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Nashville Rescue Mission women’s shelter closed amid COVID-19 outbreak
The Nashville Rescue Mission’s women’s campus is now closed to new admissions after scores of residents and at least six staff members tested positive for coronavirus, according to the Metro Public Health Department and a Rescue Mission spokeswoman. An additional 40 people connected to the campus have tested positive for coronavirus since 16 initial cases […]
COVID cases rise 50% among school age children across Tennessee since early August
At a COVID-19 briefing Thursday morning, Nashville Public Health Director Dr. Michael Caldwell cautioned that the city is seeing an unwelcome upsurge in coronavirus infections. Among the driving factors? Children, from infants to 17 years old, whose case rates have spiked 93% since the beginning of September, Caldwell said. Case rates mark the prevalence of […]
Nashville DA Glenn Funk joins list of prosecutors pledging not to enforce laws criminalizing abortion
Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk has joined a list of more than 60 elected prosecutors who have pledged not to enforce laws criminalizing abortion in a collective statement released Thursday. The statement pledged a commitment from prosecutors in 30 states and the District of Columbia to “not prosecute women who obtain abortions and health care […]
Nashville voters wait in long lines on first day of early voting
Nashville voters flocked to the polls on Wednesday, in some cases standing in long, socially-distanced lines for hours on the first day of early voting. Tennessee isn’t exactly a battleground state, with President Donald Trump widely expected to safely win its 11 electoral votes. Republican candidate Bill Hagerty is also viewed as the decisive favorite […]
Judge strikes Tennessees’s 48-hour abortion waiting period, but the wait may not be over
A federal judge on Wednesday handed abortion rights supporters a major victory when he struck down a 48-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions that has been a routine part of terminating a pregnancy in Tennessee for the past five years. It remains unclear whether the ruling will give women more immediate and full access […]
Nashville women’s shelter under quarantine amid COVID outbreak
About 150 residents of the Nashville Rescue Mission’s women’s campus are now under quarantine after an outbreak of COVID-19, according to the Metro health department. “The Metro Public Health Department has been working with Nashville Rescue Mission officials on a cluster (fewer than 20) of cases,” an email from spokesman Brian Todd said. “We have […]
Two legal defeats in one week for Tennessee attorneys seeking to uphold restrictive abortion laws
A federal judge has shot down efforts by state attorneys to kickstart one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws while a legal challenge that will likely take months or years is underway. Tennessee’s so-called “heartbeat” abortion law, enacted by state lawmakers and signed by Gov. Bill Lee in May, bans abortions once a fetal […]
Report ranks Tennessee one of top five for kids in state custody with COVID-19
More than 1,800 children and teens involved in juvenile justice systems across the nation and in Puerto Rico have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began, a report released Wednesday by The Sentencing Project has found. Tennessee is one of five states with the highest number of positive cases among kids in custody: 146 […]
Federal judge temporary halts Tennessee’s so-called “abortion reversal” law, set to go into effect Oct. 1
A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a Tennessee law requiring abortion providers to tell women a medication abortion can be reversed — a claim that providers have called “scientifically unsupported and misleading information.” The law, enacted earlier this year by Tennessee lawmakers, was set to go into effect October 1. It makes it a […]
Taxpayer funded corporate incentives fail to produce promised jobs
When Canadian entrepreneurs touting a healthy new snack product scouted Kingsport, Tenn. as their new headquarters in 2015, local economic development officials like Clay Walker were enthusiastic. They sampled the gluten-free, non-GMO fruit and vegetable bars and worked to seal a deal that would bring 273 jobs to the northeast Tennessee town of 54,000 in […]
Nashville’s COVID hotspots include facilities for kids in DCS custody
Among the Nashville COVID-19 hotspots disclosed by the city’s health department on Monday are three facilities in or near downtown where the majority of positive cases have been found not among honky tonk patrons or nursing home residents but in children in the custody of the Department of Children’s Services. At Hermitage Hall, an Eighth […]
Audit critical of Tennesee’s economic incentive program after companies failed to create promised jobs
Nine companies lured to do business in Tennessee with generous economic incentive packages have been referred to the Tennessee Attorney General for possible legal action after failing to live up to their end of the bargain, Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe told lawmakers this week in response to a critical audit of the […]