Ben Benton is a news reporter at the Chattanooga Times Free Press. He covers Southeast Tennessee and previously covered North Georgia education.
Ben has worked at the Times Free Press since November 2005, first covering Bledsoe and Sequatchie counties and later adding Marion, Grundy and other counties in the northern and western edges of the region to his coverage.
He was born and raised in Cleveland, Tenn., a graduate of Bradley Central High School.
Benton has a bachelor’s degree in communications from the the University of Tennessee.
In 2003, he won first place for Best New Photograph in Group III of the Tennessee Press Association contest. He also placed fourth for Best News Story the same year.
Ben previously worked at The Daily Post-Athenian in Athens, Tenn., The Herald-News, in Dayton, Tenn., and at the Knoxville Journal, in Knoxville.
Ben lives in Chattanooga with his wife, son and father. He has been a Chattanooga resident since 1988.
Contact Ben at 423-757-6569 and at bbenton@timesfreepress.com.
Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/BenBenton.
Recent Stories »
A Trenton, Ga., man is hospitalized and two local bondsmen are free on bond after a shooting Thursday on Cherokee Trail in Dade County.
A state medical examiner has ruled the death of Sequatchie, Tenn., 3-month-old Colin Eugene Russell a homicide.
Tracy City, Tenn., officials will meet Friday to discuss a $300,000 loan that could be put with $1.2 million in grant money to fund major portions of an unprecedented townwide face-lift.
A Tullahoma, Tenn., father is behind bars and his 13-month-old daughter is hospitalized after the gun he was cleaning discharged and struck the toddler in the chest, authorities say.
A Tullahoma, Tenn., father is behind bars after a gun he was cleaning discharged and struck his 13-month-old daughter in the chest, authorities say.
A Warren County, Tenn., man's first-degree murder case involving a woman whose burned body was found near a Summitville cave has been bound over to the Coffee County grand jury.
MANCHESTER, Tenn. — At just 141 years old, the Coffee County Courthouse is in pretty good shape for its age.
Shaky economic times are sometimes more poignant in rural areas because help is often far away or hard to reach, said Bill Wolfe, pastor at Lee Station Baptist Church in Bledsoe County, Tenn.
When Jasper Middle School fifth-grade teacher Bobby McCulley is awarded the Tennessee Education Association's Distinguished Educator Award in a ceremony this afternoon, it'll be at the same Marion County school he attended as a student.
Former Meigs County, Tenn., sheriff's deputy Bradley Collins, charged in Rhea County in February with aggravated assault and felony reckless endangerment, was cleared of charges after a state review of the case.
