Author

Dulce Torres Guzman

Dulce Torres Guzman

Dulce has written for the Nashville Scene and Crucero News. A graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, she received the John Seigenthaler Award for Outstanding Graduate in Print Journalism in 2016. Torres Guzman is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. She enjoys the outdoors and is passionate about preserving the environment and environmental issues.

Shelby County Commission

Shelby County approves $11 million to boost hospital staffing

By: - August 24, 2021

On Monday, the Shelby County Commission approved $3.6 million in funds for Regional One Health Medical Center in order to increase the facility’s ability to provide emergency medical treatment. Regional One has closed 21 beds over the last year due to staffing shortages, said Reginald Coopwood, Regional One’s president and CEO.  Because the hospital lacks […]

WAVERLY, TENNESSEE - AUGUST 22: Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) walks past a home swept off its foundation in catastrophic floods August 22, 2021 in Waverly, Tennessee. At least 22 people were killed and 50 others remained missing today after flash floods swept through middle Tennessee, according to officials. (Photo by Alan Poizner-Pool/Getty Images)

After catastrophic flooding, Lee requests disaster funds from Biden

By: - August 23, 2021

Deadly flash floods swept through Middle Tennessee, killing at least 22 people in Humphreys County and leaving others still missing.  “We want to offer our condolences to the families that lost loved ones: the stories are horrific,” said Congressman Mark Green, R-CD7, who represents Humphreys County in a video message. “Ask our friends all across […]

Former Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer (Photo: Karen Pulfer Focht)

Tami Sawyer: ‘I wish I’d been bolder my first year.’

By: - August 23, 2021

Tami Sawyer, a commissioner on the Shelby County Commission has been an outspoken social justice activist over the last three years, a role that has earned her praise as well as criticism on a national level. She was elected to the commission in 2018 and in 2019, she ran for Memphis Mayor, taking on incumbent […]

Ezaz Noori served as an interpreter for U.S. troops in Afghanistan before being relocated, along with his family, to Nashville in 2021. (Photo: John Partipilo)

For former translators and Vietnam veterans, breakdown of Afghanistan brings fresh pain

By: - August 20, 2021

From his home in Clarksville, Fowad Kohistani calls his family in Kabul, Afghanistan every day and night about the rapidly deteriorating situation in their country.  Kohistani and several members of his family worked as translators alongside the U.S. military, which allowed Kohistani to come to the U.S with his wife and young daughter. His five […]

Tory Watson of Memphis Police Department gets his vaccine. First responders Memphis and Shelby County police officers, firefighters and EMTs get COVID-19 vaccines Tuesday Dec. 29, 2020. The Shelby County Health Department is administering the shots in a process that will go on for several weeks. (© Karen Pulfer Focht)

Shelby County Commission takes steps to combat pediatric COVID crisis

By: - August 18, 2021

Shelby County has reached limited availability in ICUs across the county due to a surge of positive COVID-19 cases, prompting the Shelby County Commission to take measures designed to combat high levels of pediatric COVID cases.  On Wednesday, commissioners voted to increase the operating budget of Shelby County’s Health Services Division to combat nurse shortages, […]

Valero Memphis Refinery billowing smoke. Valero was one of two companies proposing the Byhalia Pipeline, a 40-mile oil conduit that would have gone through historic Black neighborhoods in Memphis. (Photo by Karen Pulfer Focht)

Memphis City Council debates resolutions to protect aquifer

By: - August 18, 2021

Stopping the development of the Byhalia pipeline in Memphis was a first step towards protection of the Memphis Sand Aquifer but environmental activists say the real battle now lies in politics, where the government still needs to create permanent protections for Shelby County residents.  On Tuesday, the Memphis City Council once again delayed a final […]

Tennessee House of Representatives (Photo: John Partipilo)

State lawmakers look to levy punishments on those aiding undocumented immigrants

By: - August 13, 2021

Lawmakers speculated Thursday on how the state can further regulate companies providing services to undocumented immigrants under federal contracts and if the state can levy stricter punishments on those aiding undocumented immigrants.  The questions came during a meeting of the Joint Study Committee on Refugee Issues, which was formed after a group of migrant children […]

Twins Marshall and Charlie Groves prepare for school at Nashville's Lakeland Design Center. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Parents and teachers fearful for students returning to school

By: - August 11, 2021

As a parent of a child with a disability, Hanna Morgan Lewis begins each school year by having doctors fill out comprehensive seizure and medical forms, as required by the Williamson County Public Schools. School officials require her son’s medical issues be planned for in advance in case of emergencies and to avoid liability issues, […]

See nothing, hear nothing, say nothing: children will bear the brunt of the state's mishandling of the COVID crisis. (Photo illustration: John Partipilo)

Williamson county pediatricians push for mask mandates in schools

By: - August 10, 2021

As Williamson County parents, physicians urged school officials to prevent the possibility of “needless” deaths of children from COVID-19  by mandating masks. On Monday, several physicians called on Williamson County Public School Board members, private school administrators and elected officials to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for all children returning to […]

Shelby County Commission

Shelby County funds programs to tackle vaccine disparities and mistrust

By: - August 5, 2021

Shelby County Commission buckled down on vaccine disparities and low vaccination rates by passing several resolutions to combat vaccine mistrust in at-risk zip codes. “Having that immunity is what is going to get us out, if we are to ever get out of the shadow of this virus,” said Commissioner Mick Wright, R-Memphis.“The way out […]

Saddler Funeral Home in Lebanon, where Reid Van Ness stored bodies for months at a time. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Second lawsuit filed against unlicensed funeral director and two funeral homes

By: - August 4, 2021

A second lawsuit has been filed against two Middle Tennessee funeral homes and a Tennessee funeral director who lost his licenses for failing to send bodies of deceased immigrants overseas for burial. Filemon Dominguez Diaz died in November, 2019.  After his death, an acquaintance, Domingo Carlin Sanchez, contacted Diaz’s sister, Martha Angelica Dominguez Torres, to […]

Valero Memphis Refinery billowing smoke. Valero was one of two companies proposing the Byhalia Pipeline, a 40-mile oil conduit that would have gone through historic Black neighborhoods in Memphis. (Photo by Karen Pulfer Focht)

Memphis City Council takes step to protect Memphis Sand Aquifer

By: - August 4, 2021

The Memphis City Council made steps to pass an ordinance protecting the Memphis Sand Aquifer after environmental activists spent nearly a year fighting to protect it against a crude-oil pipeline. On Tuesday, the Memphis council passed on second reading an ordinance established the city government’s role in  overseeing future developments in Memphis and how they […]