Marianna Bacallao
Power and Equity Reporter, WPLNMarianna Bacallao (mare-ee-AW-nuh bah-kuh-YOW) is a Cuban American journalist and WPLN's Power & Equity Reporter. She covers systems of power from the courts to the pulpit, with a focus on centering the voices of those most impacted by policy. Previously, she served three years as the afternoon host for WPLN News, where she won a Murrow for hosting during a deadly tornado outbreak, served as a guide on election night, and gave live updates in the wake of the Covenant School shooting. A Georgia native, she was a contributor to Georgia Public Broadcasting during her undergrad years and served as editor-in-chief for Mercer University’s student newspaper.
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Evangelicals are among President Trump's strongest supporters but some evangelical leaders have been critical of his immigration policies, creating divisions between pulpits and pews.
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Gov. Bill Lee has vetoed a bill for the first time in his six-year career as Tennessee’s top official. -
A measure that would allow Tennessee schools to refuse undocumented students is likely dead for the 2025 legislative session. -
Tennessee retailers will soon have to take their most popular hemp products off the shelves. -
A measure to challenge the right to an education for undocumented students narrowly passed the Tennessee Senate, 19-13, to the outrage of protesters inside and outside of the chamber. -
Tennessee physicians and insurance companies could soon deny patients certain medical treatments that go against the providers' moral or religious beliefs under a bill now headed to the governor’s desk. -
A Tennessee proposal that would challenge federal education rights for immigrant students is headed to the state Senate floor. The bill passed its final committee vote 7-4 on Tuesday with two Republicans dissenting. -
Tennessee schools could refuse to teach students without legal status, or charge their families tuition, under a bill advancing in the statehouse. -
Tennessee lawmakers Thursday celebrated the preservation of the state’s so-called drag ban. The U.S. Supreme Court this week refused to hear a legal challenge to the law, leaving in place a lower court’s ruling which found plaintiffs didn’t have standing to sue. -
Tennessee’s ban on drag in public spaces will remain in effect, as the U.S. Supreme Court refuses to take up a legal challenge to the law.
