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Nashville sets up pop-up clinics to create vaccine equity
Like many Nashvillians, Elizabeth Almarez, 27, was eager for life to get back to normal, so she went to Casa Azafran for her first COVID-19 vaccine shot. Despite not having had vaccinations since she was a child, she wanted to reassure fellow members of the immigrant community that the COVID-19 one didn’t hurt and wanted […]
Affordable housing needs in Franklin complicated by potential moratorium on apartments
Once a sleepy farm town south of the Tennessee capital, Franklin has long since become known not only for its exquisitely renovated historic homes and charming Main Street, but for boasting high-priced real estate in the state’s most affluent county. So it wasn’t surprising when a recent public discussion about placing a moratorium on construction […]
Tennessee officials warn funeral businesses about unlicensed director
Tennessee officials have issued a warning to funeral businesses about working with an unlicensed, ex-funeral director after a series of scandals, including the negligent storage of bodies. Reid Van Ness surrendered his license as a funeral director and embalmer in March 2020 after state officials found that at least 10 bodies he was paid to […]
Shelby County Commission shoots down Byhalia land sale
In Memphis Monday, the Shelby County Commission shot down the sale of South Memphis two lots to the joint venture behind construction of the controversial Byhalia Pipeline. Shelby County acquired the two lots through delinquent taxes, and approval of the resolution would have allowed Texas-based Plains All American Pipeline and Valero Energy Corporation to purchase […]
NOAH calls out Metro Nashville Police for use of excessive force
This story has been updated. Members of a prominent Nashville community organization say that the Metro Nashville Police Department has continued to use excessive force and failed to comply with de-escalation tactics, leading to two recent shootings, one fatal. Nashville Organized For Action and Hope (NOAH) held a press conference on Thursday to protest what […]
Lamar and Tennessee women’s groups work to improve Black maternal health outcomes
By 2019, Rep. London Lamar had seen a cousin die as a result of complications during childbirth. She had advocated on behalf of better supports for women during pregnancy. And she had suffered her own devastating late-term pregnancy loss. Lamar, a Memphis Democrat who is Black, cited those experiences in introducing a resolution recognizing the […]
Teens talk political polarization
Allie Bailey, called her home in Scott County on the Cumberland Plateau the “reddest part of the state” and said kids there are raised to be rooted in honoring their parents, community and the Bible. One of her high school classmates, Amelia Terry, added the many residents of the area don’t handle change well. Bailey […]
Street racing to NASCAR’s renewal: Middle Tennessee enthusiasm for auto sports gets rejuvenated
As a Vanderbilt University student studying economics, Jacob Yousief, 21, had very little time for other activities until a fateful 2019 car crash that ended up totaling his Toyota Corolla. While trying to figure out insurance hassles, Yousief’s buddy enticed him into a risky proposition: get an exotic car for cheap at an auction, he […]
Nashville leaders and organizers call for changes to construction safety
Workers-rights advocates will file a bill to hold contractors accountable for incidents that have resulted in Nashville being named one of the most dangerous cities in the South for construction workers. On Tuesday, several Metro council members and community leaders held a press conference to address allegations of unsafe and unhygienic construction sites that have […]
Nashville’s Freedom Riders: HBCU students risked all to end segregation
On Feb. 27, 1960, John Lewis, then a student at American Baptist College, joined other college students in Nashville as they sat down at the “whites only’’ lunch counter at Woolworth’s in the heart of downtown to begin their work integrating the city’s stores. Students at HBCUs, including Tennessee State University, Fisk University, Meharry Medical […]
El Estado de Tennessee investigará nuevas acusaciones contra un director de funerarias que continúa explotando a la familias inmigrantes
Director de funerales y embalsamador de Tennessee entrega sus licencias a principios de 2020 después de no haber devuelto los cuerpos a México, Honduras y Guatemala para su respectivo funerales, aun así siguió ofreciendo servicios funerarios a comunidades de inmigrantes y a descuidado nuevamente, en al menos un caso reciente, la entregar de los restos […]
State to investigate new allegations that Tennessee funeral director continues to exploit grieving immigrant families
A Tennessee funeral director and embalmer who surrendered his licenses early in 2020 after he failed to return bodies to Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala for burials has continued to offer funeral services in immigrant communities — and, in at least one recent instance, neglected for months to deliver remains to a grieving family. Roommates and […]