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.

Memphis residents pushed back against the Byhalia Pipeline project. (Photo by Karen Pulfer Focht)

Lookout in Brief: Byhalia Pipeline halted but Memphis Council still pushes protective legislation

By: - July 7, 2021

The Byhalia Connection pipeline project has been abandoned by its developers but Memphis council members continue to push legislation to protect the Memphis Sand Aquifer. On Tuesday, an ordinance for protecting Shelby County’s natural water source was up for a final reading, but was withdrawn. In its place, councilmember JB Smiley introduced a substitute aquifer […]

(Photo taken Feb. 3, 2021 in Memphis, Tennessee, by Karen Pulfer Focht.)

As permitless gun carry law takes effect, some Second Amendment advocates urge continued training

By: - July 1, 2021

Even some Tennessee gun enthusiasts are hard-pressed to say that the state’s controversial new permitless gun carry law won’t have negative effects.  Starting today, permits will no longer be required to carry a handgun publicly in Tennessee, nor will new gun owners be required to take training. But that’s not to say gun owners shouldn’t […]

Faith Klein of the Nashville Conflict Resolution Center advocates for a client to keep their home during a General Sessions Court session in February. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Distribution of funds to keep people in homes lags, and nonprofits blame Metro Action Commission

By: - June 30, 2021

When rent relief became available in 2020 to Nashvillians at risk of losing housing because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Davidson County nonprofit organizations rushed to meet the deadline and distributed $10 million.  Since then just a fraction of the current rent relief funds have been distributed, and nonprofits are blaming Metro Action Commission’s technology. In […]

(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Metro Schools, MNEA launch community schools project with immigrant organizations

By: - June 29, 2021

In Metro Nashville Public Schools, students speak more than 100 different languages and the majority of immigrants are arriving from non-English speaking countries, but many students don’t currently feel represented in their curriculum.  Members of the Metro Nashville Education Association (MNEA) and representatives of immigrant organizations have found over the last year that children of […]

A face mask, bedazzled with the logo of the Girl Scouts. (Photo: Tracy Rokas)

In litigation with national organization, Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee continues to thrive

By: - June 28, 2021

Little girls selling Girl Scout cookies in plexiglass face shields is just one example of why Middle Tennessee Girl Scouts are in financially better circumstances than many of their sisters across the country.  Recently the Associated Press reported that Girl Scouts of the USA  has 15 million boxes of unsold cookies and faces financial difficulties. […]

Shelby County Commission

Move to create Blue Ribbon advisory panel stalls in Shelby County commission

By: - June 22, 2021

The Shelby County Board of Commissioners discussed a motion Monday to create an independent panel overlooking appointees to the Shelby County Ethics Commission. The group, called the Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel, was sponsored by Chairman Eddie S. Jones, Jr, Commissioners Amber Mills and Mark Billinglsey and created as a way to have neutral third party […]

From left, MarVelous Brown, Larry Jenkins and Marcus Chandler with the band "Brassville." (Photo: John Partipilo)

Tennesseans celebrate Juneteenth

By: , and - June 21, 2021

Tennesseans didn’t wait on President Joe Biden’s Thursday proclamation making Juneteenth a federal holiday to begin organizing celebrations marking the occasion. In the Nashville area alone, more than 45 events were held to celebrate a traditional holiday for Black Americans. On June 19,1865, U.S. Major Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston Texas bearing a copy […]

The Mutabazi family outside their Nashville home. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Settled into new homes, refugees in US say they are working for a better life for all

By: - June 20, 2021

Violence, persecution and wars amid a global pandemic added to the growing number of displaced persons around the world last year. The United Nations reports that 11.2 million people were displaced from their homelands in 2020, bringing the total number of displaced persons in the world to 82.4 million.  Of those forced to flee their […]

A treatment room at the Mental Health Cooperative's Crisis Treatment Center, bare of decorations that could be used in a suicide attempt. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Crisis center partners with Metro Nashville cops on de-escalation training

By: - June 18, 2021

The disheveled, middle-aged man struggled against the Metro Nashville Police officer hauling him into the Crisis Treatment Center for a psychiatric evaluation, his loud mumbling muffled by the glass in the treatment room.  From an enclosed glass room in the center of the facility, mental healthcare workers watched calmly as the man was processed and […]

Shelby County Commission

Shelby Schools split with historic agency dominates county commission meeting

By: - June 16, 2021

Shelby County Board of Commissioners addressed the dissolution of a contract between Shelby County Schools and Porter-Leath, the historic Memphis preschool agency, at Wednesday’s regular session.  Last week, Porter-Leath officials learned that Shelby County Schools would not be renewing their organization’s contract to provide thousands of students with preschool classes. For decades, Porter-Leath has provided […]

A 2019 Memphis City Council meeting. (Photo: City of Memphis)

Memphis votes to set $2.71 tax rate

By: - June 15, 2021

The Memphis City Council voted Tuesday to certify the city’s tax rate at $2.71 after back and forth discussion.  Before the vote concluded, Councilmember Martavius Jones proposed increasing the tax rate in order to improve long standing issues in the city, such as the affordable housing crisis, the Memphis Area Transit Authority and numerous trash-pick […]

From left, Cecilia Prado with Workers Dignity waits with Mosaic apartment tenant Nicolas Alvarado and son Nery, 7, who wait to speak to management about eviction threats. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Eviction moratorium nears end and oustings have started

By: - June 14, 2021

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention federal eviction moratorium doesn’t end until June 30, but evictions are already starting to rise across the state. Eviction notices at Mosaic Apartments in South Nashville made headlines over the past two weeks, prompting local community leaders and officials to intervene and prevent nearly 90 families from being […]