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Transgender people in Tennessee: How one business owner walks a fine line in a small city
For Wendy McCown-Williams, life as a transgender woman and a gay bar owner in a small Tennessee community can be a fine line to walk. Tennessee ended this year’s legislative session with multiple anti-transgender bills, and most recently passed a bill requiring businesses and government facilities to post a sign stating if they let transgender […]
Mosaic Apartments negotiations with tenants break down
Negotiations between Mosaic Apartments tenants and management ended abruptly after advocates accused the company of mishandling the tenants’ safety concerns. On Wednesday, a public meeting was held between the tenants and Village Green Management, a California-based company, in the hopes of coming to an agreement about whether nearly 100 tenants would be evicted from the […]
Lawsuit between Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee and national organization imperils cookie sales
An ongoing lawsuit may determine whether or not Girl Scouts will be selling cookies in Middle Tennessee next year. The Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee (GSMT) started in 1917 and has over 10,000 girls participating, but the past few years have been spent in conflict with their parent organization, Girl Scouts of the United States […]
Buttigieg: Memphis bridge stable but no reopen date set
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced Thursday the Hernando de Soto Bridge in Memphis has been stabilized enough for crews to begin repairs but has yet to provide a reopening date. Buttigieg traveled to Memphis to hold a roundtable discussion with Tennessee leaders, including U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Congressman Steve Cohen, about infrastructure and […]
Memphis Council delays vote to preserve aquifer
The Memphis City Council is expected to make a final decision within the next few weeks on an ordinance regarding the Memphis Sand Aquifer and its preservation. On Tuesday, the council delayed a vote until July 6 to recognize the importance of the aquifer as the sole source of drinking water for many Shelby County […]
Immigrant rights, faith groups criticize Blackburn and Hagerty stance on immigrant children
Immigrant-rights advocates and faith-based coalitions criticized statements by U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty about housing immigrant children in Tennessee. Reports by WRCB on Wednesday showed migrant children arriving in Hamilton County through Chattanooga’s Wilson Air Center and then boarding buses later verified to be under contract with the U.S. Department of Defense. Later […]
Painting project aims to dress up bombed Second Avenue
Ashley Bergeron had plans to be home in Nashville for Christmas morning, but a nagging feeling told her to make a last minute change of plans. The next morning, she woke up to the news that a suicidal man had detonated a bomb on historic Second Avenue, destroying a huge swath of it. The blast […]
Tennessee’s South Asian population reacts to COVID-19 crisis in India
As COVID-19 ravages India, Nashville’s local Indian community has joined in fundraising efforts, but community members describe a nearly hopeless situation where there’s only so much they can do. By most accounts, India responded rapidly at the beginning of the pandemic, closing its borders and banning all international flights in March 2020. By 2021, attitudes […]
Panic buying, school shutdowns and higher gas prices: effects of a six-day shut down of the Colonial Pipeline across Tennessee
One-third of gas stations in Tennessee were without gas on Thursday, after a ransomware attack on a major fuel pipeline prompted temporarily shut down in operations and consumers' engaged in a panic-driven frenzy to fill up their tanks.
Funeral board warns consulates against unlicensed Tennessee funeral director as more bodies go missing
Tennessee officials this week cautioned the Mexican and Guatemalan consulates in Atlanta against doing business with an ex-funeral director and embalmer who lost his licenses more than a year ago for failing to send bodies of deceased immigrants overseas for burial.
Mumpower guides Shelby County on American Rescue Plan spending
Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower told the Shelby County Board of Commissioners to exercise caution in planning for federal funds expected to come in next week, adding that without formal guidance from the federal government, there is little room for them to make mistakes. Based on Shelby County’s population, commissioners expect to receive $181 million from […]