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Medical board meets to review COVID misinformation policy
The state’s doctor discipline board has called a special meeting on Tuesday to discuss their policy on holding physicians accountable for spreading COVID misinformation, after Republican lawmakers took action to curb the board’s powers to do so in late October. The 12-member Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners in September enacted a policy that warns “physicians […]
Clearcutting plans in state wilderness area gets legal approval despite local opposition
A controversial plan by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officials to clearcut forest in a popular hunting, hiking and recreation area in order to create habitat for Northern bobwhite quail has gotten a legal go-ahead, despite opposition from residents and local leaders in White County, a bipartisan group of lawmakers and environmental groups. The 16,000-acre […]
Bridgestone sues Tennessee for $11.7M in tax incentives dispute
With great fanfare, state and local leaders announced in 2014 they had secured a deal with tire giant Bridgestone Americas to bring its U.S. headquarters — and hundreds of new jobs — to downtown Nashville. On Wednesday, Bridgestone filed suit against Tennessee to compel state officials to make good on the promised tax breaks that […]
Chattanooga’s largest hospital system sues TennCare over payment practices
Chattanooga’s largest hospital has filed suit against TennCare over claims it is underpaying some hospitals for emergency care — the latest in a series of legal actions by Erlanger Health System alleging Tennessee officials are “purposely redistributing money from hospitals who treat Tennessee’s neediest citizens” to benefit insurance companies. It is the third lawsuit filed […]
FedEx added to ongoing lawsuit against cleaning contractor over Latina worker sexual abuse claims
Memphis-based FedEx has been added as a defendant in an ongoing lawsuit brought against a janitorial services contractor at its Nashville and Mount Juliet facilities by two Latina women workers who claim they and others among a largely female, immigrant workforce were subjected to sexual exploitation by a supervisor. The lawsuit was filed in May […]
No-bid contract earns company $55 million from state for contact tracing
In the early summer of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic overwhelmed even the nation’s most robust public health programs, Tennessee became one of a handful of states that chose to outsource contact tracing to a private vendor. In June 2020, Hendersonville-based Xtend Healthcare, a for-profit medical billing firm without prior experience in infectious disease, inked […]
Republican lawmaker demands medical board end policy disciplining doctors for COVID misinformation
Tennessee Republican Rep. John Ragan has demanded that a state medical board remove a policy statement from its website that warns physicians who spread misinformation regarding COVID-19 vaccines risk disciplinary action. In a letter sent Monday to Dr. Melanie Blake, president of the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners, Ragan instructed the statement be deleted “without […]
Tennessee must pay legal fees for abortion providers
The state of Tennessee has agreed to pay attorneys for abortion providers $249,000 to cover legal fees stemming from their challenge to an executive order by Gov. Bill Lee during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic that temporarily banned most abortions. The settlement — an agreed-upon sum between the office of Attorney General Herbert […]
Biden bill gives boost to local journalism
Several years ago, Danny Peppers launched the Stewart County Standard weekly community newspaper with a graphic designer, a home equity line of credit and, he says, a prayer. “This is your paper,” read the headline of the very first edition, which was mailed to each of the 6,070 mailboxes in the county, a rural area […]
Williamson County land use battle pits utility district against owners of historic farm
Holly Tree Gap is a quiet, three-mile stretch of winding road flanked by woods, meadows and horse pastures, with only a few of the spacious homes that characterize much of the rest of Williamson County along its path. But in recent weeks, a proliferation of white signs with black lettering have begun to appear, signaling […]
Wilson County judicial commissioner sues county
A former Wilson County judicial commissioner has filed suit against the county and the county’s director of judicial commissioners alleging she was ordered not to speak to county officials about work-related concerns — which include sexual harassment and secret cameras installed in her offices — before being forced out of her job in July. Patricia […]
Lawsuits pile up against former funeral director
Lawsuits continue to pile up against four funeral homes and an ex-funeral director accused of failing to send the remains of deceased immigrants back to their families overseas for burial. On Monday, the family of Ramon Lara Castillo — a 63-year-old Nashville house painter who succumbed to liver cancer in October 2020 — filed a […]