plaintiffs appealed. We reversed. The Tennessee Supreme Court reversed this Court, holding that when the GTLA removes immunity for negligence, it does so for ordinary negligence only. The matter was remanded to this Court for further proceedings. We hold, inter alia, that while Defendants’ immunity is removed under the GTLA by Plaintiffs’ ordinary negligence claims, the public duty doctrine bars those claims. However, ECD-911’s immunity also is removed by Plaintiffs’ claim of gross negligence under Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-20-108, and the third special duty exception to the public duty doctrine allows that claim to proceed against ECD-911. We reverse the Trial Court’s grant of judgment on the pleadings to ECD-911 and remand for Plaintiffs’ case to proceed against that entity. Otherwise, we affirm.

Father appeals the termination of his parental rights to his child, who was nearly three years old at the time of trial. On appeal, Father disputes that termination of his parental rights is in the child’s best interest. We affirm the trial court’s determinations as to both the ground for termination and that termination of Father’s parental rights is in the child’s best interest.

The petitioner’s employment as a Tennessee highway patrolman was terminated for cause after he attended a training course on breathalyzer machines and, as part of the training, submitted two breath samples that returned positive numbers for alcohol content in his blood. The petitioner appealed, but his termination was upheld in the first two steps of the internal appeals process by the respondent, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (“the Department”). The petitioner appealed to the Tennessee Board of Appeals, which conducted a hearing on the matter. Prior to the hearing, Mr. Gordon filed a motion in limine, seeking to exclude the two breathalyzer test results on grounds that the tests were not conducted in compliance with the evidentiary requirements for breathalyzer test results. The Board declined to exclude the breathalyzer test results and upheld the petitioner’s termination, ending the Department’s internal appeals process. The petitioner sought judicial review with the trial court. The trial court reversed and modified the Board’s decision, determining that the Board improperly considered the numeric breathalyzer test results and that without them there was no substantial and material evidence remaining to support the Board’s decision to terminate Mr. Gordon’s employment. Nonetheless, the trial court determined that some discipline was warranted and accordingly ordered the Department to reinstate the petitioner with back pay and benefits to one year following his dismissal, in effect sanctioning petitioner with a oneyear suspension without pay. The Department timely appealed. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm.

A survey by consultancy Withum Smith+Brown found that leading law firms are less bullish heading into 2024 than they were coming into 2023, reports Law.com. About 42% of respondents said increased salary demands posed a risk to their cash position. The report also found more than 48% expected overhead to rise in 2024, compared with 27% in 2023. Even before top law firms began adopting salary increases, the outlook was already described as “tepid” and “volatile.” Legal industry analysts noted high billing rates may have helped firms stave off further cuts next year.

Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville on Tuesday ended his blockade of hundreds of military promotions following heavy criticism from senate colleagues, the Associated Press reports. Tuberville’s blockade of military promotions was in protest over the Pentagon’s abortion policy. Almost 400 military nominations have been in limbo due to Tuberville’s blanket hold on confirmations and promotions for senior military officers. The stance has left key national security positions unfilled.

In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Louisiana Monday night, 11 Republican-led states and energy groups challenged a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule that bolsters state and tribal veto power over infrastructure projects that might pollute rivers and streams, reports Reuters. The states argue the EPA's ruling revising the Clean Water Act's process to block projects that impact water resources exceeded the agency's authority. The plaintiffs warned the rule, which went into effect last month, will increase the workload of state agencies and thwart new infrastructure projects.

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