Author

Adam Friedman

Adam Friedman

Adam Friedman is a reporter with the Tennessee Lookout. He has a particular love for data and using numbers to explain all kinds of topics. If you have a story idea, he'd love to hear it. Email him at [email protected] or call him at 615-249-8509.

Tennessee's poverty rates have fallen at roughly the same pace as in the rest of the United States.(Getty Images)

Census data shows Tennessee poverty rates fell but stagnated compared to the national average

By: - September 26, 2023

Tennessee’s poverty rates fell at roughly the same pace as in the rest of the United States, data released by the U.S. Census Bureau last week showed. For the past decade, Tennessee has seen a fall in its overall and childhood poverty rates often outpacing the U.S. average. But in 2022, that changed as the […]

Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Three-judge panel rules against the state on Nashville Fairground Speedway voting law

By: - September 25, 2023

Tennessee Republican lawmakers lost another legal battle with Metro Nashville’s lawyers. A three-judge panel ruled that state-forced changes around the votes need to approve renovations at the Nashville Fairground Speedway violated the city’s right to determine its own laws. “When the state government is guilty of egregious overreach, regrettably our only option is to seek […]

(Photo: Getty Images)

Lobbying groups spent around $35 million to influence Tennessee lawmakers during the first half of 2023

By: - September 21, 2023

Tennessee’s lobbying sector is doing just fine. From Jan. 1, 2023 to June 30, 2023, groups spent a combined $35 million on lobbying activity, according to filings released by Tennessee Registry of Election Finance earlier this week. It’s nearly $4 million more than groups spent during the same period in 2022, and a 66% rise […]

Ten of the 12 candidates for Nashville mayor at the May 10 Arts and Entertainment Forum. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Election map: 2023 Nashville mayor race looks like 2020 Presidential election

By: - September 19, 2023

Nashville’s mayoral runoff election turned into a classic Democrat versus Republican race despite being classified nonpartisan. The August general election effectively served as a 12-person party primary, producing a known Republican in Alice Rolli and a more liberal candidate in Metro Council member Freddie O’Connell. O’Connell then fully embraced his Democratic Party ties in the […]

Mayor-elect Freddie O'Connell addressing supporters on Aug. 3 2023, upon learning he would head to a mayoral runoff election. (Photo: John Partipilo)

A bloody clipboard and biodiesel car: The story behind Freddie O’Connell’s rise to Nashville mayor

By: - September 18, 2023

It didn’t take long for Nashville mayor-elect Freddie O’Connell to learn that even the best-laid plans can go astray.  O’Connell, a former chair of Metro Nashville Transit Authority, scored his first electoral victory to the Metro Nashville Council in 2015, thinking he was joining at the perfect time. Nashville had just elected Megan Barry as […]

Nashville Mayor-elect Freddie O'Connell surrounded by his daughters at his victory party on Sept. 14, 2023. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Freddie O’Connell wins Nashville mayoral election in landslide victory

By: - September 14, 2023

Metro Nashville Council member Freddie O’Connell will be the fourth straight mayor to ascend from the city’s legislative branch to the executive seat after winning Thursday night’s runoff election.  O’Connell grabbed 64% of the vote, while his opponent, former Republican strategist Alice Rolli, snagged 36%. A total of 114,103 people voted in the runoff. “We’re going […]

The Tennessee State Capitol with locked gates. (Photo: John Partipilo)

What is the Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions hiding?

By: - September 14, 2023

The Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions refused to release records related to consumer complaints, citing a five-decade-old provision in state law allowing the commissioner to block any record request. In August, the Lookout filed a public records request to see what banks, payday lenders and other financial institutions consumers are filing complaints about, only to […]

Women at a Nashville protest for abortion rights on June 24. (Photo: John Partipilo)

A new challenge to Tennessee’s abortion ban

By: - September 12, 2023

Two doctors and three women filed a lawsuit against Tennessee’s abortion law, arguing it prevents the implementation of life-saving medical care. “Pregnant people in Tennessee have suffered needless physical and emotional pain and harm, including loss of their fertility,” said lawyers in suit’s filing documents. “These pregnant people are not imagined. They are not ideological […]

Nissan Stadium in Nashville, home of the Tennessee Titans. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Taxpayers to pay $1B in interest on new Titans stadium, as team value spikes from project

By: - September 11, 2023

In the span of one week, the Tennessee Titans team value increased $900 million, while the finalizing of bond documents show taxpayers are on the hook for nearly $1.1 billion in interest payments as part of the team’s new taxpayer-funded stadium. Metro Nashville issued $705.4 million in bonds for the stadium, estimating they’ll pay $837.6 […]

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Appeals Court clears the way to allow Jewish couple to sue Tennessee for discriminatory adoption law

By: - September 7, 2023

An East Tennessee Jewish couple can move forward with their lawsuit challenging a discriminatory adoption law passed by state lawmakers in 2020. The Tennessee Court of Appeals reversed a three-judge panel ruling that determined Elizabeth and Gabriel Rutan-Ram did not have standing to sue the Department of Children’s Services. In January 2021, the couple was […]

U.S. Rep.-elect Andy Ogles opposes the election of Rep. Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Federal election officials threaten Ogles with campaign finance audit or enforcement – again

By: and - September 6, 2023

The Federal Election Commission sent a new batch of warnings to U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles that it could audit his campaign finance account or take “enforcement action” for a spate of violations, including excessive contributions from the House Freedom Caucus’ political action committee and possibly illegal corporate donations.  The agency notified Ogles’ treasurer, Thomas Datwyler, […]

A drag performer entertains a full house in a Nashville club. A law banning public drag performances was struck down on June 3, 2023. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Tennessee’s anti-drag law faces another suit, this time in Blount County

By: - August 31, 2023

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee filed a lawsuit Wednesday to block enforcement of the Adult Entertainment Act, which critics have called a ban on drag shows. The ACLU filed its suit on behalf of organizers with Blount County Pride after the local district attorney sent the group a letter warning them he planned […]