Author

Anita Wadhwani

Anita Wadhwani

Anita Wadhwani is a senior reporter for the Tennessee Lookout. The Tennessee AP Broadcasters and Media (TAPME) named her Journalist of the Year in 2019 as well as giving her the Malcolm Law Award for Investigative Journalism. Wadhwani is formerly an investigative reporter with The Tennessean who focused on the impact of public policies on the people and places across Tennessee.

Rep. John Ragan, R-Oak Ridge, center, with Sen. Kerry Roberts, R-Springfield, at right. Ragan sponsored a bill this legislative session to ban "divisive concepts" like the teaching of meritocracy.(Photo: John Partipilo)

Tennessee Comptroller report identifies 49 school shootings in past 25 years

By: - August 8, 2023

Just ahead of a promised special session on public safety called for by Gov. Bill Lee, a Tennessee Comptroller analysis has identified 49 Tennessee school shootings over the past 25 years resulting in 12 fatalities — half of them victims of the mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville earlier this year. The analysis […]

Holly Lamar with one of her falcons. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Master falconer sues three TWRA officers after sweeping home search, seizure of 13 raptors

By: - August 1, 2023

A master falconer has filed suit against three Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency law enforcement officers, alleging her constitutional rights were violated when they unlawfully seized 13 birds of prey, phone, computer, video and other records from her Nashville home in 2022 — an action a criminal court judge called “egregious,” “an abuse of the law” […]

Nashville General Hospital board defers action on half-million-dollar marketing and PR contracts

By: - July 28, 2023

Nashville General Hospital’s oversight board, for a second time, deferred a vote on a pair of high-dollar, no-bid public relations and lobbying contracts with a single firm co-founded by former Metro Councilmember Jerry Maynard and his sister, Misha Maynard, who serves as president. The company, Community Health Marketing, is seeking a three-year contract for government […]

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during an event at the Justice Department on June 15, 2021. Photo by Win McNamee | Getty Images

Department of Justice opens civil rights probe of Memphis after Tyre Nichols death case

By: and - July 27, 2023

The U.S. Department of Justice initiated a civil rights investigation Thursday of the city of Memphis and Memphis Police Department stemming in part from the death of Tyre Nichols, who died in January after being beaten by police officers during a traffic stop. “Public safety requires public trust in police officers,” said U.S. Attorney Kevin […]

Nashville General Hospital board questions cost of $500K PR, lobbying contract with Jerry Maynard

By: - July 27, 2023

Nashville General Hospital’s oversight board meets Thursday to consider a pair of lobbying and public relations contracts involving a single firm that, together, add up to nearly half-a-million dollars a year — a significant expenditure for the cash-strapped public hospital, which in recent years has operated $7 million in the red. Both contracts are with […]

Vanderbilt University Medical Center. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Patients sue Vanderbilt for releasing transgender clinic records to Tennessee AG

By: - July 26, 2023

Vanderbilt University Medical Center failed in its duty to protect transgender patients, caused them serious harm and violated state law and its own privacy policies when it yielded to demands from the Tennessee attorney general to turn over private medical records, a lawsuit filed Monday claims. The lawsuit, filed by two patients seeking class action […]

A Nurse performs a rapid test for AIDS, syphilis and hepatitis. The Tennessee Department of Health will no longer take federal funds for the prevention and treatment of HIV. (Photo: Getty Images)

Lawsuit: State officials illegally disqualified Nashville nonprofit from longstanding HIV grant

By: - July 25, 2023

State health officials have declined to re-up a grant with Nashville CARES, a nonprofit sexual health clinic that has administered the Ryan White Insurance Assistance Program in Tennessee for more than 20 years, connecting thousands of low-income HIV-positive individuals to federally subsidized medical care. The decision, upheld by a state panel in May, serves as […]

A pumping station in Dickson County at the site of a 1992 gas line rupture. A proposed pipeline running through Ashland City, Tenn. would originate in the Dickson County town of White Bluff. (Photo: John Partipilo

Cheatham County elected officials join fight against proposed TVA plant

By: - July 20, 2023

Elected officials are joining a community fight in Cheatham County against a proposed new Tennessee Valley Authority gas-fired power plant, which is slated to be built on 285 acres of mostly forested land that lies in close proximity to a local drinking water source. The Ashland City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously in favor of […]

(Photo: Johnson City Police Facebook)

Report: Johnson City Police failed sexual assault victims

By: - July 19, 2023

The Johnson City Police Department failed to adequately investigate numerous reports of sexual assault over a four-year period, an independent review of the northeast Tennessee police force has found. The report, made public Tuesday, included a review of more than 300 sexual assault reports and concluded that officers failed to collect evidence, interview suspects and […]

"Trans people are divine," reads a sign at a Nashville event hosted by clergy on Feb. 6, 2023. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Tennessee AG asserts right to out-of-state abortion, transgender care medical records

By: - July 18, 2023

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has joined Republican counterparts in 18 states in an effort to prevent the federal government from shielding the medical records of those who cross state lines to obtain legal abortion or gender-affirming care from investigations in their home state. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed […]

ennessee Department of Children's Services Commission Margi Quin walking through the lobby of the DCS offices. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Tennessee Children’s Services to open new transitional facility for kids coming into custody

By: - July 14, 2023

State lawmakers on Thursday approved the first steps in a plan by Department of Children’s Services to open a new transitional facility for kids coming into custody and to expand and add more security to buildings that house delinquent youth. In the near term, the child welfare agency expects to add more than a 100 […]

HCA in one of the Tennessee companies in the Fortune 100, targeted by Tennessee Attorney General Anthony Skrmetti for diverse hiring practices. (Photo by Rusty Russell/Getty Images)

Attorney general threatens Fortune 100 companies order with legal action for race-based policies

By: and - July 13, 2023

Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is leading a coalition warning the nation’s largest companies — many of which have diversity and equity programs — they could face legal action for using race-based policies. A Thursday letter from Skrmetti and 12 other attorneys general put Fortune 100 companies on notice they could be hit with legal action for […]