Jonathan Mattise, Author at The Rapid City Post

FILE - The Nashville, Tenn. skyline is seen July 15, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, file)

Man pleads guilty to charges that he meant to blow up a Nashville power site with a bomb-laden drone

September 9, 2025

Prosecutors say a 24-year-old man with ties to white nationalist groups has pleaded guilty to charges that he attempted to use a drone to bomb a Nashville electricity substation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee said in a statement that Skyler Philippi, Columbia, Tennessee, pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to destroy an energy facility. He faces up to life in prison at his Jan. 8 sentencing. According to investigators, Philippi told a confidential FBI source in July 2024 that he wanted to attack several electricity substations to “shock the system.” Undercover agents arrested him as he was preparing to attach explosives to a drone for the attack.

Business spat between Daryl Hall and John Oates has been resolved in arbitration, attorneys say

August 11, 2025

A court filing says Daryl Hall and John Oates have resolved their dispute over a Hall & Oates business partnership through arbitration. The filing by Hall’s attorneys Monday shows the estranged duo reached a private ending after details of the rift between the duo went public in court documents after Hall sued Oates in 2023. A judge required the status update on a legal case that has been dormant for a year and a half. It’s unclear when the arbitration ruling was reached, or what the outcome was. An attorney for Hall declined to comment. Representatives for Oates did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

ARCHIVO – En esta foto de arresto sin fecha, proporcionada por el Departamento de Correccionales de Tennessee, se muestra a Byron Black. (Departamento de Correccionales de Tennessee vía AP, Archivo)

Attorney says heart device did not shock Tennessee man in execution who said he was ‘hurting so bad’

August 8, 2025

The attorney for a Tennessee man who said he was “hurting so bad” during his lethal injection this week says his implanted defibrillator did not shock him during the execution. Kelley Henry, an attorney for Byron Black, said Friday that her team received an initial evaluation of the data from his implantable cardioverter defibrillator during Black’s execution. She said the ICD information eliminates one possible cause for Black’s comment about pain, and other actions such as the instances in which he picked his head up off the gurney and groaned. But she said many questions remain unanswered.

FILE - This undated booking photo provided by the Tennessee Department of Corrections shows Byron Black. (Tennessee Department of Corrections via AP, File)

Tennessee readies for execution of man with working implanted defibrillator

August 4, 2025

Tennessee is gearing up for an execution that experts say would likely mark the first time a man has been put to death with a working defibrillator in his chest. Gov. Bill Lee declined Monday to grant a reprieve. That cleared the way for Byron Black’s execution on Tuesday amid uncertainty about whether the device will shock his heart when the lethal drug takes effect. Black’s attorneys argue that the device should be turned off to prevent unnecessary pain. Black was convicted of the 1998 killings of his girlfriend and her two daughters. This execution is Tennessee’s second since May.

Tennessee set to execute inmate without turning off his implanted defibrillator

August 4, 2025

Tennessee plans to execute Byron Black without deactivating his defibrillator, raising concerns about potential shocks during the lethal injection. The 69-nine-year-old Black suffers from multiple health issues, including dementia and heart failure. His attorneys argue that the device should be turned off to prevent unnecessary pain. The state Supreme Court recently overturned a decision requiring deactivation. Black was convicted of the 1998 killings of his girlfriend and her two daughters. This execution is Tennessee’s second since May, following a five-year pause. Legal efforts to reconsider Black’s intellectual disability claim have been unsuccessful.

This photo provided by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation shows Austin Robert Drummond. (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation via AP)

Police find a car they say was driven by the man wanted in the death of 4 Tennessee family members

August 1, 2025

Authorities are searching for the man wanted for the murder of four family members in Tennessee. They found a car they believe Austin Robert Drummond was living in and offered a $15,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation believes Drummond, who had a relationship with the family, is still in the area and armed. Authorities said he left an infant, related to the victims, in a front yard. Drummond faces charges including four counts of first-degree murder. His criminal history includes robbery and gang activity. The investigation began after the infant was found Tuesday.

Tennessee contests disabling an inmate’s heart device at a hospital on execution day

July 24, 2025

State attorneys in Tennessee say a judge’s order to take a death row inmate to the hospital on the morning of his execution to deactivate his heart-regulating device would cause “chaos.” That argument and others came in the state’s appeal Wednesday regarding the implanted device inside Byron Black. State attorneys say protestors would pose a risk on the hospital trip. Black’s attorney says the state presented no evidence of that. Black’s lethal injection is set for Aug. 5. His attorneys say his heart device would continuously shock him during the execution. The state disputes that.

Judge orders Tennessee to turn off inmate’s heart-regulating implanted device at execution

July 18, 2025

A judge is ordering state officials to turn off a death-row inmate’s heart-regulating implanted device to avert the risk that it might try to shock him during his execution by lethal injection scheduled for Aug. 5. Nashville Chancellor Russell Perkins issued the order Friday. Byron Black is slated to die by a single dose lethal injection of pentobarbital. Black’s attorneys have said that the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator could shock him in an attempt to restore his heart’s normal rhythm, causing extreme pain and suffering. Attorneys for the state deemed it highly unlikely that the pentobarbital would trigger the device’s defibrillating function. And if it did, they say he would be unconscious and unaware, and unable to perceive pain.

FILE - Members of the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors listen to members of the public during a meeting May 8, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)

Federal utility backs off Tennessee gas plant site after John Rich says he enlisted Trump’s help

July 16, 2025

The nation’s largest public utility says it is looking at other sites for a new natural gas power plant after its preferred location in Tennessee drew heavy public scrutiny, including from country musician John Rich. The Tennessee Valley Authority announced Tuesday that it no longer prefers the Cheatham County site it had been pursuing for the 900-megawatt plant. Rich is a conservative supporter of President Donald Trump who has Cheatham County roots. He has been a key opponent of TVA’s proposed gas plant site. Rich said he enlisted Trump to team up on the issue. A TVA spokesperson declined to comment about Rich’s comments. A White House spokesperson also declined to comment.

FILE - Michael J. Fox arrives at A Country Thing Happened On The Way To Cure Parkinson's in Nashville, Tenn., on April 26, 2023. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)

Where’s Marty McFly’s guitar? Search is on for ‘Back to the Future’ prop 4 decades later

June 3, 2025

Marty McFly grabbed a guitar in “Back to the Future” and rocked out with the band at a 1950s high school dance, helping him narrowly avoid blinking out of existence before time-traveling back to the 1980s. The guitar wasn’t as lucky. Filmmakers went looking for the instrument while making the movie’s 1989 sequel, but it’s still nowhere to be found. Guitar maker Gibson has launched a search for the Cherry Red Gibson ES-345 from “Back to the Future.” The company is seeking the public’s help finding it. The campaign comes as the movie turns 40 and as Gibson produces a new documentary about the search and the film, “Lost to the Future.”

Jonathan Mattise.