AP poll: A look at the top 10 Tennessee stories of 2020 December 24, 2020 GMT NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A look at the top 10 Tennessee stories of 2020, according to an Associated Press survey of reporters, editors and broadcasters. 1. COVID-19: The global COVID-19 pandemic hit Tennessee in March and has since caused hundreds of thousands of confirmed infections, with thousands of Tennesseans killed. Republican Gov. Bill Lee has favored a policy that made Tennessee one of the last states to establish a stay-at-home order in the spring and one of the first to reopen its economy, while leaving mask requirements up to counties. ADVERTISEMENT 2. DEADLY TORNADOES: Overnight before the state’s presidential primary in March, at least six tornadoes carved through Middle Tennessee during storms that killed 25 people, including 19 in Putnam County and two in Nashville. President Donald Trump surveyed damage on the ground in Putnam County. During a mid-April Easter, storms in the Southeast produced a tornado on the other side of the state, killing three people in and around Chattanooga.